Drawing From Memory

Prompt - Think of a problem that the character has faced. Write the problem and how the character solved it. If you were that character, what would you do differently?

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I think that the biggest challenge that Allen has faced would be fear. I think that Allen had always had this fear of so many things, being judged or unaccepted from his family, or having fear of going to a new school. Allen had to do a lot to overcome this fear of nearly everything, because he was so afraid to stan dup for himself and try new things. For example, when his parents didn't agree with his choice of career in the beginning of the book, he didn't do anything. He would hide, so he wouldn't have to confront this fear of actually telling his parents how he wanted to pursue a career that he loved. He overcame this, with actually the help of his Sensei, after learning more about art, Allen realized that he needed to tell his parents that he wasn't going to give up anything.


Fear in school was also something that Allen had to overcome. Allen had to learn how to go to a new school at the start of middle school. I feel like a lot of people can relate to how he felt, and have been in his situation before. It must be pretty hard to make new friends and just get used to a new environment. Allen actually didn't really do anything to overcome this fear. In the end, he just left Tokyo for the US. In the book he described that being the new kid was never easy. He said that no one in his new school showed interest in being friends with him, so he never tried to be friends with anyone else. I feel like if I was in Allen's place, I would have actually tried to talk to someone, because even though everyone might now have seen me as someone very interesting, people are always judging before they get to know, so I would have probably tried to talk to a few people and if that didn't work then I would have stopped trying.

Finally, Allen felt fear in trying new things. When his Sensei told him that it was time for him to start painting real life images, Allen said that he was very nervous and afraid. I feel like for Allen, trying new things, especially in something that he has known so well for a long time, would be something that maybe he wouldn't want to try because if he failed, he might not want to follow his dream anymore. Allen overcame this fear by actually trying to do it. He felt like there was more to art then he knew and that he felt like he needed to try this and to see if you liked it or not. I think that overtime, Allen overcame all of the different fears he had.