At the beginning of the story, Jeff shows that he is reluctant and in a way scared towards making the hiking trip with his father across the canyon in order to reach town. "I never wanted to come on this stupid old hiking trip anyway!" His voice echoed, shrill and panicked, across the narrow canyon. Jeff reveals that although it is to reach the town he will not change his mind about how much he does not want to make the effort to go across the canyon. He states that he is scared and does not want to have courage when his father explains to him as he gets tired that he needs to be brave and go across with a level head. Although this might have changed Jeff's mind, he still did not want to go and this showed that his childhood behavior played part in the story as well.
After his father's weariness and loss of breath, he convinces Jeff to cross the canyon because he tell him that his brother needs medical attention in order to save his life. This makes Jeff come into realization that he needs to be brave and soon becomes motivated in crossing the canyon. As soon as helt that motivation towards his brother, "Stone by stone, they made their way up the canyon. Jeff's father grew smaller and smaller in the distance." This is a great example in the showing of how motivated he was not from the beginning of the story. Jeff felt that by saving his brother's life was a great way to push him and accomplish what they were reaching for.
Towards the end of the story, Jeff manages to reach the town without his father and has grown proud of himself. Although he was short of breath and it had become hard for him to breathe, he was happy he was able to accomplish what they had come for. Jeff's father's praise helped Jeff realize that he had done a great deed in helping him out. "You're a hero, son," his father said with a smile. "You saved Mark." This was a great way to show that Jeff had done the right thing in saving his brother's life. Another great example of the motivations was that he was repeating to himself the words of - "Can't stop," he thought. "Mark's in big trouble. Gotta keep going." This was a great help in what Jeff was trying to do.
Overall, Jeff is a strong-minded, courageous boy. Although, he was reluctant at first to go across the canyone, the situation in which his brother was in motivated him to set aside his complaints and do whatever it took to get help for his brother. Jeff was brave to risk his safety and personal health by overcoming his obstacles and pushing through the problems he felt of himself as he was getting closer to the town. The author reveals Jeff as a strong, brave, caring young boy.
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