Putting Others Before Yourself
Putting and thinking of others before yourself is not always an easy thing to do. You want to think of other people, but not be a pushover either. In the book “When Zachary Beaver Comes to Town” the author, Kimberly Willis Holt, shows readers examples of both how to put others before yourself as well as examples of characters acting selfishly. Mrs. Wilson is an example of not putting others before yourself. On the other hand, Mr. Wilson is an example of putting others before yourself. We also see Toby acting selfishly (like his mother) but later he shows how to put others before himself later in the book (like his father).
In the book Mrs. Wilson leaves her town so she can go try to win a singing contest in Nashville, Tennessee. She doesn’t really think of Toby’s or Mr. Wilson’s feelings or thoughts about her going when she leaves. She only thinks of herself, not her son or husband. You should be able to follow your dreams, but you need to make sure you’re not harming other people emotionally or physically when doing so. For example, on pg. 116, after reading a letter from his mom this is what Toby does: “I rip the letter into confetti, then throw the pieces out of the window.” He obviously is hurt and upset with …show more content…
Wilson. In the book, Mr. Wilson allows Mrs. Wilson to go follow her dreams even though it will make his life harder. He is thinking of her before himself, unlike Mrs. Wilson. On page 76 of the book Toby’s father says, “Toby, I’m not the person to answer that question. I’ll give you her phone number and you can ask her yourself”. Instead of thinking of only himself and putting Mrs. Wilson down he thinks of her and doesn’t say anything sarcastic or rude about her when Toby asks when she’s coming back. Even though it’s obvious that throughout the book Mr. Wilson isn’t very happy that Mrs. Wilson left, he still respects her and doesn’t talk bad about her even though she is being