View this Free Essay in PDF format

This free essay has been submitted by: Guest User

Celia Behind Me

I have read a story called Celia behind me, which is mainly devoted to dealing with the dark side of a character, where you get a good insight, how evil human beings can be to others - in this case, it's bullying that is the problem. It shows that as soon as children become aware that others are different, they use this opportunity to tease others without fully realising, just how much such behaviour hurts another person's feelings.

In this story, the conflict is between two girls called Celia and Elizabeth. Celia is a victim in the conflict, greatly due to her obeseness, diabetic condition and because of the glasses that she wears. In the beginning, Elizabeth teases Celia until she is told to stop doing so by her mother. This in turn causes Elizabeth to later beat up Celia.

The story takes place in the western world, probably Canada and is modern contemporary.

Celia is a little girl, who is chubby, has diabetic and wears very thick glasses. She hasn't got any friends, because she's different - weaker than the other children. Every day she follows the other girls walking behind them.

Elizabeth, who mocks Celia, is very hurtful to her, because Elizabeth's mother told her to be friends with Celia. Celia then thinks, it's okay, if she talks and walks with Elizabeth, but clearly that is not what Elizabeth wants. As a result Elizabeth beats up Celia, but Celia forgives her. Why? The main reason could be that Celia wants Elizabeth to see her as a person like the other girls and wants to be acknowledge for the person she is inside, and not judged wholly on her outside looks or medical conditions.

Elizabeth is a girl, who goes to school with Celia and mocks her a lot. Her mother tells her to stop, and she does. Elizabeth is then presented with a new problem, because Celia thinks, she likes her.
As a consequence, Elizabeth beats up Celia, but Celia forgives her. Elizabeth never forgave Celia, because Celia made her discover a dark side within herself, which she was never aware of.
Elizabeth's dark side is very frightening, and she has become intimidated by it.

Elizabeth's parents - the mother teaches Elizabeth that you should never mock another child, on the grounds that it results in a bad outcome. She does the right thing in telling Elizabeth not to bully, because she should be aware of that you have to treat people with respect, because it can backfire at some later time with serious results.

After Elizabeth has beaten up Celia, her parents punish her, because of her bad behaviour. They spank her, but it's not okay to use violence upon your children, because it's not a very effective way, as the child only learns that violence and physical pain is a normal way of dealing with problems. This may mean that when such a child then becomes an adult and has their own children, the person may then see violence as an acceptable way to punish his or her own children. Instead however, the parents should have discussed the incident with Elizabeth, get to know her reason for doing so, and help her to find a more peaceful way of dealing with future problems.

So in a way, the parents use wrong and right methods to raise and teach Elizabeth, which she hopefully will think about how her actions, behaviour and her manners affect other people.

In line 36, page 2, there is a quotation very relevant to Elizabeth's parents - the mother's way of raising her daughter.

My mother said, one day when I'd come into the kitchen, "You'll be sorry, Elizabeth. I see how you're treating that poor child, and it makes me sick. You wait, young lady. Some day you'll see how it feels yourself. Now you be nice to her, d'you hear?"

As I mentioned before about the mother, she gives Elizabeth one alternative and that is to stop bullying otherwise it'll have consequences. Elizabeth also has to learn the difference between right and wrong, as well as needing to learn to be open minded towards other people and treat them with respect.

The classmates are just like Elizabeth or even worse actually, because first of all they bully Celia too, secondly they start mocking Elizabeth, because she was told to treat Celia with respect by the mother.
All in all the classmates are not true and loyal friends, because as soon as you make a mistake, you are no longer good enough to be friend with them.

The ending is that Elizabeth has discovered a dark side within herself, which is very evil and frightening. The dark side made her beat up Celia, but was it only Celia that was the problem? Probably not, because she must have been filled with anger that might have come from the parents, the classmates and Celia, which she needed to let go off.

Elizabeth has also become scared of herself and the kind of "power" she possesses, because she never imagined that she was capable to do such a thing.

The title, Celia Behind Me, is very fitting and gives a clear perspective to the text, because the word "behind" is the keyword. It suggests that Celia is behind Elizabeth - in school, when they walk and under the bridge. It's a very obvious title and not so complicated that a deep and detailed analysis is required.

The message is that you have to treat others, as you want to be treated yourself. I totally agree with this moral message, because nobody wants to be treated different, because of one's personality or appearance. It's in my view that everybody wants to be treated with respect. That is why it's important always to know that when you treat others badly, you hurt their feelings. The forgiveness is the hardest thing to do, because you have to have the conscience and courage to apologise on those occasions, when you hurt another person's feelings, even though it's difficult to admit your mistake, and not many can do it, because they feel guilty.

Add a Review for this free essay

Name: Rate: Select 10 (Good) 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (Bad)

Comments Characters Left
Verify:*

Sticky Note Text....