Myths give lessons that we use everyday without us even knowing. The story of Icarus was included in this chapter about him not listening to his father because he was a daredevil. They both made wax wings to fly to the Mainland and the father made it safely. However, Icarus did not make it because he didn't listen to his father and he flew too close to the sun. The connection I can make is with the movie "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas." Icarus was a daredevil and didn't listen to his father which resulted in his death. He chose to fly too close to the sun and he chose to disobey his father. This story is told to many disobedient children to scare them. "If you don't listen to your parents, you're sure to turn out like Icarus." However, in "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," Bruno, the main character, also does not listen to his parents. They tell Bruno to not go into the backyard and to play in the front. However, no one can take away the passion for adventure from a little boy. Bruno finds Shmuel on the other side of the fence which holds a concentration camp. The two boys become best friends but unfortunately for the both of them, they wound up in a gas chamber because Shmuel was looking for his father. Although Icarus lost his life from not listening to his father, he did it because that was just the type of person that he was. However, Bruno disobeyed his parents as well, but he did it with purpose. He had no friends and so he found Shmuel. He wanted to help Shmuel find his father so he changed into the "striped pajamas." Bruno also lost his life, but his story is more about bravery and he showed many people what the definition of a real friendship truly is. So why isn't his story told as much as the story of Icarus? He sacrificed a life for a friend and that's something we should be praising and educating children about heros who don't have to be adults. Adult wisdom and adolescent recklessness is something that keeps society in balance. But adolescent recklessness is how the adults acquire their wisdom.
Another thing I really enjoyed from this chapter was the inclusion of the story of Achilles. It's interesting to know that Achilles was angry because Agamenmnon, his leader, steals the war prize which is a woman. Something that wasn't mentioned, however, was the fact that Achilles had a weakness, which was his ankle. Which is weird to think about a hero who has fought off many other monsters. Achilles was big on dignity and after the ankle incident, it wasn't too pretty. Another comparison I can make is between Hercules and Achilles. The story ended better for Hercules, though, because he was reunited with his father, Zeus, but decided to stay on Earth with Meg. Hercules went the distance and had no weaknesses. He learned many things throughout his journey because his goal was to be reunited with Zeus but decided he wanted to stay with Meg. This tale also has a moral: heroes don't have to be war heroes to be heroes because a hero isn't measured by the by the size of his strength, but by the size of their heart. (That's why I thought of Bruno and Hercules and loved this chapter!)
I can't wait to finish this book because it really has opened up my eyes to a lot of windows and I feel like I am really understanding literature. I'm glad this book is expanding my views and actually helping me find deeper meanings of text on my own.
