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Death is a creature that takes the life of an individual. The book Death Be Not Proud by John Gunther tells a story of a young boy's life facing death. The reality is that everyone is born and everyone must die. Life for everyone is hard and no one said that life was going to be easy.
Johnny Gunther, John Gunther's son, a young boy and he experienced death in a very cruel and painful ordeal. Death is nothing we can hide from and because of that we must face the fact that Death will appear in our lives when it is our time to die. Johnny Gunther was an average young man. He was seventeen when this whole ordeal happened. Johnny came back for Christmas vacation. " Johnny came home for the Christmas holiday in 1945, and he looked fit and fine. " (25). He was a very intelligent boy.
He enjoyed science and math. Johnny's life changed the moment his mother got a call from the school doctor's office. " Then in the third week of April 1 had a wire from the school doctor, Johnson, saying that Johnny was in the infirmary but, ... was no indication of polio... not to worry. " (26 - 27). His mother did not think much about it at the time because the doctor said that nothing was wrong. Johnny's parents were worried about their son.
The month of April went by and Dr. Johnson has made a particular phone call to Johnny's parents. " At about three in the afternoon on Thursday, April 25, the telephone rang... Dr. Johnson said, We " ve had doctor in from Springfield to see your son Dr. Hahn, a neurologist. Here he is. ' Dr.
Hahn said, I think your child a brain tumor. ' " (27 - 28). His parents were afraid, as any parent would be if their child was in danger. The process, which Johnny went though, was painful. He came in out of many hospitals and seeing many doctors. Time went on and Johnny was not getting any better. His parents were afraid because the doctors did not have much information about the disease that has plagued Johnny.
Johnny and his parents struggle though a hard life. The life of a young boy was on a thin line. His parents prayed that he will be safe. The path that Death takes is not for us to question.
At first, Johnny's parents did not want to tell him about what was going on with him. He figured out what was going on and did not let that bother him. Johnny did not let a brain tumor get in the way of what was important to him. He wanted to get on with his life.
The story continues though all his pain that he had experienced. Johnny was strong and he wanted to live the way he wanted. While he was in the hospital, Johnny read the material he had to read for school and more. Johnny was like a young scholar.
He wanted to show that his dedication was stronger than any disease. He wrote several letters to many people and he even wrote letters to his "celebrity" Albert Einstein. Johnny had a hard time getting around places. His condition was getting worse because the tumor was applying too much pressure on his brain. The doctors got half the tumor.
They were worried about taking the other half because they did not know how to get the rest out of his brain. This operation is very delicate and needed to be handled carefully. Any parent would be in saddened at the pasting of a child, especially one so young as Johnny. " He died like a man, with perfect dignity. " (68). Johnny died because of this brain tumor. The best doctors treated him throughout this ordeal but in the end nothing of that mattered. " Johnny was having the best and most expect medical care the entire world of science could provide, that no new discoveries at all had come in this field, and that, therefore, hope was nil. " (69). The doctors that were taking care of Johnny tried to think of the best solutions to save his life.
The solutions that the doctors used had been widely range. They used gas, injections, even dieting to help Johnny but nothing helped. " Johnny died at 11: 02 P. M. Frances reached for him...
I felt his arms, cupping my hands around them, and the warmth gradually left them, receding very slowly upward from his hands. " (163). Johnny died while he was resting and he experienced no pain when he died. " Johnny slept on his side, restfully. He never regained consciousness. He died absolutely without fear, and without pain, and without knowing that he was going to die. " (162). Death took the life of Johnny away so easily. Death does what it does and takes the lives of the people we love even when we say it is unfair but that is the way life exists.
We can never understand Death and what the purpose is behind the story of life. People must grow strong in times of despair and look at the better side of reality. Many have considered Death "evil" but, on the other hand, Death is only doing its job just like we do every day. "Death always brings one suddenly face to face with life. Nothing, not even the birth of one's child, brings one so close to life as his death. " (219). My single greatest achievement was that I tried my best to succeed in life. I wanted to strive for the best and I proved that when I learned something.
The knowledge I obtained helped me understand the world that is around me. " The very day after the operation he asked me to bring his physics text to the hospital... " (42). The life I was experiencing set many obstacles but I overcame them as much as I could. One of my biggest obstacles was to overcome my illness. I did not let it get to me and took my life as I wanted. .".. what caused Johnny's spectacular improvement during the winter is unknown. " (111).
One characteristic that I would like to be remembered by is that I never wanted to give up even when all things fail. I showed to everyone that even in a condition that I was experiencing. I still had some fight left in me. " Particularly I remember Johnny's considerateness, even when he got sicker. " (61). The most important thing that I learned is that family is always there when you need them. Family is important to me because they are the ones who love me and take care of me. I feel safe when I see that my family is there. " I was afraid that he might fall. " (144).
One piece of advice that I would my child is to be strong no matter what happens. I want my child to realize that life is precious and should be taken care of always. .".. the love of love, the love of life. " (229). The story Death Be Not Proud by John Gunther, honestly moved my heart. The way that Johnny suffered though this torment was not completely clear to me. His pasting deeply saddened me.
He was a very sweet young boy. I do not understand why Death took such an innocent boy. The style of this story was a biography but also drama. Drama is a style of writing a book that I have not completely get over so easily. When I read that Johnny died, I cried.
That page caught me and I literally cried. I was completely hurt that Johnny died and that his death made a huge impact to me. Anyone that thinks this book is not good, they are highly mistaken. This book is one of the best books I have ever read. When I read this story, the style of writing reminded me of William Shakespeare. John Gunther uses the style of emotion almost like Shakespeare.
The reason for that is Shakespeare uses emotion more to express the ideas and strength of his characters. John Gunther uses the same technique to express the emotion of all his characters of his story. Johnny was a very interesting boy and he was very well loved by his family. He continued his work even when his very life was slipping away from him.
The more Johnny worked the more he felt good about himself. I find that honorable. I pray to God that Johnny soul is in everlasting rest and that his memory will go on forever. I give credit for his father, who wrote this book.
The father saw the goodness of his son and put it down on paper. He wanted to, almost like, immortalize his son. Johnny's father captured the every mood, every emotion to the exact detail. When I was reading this book, I felt like I was there witnessing the whole ordeal. I can almost visualize the exact actions taken place at every moment. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who would like emotional stories or a story of the truth about Death.
This book also makes a point that Death is among us. The very creature that decides when we life and when we die. This book shows that life is precious and should be used to its fullest potential. After reading this book I realized, life is short and that to live a life you need more excitement and more time for yourself.
Life should be taken care because it is the only life we got and we should be thankful for having a life of our own. Bibliography:
Free research essays on topics related to: brain tumor, young boy, style of writing, reading this book, death be not proud
Research essay sample on Death Be Not Proud Reading This Book
