The Rising Sun

Author’s Note: This is my theme essay for the book Long Shadows. I tried to work on Introduction to bump up the grade on that.  

Sunshine glows throughout the forest and bounces slightly off the leaves, almost producing a sparkle. Day is clear; not even a fluffy cloud lays far away. Suddenly everything started becoming darker. You look up. The sun is disappearing! Frantically, you bound up a hill and into the bushes, trying to take cover, for you have never seen anything like this happen before. It’s an eclipse. Darkness seemed to take away everything as if a black hole had escaped from outer space. Would it ever come back? Of course it did, but that’s not what the cats in Long Shadows by Erin Hunter had thought. The author demonstrates that curiosity is essential for humans in order for us to understand the world around us.

Curiosity is like coffee- it’s the thing that keeps us running. If there nobody was curious, no one would wonder about anything and life would just be... weird. I mean, could you even picture life without curiosity? Not really. Everything just wouldn’t be right without anyone being curious. It’s essential because otherwise no one would ever know anything. That certainly wouldn't be good. How does Erin Hunter show this? She shows this by shaping the cats into adventurous, curious animals. If she didn't, the book wouldn't seem so read and it would be much harder to understand the book and picture it in your mind.

Other than just curiosity being an important factor, it is used all the time. Jayfeather wants to know about the past. The ancient cat leader sent him to the now abandoned camp of the old cats. He sees that these cats are actually the ancestors of the cats who now live in the mountains. People who are curious a lot find out more things and end up being more exciting to be around. Don’t you want people to want to be around you? That’s exactly why we need curiosity. Also, it makes you more of a well-rounded person because you want to figure things out. If you don’t want to figure things out, that just makes you like a blob of fluff collecting in a corner because no one wants to be around a boring person. Curiosity brings out your personality.

In addition to curiosity making you a well rounded person, the books Long Shadows and The Hunger Games have the same theme. All three of the main characters Jayfeather, Hollyleaf, and Lionblaze are wanting to figure out who their real parents are after Squirrelflight admitted not being their real mother in a pit that blazed with fire, consuming the forest like a worm consumes an apple. This is a similar theme in The Hunger Games by the fact that Katniss was a little curious on what exactly was going to go on during the games and if she was going to survive or not. These books are connected because each have main characters are wondering about things. That in particular is curiosity.

In order to understand the world around us, we need curiosity. Erin Hunter portrays this in Long Shadows. Humans having curiosity is a horrible thought. No one would ever wonder about things, but above all nobody could just be themselves! Even if you don’t agree, curiosity is a necessity. I know that so far today, you have wondered about something. No matter what it is, it’s still a form of curiosity. Curiosity is used daily, therefore is essential. What have you wondered about today?