Tell No One by Harlan Coben
He turns his head slowly. That's when he sees the cop. He can't get arrested, only a few hours till he can see his wife for the first time in 8 years. So he runs. Through the park, the streets, and hides in a dumpster. The federal government on the search for what is truly an innocent man, driven by love to display himself as guilty.
Romeo and Juliet. They take poison for each other. Hunger Games. Katniss volunteers to take her sister's place in the death games. In books and movies, scenes like these are sometimes viewed as dramatic, at the same time inspiring and heartbreaking. Some people might role their eyes. But what they don't see, is that these things are actually realistic. People act out of love all the time, but how far would you go?
Most kids our age won't admit that they'd care about someone so much that they'd risk their life for them. But put in a situation where you might have to, a lot of people would do it in a second.
Humans were given the gift of emotion. We are able to love, we are able to fell pleasure, we are able to feel guilt and dislike. We overlook that. But what would it be like if we could never feel anything. What if you couldn't tell your mother, "I love you" before you went to sleep-- because you didn't. What if your uncle came back from the military safely, and you couldn't feel happy? That is why we do extreme things for people we love. We don't want to lose that feeling.
If I was ever put in a situation where I could risk my own life to save a family member, I would. I guess that sounds like an overstatement, but it isn't. I mean, if you think about it, if you had to swim deep into the ocean to save your brother drowning, would you do it? I know, what are the possibilities of these things happening? Not many. But really, doing things for love isn't as extreme as stories portray them to be. It's an instinct.
Nice post, Haydon!
ReplyDeleteYou really made me think about risking life for love. I agree that most kids with a loving family would risk all to ensure their safety. Right now most people probably aren't sure what they would do, but in the moment I imagine that people would do things like, as you said, swim deep to save your drowning brother. I think guilt and regret play a part in this too. Say, if Katniss hadn't taken her sister's place and her sister had died she would've felt a lot of quilt. If your brother was drowning and you didn't try to save him then you would have too...
Very nice post. I think your extension was really good, and very true. I think that is a very common theme in books. I wonder why we don't hear about many touching moments like these in real life...
ReplyDeleteReally nice and well-written post, Haydon! :)
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. We don't really consider the relationships we have with people, and what they really mean to us. People don't really think about how much they love someone, or what they would do for them, unless the opportunity presents itself, or that person is taken away. Since we aren't faced with incredibly dangerous and life-threatening situations like swimming to the bottom of the ocean to save your brother, we don't really think about it. If it were to happen, I totally agree, people would be surprised how many people would do it in a heartbeat.
Nice post! :)
This is a really well written post! It really got me interested and sounded professional but understandable. I can really learn from your posts!
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