Essay Sample: Running on the Roof of the World by Jess Butterworth

In life individuals endure many social and cultural challenges, in the novel “Running on the roof of the world” by Jess Butterworth diligently provides detail for these challenges. The protagonist Tash, faces traumatizing experiences, empathy and friendship. She is determined to overcome the difficulties of living in Tibet by fighting through life obstacles with resilience, dedication and bravery.

Firstly, the protagonist Tash had to experience grim circumstances at such a young age, mainly due to the plethora of soldiers making the citizens' life difficult. It was hard for her to overcome such traumatizing scenes but she tried with the support of her friends and family, however she will forever have that memory engraved in her mind. This is evident with the use of personification in the quote “The man on fire steps forward and flames cling to his body”. This suggests that the people of Tibet will do anything in protest if they feel it will help. The effect this has on us makes us feel.

Tash has a lot of empathy towards India, she needed a safe environment to stay and India provided that. However there is still a cultural boundary between languages, which they conquered through the use of translation. This is apparent from the first person given in the quote “A girl with hair in long plaits leans over and speaks Hindi, a language I don't understand”. This recitation highlights the cultural barrier between people and it makes us feel stressed, Tash is in desperate need of help and she is finding it difficult due the language gap.

Furthermore, friendship and affection towards everyone is shown throughout the whole novel. Tash needs to find her parents and to do so she brings along her friend, Sam. Although they may provoke one another they are there to fight together and form an even stronger bond. This is shown through clear use of onomatopoeia in the quote, “The gunshot makes a ting-ing sound. Sam drops into the snow. The snow. The world stops. I let go, I’m falling spinning to the ground. What have I done”.

In conclusion the book “Running on the roof of the world” has many social and cultural challenges and teaches us to never give up, follow your heart and to work together. It is important we follow these lessons to ensure success in our lives and to hopefully help us to overcome challenges.