Protagonist Assignment Thingy

I have only begun reading the first chapter and a half of the book “The Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.” I have been introduced to many characters already but some of the more mentioned characters are Beth (Dave’s sister), Toph (Dave’s little brother), Dave’s mother, and of course Dave (the main character/narrator/author of this book).

In this novel the protagonist is Dave Eggers, a 21 year old young man who has lost both of his parents and now has his little brother to take care of. Dave has a twenty-four year old brother named Bill, a twenty-three year old sister named Beth, and seven year old brother named Toph. Dave’s appearance has not been described in the book yet but, even though there is a picture of him at the back of the book, I imagine him having dark eyes and hair and also a very nice smile. I find him very charming with the way he talks about things. He describes matters passionately but practically, he doesn’t over do it with heartbreaking description that will make readers feel sorry for him. As a reader, when a character goes on and on about all their problems in life I don’t feel sorry for them I just think they are complaining. Eggers finds a way to get his feelings on subjects across but never goes over the top, he moves on and at the same time becomes a stronger character by looking at the bright side of life. This is one thing I admire about Dave, his strength and determination to move on in life with whatever gets thrown at him.

Even though Dave is going through a hard time with his parents’ death and having to take care of his little brother he manages to keep up the humour. This is another thing I like about Dave; he is throwing serious subjects at the reader but will usually back them up with a clever remark to lighten things up.

I can relate quite well to Dave because he reminds me a lot of my oldest brother, Jeremy. They have the same kind of humour and they think the same at times. Dave reminded me most of Jeremy when he started talking about how “People know” (pg. 14). To summarize page fourteen, Dave talked about how if he heard people gossiping about his mother dying he would “... lift them over [his] head and bring them down, break them over [his] knee, their spines like dowels of balsa” (pg.14). All I could think about was when my brother was talking about how he would do something similar to anyone who ever hurt his family or anyone he cared about. The description on page fourteen is violent but I couldn’t help but laugh while reading it because obviously neither Dave nor Jeremy would ever “...pull out hearts and intestines and toss them aside” they just want the point to be across that they would not be happy if anyone were to hurt their family (pg.14). They just have different ways of showing their emotions than others.    

I am excited to keep reading and watch Dave's character transition!

My True Valentine

    I have decided to write a valentine to my mom. I picked my mom because she is the one person I can say so much about. She has done a great deal for me in my life and the least I can do is make her feel special by writing her a little valentine poem.
...Love you mom :)

...

Some may know you as Esther,

Some know you as wife.

I know you as my mom,

What I would do, without you in my life.

No matter what I do

You still love me,

And even when I think I don’t,

There is just no way, that could ever be.

You can be crazy and silly too,

But everyone has their moments,

I just think those moments account especially to you.

You may think I’m being mean

And gang up on you.

But you know it’s all out of love,

You have to love the attention too.

From I miss my mommy,

To leave me alone,

How could I ever mean such words?

With all the love that you have shown.

On this day of love,

I write to you to and say,

Will you be my valentine today?

...

There is much more I could say about/to my mama, but this is what I came up with.. for now anyways!
... Enjoy!

The Little Monster

   Sometimes in life, the greatest challenges we face are with ourselves. Even if that challenge is something small, like facing a spider.

   Spending my Saturday with my Grandma wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. We went walking around Steveston eating frozen yogurt, laughing at the funny stories we told each other. The lovely Saturday came to an end as I said, "Good night" to my Grandma. With all the walking I did today I expected myself to fall right asleep, but for some reason I was wide awake! To my luck there was a television where I was sleeping, so I began to flick through the channels.

   I settled in to the couch as best as I could, trying to make it feel like my own bed. I lay bundled up on the couch in the darkness of the small room with the only light being the TV glare. As I watched "The Simpsons" my eyes began to get heavy and just before I my eyelids came to a close I saw something move from the corner of my eye. I jerked my head towards the direction of the movement to see this, thing. Eight hairy long legs creeping upside the bottom of the wall like it owned the place. My eyes widened even more as I realized how big this spider was. I began to pinch myself in hopes that I was only dreaming. But this was not a dream it was my nightmare. My first reaction was to get my Grandma to destroy this beast. But there was no way I could wake my Grandma from her deep sleep.

   I looked around the room for something, anything that could kill this being other than me. My eyes narrowed in on Bella, my Grandmas pug, sleeping on the other couch. I grabbed the dog and forced her in front of the spider trying to nudge her to eat it. But of course all this lazy pug does is jump right back up on to the couch. 

   After several times of trying to get Bella to devour the creepy-crawly I gave up. I was much too afraid to kill this animal myself, so I went back on the couch and tried to forget about the spider. But as I lay there, all I could think about was the spider crawling up on to the couch while I sleep and swarming my body.

  The only way this spider will die is if I do it myself. I started to feel strength I have never felt before. It was like nothing could scare me at this point. I tip toed into the kitchen to grab a pan to squish the evil species. I held the pan by the handle with my slippery hand. I inched closer and closer to my enemy until I was at a perfect distance to strike. I gave my hands a final wipe on my pajama pants for a better grasp on the handle. I closed my eyes and imagined myself hitting the spider. This was it, the moment of truth. I wound my arm back while taking a deep breath in and snap! I fling the pan onto the spider like a slingshot. I pressed down hard on the pan to ensure the eerie eight-legged monster was dead, and lifted up my weapon to reveal the lifeless creature. 

   As I crawled back into bed I let out a sigh of not only relief but of admiration of my daring bravery as well. Then finally, I rested my eyes and drifted away with not a worry in the world about spiders.

   This event taught me that no matter what challenge, big or small, comes my way I should always deal with the challenge myself. If I had dealt with the spider dilemma myself in the first place, I could have got to bed a lot sooner. But instead of handling the crisis myself I looked for ways out. For example, trying to get my Grandmas dog Bella to eat the spider. I learned that facing a challenge on my own me feel stronger and better about myself.