Loss of Hope

Author's Note: This is a theme essay on loss of hope. I did it on the Hunger Games, the Bourne Identity, and Life of Pi.

Ever feel lost, sad or just feel like there is nothing you can do? You feel hopeless and yet somehow things turn around. Many characters in books feel this way but somehow they find a way to change it. I found this in these three books the Bourne Identity, The Hunger Games and Life of Pi.

In the Bourne Identity the main character Jason Bourne is completely hopeless. He has just ended up in a drunk doctors house being nursed back to health. He's been shot in multiple places and can't remember a thing of his past. Jason has no idea what's happening to him, what happened to him and what's going to happen. There is nothing but his past skills and a piece of film surgically implanted into his hip. The film reveals something though, a bank account in Zurich. From this he begins the have flashes of the past and pieces everything together to find his true identity.

Another character who is clueless is Katniss from the Hunger Games. She has a moment of great hopelessness when she volunteers for the hunger games. All she can think of is the fact that she is going to die. She is scared, confused and feels weak. She has no options but to fight to the death. Then she comes to her senses and realizes she can win and makes it her goal to come home and see Prim again.

Life of Pi is the same thing except that instead of fighting to the death Pi is fighting against death. He is stranded in the middle of the ocean with a huge Bengal tiger. Food running low he losses his fight and can't seem to think. All hope fails and he is left to fight for life in agony. Although he somehow finds food and begins to adapt himself to life at sea. He finds a way to barely stay alive throughout the entire voyage and somehow makes it the coast of mexico.

These books teach that even though it doesn't seem like there's hope you can find your way out of it. Even thought these characters feel hopeless they overcome it and make the story interesting. People can learn from this, even though there is a down time it has to get better at some point.