In the book “The whirligig”, Brent, the protagonist, must go on a journey to redeem his own failures when he accidentally kills somebody while driving under the the influence of alcohol.  In this journey Brent will try to get past his guilt and depression by building whirligigs, dedicated to the person he killed, to give hope to others.

Brent learns a lot about life through the tragedy that had occurred and through the journey that he takes to make up for his actions.  Throughout the journey he learns the answer to many questions, for example: What motivates us in the face of despair and oppression?  He is informed of the consequences one’s actions can have on others, weather they be good or bad, for example he he meets many faces along the way that give him hope and some that do not.  Also we learn in the book how the whirligigs are affecting other people that simply walk by and see it, and how it makes them think and feel in that situation.  Brent’s journey in the book is definitely more of “moral” journey rather then a physical journey.

In the book and throughout the journey that Brent is taking, he is not only giving hope with the whirligigs that he builds but he is also building up his own self-esteem and getting rid of his depression after he killed that girl in the car crash.  To answer the question, “What motivates us in the face of despair and oppression?”, the answer is simply “hope”.  Though Brent does not realize this right away, he starts to realize that by taking this journey he is giving hope to others and especially to the girl that he killed.  By dedicating the whirligigs to her he is making “her spirit live on”, as quoted by the book.

That is how Brent will find his hope during the journey and also the journey itself will bring hope to the people he meets throughout it and it will bring hope to, most importantly, himself.