Week One – Hidden Meanings
Discussing Hidden Meanings
Frequently in this book, characters say things with hidden meanings. One such thing was spoken by Sybil:
- “It’s not my death I fear,” said Sybil, “but my life. . .”(Ch 3:9)
Avi’s central theme is clearly stated in the proverb at the beginning: “A life unlived is like a book without words.”
- Post an answer to this question: What does Sybil mean by what she says in the above statement? Describe how Sybil’s attitude toward life changes throughout the book.
- Pick another quote from the book that you believe has a hidden meaning. Give us the quote, and explain what you believe is truly meant by it.
I think that when Sybil said ” Its not my death I fear but my life…” she meant that life has a lot of twists and turns in the events that we take part in and you never know what is going to happen next!!!
Sybil’s attitude toward life changed because now she realized that if Thorston lives she will die and she is scared to the fact that she might die!!! The other quote that I would pick is ” Live long enough and we all become orphans…” and I think that it truly means that after awhile as time goes by, the ones that we love start to die and it feels as if we have no one with us anymore!!!!!
When Sybil “It’s not my death I fear, but my life…” what she means that she really dosen’t care if she dies or how she dies. What she is afraid of she life and how she is going to live her life.
Sybil’s attitude changes during the book because she starts care about her life and not wanting to die because ther is something to life for which was the gold making secert.
“Live long enough and we all become orphans” means that you will someday out live your parents and you will be alond in the world live an orphan
I believe Sybil means that she fears that her life would come to an bad end but she dosent worries about death because she know she has to die but it’s her life she depends on to stay alive.
Death is a part of life is anothern quote i chose. This means no matter what you still have to die so its natural.
Sybil’s attitude changes by her starting to care more and pay more attention about her life.
* “It’s not my death I fear,” said Sybil, “but my life. . .”(Ch 3:9)
Sybil means that when she dies her life will end and she cannot do anything about what people do to her, but when she is alive she has to depend on herself, which she does not know how to do. She has always depended on other people to help her survive.
“Live long enough and we all become orphans” means that people out live their parents most of the time but one day you will be left alone to fend for yourself. It also means that one day all children have to leave their parents and when they do they become “orphans” because they have to live alone and do thing for themselves like orphans do.
“It’s not death I fear…but my life.”
By this Sybil means that she is not afraid of dying, but is afraid of what type of life she will have. In the story at first she was searching for gold after the Master had died, and the oonly reason she did was because she did not want to go back yo living on the streets.That is what she is afraid of.
“Live life long enough and all become orphans.”
This proverbs simply tells you that if you live long you’ll also be there to see all your relatives die, and if you live long enough in the end you really will be the last of your family.
1)When Sybil says,”It is not my death I fear,” “but my life.” she means that at the moment, she doesn’t fear dying. She is scared of what is going to happen to her life.
2)“Live life long enough and all become orphans.” This means that almost everyone has a long life and eventually, you won’t have someone to take care for you…you have to take care of yourself. You will be all alone in the world and you’re not going to have someone sitting over you to help you every step of the way. You have to take matters into your own hands.
when Sybil said “It’s not my death I fear,” “but my life she saying she’s not afraid of dying but whats going to happen to her later on in her life.If she’s going going to die a begger’s death or live alone in the streets knowing she going to die sooner or later.
The other hidden meaning is when ODO said “DEATH iS PART OF LiFE” it means there is no need to fear death or hide from it it’s natural it’s common.Why do others hide from death? Beacuse they fear that their sins are goign to catch up whit them when there dead that what i think people fear death.But as ODO said death is just a part of life enjoy it because your only going to be able to die once.
“It’s not my death I fear,” said Sybil, “but my life”
I think Sybil means that she is not in fear of dying but in fear of what’s going to happen in the future of her life. She is scared that some thing bad is going to happen to her in the future. She is mot afraid of death because it going to happen.
So that’s what I think she meant.
“iTS NOT MY DEATH i FEAR, iTS MY LiFE.”
i FEEL THAT THiS QUOTE MEANS THAT SHE iSNT AFRiAD OF DYiNG, BUT THAT SHE iS AFRAiD OF WHATS GOiNG TO HAPPEN TO HER WHiLE SHES LiViNG. WHAT SHE HAS TO GO THROUGH DURiNG HER LiFE iS FAR MORE FRiGHTENiNG FOR HER THEN HOW OR WHEN SHE iS GOiNG TO DiE.
“DEATH iS PART OF LiFE” -ODO
TO ME, THiS QUOTE MEANS THAT EVERYONE DiES. WHETHER iTS SOMETHiNG YOU WANT TO HAPPEN OR NOT, iTS GOiNG TO HAPPEN. ONES LiFE JUST iSNT COMPLETE UNTiL THEY GO THROUGH THE FiNAL STAGE..DEATH. iTS COMPLETES LiFE.
I couldn’t do the second part of this entree because the class ended so here it is.
Another quote from the book that has a hidden meaning is, “death is part of life.” I think this truly means that just as you were born and raised and expirienced adventures throughout your life you get to expirience another adventure that is death. So really death comes after you have accomplished all the goals you were set in this earth for.
When Sybil said “It’s not my death I fear, but my life. . .” I think she meant that she dose not fear death because well if your dead your dead what else is there to fear. But if you are alive there is a lot to fear especially for Sybil now that Thorston is dead.
I think Sybil’s attitude changes in the way she was pretty happy with her life because she had food and shelter but now she dose not know what will happen to her she appreciates the life she was living more.
I can’t find any other quotes with hidden meanings
1. “It’s not my death I fear,” said Sybil, “but my life. . .”(Ch 3:9)
I believe Sybil means that she is not afraid to die but she fears living. To clarify, she is afraid to live because she hasn’t had a good life, with her being a orphan and because she has nothing. Sybil’s attitude changes throughout the book because she wants to live a good life instead of dieing.
2.Pick another quote.
I chose the quote; “. . . the shorter the sermon, the longer the truth.” -Alfric (Ch 3:11)
I believe that this quote means if when you die and they have a short sermon it means that they were modest people, for not wanting for others to hear everything they have experienced. Also, they were less spoiled to want every one to know all the glories they have recieved in life.
What I think Sybil means when she says this is that she is not afraid to die but more afraid to live. When I say that I mean she will be at peace when she dies and will never have to worry about anything when she is dead but when she is alive she will have so much hard days to go throgh. With her still on this Earth, with no money, she will never no what to do.I also think that later on in the story she will start to take life more seriously. I think that she will act more curious toward the theme of the alchemy thing. She will start to have purpose to her life now. Now that she is on a mission nothing can stop her now!
When Sybil says “It’s not my death I fear,it’s my life,” she means that there is nothing frightful about death.I mean,it’s true.When you die,you’re dead and nothing else can happen to you.In life however,there is a lot to lose.Your parents can die,your friends can die,people can do mean things to you,you can lose all you have……….so life is frightening but death isn’t,because when you’re dead,you’re safe.
Another quote that I think has a hidden meaning is the quote”Live long enough,and all become orphans.”I agree with this quote,and I think it means that eventually all one’s relatives and relations will eventually die.This is why is isn’t wise to want to live forever.You’ll live to see everyone you love die.The more you live,the longer you live,the more there is to lose.
When Sbil says “it is not death I fear….. but my life……” I think it she means she doesn’t fear death it self now but she fears what will happen to herself now.
When Sybil says “It is not death I fear…but my life…” the hidden meaning that comes to mind is how she clearly doesn’t fear death at all, but her life. The way she will live until death will come to her frightens her, it scares her more than death.
The other quote I choose is “live long enough and we all become orphans”, it could possibly really mean that the more we live life, the more independent that we get and we learn that we dont really HAVE to have someone to make our lives better because we can do that on our own. (or so thats what I understand)
When Sybil says “it is not death I fear but my life.” I think she means that she is not afraid of death but how se lives her life before she dies
WHEN SYBIL SAYS “IT IS NOTDEATH I FEAR BUT MY LIFE.”I THINK SHE MEANS THAT SHE’S NOT AFRAID TO DIE, FOR EVERYONE WILL COME ACROSS DEATH SOME TIME OR ANOTHER. SHE IS MORE CONCERNED ON WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT IN HER LIFE AND WHERE THE ACTIONS SHE IS TAKING NOW,ARE GOINGTO LEAD HER TO.
ANOTHER QUOTE THAT I CHOSE WAS…..”DEATH IS A PART OF LIFE”
WHAT THIS MEANS TO ME IS THAT NO MATTER WHAT EVERYONE IS GOING TO PAST. JUST LIKE THE QUOTE SAYS “ITS A PART OF LIFE”. PEOPLE LIKE TO THINK THAT THEY WILL LIVE FOREVER. BUT EVENTUALLY WE WILL ALL DIE.
When Sybil says “It is not death i fear but my life.” She means that she doesnt care if she dies or will not be afraid of dying but rathing living her life. She was not born rich nor has money to her name. She fears living on the horrid and crime-filled earth. She may think that when she dies all her toubles will vanish.
“It’s not death I fear…but my life.”
I think this quote means that shes not afraid of dying, but what will happen next in her life and how she lives her life.
Another quote that I chose was…
“A life unlived is like a book without words.”
I chose this quote because I find it intersting and it makes alot of sence. To me, this quote means that if you live your life without having any adventures, exploring things, or taking risks it is as boring as a book without words.
When Sybil said this, she was saying she really didn’t mind that much to die(of cousre everyone values thier lives) but she valued her life even thogh it might have been bad to her. So maybe her life asa servant wasn’t what she wanted to do, maybe she wanted to be queen or something so just feared for her life.
1 Sybil means that she is not afraid of death because once she dies all of her worries will be gone. She means that everything here on earth will be trivial, after she dies nothing will be holding her back. She fears her life because she has nowhere to go and will go back to being poor since her master is now unconscious.
2 The other quote is by Odo. He says “Live life long enough and all become orphans.” I think he means that evetually in life we will be alone and left to fetch for ourselves. If we live long enough than all of our family and friends will eventually die and we will no longer have to accompany us.
“It is not my death I fear…but my life.” This quote means that Sybil knows that she will eventually die, but she does not know how she is going to live her life. She does not know what tomorrow will bring her. It seems that Sybil dislikes being unaware of what she will have to do the next day.
“The more sins you confess, the more books you will sell,” is an American proverb. Basically, if anyone wrote a book, with all the sins they commited, it would be a best seller. Why? Because we (humans) are always longing to listen and produce gossip, especially when they are based on other people’s faults. We all are imperfect, so why do we enjoy talking about others imperfections?
“It’s not my death I fear,” said Sybil, “but my life. . .”(Ch 3:9)
-i think Sybil means; that she doesn’t fear death but instead she fears the way she is GOING to die. Like when your afraid your GOING to die in a plane crash, or a car crash, it’s not dieing that freaks some people out but the way they die.
In the Hidden meanings each have its own special way in saying its words. In the story one meaning…
“Its not my death i fear,” said Sybil, “but my life…” (Ch.3:9)
In the story what Sybil is trying to say is that in life each person has its own tecniques in living and dealing with the living. Everybody has its fears when living worrying about what to with its own life. In death people dont have to care as much as you do in life. Once death to what everybody saids you become “free”. Sybil in life has nothing for her except living in a house with her Master dead and staying with an extrodinary black bird that can talk. Living as a servant, Sybil has to go with many fears in her life. Working now for the black bird. “Death” isnt her problem right now as she looks for the gold that can help her accomplish much in life.
Throughout the book Sybil starts changing her mind in trying to help her life a little bit, by finding out the secret Master Thorston lies below. On her own with only Ovi facing danger ahead, She starts helping herself without keeping “death” in mind.
—-Meaning i Found—-
“..Death is part of life..” (Ch.3:11)
In this meaning many have to face life with fears and danger inside of themselves living as the usual life. Part of life is trying to accomplish goals to set life easier, trying to find themselves in a world so cold. But the biggest part of life is Death. In the normal world its either for you, life or death. Everyday thousans ecnounter death nd many others born with life. Death is delt with everyday as a normal thing. Many do not fear death as if death is “easier” than life. Life is like a competition. Trying to deal with gangs,money, and family to set for. Once death becomes a free world. Many religions believe you can either go to hell or heaven. Not setting goals or living like death is tomorow goes supposel to a place called hell. The people that had lives in the world and accomplished much goes to heaven. Not many people believe this. But its only religious beliefs. Death goes thru life taking peoples that have finished their goals.
Death is in a persons eye.
Well….this is my second part to the blog. I was doing it but then class ended so I could not finish. A quote from the book that rings true is death is part of life. This means you can’t cheat death. It comes no matter what. It is like a dead end on a road, there is no way to get around it.
When Sybil says “It’s not my death i fear…..It’s my life” i think that she means she is not scared of death because once someone dies all their misery or sadness or pain goes away, and eventually everyone dies.I think she is scared of her life because she never knows what is going to happen, and she does not know what to do now that her master is “dead”
“Live life long enough and all become orphans.”-Odo
I think this quote from the book means as life goes on everyone eventually goes on their own, becomes their own boss. Even though we will still have our family members we will all eventually be by ourselves
Frequently in this book, characters say things with hidden meanings. One such thing was spoken by Sybil:
“It’s not my death I fear,” said Sybil, “but my life. . .”(Ch 3:9)
Avi’s central theme is clearly stated in the proverb at the beginning: “A life unlived is like a book without words.”
When Sybil says this, she means when a person dies all their burdens and worries about what is next to come in life is lifted off their shoulders. Life is very complex; A person can only hope for life to create a course that is great. Life is not as straight forward. For things to get better they must get worse first. Since Sybil is not able to create gold and people are after this “gold making secret”, it is clear she may go through some hard times. She is also a pesant with no money.She is scared, scared of what life may grant her next.Before her master died, she was content with her semi-happy life. Now that he has passed away she yerns to find a way to survive.
Odo states: “Dead men do few deeds.” He means life is short,although people do not think of it this way at all moments. Not knowing when they are going to die, they don’t fufill all the good deeds or make up for their wrong doings. When they die they don’t do as many good deeds as they wanted because death comes as it pleases.(page 84)
When Sybil says “It’s not my death I fear,” said Sybil, “but my life. . .”(Ch 3:9), she means that she doesn’t care about her death because in the end everyone dies. Throughout this book, Sybil’s attitude towards her life has changed greatly. In the beginning, she didn’t care if she lived or not, but now after her Master’s death, she wants to be something instead of just being a servant.
The quote that I choose was: “Live long enough and all become orphans.” -Odo (Ch 3:11). I think this quote means that even though you’re born with parents, once they get older and pass away, you become an orphan because now you don’t have any parents to look after you.
1). In the quote, “It’s not my death I fear,” said Sybil, “but my life. . .”(Ch 3:9), Sybil means she lives the life of an outcast, scrum, and a fleabag mutt who have no reason to exist and is treated as such, and knows that the coming of Death will soothe her tattered spirit (she never knows what will happen to her, good nor bad); Death is her liberation, so why should she fear her freedom? Sybil’s attitude toward life (based on what I read so far) changed from being content with only a roof over her head and food in her belly, to driving for gold; she grained hope of a better life than what she already have.
2). Another quote from the book that you believe has a hidden meaning is, “A life unlived is like a book without words.” -Preamble. I believe its truly means if you don’t live your life to its fullest, it’s worthless by most.
What Sybil means when she says ” It’s not my death I fear, but my life…” is that she doesn’t care how she dies but how she lives her life. She doesn’t want to ruin it but live it to its fullest.
Sybil changes her attitude towards life because after Master Thorston died she realized that now she had to pull her own weight in life. And she began realizing the meaning of her life and how everything she did affected it.
By stating the hidden meaning, Sybil means that her life is dangerous to her while death she does not mind.Throughout the book, her attitude toward her life changes by thinking that her life is more valuable to her and others.
Another qoute from the book is “Death is a part of life”, which was spoken by Odo. What is meant by this is that death will come no matter what happens, and that we should accept it.
1. What does Sybil mean by what she says in the above statement? Describe how Sybil’s attitude toward life changes throughout the book.
When Sybil says “It’s not my death I fear, but my life…” she means that she she is not afraid of dying, it is her life that she fears, i think she is afraid of the rest of her life. how she is living is what she is scared of. not death itself but how she dies is what she fears. in the beginning of this book Sybil did not care for her life or for her death, as the book goes on i think she cares more for her life then she did before.
2. Pick another quote from the book that you believe has a hidden meaning. Give us the quote, and explain what you believe is truly meant by it.
another quote i chose was “live long enough, and soon we’ll all become orphans.” this means that if we live long our friends and family may die, may become distant, or may disown you. at that point we will either be or feel like orphans.
devastation ruled the land-I think it meant that the land they new was so davastated and poor that the people new no other way and no other life. It had become somthing they lived and or coped with. and people did not live with real laws of their land but with the laws of how to survive in this waste land they lived in.
1.WHEN SYBIL SAYS:“It’s not my death I fear, but my life…” she means she not scared of dying but of the ruining of her life because she starts to feel that she has a purpose after low self-esteem .
2.hold on im going to the bathroom…BRB
*When Sybil says “It’s not my death I fear, but my life…” she means that she is scared for her life. She thinks that she is a nobody in the beginning, but as the story goes on, she feels that she could be a somebody.
* “A fool is first to think himself wise and last to know it isn’t so.” This means that fools always think they are the smartest, but don’t realize they are fools.
When sybil says that shes not afraid of death but afraid of life, she means that shes not worried about death because is going to come your way no matter what. But the way life is for her is horrible and she doesnt want to have to go back to being on the streets but to live a life not homeless and not starving and shes afraid of that.
-When Sybil says “It’s not my death I fear, it’s my life”, she means that she doesn’t really care more about dieing because eventually everyone is going to die. So she probibly figures “Why be afraid of death when it is going to happen either way?” She is more concerned about the obstacles that her life is ready to throw at her. There is all kinds of difficulties in life that you have to face, but once you’re dead, you don’t have to worry about anything because your life has ended and there is no way that anything bad can happen.
-Another quote I picked that I think has a hidden meaning was “Death is a part of Life”. This means that that in your life there is many things that you are going to have to face. Things that are so bad it may make you feel like it is death.
When Odo says “devastation ruled the land” I think that means that theres a lot of people devastated and they wouldn’t get over it, and it was something that had happened a long time ago.
1. When Sybil says that I think she means that shes not so much scared of her dieing but of what will happen if she stays alive. Her attitude toward life changes because in the beginning she didnt care if her master died and she didnt think of what will become of her if he does. But then once she sees him and thinks hes dead it clicks and she became worried for herself and went to help him.
2. Another quote from the book is “Live long enough and all become orphans.” -Odo (Ch 3:11). I think this means the longer we live the more deaths we will experience from friends and family members.
When sybil says ” its not my death i fear but my life……” i think this means that she is not worrying about her dying because she is sooner or later she is going to die so her living and being alive is more dangerous and she is more aware or her surroundings because she never knows what to expect.
In the story when Odo says “devastation ruled the land” i think this means that all over the land people were devastated because of something that happened and everyone is feeling down because of it.
When Sybil says “It’s not my death I fear, but my life…” I think she means that shes more afraid of living than dieing. She would think that because she knows everyone is going to die, and shes more afraid to live because you never know what is comming. Sybil’s additude changes because she is now aware that she needs to look out.
“It’s not my death I fear,” said Sybil, “but my life. . .”
I think what sybil means is that she knows there is no stopping death, but she can change her own life in many ways. and she is scared that be may be changing her life for the worst.
In the beginning of the book, we are introduced to Sybil like she amounts to nothing, that she has no care if she lives or dies. But once she finds out what Thorston was planning on doing to her, she decides to make her life meaningful and actually do something good for herself.
When Odo says, “death is a part of life”, I think that means that no matter what you do, you are going to die sooner or later. You can’t be afraid of it, because it happens to everyone, so you should just accept it. It is part of life.
What I think “It’s not my death I fear, but my life..” means is that Sybil is not worried on how or when she dies, she is just worried about how her life is being lived. The way Sybil’s attitude about life changes is that she used to not really care, or show any expresions on her situation on being a slave and not really having a life. But now as the story progresses, she is now trying to figure out the how “to make gold” secret, lurking for a green-eyed child to read the book without words. So her a Odo can have gold. She also has little wonders on going to Italy.
When Sybil says “It’s not my death I fear, but my life….” I think she means that there is nothing to fear but life. You can’t live being afraid of death because no matter what death will come. There is no stopping it. You must fear life because it has unexpected events. You never know what will come of it. Sybil’s atitude changes because she now sees she is living an adventure.
When Sybil says “It’s not my death i fear, but my life..” I think she means that during her life she will not know what will happen, there might be unemployment, the fear of the streets, abuse, nelect, hunger, who is around the corner. Knowing the unknown, the fear of being clueless. In death you know just that, you know it will be someday and you know it will happen. Other things in life aren’t as known in the future.
Mr. Moshe, I was looking through the books and I looked at all the sentences and i got the basic idea of the meaning of the sentence. I thought the question meant to find a sentence that didn’t have an obvious meaning.
When a writer writes a book, that writer may or may not think in terms of “hidden meanings.” Speaking only for myself I never desire to write anything that is “hidden.” I want it to be all there, and available to the reader right on the surface. In other words I don’t wish any reader to think of my stories as tests, or puzzles, or tricks: they are there to be enjoyed, to be, beyond all else, simply experienced.
This is not to say the reader can’t find ideas, or points of view, or even ideas in a book, even complex ideas. But readers may find even conflicting ideas in a book, and I’m not sure they are right or wrong.
I hope readers will trust themselves and measure a book (if you want to measure it) against their own experiences.
My stories are not (I hope) academic excercises, but just fun to read.
A good book is the book that the reader says is good. Can’t it be as simple as that?
I hope so.
“It’s not my death I fear,” said Sybil, “but my life. . .”
What does Sybil mean by what she says in the above statement?
Sybil means that she dosent care if she dies. She also is afraid wat will happen next in her life. Her attitude changed through out the book because at first she really had nothing to live for(she was a servant and had no family), but now that her maser died she is trying to learn his secrets from odo and they both want to find out how to make gold.
Another quote I picked was “Death is part of life.” -Odo (Ch 3:11)
What this quote means is that everyone is going to die eventually if you like it or not. And that life has a meaning and spend your life right which means have fun because you never know when its goin to end.
1) “It’s not my death I fear,” said Sybil, “but my life. . .”(Ch 3:9)
What does Sybil mean by what she says in the above statement? Describe how Sybil’s attitude toward life changes throughout the book.
*By saying “It’s not my death I fear,” said Sybil, “but my life. . .”, Sybil meant that she did not mind dieing, it was her life that mattered. Her fear was to loose her life, dieing was not much of a problem to her. Sybil’s attitude toward life changed thoughout the book because at first she did not care much about her life, this was a result of being a servant for so long and not really have much of a “real” family all her life. But later she begins to learn the value of life and starts to respect it, Sybil thinks more of the life she has and would not risk it as easily as she may have before.
-&-
2) Pick another quote from the book that you believe has a hidden meaning. Give us the quote, and explain what you believe is truly meant by it.
THE QUOTE: “A fool is the first to think himself wise and the last to know it isn’t so.” -Odo (Ch 2:1)
* To me, the quote “A fool is the first to think himself wise and the last to know it isn’t so,” means that someone may think they are SO smart and know everything…but may really know nothing, and that person of everyone else is the last to realize that he/she really isn’t so smart. In other words, the news of the fool that “knows it all”… is actually not smart; gets to the fool last because the fool knows so little.
This is like the quote or saying my dad used to say…”He who knows and knows not that he knows is a fool!”….If you don’t know something that your own self knows than you are a fool.