DWA

Author's Note: I know, I know, it sounds like a boring preschool title, but I encourage you to read on. I found this hard to write, as this was one of the only lessons in the story that I could actually pull a whole essay out of. This probably isn't my best ever piece, but I think it's okay.

Think Before You Act

  

Do you always do what you're told to do? Is what you're doing really what’s in your best interest? I recently read the short story "The Hundredth Dove" by Jane Yolen and I learned a very valuable lesson from it. The main lesson I learned is that sometimes you need to stop following other peoples' orders and listen to yourself to figure out what's really in your best interest.

This lesson is a very important one because if you let other people control your life, you will never get to do anything you want to do. You will simply be a slave to whoever commands you to do something, and will never get to run your own life or show people who you really are. There is an example of this in "The Hundredth Dove", after the fowler captures the white dove, and the dove starts telling him to let her go. He wants to, as he discovers that she is the queen-to-be, but he decides to kill her in obedience to the king. If he just would've listened to himself and thought things over, he could've gotten fortune, fame, and a beautiful bride, but instead he follows the kings orders, and only ends up with the queen-to-be's ring. Not that the ring isn't a good prize, but it just goes to show that you should think about what you're doing before you do it, and you shouldn't do it just do it because someone told you to (unless if it's your parents) unless if you can think of a reason why you should do that thing.

I therefore conclude that although the short story "The Hundredth Dove" taught me many lessons,   the most important lesson I learned was to listen to myself and think about what's in my best interest. For example: even if I may think that chores may not be in my best interest at the time, they are actually a good thing to do because they need to be done, and it is really in my best interest to just get them done, so that my parents don't get mad at me later. There are many situations like these that may come up in life, and I learned that it is always a good idea to think before you act, don’t be the fowler.