Impoverishing Times

Minh-An Cao

Mrs. Kennett

English 2A

1 January 2013

During impoverishing times, people are in need of a person with the right leadership to guide them through. For instance, in the past, the United States of America had a civil war in 1861 against itself to solve the issues on slavery. Abraham Lincoln was the leader or the President of this nation at the time and tried to end slavery while also uniting his people together. Even now there are still bad times in the world. For example, the United States is currently struggling with its big financial problems and owes the other countries a lot of money. The leader, or the President, Barack Obama is trying to come up with a plan to solve the financial issues. Great leaders are not always perfect but they are capable of staying strong to their own personal beliefs and "has the secret eyes" (Knight 2) to make use of justifiable or reasonable situations. A perfect example for such a leader is Sixo, a black slave character from Tori Morrison's Beloved. He usually has an explanation or "a knowing tale about everything" (Morrison 219). A leader, like Sixo, stays true to his own beliefs, cares for his or her companions, and retains a strong mind through his or her whole life.

One aspect of a leader that Sixo has is his ambition in life. A leader never forgets about his or her ancestors' ways of life just like Sixo. Sixo was taught to forget about his traditions but he remained faithful to his ancestors' ways and sometimes would go to the woods at night in private "for dancing" so he can keep his "bloodlines open" (Morrison 25). Sixo also stopped learning English because he saw "no future in it" (Morrison 25). A leader, like Sixo, never strays from his or her track in life.

Another aspect of a leader that Sixo has is his selflessness towards his companions. One time, Sixo was helping his companions escape from the slave house but along the way one of his companions named Paul A was nowhere to be found and he said "I can't leave without Paul A" (Morrison 225) so he decided to go back and find Paul A. Just then, the slave owners started approaching them and Sixo immediately pushes "pushes the Thirty-Mile Woman" (Morrison 225) for her to run further and Sixo ran "the other way toward the woods" so the slave owners will go after him and not his companion. Just like Sixo, a great leader is a person who puts his comrades a higher priority over him or self.