Sarah Essay 18

Sarah Shourds
Hamilton Salsich
English 09
27 April 2009

Simple and Complex Kindness:
An Essay on One Poem, One Story, and My Personal Life

Do you know where your kindness came from? Do you think everything can obtain kindness, even in the simplest forms? Kindness is everywhere from telling the truth, to making a mistake. In the poem “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye, the short story “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and in my own life, kindness is found in simple and complex forms.


TS In the poem “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye, she conveys her own thoughts of the definition of kindness. SD “Before you know what kindness really is[,] you must lose things [.]” CM In this quote, Ms. Nye says that you must undergo sorrow to fully grasp the meaning of kindness. CM “Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.” CM You must know that in order to obtain kindness, you have to have basic background information on its opposite- sorrow. SD If Ms. Nye could give any advice to Dexter, she would tell him to let his sorrows go, because once he is free from that burden, he can get a hold of his kindness and happiness. CM She would tell him that the pain he’s suffered is good, and that it’s a good basis layer for his heart, because kindness won’t always be there to “tie[] your shoes,” or hold your head up high when you need it most. CM Kindness will find its way to you once you really know the true meaning. CS Perhaps Nye would applaud Dexter, for knowing “how desolate the regions of kindness” can be, and tell him that he will now have a better chance at finding “[someone he has] been looking for.”

TS In the poem “Kindness,” Ms. Nye speaks of “what kindness really is [and how] you must lose things” to get its full meaning. SD In “Winter Dreams,” Dexter is no stranger to losing things. CM He’s lost the love of his life, his courage and his self confidence. CM The sum of losing all of these things has not led him to happiness or kindness, but makes him think about what made him happy and kind. SD In the end of the story, Dexter was miserable [FAST] and didn’t know what to do with himself, but there was some candle that burned inside of him. CM One flickering light that still had some fluid in it- Judy. CM He remembers “her confidence,” her sweet voice, her eyes gazing into his and her smile [Tetracolon Climax]. CM It was Judy’s happiness and kindness that led Dexter to love her, and it was her happiness and kindness that led Dexter to his state of unhappiness now. CS Dexter’s life hasn’t ended just yet- he’s on a rollercoaster full of emotions that “will never stop,” “learn[ing] the tender gravity of kindness.”

TS My life relates to both “Kindness” and “Winter Dreams,” but in two different ways. SD In “Winter Dreams,” Dexter say’s this nurse that made me think of my life- "Oh, that's all right. I'll fix it up.” CM In many instances, people take risks and don’t think of the negative outcome. CM They think Oh, well my daddy’s rich and can fix any of my mistakes, but boy are they wrong. CM I admit that I’ve made mistakes, but I never pushed the consequences out of the picture- I knew I was going to get into trouble and I owned up to it. SD I have also gone through a lot of pain and found the better side of it, like Ms. Nye says in her poem “Kindness” [Loose Sentence]. CM Two years ago on May fourth, I received the most dreaded phone call of my life- a phone call from my grandmother telling me that my grandfather had passed away. CM At the moment, my mother and I were in line for my pageant, paying and getting registered- the news shook us up so much [Loose Sentence]. SD My mother had gone home to mourn with her brothers and sisters, but wanted me to stay in Cape Cod with my Aunt, and told me “to win the pageant for [my grandfather]!” CM I stayed for the rest of the weekend, and brought home over ten trophies, all in honor of my grandfather. CS It was hard for me to get up on stage pretending to be all happy when truly I was heartbroken, but going home and showing my mother my awards and seeing her swollen eyes fill with joy, it was worth it. CS “You must know sorrow as the other deepest thing,” in life, and learn how to deal with it- may it be a family death, or simply making a mistake.

Kindness is found in the smallest of things that you may not immediately see, but eventually you will. Ms. Nye says it’s “the deepest thing inside [a humans heart,]” Mr. Fitzgerald thinks it’s hidden among each and every one of us, and in my life, it is too found hidden in the smallest of things. It can be found in death, or found in the simplicity of telling the truth. Wherever kindness may be, hope that one day you will realize kindness is found everywhere.