Sandra Burke
ENG-4UI
Tapper
Thursday January 16, 2014.
100 Years Is Not Long Enough When a person is young, and wants to go home, hearing the words: “We are not leaving for another twenty minutes!” can make such a miniscule window of time seem like an eternity. The timer feels like it is never going to start, seconds feel like forever, and the minute hand mocks the staring eyes that watch it in the hopes it will move faster. Finally, the agonizing waiting had passed, and it is time to go. On the flipside, being preoccupied with someone or something takes the eager mind off of waiting, and the focus on wanting to leave has dissipated. Imagine how the elderly feel, time is limited for them and they know it. A lot of elderly persons have their opportunities taken from them; often they are looked at as helpless, needy or even a burden to today’s society. In the novel, The 100-year-old man who climbed out the window and Disappeared, written by Jonas Jonasson incorporates the theme of friendship from beginning to end with the main character Allan Karlsson, who cannot meet someone new and have them love him. Allan displays the theme of friendship through his actions after both his parents pass away, “Things are what they are, and whatever will be will be” (Jonasson32). Allan takes his mother’s quote and lives by it the best he can; he uses the friendships he makes with Esteban, vice president Truman, Father Ferguson, Julius Jonasson, Benny Luxenbourge and Beauty to help him get through tough situations he is faced with in his life. Being an only child, and going through the hardship of losing both parents by the time he was thirteen, Allan Emmanuel Karlsson made it through the rest of his life solemnly based off of friendships. This novel is constantly intertwining Allan’s past ninety nine years and him presently Burke 2 being 100; by doing so, Jonasson has given great background to the readers and a real insight through all the stages of his life. Esteban, one of the first friends introduced to Allan’s life. Esteban was always introduced as “the ape” if the other workers referred to him, but Allan gave him a chance and Esteban taught him to speak fluent Spanish, and the two worked together in the dynamite fields. They got along very well, but “Esteban could not understand that particular facet about his best friend” (Jonasson69). This facet was that Allan absolutely hated talking about politics, but that was what Esteban longed to talk about most with Allan. Esteban died years later because a Comrade recruiting soldiers did not want him, so he was shot. Allan went on to meeting new friends after Esteban passed away, for example his good friend Oppenheimer, who Allan technically inspired to create the atom bomb. Allan formed this friendship simply by infringing upon a meeting exclusive to scientists, and adding that he knows how to indeed create an atom bomb. “Excuse me, but why don’t you divide the uranium into two equal parts […] then they’ll explode when you want them to” (Jonasson105). After stating his opinion, vice president Truman became very fond of Allan and offered to take him out