Name: Shivam Patel

Course: English University

Date: 06/10/2014
ISU Essay

A great soul once said, Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an
indomitable will. Mahatma Gandhi- who inspired hundreds of millions to independence-
believed in non-violence and the capability of words over any weapon. His ideas were similar to
authors of the factionary books that were read by my group (TACO). Like almost every book,
the books represented multiple themes. Anns selection, A Thousand Splendid Suns, is about
Laila and Mariam- who were forced to live with a physically dominating husband in Afghanistan
during the war. A very comparative storyline was found in Shayelles selection, The Color
Purple, which is based on an Afro-American girl, Celie, who had been continuously abused by
her father and later her husband. Thirdly, Hashmaats selection, To Kill a Mockingbird, shows
how being strong from inside helps face the evil world full of bullies and racists people.
Additionally, my selection, Oliver Twist, displays an orphans struggle to find peace through
many soul wounding obstacles. Last but not least, Things Fall Apart (Shaquilles selection)
reveals the idea that destruction of mental strength affects a person exponentially more than
physical breakage. Inner strength is more decisive than outer (physical) strength in fighting lifes
challenges.
A story of two ladies who turned into best friends after sharing a husband in Afghanistan
during a destructive war; Anns selection, A thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini, is
about tolerance and hope. At the starting of the book, Mariams mother committed suicide in the
fear that her daughter abandoned her. Mariam was everything to her and the thought of living
without her broke her mentally; without thinking she hung herself to the tree in the yard in less a
Name: Shivam Patel
Course: English University
Date: 06/10/2014
day. Furthermore, Mariam got married to Rasheed. As a result of her failure in carrying a baby to
term, she was abused by Rasheed on regular bases. Therefore Mariam lost every hope of living a
better life again. But with the entry of Lailas idea of abandoning Afghanistan, Mariam regained
her mental strength. Her inner strength later inspired her to respond to Rasheeds abuse to kill
him. The reunification between Tarik and Laila was the strongest example of inner strength in
the book. When Laila thought that Tarik was dead, she agreed to marry Rasheed and after her try
to escape from Rasheed failed, she eventually gave birth to Zalmai. This signifies that she had
lost all her hope of being happy again. But when she saw Tarik at their front door, her inner
strength showed a significant difference. This helped her leave Kabul with Tarik. After getting
abused and starved regularly, the two ladies fought back together to win over a physically
powerful Rasheed. Anns summarised the novel with eagerness. He found the concluding part of
the book very inspiring.
Following a very similar storyline but in different setting to A Thousand Splendid
Suns, Shayelles selection, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, is a book about Celie (who
was abused and raped by whom she believed was her father and later by her husband). Although,
the whole book revolves around Celie, it is having characters with their own previous stories.
Sofia, Harpos wife, had a very strong inner strength which amused Celie. Despite all the tries by
Harpo, Mr. ____ and Celie, Harpo was not able to control Sofia but instead found himself
injured in an attempt to beat her. Her mental strength attracts Celie so much that Celie starts
taking advice from her for defending herself against Mr. ____. Secondly, Celies sister, Nettie,
shows an inspiring inner strength throughout the book. It inspires her to run away from home to
be with Celie and then builds her own life by travelling to Africa with Samuel and Corrine (a
missionary couple) as Mr.____ tried to get physically attached to her. Unlike Nettie, Celie
Name: Shivam Patel
Course: English University
Date: 06/10/2014
tolerated Mr. _____s abuses as she felt that she had no choice. But after Shug Avery helped her
get Netties letters back and freeing her from her husband, Celie gained an inner strength. This
allowed her to deny Mr. _____s offer to marry him again and also allowed her to set up a
custom sewing business. This shows how someones life can be changed by gaining inner
strength. As stated before, this book has characters with their own previous stories. Shayelle
found it very interesting. She also enjoyed talking about her book and answering our questions.
The third book of my book club was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee-
Hashmaats selection- focuses on Scout Finch, an intelligent six year-old girl with some boyish
characteristics. Being young means that she was not physically strong, yet she never showed any
signs of breakdown even after being forced by her teacher to stop exploring the world more than
she should at her age or getting bullied and made fun of when her father, Atticus, decided to fight
for an Afro- American man, Tom Robinson, in the court against a white lady, who accused him
of raping her. Instead she fought for her fathers respect against the bullies. Likewise, Atticus
chose not to back off from defending the man, even after learning that many citizens disapproved
of his choice while some even gave notices of their evil intension. Although, Atticus was
considered to be the opposite of Scout and Jem (Scouts brother) his inner will to help the
innocents did not allow him to back off. Lastly, after being convicted for raping despite the
significant evidence of his innocence, Tom Robinson tried to escape the prison. He was shot
dead in the attempt. The only reason that could be concluded behind his action is that he was
mentally unable to think straight; he could not find a way out and therefore decided to take an
incorrect step. There is a possibility that if he had a stronger mental strength, he would not have
tried to escape but instead fought for his freedom more. In the end, this novel shows that our
Name: Shivam Patel
Course: English University
Date: 06/10/2014
inner strength plays an important part in decision making. Hashmaat found the story convincing
for a reason of it being remarkably famous. He also mentioned that the novel was a page turner.
Adding to these bestsellers, I choose Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. This book is
about the struggles a fearful orphan goes through in Victorian England before his identity is
finally recognised and is adopted by a gentleman. Although he was born and brought up in a
corrupt society full of evil minds, Oliver showed purity and an intention to never do wrong
things. Oliver left his hometown and travelled to London after he fought against Mrs.
Sowerberry and Mr. Bumble for using violence in response to Noahs act of abusing him and his
dead mother. He travelled alone with almost no money or food through roads which he had never
seen to an undecided destination. For a nine year old boy, without a really strong will, there is no
chance of survival. Oliver again showed his mental strength when he opposed Bill Sikes from
participating in a robbery in a rich persons house even after being informed that a mistake or
disturbance during the robbery will result in him getting shot to death. Despite Sikes anger, along
this time, he got rescued by two guards after getting shot on the leg. Lastly, every character in
the book that helped Oliver find his real identity displayed a very strong will to support the good.
Nancy went behind Fagin and Sikes back to help Oliver by informing Ms. Ross of what she
learned about Oliver identity just because she felt pity for him. Mr. Brownlow and Ms. Ross
worked hard to find every truth about Olivers identity; they also followed a wrong way for the
good. Mr. and Mrs. Bumble tried to find information about the owner of the locket that belonged
to Olivers mother even though they did not had to do anything with the owner after Mrs.
Bumble received the locket from dying Old Sally. This teaches that to become a good person, a
good will to help some needy is required. Little Olivers purity (even though he lived with
criminals all his life) and Nancy wanting to help Oliver was what I found most interesting in this
Name: Shivam Patel
Course: English University
Date: 06/10/2014
book. The ending also pleased me watching all the criminals get punished for misery they
brought to this world.
The protagonist of the last book of our club -Shaquilles selection- believed in hiding any
of his fear. But as seen in the story of Oliver Twist, it is very hard to do so. Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe is set in a village of Nigeria. Okonkwo works very hard to build up a great
reputation of him in the village as a wrestler, farmer and leader. He works on his physical
strength and on hiding his fears to look masculine. But after some time, things start to go wrong
for him. Okonkwo participated in killing of Ikemefuna (even though he was advised not to) for
fear of seeming not masculine. He felt the guilt of murdering the one who he was attached to
closely as a father. This broke his inner strength and he could not concentrate on daily things.
This led to him shooting a boy at someones funeral by mistake. Lastly, Okonkwo grew up
hating his father who was considered lazy and coward by everyone in the village. He died when
Okonkwo was young with staggering debts. All his life Okonkwo tried hard not to do anything
like him. But in the end, he lost to the struggles he had to face after the missionaries arrived to
their village and no one supported him. He committed suicide showing his weak inner strength
by taking an easy way out instead of trying to fight more. This shows that mental strength is
more important than physical strength. Shaquille was found particularly fascinated by the ending
of the book. He also indicated that he thought the story very interesting and different from other
novels.
It was a delighting experience to work with each of the member of my group. Our
understanding got better with every meeting as we worked faster than before each time keeping
in mind that no crucial part of any novel was lost. I appreciate this idea heartily. It not only just
encourages active participation by every person but also allows members to hear about multiple
Name: Shivam Patel
Course: English University
Date: 06/10/2014
books without really having to give time to it. Even though, we were dedicated to our work, my
group sometimes got distracted by the delicious snacks that were offered during every meeting.
So, we were very satisfied with the efforts we put on the last meeting to be able finish on time as
we lacked time on our previous meetings. I personally was attracted to the speaking abilities of
my group members and I hope I was able to speak as clear as they did while representing my
book.
In the end, I would like to conclude that every author of the five book of our club
(TACO) believed that a persons inner strength always proves to be more decisive than the outer
strength. The authors of A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Color Purple, To Kill a
Mockingbird and Oliver Twist indicated this by displaying a dreary physical picture of their
protagonists who in the end are able to fight evil and live in peace. The last author took a
different path way to show a similar belief; he in Things Fall Apart showed that a physically
dominating protagonist gave up in the end as he was broken from inside. To be able learn rules
of life from five different books which were set over four different continents was very
fascinating. I am very satisfied with the improvement my book club made with every succeeding
meeting. I would encourage this idea to be continued in the future.