Never giving up is more difficult than one excepts. The idea that one should never give up despite can be seen in refugee mother and child, by Chinua Achebe, the film Slumdog millionaire, by Danny Boyle, The Curious incident of the dog in the night time, written by Mark Haddon, and coach carter by Thomas Carter, all of the main characters in these texts and movies were faced with the challenge of never giving up.
The idea is first introduced in the poem Refugee Mother and Child, which is written by Chinua Achebe. This idea is conveyed through Chinua use of the biblical “No Madonna and Child could touch that picture of a mother’s tenderness for a son she soon would have to forget.” this compares the refugee mother holding on to her son in the refugee camp to Mother Mary holding baby Jesus in her arms. Achebe states that the image of the tenderness of Mother Mary and baby Jesus could not even come near the scene of heartbreak and horror of the refugee mother and her chill. This foreshadows the death of the refugee mothers child which she is holding, this is confirmed from the line “for a son she soon would have to forget.” The mother is trying her best to stay for her child, she is trying her best to not to give up, but she would have to give up and live her life without her son and move on. The quote ” Most mothers there had long ceased to care but not this one; she held a ghost smile between her teeth and in her eyes the ghost of a mother’s pride as she combed the rust-coloured hair left on his skull and then –singing in her eyes – began carefully to part it…” shows how the mother stands out as the unique one as the other mothers don’t care because they can no longer cope with the struggle and they are just waiting to die. This shows how the mother will not give up no matter what the situation is. The use of skull instead of head foreshadows the death of her child.
Similarly in the movie Slumdog Millionaire by Danny Boyle conveys the same theme of never giving up. This film is set in Mumbai; where Jamal who is the main character in this movie believes in his mission to save and find Latika, and he will do whatever he needs to do to save her. Jamal has to go through many obstacles such as poverty, the death of his mother and torture from the police for him to find Latika and achieve his goal. Yet Jamal does not give up to achieve his goal to find Latika. Boyle illustrates the theme through flashbacks it shows his complete story and journey to get into the game show and also it shows his determination to find his love, Latika. When Prem the game host asks the questions, we can see a flashback that shows how Jamal knows the answers to the questions. The use of flashbacks shows us how much determination Jamal has in himself to overcome all the obstacles that he has been thrown at. This theme
Likewise, in the movie Coach Carter directed by Thomas Cater it also conveys the same theme of never giving up.
