Gabriella Gizzo 11/14/12
Understanding Literature Dr. Ellis
Overcoming Danger
This event analysis is about the second half of Shane and my meditation class for this week. I chose overcoming danger as the title because I think this theme is prevalent in both the short story and my meditation class. In both situations, people gain the inner strength to overcome their biggest struggle or danger.
In the second part of the novel Shane, by Jack Schaefer, the reader notices a change in the behavior of Shane and Joe Starett. In the beginning, both men were very quiet, reserved and avoided conflict with Wilson and Fletcher. However, now Shane and Joe decide to take action. As a result of taking action, Shane demonstrates his tough, protective, strong and wild side. There are many brutal fight scenes between Joe, Shane and Wilson, Fletcher. I was amazed and impressed by this change because it really showed me that Joe and Shane weren’t backing down because they loved that farm and their family. They were going to be strong men and defend themselves by physically overcoming this danger. I also found it interesting how prior to this section; Shane didn’t believe in fighting or violence and walked away from Wilson’s workers when they wanted to fight. However, now Shane participates and finishes the fights because he is constantly victorious. I think both instances convey a lot about Shane’s character because he knows that you can be a man and overcome your dangers in many ways, but it depends on the level of seriousness. In the second half of the novel, Wilson and his workers become more violent and this causes Shane to realize that I have to overcome this danger by taking action.
In the end, Shane does overcome danger by killing Wilson and Fletcher. Shane decided that this was the best solution because he wanted to ensure that the Starett family would never get hurt again. He was tired of those men putting that family through many injustices, so he knew that in order to overcome danger he had to end things once and for all. After that, Shane doesn’t say goodbye to anyone, but just leaves and never comes back. I think that Shane left because he felt that his purpose was to help Joe Starett stand up to Wilson and Fletcher. Shane believed that since he killed them; his job was finished. Shane portrays a message of knowing your purpose in life and fulfilling that purpose.
My meditation class was interesting because I was in such a peaceful mood that I almost fell asleep! I don’t think I have ever been that peaceful or centered with myself that I have actual struggled to stay awake in that class. I know that my body has become used to the sensations of the meditation whether it is the sitting positions, the posture, and the intensity of the breathing. As a result of becoming used to meditation, my body struggled to remain focusing and meditating with the group. I realized that my body has overcome the struggle of physical meditation, but not the mental aspect of meditation. My mental level of focusing still needs improvement. This newfound struggle made me realize that overcoming a big task takes time and happens in small parts. However, I know that one day I will also have overcome this struggle too.
In the end, I really enjoyed reading Shane because its basic theme is so prevalent in our lives. Everybody has hard times and struggles that they must endure, but these struggles teach us lessons and make us into the people that we become. As human beings, we are constantly learning and growing.
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