"Anger" Reflection

1. Briefly describe the (a) circumstances of the story; (b) the main conflict; and (c) the most important characters.

a. Anger is a self-help book written by Thich Naht Hanh, a Zen Buddhist monk, teacher, peace activist, author and poet. The baseline of the book talks all about anger, what causes anger or suffering, and how to overcome it. He offers wisdom and serenity to comfort the readers as they work through anger to a place of “being peace.”

b. Since this book doesn’t really have a storyline or plot, there really isn’t a conflict. However, I still do have an answer to this questions. Anger. That would be the conflict, something that we all can relate to, that is talked about in the book. We all have anger that consumes us at some point in our life and Hanh teaches the reader how to control the anger and turn it into something positive.

c. Again, there aren’t really any “characters” in the book. Hanh does mention a few side stories that include names of people but, in my opinion, the characters in the book are the reader. I suppose Hanh could be a character too because he offers a lot of insight, which is something a character does for a reader.

2. Briefly describe (a) religious themes, issues, or dilemmas that you notice in the story. (b) How does the author develop or deal with these themes, issues, or dilemmas?

a. One of the biggest religious themes that I noticed in the story was suffering vs. happiness. Hanh mentions that we are the cause and source of our suffering and that if we want to be happy, we are the only ones that can make that happen. “To be happy, to me, is to suffer less.” (Hanh 1) That very first sentence of the very first chapter was what completely captured me right away. I knew I would enjoy the rest of the book just from that first sentence because he made it a point to present his hope for everyone and that is to be happy.

b. The Eightfold path is the major method that Buddhists use to beat suffering and find...