The goodness of Matt Kaizer by Avi is about a person named Matt who is the minister's son and won’t ever refuse a dare. This causes his friends to prank him a lot by daring him to do bad things. Matt thinks he is a bad person and has no goodness inside of him. One day, Matt's friends find out that Mary Beth’s grandfather is dying so they dare Matt to go and visit him. Matt goes and decides to bring some flowers so it seems normal that he's visiting. Matt eventually persuades Mary to let him in and Matt sees the grandfather. Mary says that her grandfather can barely hear or see so Matt is surprised when the grandfather looks at Matt and says he is an angel. Matt is scared so he runs away. Later on, the minister talks to Matt and asks him to go to the grandfather but Matt says no so the minister finally dares him too and he does it. Matt keeps on visiting and each time he leaves, he is a better boy. Eventually, Matt understands that he is a good boy. This book teaches us about good versus evil, family influence, and encouragement versus provoking.
There is goodness and evilness in everyone's human nature and we are always struggling on one side or the other. We are all different but through the external influence and internal growth , you will realize that everyone has goodness underneath. Matt thought he was a bad boy because of all the things he did that were negative but he didn’t think about how each time he was dared to do it so he had to and then he didn’t realize his true personality until he visited the ill grandfather and talking to him made him realize that he was actually a good boy and started getting better. The grandfather also became more good once he confessed his sins to Matt and got better. Everyone thinks they are either on one side completely or the other but you can actually have some of both like the boy did, and ultimately, everyone has some goodness in them. Our nature is not shaped by what we have done, but what we will do and the opportunities that are open to us.
Encouragement and provoking are two completely different ways of talking but are both ways you can influence someone and their actions. Our friends and family members have the power to bring out our positive or negative qualities depending on their approach and motives. Matt's friends were always provoking Matt to do bad things and Matt never let down a dare so he always did it and got in trouble although he was the minister's son. While Matt kept on getting in trouble, his dad always believed in him and kept on encouraging him hoping that one day he would change and become like he did. That eventually happened when he visited the ill grandfather. All his immature friends had a great influence on him but his father always held hope for Matt and never gave up. Thoughtful guidance from the caring ones will outweigh the unfriendly peer pressure over time. Provoking is a negative way to get under someone's skin but encouragement is a positive way to help them get better.
Families play an important role in shaping the lives of their youth. Some families have a good influence on their children but others shape their children's personalities in negative ways. The minister is a person of high standards and is a respectful person so the minister tries to shape his son in the same way and turn him into a good person. Matt also learns from his father about bringing flowers to the relatives of an ill person which allows Matt to persuade Mary to let him in. This is a positive influence that the father gives to his son. But while the minister tries to raise his son to his standards, there is also the pressure of being as good or even better than his father. This is a negative influence because of all the pressure he is given as the son of the minister. This pressure can even discourage the son and think that he can’t do it. These examples are the negative and positive influence that a family member can have on their youth. Family can have a profound influence on their children but it’s up to each young person on how it will turn out and who they want to be through their reflection and observation.
The Goodness of Matt Kaizer by Avi is about a boy who is the son of a respectful minister and hangs out with his bad friends. This book teaches us about good versus evil, family influence, and encouragement versus provoking. There is always the dark side and the right side in human nature and we sometimes might be confused about what side we’re on. This is when our close friends and family members help us in positive or negative ways to show us which side we belong to. There are two main types of ways to help us find what side we’re on. Encouragement and provoking. Encouragement helps us more to the right side while provoking will nudge us more to the dark side. This is what happened to Matt. But after all of this, we will know which side we are truly on. Although your friends and family can have an impact on you, at the end, it’s alway you who chooses which path you will take.
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