Are We Worth It? Seventh Grade Magazine (Spring 2019)

Are we still worth it?

A Collection of Writing by the Seventh Grade on the Essential Question of The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Fall, 2019

INTRODUCTION

Are We Worth It? During the last half of the 2018-19 school year, Calhoun’s seventh grade read The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. The story takes place during World War II in a small town in Germany, where a family has taken in a foster daughter and will eventually hide a Jew in their basement. It is narrated by Death, who, instead of killing anyone, simply lifts their souls out of their bodies and takes them away.

As you can imagine, Death is incredibly busy during this time, and is only distraction are the lives of some survivors. He focuses on one, Liesel Meminger, and often muses on the nature of human beings and their contradictory nature involving good and evil. He wonders, as he focuses on those like Liesel and others who constantly are destructive, if we as a species are worth survival.

Death puts it this way: “Yes, often, I am reminded of her, and in one of my vast array of pockets, I have kept her story to retell. It is one of the small legion I carry, each one extraordinary in its own right. Each one an attempt – an immense leap of an attempt – to prove to me that you, and your human existence, are worth it.”

I asked this question to the seventh graders when we finished the book and their responses are contained on these pages.

- Larry Sandomir

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Bella Vaccaro A blink of water Bodies made of flesh and bone Skinned with leather painted with color Eyes made of glass with a black hole in the center Somewhere in there, are the remains of the stars Trapped inside Star dust spread across their cheeks Some call freckles Scraped from the sun Cooled off on the moon Teeth made of snow never are going to melt in a mouth so cold Taste buds to taste the air and swallow it whole each piece making them live Each piece finding its way down into the damaged lungs full of darkness Soon spreading to their stomach Feeling empty A feeling of craving and hunger not for food but for something less That appears to be more What if their glass eyes break Where do the shattered pieces go?

Do they fall into their delicate insides?

Or do they run down their face with streams of river Glistening in the sun And making the dark darker that it already is What happens when their mouth goes warm Where the snow will melt Onto their tongue I wonder what it tastes like My mouth isn't warm Shoulder blades like rocks And elbows like knives Stabbing their predators in the stomach Trying to fight back with their bones Convincing themselves its metal And trying to force themselves to believe that they have enough blood to lose And leave the battlefield with enough left Surviving

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Humans Benjamin M. Karpatkin We love to say that others aren’t human because they look different We love to kill you for loving someone outside of societal norms We love to resent each other, as if it gave us some kind of sick pleasure Somehow, there are still people who do the morally right thing Somehow, people can still be nice to others Somehow, we are still unable to live in harmony People are killed so often now that it doesn’t seem like a big deal People expect it all to stop because “all people have a bit of humanity in them” People don’t believe that some humans they see are just empty shells Not everyone is totally worth having Not everyone is completely an oxygen/carbon dioxide converter Not everyone is completely useless to the rest of the people There are always the people who win the Darwin awards There are always people who only destroy everything more There are always people who want to watch the world burn People who aren’t useless People who can help others in a deeper sense People who are worth fighting for Humans are haunted by other humans Humans are cruel enough to give each other nightmares about humans Humans are mystifying, illogical creatures Destruction of other people's things is only “justifiable” by religion Destruction gives people a type of sick pleasure Destruction is anything people do Life is run by a system that everyone is bound to Life is easily taken and just as easily given by that system Life will go on, whether you believe it or not, it will All I can really say is that there is no clear answer All I will say is that this may not be satisfactory All I have left to say is that Humans are worth it, Sometimes

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Noelle Biehle Humankind I feel coldness on my arms as I see the striped pajamas As I see the bloody symbol on the uniform The Holocaust then the War The nausea in my stomach comes to my throat As I watch the men running towards each other while Bullets ring in my ears Pain crosses the faces who sacrificed themselves for their country I come from the history to the present My feet walk on the plastic beach I feel sharpness cut my feet The ocean would be blue on this sunny day But the life was deteriorating fast in this water Turtles lay on the beach Plastic tangles them I then look up into the sky And see the grayness rise from the factories far away I breathe the polluted air I turn around to the burning forest Where life’s nature is torn down The warm orange and red blocks of color now fill the sky The warmness touches my face As my eyes reflect the burning trees that I see I blink Now I’m sitting in dead grass One deer is on the remaining grass with me Buildings and factories surround us The thick gray cement wraps around the circle of grass As we are the only ones left standing on nature The only nature left in the area is boxed in short fences As if nature is no longer allowed Wasted papers fly from someone’s hands into the garbage As one more tree is chopped down Our world is being destroyed How could we make such jeopardizing mistakes to our one world?

We humans need to stop We need to listen We need to get off our phones We need to change More people need to fill the streets Each holding important messages 5

Each making the world a better place Each voice makes the world closer to a change Stand up Speak out You Are Worth it Extra Thoughts: Every human was born imperfect. Every human has made mistakes, but why do people do things that hurt our world? Why did we create the Holocaust? Why do we have war? Why are people destroying this planet?

Everyone always looks at their phones, interested in social media drama, when around them there are people suffering, forests burning, animals dying, and the ocean rising with plastic. We have all made mistakes, including myself because I was one of those people on their phones, but now I want to be better than that.

Humans have dominated this world and have taken charge of it. It is our job to make the world a better place and to stop making so many harmful mistakes. We are already trying to fix some of our problems and I want us to continue. The human race has come up with languages, numbers, and words, so let’s use them to transform our world into a better place.

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David Kelly Is human existence worth it?

A question many ask It gives you a taste of, are you worth it?

What have you done to deserve to live?

A question I ask myself is do I want to live in this world as a black man?

I'm going to die anyway It's only a matter of time until a white cop pulls the trigger on me So why am I doing this for?

Why are we doing this for?

You probably heard this before but what I'm saying is different I do not live in the projects I've never held a gun I don't have rich parents I don't want to die But I don't have a choice Like the famous words of death “you will die eventually�

But in My case I don't have a choice There have been more than 1,000 young black teen shootings in the past year I was lucky I wasn't accounted for My parents are scared that they will lose me one day To the gangs, drug possession or death But I try my hardest to not associate myself with those people When I see my mother crying over me at night Wondering if I will ever improve in school I get angry At myself I just wish that I could change I wish that I could try harder I don't want to leave my parents I don't want to leave my sisters But I will I have to...

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Alice Denny Is human existence worth it?

Tell me death, is it worth it?

After all, you know better than anyone That everyone must die at some point So, is it worth it to even be here in the first place?

Humans cause disasters And they kill other humans What makes one human any better than another one Humans are the reason why you are so busy all the time, Death.

They are dying every day Why are we all living just to die?

But maybe it is not about death Maybe it’s about life Existence is life Because humans can change the world Each human makes a difference, Big or small, In his or her lifetime.

Humans rule everything I can’t imagine a world without humans In a world without humans, I wouldn’t be here To imagine a world without humans What would the Earth even be?

Who would be in charge?

Animals can’t do many of the things humans can We were put on Earth for a reason.

So, Death, I have come to the conclusion That human existence is worth it But Only if each human Makes their existence worth it Don't live with hatred in your heart.

Live to be alive

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Henry Dorr Are we worth it to The beautiful and strong world We live in and kill?

We kill many things We’ve killed things including The human race, us Some have, some haven't But we have all killed something Even the kindest of us have Are we worth it to Earth and all of its creatures All we do is kill Earth, we’re not worth it To you, nature and beings We hurt more than help We kill, not always to survive But because it gives us pleasure and enjoyment Not only animals Not only humans Not only minds We have done acts That makes your brain go still As if your brains motor has stopped working As you try and start your brain up again and comprehend the gruesome and robust horror In many cases You imagine death Humans have done more harm to Earth and have killed more things than anything that came before, we are that deadly. So, without a doubt, we are not worth it.

Even if we do nice things to other beings on this planet, most of them have been affected by us in negative ways. If humans had never been created, this world would be a paradise. It would have amazing and beautiful nature everywhere and animals would run amok, free over land that we took from them. We never bought their land. Oh no, we colonized it.

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Is Human Existence Worth It? Zena Almeida

The answer is no Human existence is not worth it We take, we fight, we want more There’s nothing wholesome about it Yes, it’s sad To imagine a child never being born To imagine this world never existing But it’s simple We don’t deserve it Animals killed Resources wasted The world a clean canvas that was given to us That we bleed with our own blood Because we can Because we don’t care about anyone else but me But us Think of history Think of the Indigenous People that were killed The Slaves that were tortured The Women raped The Jews that were hung The books that were burned We don’t care And I want to scream as loud as I can But I can’t So imagine me Imagine me screaming it Each vowel biting your existence Stinging everything you’ve ever known Everything you wish you knew We shouldn’t have lived And I know that you try and escape it You don’t want it to be true But it can And it is You might say we can fix it I mean we’ve evolved so much We’ve grown so much Couldn’t you spare us Couldn’t you see a glimpse of worthiness Of capability I get it your mad We’ve made so many mistakes

But we can learn I know we can’t bring the lives back But we can learn

Can’t you see We can learn No You can learn But can’t you understand Our human nature is toxic We can try But we’ll fail We’ve had too many chances And it isn’t fair for us to get another That’s just not how it works You don’t get another canvas You can’t bring back my ancestors The ones that were killed for being themselves The slaves, The Jews, You can’t bring back the animals The mammals that have suffered for our food Our clothing, our money, our entertainment You can’t bring back my grandma Who faced racism and sexism Or the fear when my father had a gun pointed at him Or the pain of the women in my family who have been sexually abused No, you can’t You can’t You don’t have to believe me You don’t have to understand You don’t have to agree But inside you do Somewhere in there You believe it Somewhere in your regrets You know that we aren’t worth it You can sense it It’s hard to trust it But you know Lies are humanity So, I’m telling the truth

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Lyla Changar Is human existence worth it?

There’s no wrong answer, but no right one.

There’s an answer for yes, but immediately a no to disprove it.

Every answer is situational, Some days yes, some days no.

On yes days I can get things done quicker, I can be satisfied with what I write.

On no days I can’t bring myself to do anything.

Nothing is ever enough.

Every time I write a sentence, None of it is good enough, none of it will last.

On yes days I have a reason to get out of bed in the morning, I have a reason to go to school and see my friends.

On yes days I feel safe, I feel safe to express my thoughts and ideas.

I can proudly wear a smile and know that smile is the truth.

On no days I don’t care about seeing my friends, I don’t care about any part of my day.

On no days I don’t have a reason to feel like anything is worth it anymore.

All I can do is reminisce on when I cared enough to be able to smile, To smile because I’m happy, Not because I have to.

On no days I smile because everyone thinks I’m fine when I’m not.

I struggle to hold back tears, I tell myself to say I’m fine whether or not that’s the truth.

I didn’t think anyone could see through my lies.

My heart keeps on telling me to say how I feel, That it’s okay to not be fine.

But I don’t realize that pretending to be this person who is always okay isn’t helping anyone.

I can’t lie and say I’m okay anymore, It hurts too much.

Instead, I’m trapped.

I’m trapped in this cycle of saying I’m fine and holding back tears hoping no one questions what I say.

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Hoping no one sees through this persona that isn’t me.

I go home and cry, Letting my tears fall.

Letting my tears dampen the pages of books that allow me to escape.

Letting my tears hit the guitar that I don’t know how to play, Changing chords to melodies that I can’t sing, that I can’t hear.

All I hear are the voices in my head.

The voices trying to win a battle of control.

Trying to control me, Trying to make me weak.

The voices saying that they will give me the answers to these questions that I can’t comprehend.

But can we ever?

Can we ever truly understand these questions?

These two-sided questions that have no answers.

When do we know that enough is enough?

When do we know when it is time to break free from this prison?

When do we decide to stop the cycle of pretending?

Is it even possible?

Is human existence worth it?

Every answer will change in a few months to a year.

Maybe even a few days.

How can an answer be yes and no, But neither at the same time?

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Christobelle Rudes “I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both.” - Death Yes. Humans were made to be placed on this planet by God, who created us perfectly and made us live eternally. Humans weren’t supposed to have sins nor were they supposed to be the way we are today. By the story of Adam and Eve, Eve took the apple even though God told her not to. Satan took the form of a snake and opposed what God had said. Eve ate the apple and thus was born the first sin. From then on, humans weren’t perfect. Satan had won by ruining God’s plan. Therefore, I believe that we are worth fighting for and that we deserve to be on this planet. God believes in us and He is fighting for us, which means that we should too. It’s not our fault that Satan is so cruel and manipulating. The reason why Jews were affected by the Holocaust is because humans made a mistake. Liesel, Hans, Rudy, and Rosa are great people who, as Death mentioned, have created sins. The quote I picked from the book explains all of this perfectly. Death states how he doesn’t understand how humans can be both good and bad at the same time. He will never understand humans and their actions. This is all because of Satan’s actions. We cannot give up on the human race because of Satan.

He Did This All As humans, We deserve to live.

God believes.

Why shouldn’t we?

It’s not time for leaves.

It’s all for keeps.

God made us perfectly.

He did it carefully.

Satan, on the other hand, Oh Satan.

He did this all!

He ended up winning.

Why? Cause he’s killing.

Death said it right.

He’ll never understand, The fact of how humans can be both good and bad.

Listen, I’m not glad, In fact, I’m sad.

Satan’s no good.

14 Get away from this hood.

He’ll only harm.

Don’t expect charm.

Be at an alarm.

He did this all!

Watch out!

He did this for clout.

He doesn’t deserve the fame, So, don’t pout.

He did this all!

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Ben Silvan The question are humans worth it, has no Answer.

Being “worth it” is up to you, and how you live your life.

Do you take advantage of what is given to you and use it to better yourself and the world?

What that means is up to you.

Nobody chooses your destiny it is self-driven.

To me that means to fight for equality and enjoy my passion which is basketball.

Your life is not “worth it,” as a whole.

We all die.

During your life, you have “worth it” moments and “worth it” experiences, that can be for many years.

My version of “worth it” is to spend my life trying to better the world and play basketball.

Fighting against racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, homophobia, and other acts of hate.

When something unjust is going on I will fight against.

I will march, I will fight, and I will stand up for human rights.

As a basketball playe,r I will keep playing and loving the sport and see where it takes me.

I will always support the sport and be with it while it evolves.

That is my worth it.

We may have different versions of worth it.

If you follow your calling and live a life you want that is “worth it” It means anything.

It may be similar to mine.

It will not be the same.

But as long as you stand up for what you believe in and follow your passion or passions then at that point it is up to you.

I think you would be.

But if you wish you were doing something else always and you don't try to change it, what's the point.

At least try.

It is up to you.

To me I am worth it.

So, to answer your question, at least I feel I am worth it, and hopefully you are too, and the human race as a whole.

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Sarah Harmon I decided to create this piece of art because when you look at human existence it is through the eye of the beholder. I did quotes because it is a bunch of people’s views on human existence and what it is about in their own words. I think human existence is worth it because even though there is a lot of hate and negativity there is still a lot of love and compassion. The way I view human existence is similar to a candle. A candle spreads light throughout the darkness and if it burns out you can always light it again.

In The Book Thief, when everyone was sad or scared they always had a little bit of hope with

them. Sometimes the people who are actually in the darkness, like Hitler and the Nazi’s, didn’t know what they were really doing they only knew what Hitler told them. Liesel thought that some people deserved to live more than others. In the book, we learn what life is seen as from the person who takes our souls away. The story tells us what some people thought of human existence in a different country.

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Human Existence

By Yunseo Nam A human is born A human is dead Repeating of life Humans are creators and fixers We create and invent things For our own good We fix our mistakes But all the problems were created by us The world was clean and fresh Until us humans came along Humans always craved for more Not feeling comfortable at our place But the only thing I see true about humans Is hope and love Such selfish and tenacious humans That’s why I hate and love them It will bring such happiness If they didn’t harm the innocent Stained crust of tears, a smeared smile across a child’s face Nobody can say they have no pain Because deep down your pain shows in your actions Is human existence worth it?

Think See your actions Is human existence worth it?

Live your life to the fullest Always At least one person At least one pair of eyes Will Watch You

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Matthew Donziger The Book Thief is a story about courage and survival, love and loss, unspeakable brutality and how war brings out the best and worst in people. It is a book about different degrees of people’s kindness and cruelty that makes you question “is human existence worth it?”

The human kindness and love varies, from small acts like Liesel, the main character, who borrows books from the mayor’s wife library, to the ultimate act of kindness by the Hubermann family who hides and cares for Max, who is Jewish. Max’s father sacrificed his life for Hans Hubermann during WWI, and keeping Max safe is how he pays him back.

“A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship.”

“Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.”

These acts of kindness are hard to maintain, they are erased by what is happening all around them. The Nazi invasion, burning of books, stores, the bombing of villages, homes and the Jews being taken away to concentration camps.

“It kills me sometimes, how people die.”

In the end of The Book Thief there is a quote when death says “I am haunted by humans.”

This quote could mean a lot of different things. Humans change the world in positive and negative ways every day. Life is very unpredictable and at times confusing. How can we be so mean and hateful and then find forgiveness? I do think human existence is worth it, but we need to constantly check in with ourselves, ask ourselves questions, make sure we are there for each other, take care of the environment, our neighbors and family and appreciate and never take for grant it the small acts of kindness.

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Anika Shah From reading The Book Thief I have learnt that every second we live matters.

I have also learnt this from my own life. It matters because of the decision you make in your life. If you choose to sit and watch bad things happens that is how you are choosing to live but if you help and stand up that's another choice. Every second of our lives matter because all the seconds added up is are whole life time.

From The Book Thief I have learned that the decision we choose to guide us through life matter so much and how we live matters. I have learnt from the book thief that one voice can truly change the world. Adolf Hitler used his words so wisely that he got people to not think about the outcome for others, just that they would be okay, but Liesel thought for herself. She thought that this will affect thousands of lives that add to our community. Adolf Hitler was able to brainwash people to always thinking he right even though had not right to hurt thousands of people like that.

From my own life, I have learned that living and human existence is the key to life and matters because we change and shape the world to what it is today. Human existence is worth it because than we can set goals for ourselves and grow and community. Without humans, the world would probably we would probably just be a big field with water. We have shaped the world with jobs, countries, communities, houses, education, and fun.

I have also learned that living on, even if you think you don’t have anything to give it is important. I have learned this because Liesel has lost everything close to her but she keeps living to the fullest so that she can continue to live out for others who couldn’t. She lives achieve her goals to make her proud and her family. By living out her life when everyone she was close to was gone gave her victory because she was taking them along with her.

Living shows bravery because even when life gets hard you push through and this is what life is. No one is perfect and that is what humans are and we grow and learn from others. Humans give us entertainment and life. We as a community make jobs, schools, housing and more we support for each other. Human existence teaches us to grow and not to aim for perfection but progress and living. Looking out a window into the streets we as humans built this world just shows how much the world has come to be because of US. Liesel has taught me never to give up and keep living. Liesel keeps living because she knows she has something to say she has an opinion on what is happening in Germany and she lives it share it. Liesel lives on so that she could have experience life and know what it is like to be free and live.

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Life has taught me to never give up and grow. Life has taught me to not oppose and move on. Human existence is worth every second because we built this world. We have come so far. Life teaches us. If we didn’t have humans we wouldn't have a world with food or life we would all be objects that don’t exist because humans made most objects or we would be animals and we would start eating each other and soon there would be no life whatsoever. We, as humans, set goals and achieve them and that’s why it’s important for us to exist to reach our goals and live our dreams.

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Ines Cortina A Letter to Humans Dear Humans, I wish you knew your worth so you couldn’t waste it, I wish you knew that destruction is not the answer, I wish you knew how many people love you with their whole entire heart, I wish you knew how many people would die for you, I wish you knew that you are not alone.

I wish you knew you are special.

I wish you knew that you are beautiful and Intelligent.

But that doesn’t change all the horrible things you have done.

That doesn’t mean that demolition is worth it, Or even a good thing.

I know you probably think that all of the things you have done, you need to do, But that is not true.

Maybe you are worth it, And you need to live, But you also need to learn to become better, To know what is right and wrong.

You have to learn how to live.

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Molly Fox Every morning we wake up.

Either with a clear head, or a stormy outlook.

We pick fights, get jealous, we make ourselves unhappy.

So why do we do it. Maybe because the sky is only Blue for so much longer. Maybe the sun will only be yellow for Another second.

We hurt everyone around us.

We make issues we can’t get out of.

We damage the things that make others happy.

We take away lives.

So why? Why are we allowed to stay, what never Makes us say goodbye?

Maybe it's to care for the others around us.

Maybe it's to help us learn to love.

What if it's for no reason, we just are.

We are just small things on a dying life.

Our life is dying, what helps us live is dying.

So why?

We see what’s hurting us.

We see the pain in their eyes.

We see the bullet strike their hearts, but why then?

If the pain sinks in their skin, then why?

Why hurt when you can love? Why let someone fall When you could help them up?

Does it affect you? Does it give you pain? Does it really make you cry?

Or does the thought that you don’t care get to you?

Are you sad that happened to them, but did you ever listen?

Does it make you sad or is it that you just don’t want to hear?

Next time, if there is a voice, listen.

Listen to their cries, tears of sadness and happiness.

When they laugh listen, even when they scream.

Watch, watch their moves, watch how they walk.

Watch how they wept, how they got up when they could barely breathe.

Watch how powerful they felt when they rose up from the earth.

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Andrea Heredia Our whole existence on this earth Is it worth it The time, space, power, We all have a part in this life that we play Yes, it may matter to us We have our own worth on this earth What we do on this earth has meaning We should ask ourselves before we do something, is it worth it?

So just in case we don’t do something to ruin our future because of something that exists in the past Are we worth it Are we worth enough to live through these long but short lives Making mistakes, then learning, then the cycle starts again We’re worth the time to learn, to grow We’re not worth the time to destroy and break our own worth, others’ worth, our existence In our minds, we can believe as we come to accept how much we’re worth Throughout all of our existence we’ve grown then crumbled And the cycle will keep going That part of our existence matters And is worth it

If we make it what it’s worth

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Tommy Denaro Life, It’s an amazing thing, We try to make the best of it, But we don't.

We are arrogant, We think we are the best.

Life, It’s an amazing thing, We think we know so much, But we don’t.

We are arrogant, We think we are the best.

Are we the best?

I mean, We are smarter than any living thing, We are better than any living thing, Right?

People who think that struggle, Struggle to see that life is more than what you have.

Life’s about what you make of it.

Often, If you do the best you can, Life will be good.

Often, If you don’t do the best you can, Life won’t be good.

People are different, So different, It’s hard to understand.

So different that someone causes genocide.

So different that someone takes a bullet for someone else.

Are there more good or bad people in the world?

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In my experience, Most people are good.

From Joseph’s experience, Most people are bad.

Everyone has their own answer, There is no right answer, Because, You will never know everyone.

Are there more good or bad things in the world?

And, are we worth it?

They are the same question.

For me, We aren’t worth it.

Although most people are good.

I cannot blind myself to the people that aren’t.

An act of hatred Means much more than An act of kindness.

Therefore, We are not worth it.

Life is a gift.

How can you be worthy of something given to you?

You can make the best of it, But you cannot be worthy.

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Barney Smith (Told from the perspective of Death, the narrator of The Book Thief) Thinking about if the human race is actually good?

It can be a hard question, I know that there are a lot of good moments for humans, Like during World War 1, on Christmas in 1914 the British and German soldiers had Christmas dinner together They sang carols and stopped the war for Christmas, Or how people in this world adopt children, Which is Such a great thing since it gives those children, whose parents couldn’t raise them, a family It gives them happiness, and acceptance.

And that a lot of children with disabilities, they get the care they need, And the health care they need, but they need to make sure that more kids with these conditions get the care they need.

These and many more memories sound great, But then again, think about all the horrible things Humans do, Like with the slaves, those people were beat and whipped and worked until they died, and they were sold and bought by slave masters who used their religion to justify dehumanizing slaves.

Or all those school shootings, horrible things And I, I had to watch all of it.

What about the environment, humans have only corrupted it Which brings us to the Holocaust, how could humans do that to other humans, Dehumanizing and killing those poor Jews, pretending the gas chambers were showers that was evil, how could humans do that.

When actually humans do, they do horrible things And that's why I have hope with every new generation, That they, they can change the way things have been They can turn it around, which is why I feel the human race are worth it, 27

Andrew Vidrevich The Book Thief Had seen many things Taught many lessons Learned many lessons Failed at many things Succeeded at many things She had an impact on people’s lives From the beginning Liesel has grown She was this nervous afraid little girl That turned into this girl, that just used the power of words better than anyone I have ever heard or seen of Hans from his beautiful according to his deep soul His care for others and crazy intelligence Rosa’s cursing to loving For Rosa to say, “ I love you,” it was to call you a Saumensch But in hard times Rosa was the person to go to Rudy from goofy to caring To the hair that would forever stay the color of lemons Max who changed how Liesel felt about Germany Liesel Lived Loved Lost Learned Forgotten The story made me think Of what I have not seen Thought of what I did not know It just touched me It made me remember the people who were Jews Who had to leave their home Give up their life Forget the word freedom The people that helped That hid them from the cruelty of Nazi Germany This book showed me a lot Historically and emotionally I will never forget 28

Vita Tomรกs Michelangeli Is human existence worth it? This is a very complicated question. First off, worth what? Is it worth our effort or maybe our time? I believe that the question is asking if human existence it worth the resources we use on this planet. To answer this question, we must look at how much damage we do to this planet and each other, and how many resources we use. We must also look to our past and see what we are supposed to be doing or what our purpose is and if we are following it.

I believe that humans were put on this planet regulate the world around us.

Since we were able to adapt and change so well we could help other animals adapt too. We are supposed to change our behavior to benefit ourselves and other animals.

However, over time we forgot about helping other animals and we started to adapt to help only ourselves. Now most people put themselves over others and very few people think otherwise. Nowadays we take in resources and damage the environment. Fewer people help our environment than we need. Does that make these people worth it but one less?

Modern day society destroys the environment, kills innocent lives in war, discriminates against certain groups of people, abuses human rights, creates suffering in communities, and turns people against other. However, there is less poverty, crime, death, sickness, disease, and war than ever before. It is my belief that individual humans are amazing and totally worth existing. However, when put into large societies, that is when things start to break down. That is when people start hurting others to get what they want. This is because people start competing for resources. There is a large debate whether humans are violent at their nature or if they society brings out violence. I believe that it is a little bit of both. Humans are violent at nature; however, society channels that violence into horrifying wars. We are constantly at war with each other. But for what? Yet, even in these wars, humans still find a way to forgive each other afterwards. Not always, but most of the time enemies become great allies. Shifting ideals cause shifting alliances. We bring out the worst in each other.

Society is definitely flawed. This leads people to believe that human existence is not worth our resources. However, humans do a great deal of good for each other, even during war.

The human being is truly a mystery. I believe that if society cancelled our human innovation for positive things that we would be truly worth existing. Since it does not I have chosen another stance on human existence. I believe that the existence of human society (as it currently is in 2019) in not worth existence.

However, the existence of individual humans is worth it.

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Olivia Yau Are humans worth it?

The creatures that kill their own kind for fun?

The kind that are supposed to protect each other?

The kind that kills their own family from greed.

The kind who beat and rape people who they think are objects to them.

The kind who discriminate one of their own species because of their color of skin.

Even God probably wonders, What is going on with society?

Even though there is a lot of evil in this world, There is also a lot of beauty and love from all around.

The taste of the warm cookies your grandma baked you.

The smell of the dozen roses that your parents buy you.

The sound of a teacher teaching students how to read.

The touch of your friend’s hand on your shoulder reassuring you that everything is going to be alright.

Maybe the human race is worth existing.

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Baelee Glasgow Dear Death As you know Humans are not perfect But Being imperfect shouldn’t determine whether or not we are worth it Does the bad we do even compare to the good We do make mistakes but we learn from them When humans suffer they become stronger We strive to be better Even if the outcome is not what we wanted We never stop improving Although we hate we also love Love so strong You could never imagine We all put something amazing out into this world That doesn’t mean we’re perfect But it means we belong Death you tell me Do you think we are worth it now?

After all, would you not want Liesel and her words to exist

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Ella Law Bold = Answers

Non-Italic = My conclusions

black = all other stuff

I wanted to interview some people and ask them if they thought that human existence was worth it. Below I have some responses that people gave me. Some are very thought through and cared about others were sloppy and disregarded. This first response is from one of my friends, Tomas Michelangeli. This is what he said: I think that humans had a purpose, but over time we started to worry about other stuff… not worry but focus more on ourselves more than our purpose or what we need to do. Then we started worrying about our close net community so that means that we will start making decisions that only benefit the people around us and might put every living thing at jeopardy or inconvenience. This ends up harming the people making these hurtful decisions and then we end up hurting everyone around us. This leads me to believe that the existence of individual people are worth it but human society and humans as a whole are not.

This next one is from another one of my friends, Lyla Changar: I would say yes and no because there are days when I feel very hopeful and have a reason but other days I don’t have any motivation.

This is what my dad, Michael T. Law said: Is human existence worth it? I would say yes. Humans are capable of doing wonderful things to help themselves and their community to make the world a better place.

My mom’s friends, Lisa Stevens really thought this answer through as you can tell from her long answer. Her answer was so long that she decided that it would be easier if she just typed it herself. She wrote: As a person who asks a lot of questions, this particular question is too vague and vast for me to give you the simple answer. The question makes me wonder about the person asking it. They must think life pretty bleak to pose this - is human existence worth it. Worth what? Worth their time, participation, their life? What is happening in the space of their lives that this question is asked? It must relate directly to their perspective, and, without knowing what that instance is, it’s hard to answer in general terms. For me, without a doubt, human existence is crucial to the ultimate question which is “why are we here?”...and furthermore, “what is our purpose?” In this space and time, in this era, humans are here for a higher purpose - to teach, enlighten, to achieve a greater sense of consciousness.

Despite the atrocities of this world, there are enough evolved, conscious, human beings to make a difference - To teach the generations to come to be tolerant, forgiving, and peaceful. What it is to love and accept. To create a human existence that is palatable for everyone, and together live as a unified 32

collective rather than a divisive, volatile one. Is human existence worth it? In any era, yes. Bad things happen, unfortunately, but sometimes bad things need to happen for us to learn and not repeat them. History has a purpose, therefore humans have a purpose, and existence is worth that.

This is what my mom, Katharine Gill said: Are there things that we can and should do differently - absolutely - but at the end of the day, I believe that human existence is worth it.

Baelee Glasgow said: Well, yes I think that it is worth it. Because there would be nothing. Well, there would be animals I guess. Without us, a lot of things wouldn’t exist and a lot of things wouldn’t survive. Humans do have a purpose but over time humans never have enough so then we’ll keep on striving for more and we will never stop.

This is what Liam Hitzig-Santamaria said: Human existence is not worth it because basically what we did is we came to this planet, became smart or something and literally killed everything. We ruined the Earth for like every other living animal doing so. FACTS! This is what my Aunt Sara said in response to the question: I definitely think that human existence is worth it. I think that we are all born with a purpose but sometimes it takes a majority of your life, half of your life, all of your life, long time basically to figure out what your purpose is. With good times and happy memories, there are also challenges and sadness but these times help us appreciate the good times or what we have.

This is what my friend Verbena Tata thinks: Is it worth it that humans exist? I feel 333333like in some ways yes. Also, no because we are the main species on earth and we’ve made all these changes that are bad for our planet. I feel like that’s not good and it’s also the subject of climate change. I feel like people would only say yes because of their living and enjoying living (as am I).

This is what my Auntie T thinks: Is human existence worth it? My answer is yes.

Because without humans you wouldn’t have some of the most beautiful things.

You wouldn’t have Monet's water lilies. You wouldn’t have the Sistine Chapel.

And you wouldn’t have beautiful art or music, but you also wouldn’t have human nature which is to take care of one another.

This is what I think: I think that human existence can be worth it because we can do wonderful things and terrible things. We have a whole lot of power it is just what we decide to with the power that makes human existence only partially worth it. Some people use the power to speak out and save the things that need saving while others use their power to tear down all of the progress that people made while others still just don’t use their power at all.

34 This is my conclusion: Based on the studies I've got so far, 6 out of 10 people think that human existence is worth it. One person said no, while two people of the four said maybe and the last of the four said that he thought that ½ of civilization is worth it while the other ½ is not. I have gotten some very short answers and some very long and detailed ones. Some are very confusing, but in the end, they all make sense.

Some people give a lot of detail while others keep the majority to themselves. Some people gave a few sentences while others gave a whole speech. I feel like through asking these questions I learned a lot about the people I interviewed. I knew most of the superficial stuff about the people, but through these questions, I got a chance to dive into their lives. I like that all of the answers are so diverse. Yes, some points may intersect but they are all worded very differently. I only wish that I had more time and could interview more people. Some of the people who said that human existence wasn't worth it were either having a bad day, goofing off or just being pessimistic. I have those days too. The days where you want to just run in the opposite direction and throw your hands up and give in.

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Bella Vaccaro Sick An illness that’s unseen The shine in their eyes gone away with the spark of a fire Burning out of control Until it explodes like a star The aching feeling in their neck An itch they couldn’t reach Going crazy for no reason but to go crazier Insane is an understatement The look of their lips Dry and cracked Dehydrated of blood Full of poison Brain going stale Veins breaking in two Three Four Floating around in the blood they have left Most of it gone away through man made doorways Locked back in with a scar Only to be opened again as soon as they claim they can’t feel anymore Medication Capsules with chemicals Small enough to slide down their throat Placebo enough for them to calm down A temporary fix Doctors and therapists can’t help this poor child anymore They’re sick Not enough to be bedridden But enough for them to have a shelf full of masks Some porcelain Some metal Some fabric like and silk Someday I bet they would love to wear nothing But they want to wait until their face is stitched back together But no one is going to do it for them Making fun of me for believing in dragons when I was six years old But yet they still believe they can get to the end of their pain without walking the pathway themselves God knows how old they are now 35

I believed But they are still believing in the impossible Their words were slurred Blurry Underwater Even though their mind was high enough in the clouds to soon see the stars they used to wish on But they gave up on that just like everyone else did But they did for different reasons Searching for answers in the form of letters in a book full of numbers They are trying to find a plastic key with a magnet Trying to fill a cup with holes with water Or whatever keeps them breathing Drugs maybe?

Who knows They’re sick And for some reason they thought my pain was the cure But maybe they’re just dying Slowly One day their body is going to catch up to their mind And they'll be too sick to undo the past Where they scarred the air And blew the stars out Like a candle Lighting their heart On fire

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