Fireshadow by Anthony Eaton - Analytical Essay...

Fireshadow - Analytical Essay: â€Å"Throughout the novel, characters encounter challenges and setbacks, but the novel’s message is optimistic.† We all face many challenges and setbacks in life, but it is whether we deal with them properly, that decides whether we move on. If we don’t overcome our challenges and setbacks, we could be dwelling on the one problem for a long time, because the longer we leave a problem to grow, the harder it becomes to deal with. Despite the fact that characters encounter challenges and setbacks throughout the whole novel, its overall message is quite optimistic. The four main challenges which are included in the novel, include death, pain, suffering, and separation. Erich and Vinnie faced the biggest†¦show more content†¦The way that Vinnie’s parent’s treated him was very discouraging and negative, which made it even harder for Vinnie to do things as well or with as much enthusiasm as his parents would have liked him to. Despite all this, Vinnie was able to make the decision to pack up and go back to face up to his parents, and try to mend their relationship. Gunter experienced a great deal of suffering and pain, when his leg was crushed into a bloody pulp by a falling tree trunk. This gruesome event occurred in the forest, when some of the Australian P.O.W. Camp guards had taken a group of Germans to chop trees for fire wood. This was definitely a setback for Gunter, because his leg had to be amputated before infection could spread through his body. Another reason why this was a big setback, is that Gunter had a wife to go back to when he was freed, and he wasn’t sure whether she would like him after she saw his stump leg. Doubt started to fill his head, and at the time, he had even wondered whether his life was worth living any more. Erich confronted him when he was on the verge of giving up, and talked to him about his wife, and told him that if she truly loved him, she wouldn’t care one bit whether he had a leg or not. When Gunter was finally freed, he returned to his Italian wife