Changing for Change
The inspiring writer and leadership speaker, Robin Sharma once said “Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.” Everyone knows that abrupt change is inevitable. If you choose to accept the hardest part of the situation, only then can many new opportunities come. The engaging and relatable story All-Ball by Mary Pope Osborne is about a young girl whose father has to move to Korea for a year. This leads to the rest of her family to move out of the military post she has lived in for her whole life to a drastically different place, Florida. The Last Kiss by Ralph Fletcher is a heartwarming story in which the main character used to always get a kiss from his mom and dad before going to sleep but one day that was changed when his father didn’t kiss him goodnight. In both these encouraging stories, the main protagonists had to go through the continuum and struggles of abrupt change. It was hard and confusing at first but in the end it leaded to a greater understanding of their situation and opened up many new opportunities.
Going from living in a perfect world to a difficult situation is never easy but both main characters from All-Ball and The Last Kiss had to go through this common struggle. It is clear the main character of All-Ball lives in a utopia. “I loved the neat lawns, clean streets, trim houses and starched uniforms.” (page 1) This shows that every aspect of her life at the moment is perfect, everything is clean, neat and nothing is out of order. By saying ‘I loved’ she is showing that she is not prepared for change and wants her life to remain the same for as long as possible. Another section of the story that proves this is her vivid dream of the guards chasing away a couple of ghosts that tried to come onto their military post. The ghosts are a symbol of her insecurity and the guards are stopping the reality from entering her world, but this would soon change. It was a spring night when the main character learnt that her father would be leaving for korea in six weeks, and stay there for an entire year. Although it may not seem significant, but the setting warns the reader that change is coming. Spring is when the snow melts and flowers start to emerge from the ground, since it was a spring night it shows that change is about to take place. The main character is placed in a difficult situation when she learns her family will be moving out of her unblemished world and instead to Florida. It is not abnormal to move to a new country, but it is relatable and hard when it is out of the blue and completely new.
Likewise, in the short story The Last Kiss, the main character experienced a change in his normal routine. Every night before going to bed, the primary character would always get a kiss from his mother and father. “These kisses were a regular part of the bedtime routine” he says on page 81. A key word from this quote is regular, this shows that he never had to worry about anything. A kiss usually symbolizes support and since he got two every night, you could easily tell he had a lot of love surrounding him and people to rely on. Also on page 81, he says “After that I got under the covers and it was an easy glide to sleep.” Most people find it hard to automatically drift into a deep sleep. Since he specifically states it is an easy glide into sleep it shows that he has no worries and can experience life without a single doubt. It was a turn of events when one night instead of a goodnight kiss, he received a handshake from his father. In summary, both main protagonists’ lives and routines were altered, leaving them in a difficult situation.
Moving deeper into the story, the authors of both stories provide many clues that suggest a fixed mindset from the main characters. On page 11 of All-Ball, the main character chooses to only focus on the bad side of moving. “There were no kids in the whole neighborhood. There were no real trees in our small yard-just a few scrubby ones. There was no wide open parade field to play on.” She chooses to point out the differences between her old military post and her new home which just makes her hate Florida even more. Not only this but she also points out “a huge water bug scuttling across the floor of the TV room, and a gigantic black spider hovering in the corner of the garage.” These bugs were never there in her military post and, like the ghosts from her dream, they symbolize impurity and insecurity. The gigantic black spider is almost like her view of reality, creepy, disgusting and unwanted. By failing to see the advantages of moving to a wonderful state like Florida she just built a wall in her head that blocks out everything except the disadvantages of her new life. This wall is her fixed mindset, with this wall she would never realize the pros of her new home.
Correspondingly, in the story The Last Kiss the main character had had a fixed mindset and didn’t want his routine to change.“Two more times I went to Dad for a good-night kiss.” He keeps trying and trying to make sure his routine stays the same, this shows that he doesn’t believe he is ready for change and doesn’t want it to happen. Also, on page 83 the main character is stunned and “For a few seconds I didn’t move". This shows that he is scared and confused. As many people know, change can be frightening. If I was in this character’s shoes, I too would have been confused. I think it is normal for an individual to try to keep things as they are, but in the end change is inevitable and the outcome will gorgeous.
Towards the ends of the stories, the main characters from both short stories the character’s perspective changes and the wall that blocked the positives of their situation was finally knocked down. In the story All-Ball, the main character started to show signs of perspective change when her dad visited her in her room to give her a new ball. The first sentence he said was “I like your barrette” (pg16), he was referring to the “pink Scottie dog barrette locked onto (her) tangled hair”. This is significant because barrettes are used to hold your hair back from blocking your face- specifically your eyes. Her tangled hair are her problems and the barrette in her hair is symbolizing the main character being able to realize a new aspect of moving and change that she hadn't been able to see before. “The truth was I hadn’t thought much about his coming home.” This sentence is showing that the wall blocking her from seeing the good side of situations has been knocked down because when the wall was still up, she hadn’t thought about how her father would come home and they would be a family again. The new ball her father gave her is like her new open mindset, even though she didn’t want the ball at first, at the end she gave in which is like her accepting her new growth and open mindset. Not only this but her father had also said he would bring back a pearl ring for her. Pearls are often thought of being able to strengthen relationships and keep children safe and rings are a symbol of commitment. This shows that the pearl ring is very significant as if to say that her dad will always be there for her- at least in spirit. Adding on to that, at the end of the story, the main character was “clutching the pieces of All-Ball along with the new white ball.” (pg18) Like the pearl ring, this also shows that a little piece of her past and her dad will always be there with and for her. Now that she has grown into a new mindset, new opportunities have opened up for her. For instance, the imaginary friends she had made up with All-Ball can be replaced with real friends. Not only this but with an open mindset she is able to learn and experience new places other than the military post. This would give her a better grasp of reality and she will be able to expand her knowledge on many subjects.
This message is also reflected in The Last Kiss. For example, on page 82 the main character recalled, “At first I just stood there, confused. Finally I took his hand and shook it the way I’d seen men shake hands.” Just standing there is almost like he is not sure of change and still wants to get a kiss from his mom and dad every night. After a while, he shook his father’s hand. This symbolizes he is accepting the fact that he won’t always get a goodnight kiss and is okay with this new routine. Just like in All-Ball, at the very end of the book everything was clear to the main character. “My father and I had drifted away from each other in a small but important way, a way that I couldn’t explain, not even to myself.” (page 84) By accepting the hardest part of abrupt change, the main protagonist was able to morph his relationship with his father into a much more mature bond. Just like the pearl ring in the story All-Ball, a kiss signifies a bond and commitment to someone, a kiss on the cheek also symbolizes support. The father took a big step by suddenly changing his son’s routine, but I am very proud of that. It must have been hard not knowing how he would react to this change, but he did it anyway and the result was beautiful. This is because by changing one part of the main character’s, he completely strengthened his bond with his son. According to the Oxford Dictionary the definition of mature is “fully developed physically; full-grown”. The main character in this story is now mature and does not need to rely on his father as much as before. This has opened up many new opportunities for them because their relationship can keep getting stronger now.
The charismatic stories All-Ball by Mary-Pope Osborne and The Last Kiss taught not only the main characters of the stories but also the readers a very important lesson. Although challenging at times, the outcomes of change are gorgeous, but to get there you must keep an open and growth mindset. Having a growth mindset is key because that way you are open to new possibilities. Not only this but with a growth mindset it is easier to gain a deeper understanding of situations as you are not blocking out anything. This way new opportunities will be knocking at your doorstep in no time.
