Nightjohn By Gary Paulsen

We face choices each and everyday of our life, these choices define who we are and who we become, and each of these choices have a cost, if chocolate is chosen over vanilla then vanilla is lost. For every choice there is a consequence and a beneficial factor, the decision is presented and the question is are the consequences of our actions minimal enough that they may be overlooked? The story NightJohn by Gary Paulsen tells the story of a young girl and her so called family in the midst of slavery, the girl's name is Sarny and she desires knowledge but in such a time as slavery the cost for knowledge is extremely high, as high as death sometimes. The choice is presented, that decision must be made, is the risk worth the reward? Do the pros outweigh the cons? Is it worth it?

Sarny is a young girl, not even 13, her birth mother was taken from her and she can’t remember her. She lives with Mammy, a mother of sorts, in the midst of slavery. She meets a man named John who offers her the ability to read in return for a little bit of tobacco. When she hears John offer to teach her to read she recalls a moment in her past with Mammy. Mammy had scorned her after she wrote something she saw on a bag in the dirt say “They catch you doing that and they’ll think you’re learning to read. You learn to read and they’ll whip you” (pg
Sarny was stuck in an awful life and experienced the cost of freedom first hand. She distinctly recalls the story of two men who tried to run away. Tried, however their attempts were in vain. She is scorned by the recollection of these men who tried to run, she reminisces about a man named Jim “The master set the dogs on him and they tore and ripped what they could reach until there wasn’t any meat left on Jim’s legs or bottom” (pg 48). In this case they had decided that freedom was worth the risk and the reward was great, unfortunately, they never received the reward of which they