Breaking Night

“Breaking Night” by Elizabeth (Liz) Murray is an autobiography of her life. Murray was born poor, her parents both did drugs and had neither time nor energy to take care after Liz and her sister. Murray never liked school until she felt that she had to change her life. However, after years of hard work, she even managed to get a New York Times scholarship and graduated from Harvard.

One day when Liz was in high school, she was about to go to a friend’s house and she didn't want go empty handed so she decided to go to a grocery store to steal some cheese and chicken. She was about to stuff the goods in her bag when she caught sight of the manager of the store. He was sweating and trying to make the system work better. She had a bit of money that she saved up from a summer job. Seeing the manager, she felt guilty and bought the products instead.

Liz Murray felt that it was not right to steal. Although she was homeless, she wanted to be a good person and someone different in a better way. She wanted honor and by not stealing she got her honor. She changed her entire life. She wanted to be respected and trusted by everyone. In the movie “Les Misérables” a peasant named Jean Valjean was caught stealing silver from a priest who insisted that he gave the silver to the Valjean. Valjean learns from this and becomes an honest man and he became the mayor of a small French town. Elizabeth Murray in a way, is more heroic that Jean Valjean because she understood why it was bad to steal herself. She understood that honesty can change her life and it did just that.

Murray could relate with the manager and knew how hard it was for him to keep the business running. The manager’s boss would have probably blamed the manager for the stolen goods. He would blame the manager for being lazy and not keeping watch. The manager could then get fired. The prices of the stolen goods would rise and the customers would need to spend more money on food. The customers may go somewhere else to shop and the grocery store would have to close. Then it will be harder for the residents that live around the area to buy groceries. Elizabeth Murray understood all the consequences of her actions. If Murray did not steal, everyone would trust each other more. The manager would trust the customers and the customers would trust each other. By refusing to steal, Liz Murray had made a better community and an example to others.