Blog Post #8- The Call to Adventure

     In The Neverending Story, Atreyu is faced with one of the most difficult decisions of choosing whether or not he'd like to complete the mission for the Childlike Empress. Carion the centaur is the messenger from the Childlike Empress to talk to Atreyu about the mission. There were pressures that made Atreyu think before he would make a full decision. Like, he is only a young boy, he must embark on this journey alone with no help from others, he'll probably never see his friends again. I think the reasoning for Atreyu to choose to take on the mission was because it seemed exciting to him. He didn't have a family to miss, and if he completed the mission for the Childlike Empress he'd be a hero to all of Fantastica.

My prediction:
I think his choice of taking on the mission will impact his life and future greatly. I think in the end Atreyu will succeed in the mission and be recognized as a hero all throughout Fanstastica. Of course all the challenges along the way will effect his future for good and bad but that is what makes his character grow and learn along the way.

Blog Post # 7- The Ordinary World

The protagonist in this book his name is Bastian Balthazar Bux. In the ordinary world for him his life isn't the greatest he is a different kid who gets teased all the time at school. His only comfort in life is reading books, so when he runs into a book store to hide from his bullying class mates he comes across this book.

He thought this to be the greatest book ever so he steals it and runs to the school and hides in the attic. He then reads the book and all his worries go away. Reading for him is his only joy in life, after the passing of his mother his father just isn't the same anymore, and it makes him feel very unloved. When he reads he goes to his happy place of imagination and all the bad thing in his life go away.

"Some think their only hope of happiness lies in being somewhere else, and spend their whole lives traveling from place to place. And some find no rest until they have become powerful. In short, there are as many different passions as there are people. Bastian Balthazar  Bux's passion was books." (Michael Ende, The Neverending Story pg# 10-11)  

This image represents his life when he isn't reading and enjoying books.

This image shows his feelings while he is reading, suddenly all the bad things in his life are gone.

Blog Post #6- Hero Of My Book

The book I am currently reading is The Neverending Story- Micheal Ende. 
For those of you who haven't read/heard of this book or the movie, it's about a young boy who is teased a lot and his only way to feel better is to read books. So technically this book is about a book because a majority of the story is about the book the child named Bastain Balthazar Bux is reading.

So far in my book it's still kind of unclear as to who would be the hero in this story, whether it would be someone from the real life or from the world of Fantastica. So I chose to pick a character from Fantastica to describe as the hero. 

Atreyu is the character that I believe to be the hero. In Fantastica trouble has struck, the Childlike Empress is sick and has called upon Atreyu to complete the task of finding the cure for her sickness and saving all of Fantastica. Atreyu is only a young child and yet the Childlike Empress still trust him. He's a lot like the hero because the hero must embark on a journey by themselves without the help from others.

For the qualities of a hero I'd say that Atreyu shows: 

Sacrifice- The Childlike Empress needed him to complete the mission, and he didn't really wanna turn down the Childlike Empress while she's on her death bed so he agreed to participate. 

Courage- he shows lots of courage by being just a child but still risking his own life to find a cure for the Empress.

Bravery- He definitely shows bravery by again being a child and risking his life.

" 'I't's monstrous!' cried Carion indignantly. 'It's doubtful whether even the greatest, most experienced of heroes could carry out this mission...and you!...She's sending you into the unfathomable to look for the unknown...No one can help you, no one can advise you, no one can foresee what will befall you. And yet you must decide at once, immediately, whether or not you accept the mission. There's not a moment to be lost. For ten days and nights I have galloped almost without rest to reach you. But now- I almost wish I hadn't got here. I'm very old, I'm at the end of my strength. Give me a drink of water please.' " (Michael Ende The Neverending Story, #44)

(http://www.famousquotesabout.com/quoteImage/313/heroism-quotes.jpg)

I like this image because it explains how anyone can be a hero no matter what age or who they are.

I think this explains most about heroes because it explains that since there's difficulties everywhere and when

you choose to take on a challenge whether you complete it or not, you're still looked upon as a hero.

 

     

Blog Post #5- Character Archetypes

I'm reading the book A City out of Sight- Ivan Southall and the character I chose, whom I've met through reading this book would be Carol. So, for this to make a bit more sense I'll explain what's going on in my book. This book is similar to Lord Of the Flies, in this book children are flying on a plane that crashes on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere. These children must work together in order to all survive until help comes.

I think the archetype that Carol is most like is probably the hero. The hero of the story isn't always the bravest or most noble but shows self-sacrifice. The hero is the one who will leave the group in order to help save them all; the hero also goes through tons of obstacles along the way.

" Carol reeled away from it, away from the milling ants, drenched in sweat, gulping for air, every blood vessel in her body seemingly at bursting point.
'Oh my goodness.'
She brushed at the ants, crushed them with the flat of her hands, shuddering from the prickling and the crawling and the persistent stinging of them.
'I've got to get out of here.'
She rushed at the pig and dragged it into the clear, away from the ants, away from the wreck of the tree. Crawling with ants, the pig. She dragged it different ways, by different legs, rolled it from side to side, kept moving it farther from the tree, dragging it, skidding it, hoping to scrape the ants off. "
(Ivan Southall, A City out of Sight pg# 59-60)


Carol is most like the hero because she is the one who strays from the group to salvage food; in this case she killed a wild pig. This creates a huge impact on the group because, without her salvaging for food they wouldn't have food for them to eat leaving them to starve. I thought this direct quote from the book best describes why I think Carol is most like the hero. She risked her life to kill this wild pig, and now has to drag it all the way back to their camp. Carol definitely shows heroic qualities because before if her mother caught her doing things only a male would do she'd be in huge trouble. Carol enjoyed the feeling of being able to accomplish something she didn't think she could do. Along the way she's learning to grow, and also acquires new wisdoms.