Loneliness is an unpleasant emotional reaction to an uncontrolled event, causing people to feel empty and alone inside their heart. When loneliness appears, people would have the overwhelming feeling of isolation regardless of where they are and who is around them, then consciously or unconsciously building invisible walls to disconnect themselves from the real world. Trustfulness refers to the trait of believing in the reliability, truth, ability, honesty, or strength of others. People with trustfulness will maintain consistency with what they say and what they do, never break promises or let anyone down, and show genuine interest and care in others. Can lonely people establish trust in others? Recently I read three stories corresponding to this issue: Dragonwings, Shells, and Island of the Blue Dolphins. “Dragonwings” describes a 7-year-old boy whose father leaves China and goes to America to make money to support the whole family. He never sees his father even before he was born. The only way to connect him and his father is to fly his father’s kites.“Shells” is about a boy named Michael whose parents are dead. He has no choice but to move in with Aunt Esther. They at first are both lonely, but as the story progresses they begin to interact with each other, build a trustful relationship. “Island of the Blue Dolphins” talks about a girl Karana and a gray wild dog, named Rontu. Karana has no family members on the island, feeling lonely. At first the dog kills karana’s brother and she wants to kill the dog as revenge for the death of her brother. But then Karana brings the dog home, cleans its wound, and provides it food and place. Karana then was trusted by the dog and views her as his master. Certainly, loneliness is associated to trustfulness. How loneliness affects the degree of trustfulness varies case by case, and depends on the attitudes and actions people hold toward loneliness. Let me compare and contrast the similarities and differences among these stories.
Different kinds of people definitely experience the feeling of loneliness no matter how old they are, where they live, or what their family background is. Even though you are a kid with a very young age, and live in a nice neighborhood in a crowded city, it is possible you still have isolated feelings of loneliness. From an age perspective, Moon Shadow in Dragonwing is 7-year-old. Michael and Aunt Esther in Shells are about 14 and 50 respectively. Karana from Island of the Blue Dolphins is 24-years-old. All of these characters experience loneliness due to the fact that the loved ones are not around them or his/her own attitudes and behaviors. Loneliness could happen to people with different ages, no matter if they are young, senior, teenager, or young adult. About living conditions, Moon Shadow lives in a crowded village in China, Michael and Aunt Esther live in a condominium in the city of Detroit, and Karana lives in a coastal village like a tropical island. Although Moon Shadow lives in a village with many people, he feels alone because he gets no one to talk with him about his dad. Even though Aunt Esther and Michael stay in a clean condo in a nice neighborhood, they both all feel loneliness because Michael isolates himself from talking with Aunt Esther in the house and because Aunt Esther doesn’t go out of the house to interact with the neighbors for her prejudiced thoughts, “she only admires those who are white and presbyterian” Karana lives in a tropic island, a spacious area, but she is the only one in the island, finding no one to talk to. People could still be lonely. What kind of living conditions people are in cannot decide if people are lonely or not. Regarding family backgrounds, the father of Moon Shadow left China for America just a few months before Moon Shadow was born. Michael’s parents died. Karana’s family members are all gone. Moon shadow feels lonely. He never gets the chance to see or hug his father in person like the regular kids because his father goes to America to make money in supporting the whole family. Michael feels loneliness because of the death of his parents. He misses them terribly and Aunt Esther is nothing like his parents. Karana feels aloneness because all of her family members were either killed or left the island. She is the only one left on the island. Indeed, anyone could go through the unpleasant feelings of loneliness. It does not matter if he is young or old, from a crowded or spacious place, or loved ones are physically with him or not.
When the feeling of loneliness is present, the attitudes and beliefs of how people view loneliness and how they react to it will affect the results of building trustful relationships with others. Some people will take the action of staying at home and closing themselves off from the world without listening to others, while others will be willing to open a channel to interact with people around them, developing trust in them. In Dragonwings, Moon Shadow’s attitude toward loneliness is associated with his father’s kites. Flying one of father’s kites helps Moon Shadow to remember family heirlooms. Moon Shadow actually has a dad but his dad never is with him in person. When he tries to understand more about his dad, mom and other relatives would close their mouths or change the topics. Moon Shadow feels sad and lonely. Moon Shadow’s father is a skillful kite maker and he made a lot of kites. His family treasured those kites like family heirlooms. Whenever he thinks about his dad, Moon Shadow will fly the kits, hoping to make a connection to his dad. In Shells, both Michael and Aunt Esther change their attitudes toward loneliness through a hermit Crab, Sluggo. Sluggo opens the gate for Michael to start the conversation with Aunt Edsther, and Aunt Esther begins to care about Michael through Sluggo. Michael is lonely because of the death of his parents. Aunt Esther is also lonely because of her prejudice, selfishness, and complaints. Michael brings a hermit crab and names it Sluggo, which raises Aunt Esther’s attention and they begin to talk with each other. Aunt Esther starts to show his cares to Michael and Michael is willing to talk to Aunt Esther. Little by little, the feelings of loneliness are disappearing and the feeling of trustfulness is developing. In Island of the Blue Dolphins, Karana’s attitude toward loneliness is related to if she wants to kill the dog as revenge for her brother, Ramo. Karana ends up healing the dog's wound and tame the dog. Karana feels sad, angry, and lonely because her brother is killed by the wild gray dog. She shot at the dog and struck an arrow on his chest. But when Karana saw the wounded dog, she had mixed feelings for him, kill him or not? Karana could have killed the dog, but she didn't. Instead, she takes care of the wound and provides the needs for the dog. The dog then appreciates what Karana has done for him and regards her as his master. The key point for solving the feeling of loneliness is if people are willing to open themselves to the world, rather than isolate themselves. Once the lonely people are willing to break the invisible walls in their minds and start to communicate with others, they would be able to establish trust in them .
The authors use professional writing skills of symbolism as a way to represent their complex ideas in a poetic manner to readers. Symbolism is like you use something visual or an action to represent your complicated ideas that readers may not understand. Some things that people may not understand can be understood with actions. Dragonwings’s symbolism is the kite, symbolizing family heirlooms. Moon Shadow was lonely. When Moon Shadow thinks about his dad, he will fly kites that are made by his dad. By flying one of dad’s kits, Moon Shadow feels the connection between him and his dad. The symbolism in Shells is a shell, symbolizing both Michael and Aunt Esther change and come out from their own shells. A hermit crab opens the interaction between Michael and Aunt Esther. Most of the time the hermit crab Sluggo hides in its shell, but it needs to change the shell frequently for better life. Just like a hermit crab, Michael needs to come out of his shell. Michael cannot stay forever in his own sad world of losing his parents. He needs to grow out of his own shell, the loneliness, by reconnecting people who are around him. Similarly, Aunt Esther needs to come out of her shell, too, symbolizing changing her attitudes and actions toward Michael. In Island of the Blue Dolphins, the dog, Rontu, symbolizes nature. It is also an extended metaphor, Karana’s attitude in nature. Rontu is the former pet of the Aleutian hunters and it is his nature to get suspicious of anyone who is near him or follow the orders of the Aleut to kill people or animals. Rontu also brings out Karana's attitude in nature. In order to survive in the wilderness, Karana needs to be independent and have survival skills, such as how to catch the fishes. Symbolism could engage the readers by promoting deep thoughts about its themes, as the readers are trying to figure out the true meaning behind the items. It allows the writer to convey something to the readers without saying it aloud.
By comparing and contrasting the three stories, Dragonwings, Shells, and Island of the Blue Dolphins, all the characters begin with being lonely, but they all have happy endings via building trustful relationships with people around them. Loneliness could happen to all different kinds of people, regardless of their ages, living conditions, or family background. To change the situation of being lonely, one’s attitudes need to be changed first. A person needs to be willing to take the action of his own, then he would be able to bring his trust in others. Loneliness occurs when people don’t have a person to talk to and to do things with. There are many causes of loneliness. It could be the result of life changes, such as changing the living arrangements or having financial problems, or the death of loved ones, such as losing parents. Normally people feel lonely because there is no one that understands and nobody is with them. However, people can’t do things alone by themselves because humans are very social creatures.
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