How to be Good - essay

Jeg ville bare spørge, om jeg argumenterer godt nok for min analyse og fortolkning, og til det formål kunne jeg godt tænke mig nogle friske øjne til at kigge på mit essay - derudover kunne jeg godt tænke mig, hvis folk kunne sige, om det er et nogenlunde essay eller ej. :)
Essays er ikke min stærke side. ;-)

Tak på forhånd tak! :D

“How to be Good” is written by Nick Hornby in 2001, and they store is about an average family.
One day the narrator, whose name is Katie, is in a dilemma. Her husband, whose name is David, has given their son’s computer away to the women’s refuge: without consulting her or their two kids. He thought it was greedy to have two computers in the house when those women and their children did not have any.
This has, inevitable, made the children upset, because they now have to share one computer.
In the end all parts calm down, and David manages to see that he has made a mistake and he apologizes.
A part of the Katie wants the computer back, because it was a Christmas present to her son and they worked jolly hard to buy it, but another part of her knows that her husband only did a good deed with good intentions. She is also doing something for the greater good by helping those women and letting them keep Tom’s computer.
This is concluded from the following quotation; “I don’t know what to say (…) What is there for me to be angry about?” (pp. 1, lines 31-33).
Here she asks herself how she can be angry. This is the first part where you can see she is in a bit of dilemma. Katie is in conflict with herself because she does not know what to do and how much her beliefs really matter, which is conclude from the following quotation; “So what do I believe? Nothing much, apparently. I believe that there shouldn’t be homelessness, (…) that Tom’s Christmas presents are his, and shouldn’t be given away. There you are. That is my manifesto. Vote for me.” (pp. 3, lines 74-78). From this quotation I conclude she asks herself; “How can I do something good – without excluding the other?
She is split between her own greed and needs, and the ability to help the have-nots and lesser fortunate. And although she wants to help, she is not willing to compromise her own way of life.
The narrator’s parents are visiting for lunch on a Sunday, where David is in the kitchen and out of nowhere he gets a sudden urge to help people in need.
He is preparing to give their entire lunch, which they have spent several hours making, to charity. Katie gets upset with David’s continuously, outrageous behavior. She gets so upset that she completely turns against her political conviction. She manages to calm down once again, and persuades David not to give their lunch away. She suggests that as an alternative they could reheat some premade lasagna from their freezer.
When David gets these urges Katie describes him as a fanatic. “(…) now I can see that he’s gone mad, that he wants to humiliate us all. How could I have forgotten that this is what always happens with zealots? (…) interested in nobody but themselves, nothing but their own piousness”. (pp. 2, lines 46-48).
The quotation indicates her thoughts of David as a selfish individualist, who is only interested in polishing his halo. She is also pondering whether David in a sense was right, and thus some of her principles could be in jeopardy.
The title, “How to be Good”, fits well, and it describes the content, themes and problems of Nick Hornby’s text very well. How far should you go in order to help others? The story shows, perhaps in extreme ways, how we can make a difference. The extreme condition makes it easier for us to choose side – are we the ones, who are willing to help others in need no matter what, or are we the more selfish, moderate helpers, who do not want to compromise our own way of life in order to help the have-nots? It makes you think about the Biblical aphorism “Help thy neighbor”.

In the text “Utopia”, written by Thomas Moore, he describes the perfect society according to him.
David shares Thomas Moore’s view on Utopia – the view on the ideal society. He is willing to share his wealth with everybody and does so and hereby he makes what is his common asset. This is based on the following quotation; “We didn’t need two (…) But certainly greedy” (pp. 1, lines12-13).
In another quotation it shows David’s belief of if you throw stones in the water it creates rings which spreads; “They maybe wouldn’t have understood why I wanted to” (pp. 1, line 17).
If they get in troubles, then maybe someone will help them?