Good vs evil in Shakespeares Macbeth Essay Example for Free

Good vs evil in Shakespeares Macbeth Essay The play Macbeth is a very tragic one. It is about the downfall of a hero who is led by temptation to mass murder and cruelty. Shakespeare uses various styles and techniques to display very evidently how Macbeths character develops as the story progresses, and thus we see how Macbeth turns from good to evil, from a valiant cousin and worthy gentleman to a bloody butcher. The play tells the story of how a noble warrior, Macbeth, descends into evil after meeting with three witches supernatural beings who prophesy Macbeths destiny. He is told he will become King of Scotland, and this idea of gaining power leads him to murder the king, take his throne and then continue his murder spree on seemingly whoever he feels like. Eventually Macbeth is slain and order is restored in Scotland. From the very start we have progressively come to abhor Macbeth, however, we cannot help but feel a certain admiration for him. But much more we have a sense of irony and waste: irony because some sterling qualities have been put to such evil use, waste because Macbeth was a potentially great man who was lost. . Macbeth is a play concerned wholly with the battle between good and evil throughout the play we continually see signs of a supernatural struggle between the two, with evil winning over good when Macbeth murders the king, but then good finally defeating evil when Macbeth is slain. In fact, in the very opening scene we see signs of supernatural happenings and evil the witches: Fair is foul and foul is fair; Hover through the fog and filthy air Here we see that, to the witches, what is evil is good (foul is fair) and what is good they find repulsive (fair is foul). This seems to be their attitude to life, but it could also be a warning to the audience that things to follow are not what they might seem. The first we hear of Macbeth is with praises to his name. He is called brave Macbeth, valiant cousin and worthy gentleman, fighting a war for God, king and country. For brave Macbeth well he deserves that name Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel, Which smoked with bloody execution However, it is in scene III that good and evil collide, when Macbeth meets with the witches. Some say that this is the beginning of Macbeths downfall, as in his first soliloquy he has already thought of the idea of murdering his king. This small seed planted in his mind will soon sprout and he will indeed commit treason. Already, the audience loses their adoration for Macbeth as we see his mental frailty and evil intention. The question at hand is what Macbeth should do; is he determined on evil intent or is divine intervention the answer? He contemplates this, and decides that it is not worthwhile to throw everything away for one guilty conscience, instead the solution is murder. We are soon introduced to Lady Macbeth, and it becomes clear that she is the ambition, the driving force, behind her husband. To Lady Macbeth, her husband is brave, loving, ambitious yet he is too noble to fulfil the third prophesy. Lady Macbeth then calls upon evil spirits to make her ruthless so she can kill Duncan. Come you spirits, That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the top toe-full Of direst cruelty; make thick my blood. After reading the letter, she already has a plan brewing. However, she fears Macbeths nature. yet I do fear thy nature, it is too full othmilk of human kindness, Thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it, What thou wouldst highly, that wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, And yet wouldst wrongly win. The planning of the murder of Duncan is one of the most important sections of this tragedy. Here we see a conflict in Macbeths character, one side wants him to commit the murder, while the other wants to let fate take its course. In a way it is due to his wife that Macbeth is finally persuaded into committing treason. This shows one of the flaws in his character, which Shakespeare exposes. A while after Macbeth has certain misgivings about the affair. In his mind he argues out the advantages and disadvantages. The good side of him says that hes here in double trust I am his kinsman and subject, as his host who should against his murderers shut the door, not bear the knife myself. The more cunning party says that his virtues will plead like angels trumpet-tongued against the deep-damnation of his taking off, but only vaulting ambition, which oerleaps itself and falls on the other,twere well it were done quickly, but this blow might be and the end all here, bloody instructions, which being taught, return to plague th inventor. Yet he cannot maintain this spark of morality as, under the influence of his wife he commits treachery. After the murder Macbeth experienced remorse, guilt and regret, still revealing his nobility. I am afraid to think what I have done he says. He is troubled by his conscience, he realizes that he is cut off from heaven. He is in fact so hampered in his actions by the conflict between his knowledge that he has committed the crime and his abhorrence of it, that he becomes immobile. Macbeths evil is so great that he cannot even say amen to his prayer ,I could not say amen. By now he realizes he is too deep into his acts of violence to turn back. Macbeth has confused the values of good and evil. That is, he has confused fair and foul, which confusion has all along been the devils aim. Macbeth has completely committed himself to evil. Macbeth still thinks of himself as a man, and as such would rather die than suffer the indignity of being baited with the rabbles curse. This feeling in him reminds us of the worthy Macbeth at the beginning of the play. We also see that he still has the courage to act on his convictions, desperate though that courage may be. For he knows now that he must die. He fights as a man. Macduff and Macbeth fight which signifies the ever on-going battle between good and evil. Eventually Macbeth is slain and the evil has been stopped in Scotland good has triumphed, as Malcom is crowned the new King.

Worst Car Accident I Have Ever Had Essay Example for Free

Worst Car Accident I Have Ever Had Essay I felt a big thud at the front of my truck, and at that moment I did not know what had happened. Seconds later I felt my body turning with the vehicle. I grasped the wheel really hard with both of my hands, while the glass shattered in to pieces. My head, my chest, and my arms were soaking in blood. My heart was beating very fast. I thought it was the end of my life. That summer day on 2004, I was driving back from work in the afternoon and I took the South Beltway 8. When I was passing under the bridge on Harwin Street, the car in from of me suddenly move to the left lane. After that, I heard a heavy blow and my pick up truck went flying into the air. I did not know at that moment what happened. Later, when all was calm, I got out the truck, and I sat on the pavement. It was an amazing picture. I was very nervous while and arms bled from the wounds. Immediately, the paramedics and police had arrived, while a helicopter was flying over the area of the accident. I waited for the paramedics to come to my aid. Then they placed me on the stretcher very carefully and took me to the ambulance. The paramedics took my blood pressure and quicky wrapped my head in bandages. I also remember seeing a police officer who entered the ambulance only to put me a traffic ticket. I simply told the police officer that it was not my fault, that someone had left his car in the middle of the freeway. The ambulance took about ten minutes to arrive to the Southwest Memorial Hospital. I remember that in the Hospital they took many x-rays, and put me on a machine to get a scan. There was not found internal bleeding. Then the doctor said that the wounds were not so serious. I spent almost three hours at the hospital. I had not called my family, because I did not want them to worry. When I arrived at my home, I told my wife all about the accident. Finally, after a long day. I sat in a chair on the balcony of my house. I thought about the terrible accident that had happened. According to this experience I learned that life is to short and nobody knows the future and I never thought that I would had such a serious accident.

A Look At Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe English Literature Essay

A Look At Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe English Literature Essay Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe (1719) is regarded as the most notable forerunner of the English Novel or to some extent the first English Novel. It was written at the beginning a century that witnessed great changes in the economic order. The cognoscenti have dealt with the character of Robinson Crusoe, bringing out several points of view. The motive of this piece of work is to study Crusoes philosophy about trade, religion and non-Europeans in its historical background. These three facets of Crusoes personality are inherently connected with each other and are thus fundamental to an appreciation of Crusoes mindset and character. His disposition towards dealings and religion is prompted by realistic considerations. He capitalizes on non-Europeans and is backed by spiritual beliefs in his discriminating treatment. The next consideration of the three main aspects of Crusoes nature will help us to grasp his character and inform us of the prevalent trends of the Eighteenth Century. Right from the beginning, Crusoe appears to be a star-crossed navigator and tradesman, however his ambitions are not impeded by shipwrecks and captivity. He is not the archetype of a man who could be impelled to abandon his Marxist principles by bad luck; contrariwise these misfortunes and his defencelessness tend to become a driving force. Robinson has the personality of a well-bred dealer whom setback or hardship does not break but whose perseverance and composure are magnified. Such mischance adds to his wisdom and predisposes him to future challenges. He never omits any scope for investment and commerce. In Brazil, besides exploring other opportunities for making money, he cautiously inspects the land, the plantations, and the regulation of the country. Crusoe undoubtedly inherited his methodical and businesslike way of living from his natal home in York. To put down roots as a planter in Brazil, it is needed to acquire property and obtain an allowable license. He makes profits on the situation and starts out to contemplate future prospects as a prosperous planter. Crusoe is the only one who survives from the hapless shipwreck. Although the craft is filled with water, he takes all the useful items to the island. He dwells on this remote island thanks to his remarkable shrewdness. His living the supervision of the resources on the isle and his discrimination in the dreariest details of everyday life are germane to his mercantile interests. Albeit he calls money a Drug and nasty, sorry, useless Stuff he does not get rid of it but rather encases it in a piece of canvas and preserves it for the future. Robinson Crusoes life as a dynamic trader arises out of his arrival in Lisbon after having spent more than twenty-eight years on the island. It is as though he were leading off a new life from scratch inquiring about the state of his plantation in Brazil and aiming at renewing his old trade contacts. He discovers that his plantation is still thriving and earns from its profits over five thousand pounds in sterling silver. Thenceforth, he disposes of his plantings and takes up residence in England. Crusoes feeling about nature is likewise practical. He exploits the island exclusively for his own subsistence and satisfaction and feels no aesthetic gladness form its magnificent scenery. He just fusses about the improvement of his land and has no leisure to notice that the island provides a beautiful landscape. Crusoes sole pleasure comes from examining his goods: I had everything so ready at my Hand and that is was a great Pleasure to me to see all my Goods in such order and especially to find my Stock of all Necessaries so great. He always pleaded for his freedom when he was on the Island of Despair. But after his deliverance, and on getting back home, he is not inclined to overlook the investment he has made in the island. Apart from his nostalgic association for him, the island is linked to his commercial motives. He writes: Besides this I shard the island into parts with em, reservd to myself the Property of the whole, but gave them such Parts respectively as they agred on; and having settld all Things with them, and engagd them not to leave the Place, I left them there. Crusoes penchant for mercantilism proves to be surprisingly realistic and precautionary; his thrifty investments have brought him a substantial coming back. He is an affluent tradesman and his adventures represent the virtues of individualism and absolute economic, social and intellectual freedom for the individual. Despite the recurrent religious cogitations in Defoes story, we are aware that it would be inaccurate to take the purpose of the novel or even its central theme as being pious in nature. Intuitively assessed, the book looks secular, more instantly and more steadily concerned with a mans earthly fulfillment than with his duty towards the Providence under the guidance of religion. After returning to England, Crusoes comparison of himself to the biblical character Job in chapter XXIX displays much about how he gives his martyrdom religious meaning: I might well say now indeed, that the latter End of Job was better than the Beginning. It is impossible to express here the Flutterings of my very Heart when I looked over these Letters and especially when I found all my Wealth about me; for as the Brazil Ships come all in Fleets, the same Ships which brought my Letters brought my Goodsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ . Like Job, whose religious devotion was gauged by God through the deprivation of family and wealth, Crusoe is dispossessed of his money while nonetheless pledging allegiance to the Deity. In a similar way, the protagonists pride in escaping the middle Station is a mark of Greek mythology in which the characters suffer from hubris and are therefore scourged by their sin. His fathers dictum sounds like a prophetic statement for Crusoes predicament: Boy might be happy if he would stay at Home, but if he goes abroad he will be the most miserable Wretch that was ever born. He unremittingly ponders over his connection with the Lord throughout the novel and how much God is penalizing him for his wicked Days. Halfway through the novel, Robinson, after a long rumination on whether religion allowed him to murder without warning or provoking the cannibals on the island, ends by observing that they might kill him. His observation is: Religion joyned in with this prudentialà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦me. Religion has a way of concurring with the protection and comfort of Defoes fictional character. As we said previously, Crusoes maiden imprudence is going off to sea without his fathers consent, which is viewed by him and is considered to be so viewed by us, as deliberate insubordination to God, that these calamities are meant to lead him into remorse for his offence and into the pardon and kindness of God, and that his ultimate prosperity is a proof of Gods care for him. Despite the dramatic events, Crusoes temperament does not seem to alter, even if he is in a state of sin or of repentance. The necessity of repentance is a key element in the novel. The Preface indicates the moral and religious dimensions of the story, which states that Crusoes travelogue is published to instruct others in Gods wisdom and the importance of repenting ones sins: The Story is told with Modesty, with Seriousness, and with a religious application of Events to the Uses to which wise Men always apply them to the Instruction of others by this Example, and to justify and honour the Wisdom of Providence in all the Variety of our Circumstances, let them happen how they will. Crusoe needs compunction most when he is told from the fiery angelic figure that comes to him during a feverish hallucination and says: Seeing all these Things have not brought you to repentance, now you shall die. He believes that his major sin is his rebellious behaviour towards his father, which he compares to a biblical reference: I have been in all my Circumstances a Memento to those who are touched with the general Plague of Mankind, whence, for ought I know, one half of their Miseries flow; I mean, that of not being satisfyd with the Station wherein God and Nature has placd them; for not to look back upon my primitive Condition, and the excellent Advice of my Father, the Opposition to which was, as I may call it, my original Sin. It is akin to Adam and Eves defiance of God, which may suggest that Crusoes exile from civilization symbolizes Adam and Eves expulsion from Eden. According to Robinson, contrition consists of acknowledging his desolation and his complete reliance upon the Lord. A main part of the plot of the novel relies on the fact that Crusoe is shipwrecked on the island as Gods way of bringing him to repentance and redemption. On several occasions in the novel, Defoe achieved a kind of grandeur of vision; in which the might and majesty of God are praised: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I had now brought my state of lifeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦next to miraculous. Here the Puritan sense of the grace of God for an unworthy sinner is well-expressed. It is unlikely that a hypocrite would pen these lines. If the intensity of religious belief appears less in Defoe and the concern with substantial success greater than in the works of his puritan predecessors, that intensity of feeling is yet anything but missing. This may seem the mark of a hypocritical religious belief, despising the wealthy yet labouring to achieve them, but to the Puritan, there is nothing contradictory in this. The most unpleasant leitmotiv in Defoes novel is the way Crusoe behaves towards non-Europeans. The fact that his attitude is very repulsive arouses our interest, for it assures us to understand the foundations of British Imperialism that were being laid at when the novel was written. There is no possibility but that the opinions expressed by Crusoe are those of the author as well. We know enough of Defoes own political career as an agent of the Prime Minister who made the treaty endowing Great Britain with its slaving rights, Sir Robert Harely, to be certain he was in concord with British policy. Moreover it is obvious that Defoe is manifesting his casual sense of superiority to non-Europeans, as shown by his readers sympathy, even to the point of making native humour one of the interests of the novel. We shall consider four aspects of Robinson Crusoe before trying to come to some conclusion: the jocular use of language to characterize non-Europeans; the prejudice practiced by Crusoe; Crusoes belief that other peoples should work for him; and his reflections on nationality. The first part of the demonstration seems innocuous, but it is not. The problem lies in the fact that both Xury and Friday speak very bad English indeed. Concerning Xury, the thing that may surprise us is that he speaks English, because we are told that Crusoe had no fellow-Europeans to communicate with while he was at Sallee. We should expect that he and his fellow slaves would speak Turkish or Arabic or Berber, some language that is used in the Maghreb. Nevertheless Xury speaks bad English in conversing with Crusoe. As for Friday, he could not utter a word in English before meeting Crusoe. Yet, his English is no better than Xurys, even after some three or four years of continual conversation in English. Despite this, other foreigners, from Europe like the Portuguese sea-captain, speak completely good English. Now the vernacular is one mark, a most meaningful sign, of the equivalence between human beings. That Defoe presents Xury and Friday thus, making funny use of their defective English, has the insidious effect of making us perceive them as somehow inferior to Crusoe and to Englishmen in general. The second thing to clarify is another token of Crusoes discrimination. In the episode where Crusoe, after having decided not to interfere in the cannibalistic customs of the Indians on the island, changes his mind on the spur of the moment and does interfere, the reason of his intervention is that one of the victims is a European. This could be abstractly justified, on the basis of Crusoes concept of nationalities. Still, this would be too insubstantial to account for the strength of Crusoes reaction. Fridays pronouncement that one of the victims is a European fired all the very Soul within him. He was filled with Horror at the very Naming of the white bearded man, whom he saw vividly was a European, and had clothes on. Such a fact clearly unfolds Crusoes real sympathy for Europeans, whatever he might say in calmer moments. The coming idea we have referred to is not easy to elaborate. We can pay attention to the fact that Crusoe is never disposed to acknowledge a relation on equal terms with non-Europeans. He purposely strives for appearing to them awe-inspiring and assumes, as a matter of course, that they should be willing to offer up their lives for his privilege. Lastly, the fourth aspect to expound is that Crusoes concept of nationalities, though not racist, seems to be prejudiced against the bulk of native peoples who are seen as evil and deserving of Gods punishment. It is true that he leaves it to God to punish them, but the expression of the theory is meant to limit our empathy for them. In the following paragraph Crusoe goes on to observe: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦we did not know by what Light and Law these should be condemned; but that as God was necessarily, and by the Nature of His Being, infinitely holy and just, so it could not be, but that if these Creatures were all sentenced to Absence from himself; it was on Account of sinning against the Lightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.

Antigone and Ismene :: English Literature Essays

Antigone and Ismene Tragic heroes are generally people of high social stature with a tragic flaw that usually manifests itself in the form of poor judgment and arrogance, condemning the hero to a disastrous end and establishing the character’s destiny. Antigone is a tragic heroine deeply conflicted between her virtue and her hubris, personifying courage in her civil disobedience against criminal "leadership." A product of incest, her very existence is shameful, but perhaps this is why Antigone has such a burning desire for righteousness. She has great regard for following tradition, and a compulsion to follow these traditions even at the cost of her own life. Sacrifice is one of her qualities and she is ready to die for what she believes in. She shows disdain for Ismene’s cowardice and tendency to be a fair-weather friend. Her reprisals against traitors are especially fiery. Her concern for family becomes almost an unhealthy obsession, and her selflessness is soon shown to be madness and self-infliction. Being a tragic heroine, she shows excellence of character and bravery, but her fatal flaw is that her will to please the gods is greater than her will to preserve her own life. In the end, uncompromised rigidity is her downfall. She obeys the laws of the gods and is careless about the mortal law’s penalty, her own death. Antigone does not understand the need to act according to humanity’s place in the scheme in things, one’s pleasing of the gods should continue up until the point when it puts ones life in danger. Our heroine shows hubris by breaking the rule of the golden mean, not because she is egotistical, but because her head gets in the clouds when she believes herself to be a high and mighty enforcer of virtue. This is a form of arrogance, which Zeus despises. Her conception of justice is so rigid that she puts herself in harm’s way, which is not at all honorable in the eyes of the Greeks. Her ‘holier than thou’ quest has gone too far, and she is stubborn and irrational, lacking the common sense the Greeks so valued. One example of Antigone’s extremely twisted vision of unbending idealism is when she told Ismene she wouldn’t care if she yelled incriminations about the burial from the rooftops, an unnecessary passion and clear disregard of moderation. The exact opposite of her sister, Ismene is, according to Greek conventional wisdom of the time, functioning ideally in her moderation, aware that it is vital not to overstep her boundaries in the overall scheme of things.

Essay on Robert Frosts The Road Not Taken - It Made All the Difference

The Road Not Taken: All the Difference Each person must make many decisions in their lifetime. Some decisions are easy while others are more difficult. The poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is a first person narrative tale of a monumental moment in Frost’s life. Frost is faced between the choice of a moment and a lifetime. Walking down a rural road the narrator encounters a point on his travel that diverges into two separate similar paths. In Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken", Frost presents the idea of man facing the difficult unalterable predilection of a moment and a lifetime. This idea in Frost's poem is embodied in the fork in the road, the decision between the two paths, and the speaker's decision. Man's life can be metaphorically related to a physical journey filled with many twists and turns. Through out this journey there are instants where choices between alternate paths have to be made- the route man decides to take is not always an easy one to determine. The fork in the road represents the speaker's encounter of having to choose from two paths a direction that will affect his the rest of his life ( ). Frost presents to the reader a moment in anyone's life where an arduous problematic choice has to be made. There are an abundance of options in life man faces; Frost symbolizes this into the diverging of the two paths in his poem. The decision for which path to choose from can be hard to accept, just as the revelation of the choices. The two paths represent the options man has to choose from. Faced with these decisions, man has to weigh his options carefu... ...e ways. Faced with very similar choices man tries to examine what they have to offer, but often is not able to for tell the consequences. Man can opt to go the common route, which is the more reliable, and have a common life or he can choose the less common route, which is unknown and often difficult, and have a unique life that stands out above everyone else's life. The choices a person makes in life are ultimately responsible for their future, yet at the same time a person can never go back to the past and experience other possibilities. It is unfeasible to predict the outcomes of capital decisions we make; often it is essential to make these decisions fixed on nothing more than questioning which selection will provide fulfillment. In the end, we reflect over the decisions we have made, and like Frost, sigh, discovering they have made "all the difference."

Piano by D. H. Lawrence Essay -- Piano D. H. Lawrence Essays

â€Å"Piano† by D. H. Lawrence   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The poem Piano, by D. H. Lawrence describes his memories of childhood. Hearing a woman singing takes him to the time when his mother played piano on Sunday evenings. In the present, this woman is singing and playing the piano with great passion. However, the passionate music is not affecting him, because he can only think about his childhood rather than the beauty of the music that exists in his actual space.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"A woman is singing† softly to the speaker â€Å"in the dusk.† The speaker is describing the place he is at in the present moment. It’s partially dark, and a woman is singing to him. As he listens to the woman’s soft voice, he remembers the time when he was little. He says that it is taking him â€Å"back down the vista of years,† till he sees â€Å"a child sitting under the piano.† This child is the speaker.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The child is â€Å"sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings,† and he is â€Å"pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.† When the speaker was a child, he used to be under the piano where the strings were tingling since his mother was playing the piano. He used to press his mother’s feet, which were in balance. His mother was singing with a smile on her face.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The speaker sees this scenery in his mind. As a reader, I can even imagine him standing in a dark room looking at a woman singing and imagining his old days with his mother. Using the picturesque words such as â€Å"softly,† â€Å"dusk...

Death Changes Everything

Imogen is a thirteen year old girl. Her family consists of two older brothers, a dad called George, and a step-mother called Jenny. Her grandparents died, when she was a little, except a grandmother on her dads' side of the family called Mary. Her mother also died. Now all she has is a picture which she looks at every morning when she wakes up and just before she goes to bed. Jenny is an evil step-mother. Like one of those from a fairy tale. She seems to love George but hates children and wants nothing to do with them. In front of George she acts kindly towards them and makes an effort to communicate but when he's not around she just ignored them. Jenny is considered completely useless to the three kids. She sits at home watching television all day, she doesn't bother to clean the house or cook and instead she hires a maid and pays her to do the job. This isn't the type of mother role model that Imogen needs. She needs someone who could show her new things like teaching her how to cook complicated dishes for special occasions. Even though Imogen is well-behaved, she still needs a mother to go shopping with, to gossip with and have some mother, daughter time with. All these things could be done with friends but it's different when it's your mother. A mother gives advice that friends might not have experienced yet. George, Imogens' father, plays a big role in her life. He's a successful lawyer and Imogen takes him as her role model. George is a loving father who's always there for Imogen, helping her to make the right choices in life, encouraging her to study just that little bit harder for exams. He's not that big a role model for the boys as he is for Imogen but that's because they have other things on their mind instead of working hard to get a good education. Perfect. That's what Imogen is. She is a bright teenager with high ambitions of following her fathers' footsteps in becoming a lawyer. She has big, blue eyes, long, wavy hair and is short but extremely mature for her age. She loves school as much as cats loves mice and her friends are reliable, trustworthy and support her through thick and thin no matter what happens. Tom and Adam were two charming boys who had a way with the ladies. They were good students right up to the point of puberty. Usually girls are the ones with mood swings, but not in this case. They started misbehaving in class, then skipping lessons and finally stopped going to school altogether. Now they, unlike their sister, hate school. When in school they do everything to get themselves out and when out drinking alcohol, taking drugs were only a few of the things they do. They never seemed to understand how their own blood could love school so much. Imogens grandmother Mary was, in Imogens opinion, the nicest grandmother that ever lived. She lives abroad in Spain but visits regularly. She's loves all three children very much, she respects them and treats them like grown-ups. She is very healthy and lives life to the maximum, goes on holidays a lot, and is not scared of anything. Every time Mary visit's the country and they go shopping, Mary buys Imogen anything she asks for. Every morning, Imogens house, starts off the same way. She wakes up to the sound of her annoying brothers arguing with Jenny about how she doesn't have to act nicely in front of George and make them breakfast but this Monday morning she woke up to the sound of rain tapping at her window. She jumped out of bed, kissed her mothers photo, got washed and put her school uniform on. Walking down the stairs she noticed Jenny trying to make breakfast, with no complaints from the twins. That was because she was making pancakes and George was there watching his sons every move. She sat down next to Adam and as he turned around to ask Jenny for more food, he knocked over the glass of orange juice that was beside him, making it spill all over Imogens' school skirt. Walking back up the stairs to her bedroom, she slipped and bumped her knee onto the hard flood. She got up slowly and crawled to her bedroom. Rummaging through her closet she tried to find her other skirt. Realising it was in the laundry basket she walked over, got it out and put the malodorous skirt on. â€Å"That's disgusting!† said her twin brothers as they walked past her bedroom â€Å"It's not that dirty!† she lied The skirt wasn't literally dirty it just smelled. To take the smell away she went into the bathroom and smothered herself with perfume. Running back down the stairs she slipped and landed onto the side of her foot, hurting her ankle. Sitting on the floor thinking of how much pain was caused to her this morning she realised it was the start of a bad day. Looking up at the clock in the living room, it read quarter past eight. She was late. Today was the day of her first GCSE exam and Imogen wanted to get to school earlier than usual so that she could have enough time to go over the topics she wasn't very confident with. Now, if she took the bus, it would be impossible. George had still not left for work. He was standing in the kitchen reading a newspaper and drinking coffee. Imogen ran up to him and kissed him on the cheek. â€Å"Good morning dad.† â€Å"Good morning honey,† he replied, â€Å"did you sleep well?† â€Å"Yes I did,† said Imogen, â€Å"can you take me to school by any chance?† â€Å"Of course I could† â€Å"Boys, get downstairs, I'm taking your sister to school and I might as well take you too!† he yelled upstairs â€Å"We'll take the bus coz it's too early for us to be leaving for school.† They shouted back â€Å"Fine, but don't be late.† â€Å"We won't be,† they replied with huge grins on their faces Imogens dad loves old cars and he himself had a 1986 BMW 635CSi. The car was safe but had a few flaws. The airbags didn't work on the front passenger side and the seatbelts easily became unbuckled. George was never worried because he was a very safe driver and he could never give his car away. As soon as Imogen got in the car she put a book on her fathers lap and asked him to ask her some questions but he couldn't because he was about to drive, instead he told her that he would when they stopped at a red traffic light. When they did he took the old book into his hands and started asking questions. Imogen gave a perfect answer to each and every question. Meanwhile, on the road opposite to theirs were a couple of drunken teenagers, joy riding. They didn't notice that the red light was on and carried on driving. The driver lost control and the car started to skid on the wet ground and so ended up hitting Imogens' car. The out of control car hit the BMW head on causing George's seatbelt to unbuckle and he flew out the front window. Imogens airbag was broken but luckily her seatbelt didn't unbuckle. An ambulance arrived and took them to the busy hospital. Imogen and George were rushed straight into surgery for they had suffered serious head injuries. Unfortunately none of the drunk teens were wearing a seatbelt and received serious injuries. They died before the ambulance got to the scene. Three weeks later, slowly opening her eyes, Imogen found herself in a hospital bed surrounded by family and friends. â€Å"What happened to me? Why am I in a hospital? Asked Imogen â€Å"Imogen, this is really important, what's the last thing you remember? Asked the nurse â€Å"I remember my dad was taking me to school. Then we stopped at a traffic light and he was asking – where is my dad?† When the doctors operated on Imogen, they did the best they could, her injuries where bad and the doctors were not sure whether or not she would be able to remember everything when she awoke from the coma. â€Å"I don't know how to tell you this, but your father-† said the nurse â€Å"I'll tell her,† interrupted Mary, Imogens grandmother, â€Å"your father died the day you were rushed into hospital. The surgeons did everything they could but they just weren't able to stop the bleeding† By the time she finished the sentence both of them were in tears. Mary went up to her favourite grandchild and put her arms around her. â€Å"It's my entire fault, grandma, it's my entire fault!† Imogen repeated, â€Å"I know it is, I asked him to drive me to school, if he hadn't got in the car to take me to school, he would still be here! It's my entire fault! Now we have no one to look after us, and I've missed my GCSE exams. It's my entire fault!† â€Å"You still have Jenny to look after you and I called the school to explain the situation, they said you can retake them when you get back† Imogen stayed in the hospital for another week under monitoring. Her friends visited and so did her brothers. The week went past very slowly. Everyday, all she did was lay in bed, watch television, walk around a bit and then go back to bed. There were no children there her age and she didn't want to talk to elderly people. Imogen received beautiful bouquets of flowers and tasty chocolates from family but she didn't want any of it, she just wanted her caring dad by her side, helping her through this. When Imogen got out of the hospital her brothers took her home. Jenny was in the living room watching television. â€Å"Welcome home!† exclaimed Jenny Imogen just ignored her and went straight up to her bedroom. The next few days were a blur. Imogen stayed in bed most days mourning and crying over all the memories she had with her father. Every time she saw a picture of him she burst out into tears. The words: ‘It's my fault, why did it have to happen, what did he do to deserve this, it was my bad day!' kept running though her mind. Even when she slept, she had horrifying nightmares about the crash; she pictured her dad on the operating table, while she was behind glass unable to help him. She needed help, support, encouragement to get her back to normal, but with a step-mother like Jenny, that would be impossible. The first day she went to school her brothers left her at the gate. Looking at the school from a distance she realised that she wasn't ready to go in. Instead she followed her brothers to where they went. Tom led the way while Adam followed behind like a dog on a leash. During the journey, Tom and Adam went into, what looked like an abandoned house, when they came out Tom carried a small, plastic bag full of white pills. He put them in his pocket and walked on. They came to a lighthouse looking building which was surrounded by a high fence. On the fence was a warning sign which read ‘No unauthorised person'. The light house was covered with horizontal red and white stripes and a long, unstable, wooden ladder reached the ground from the top. The two brothers approached the lighthouse. Imogen stared at the building. It was very unusual for a lighthouse not to be near the ocean. While staring she carried on walking and stepped on a piece of loose metal lying on the floor. â€Å"What are you doing here? Asked Adam â€Å"I wanted to know were you were going. I could go back if you want.† â€Å"Yes, go back!† he shouted â€Å"No,† insisted Tom, â€Å"she doesn't know the way back and what if she gets lost. Just let her come up with us, what's the worst that could happen?† Tom went up the unstable ladder first, then went Imogen and last of all came Adam. Climbing up the ladder Imogen tried not to look down. As they neared the top of the lighthouse, strange voices could be heard. At first it sounded like there were only few people talking but as Imogen went higher up the ladder she started to hear more and more voices. â€Å"We're here† announced Tom as they reached the top. â€Å"Finally,† one boy said, â€Å"what took you so long?† â€Å"It's a long story;† answered Adam â€Å"but our little sister is here with us,† All the people sitting on the dirty lighthouse floor turned and looked at Imogen. â€Å"How old is she?† a girl asked Tom â€Å"I'm nearly 14† she answered her. â€Å"Isn't that a bit young?† she asked Tom again This time he answered her: â€Å"Well how old were we when all of this started?† â€Å"True, true. Good point.† Tom and Adam went around the lighthouse giving each person a couple of the white pills. Imogen went around to all the people, looking at what they were doing. To her it looked like they were drinking alcohol, swallowing the white pills and smoking weed. â€Å"What are the white pills and what do they do?† Imogen asked a little girl sitting in the corner sticking a white tablet in her mouth. â€Å"They're called ecstasy and they make me feel a whole lot better then I did this morning† answered the girl â€Å"I want some† requested Imogen â€Å"Sure,† said the girl, â€Å"but tell your brothers to get me an extra one, for next week.† The little girl was younger then Imogen but she looked worn-out and like she hadn't eaten in weeks. For a few short seconds after swallowing the tablet Imogen felt nothing, then minutes later the action kicked in. She felt ecstatic. Like nothing could ever go wrong. Then taking a sip of a transparent drink, she felt dizzy but relaxed. Finally, when she inhaled the weed she felt like all her problems and worries vanished and she was in a completely different world. School or education didn't matter. In this world she felt like she could do anything, even fly. Everyday, instead of taking Imogen to school, her brothers took her with them to the lighthouse. This carried on for weeks until Stephanie, the little girl that gave Imogen the weed, ecstasy and alcohol, had a heart attack. Lucky for everyone there, she had no family, so all they had to do was bury her in the cemetery at night. This was too much for Imogen. The death of the little girl made her remember the death of her dad. She realised that taking drugs, smoking and drinking alcohol wasn't the way to deal with death. She had to face death and just get over it. â€Å"I'm not going to come here with you any more,† Announced Imogen. â€Å"Why not?† asked her brothers â€Å"Because what your doing is bad for your health and what point are you trying to prove by drinking, drugs and smoking?† There is no point to prove, it makes us feel good and you should know, you've tried it for yourself and you know the pleasure it gives you.† â€Å"There's no pleasure in this if there is a risk of dying. I will give up.† â€Å"It's not as simple as it sounds. You go through a lot of pain when you try to give up. Are you sure you're ready?† asked her brothers â€Å"I will give up, I don't want to die like little Stephanie did. The only reason I started this was because I couldn't get over dads death and I didn't get any support from anyone, but me dying isn't going to make anything better either.† â€Å"Tomorrow you're going to end up coming back with us,† warned Adam â€Å"No,† Imogen said, â€Å"Tomorrow will be another day.† Stopping wasn't difficult. Imogen went through the normal process of withdrawal symptoms; aches and pains, sweating, shaking, headaches and cravings for the drug, but thinking about her father's and Stephanie's death helped her to pull through.