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Grief In Gary Paulsen's 'Voyage Of The Frog'

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A feeling that is associated with deep sorrow can be considered as grief. Many people have their own ways of dealing with grief. From being strong for the family to breaking down in tears, the main character in Gary Soto’s Father and David from Gary Paulsen's Voyage Of The Frog, both character’s thought and actions reveal aspects of his personality. David from Voyage of the Frog has him dealing with his uncle’s recent death. He reacts to this incident by having many emotional and violent shakes. David wants to hold on to his uncle, and doesn’t want him to die. To him,there had to be a person or something to blame for what is happening to his uncle. This is shown in the text, “There had to be somebody to hit for this, he thought- there had to be some damn enemy to hit for this, this stinking death that was in the room”(Paragraph 14).This piece of textual evidence reveals aspects of David’s personality,which shows that he is of course angry and or confused. He thought that there is a person to blame for his uncle’s death. However there wasn’t. This quote shows that David is angry or confused because of him obviously wanting someone to blame. Someone or something to take his own anger out on. Another example of this is how David denies and tells owen he would be able to make it out. As shown in the text “Don't talk like that, dammit. Things happen. People make …show more content…

Grief is defined as keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss, and through the various ways both these characters coped with grief, each character’s thoughts and actions reveal aspects of his personality. In life “Grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life's search for love and wisdom”

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