Essay #3

Help For The Heavy Brothers:

Comparing “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” by The Hollies To My Life And George and Lennie From Of Mice And Men

An Essay By Mia Perry

8th Grade English

October 26, 2011

        (TS) Flora Edwards once said, “In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give out completes the circle and comes back to us.” (CM) I find this quote truthful and I always take pleasure in assisting others, because I know that I can make some one’s day better, and one day I will need the same help in return. (CM) Sometimes you commit acts of kindness that help other people without even noticing; for example you might hold the door for someone, lend them a pencil, or help them understand homework. (CS) Helping others is the main idea of the song “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” by The Hollies, and is also represented in George from Of Mice And Men and in my life.    
           (TS) A person in my life that I have helped a lot is my brother. (SD) For example, when I was four years old, I physically helped Emmanuel when we went to a pool party. (CM) At this party, Emmanuel had decided to go swimming in the dreaded deep end, the abyss of chlorine that no child had dared to venture through. (CM) After he dove into the turquoise water, he surfaced, and then slowly began to sink, and shout as he sank. (CM) Being the only one to hear him, I leaned over the edge of the pool and grabbed his arms and brought him out of the water, which displays the physical part of the song “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”. (SD) Furthermore, in the song “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” by The Hollies, one line states, “So long we go, his welfare is my concern”. (CM) This line reminds me of how I occasionally help Emmanuel with his math homework, and how making sure he understands material is very important to me. (CM) Many times, E will become very frustrated, and I help him to settle down and assist him in figuring out how to find the answer. (SD) “While we're on the way to there, why not share?” is another line from the song that I could relate to with Emmanuel. (CM) Sharing various objects that someone else needs can be very helpful, and one day the favor may be returned to you. (CM) Quite frequently, I aid Emmanuel by simply sharing my umbrella with him in rainstorms, like a mother hen covering her fledglings under her wing to keep them dry. (CS) Helping each other is displayed by animals and humans alike, but is the element of sharing similar with book characters?

George and Lennie from Of Mice and Men

(TS) Even a fictional character, such as George in the novella Of Mice And Men, was very good at assisting Lennie throughout the entire story. (SD) Towards the beginning of the novella, George directed Lennie to meet him back at the same spot that they were located in case he got in trouble with the farm hands. (CM) On page 14 George says to Lennie, “Well, look. Lennie- if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you come right here an’ hide in the brush.” (CM) This was considerate of George to give Lennie the instruction to keep Lennie’s life out of risk, and also helped him at the end of the story. (SD) Conversely, Lennie never achieved this goal, but George was able to aid him in creating the goal that Lennie did strive to reach during his entire life, “But not us! An’ why? Because... because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.”  (CM) Even though this might not seem like helping Lennie, George actually did assist him in attaining a reason for him to work and a reason to live. (CM) This goal of the perfect life with plenty of farmland was brought up many times during the novella, and George was often asked by Lennie to re-tell what life would be like when they accomplished their goal. (SD) Similarly, George killed his best friend. (CM) Although this may seem absurd and inhuman, he made Lennie’s death comfortable by visualizing what he had wanted his whole life. (CM) Lennie was going to be killed in a drastically painful way, but his best friend put him to rest in a peaceful manner, which made me feel better than Lennie being brutally killed. (CS) Lennie looked up to George because he gave him hope for the future, but George took Lennie’s life just to put him into a happier place by sacrificing his own happiness.

(TS) Earlier this week, I was returning home from a long hard sports practice after school. As we were driving down the road, there was a family of deer eating on the border of the street, and the parent of the young baby deers stopped and looked at the car. As soon as the he noticed that the car was driving in their direction, he stomped his foot three times and signaled the fawns so that they would run to safety. This reminded me of how in Of Mice And Men, George warned Lennie of where to go if he got into trouble, just like the family of deer.

Self Assessment:

1) An issue that I am continuing to work on is using commas to help the reader better understand the point/idea of the sentence

2) One strong point in my essay is the transition words that I use, and the wording of my sentences that make music.

3) A possible weak point in my writing is combining sentences in my writing that can be conjoined to make a longer yet smoother flow.