"The world is not a wish granting factory"

Almost everyone has read fairytale stories where the girl gets the guy and they ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after.  However, in reality, that  doesn't always happen.  The novel The Fault in Our Stars by John Green told of the bittersweet story of Hazel Grace and her life as a "side effect" of cancer.  Not to be a spoiler, but the ending was not completely happy.  And this just makes me love the book more, because I can connect with it better.  Hazel and her boyfriend Gus often say, "The world is not a wish granting factory."  This is proven in the book, causing a vivid reality for readers.

One way the world wasn't a wish granting factory for Hazel was when she went to meet Peter Van Houten.  In the book, Van Houten was her all time favorite author of the book An Imperial Affliction which also told of a girl with cancer.  This book, as well as The Fault in Our Stars was realistic because it ended in mid-sentence, possibly showing the reality of how death can arrive.  Because of this, Hazel's  need to know what happened, caused her to arrange to meet him in Amsterdam so he could answer her questions.  However, when she arrives, she uncovers that Van Houten is a pudgy, grumpy, rude and drunken man who refuses to speak of the book.  Overall, this shows the reality that some things you get your hopes up for, end up a disappointment.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!
Another way this book shows the reality of life is when Gus dies of cancer.  In the middle of the book, Hazel and Gus had finally got together and I was so happy for them.  But often, happiness does not last.  Unfortunately, Gus showed results of a cancer relapse.  It was heartbreaking to read about how Hazel took care of him everyday and how their love for each other remained strong throughout the rest of his life.  Overall, this too shows the reality of how life is not always a fairytale.

In conclusion, events in the book prove Gus and Hazel's saying that, "Life is not always a wish granting factory."  At some points, I wanted to throw the book across the room and yell, "How could the author do that to Hazel?"  But it also made me love the book for unleashing reality.  Of course, I'm not saying that everything eventually ends terribly, but not everything is a fairytale either.  The harsh reality of this book mixed in with the humor, love, and genius sayings really make it fantastic.

Hope can Lead to Possibilities

Many people and books and movies and t.v shows talk about the benefits of hope.  Others speak of their futures and possibilities.  For me, I have always put the to into the same category.  I've always felt that there aren't any possibilities unless you have hope in them.  As I read The Oxford Book of American Verse, put together by F.O Mattheissen, two poems by Emily Dickinson spoke of both subjects.  Her poems "I dwell in Possibility," and "Hope is the thing with feathers," allow me to express my opinions of hope and possibility using metaphors.

In the poem, "I dwell in Possibility," Dickinson says that it is "More numerous of windows,/Superior of  doors."  This makes me think about the saying, "when one door closes, another one opens."  This poem and the quote refer to possibilities of walking through a door or window into a place to rebuild and become successful.  However, neither mention how you get through the doors.  In the poem "Hope is the thing with feathers," Dickinson refers to hope as being a bird, "that perches in the soul."  And in my opinion, I believe this bird is the key through escaping the house mentioned in "I dwell in Possibility."  Birds use their wings to fly away, and I think these wings can be a metaphor for escaping through those doors or windows into possibilities.  In conclusion, by using doors and wings, Emily Dickinson has complied with my personal opinion that you can't have possibilities without hope.

Religion

As I continue to read The Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, many issues of religion are brought up.  This is mainly because Pi loves God so much that he wants to be Hindu, Muslim and Christian.  This predicament puts many people of his life in confusion.  Most of them don't understand and tell him he has to pick one.  They say it's impossible to be all three.  However, Pi is puzzled by these remarks and this too makes me think about the purpose of religion, and my view on this.

When the imam, the priest, and the pandit told Pi to choose a religion, Pi replied, "Bapu Ghandi said 'All religions are true .'  I just want to love God."  And for this, I feel that Pi should be allowed to practice all religions.  In every religion, I don't think it's a crime to want to love God.  This also brings up the matter of why we persecute other religions.  Throughout history, people have thought their religion was better.  When England was still the US's mother country, they persecuted anyone but those of the Anglican religion.  During World War II, Jews were severely hurt.  However, if all religions aim to praise a or some type of God, wouldn't it be sinful to try to keep others from it?  Or punish them?  For this reason, I think that in morals, Pi and anyone else should have freedom of religion or religions.