Alyssa Prydz

Roshan French
Emily Zomoroudi
Bryson Xiao
Isela Martinez
Sarah DeBruler
English 9H/Period 6
2/7/17
Final Score: 43/50
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Loss is unavoidable, unstoppable, unpreventable, but loss is not the end. In the book A

Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Eggers describes the loss of his parents and his

journey thereafter. Dave unfortunately loses both of his parents to cancer, his father to lung

cancer, and his mother to stomach cancer,within just a few weeks of each other. In consequence

to those events, the author takes full custody of his younger brother, Toph, who is thirteen years

his junior. He moves to the San Francisco Bay Area in California with his brother and older

sister, Beth. Eggers also co-owns a magazine during the time of caring for his brother, and

through this magazine shows his own views of the world. Throughout the novel, The

Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Eggers faces many obstacles in his life, along with

coping with his loss by working to improve the future, and inspiring those of his generation to

create a better world for themselves.

Eggers tries to inspire his generation and improve the future by co-founding Might

magazine, a magazine made by twentysomethings, for twentysomethings based in the San

Francisco Bay Area in an attempt to say something about the world. In particular, when Eggers

talks about how the magazine should be a style of life, Eggers states, We try to convince people

that were a lifestyle magazine. See, were talking here about a style of life...Not a lifestyle like
lifestyle. Life. Style. A style of life. (Eggers, pg. 175). Despite no longer having his parents in

his life, he continued to pursue his dreams through the magazine by working as a

journalist/writer. Eggers describes how he wants to induce others to create a world suited best for

them and he does this through his magazine. The magazine is satirical and pokes fun at many

things, such as celebrities and society. The magazine was also founded to express opinions and

to share news with people of their similar generation. The opinions in the magazine shift and

change with certain topics, but the writers do not take anything too seriously. Eggers planned to

have his magazine make it big and even considered moving to New York for a time, but was

never able to accomplish this. Through the Might magazine, Eggers tried to impact the world and

change society for the better.

While Eggers strives to inspire others through his magazine, he additionally wants to be

the bigger person and make sure that his brother has the best childhood possible. For instance,

when Eggers leaves to spend time with his friends, and leaves his younger brother with a

babysitter, he begins to worry, Eggers states, If something happens itll be my fault. He will try

bad things on Toph...I should turn around. This is stupid. We dont need this kind of risk. I dont

need to do this, dont need to go out...I need to go back. (Eggers, pg. 125-126). Having his

mindset on his brother has helped him gain maturity, and in other ways it has brought him and

his parents closer. He is doing things that he has never had to do before; things that would allow

him to relate with his parents. In the beginning, Eggers is very immature and has little parenting

skills, but he soon realizes that he has to sacrifice his own dreams and wishes, for Tophs own

good. He gives up going to college, partying, and moves to Berkeley, California. Eggers knows

that if something bad were to happen to Toph, it would all be his fault and it would be too much
for him to bear another loss. So, therefore Eggers takes it upon himself, to spend all the time he

can with Toph. Together, they have endless days of fun playing frisbee, cooking, and cruising

around their city. Since, Eggers is being kept busy by Toph, he has little time to come back to the

memories of when his parents were still alive. Consequently, Eggers probably would have never

grown up to become the man that he is today without incurring the responsibility of caring for

his brother. Eggers has had a lot thrown at him and Toph has helped him through it all.

As Eggers goes through the struggle of having to care for his younger brother, Toph, he

does this despite the tremendous grief and sorrow he has for his parents. For example, near the

end of the novel, Eggers stumbles across his mothers cremains and decides to throw them into

Lake Michigan, Eggers writes, I stand up quickly and throw, this time some of the cremains

sticking to my palm...How lame this is...Or maybe its beautiful. I cant decide if what I am

doing is beautiful and noble and right, or small and disgusting. (Eggers, pg. 398-399). Eggers is

still upset while mourning his mother, and thought that throwing her cremains into the lake,

which was one of her favorite places, would be the right thing to do. Through this action, he

demonstrates his emotional struggles, feelings of disparity and lack of control while additionally

accepting the loss of his mother. He is finally moving forward and continuing on without his

parents in his life. He is confused and conflicted, wanting to make sure that his mother is

respected and honored. He expresses to the reader that he has moved on knowing that there is no

turning back. The loss of his parents has caused Eggers to face many obstacles, and through

these tribulations and strife, Eggers grows emotionally, allowing him to depart from his sense of

dependency to one of responsibility through a strong work ethic and an adult who must care for

his brother.
 To conclude, Eggers gains new insights on life and faces many struggles when both his

parents pass away. After his parents deaths, he is faced with dealing with his own emotions and

sorrow, the responsibility of being a parent, and the responsibility of running a business from

scratch. Throughout the novel, Eggers copes with his losses by learning to accept the fact that his

parents died and he has to move on despite the emotional strain and grief he feels. Since hes

occupied with being a good parent for his brother and trying to create and maintain a successful

magazine business, he realizes that he cant focus on his own life, his brothers, and his parents

deaths simultaneously. At the end of his memoir, Eggers finally learns that even though loss is

inevitable, loss is not a dead end, life moves on, and so must he.
Thesis : Throughout the novel, The Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Eggers faces many

obstacles in his life and tries to cope with loss by working to improve the future as well as strive for

greatness.

As a result of the loss of his parents, Eggers gains maturity and responsibility to look after his

brother all the while rebelling and attempting to have a normal life throughout the novel.

Eggers goes over the idea of having to move on after loss and having to move on with life.

Theme: Loss is not avoidable. Life changes and people die. The trick is to not be obsessed and to move

on.

Message : Life is hard to go through unscathed, so live it to the fullest.