Antidisestablishment Essay, Research Paper

Throughout my life, I have had excellent guidance and influences, particularly from my parents. They have guided me to be the young man I am today. However, it doesn?t have to be parents that shape a person. It could be a number of things, such as; friends, teachers, and maybe even a role model that you have never met before, but no matter what, someone in everyone’s life has influenced them somehow. In the four stories, ?Antidisestablishmentarism?, ?Number One?, ?My Brother, Gary Gilmore?, and ?Winter Dreams? someone, in the main character of each story, influenced their life somehow. Therefore this paper will explain how people are shaped by the attitudes of the friends and family that surround them.

One might think, ?How much power does an individual have over who they become?? Well in the story, ?Number One?, Nelson, the main character, Is very effected by her fathers influence on her life. Nelsons father expected the most out of her. However in doing so, he would give her a negative gesture, the middle finger, and in unison tell her to become ?Number One?. Nelson didn?t quite understand what her father meant by this, was it a positive statement or a negative one? Therefore all throughout Nelsons life, she never quite knew whether she achieves this ?Number One? stature of her father?s mind. Even when she had reached a very high level, being a head journalist for the Washington post, she still never knew if she had reached this state of her fathers? mind.

On the other hand, in the story ?Antidisestablishmentarism?, there was definitely a negative influence on the main characters? life. The main character, Gayle Pemberton, as a child was ?put down? by her grandmother. All throughout her life, she was basically taught that ?the black society? was always put down and never given a fair chance. For example, one day while Gayle was watching the television, she saw a black person on a particular program. When this person was brought to the attention of her grandmother, her grandmother told her, ?You ought to be like that?! Gayle had always done well in her studies, and never got into any major trouble, so she didn?t understand why her grandmother was saying these things. So basically her grandmother was trying to teach her to not pay any attention to society, and just try to strive to be the best she can be, but unfortunately she didn?t learn this until later in life.

In the third story, ?My brother Gary Gilmore?, Gary?s was neglected the influential value from his parents. His parents never taught him the morals or values that one needs to learn to be a respectable person. Therefore the influence he got growing up was that of his brothers and friend, and believe me this was not the right influence for a young man like that to have. His brothers were caught up in crime, as well as his friends. So consequently, he got involved with the same style of life. Gary?s life was filled with crime for the rest of his life until he got caught. He was found guilty of a crime and was sentenced to death by firing squad. When he was preparing to die on the pole, he raised his hand as if he was saying goodbye to his long life of crime and negative influence. If Gary would have had supportive parents, and loving sibling, he might have never been put in that situation.

In the fourth, and final story, ?Winter Dreams?, the influence could go either way, positive or negative. The main character in this story meets his ?dream girl? caddying on a golf course. The moment he saw her it was like he had an epiphany. He saw them both together, married, set up for life. However, one day on the golf course when they were talking, this woman that he looked up to so much called him ?Boy?. When he though about this, the reason for this negative word was because she was definitely set up in the upper class, but he was not. It would probably be giving him more credit than he deserves to say that he was in the middle class. But he doesn?t give up. This is his influence for the rest of his life. He will not settle for anything else in life. This means that he ignored every other girl that could have been ?the right one?.

In conclusion, I would like adding that in all of these stories there is an influence on the main character, good or bad. Therefore people are shaped by the attitudes o of the family and friends that surround them.