Growing Up As A Whole Person

Author's Note: Finding characteristics about yourself is a part of growing up as a whole person. I have learned that I shouldn't take life for granted as much as I have and have grown up reading this book. This book is very inspiring.

Leaving the life you have always known, is something you couldn’t do. Friends, family, and loved ones all left behind for something that you didn’t want to do. Going through hardships and poverty is a problem that would set you back on your journey for a so called “better life”. Along with moving and hardships you have no idea where anything is or what you can and can’t do in this new place. Freedom of speech in a different place could land you in prison or even be killed for acts against the government. All of these things happened to a brave family in the book The Darkest Evening by William Durbin. If you were in their shoes you would have many thoughts of what could happen in new territory. I could never move from a place that I love to a place where I have to make new friends and meet new people that I would have to encounter. A place with no freedom of speech, hardships and poverty for my family, and having to find a place to live is something I wouldn’t want to encounter in my life.

Reasons for moving to another country or state would be for a “better life”, transferring jobs, or because you aren’t making enough money to stay alive where you are currently living. Children that are very young have no idea what is happening; teenagers on the other hand know how hard moving is. Leaving your friends behind that you have known your entire life. Possibly even leaving a loved boyfriend or girlfriend behind and it makes you very sad that you have to leave them. When I moved from Chicago, Illinois I had no idea what was going on because I was only one years old. If I moved now I would be devastated and wouldn’t want to move. My entire life would be ruined; friendships I’ve build and it would be all ruined. Jake, the main character in this story is forced to move to Russia with his family. He has to leave his entire life behind because of his parents decision. I’ve always thought, why do parents always have to make decisions for us? Aren’t we old enough to know what is right and what is wrong? Parents are parents though, looking out for their children even though children don’t find a point in them doing it. Everyone loves their parents whether they are mad at them or don’t speak to them at all, deep down we all love them but we wish they didn’t make some decisions that affected our lives.

Although moving is tough, the hardships and poverty some people go through can affect their whole life entirely. Back in the 1800’s and early 1900’s poverty was very common, most people had very little money and could barely pay for food. The characters in this story endured this problem, they had to sell all of their belongings just to get money to pay for little supplies. Even though I have never had to live in poverty, I know that it is a difficult time that some people have to go through times that are hard. I wouldn’t want to live in poverty and not be able to eat or not have shelter. Sometimes I do take advantage of what I have, always wanting the latest technology. When I haven’t realized that some people have nothing at all, and are just grateful to have a roof over there heads. While I’m sitting with all of my fancy gadgets and wanting more. A life lesson that I learned by reading this book was to never take life for granted. One moment I could be sitting on top of the world, the next I can be depressed or hurt. Hardships and poverty are no joke, people that are more fortunate complain about little things that can be easily fixed but some people aren’t so fortunate. People that aren’t so fortunate have characteristics that people that have things don’t have like bravery, courage, and outgoing. Most people don’t have these characteristics, but everyone can learn how to have these characteristics.

Even though hardships and poverty show your true character, freedom of speech for every human being should be important, whether you are allowed to speak out against your government or not. The United States has freedom of speech which means you can speech out against your government if you don’t agree with something they are doing. We also have the right to vote for who we would like to be in charge of the government. You won’t be arrested for things you say because you have the right to say what you want. Our government is a democracy and we have more rights than people in other countries. Russia on the other is a communist country and they cannot speak out against there government. Being arrested for something you disagree that your government, it isn’t right. In, The Darkest Evening characters went from having freedom of speech to not having freedom of speech. Most people don’t realize how much freedom of speech matters in the world. Whether it was back in the 1800’s or to the present day. Family members lost for things they have set, or people earning money for turning someone in to the federal government for money. A life for a couple coins and pieces of paper? That is awful to see happen, to anyone. Losing loved ones hurts enough, to see something like freedom of speech have them taken away, is horrible to see.

Moving from one country to another is tough enough, but not knowing what you can and can’t do is also difficult. Going from having freedom of speech to not having that freedom is very hard. Not only is losing your freedom difficult, but the hardships and poverty combined make life difficult to endure. Could you live with not having freedom and having hardships and poverty all at the same time? Most people could not give up their life and live on the streets with barely any money. No one wants to live with these things to deal with, and some people shouldn’t have to go through these things. The message that William Durbin was trying to get to in The Darkest Evening was that you have to fight through the pain caused by things that aren’t so great so that make you feel like a terrible person. Everyone is a great person in their own way and everyone has a purpose for living. Hardships are going to occur in your life but you must be strong with whatever life throws at you. This book inspires me to grow as an entire person, you will find inspiration if you read this book too.