The article "Darkness Too Visible" by Megan Cox Gurdon is a very intriguing article based on one view of the "darkness" in young adult literature today. The author Megan Cox Gurdon is very biased when she explains that young adult books, these days, have a high level of dark content and should not be exposed to teen readers. She gives explicit detail on how parents feel about their children reading such horrendous books filled with dark topics no parent can ever imagine giving to their teen. Additionally, Megan feels that is inappropriate for young readers to be reading books about suicide, self mutilation, and more lurid topics. In the article Megan used loaded words like despoliation, ugliness, smut, and crude to get out her points to parents world-wide. These words make you feel as if young adult books are filled with horrible topics that are not appropriate for young readers. Megan states "...a careless young reader - or one. Who seeks out depravity - will find himself surrounded by images not of joy or beauty but damage, brutality and losses of the most horrendous kinds." Clearly, Megan has made her point.She wants you to understand that books like "Scars" or "Diary of a Part Time Indian" are not right for teens age 12 through 18. Megan includes the prospective of parents who go unnoticed to these lurid books, stacked in every book store, and on the shelves of your local library. Megan C. Gurdon speaks for the parents of teens who do not want their child exposed to the dark side of reality. She rarely uses words like 'happiness, purity, or virtue' to describe young adult books of these topics. Furthermore, Megan C. Gurdon believes, and makes others believe, that young adult literature is darker that it has ever been before. Megan C. Gurdon talks about the brutality and horrendous sides of young adult books. However, I disagree with her. As a young adult reader I know that there is more to these "dark" and "brutal" sides in books. Megan uses the perspectives of parents and of course no parent wants there child to be affected by such horrendous things. Even so, I think whether or not a book affects or changes a young reader depends completely on the the reader. If readers interpret the "dark" sides of books in negative ways, of course the impact the book had on the reader will also be negative. Books like "Scars" by Cheryl Rainfield are books that can teach a lesson. It can teach that self harm is erroneous, the same goes for books that teach lessons about the consequences of taking drugs, or suicide. It shows teen that they aren't alone and gives them an insight on the reality that is hidden from them by their parents and by people like Megan Cox Gurdon. Furthermore, taking away young adult literature from teen readers is like taking away their source of hope, maybe even there savior. Also, when taking away such books from young readers you are trapping them in a indestructible bubble, keeping them from viewing the world how it actually is; your trapping them from reality. It's like taking away candy from a baby: It's easy to do, but the consequence is a long period of crying nagging at you, and it is only natural to feel guilty.
“Stories nurture our connection to place and to each other. They show us where we have been and where we can go. They remind us of how to be human, how to live alongside the other lives that animate this planet… when we lose stories, our understanding of the world is less rich, less true.” - Susan J. Tweit, “Walking Nature Home: A Life’s Story.”
Have you ever read a book that you could connect to every single scene at every moment? Did you ever feel as if that one book was written to give you a better understanding of life and of why things happen? “The Scorch Trials” by James Dashner is the gripping sequel to The Maze Runner, it is also the perfect example of a book I could connect to, page after page. I felt as if every unexpected twist and every sorrowful scene helped me understand the importance of stories in our life. It reminds me of the many thoughts that flashed through my mind when I experienced the empathetic feelings described in this book, and I can’t help but put myself in the characters’ situation.
“The Scorch Trials” is a very compelling book that revolves around Thomas, his friends, the other surviving “gladers”, and the new characters of group B. The story is set around a deadly disease which is supposedly living in the bodies of all gladers and those from group B. Thomas and his friends go through many obstacles, such as a city full of ‘cranks’ (people with the flare who are passed the stage of mentality), in order to survive and get to the ‘safe haven’ as promised to them by the organization called WICKED. In the book, James Dashner uses many themes such as pain, regret,and confusion. There are also many moments in which many themes are used to get readers to be pensive and empathetic. This is a story filled with heart broken friendships, betrayal, and losing the ones you love. No matter how unrealistic the story plot is in reality, as human beings we can connect to many themes of this book.
Pain is felt by everyone, and it comes in all forms. However, there is one form of pain that may hit you with a mixture of feelings, at a time when you are least expecting it. Loss. Loss is all around us. Whether we lose someone by death or by heart (like the loss of a friendship), many people can empathize to the feeling it gives you. Page 26 of “The Scorch Trials” is one example where many people can connect to this feeling. In the text it states, ‘ “They killed her.” Aris said back to him. “They killed my best friend.” ’ The phrase ‘best friend’ is someone special who you can talk to and can rely on. It does not always have to be a person. It can be something that is meaningful, whether it is a person or an object, once you lose that special something you feel devastated and mournful. You can lose that person (if it were a person) due to sickness or even during an argument. Additionally, the character Aris felt as if a part of his heart was taken from him when he found out his best friend was killed, and that is how many people, who go through similar situations, may feel as well.
Recently, my grandfather passed away. After reading this book, I felt as if “The Scorch Trials” was my savior from this devastating event. I remember, like Aris, holding back my tears until the very last moment. The moment where there is a “pained beast” inside you that wants to get out, to break free. Like Aris, I too had to repeat the event multiple times, and like him, it is still the most hurtful thing that has happened to me. When I read the many scenes of this book in which the theme of pain and loss were incorporated, I felt as if there are people out there that know how I feel and what I am going through. Moreover,this is how the theme of pain in this book connects to many readers.
At one point in our life we make mistakes, we’re human, it’s what we do. And when we make the most hurtful mistakes that harm others more than we thought it would, we feel guilty. Guilt is human nature and is expressed in many ways. When you resent something, you feel the need to go through everything that you did wrong and you realize, if it were a person you put down,that they had many other problems besides the ones that you forced inside their life. It makes you realize the situation the person is going through and how much you worsened that situation. For instance, in “The Scorch Trials” there are many forms of regret, some are subtle, and others are very open. Yet, not all are easy to believe. In “The Scorch Trials”, James Dashner uses imagery in order to describe this theme of regret. “He turned just in time to see the rain start falling outside, as if the storm had finally decided to weep in shame for what it had done to them.” (138). The author uses the image of a storm finally letting out its rain as if it were a person admitting to every wrong thing he/she has done. This is significant because it makes you wonder what pure regret is. Additionally, you can connect to many things in this theme because of the many mistakes that we may make.
“The Scorch Trials” is also a book that requires you to be really pensive especially when the scene is revolved around the theme of confusion. In the book, the author wrote a scene in which Thomas is confused as to why Teresa would tell him to leave when it is clear she needs him.‘ “Get away from me, Tom,” she said. “All of you need to get...away...from me. Don’t argue. Just leave. Run.” Her neck tensed with the effort to get those last few words out…” ’ (116). The mood described in this scene is very suspenseful, which revolves around the theme of confusion. Many people can connect to this because it makes you think a lot about your self, and it makes you wonder what you would do if you were in the same situation. For example, it makes you wonder what you would do if you were Thomas and Teresa were your best friend. It makes you wonder if you would run away from someone you love, who clearly needs your help, but is not admitting it. It also make you wonder what you would do if you were Teresa, would you push your friends away when you need them most and they are willing to help? To add on, these are questions and thoughts that were in my own mind that are also connectable to many other readers.
Furthermore, “The Scorch Trials” is a book that carries people to higher extents in order to get readers to be able to connect with the themes such as pain, regret, and confusion. There are many other things that are compelling about this book and other themes that are empathetic to readers, however, those three themes are used in the most thought provoking parts in this great book. The themes reminded me that there are still many things I don’t know about the world, and that there are many people out there who are experiencing the feelings this book gave me. It makes me wonder what I would do if I were the one living through every scene of this book. It makes me want to hold my grief, my guilt, and every single piece of mystery in this world, close to me. But most of all, “The Scorch Trials” reminded me of two important things in life, it reminded me that no matter how confusing or devastating life may be ‘we must all suffer from one of two types of pain: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is that discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.’ - Sean Covey.
"Prodigy" by Marie Lu is the haunting sequel in the Legend trilogy. I think the the two biggest themes in this book are trust and honesty. Through the book June and Day have to go through many obstacles and along the way they have to find the ones who are trust worthy. Something I've noticed is that June is asked many times if she is still loyal to the Republic, which plays as another theme too. Loyalty. "Prodigy" tells you a lot about loyalty and trust. It can teach you that you have to find the ones worth being loyal too. Which adds on to the fact that you are most likely to be loyal to someone who you believe is trust worthy. Being trust worthy also means you are honest, which is something that does not relate to many characters in "Prodigy." Moreover, the two themes mentioned in the beginning comes back to this one theme, loyalty.
Another thing I've noticed is that June has a very hard time explaining how she feels. She always practical and thinks emotions hold people back. She tries hard to not to let her feelings lead her and relies mostly on her instincts. Personally, I think that's what holds her back from responding to the way Day feels about her. She's confused and I can understand that, she's not sure whether she's supporting Day because she loves him or because she feels like she owes him. Even so, through out the book it is clear what she wants, but she has no idea how to put it into words. Furthermore, "Prodigy" by Marie Lu is a book many people can stop and relate to as well as take their time to be pensive about themes that seem to show up in every chapter of this great book.
