The Effect on People

When people find themselves in difficult situations some people given in and other people never give up. I have therefore chosen to explore the theme “Persevering in the face of Adversity” This theme is common in the short stories “Big Brother, Little Sister” by Witi Ihimaera and “Only A Woman” by Amel Benaboura and also in the films “Invictus” by Clint Eastwood and “Vertical Limit” by Martin Campbell.

The theme “Persevering in the face of Adversity” is shown through the short text “Big Brother, Little Sister” by Witi Ihimaera. The story is set in a poor environment in New Zealand where violence occurs. The main character Hema, despite being exposed to such a harsh environment still takes responsibility and looks after his sister Janey. The harmful environment Hema faces is clearly shown through the use of foul language from his father to his mother. “Shut your face women…or I will crack you one again”. This technique clearly demonstrates the derogatory way in which people treat each other like his parents, despite all this when Janey was taken by a man. Hema left home to save is sister form the violence, well they were on the street Hema saw a loose pailing and pulled it away from the fence and ran to save her and faced off against the man. This shows hema intense love for his sister. He was willing to protect her even if it meant endangering his life. Through this act, Hema shows us that he managed to keep his good/positive side of his nature, despite being exposed to violence and abuse. The author shows us that it does not matter if we come from bad situations, we can succeed in life similarly in Only A Woman the main character Yamina perseveres in the face of adversity, unfortunately she dies in the process.

In the short story “Only A Woman” by Amel Benaboura set in Algeria a particle society where men overpower their women. The main character Yamina is a Muslim women who is trying to get equal rights for women in Algeria but the men in her family