Jackie Robinson— first ever Black baseball player in the previously all- white major leagues, 6 time MLB winner and possibly best player of all time. He struggled to even get into the league which was the place he belonged just because of the color of his skin. Even though he was a master. And he knew it. He reminds me of Aventurine who is the protagonist in The Dragon With A Chocolate Heart by Stephane Burgis. The both have a passion that they will follow to the very end and search every last option before giving up. Even if it is hard. In The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephing Burgis, the main character Adventuring follows her passion to the very end and searches for every last option before giving up.
​When Aventurine is turned into a human she feels weak, hopeless and just wants to give up, but then she remembers chocolate which gives her courage. And here is why I say this: In the very beginning of the book when she just runs away from Greta who is kind of the antagonist and everything blurs around her and she feels too small and useless with all the bustle and no space. She even thinks about running away to a different city. Then 2 chocolate houses say no to her apprenticeship which she barely knows anything about. She just wants to hide and be small. This is kind of the theme for the next couple pages. Then she remembers what gave her trouble yet at the same time gave her joy, what gave her bravery even when she was not a dragon, what she got her passion from: chocolate. So she searches for the third hole in the wall, misshapen chocolate house, and by doing this she finds silke and gets and appreciates hip and she finally finds her meaning as a human which shapes out the rest of the book.
She tries her hardest to succeed at her new life and even lets go of some very important things that make her a dragon. And here is why I also say this: After she gets her apprenticeship at the chocolate heart Maria makes her sleep on a floor, follow strange rules, and most important of all not wear her dress which is the only physical thing that connects her to her dragon like self. She knows that to help her experience as a human she must let go of some of the things that make her a dragon. Especially having to keep her cool around people who are in a position of power. One time she even leaves her dragon dress behind!
She knows that internally she will always be a dragon, but to be a human she will have to be different externally.
Her persistence of never giving up on the thing she loves drives her to the very end, and that mindset she carries with her makes her whole human experience better. I say this because: Over the course of the book Aventurine changes her perspective of how she looks at the humane society. At first she looked at them as tasty meat bags to civilized evolved creatures that truly have meaning. Since she loves chocolate so much she thinks in a different loving way about chocolate that subconsciously puts herself in a mindset that brings her to succeed as a human and enjoy the experience more. She takes multiple life lessons away but remembers to follow her passion to the very end. And passion is something all creatures need, even dragons! And by doing all this and following her passion to the very end she is mentally evolving in any form she takes.
In conclusion, I think that The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart was a story worth writing about. And Aventurine decides to just let chocolate lead the way when she is in a moment of trouble. I say this because she is appalled when she has to suddenly adapt to her new human life; and then on top of all that she has to make some immediate changes on her appearance. But she always carries the right mindset and lets chocolate guide the way. But one last thing I want you to take away from this is that when you have a wall that stops you from getting to the thing you love. Climb the wall, even if it means getting a couple scrapes and bruises along the way.
Hope you enjoyed the essay!