Hero’s by Robert Cormier is a story of a young boy who has been in love, been hurt and been in war because of one guy. Francis, the main character, had his face disfigured in world war two. He comes back to his home town to try to find Larry, his childhood hero. Larry was believed by the town to be the best man ever to live. Francis saw him differently because of what Larry tried to do to his girlfriend. He seeks revenge for this and tries to kill him which would alter his life forever. The theme the author showed through out this book was that all problems can be solved without making big and radical moves to try to make things better.

The theme is shown in this book when Francis goes to Larry’s apartment. Francis goes there with one thing in his mind and that was to kill Larry. He gets there and finds himself remembering what thins were like back when he was younger, before everything. He remembers the wreck center, winning the ping pong championships, going to the movies with his girl friend and he remembers what Larry did to her. “I aim the gun at him, my finger on the trigger. But my hands are shaking and my caves a running and I am suddenly overwhelmed by the knowledge of what I am about to do. Why has it come to this? “. This passage shows the theme well. He realizes the effects this would have on him and starts to question it. He doesn’t kill Larry but talks to him and realizes that even though he killed people in the war he couldn’t kill this man he had to much respect or care or something for him.

People that have strong feelings for or against something sometimes join a terrorist organization. This is a decision that changes there life in a drastic way. The terrorist that bombed the world trade center made a choice to join this group knowing that they might be asked to kill themselves. The choice that they made was extreme and changed their lives, when they could have chosen a different way to go about doing things and might still be alive.

This book shows that making a choice that will change you life forever in a negative way can be avoided totally. Francis almost made one of these choices but chose an alternative route. He avoided a life where he would most likely be in prison but still got what he wanted out if it.

Finally, this book shows the reader that the choices you make in life good or bad affect you and the people around you in some way. This is important because sometimes people make choices with out thinking about the consequences. These choices may not affect them immediately but later on they will see these affects and maybe wish that they would have done something differently. This theme is important in history because all the choices someone made in the past affects us now in the present. This book was a good book I would recommend it to anyone who is learning about the basics of life.

Book portfolio - Art of the lathe

The Art of the Lathe by B.H. Fairchild is a book of poems that take place around the great depression era. B.H Fairchild's had a different way of looking at things than most people. He looks past the exterior and sees what is really going on, what people are really like. He talked alot about how things arent always what they seem like. Something may seem bad or gross or tough at first glance without much thought but a closer look it proves to be something different. This theme is in history during the slavery in America.
The theme thoughout the book is realitivly the same. In one poem B.H. Fairchild talks about cigarettes. They are gross and bad for you and everyone knows this, but to the perosn that smokes them its all the memories they've had. Every time they need something to do take their mind off things they smoke because smoking to them is like looking at a scrap book. this is one of the memories in the poem," Or at the beach, minute flares floating in the deep dark, rising, falling in the hands of aunts and uncles telling the old stories, drowsy with beer, waves lapping the sand and dragging their voices down.". In another Poem he paints this picture of a tough looking guy, who gets in fights and drinks beer every night. Then it tells of how this man stays late at work to make sure everything is perfect, how he puts a towel on his head and dances with his lady griend in the kitchen. This guy seems tough and mean, but when you take a closer look you see that he is hardworking, loving and funny. These are qualities that yo would never see in him.
In america slavery was a huge problem. Everything about it was terrible, people were beaten often, had horrid living conditions, the food was scarce and they were forced to work all day. In genral People agree the slavery is bad, But in some cases the slaves referred to this time as " the good ol' days". As slaves, in some cases, had better clothes, better food and were happy. After they were freed they had a worse time than when they were slaves. They didnt have a job, werent eating well, didnt have good clothes. they also had to deal with the extreme racism in the south. Slavery was bad but in these peoples cases they had a better life when they were slaves. this is a side that we rarely hear about when talking about slavery in america.
These poems really show how poeple feel about things. People may show one thing but feel or think another. For example, Slavery was a bad thing and we, as americans, are still dealing with the effects of it, but some people it was the best time of their life. These poems show insight about how these people felt about being a slave and slavery.
Finally, these poems show the reader different ways of looking at things, to never take things a face value and the everything in life is not simple. These are important because it makes you look a little closer at stuff and to make you a little more independent. The themes in this book are important in history because everything in history you can;t take at face value, not everything in histroy is absolute fact, this aplies to life aswell. this was a good book i would reccomend it to anyone looking for a better hold on things going on around them.