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Manasi Patil

Mrs. Housepian

English 2H; Period 2

13 November 2017

Ourselves and Others

Over the course of history, people of certain civilizations have progressively

learned to accept others of different communities, but individuals of today’s society still

struggle to comprehend how far acceptance should go. There are many different lengths

people go through to understand each other and learn to accept them. For the good of

society, people should accept others despite their differences, or even take the time

needed to see whether or not they are worth the acceptance.

People should accept others for their differences because they show more aspects

of their character that shows that they are more than how they really are.​ ​As the book,

“Six of Crows” nears the end of the story, Kaz Brekker learns from Wylan’s father, Jan

Van Eck, that Wylan is illiterate and would make a mockery to Van Eck’s family name,

to which Kaz concludes,​ ​“Some men were poets. Some were farmers. Some were rich

merchers. Wylan could draw a perfect elevation. He’d made a drill that could cut

through Grisha glass from parts of a gate and scavenged bits of jewelry. So what if he

couldn’t read?”​ ​(Bardugo 450).​ ​Since Wylan’s father does not show affection for him,

and therefore, Wylan runs away. Kaz acknowledges how Wylan shows involvement with

the rest of their crew by proving he is more useful than as a way to ensure they get their

pay, which Kaz had initially planned. With the Kaz taking him in as one of the people he
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needs for his crew, Wylan is able to prove how much more he can do in spite of an

inability to read.​ ​In another sense,​ ​when Calpurnia brings Jem and Scout to her church

where other Black people go, Lula gets suspicious of the two children being there, Lula

becomes suspicious of their arrival, as she inquires, ​“You ain’t got no business bringin’

white chillun here--they got their churc, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss

Cal?”​ (Lee 158)​. ​Zeebo, however, comes to greet them not long after and says, ​“Mister

Jem...we’re mighty glad to have you all here. Don’t pay no ‘tention to Lula… She’s a

troublemaker from way back, got fancy ideas an’ haughty ways--we’re mighty glad to

have you all”​ ​(Lee 159).​ ​Zeebo welcomes Jem and Scout to their church after Lula shows

her discomfort to having white children at a Black People’s church. Lula does not like

the idea of white people being at their churchh because of how they are discriminated

against by them, thus resulting in distrust from both sides of perspective. Zeebo, to

contradict, accepts their visit despite their racial differences because they both have

similar beliefs of a religion that allows them to understand each other.​ ​In the end​,

individuals are able to know more and understand each other more when looking at

their beliefs and morals and what they are capable of, not focusing on what they are.

People, before accepting others despite their differences, can take the time to

know others before deciding they are worth the acceptance if needed.​ ​As the jurors of

“12 Angry Men” take a vote to determine whether or not the boy is guilty, Juror No. 8

votes not guilty while everyone else votes otherwise. When questioned for his

opposition, Juror 8 explains,​“Look, this boy’s been kicked around his whole life… his

mother was dead since he was nine. That’s not a very good head start. He’s a tough,
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angry kid… I think maybe we owe him a few words, that’s all” ​(Rose 8).​ ​Juror 8 makes a

statement that they hadn’t had a thorough trial for the defendant and that they should

talk about whether or not the boy is truly guilty. He makes a clear display of his

sympathy toward the boy because he is willing to take the time to talk about the crime

scene instead of a blunt assumption that the boy should be prosecuted.​ ​Meanwhile, a

similar instance can be acknowledged​ ​when, in the young adult novel, ​Six of Crows​ by

Leigh Bardugo, Matthias comes to the rescue of Nina, a magical Grisha whose kind is

hunted and killed by men like Matthias, by betraying his mentor who had filled his head

with the racist beliefs of the Grisha. In doing so, he recalls,​ ​“She’d shown him in a

thousand ways that she was honorable and strong and generous and very human, maybe

even more vividly human than anyone he’d ever known. And if she was, then Grisha

weren’t inherently evil. They were like anyone else—full of the potential to do great

good, and also great harm. To ignore that would make Matthias the monster.”​ ​(Bardugo

381)​. ​Matthias, after going through experiences like traveling through the cold and

pulling off the heist that surrounds the plot of the text, reflects upon how Nina has

proved how much more alike she is to Matthias regardless of her background as a

Grisha. He comes to the understanding that it would have been immoral of him to deny

Nina and her kind being compassionate and flawed. ​Overall​, it is okay for people to take

time to observe or know others before they know whether they can welcome them with

acceptance.

Regardless of differences, there are instances where people shouldn’t be accepted

for their own morals and state of mind.​ ​In “The Wife’s Story”, the wife sees her husband
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as he truly is, and she is torn between believing if he is still there, or truly gone until

“The man thing looked around… it picked up a heavy fallen tree branch in its long white

foot, and shoved the end of that down into our house, at me… I knew the man would kill

our children if it could”​ ​(Guin 106).​ ​The wife and others witness her husband visibly

attack her and her family, and she comes to the conclusion that her husband truly

intends to hurt her and her family regardless of his formerly adored characteristics. She

undestands that her husband no longer himself and her instincts allow her to

understand and accept that her family would no longer be safe if a man-thing threatens

their safety, so she knows he can no longer be accepted as one of them despite his

distinct form.​ ​A similar instance can also be brought up when​ ​Burris Ewell introduces

himself as being disrespectful toward some of the students and Miss Caroline by yelling,

“Report and be damned to ye! Ain’t no snot-nosed… schoolteacher ever born c’n make

me do nothin’! You ain’t makin’ me go nowhere, missus”​ ​(Lee 37).​ ​Burris Ewell gets

angry when Miss Caroline tells him to go home for being rude to another student, and

he responds by yelling at her and saying that she can not tell him what to do and that no

teacher can ever get him under control. Burris is a boy whose family is allowed to bend

the rules of Maycomb County and not have to always go to school because their family is

poor and their father spends their money, but he still shows disrespect toward his peers

and his teacher, showing an unlikeable aspect to his character, which further gives

justification that even those who are different may not always be accepted for their

behavior.​ ​Ultimately​, even though others may be different, their actions and morals are

things to keep in mind when considering who to accept.

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Humans, in general, have different levels in which they are willing and should

respect others for who they are in the face of their distinction. People have come to the

means of welcome for others naturally because there is now to them that shows who

they truly are. There are times where they need to process and observe others before

they can come to the conclusion that they are worth the acceptance, which is fine.

However, exceptions may apply when morals and intentions that imply negative

outcomes are considered for someone who is therefore not worth the welcome. In the

end, individuals of varying societies can come to different heights of acceptance for the

benefit of mankind.

Works Cited

Bardugo, Leigh. ​Six of Crows.​ Vol. 1. Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2015. Print.

Lee, Harper. ​To Kill A Mockingbird​. New York: Hachette Book Group, 1960. Print.
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Le Guin, Ursula K​. ​”The Wife’s Story”. ​Collections Close Reader.​ Ed. Kylene Beers,

Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William McBride, Erik Palmer, and Lydia Stack.

Orlando: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. 3-8. Print.

Rose, Reginald. ​Twelve Angry Men​. ​A Book of Plays. ​Austin: Holt, Rinehart and

Winston, 2000. 218-256. Print.