Eng3U Online Exam

Hala Issa
Mr. Presutti
ENG3UO-01
July 26, 2019
Personal Decisions Lead to a Lifetime of Consequences
Everything happens for a reason is a common phrase thrown around which humans are
responsible for because of their actions. In Macbeth by Shakespeare, The Kite Runner by Khaled
Hosseini, and The Boys and Girls Alice Munro, the main characters' lives are shaped by their
own decisions and choices that they choose to take and lead their life with. In society, it is easy
to put the blame on others for their own misery when instead humans are responsible for the
paths they choose to take. Through the three literary pieces, the authors use of conflict and inner
battles shows how humans are the cause of their own suffering because of the actions they
choose to take. This is demonstrated when characters choose to follow their desire, let jealousy
fuel them, and give in to society’s norms. The protagonist of the story will let desire overpower
their sanity which will lead them to their downfall.
Throughout the play, Macbeth continues to believe he is superior and untouchable which
blinds him to his downfall. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth encounters three weird witches
with Banquo, the witches give Macbeth three prophecies as well as Banquo. His prophecies were
to become thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor, and the future king and Macbeth has the option to
believe in those prophecies or not. Macbeth decides to put all his faith in these prophecies and
act on his feelings, unlike Banquo, where he reflects on the prophecies and does not commit any
actions to make them come true. Through the differences of Macbeth and Banquo, it is clear that
Macbeth has always been responsible for his downfall because he chooses to let his ambition
guide him unlike Banquo, who stays loyal to his country and does nothing out of place. After
Macbeth becomes overpowered by his desire to prove the prophecies, he gets to the point where
he kills the king Duncan and become the future king just as the prophecies said and gets rid of
anything that threatens his authority to make sure the prophecies do come true. He himself alone
is to blame for this, because of his need to become superior, he disregards everything else in his
past life like his own country, Scotland, his friends, his loyalty, and his sanity. This leads
Macbeth to his death at the end of the play, his downfall, he has been so blinded by his desire
that he does not realize how easy it was to get rid of him. Finally, characters like Macduff and
Malcolm were able to redeem their country and restore it to the way it was before Macbeth
became the king. Similarly to Macbeth’s inner conflict because of desire, jealousy is another
driving factor that makes one conflicted and that leads to their downfall.
In The Kite Runner, the protagonist lets his jealousy and drive for affection from his
father harm the people around him, making him miserable throughout the whole novel. The one
thing Amir wants the most out of everything in his life, is to please his father. But, when Amir’s
father, Baba, does not show him affection and displays it Hassan, Amir’s friend, he lets envy and
jealousy get the better of him. In the beginning of the novel, Amir watches his friend get raped
and chooses not to do anything about it, this causes him to lose his dearest friend. Amir’s options
were to let Amir get raped to bring back the kite to impress his father or help his friend and leave
the kite, he chooses the former all own his own just because of his jealousy and selfishness.
Another time Amir lets his jealousy cloud his moral thoughts is when he reads stories to Hassan,
The two were considered best friends, but Amir takes advantage of Hassan’s inability to read and
write and make fun of it for the sake of his own jealousy. Whenever they come across a big word
in the book Hassan does not understand the meaning of, Amir teases him and further stops him
from learning any more. In the end, it is Amir who is responsible for his actions and downfall, he
lost a friend for life and will never get to see him again and guilt will always be buried deep
within him because of it. Characteristics within oneself are not the only way someone can be
responsible for their own actions but because of pressure around them.
The girl in The Boys and Girls by Alice Munro gives in to society’s norms by the end of
the short story and that caused her to become who she did not want to be. The protagonist’s wish
is to work with her father outside in the farms, and not stick with her mother in the kitchen. At
one point of the story, one of the horses in the barn escapes and her family tries their best to keep
the horse in, her father instructs to stay at the gate and close it before the horse goes through.
But, she chooses to go against what her brother and father said, and kept the gate open for the
horse to pass through when she knew it would upset her family. This shows how she struggled at
that point of the story and decides to rebel against her family, especially her father who she
wanted to be. Throughout the short story, the girl always dreamt of becoming something like the
job her father has, and not something her society wants her to be but she gives up on that and lets
her weakness take over. At the end of the story, the family is sitting at the dining table after the
incident and her father comments about the situation, he says she is only a girl and the girl
chooses not to protest against his comment. Finally, this shows how the girl is responsible for
how she spent the rest of her life, she gave in to what society would like her to be and let her
happiness be taken control of.

In conclusion, through the three literary pieces, the authors use characters inner conflicts
to become responsible for their own misery because the decisions they choose to make. This is
demonstrated when the protagonist of each of the stories decide to give in to their weaknesses,
their ambitions, jealousy, and society norm’s. In Macbeth by Shakespeare, The Kite Runner by
Khaled Hosseini, and The Boys and Girls Alice Munro, the authors were able to show the readers
how one person is responsible for their decisions and how it will affect someone’s entire life in
the end because of that one choice taken. Finally, these characters were responsible for the
consequences that they faced.

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Hala Issa

July 26, 2019

Personal Decisions Lead to a Lifetime of Consequences

their sanity which will lead them to their downfall.

happiness be taken control of.

consequences that they faced.

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