LIFE LESSONS
Each of the characters in the story faces situations which they find to be perplexing and troubling. Young adults in every generation face similar situations that are new and tangled. Typically there are few if any clear choices available to them and those that are often are attached to conflicting consequences of both a positive and negative sort. These are the dilemmas that compel thinking, reasoning, and decisions. Each of the examples below offer a glimpse at a range of challenges faced by the crew. Most include a brief passage from the story. All convey insight into the challenges common to young people of every era. Making Way thus gives us a glimpse into the present by a compelling look into the past.
1. SAGE ADVICE
See what others don’t see, learn what others don’t learn.
People typically do not look past the immediate and the obvious. Exceptionalism is found is looking beyond the surface at what most would miss, and acting in accordance with the richness discovered.
2. ABILITY to READ
Neglecting it limits one’s destiny; pursuing it opens great vistas.
Our story begins with a loving Grandfather’s concern that technology is eroding certain fundamental skills essential for success in life. Reading is one such skill. The written word is a carrier wave that communicates much in its format: it communicates thoughts, passions, goals and hopes.
3. RELATIONSHIPS
They form us into networks in many different ways, with many different end results.
“Just came together; loose strings into a knot.”
4. VISION
Towards the horizon with a weathered eye opened for opportunities and wary of threats.
As the scuttlebutt is shared, Alan asks, “Who are the enemies?”
One of the men says, “Who are your enemies?”
Alan hesitates and says, “I have never in my life had an enemy.”
A second man asks, “Have you never been exploited? Do you know what is happening in these colonies?”
Alan says with some sadness and resolve in his voice, “I know only the world that I see. That is all that I can handle.”
5. OWNERSHIP
Many times true ownership lies not in the title to something but in the commitment to its values.
Adam turns to Alan and probes, “Family with money?”
Alan, “No.”
Adam, “Then whose boat?”
Alan hesitates and claims, “Given to me for all of us to make our way.”
Bud, “You mean to make your way.”
Alan, “Nay. I mean our way. Can’t do it alone. I think we are meant to find our futures together.”
6. MONEY MATTERS
It has been said that money amplifies what is in one’s heart.
Adam turns to Alan and probes, “Family with money?”
Alan, “No.”
Adam, “Then whose boat?”
Alan hesitates and claims, “Given to me for all of us to make our way.”
Bud, “You mean to make your way.”
Alan, “Nay. I mean our way. Can’t do it alone. I think we are meant to find our futures together.”
7. COMPENSATION
A fair day’s wages for a fair day’s work…but not always.
The COMMERCE will be paid, but not with money for services. Instead, a seaman will be placed in Alan’s service. Sensibility? The crew recognize that the new guy is being traded like a slab of meat. Na asks, “Are we doing wrong?” Who decides?
8. IGNORE EXTERNALITIES...at a COST
The colonies hosted great diversity in people, but also a range of attitudes and perceptions about that diversity.
People, common folks, tend to be unsophisticated about international or European affairs. Most embrace the notion that the new soxiety in the colonies could manage on its own. Everyday life is narrowly focused on commerce and making money. The towns along the bay are crowded, hectic and ethnically diverse. The many languages create a cacophony of sounds, and from the kitchens waft the distinct odors of every corner of Europe. All this makes for communities that either ignore embrace differences among people.
9.TRUST
No man is an island.
Men and ships learn to trust one another only after trials and sometimes desperate, intimate and raw communication.
10. POWER of NATURE
We are all in the same boat, in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.
Storms at sea are ominous. The sky turns to a thick gray darkness. The sea demonstrates its overwhelming and unyielding muscle. The wind imposes itself in the face of every crew member as if to say, “You’re an unwelcome guest in my place.” It Is surely Nepture dealing with human trespassers on the great seas, human perhaps unsuited for the vastness of the water world.
Address
DePaul University
Department of Political Science
990 West Fullerton Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614-2458
Contact
- DFarkas@DePaul.edu
- +1 847-251-2671