Long Essays

What is Love? Essay
Love, Love, Love. We all think about it, dream about it, sing about it, and even lose sleep
worrying about it, but why? Love is such a small word paired with a vital meaning. It's universal,
easy to spell, difficult to define, but impossible to live without. When we don't have it, we search
for it, when we find it, we don't know what to do with it, when we have it, we fear losing it. Love is
the constant source of happiness and sorrow. I am young and I haven't a clue as to what love is, let
alone what falling in love is. However, I have my ideas of what love is like. I have never witnessed
the beauty of people falling in love, or the severity of those falling out of love, so what is love?
Love in general could be frightening. Some...show more content...
I think falling in love with someone happens when you least expect it to, when you're too busy
focusing on other aspects of your life. This is where fate comes into play. That specific person
was led to you for some unknown reason. Out of the blues, it's like your knight in shining amour
that you have longed to be with finally found his/her way to you. There are people in this world
that think they may never fall in love again. You fall at times, but you get back up. You will love
again, and you will also trust again. You have to simply let things get themselves done, that's when
you know it's meant to be, because destiny took its course, and while you were too busy doing
something else, the love of your life came along.
Love dates way back to when the world began. In reality, we really have no idea what love truly is.
Raising questions like, is it even real? We watch love movies, read romance novels, but that's the
sugar–coated, sweet and simple version of it. Meeting someone, fall in love, get married, have
kids, spend the rest of your lives together. What about the suffering we have to endure when falling
in love? Risking everything for that one person? And even when we feel we've reached the end of
the road, this person has the power to leave us at any given moment. We put ourselves out there with
the chance they can break us apart.
Love, as it is with everything,
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A Long Walk To Water Essay
A Long Walk to Water is a novel by Linda Sue Park. This novel is about Salva, an eleven
–year –old
Sudanese boy who grows up in South Sudan. Later in the novel, he has faced challenges one
wouldn't dream of facing, through a long period of time. He has learned, if one helps other
people, those people will then help more people, which will result in more happiness in the world.
He is a round character, who changes throughout the novel. Salva is a different person at the end
of the book. He has gone from hearing his death journey to fighting for survival to helping
transform people's lives forever. Early in the novel, Salva is clearly terrified, but still strong
emotionally. Salva, curious and hopeful. Has started his life by hearing a "Crack"...show more
content...
He is more confident and has taken more leadership for his group. For example, later in the book,
Salva saw his Uncle. The text on page 32 says: "Salva turned. His mouth fell open in amazement,
but he could not speak." This shows it was painful to keep walking without anyone he knew
besides him. This also reveals, Salva couldn't believe his eyes. Salva, the fortunate light, finally
sees his shiny way through the boiling and dusty road. To one of his family members. If one
looks closely through the lenses of place, one could sense the joy Salva had inside him. He felt
blessed. He felt beatific. Later on, everyone Salva cherished on his trip was gone. Eternally.
Salva, a joyful child, got treated atrociously. He is strong by just pushing the negativity of his
mind. Started giving his feelings out to everyone. The author wrote, "There is no one left to help
me. They think I am weak and useless. Salva lifted his head proudly. They are wrong, and I will
show them." This shows that Salva is determined to keep going. Not weaknesses overtaking him.
This also reveals, this step has taken real courage, like 1st person skydiving on earth. If one looks
closely through the lens of time, one could see how hard it is for a kid to still survive through all
the losses that have impacted him. This is mainly in the middle of the book; how hard it really feels
to fight for

The Misunderstanding Of My Life
The Misunderstanding For some time in my life I felt very misunderstood. I went around feeling
like the lone weed in the garden full of colorful flowers. I had finished my second year of
highschool and I still didn 't know quite the person that I was. It was almost like I went around
victimizing myself because of the confusion I felt. Then one summer day I had a conversation that
opened my eyes to what was going on around. My mother had always been the kind of person who
will put others before herself. She had a way of making the best of every situation and truly
understanding the reasons why people sometimes do unjustified things. She had fair skin with marks
the sun had left on her arms and face. A smile that would make youwant to smile as soon as you
saw it. The way she was able to make a negative situation into bearable was remarkable.
Throughout my life my mother had been the first person to understand what I 'm going through,
or at least try to. Being a teenager it was hard to feel identified with a group of people. You 're not
a kid anymore, yet you 're still not adult. There are certain decisions that I felt that I should be
allowed to make for myself. It was bright and early summer day, my alarm had just gone off. The
day hadn 't even started, and I was ready to get it over with. My dad, being a fanatic of
photography, had planned that we go on a trip with his friends so they could practice taking some
shots. Earlier in the week my dad mentioned something

Long Distance Relationship Essay
Long–distance relationships can be a pain. The word "distance" is why. Many individuals who have
been in a relationship since high school are trying to continue their relationship in separate colleges.
When being in a long–distance relationship some of the love can become lost, unless it is true love.
Although, many people think that long distance relationships are impossible to maintain, there are
solutions to this problem for college students who are separated by distance.
A problem that many people do not realize until they reach college is the distance of a previous
relationship. A long–distance relationship can be defined as a relationship where two individuals are
separate from each other. Many young relationships begin the freshman year of high school and some
even make it to the senior year which is when things start going South. The problem begins once
college acceptance letters comes both people go separate ways. In many cases the two–people
involved have views that differ as far as school goes which then causes turmoil when one decides
to go to school out of state in which they reside. Through having trust, in a college relationship the
both of the individuals have to be open with one another about what is going on while at college.
Though it is not a guarantee that he or she will always tell the truth if they really know the person
they are romantically involved with he or she will know if they are telling them lies to spare their
heart. Many times, young

Essay about Suicide
Someone, somewhere, commits suicide every 18 minutes. You might never be able to tell who it
will be, it could be the person sitting right next . Statistics reveal that approximately three million
youths, between 12–18, have either thought about or attempted suicide in the past year. More than 1
/3, actually succeeded.
Only in the past two decades, have depression and suicide been taken seriously. Depression is an
illness that involves the body, mood and thoughts. Depression affects the way a person eats and
sleeps, feels about themselves, and the way they think of the things around them. It comes as no
surprise to discover that adolescent depression is strongly linked to teen suicide. Adolescent suicide
is now responsible for more deaths...show more content...
Adolescence is a stressful experience for all teens. It is a time of physical and social changes
producing rapid mood swings from sadness to elation. Even an emotionally healthy teenager may
have the constant fear of not being good enough, not making the varsity team, or getting good
grades. Special situations such as a parents divorce can trigger intense sadness and feelings of
wanting to die.
People who usually experience depression, can seem fine. But there are many key signs to show that
they are depressed. Such as, change in school performance, eating habits change, constant
unhappiness, low self esteem, guilt, social isolation, inability to concentrate, irritable or angered
easily, or has a severe lost of energy.
For a teen suffering from severe depression, has feelings of worthlessness that dominates their day.
Despair is ever present and emotional pain feels like it will never end. Any situation of anger or
disappointment may cause the teen to cross the line from wanting to die, to actually trying to kill
themselves.
Many of them feel pains inside of them, that they can't describe when someone asks them how they
feel. They just know that they are sad, or angry, or upset. Many teenagers will try to communicate
their pains through

Long Term Academic Goals
My long term academic goal is to graduate from college with a four year degree, then continue on
to pursue an MD and PhD. I hope to be able to attend Columbia University, where I can enroll in
the university's MD/PhD program after graduation. Of course, there are many other schools that
also offer an MD/PhD program for graduate students, but Columbia University is my top choice of
colleges. The MD/PhD program will allow me to attain a solid background both in the hospital
and in research laboratories. This will be a necessity for my career goals, as I wish to work in a
research lab somewhere in the city, possibly at Columbia or in the facilities that coordinate with the
work going on there. Asides from Columbia, I am preparing to apply to several

Learning Is A Life Long Process
Learning is a life–long process. From the day we are born we start with incidental and social
learning and progress to formal institutional learning. It improves our knowledge and also enhances
our natural ability. The thirst for knowledge keep us up with this learning process throughout our
life. Hence lifelong learning is the process of keeping our mind and body actively engaged by
pursuing knowledge and experience. It also keeps our mind sharp and increase our self–confidence
Growing up in a third world country I did not have much knowledge of education systems around
the world. Five years ago when I came to United states to the University of South Alabama in
order to pursue my college degree I was surprised to see people in their forties and fifties coming
to school to pursue their degree. This was rather unusual for me because where I come from people
do not attend college at that age. People after mid–twenties scarcely enroll in college to pursue a
Bachelors or Master's degree. The education system there is not flexible so it becomes difficult for
people to continue their education even if they desire. Someone in their thirties going to school
would be very uncomfortable as society will look down upon them with humiliation. I was very
motivated by the courage of these people who work full time jobs during the day and attend class
after that. That was probably what lifelong learning meant to me, but today I understand learning in
a different way. It does not end with

Long Bones Essay
Skeletisation of a dead body has made identification of the remains trickier. As humans, we become
accustomed to recognise others from outer body appearances, not their insides. However, it is well
established that morphological and metric changes occur on certain bones through a human's
lifetime (e.g. Pelvis: Phenice, 1969, Skull: Meindl and Lovejoy, 1985, Long bones: France, 1998)
making identification possible. To complicate matters, morphological and metric changes can differ
within and between human population groups due to intrinsic and extrinsic factors (DiGangi and
Moore, 2012). An example of this is nutritional deficiency, which effects males more than females
and causes reduced sexual dimorphism (Ross, Baker and Falsetti, 2003). Recently, there has been a
global trend to establish population specific standards for identification due to such variation.
Compared to America, much of Europe and other areas have not had as much opportunity to conduct
research on modern populations,...show more content...
Epiphyseal (growth plates) fusion (Krogman and Д°Еџcan, 1986), dental eruption and wear
(Ubelaker, 1989; Buikstra and Ubelaker, 1994), cranial suture (elastic tissue that connects the
bones of the skull) closure (Meindl and Lovejoy, 1985), features of the pelvis such as the pubic
symphysis (Todd, 1921a, 1921b; Brooks and Suchey, 1990) and auricular surface (Lovejoy et al.
1985b) are some examples of commonly used methods for age determination. Other features of the
pelvis such as the morphology of the subpubic region (Phenice, 1969) are a commonly used method
for sex determination. Morphology and metrics of the skull, including the mandible, have been
beneficial in determination of sex (Buikstra and Ubelaker, 1994). Additionally, metric measurements
of appendicular bones have also shown to be useful at determining sex (France, 1998). This study is
limiting the discussion to the skull and

A Life Long Journey
Nursing, A Life Long Journey "They may forget your name, but they will never forget how you
made them feel," said Maya Angelou an African American poet and novelist (Fox–Genovese, 1990).
This quote shows the extent of people's actions. This includes everyone on a day to day basis and
more significantly, the role a nurse plays. A nurse can impact an individual on various levels. For
example, a nurse witnesses people at the most vulnerable times and helps them through. On top
of that, Nursing is a profession that will never fade away. The human life cycle is continuous, and
people are always going to need medical attention. Therefore, in society there will always be a
necessity for professional nurses. This paper will describe why I chose the nursing profession,
what a professional is, what the future of nursing looks like and why evidence based research is
important to my future of nursing. Why I Chose the Nursing Profession Becoming a nurse has
been a life long dream of mine. I remember watching medical television shows as a child, wanting
to do what the doctors and nurses were doing. As I grew up I always told people, "I am going to be a
nurse one day!" When I was in first grade I broke my leg jumping on a tramp. I remember going to
the doctor and getting a crabby nurse that almost made me cry. After the incident, I made a
promise to myself, I was never going to be a nurse like that if I became one. I started working as a
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) when I was sixteen. I decided to become a CNA was to see if
the medical field was something I wanted to purse or if it was just a childhood fantasy. After
working a few weeks as a CNA, I knew I had chosen the right career path. Besides my love for
helping other people, the average income for a nurse impacted my decision too. I know I can
make a living and support a family working as a nurse. Which leads me to the reason I am in the
Associate Nursing Program today. I decided to further my education. I believe I have the empathy,
kindness, and a caring heart to be an effective nurse. I thoroughly enjoy helping others and want to
make a difference in someone's life. Describe a Professional A professional is a broad term that can
describe Doctors, Lawyers,

Essay on Lifelong Learning
Lifelong learning
Lifelong learning is the continuous building of skills and knowledge throughout the life of an
individual. The first characteristic of lifelong learning is that it encompasses both formal and
non–formal/informal types of education and training. Formal learning includes the hierarchically
structured school system that runs from primary school through the university and organized
school–like programs created in business for technical and professional training. Whereas informal
learning describes a lifelong process whereby individuals acquire attitudes, values, skills and
knowledge from daily experience and the educational influences and resources in his or her
environment, from family and neighbors, from work and play,...show more content...
The computer industry is a growing field that will never stay the same as it was when it started.
We will always need additional learning to be able to keep our jobs or move up on the corporate
ladder. We can learn about these changes by going back to school, going to workshops, or on the
job training if it is available. These opportunities are tools that will help you learn more about your
job. The skills that you learn at one job will help you advance in that position or get you another
position with that company or another company. For example,
If you we are tired of being at that same died end job make that change and go back to school to get
that additional education to pursue your dream that you have. Working a job and having a career
are two different things. After spend some years in the work force I decided to further my
education. I wanted a career that I can advance in and learn more.
The process of designing a lifelong learning plan begins with putting it in writing. This plan,
sometimes called a learning contract, must be a dynamic process intended to provide structure in an
unstructured environment – known as everyday life.
Lifelong learning exists within this world, allowing learners the freedom to enroll in formal
continuing education programs or self–directed learning such as learning how to garden or play an
instrument, as examples. A personal learning plan or learning contract should focus on the following
four

Short Essay On James Long
James long, the leader of the Long expedition was born in culpeper county, virginia in 1793. When
he was a kid he moved with his parents to kentucky then to tennessee, married Jane Herbert
Wilkinson Long who became the first lady to have a child in texas, then became one of the old three
hundred to move to Austin's first colony in Texas. When the famous hero was only 19 years old he
joined the US army to serve in the war of 1812, after two years and 9 months of serving as a
surgeon, Long went with his wife to Louisiana after the battle of New Orleans. Two years later at
the request of his wife Long bought a plantation in vicksburg from W.W. Walker. In the year 1819
an adam onis treaty was made between Spain and the United states forming the boundaries of the
louisiana purchase on the sabine river, meaning it was no man's land. Plenty of americans,
including James Long were outraged that the United States would abandon any claim of Texas
they had. Realizing what the US had done, Long took matters into his own hands. Although his
only prior military experience was serving as a surgeon in the battle of 1812 Long was elected
leader and began to plan strategies to take Texas back from Spain. Long decided that going where
the riots were the loudest, Long headed to Natchez Mississippi. Soon an army swung into place; the
long expedition took into action. Long was granted with over $500,000 and about 200 men,
including James Bowie, and Ben Milan both of which are...show more content...
Long spent two years helping the injured and ill in the battle of 1812, he lead an army into Texas
to attempt to take Texas back and keep it where it belongs. Mary James Long was the third child
of James Long and Jane Herbert Wilson Long, the poor young child passed away in 1824 after
being born only three short years

Longer School Days Essay
Longer School Days
Schools are so much a part of our society, so the accurate length of school days is extremely
important. Public opinions on the length of the school days are different. There are a lot of
parents and professors concerned that it is hard for children to go to school early in the morning
and stay there the whole day. On the other side, some professors try to force students into a nine
hour school day. Not so many years ago, school was a main part of my life, and the school days'
structure and length affected my social life and ability to study. From my own experience and some
studies that I have seen, students benefit if school days are long.
Lengthened school days help to create a supportive...show more content...
According to a report from the New York City district, a school that received funds for longer days
fared better on standardized tests. This school had seven percent more students scoring at or
above grade level in reading, when two other schools had increases of five and six percent. In
math, three percent of students scored at or above grade level in a school with a longer day,
compared with one percent for a low performing school and an average of one percent for other
schools (Brett 1). This information is one example of many studies that illustrate that long school
days have a great positive impact on school performance. The main school goals are improving
students' knowledge and building different skills that will help them in the future. Therefore, if
longer school days support these educational goals, people should be concerned about improving
schools by lengthening the day.
Following parents' demands and school needs, some schools want a longer day. DeKalb middle
school in Atlanta already offers after–school enrichment programs and wants to offer all students the
extra hours of instruction. Marion Anders, executive director for DeKalb middle school, is doing
some things to reform the school. He is working on educational programs, where students spend at
list five hours per day in core academic subjects. Also, he asks for additional funds to pay teachers
extra to tutor low–achieving students in reading and math (Madison 16). Therefore, some

Analysis Of The Book ' Long Division ' Essay
The topics "Can You Use that Word in a Sentence," and Racial Representation is significant
throughout the book Long Division written by Kiese Laymon. The characters in this book will
have to face racism and learn to defy racial representations, especially during the scene of the quiz
contest. Overall, this essay will tackle the importance of language in the book Long Division and
analyze the actions of the characters and the emotions they display. This essay will examine the
words written and the racism experienced during the period using the two sources and research
made to understand the importance of language in racism. Long Division, the book written by Kiese
Laymon is an intriguing and gripping novel. It starts off with the main character Citoyen "City"
Coldson a fourteen year–old boy; he participates in a nationwide televised quiz contest. However
noticing that the contest is extremely racist, his outburst on stage goes viral. Shortly, City moves
to live with his grandmother. He's been given a book, before leaving, titled "Long Division". The
main character of the book has the same name as City yet it is set in 1985. A young girl named
Baize Shephard has been missing in City's new community. Yet, when Baize Shephard appears as a
character in City's strange book, both stories link and converge together. Citoyen "City" Coldson
and LaVander Peeler are the only two black participants in the "Can You Use that Word in a
Sentence" contest. There were many scenes that

George Kennan 's Long Telegram
George Kennan's Long Telegram was the United states attempt to limit any geographical expansion
of the Soviet Union further into Europe and to keep the identity of each European country their own.
Because Kennan knew that the Soviets would not want to engage in any battle to risky he said that
the best thing to do would be to have the United states, as another super power, threaten the Soviets
to not to expand any further. The document was released 1946, one year before the start of thecold
war where both the Soviet Union and the United states engaged in threats over nuclear war. The
grudge started back in 1917 when the United States refused to recognize the Bolshevik government
after the Russian Revolution. Stalin was also angry that the...show more content...
Nadel recognized the name of the war itself giving examples of how each the Soviet Union and
United states tried to keep the war "cold". The Soviet union wanted to spread their ideas of
communism into every nook and cranny of the globe and planned on taking nearby countries to
start but did not want an immediate declaration of was on a superpower such as the United States.
The decision to keep the war cold was a partial agreement on both ends knowing and fearing what
would happen in the case of a nuclear war.
Even though Russia was on the winning side of the war against Germany, its economy could not
even keep up to supply the soldiers proper weaponry. Russian soldiers went into late World War 2
barehanded ordered to take a gun off another dead soldier. After the war followed Russia 's
reconstruction in which they received small tributes from Britain and demanded new materials from
the eastern European countries under their control. The production of steel had thus doubled but
the production of sources of food had decreased below levels it had previously been in the 1920's.
Cultural purges led by Andrey Zhdanov, a close friend of Stalin, attacked writers, composers,
economists, historians, and scientists related to Western influences. Stalin started his aggressive
policy in the domestic affairs of nearby states in order to consolidate influence over them. This was
the start of his spread to socialism into eastern Europe,

Long Vacation Essay
How Do You Propose to Spend the Long Vacation? For the last few months, I had been passing
through a nightmare. The spectra of the examination haunted my days. Now it is over, I have
returned to my village home, with a heavy load off my mind, and with the intense relief that it has
brought me, there has come to me something else, – not a nightmare, but a problem. How indeed am
I going to pass this long, long vacation? For the first few days, of course, I propose to do nothing; I
will drink the cup of idleness to the less. I will do nothing but laze and loiter and lounge. For life
suddenly seems to have come to a standstill with me. I am now nobody's slave. I am duty–free. I can
get up when I like and go to bed when I please. I can spend the time in careless gossip or profitless
game. I enjoy the luxury of laziness like a pampered prince. I waste my hours like an extravagant
king. But I know that this idle life can be delightful only a short period. For a healthy man, it is
demoralizing if it is indulged to an excess. A short spell of idleness after month of labor is, I feel, an
allow–able indulgence. But after that I must do something. And here is the problem. Sometimes I
think of going out on travel with one or two enthusiastic, friends. But it is summer: the very ideal of
traveling in the scorching tropical heat is...show more content...
Our income is small, and we must make a little go a long way, so long, too much attention had
been given to fiction and drama. Certainly these are not to be neglected. But greater attention must
be paid to economics and politics of our country, to knowledge of the new civilizations that are
growing up in Russia and china, to the popular sciences, and above all to books that tell us about
ourselves, our problems and our achievements. We mean to make the library the center of a vital
intellectual life which will make us all think intelligently of problems of the

My Challenges As A Writer
Looking back on my experience of writing the first two long essays, I would say I faced multiple
challenges. My first challenge was how to begin writing, especially on the first long essay. For the
first long essay my biggest mistake was not making a rough outline and that made the writing
process take much longer and it clearly was a struggle. I kept hitting writer's block as I stared at my
screen, not knowing what to write next. Another challenge was how to think critically, I was
stumped at how to associate the book Harold and Maude with something I had previously come
across. After spending hours and hours of rereading and making notes, I finally found a connection
that helped tie my essay up. It was only after I finished with

Longest Paper Ever
Mlomeister has given me a link to this site. One day I am not going to get so angry at these types of
things. It's a fact of life and an age–old issue, one that is almost pointless to fight and refute because
it is an incredibly emotional topic and requires a lot time and effort to understand. Not only that,
but there are hundreds and hundreds of sites like this, each one gathering information from each
other so they've created their own religion against religion. Not too many people will delve into the
'why's and how's of things like this, it's way easier to just nod and shake your fist, close your eyes
and form your opinions without doing anything to make sure that your opinions are based on literal
fact, on truth. I was definitely,...show more content...
But I can certainly see how others might, when they are twisting and misconstruing information.
Here is an example. I wrote, "It's like saying "all Muslims" are terrorists, when obviously they all
aren't. " Snip off the last part of that sentence, and suddenly I am someone who just made a really
unfair and untrue statement, "All Muslims are terrorists." But someone makes a webpage about it,
and all of a sudden its "Scarlett Is Anti Muslim" and then that statement has babies and all of a
sudden I'm misrepresented. Really easy to do. Here is an example taken from the page that started
this whole thing for me: "Death to the Rape Victim (Deuteronomy 22:23–24 NAB) If within the city
a man comes upon a maiden who is betrothed, and has relations with her, you shall bring them
both out of the gate of the city and there stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry out
for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbors wife." It is
clear that God doesn't give a damn about the rape victim. He is only concerned about the violation
of another mans "property". That last bit is the author of the webpage's opinion. ( I did a quick
search on this fellows page to see if I could find out his accreditations, not surprisingly there are
none. Also not surprising is his unwillingness to respond to his emails that he gets generated from
his site. Oh but you can

Journaling Essay
Introduction
The intent of this evaluation of Langer's (2002) article is to find the schemes he employed to acquire
knowledge on how adult's student respond to demand computer class, reflect critically, in
summation, the contrast between non–traditional and traditional students about the use of deviations
journals in the field. The focal point of the study casts light on the strength and weaknesses portrayed
in his report on the use of journaling among traditional and non–conventual students (Langer, 2002).
The construction of this subject will produce five major elements starting with the research questions
and purpose. The second factor is the theoretical/conceptual foundation, followed by the method,
solutions, and ending with the...show more content...
338). From these two sentences, the reader undoubtedly understands the review of literature is
reflecting on the utilization of learning journal purpose.
Langer (2002) continues with proper context for reviewing different publications. The article has a
flow and a remarkable transition from a definition to another. For instance, based on a system of
ideas or literature descriptions vary from theoretical enunciation as in "John Dewey and Jurgen
Habermas (1993) with the product of practice based on viewpoints, while SchГ¶n sees it as
research–in–action" (as cited in Langer, 2003, p. 338).
In the literature review section, Langer, (2002) introduces a clear summary and perspectives of
other authors about journals as learning instruments. For instance, in the second paragraph, the third
sentence on page 338, in the concept of reflection in learning, producing the proper learning
atmosphere is the educational task (Langer, 2002). In other words, Abbas and Gilmer (1997, as
cited in Langer, 2002) regardless of the course, students extend their awareness by keeping a diary
(p. 338). The analysis of relevant literature forms the groundwork of the survey; the value that
journals bring in understanding, the learning process, and the process of changing from principle to
performance (Langer, 2002, p. 339). In this case, journal usage by instructors, improves cognitive
development in the of science,

Essay on A Long Way Down
Suicide and humor are two words not often associated with each other, but Nick Hornby takes the
pair on in his novel A Long Way Down, a dark comedy about suicide and life after a failed attempt.
The book is narrated by four characters taking turns telling the story in their voice. The resulting
hodgepodge gang includes Martin, a quasi celebrity who loses everything after an affair with a
fifteen–year old girl; Maureen, the middle–aged mother of a severely disabled son; Jess, an
obnoxious teenager living recklessly to avoid her reality of a missing sister; and JJ, the American
and aspiring musician who's found himself lonely and alone in England. This unexpected group
meets on New Year's Eve on the roof of the well–known suicide spot...show more content...
Reaching the roof on their Valentine's reunion, Maureen observes that with the end of daylight
savings time "even though it seemed dark when we were down on the street, up on the roof it felt
as though there were some light left somewhere in the city" (Hornby 330). From the point in the
novel when the group first descends from the roof, every aspect of the story is building towards
this end, in which the hopeful theme is fully realized. Late in the night in which the group first
meet, Martin jokes, "A trouble shared is a trouble halved, and because there are four of us, it's
actually been quartered" (Hornby 102). Although said mockingly, Jess agrees and even with just
hours of time together, this adage rings true for the desperate four. The importance of camaraderie
and community in finding hope is persistent through the end of the story. After witnessing the man
actually jump from the tower block, it is Martin who honestly says, "I'm not, you know. Ready to
go solo just yet. It's funny because I don't actually like any of you very much. But you seem to be, I
don't knowВ…What I need" (Hornby 240). The ending of A Long Way Down clearly enforces
Hornby's chosen theme, though as just another happy ending it is disappointing.
Even disguised, this happily–ever–after ending is both predictable and unsatisfying. Since the story is

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