Julien Padayao

Mrs. Parrot/Mulvey
Per 2
June 2, 2017

Journeys Can Change a Person

Have you ever had to go on a difficult journey to get somewhere you want to be? A

journey is a trip of one place to another and they can change a person while the person is on the

journey. The character Odysseus in the Odyssey changes by being hubris to being respectful. The

character Brent Cummings in The Good Soldiers changes by being loyal to being caring.

Odysseus is a man who went to fight in the Trojan war. He is cursed to return 20 years

later to his home Ithaca by the god Poseidon because of what he did to the cyclops Polyphemus.

In the Odyssey as Odysseus and his men are escaping from Polyphemus he starts to shout out

who he actually is because Odysseus told Polyphemus a fake name in order for him not to

release his true identity Cyclops if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and

blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes son, whose homes on Ithaca

(Homer 416-419). This shows that he is being hubris to Polyphemus. This matters because this is

what caused Odysseus to not come home for a long time. As the story progresses on Odysseus

finally reaches Ithaca and disguises himself as an old beggar instead of going back by being

himself. He doesnt reveal who he is once he gets home and waits a little until he finally reveals

himself to Eumaeus and Philoetius Here let me show you something else, a sign that I am he,

that you can trust me: this old scar from the tusk wound that I got boar hunting on Parnassus

this shows that he is humble because he didnt reveal himself right when he got to Ithaca. This

matters because Odysseus would reveal himself right away. Furthermore The Good Soldiers also

show that Journeys can change people.

 The good soldiers is about when soldiers were deployed in 2007 to Iraq lead by Ralph

Kauzlarich. Brent Cummings is a soldier who helped out his fellow soldiers. In The Good

Soldiers by David Finkel Izzys daughter has been badly injured and needs to get to a hospital

but they arent allowed to let anyone get treatment who arent American The only hope you

have is to get her to an American hospital... Bring your daughter here.Even this war had its

own rules, and one of them covered who could be treated at an American aid facility. American

could, of course but Iraqis could not.(Finkel 36-41). This shows that he is loyal because he was

trying to follow the rules of the war. This matters because its important to follow rules

especially for something important. Further into the story Cummings tries to call to see if the

daughter can get treatment but no one knew if she could so he decides to just go with the answer

he thinks Cummings made a decision not to ask any more questions, just to assume what the

answer would be (Finkel 64-65). This shows that he is caring because he didnt want to keep

trying to call to find out the answer so he just moved along and tried to get her to the facility.

This matters because he was trying to follow the rules first but then he decides that for the girl to

go to the facility anyways. The change in his attitude is shown by his helpfulness to the girl.

Journeys are trips you take for something you want to learn or do something you love and

they change you in ways you wouldnt imagine. In everyday life journeys dont necessarily mean

taking a trip from one place to another, it could mean trying to reach a goal in life by going

through obstacles. Journeys can change how a person thinks or how a person acts in their own

life.