The Climb Towards Tenacity free essay sample

It was three in the morning when the black van pulled up to the hotel. A tall man with crazy hair climbed out and greeted us. Half asleep, I clambered into the car, and hours later; I awoke to the sight of the desert and the driver swerving through the barren road. He pulled into a parking lot and I unsteadily got out of the car and stared at the mountain. â€Å"Come on, yalla! Let’s go!† He shoved a water bottle into my hand as we started the climb. I knew the stories and facts about the landmark. In the final accords of the First Jewish-Roman War, a siege of Masada by the Roman army led to a mass suicide of the Jews living on the mountain. It is one of the Jewish people’s great symbols, an ironic icon of survival in the face of adversity. The guide reminded me of the story as I stepped over rocks and stumbled up the narrow stone steps. We will write a custom essay sample on The Climb Towards Tenacity or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As we dragged on, I learned more about the guide. His name was Avi Goren—a medal-winning soldier who fought in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He drove tanks throughout the war; every tank he drove was attacked and the soldiers inside injured. In many of these instances, Avi was the only survivor of the attack. Injured, he repeatedly left the tank into open fire to retrieve bodies for proper burial. As he told the story, I could see the emotions and hardships he was carrying with him. He is the bravest man I know, for, regardless of what he went through, he continues on with courage and selflessness. He finished his story as we reached the top of Masada and we sat down to watch the sunrise over the Israeli desert. When the sun reached the top of the sky we toured the ruins of the ancient mountaintop fortress. We moved through the beautiful architecture of the bathhouse and the aqueducts and I tried to imagine the difficult choice my ancestors had to make. As the story goes, the Rom ans seized the fortress and instead of allowing themselves to be captured and enslaved, the Jewish people inhabiting the fortress took their own lives as an act of defiance. They realized that to surrender their freedom would be worse than death. By keeping the Jewish flame alive, they became a symbol of triumph of the Jewish spirit. After the tour, we started the grueling walk down the mountain. The sun was at full height, raising the temperature to 110 degrees. With my next step, my ankle rolled and I fell to the ground. I felt the prickle of tears and I nursed the searing pain in my foot as two options flashed before my eyes: turn around and take the cable car, or, continue my pilgrimage regardless of my injury. I thought of the perseverance that the people of Masada and Avi had in the face of adversity, and knew I simply had to continue. After many painful steps, I limped over to the car and replayed the last few hours in my head. Perseverance in the face of affliction: the Jew ish people are always overcoming hardships, and as we move forward and celebrate the Hanukkah miracle or being saved from slavery in Egypt, we must remember the importance of maintaining the Jewish light and spirit. As I finished my climb of Masada, I started a new climb towards strength and courage as my Jewish ancestors and heroes did before me.

The Field Written by John B. Keane

The Field Written by John B. Keane The Field is a play written by John B. Keane. The play is set in a small village of Southwest Ireland. The main character, Bull McCbe, is a man who transforms a barren rocky piece of land to a fertile field. Years of commitment, hard labor, and dedication enabled him to achieve all these.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Field Written by John B. Keane specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More He cultivated this land for a very long time. He even considered owning it. The owner of the plot finally decided to sell it through public auction. To McCbe, this was an opportunity to own the field. Somehow, McCbe succeeded in keeping the town people out of the bid. This disappointed Mick Flanagan, the auctioneer. Much of this was through intimidation. The arrival of William Dee surprised McCbe. The American was on the mission of acquiring land in order to be accepted as part of the societal member. Together with his son, McCbe set out on a mission to convince the stranger to withdraw his bid. Their encounter ended fatally because the stranger was killed. Subsequently, villagers covered-up the story. McCabe was so concerned with his farming to an extent that he did not care about his family. The play explores the importance of land to the people of Ireland during the 20th century. This is observed in the beginning of the play when the father claimed that land was what mattered. He advised the son to acquire huge tracts of land before marrying. He even sacrificed his life for land. He advised his son not to marry a woman who did not own land. Though the actions of MacCbe appeared cruel and violent, they should be understood in a positive way. He was fighting to keep the land because it was a source of livelihood. Moreover, land was important to his children. John Keane uses strong narrative lines that create suspense. In spite of his intimidating character, the villagers still supported him. They beat up the st ranger and killed him, but vehemently protected the McCabe family. The villagers did not trust the legal institutions at all. This is seen from the way they addressed the sergeant, the father, and the Bishop. When Leamy accused McCabe of being a bully, his mother labeled him a weak man who was very different from the rest of men. However, Leamy claimed that the whole village would forget the injustices meted out to innocent people, but his experiences would be remembered forever. This is associated with events that develop later in the play. The death of the son resulted from his father’s stubbornness. The father did actions that really put the son in a compromising position. Tadgh McCabe was always in agreement with his father’s decision. For instance, they had teamed up with his father at night to formulate the ways through which they could kill the stranger. His father’s stubbornness aimed at stopping anybody from interfering with his interests.Advertising Looking for essay on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More His main interest was acquisition of land. Tadgh and his father McCabe succeeded initially to convince the town people to support them. The truth, however, came out later and contributed greatly to the death of Tadgh. The son died while trying to protect his land from perceived grabbers. This was because of his father’s stubborn teachings. The father informed the priest about the death of the villager, who reported the case to the widow. What was happening in that village was not in line with the international norms and standards. Technology was everywhere and could not be stopped. The society described in the text was lagging behind culturally because marriage could be sacrificed for land. The son could not subscribe to his father’s ideas. In other words, everything they did involved land, which forced the son to escape with his lover.