First Draft / blog 31

The Magic To Change

What can a friendship bring to people?A strong and intense friendship can usually improve a person from a lot of aspects, his personality, his habits and even his principles; it is clearly shown in the novel Me And You and the movie The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. In the novel Me And You, Lorenzo was an antisocial boy who did not have any relationship with people other than his parents or grandma; but after he met Olivia, who is his half sister, her sickness because addiction to drugs had aroused Lorenzo's sympathy and hopes to be a more optimistic person. Similar to Lorenzo, Edmund is also one of the main character in the movie The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; he had changed from a selfish and improvident boy that only cared about his own benefit to a real strong and sagacious emperor of Narnia after Aslan, the true king of Narnia sacrificed himself for saving Edmund's life and establishing a true deep friendship with him. These two stories tell us that a true relationship with others is very precious; no matter what kind of person or race he is, they could still change you slightly and eventually through love and friendship.

Lorenzo, the protagonist in the novel Me And You, is a teenage boy who changed from an introversive kid who doesn't care about anyone to a boy who has love, hope and determination after establishing a relationship with Olivia, his half sister. It shows how an intense relationship can give a person hope and change his personality entirely. In this novel, Lorenzo was a kid with some mental disorders. He did not care about anyone else instead of his parents and his grandma, and didn't know how to make friends. Even though he was very smart, he still couldn't handle his emotion especially his rage. He pretended to be a wasp that "had managed to trick them all, integrating perfectly with the waspian society"(Ammaniti 37) in his school in order to make his mother satisfy about him making friends. After he met Olivia, his half sister and spent the whole week with her in the basement, a huge change had occurred on him. It says in the book that after he saw Olivia feeling very suffering, he "hugged her and leaned [his] forehead against her neck, [his] nose on her collarbone, and [he] burst into tears"(Ammaniti 110). This is the first time of him thinking and caring about someone who is not his parents or grandma. He starts to care for others that are not related to him, and he wants to help others. On the last day of the ski week when he and Olivia spend their time in the basement, Lorenzo had promised her that they would keep in touch and see each other again in the future. He says that this is the first time he had ever felt alive in his entire life, and I think it is because Olivia's arrival had given him hope to make friends and improve himself in different ways. The intense relationship established between Olivia and Lorenzo had changed Lorenzo positively; it changed his personality from introversive to out going, and gave him hope and goals to make friends and live a better life.

Similar to Me And You, the movie the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe shows how an intense friendship can change someone's personality and make him mature; just like Edmund in the movie, who changed from a selfish, cowardly and childish betrayer to a strong leader who cares about others after establishing an intense friendship with Aslan, the true king of Narnia. Edmund was a kid who lacks attention from others and sometimes feeling ignored; for gaining attention from the others, he decided to believe the queen and bring his siblings to the castle. He thought that the queen would treat his family members as nice as how she treated him, and then they would pay their attention on him which makes him feel not ignored. He was then imprisoned by the queen because instead of not bringing his siblings here, he brought a news that the last king Aslan was back. Aslan sacrificed his life and rescued Edmund, which made Edmund feel really ashamed. When Aslan came alive, he and Edmund became very good friends, which encourages Edmund to be braver and eventually made him an excellent fighter and leader. They won the battle with the witch, which enclosed their relationship and made Edmund more confident.

The two stories are pretty similar that the two characters both changed and improved their personalities after established an intense relationship with the others, but they are different because in Me And You, Olivia is a pretty negative person and in Narnia, while Aslan is a really positive character. Lorenzo changed because his sympathy to his sister's symptoms had aroused, because he didn't want to see his sister in pain after the few days that they had been together. The fact of Olivia's suffering had either brought Lorenzo suffer too; it is very hard for him to see someone in pain and not helping her because of the special relationship they had. Edmund had a great change in behaviors and thoughts because of the appearing of Aslan; he wanted to be as generous, perfect and shiny as Aslan, because Aslan is his friend, and his idol at the same time.

No matter how the person that has a relationship with you is, he/she could truly change your personality and make you a better person. Olivia was definitely not a positive person to the majority of society, but throughout the relationship with Lorenzo, she helped him to find his hopes, goals, wishes, and his optimistic sides that improves his thoughts, personality and behavior. Even though Aslan is not a person, the friendship established between him and Edmund had also deeply changed Edmund's thoughts and ways of facing problems and different situations. An intense relationship can be established between anyone; it is what people use to expel sadness, loneliness and even pessimism.