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Nihal Ali

ID no. 900 123 163

RJ1:"The second prize" B !eore #a$on %9$h&e'%2013

1()ha$ is $he *ain idea+

'The greatest conflicts are not between two people,but between one person and

himself',by Garth Brooks. In the second prize, George Layton draws a new definition

to the concepts of self blame and inner struggle,these two dreaded traits that are

automatically associated in the back of our heads with disgrace,human pain and

failure. Through out the story,these two concepts beautifully flourish to be

considered ,by myself at least,one of humanity's supreme luuries as they turned outto be the main reasons that dro!e our little boy to maintain a correct sense of !alues at

the !ery end.In the second prize, Layton introduces us to a boy who was stuck with an

unappeased conscience after winning the second prize in 'The "ational road safety

competition' for a drawing that he was gi!en 'a bit of a hand ' in it from his

neighbour,#r $arpenter.The writer con!eys his message in a !ery con!incing and

well supported approach.%irstly,the boy compared 'the prize gi!ing ceremony' on

different occasions to his uncle #atyy's funeral. It triggers my thoughts how this little

boy mentally connected the physical death of his uncle with the moral death of his

belie!es and conscience if he was to remain silent and accept the award. &e also

pointed out how on both e!ents they had the same tai dri!er and pretty much the

same clothings.It is funny how, during these two occasions, he will get into trouble

with his mother o!er actions committed by others.%or eample,in uncle #atty's

funeral,he got into trouble because of 'ntie winnie's fault' of ruining his new

suit.nd in the prize gi!ing ceremony,because of #r $arpenter's participation in his

drawing.(econdly,it is compelling how the writer reflected constantly the boy's mental

turmoil on his physical state,This was clearly seen in lines such as ''I was sitting at the

top of the stairs listening to my stomach churning.#y stomach seemed to ha!e been

churning for the last two weeks'',and also in ha!ing to immediately go to the bathroom

when they arri!ed at the town hall because of feeling '(ick' whene!er he thought

about the ')otten' prize.t the !ery end,the sense of inner unrest and self *uestioning

dro!e the boy to admit on stage that the drawing didn't belong to him.It is now simpleto understand why Thomas (.#onson considered the conflict of our conscience,the

turmoil of our daily li!ing and our abiding faith to become the anchors of our li!es.

2()ha$ is o,r response+

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The second prize is a !ery simple ,yet rich piece of writing. Layton succeeded in

grasping the true essence of many di!inely fa!oured human *ualities, connecting

them together and finally presenting them in a !ery kid friendly setting.I'll +ump right

into an eample of what I am talking about.when analyzing this story,many *uestionswere raised,from which the most important was how integrity,self

discipline,pride,unease and guilt are so closely related. It riddled my mind how

*ualities that seemed to be from two opposite sides of the rainbow felt so connected

and similar at a certain point. I came to the conclusion that it's because their

negati!es pro!ide the keys to their positi!es.I realised that it is okey to suffer. It is

okey to tremendously blame yourself and ha!e that feeling of a hea!y burden

s*uashing your chest whene!er you breath.It is okey to sometimes fail at disciplining

yourself and be unable to firmly shout at yourself '"-'.It is okey to disappoint those

who in!ested their blood,sweat and tears in you as this won't be your greatest

loss.our greatest loss will be disappointing your one and only self.ll these

pre!iously mentioned 'negati!e' traits should ,in fact, be singled out as humanity'smost important !alues,because this is the only way Integrity and inner peace shall be

reached.Bottom line is,any 'epensi!e' trait won't be achie!ed easily.ou will ha!e to

eperience the ups and downs of the process of bettering oneself first, as these highly

desired traits are for 'rich' people who !alued their sufferings and fied their wrong

doings.It attracted me how Layton's story highlighted this complete +ourney.%irstly,the

writer illustrated how much pride was in!ested in the little boy.This was clearly

shown in how the mother kept bragging about her little boy ,e!en to the tai

dri!er,who responded by saying' That's a first,wait till I tell the wife'.lso it was

shown when the headmaster said 'This boy has brought great honour to the school'.s

the amount of pride increased,the amount of guilt followed it,making it harder and

harder for the boy to confess.&e was'praying like mad' and 'felt more sorry for

himself'.t the !ery end,it was those stressing emotions that made him reach a !ery

high le!el of discomfort and e!entually forced him to tell the truth .-nly then ,he

said ,'I felt happier than I had done for weeks'

3(-o) does $he readin connec$ )i$h o,r personal lie+

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&a!ing integrity and self blame as one of the main concepts discussed in the second

prize,I couldn't help but immediately recalling '%rost/"ion' the mo!ie.It was a

dramatic retelling of the post 0atergate tele!ision inter!iews that took place betweenthe British talk show host '1a!id %rost' and ')ichard "ion' the disgraced former

president with a legacy to sa!e.The 0atergate scandal that the inter!iew re!ol!ed

around was a political scandal that took place in the 2nited (tates when it was

disco!ered that president "ion was spying on his political opponents which resulted

in his resignation on ug.3th,4356.It is interesting how these two forms of art seem

similar to me.The main characters in both pieaces were about to win something they

didn't deser!e.%or the little boy.it was the 7ndplace in the "ational competition,and for

"ion,it was winnig the re8ellection campaign of 4357.Both at the end confessed their

dishonesty.The boy refused the prize,and the president resigned