Do people in wealthy countries even know what happens to people in undeveloped countries? Are they even aware of the opportunities they are given, which others aren’t? A lot of people doesn’t and take it for granted. Especially the youth don’t know how lucky they are and are narrow minded and focused inwards. The short story “How Lucky You Are” by Debi Alper published in 2010, tells about a young boy who really couldn’t care less about his future and his responsibilities, and how he meets a cute Iranian girl he falls for and realizes how lucky he is and how unfortunate other people from around the world can be. The short story portrays this issue great.
The main character Max is a sixteen year old boy who spends his everyday on his second year on The Brit School. 10 lines through the text, the short story glides in to a flashback which happened a year ago. Back then Max was characterized as enthusiastic, happy, responsible and special. His mom even characterized him with a twisted mind, though teachers characterized it as creative. The flashback tells us how his dad walked out on him and his mom, giving the reason that he needed “to find himself”, and it changed Max’s entire approach to life1. Now you would characterize him as careless, lazy, irresponsible, unaware, troubled and fed up with life, of course with his still twisted/creative mind. When Max meets Ishraqi he experiences awareness and it’s like an epiphany to him. He realizes that there are other people out there with far worse circumstances than himself. He falls for Ishraqi and after he loses her, he realizes he shouldn’t take his opportunities for granted.
Ishraqi is a fighter! Her parents were arrested in Iran, and she has no clue if they’re even alive, and forced to flee her own country. Despite all that she still keeps her head up and remains hopeful. She is very open and kind towards Max and given the circumstances she still smiles and is grat...