Texts may show us that the world of inner journeys involves unexpected encounters.
To what extent do the texts you have studied support this idea?
Fundamentally, genuine inner journeys must incorporate unexpected encounters, especially because in actuality, journeys involving the process of personal growth and the enhancement of maturity cannot be precisely anticipated. J.G Ballard’s novel Empire of the Sun, Aaron Blaise’s and Robert Walker’s film Brother Bear, and Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird use the innocence of childhood to effectively convey three unique personal journeys that are all parallel and multifaceted in nature. Each of the aforementioned texts depicts three unique characters, who through unexpected encounters into unfamiliar territory acquire newfound knowledge whilst broadening their understandings of the world.
J.G. Ballard’s novel Empire of the Sun allows readers to travel vicariously through the mind of a privileged and sheltered British boy living in Shanghai during World War Two, who undergoes a metamorphosis through unexpected encounters with death in the Lunghua prisoner of war camp. Jim initially catechizes his surroundings through the window of his chauffeur driven Packard limousine, emphasising his luxurious fortification from exterior surroundings. Death is an unfamiliar concept to Jim, who utilizes the words ‘I'll kill you,’ without restriction, demonstrating his inability to comprehend the connotations of the expression. Jim’s constant removal from reality effectively alters his perceptions when he observed that ‘the snow formed a thick quilt and the old man’s face emerged like a sleeping child above an eiderdown.’ He is disillusioned into assuming the homeless derelict ‘never moved because he was warm under the snow.’ Jim’s childish innocence substitutes death with ‘sleeping’ and he lives in his own paradoxical fantasy, that warmth and comfort can be derived from snow. Ballard uses the multitudinous depictions of death, suffering and hunger to foreshadow Jim’s own experiences in the Lunghua camp. In it, Jim undergoes a process of transmogrification in which his physical and mental states profoundly deteriorate and he is terrified ‘his parents might fail to recognise him.’ The various alluring images of death, juxtapose the primary depictions of skeletal, decomposing bodies, to imply a desired peace and a release from suffering. This notion entices Jim entirely as he constantly has ‘dreamy thoughts of having died,’ and it is revealed that ‘death with her mother-of-pearl skin had almost seduced him with a sweet potato.’ By initially portraying Jim as an entitled youth shielded into his almost perfect yet impractical world, Ballard demonstrates that unexpected encounters with death can allow an inner journey of extensive self-discovery.
To Kill A Mockingbird follows the inner journey of a young girl residing in 1960s America, overcoming prejudicial bigotry through an unexpected encounter in a process of self-maturation and understanding. Scout lives in America’s Deep South during the Martin Luther King era, where racism and discrimination are pertinent issues hindering the advancement of society. Scout is initially analogous to the her community’s biased preconceptions, absorbing unwarranted conjectures of an individual she has never witnessed by believing stories ‘according to neighbourhood legend,’ and those told by Miss Stephanie, ‘a neighbourhood scold.’ Her seemingly unjustified assumptions of Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley, a ‘malevolent phantom’, is not only applied to Boo himself, but also extend to his residence as her interpretation of the ‘Radley Place,’ is saturated with descriptive diction that enforces her negative viewpoint upon the audience. The phrase ‘Radley pecans would kill you,’ employs the use of personification and over exaggeration to bestow the ability to commit murder upon a pecan, an innocently unassuming object. Scout’s eventual progress as a character and gradual development towards understanding is displayed towards the concluding chapters when she ultimately meets Boo. She discovers the subject of her childhood superstition, a monster who ‘dined on raw squirrels,’ was in actuality, a timid child in need of nurturing and care. The prejudiced views in which Scout held so dearly of Boo had completely diminished and her newfound realisation causes her to embrace her father’s previous advice to demonstrate sympathy and understanding towards others. When Scout walks Boo to his porch, instead of peering inside the house as she has desired all her childhood, she turned to observe the world from Boo’s perspective. Through her unexpected encounter with Boo, Scout matured considerably, understanding that preconceived thoughts based on neighbourhood gossip does not necessarily administer the truth, and judgements based on her self-experience represent the closest validity of accuracy.
Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker co-directed animated Disney film Brother Bear, centres on the journey of an adolescent Inuit boy, who pursues a bear in revenge for a battle he provoked which consequently resulted in the death of his eldest brother. He avenges his brother by slaughtering the bear; however the Spirits, angered by the unnecessary loss of life, transform the boy into a bear himself and this unexpected encounter allows him to observe the world through an alternate perspective. Kenai initially considered bears as abhorrent creatures and his detestable opinion is further exacerbated when his assigned totem of guidance is revealed to be a bear, symbolising love. Bewildered and despondent, he argues ‘A bear doesn't love anyone... they don't think, they don't feel.’ His loathsome perception of the animal subsequently diminishes when he befriends a cub bear Koda, who he eventually calls a brother, hence the title Brother Bear. A recurring motif in the film is the use of the word ‘monster.’ Kenai originally uses the term to characterise all bears, presuming they ‘will look for any excuse to attack humans.’ His continual repetition of the spiteful word further emphasises his immense hatred towards bears, however as he is ultimately forced to familiarise himself with bears, he determines his previous vilification of the animals are gravely unjustified. When he even eventually realises that the bear he murdered was in fact Koda’s mother who was trying to protect her son from a provoked attack, he regretfully apologises admitting he is ‘a monster who did something so wrong.’ By using the term ‘monster,’ to describe himself, Kenai revealed his bitter contempt towards bears had completely disintegrated, and subsequently understood that he himself, reflected the subject of his hatred. Through unexpectedly encountering the Spirits, Kenai has both a physical transformation and mental transition, and hence Brother Bear successfully encapsulates the journey of ‘a boy, who became a man, by becoming a bear.’
Thus due to the naturally accidental and unpredictable anatomy of an inner journey, they almost always involve unexpected encounters to enable the process of learning, maturation and self-discovery as a means of personal development. Therefore inner journeys ultimately increase our knowledge of the world as we unexpectedly enter the perspectives of others, experiencing an alternative viewpoint and allowing us to broaden our understandings. Although J.G Ballard’s novel Empire of the Sun, Aaron Blaise’s and Robert Walker’s film Brother Bear, and Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, involve the journeys of three different individuals, they all comprise of unforeseen aspects and show us that the world of inner journeys most definitely involve unexpected encounters.
^ thats my yr 11 essay. i just read it over and its pretty horrible but i ended up getting 18/20. one mark for topic sentences and another for relating examples to the q
