The 21st Annual Report Competition
For Secondary School Students
Student: Jacqueline Lam Ka Po
Class: 4C
Title: King Kong
Author: Christopher Golden
Publisher: Pocket Books
When finding herself out of a job in New York, Ann Darrow happened to meet Carl Denham ( a filmmaker pursuing by his creditors) and, accepted the offering of being a lead actress in his next film. Ann instantly fell in love with a famed playwright, Jack Driscoll on the ship heading for an undiscovered world, Skull Island. There, Ann was kidnapped by the degenerate natives as a ritual sacrifice to there terrifying god-creature called Kong, a twenty-five foot gorilla. Instead of killing Ann, however, Kong kept her as a company. Gradually, they built up a bond between each other. Meanwhile, Jack, Carl and a group of sailors from the ship set off a long, dreadful journey to look for Ann.
In the end Kong was captured by Carl and carried to New York for making money. As Kong couldn’t see Ann, he became furious and devastated the New York until finding her. Four planes driven by the police killed Kong eventually.
After finishing the book, I was quite sad and felt sorry for Kong. Actually he did not have to die. I think Carl is bound to be responsible for Kong’s death. Animals and humans should live in different world.
Actually, there are many impressive scenes in the book, but the most unforgettable one took place after Ann succeeded in getting rid of Kong and was looking for Jack. Unfortunately she came across a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Just as she thought she might die, Kong suddenly sprang up, fought against three dinosaurs two of which shown up soon afterwards, and save Ann with his strong bear arms. Although Ann had left Kong alone, Kong still cared for her. When Ann was in danger, he protected her regardless of his own life. The sacrificial spirit for a loved one in Kong really touched me deeply. I wonder how many Kongs there are in our human society.
The book shows different decision making when people facing different plights. After so many sailors were killed by the attacks of dinosaurs, Hunter-lizard, giant bats and other monstrous creatures while looking for Ann, the surviving sailors wanted to assume that Ann had died in the forest and went away. Jack, however, insisted on going on the search though he didn’t know whether Ann had died or not. At last, Jack found Ann.
“I didn’t think you would come back for me,” Ann said gratefully.
Jack hesitated a moment before replying. “Neither did I.”
I think it is the power of love that gives Jack the strength to carry on.
If I were Jack, I would make the same decision too. What if Ann is still alive? She must be so frightened and so desperate for my saving her. If I just left that terrible island along with the other sailors, I would definitely die of regret for the rest of my life. Even just a beast, Kong could have such a sacrificial spirit for a loved one, why not me, a human?
The story also reveals the social problems nowadays, such as the huge gap between the rich and the poor, and satirizes the ignorance of high-class society. More importantly, it inspires the readers to ponder on the moral problems when people treating the animals.
Humans always consider themselves as the king of the world; have the right to dominate the animals’ life and death. In fact, Kong is not the only animal that died in tragedy caused by humans. Every year, there are many whales and leopards killed by us. Recently, it was reported that even many cats and dogs are killed by Mainland people for their fur or abused by their cruel owners. I genuinely hope the government can make an effort to protect the animals, and hope people could show more love for them.
“It was the beauty killed the beast,” the last sentence of the story reads. And I would like to say that, “ The beast died of love.”
Indeed, I thoroughly enjoyed reading King Kong and strongly recommend it. This is a moving as well as meaningful book I have ever read. Although the ending of the story is quite sad, it is the best to express the message of the story. In fact, every character in the book has a strong personality. I believe we can learn a lot from them.
Total no. of words: 754