Theme of Adversity in Literature Essay Example

Adversity. How do we face it? How do we overcome it? This informative essay will give you the answer. Three people were faced with adversity, and they learned to cope and overcome it. Juliane Koepcke, the author of the personal narrative, The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, was stranded in the jungle. Helen Keller wrote The Story of my Life but was deaf and blind. Aimee Mullins wrote A Work in Progress and was faced with not having both of her legs. How did these women do it? Well, let's find out.

Juliane Koepcke was 17 when she faced adversity. She survived 11 days in the Amazon rainforest with no help at all. She wrote about these experiences in the personal narrative The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. On December 24, 1971, Juliane boarded a plane to Panguana, little did she know that the plane was going to crash, and she would be the sole survivor. Juliane had a “swollen left eye,” “felt dizzy,” “couldn’t see straight,” and had a “broken collarbone with a deeply gashed cut on her left calf.” Later in the story, Juliane realizes that she had “second-degree burns on her back.” These quotes show how Juliane was very hurt but still kept going with injuries. Juliane knew a lot about the jungle and only survived off water from lakes and “a bag of candy.” Juliane struggled, she was moving in the water and “fantasized about food, from elaborate feasts to simple meals. Each morning it gets harder to stand up and get into the cold water.” This example shows how Juliane was trying hard to survive and what she was thinking when facing this problem. Juliane was saved by foresters on January third, 1972. Juliane never gave up when traveling through water knowing that dangerous animals and plants were nearby. She relied on the survival skills taught by her parents. Juliane faced a very dangerous obstacle and I learned that we can overcome anything.

Helen Keller has faced adversity her whole life. Helen Keller has been deaf and blind since she was almost two. Persistence and determination led her to write her autobiography excerpt From The Story of my Life. When Helen was six she started to try spelling words with her hands. For example, she states “I was at once interested in this finger play and tried to imitate it.” This shows that Keller was interested in learning to communicate with other people and tried her best to understand. Keller soon learned that everything had a name and value. For instance, she felt that words “awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free.” This quote shows that Keller was very happy and excited when she learned her first words and wanted to learn more. Keller went to bed that night and “longed for a new day to come.” I learned from this story that determination and persistence will get you what you’re hoping and yearning for.

At the age of one, Aimee Mullins needed to have both of her legs amputated below the knee. She has learned to cope with her disability and thrive with it. Mullins started with wooden legs, then polypropylene legs, to regular plastic. Mullins had gone through many experiences and wrote about them in the personal narrative A Work in Progress. Even though she was different, Mullins embraces her disability and likes it. For example, she states that “I realized I had moved past mere acceptance of my difference. I was having fun with my difference. Thank God I’m not normal. I get to be extraordinary.” This shows how Mullins loved her legs and embraced her differences. Mullins grew up and became an athlete, model, and actor. She even inspired people. For example a little girl  chose to amputate her legs because she saw pictures of Mullins legs. This girl was “Proud of it. She was proud of herself.” This shows that since Mullins believed that her difference was extraordinary, someone else believed too. From Mullin’s experience, I learned to be proud of my flaws and differences without getting insecure about myself.

Adversity. Learning to overcome it is not easy. Certain experiences have shown that we can face these with passion. Juliane Koepcke survived in a dangerous jungle. Helen Keller learned to talk when she was deaf and blind. Aimee Mullins learned to love her differences and never doubt herself even though she had prosthetic legs. The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, The Story of my Life, and A Work in Progress are great stories and biographies to help with adversity. All of us can learn to overcome adversity, we just have to try.