Exploring Life Lessons Through Novels: Acceptance and Responsibility

Abstract

[Name] [Instructor Name] EN 1311 Life Lessons Through Books: Acceptance, Individuality, and Responsibility While I have read a lot of great books that caught my curiosity, very few books provide important life lessons or things that you can apply to your everyday experiences. I read novels more for enjoyment rather than to learn anything new or to understand a special life lesson. However, there have been a few books that have moved me or left me with a valuable life lesson. A book that I found remarkably interesting when I read it and still do is The Boy in The Striped Pajamas. I have found that book interesting, but it has also left me with an unbelievably valuable life lesson. The book is about a German boy named Bruno who had a friend named Shmuel; the only difference between the two friends was that Shmuel was Jewish, Bruno's father was the commandant of Auschwitz, and when the Holocaust started, Shmuel got put into a concentration camp, and the two best friends were separated, in the movie they also showed everything they did to the innocent Jewish people, how they put them in the gas tanks, how the held them hostage, they murdered 6 million innocent Jews, and a lot more crazy and sick things. What I learned from the book was never to judge anyone based on anything, such as religion, race, gender, liking, etc. Ever since reading that book, I have also learned how to become more comprehensive and understanding of how not everyone has the same likings, and yes, thankfully, my situation of understanding how to accept people for how they are is different from that time, but I have learned on how to accept people on how they are. A perfect example is how I grew up in a Hispanic household, and Hispanics, unfortunately, are super against homosexual people. They are not open to it, and they do not accept people with that choice, but going to school helped a lot in accepting those people for how they are. Even though I do not share that preference, I have nothing against people who do because, at the end of the day, they are worth the same as every human being, not because they have that preference, they are worth less than any other person or anything of that sort. Another notable example is religion. A lot of people on social media and even in person have gotten into arguments because the person they are arguing with does not share the same beliefs or the same religion. There is nothing wrong with that; it is completely fine and acceptable, and everyone should have the freedom to choose what they want to believe in. I am Catholic, I practice that religion, and my best friend does not share the same beliefs as me. That is completely fine; even though we do not share the same beliefs, I am never telling him, or he is never telling me that we are right or we are wrong. It is best to leave other people alone and not get involved in situations that you should not be getting involved in, one because it is none of your business and two and most importantly to me that it is super disrespectful to be telling people that they are wrong just because they do not share the same beliefs as you, it is wrong and I just have learned to become the most respectful person possible and have learned to deal with all sorts of people, that is honestly the life lesson that The Boy in the Striped Pajamas has left me. This book was written by John Boyne. Another book that has also taught me a life lesson is The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Rodrick Rules. The book is one of many books in the book series The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but this one hit me a little bit differently; the book is about how Greg is going through this Middle School phase of trying to be the most popular kid on campus, he tries to impress all the girls, he tries to be the coolest kid on campus, but fails...