Deep Water Essay

In the story, Deep Water by William O. Douglas, William tells the tale of how he overcame his fear of water. After being thrown into the deep end of the pool, he nearly drowns, making his fear of water from when he was three or four, even stronger. Everyone has a fear, for example I'm afraid of heights and William was afraid of water, but it's important to get rid of your fear, like William did, because if you don't you may regret it. William O. Douglas and I both have a few things in common, but we still have some differences.

William and I only have three similarities. The first similarity is that we both know what it's like to be sucked underwater by a wave. I was eight when it happened, we were at a water park and I was in the wave pool. Once the waves started, they pulled me in to the deep end where I couldn't stand and my sister pulled me onto her inflatable tube and we waited until the waves turned off (the waves come on and off every fifteen to thirty minutes). Where as William was three or four and was at the beach and his dad pulled him out of the water. Our second similarity is we both have been trapped underwater. This time I was older and at a different wave pool. They were about to turn on the waves and I was pushing my inflatable tube toward the middle of the deep end, because that is where the waves are the biggest, and the waves started before I was on the inflatable tube. My hand slipped off the handle of the inflatable tube and I went under and I didn't have much air. I couldn't go up to the surface for air because of all the inflatable tubes covered it. When I finally got to an opening, I swam to the surface and took in a deep breath, then I got hit with a bunch of inflatable tubes as I swam back to the shallow end of the wave pool. As for William, he was thrown into the deep end and couldn't get to the surface. Finally, the last similarity between us is that we were both bad at swimming. Those were the only similarities shared between William and me.

Me and William only share two differences. The first is that I wouldn't be afraid to go boat fishing in the middle of a lake. Our second and final difference is I would have more trouble overcoming my fear. I'm extremely afraid heights. All William had to do was put on a harness attached to a pulley and swim across a pool. I would probably have to dangle over the edge of a building or something like that. Therefore, I think that I would have a harder time overcoming my fear of heights. Those were the only differences I could find between the two of us.

Both William and I have similarities, but we still have our differences. After William nearly drowned, he tried to avoid water when ever it was possible. He did so for a few years, then he decided to put an end to his fear of water. It is important not to let fear control your life.

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

In The Pearl by John Steinbeck, Kino (the main character) finds a giant pearl and instantly becomes everyone's enemy. Imagine having people breaking into your house almost every night, being in constant fear that your family will be harmed. Imagine being at risk of attack every time you step outside your house. Do you think having a giant pearl would be worth undergoing all those things? The book, The Pearl by John Steinbeck, obviously is a tragedy.

John Steinbeck's book The Pearl, fits the plotline quite well. When Coyotito gets stung by the scorpion and the doctor won't help, that is when the world is in conflict for the main character (Kino). The world is in conflict for Kino because to him, Coyotito and Juana are the most important things in the world, and if anything were to happen to them he would live an empty life. The rise to power is when Kino finds the pearl. The reason why that is the rise to power is because now Kino can afford to hire the doctor. The tragic flaw or human weakness is Kino lets the pearl get into his head. Kino now realizes that the pearl is worth more than enough to pay the doctor and starts to fantasize about sending Coyotito to school, getting married to Juana in the church and so on. The tragic fall is that Kino is constantly being attacked and having people trying to steal the pearl. The reason for the tragic fall being so, is all a result of Kino not selling the pearl. Because Kino decided to keep the pearl, he was attacked, and out of self defense, he killed the attacker, forcing him to leave the village. The death or death symbolism is that Coyotito died. There was also a lot of symbolism that matched as well.

The symbolism from The Pearl matches the tragedy mode of literature. With most of the scenes taking place at night, that plays a large part in the symbolism. The mentioning of shadows as well as the darkness of a moonless night also played a rather large part. A bit of not as important symbolism is that they mentioned a dog barking. That was all the symbolism that I pulled out of The Pearl.

The Pearl has a match for each of the characteristics. I found that the book was realistic. I thought The Pearl was realistic because this seemed like it really could have happened. The second and final characteristic is that the main character (Kino) is in control. Kino was in control because he could have sold the pearl for one thousand pesos, or let Juana throw it into the ocean, but Kino didn't because he was in control and wanted to keep the pearl. There were only two characteristics, and I think that they match the book perfectly.

The Pearl by John Steinbeck obviously is a tragedy. The pearl Kino found was as big as his palm and worth over ten thousand pesos, that is why everyone wanted it. Kino threw the pearl back into the ocean because it ruined his family. If you had a pearl that big, what would you do with it?

Reflection onThe Pearl

Now that I've read the book, I can honestly say that it was really good. Other than all of the confusing parts and some advanced vocabulary every now and again, I enjoyed the book. A part that I found confusing was in the last chapter when Coyotito was crying and the watcher person with the rifle shot him in the head, how could that happen if Coyotito was in the back of the cave with Juana? My favorite part was when coyotito started to cry and Kino sort of sprung into action. I think the moral of the story is with great fortune, comes great misfortune. By that, I mean when you get wealth/etc. (the pearl) comes misery (Coyotito's death). Other than the confusing parts and the advanced vocabulary, I thought it was a good book.

Will the pearl destroy Kino's family?

Juana mentioned that the pearl will destroy the family. I agree with Juana. I believe it will because everyone seems to be jealous of Kino. Like they said in the book "The towns people all became Kino's enemy". And the doctor tricked Kino into giving away where it was hidden. and then later that night, someone came into their straw house and tried to dig up the pearl. People all over the town wants the pearl for themselves. Another reason is because it might go straight to Kino's head. He already has a bunch of ideas about what to do with the money. My last reason is because Kino's actions tell me that he is insecure. Ever since the person broke in, Kino acted weird with "the song of evil" constantly playing in his head. He felt he couldn't trust anyone. He could only trust Juana. And Juana said that the pearl will destroy the family. I predict that Kino will get rid of the pearl.

Journal Reflection on "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck

So far, I didn't really enjoy reading the pearl. One of the most interesting parts was when the scorpion jumped off the rope and Kino tried to catch it. Another interesting part was when Kino found the pearl. The final part that i found interesting was when the person came into the straw house and tried to dig up the pear land Kino and attacked the intruder with his knife. That was really all that I found entertaining. Not that I'm saying that the book is bad, it's just not exciting. Well, not as exciting as I would like it to be. I like lots of action and suspense. That's why I likes those parts of the book. When Kino saw that giant clam, it made me wonder if it would have a big pearl, it kept me guessing. The rest of it didn't really seem to stand out or really interest me as much.