Whirligigs by Paul Fleischman :: essays research papers

Whirligigs by Paul FleischmanAfter getting humiliated at a party, Brent drives away drunk and decides to kill himself. Letting go of the wheel on the highway, he ends up killing someone else. He killed a girl named Lea. Her milliampere asks Brent to put up 4 whirligigs, one in each corner of the US. Since they were Leas favorite toys, theyre meant to be monuments representing Leas ability to make sight happy. With wood, sum tools, a book on whirligigs, and a bus pass, Brent leaves on his trip to descriptor the whirligigs. In each of the 4 states, someone sees one of the whirligigs and learns a lesson. After seeing the whirligig in Florida, a young Puerto Rican dad learns an important lesson. Its that people in a group can make good music or naughty music. A young girl and her dying grannie get a lot closer after seeing the whirligig in San Diego, California. In Washington, an adopted kid finds out that his life isnt that bad after all. And lastly, a girl and her best friend are r eunited in Maine. The biggest lessons learned are the ones that Brent learns on his trip to the four spots. All kinds of people contribute to Brents change of attitude one comment or story or facial expression at a time. not only does he help himself, but also several people that he meets. Some of the conflicts were the times when the kid was throwing rocks at his first whirligig, and when he left his whirligig book on the bus. Each conflict leads to a good ending though. The kid that was throwing rocks at it somehow gained a respect for the whirligig, after his mom told him off. Brent figured that the whirligig had helped him this far and now it was time for the book to help inspire someone else. So the whirligigs turned into a far large influence than anyone else could imagine.The rising action of the story was when he would find friends and they would help him to realize certain things about himself. The biker that he met helped him get started on stars. One of the maids that h e met on his trip had shown him kindness and through this, she taught him that u can always have a fresh start or second chance at life as long as you try hard enough. And the artist that he met at the ocean helped him learn that u shouldnt always forecast a book by its cover, there might be more to someone than you think.