"Waiting for the Rain" by Sheila Gordon. Not very well written, but I wrote it in the 7th Grade so forgive me :D

Essay by syntaxkittenJunior High, 7th gradeA-, April 2004

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The first theme shown in Sheila Gordon's Waiting for the Rain, is that a true friendship is stronger than any emotion of the human character that corrupts, even hates, emotions like distrust, fear, beliefs that one race is better than another, and intolerance. In Waiting for the Rain, these feelings are portrayed in the final scene between Frikkie and Tengo, the main characters, when they meet again, inside the shed after a protest. Frikkie has joined the military, almost as a defense against change, something of which he despises, while Tengo has gone to school, and become a part of the student protests, so that things will change. When they meet, their social positions have changed for the moment. Frikkie, after being captured by some unruly protestors, is lying helpless, while Tengo, one of the ringleaders, has the power of deciding whether Frikkie will live or die.

In spite of this newfound power, Tengo lets Frikkie live. Why, you might ask? It is because they are close friends. Their friendship was strong enough to endure the emotional and physical pain that they faced as a result of apartheid. It was strong enough to endure the injustice, anger, hatred, fear, that in reality both races, had to put up with, just because one race in particular was power hungry. If friendship can survive through these feelings, just as Frikkie and Tengo's did, than it can survive through almost anything.

Also, another theme is that one shouldn't fear change, because it will happen, whether one wants it to or not. For example, Frikkie fought change his whole life, and had closed his eyes to the horrible things around him. Because of this, his close childhood friendship with Tengo was almost completely lost. He spent most of his...