Robert And His Cousin Elliot example essay topic

The Art of keeping coolTh is story took place in 1942 during World War II; the war in Europe was threatening to come over to the United States. There were rumors flying about German submarines being spotted just off the coast and traitors being discovered only a few towns away. Therefore, if you were friends with a German, it would be a problem. The main characters are Robert and his cousin Elliot, there's Robert's mom, and his little 5 year-old sister, they lived in a farm but then they all went to Sachem's Head to live with Robert's grandparents, his aunt Nan and uncle Jake, just until his father returns from fighting overseas. His dad was a bomber pilot in Europe. Elliot, the cousin, was the 'difficult' type of person; he would put barricades and expect you to climb over them.

Elliot would have his 'personal world', not letting others in easily, and he would ignore you if necessary, just so he could stay by himself, so he wouldn't need to give any explanations to anyone. But he didn't have many defenses, as mentioned in the story; Robert could look into his eyes and see everything he was feeling. There was a German artist who lived near the beach in a shack, Abel Hoffman, and he was suspected of being a Nazi spy, because he was always observing at the beach, but it was actually for his paintings. But Elliot was friends with Abel, because he wanted to learn how to paint just like Abel, but no one seemed to understand. Even Robert doubted about the German that was always observing the shore, worried about Elliot's friendship with the artist, which could be a big problem at the time.

Elliot's house was full of secrets about the past of the family. Nobody in this house talked about Robert's father; they wouldn't even mention his name. Nobody even dares talking at all in the house. The grandfather was always angry and he was a mean-tempered person. What Robert wanted to know was what the whole family was hiding from him. He was always asking questions, even if it made his grandfather mad.

It seemed that everyone else in the family knew something Robert didn't, and that bothered him a lot, he would do anything to know about the secrets of his family's past. The war doesn't just threaten to come to Sachem's Head. But it comes, a smaller version but just as ugly. And nothing Robert or Elliot do can stop it, they were both 13 year-old at the time, and they became best-friends.

Elliot was also friends with Abel Hoffman, the German man, he was an expressionist painter. He understood immediately what Hoffman was trying to do, and he spent as much time as possible painting with him, learning from him. But Robert didn't know whether to support his friendship with the German man or not. He wanted to go talk to him, but he couldn't because then he would be putting Elliot in danger. The climax of the story is when they, actually Robert, because the other ones already knew, find out about what really happened to Robert's father, which wasn't an accident, was his evil grandfather who wanted him to be a doctor and because he didn't want to, he shot him in the leg. They found that out while staying in their grandparents' Rhode Island town.

After talking to his mom, he finds out his dad doesn't know that they are there; he kept on questioning his mom until she finally said the true. The book ends with Robert, in his dream, where he always wanted to find out who was it, and he never could. This time he does what Elliot advised him, to shout out to the person so he could see who it was, by looking at the face, and Elliot wakes him up laughing because he was really screaming. This is a very good book to read, especially if you like mystery and history, I enjoyed reading it and I would recommend it!