One of the first examples of this theme in which the book portrays is the dilemma of Winston Allcot of Second Crescent Drive. Today is his wedding day. He is marrying a beautiful girl and starting a new chapter in life. This should be cause for rejoicing and celebration. To many it seems that Winston is very happy at his wedding reception, but to those willing to look deeper, his happiness is only skin deep. The problem is that Winston Allcot is a homosexual and he is in love with his best friend David. While

it may be a sin to be a homosexual, in the church's eyes, it is also a sin to go against the will of God. Thou shall not kill is a direct commandment from God, but one must also follow the will of God. Recall the story of Abraham, when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his own son. Abraham knew this was wrong and did not want to kill his son, but knowing he must, because it was God's decision, he was prepared to do it. At the last second God told Abraham not to sacrifice his son, for this was a test of loyalty. God has a destiny for all of us, and Winston chose to defy this destiny. He sold his happiness and his own salvation for the protection of his upstanding reputation and a house on the sixth crescent of Tupelo Drive. This seems like a measly reward for eternal happiness in life and the after life. Instead of letting God govern his life, Winston used money and the Linden Hills idea of conformity to make all of his decisions, so he could advance in this life. This is similar to the Epicureans, who are seen in the sixth level of hell in Dante's Inferno, they are damned to hell because they were freethinkers who esteemed nothing higher than comfort in this life, and therefore denied the immortality of the soul. All Winston cared about was advancement in this life and was uncomfortable with people thinking dishonorably about him. Therefore he is denied true happiness and the immortality of the soul because true happiness is serving God.

e Emperor Frederick II, in Dante's Inferno. He is accused of treason and rather than fight the charges and proclaim his innocence he kills himself for fear of his reputation being smeared. Here he clearly is going against God's will. Instead of letting God decide when his time on this earth has expired, Pier puts his reputation above ban against suicide. It is ironic that Laurel commits suicide by doing one of the things she loves most swimming but never had much time to do. This is important because it illustrates the idea that Laurel gave up her dreams of being a synchronized swimmer for the lucrative careers in corporate America. She had an Olympic size swimming pool constructed in her backyard. To the contrary, she barley ever used it because she worked a great number of hours a week and took

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1514
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)