Perseverance in Literature

1. Perseverance in Literature Jakob M. English II October 23rd 2013 Period 3

2. Commonly known as an important character trait in school, Perseverance is working to accomplish your goals despite obstacles and events that are seen by many to be insurmountable. It is the one trait that all protagonists have, the biggest reason heroes succeed and doubters fail in stories and legends. Perseverance is what describes a boy who travels through a desert for the sake of a dream, what describes a man who spends 3,000 years wandering in search of his friend, and what embodies the soul of a warrior who singlehandedly defends a bridge from an army of well armed soldiers so his brother can escape. Perseverance is the stuff of legends! What is Perseverance?

3. The Alchemist: A Boy in search of Treasure In The Alchemist, A young shepherd in Spain named Santiago decides to travel to Egypt after dreaming of treasure there and meeting with a king who urges him onward. Despite occasional setbacks and drops in confidence, Santiago improves himself and presses onward, eventually arriving at the Pyramids shortly after turning himself into the wind. Even when he is attacked and robbed by tribal refugees, Santiago gets one last clue from them and continues his journey, finding his treasure in the place where he once dreamed of it. Santiago embodies the willingness to be set back in the quest for success. He’s a shepherd with his own personal problems, yet he gets over his losses and continues the journey each time. If Santiago simply gave up like any onlooker would, he’d have never learned so much or got so far as he did in the story. The biggest part of perseverance is overcoming any problems that arise in your pursuit of your dreams.

4. Pokémon X/Y: The Wandering King In Pokémon X/Y, the player comes across a giant of a man searching for “the flower Pokémon”. He later appears in the custody of Lysandre and shares his story. The man, known only as “AZ”, was supposedly a king in the past who loved his one Pokémon. When a war broke out, his Pokémon entered the fray, and he eventually received a coffin containing its remains. Grief stricken, the king used his resources to construct a massive device capable of resurrecting his friend and keeping it alive at any cost . It succeeded, but in his anger the king repurposed the device into a super weapon, firing it to end the war that had hurt the one he loved. His Pokémon noticed the loss of life that was occurring for its sake and was sad, leaving the king and wandering the world. Shattered, King AZ wandered for what was rumored to be 3,000 years in search of his only friend, the key to his weapon hung around his neck. After the Player Character stops Lysandre from reactivating the super weapon and becomes the Champion, AZ arrives at his/her celebration and asks for a battle to understand what a “trainer” is. After he is beaten, AZ thanks the player for helping him overcome his sorrow, and his friend returns to him immediately, causing him to collapse to his knees in surprise. The two were finally reunited after 30 centuries.

5. AZ characterizes the patience and dedication that Perseverance is known for. He searched tirelessly for his friend for a full 3,000 years until they finally reunited. It would have been easy for him to give up on his chase, a daunting mission encompassing the entire planet, but he pressed onward: AZ had nothing left to lose but his life. He knew what his weapon had done and buried it, keeping the key close to prevent his mistake from being reactivated by others. Trying to achieve your goals means dealing with the wait between steps, and in that wait one will often recall all the mistakes they made in their life and beat themself up for it. No one’s history is pristine and guiltless, but continuing to work hard and dream of the decades to come gives you some good moments to balance your mistakes.

6. Romance of the Three Kingdoms: The Bridge Breaker In one part of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, warlord Liu Bei is fleeing with a following of peasants from his rival Cao Cao in Chang Ban. His sworn brother, Zhang Fei, stays behind and starts wrecking the bridges in an attempt to stall Cao Cao’s forces long enough for Liu Bei to escape. As the force approaches, Zhang Fei holds fast at one end of a still-intact bridge and challenges them to come forward and die. The army cowers, buying Liu Bei time to escape. Zhang Fei is an example of the overwhelming odds one may be forced to face in life. He stayed away from the safety of the main force to wreck the route they were being chased on, and he intimidated an entire army on his own at a chokepoint. Some people might be willing to fall behind and mess with the pursuit, but Zhang Fei stood alone and successfully stopped the entire enemy force. Perseverance is fighting onward despite the problems you face, and Zhang Fei risked it all because he wanted to keep his brother’s life and dreams safe.

7. Perseverance and I When I was 10, I hadn’t even figured out how to ride a bike without training wheels like the other kids in the neighborhood. To figure it out, I sat on my bike and rolled down my driveway while my friend watched. I had to jump off over and over as it fell, but I kept on with my friend’s support. When I learned how to balance on it, I could ride it anywhere. Perseverance is a hard trait to earn because it takes a lot of confidence and strength. I was embarrassed by how little I knew about biking, but my friend came and supported me all the way. It’s good to tackle problems on your own, but sometimes you need a friend to pick you up and push you forward. Not everyone is strong or stubborn enough to persevere, but no one said you had to go it alone.

8. In Conclusion Perseverance is not a simple universal theme that can be immortalized by a single person. Some people persevere over the distance and magnitude of their quest, some persevere over the long time before they realize their dreams, and some persevere against overwhelming odds by sheer force of will. We all have our own ideas about the true meaning of Universal Topics, but Perseverance in its simplest formis success in spite of difficulty. Fortunately, history and literature feature this theme in virtually all of their stories.

9. Bibliography The Alchemist. Paulo Coelho, 1988. Pokémon X/Y. Nintendo, 2013. Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Luo Guanzhong, 14th century A.D.