Custom «Leo Buscaglia’s: The Fall of Freddie the Leaf» Essay Paper Sample

Born in March 1924 and passed on in June 1998, Leo Buscaglia is one of the most celebrated and decorated authors, motivational speakers and professor to graces lecture halls of various universities around the world. Some of his award winning books includes; Living, Loving and Learning and Born for Love. The purpose of this essay paper will be to answer two questions in relation to another of his publication, The Fall of Freddie the Leaf. The paper will first strive to explain what is the meaning of life is, according to Daniel, one of the main characters in the story and secondly if I agree with Daniel (which will be a personal opinion) and what Daniel takes to be the meaning of life really the meaning of life? If so why? If not, why not?

"The Fall of Freddie the Leaf"

The Fall of Freddie the Leaf is an interesting story that the author has used metaphors to explain different events. The story is about a tree however; each leaf on the tree has been given a human name. The main characters in the story are Daniel, Freddie, Ben, Alfred, Clare among others. It is important to note that the tree in the book has been used as a metaphor to represent the world and life in general, whereas the different branches and leaves have been used by the author to represent the different persons on earth. In the book, Daniel has been portrayed as a mature, responsible and wise character. In addition to that he is the narrator of the story on the various events that take place on the "tree". The role of Freddie in the book cannot be overlooked either; it is important to note that Daniel and Freddie are best friends in the book and he has been portrayed as an inquisitive character but at the same time he is fearful; he fears death.

The Meaning of Life

As indicated in the chapter above, in the book Daniel has been portrayed as the being wise and full of knowledge on most happenings on and around the tree, these same sentiments are echoed by his best friend and fellow leaf Freddie. According to Daniel life is a dynamic process and there are different stages that people go through, from conception, birth until death. To illustrate this he has used the different weather seasons (from spring, summer, autumn to winter) to explain what happens on the leaves on the tree, the leaves must germinate, grow and finally drop off the tree to pave way for new leaves. This is the same scenario that plays in life, that there are different stages of human growth and development.

Apart from the different stages of life growth and development, Daniel has also looked at life from a social economic perspective. To make Freddie understand this, he has explained to Freddie why they are found on a tree that is located in a public park whereas there are some other trees in private park where they are well taken care of. This is also part of life and it is this indifference that makes life complete and balanced. Just trees are found in different locations, so are human beings, the world is made up of people of different races, religions and gender; however what defines where a person grows up is their social and economic status. The higher the social and economic ladder a person is the more privileges are available to them. For those who reside in the inner cities they tend to struggle with life as compared to those to reside in high class residential areas.

In the book, Daniel has viewed life from different angles as indicated above; it is however his core points on life that brings out the true meaning of life. Daniel has touched on the positive virtues of life and what the universe should be all about. Daniel has explained that the purpose that the tree is located in a public park is to give shade to the elderly, provide a cool playing spot for children and also give lovers and families ample shed to relax. This is what life and humanity should be all about. The point that Daniel is stressing out is that as human beings we encounter different challenges and live in different regions but we should all live as brothers and sisters despite our differences in gender, race, religion and social economic status. Love, open heartedness, kindness, caring and other virtues should be the guiding factors.

In life change is evitable and people should be willing to accept and embrace the positive and negative changes that they encounter in life. Each season opens a new chapter in life, on the tree there came a season (the fall) when some leaves fell off because they had outlived their importance of the tree. It is this stage that made Freddie scared since he was not prepared for it; death. There comes a time when a tree must shed its leaves, a time when beautiful roses wither and also a time when humans die. This is the greatest fear of most people since they do not know what awaits them in future. It is however important to note that without it (death) life is incomplete and it is a journey that all people, animals and plants must go through to make the journey complete and pave way for others.

Personal Opinion

After having looked at the meaning of life according to Daniel the leaf and how it represents the human population, it is wise to say that I agree with Daniel and all the point he has mentioned in the story in relation to life. This is because just as a leaf goes through different stages of development and encounters numerous challenges as it grows on the branch of a tree, so do human beings as they walk on the face of the earth. To make the world a better place, we should preach and practice the positive virtues of life and that is the only way the world will be a better place to live in.

Summation of the Paper

This essay paper has started off by giving a brief mention of the author of the story and some of the books under his belt. The paper has then given the main characters in the story "The Fall of Freddie the Leaf" and there characteristics. The paper has then gone ahead to discuss the meaning of life according to Daniel, who is one of the main characters in the story. At the same time this has been compared to the happenings in the life of human being and the challenges that they encounter. In conclusion, the paper has given a person opinion as to whether I agree or disagree with the point of view of Daniel.