"Raw" by Scott Monk - Task 1 (Essay).
Scott Monk's narrative text appropriately addresses the concept of the institution and personal experience. .
"While an institution might encourage individuals to change through enforcing rules and regulations, it is the individual who ultimately holds the power to change.".
Monk uses various characters to symbolise the range of attitudes and responses adopted by young people of today and the different stages they go through to transform these attitudes.
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The character of Brett Dalton symbolises the common attitudes and behaviours of teenagers in particular, that have trouble co-operating with other people and find it hard to feel any real sense of self worth and feel the need to prove themselves to others.
Monk uses Brett to demonstrate the extent of the challenge some have to reach to reconstruct their lives with determination, and find the right spot between independence and conforming to society, a challenge that is only beginning to be met at the end of the book. .
Brett's" biggest challenge by far is to change his natural response to difficult situations. His first instinct that he has learnt to do over the past 16 years is to run away from his problems and consequences of his actions. In the prologue, the book begins with the line "Busted, Brett panicked." This reaction continually occurs all throughout the novel, a tendency Brett has a lot of trouble fighting against, and as the saying goes "old habits die hard". Among the first thoughts he has when arriving at the farm is ways to escape: "He was interested in what valuables were stashed round this place - like a getaway car." (Page 23), "There was nothing stopping him from passing through it. He could easily make a run for it." (Page 24). Initially, Brett is surprised that the other inmates aren't resisting discipline or taking endless opportunities to get out of there: "Aren't they worried about guys running away? Brett was getting really confused.