Ella Beidler

Mrs. Bonsmann
Honors English 10
September 8, 2015
Humans of Waverly Place

My name is Waverly and I am a Chinese-American citizen despite my English name. My

family originated from China but later moved to San Francisco which is where I live today. Even
though I spent my childhood living the Chinese culture, I am not close to my roots unlike my
mother who still keeps her Chinese ethnicity alive. Growing up, my mother and I did not always
get along as I was always aggravated by her constant attention and obsession over me. I was a
national chess champion until I started to protest against my mother, who tricked and me and
cost me my national title. Today, she still has the same tricks and teases but, I am much older and
wiser. Now I have a daughter, Shoshana, and I am engaged to an American named Rich.
Instantly I knew that my mother would not approve of his manners since she is a very traditional
Chinese woman. I grew defensive of him because I was paranoid she would say negative things
about him. I said bad things about her that I later regretted when I saw past her deceiving ways. I
looked at her and saw that she didnt look so strong and powerful, and I grew even guiltier that
she found out I thought of her this way. I finally realized that she just wanted the best for me

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because she loved me and I couldnt have figured it out sooner. I am now planning to marry Rich
and we are even visiting China so I can explore more how my mother and I are alike.
I chose Waverly because her feelings about her mother drew me to her. Her constant
worriedness about her mother made me feel sad for her. She always thought of games and
analogies of her mothers power over her. She would always think her mother was out to get her
such as when she said, I [Waverly] always became the pawn. I could only run away. And she
was the queen, able to move in all directions, relentless in her pursuit, always able to find my
weak spots (Tan 180). To me, she was too constricted and scared to look deep into her mother
to find that shes not what Waverly thought. That her small tricks were only for the best of her to
learn and grow from her experiences.

Humans of Loyalty

My name is Hassan and I am a servant Hazara in Afghanistan. Fortunately, I worked for a

nice wealthy family. I worked for my fathers master and his son Amir. Amir and I were best
friends despite the differences and rights of our cultures. Amir was always picked on for

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spending time with me especially by Assef, but I would come through to protect him. I always
tried to shield Amir since he wasnt like everyone else. He never stuck up for himself because of
his weakness so I had to help. I would have done anything for Amir not just because I was his
servant, but I because loved him. I didnt care that Amir was richer or had a better education and
it didnt aggravate me when he would tease me about it. The only thing that mattered to me was
my time with Amir and his happiness. I always took the blame for when he was in trouble and I
would do stuff for him. Amir would never do the same for me, he would let me take the fall
every time. However, I was fine with that because he would repay me in a special way by
reading stories to me and just spending his day with me.
Hassans loyalty to Amir stood out to me in this book. I admire his saying, For you a
thousand times over (Hosseini 67)! I believe it represents what true sacrifices people can make
for someone they love. I also praised his devotion and willingness towards others. Amir,
explaining Hassans loyalty to him, admitted in the story, Hassan never denied me anything
(Hosseini 4). Hassan always stuck by Amirs side and always answered his requests, even if he
opposed of it. I can see that people like Hassan are people worth keeping.

Humans of Afghanistan

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My mother made sure I knew what I was to the world growing up. She would tell me
how much of a disgrace I was in our little old shack. She blamed my father for our misery and
yet I still praised him. I didnt know who he really was at first, he blinded me with presents,
stories, and his compliments to make me feel like Im worth something. My mother didnt fall
for his tricks like I did, she would scold me for defending him or talking about him. She made
sure I knew my place and that I belong with her in our lonely house. However, I wanted to do
more like go to school and actually live with my father in his mansion and with my half brothers
and sisters. When my father didnt show up for his weekly visit I set out to find him, leaving my
mother begging me to stay. When I found his house I grew suspicious as why his guards
wouldnt let me in, he tried every way to make me go back as if he didnt want me. When my
own father sent me back I saw something that would change my entire future. I saw my mother
dead, an act of despair by the betrayal of her own daughter. I finally found out what I was worth

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to my mother as she killed herself because I was gone and how much I was to my father as he
sent me away on a train with a strange man I now call my husband.
Miriams story has an important effect on her character throughout the story. Mariams
mother made sure she knew form the beginning that Mariam, ...was an illegitimate person who
would not have a legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family,
home, and acceptance (Hosseini 4). Unfortunately, Mariam experienced this as she was hurt by
her father and how the only one who accepted her was dead. Plus, her husband abused her which
made her even more hateful. She became very reserved to herself and when Laila came, she
hated her instantly. It also plays an important part as there is a twist of events in the story.
Mariam began to love and protect Laila and her kids and she sacrificed herself for love. As she
explained it as, This was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate beginnings (Hosseini 370).