(Please note this post contains spoilers regarding Nineteen Minutes. Continue reading at your own risk.)
Sometimes a catastrophic calamity brings positive change that absolutely needs to occur. Such a terrible truth rears its ugly head in Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes as a brutal school shooting occurs, planned and orchestrated by Peter Houghton, a relentlessly bullied teenager. As can be expected, before the shooting, jocks and preps plagued and bullied all other groups, but afterward everyone appears to get along, perhaps out of fear or maybe they learned a lesson. For the record, I do not view Peter’s actions as the best or even a remotely good choice, but the end result is certainly preferable to how the social structure stood before.
In a sort of roundabout way, this incident relates to terror organizations, such as Muslim extremists and the rest of the world. For decades they have been setting off car bombs and using suicide bombers to “bully” the rest of the world. Let’s not forget the crippling blow 9/11 dealt us as well. True, this belongs on a completely different scale than the tribulations Peter and others had to experience, but a striking parallelism does exist. Why did people bully Peter? They wanted him to fear them and the action made them feel superior to him. Why do extremists terrorize the rest of the world? Their terrorization produces terror, and they want the world to submit to Muslim ways and practices, thus seeing them as better than our own.
On a final note, going around and killing random extremists will not solve the problem, but only increase it. When one falls they are viewed as a martyr, and people connected to them that are not radical will take up the flag from their fallen brethren, thus becoming radical extremists and adding to the problem. Therefore, the problem cannot be solved as Peter had done, but can only be solved from within the communities in which these people reside.
Showing posts with label thINK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thINK. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
The Dreadful Inspiration
Young lovers can be torn asunder by many means, and one of the more diabolical means appears to be the inspiration behind the poem “Time.” However, unlike what the title may indicate, the blame does not fall to time alone, if at all, but to a far less likely source; “the two shadows towering over your life.” Time, or maybe just these shadows as the text indicates, “slapped you and hit you so hard your skin grew shell-thick sturdy and impenetrable.” As much as I hate to infer this, but these shadows mentioned may actually be the parents of the lover spoken of, and they hold responsibility for hardening this child.
The fact that there are two “shadows” leads me to believe that they are actually the two parents, or perhaps guardians, of this child. Upon considering, not many other things that really have the capacity to do such harm come in pairs. Also, as much as I hate to say it, some parents do beat their children… What a senseless act that ignites such indignation in my heart… But I digress.
Should the part of the poem regarding the hitting and slapping be taken literally, one could easily explain what happened. These shadows, which may be terrible parents, beat their child, and these beatings over time changed the child. His/her “tenderness” was lost, which makes sense considering the very people that should PROTECT and NURTURE their child are doing such harm. However, I must admit that this may not be physical abuse, but mental and emotional. Many people can take physical pain easily, but emotional pain is another story. Psychological attacks often leave deep, yet invisible gashes, which require special means to heal.
Behind this poem, quite possibly lies a story. This story happens to be a tragic tale of love gained and love lost by the betrayal of two people that should never behave in such a way. Two lovers, separated by the mental wall which one puts up over time as a result of repeated beatings by the people that brought him/her into the world… Why must such atrocious acts occur? I cannot even begin to imagine why… And I pray I never will.
The fact that there are two “shadows” leads me to believe that they are actually the two parents, or perhaps guardians, of this child. Upon considering, not many other things that really have the capacity to do such harm come in pairs. Also, as much as I hate to say it, some parents do beat their children… What a senseless act that ignites such indignation in my heart… But I digress.
Should the part of the poem regarding the hitting and slapping be taken literally, one could easily explain what happened. These shadows, which may be terrible parents, beat their child, and these beatings over time changed the child. His/her “tenderness” was lost, which makes sense considering the very people that should PROTECT and NURTURE their child are doing such harm. However, I must admit that this may not be physical abuse, but mental and emotional. Many people can take physical pain easily, but emotional pain is another story. Psychological attacks often leave deep, yet invisible gashes, which require special means to heal.
Behind this poem, quite possibly lies a story. This story happens to be a tragic tale of love gained and love lost by the betrayal of two people that should never behave in such a way. Two lovers, separated by the mental wall which one puts up over time as a result of repeated beatings by the people that brought him/her into the world… Why must such atrocious acts occur? I cannot even begin to imagine why… And I pray I never will.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Oh the Belying Majesty
(Please note that the photograph linked to is not the photograph I am speaking of. The correct one is the one of a volcanic eruption which is four pictures to the right in this gallery. I apologize for this inconvenience, but I find it impossible to link to that specific picture so please bear with me.)
During my rifling through of National Geographic's "Visions of Earth," I stumbled upon the most stunning and attention grabbing photograph I have ever laid my eyes upon. At first glance, I immediately thought that this picture had to be faked, for the photo seemed too beautiful, too captivating, and too perfect. However, upon looking for a few more seconds, I realized that the picture was not a fake at all, but simply naturally insanely beautiful, and upon further thought, I realized this event could potentially be very destructive.
When gazing at this image, I cannot help but to think of this as occurring on some other planet, or perhaps in some movie. The lightning streaking from the volcanic dust cloud illuminates the landscape and that half of the dust cloud itself, yet the sky is dark in the background. On the other side, red streaks of perhaps magma or burning materials can be seen throughout the cloud, yet they too resemble lightning. Having never seen “red lightning” I could not help but think, “Huh, what movie is this from?” The answer is the Icelandic Eyjafjallajökull volcano scene from reality.
Looking about four-tenths of the way up the right side of the dust cloud, two eerie red slits can be noted. To me, these slits resemble the eyes of a serpent, or perhaps a dragon, and cannot help but remind me that this piece, however spellbinding, remains a destructive volcanic eruption. This very eruption stopped so many flights in Europe last April and thus caused quite a bit of frustration and anger from the would-be fliers those days. Even worse, this cloud dropped much debris on surrounding farmlands, making agriculture from farming to ranching next to impossible. Perhaps some people even died if this eruption, which would top the list of this volcano’s worst effects.
This somewhat fake looking photo demonstrates a certain wisdom through nature itself. The eruption’s sheer majesty, coupled with same eruption’s destructive potential seems to show that even beautiful objects and events in this world can potentially have terrible consequences. Some minor in comparison to others and others major, but none quite as severe as loss of life, which unfortunately easily can be realized by such a volcanic eruption.
During my rifling through of National Geographic's "Visions of Earth," I stumbled upon the most stunning and attention grabbing photograph I have ever laid my eyes upon. At first glance, I immediately thought that this picture had to be faked, for the photo seemed too beautiful, too captivating, and too perfect. However, upon looking for a few more seconds, I realized that the picture was not a fake at all, but simply naturally insanely beautiful, and upon further thought, I realized this event could potentially be very destructive.
When gazing at this image, I cannot help but to think of this as occurring on some other planet, or perhaps in some movie. The lightning streaking from the volcanic dust cloud illuminates the landscape and that half of the dust cloud itself, yet the sky is dark in the background. On the other side, red streaks of perhaps magma or burning materials can be seen throughout the cloud, yet they too resemble lightning. Having never seen “red lightning” I could not help but think, “Huh, what movie is this from?” The answer is the Icelandic Eyjafjallajökull volcano scene from reality.
Looking about four-tenths of the way up the right side of the dust cloud, two eerie red slits can be noted. To me, these slits resemble the eyes of a serpent, or perhaps a dragon, and cannot help but remind me that this piece, however spellbinding, remains a destructive volcanic eruption. This very eruption stopped so many flights in Europe last April and thus caused quite a bit of frustration and anger from the would-be fliers those days. Even worse, this cloud dropped much debris on surrounding farmlands, making agriculture from farming to ranching next to impossible. Perhaps some people even died if this eruption, which would top the list of this volcano’s worst effects.
This somewhat fake looking photo demonstrates a certain wisdom through nature itself. The eruption’s sheer majesty, coupled with same eruption’s destructive potential seems to show that even beautiful objects and events in this world can potentially have terrible consequences. Some minor in comparison to others and others major, but none quite as severe as loss of life, which unfortunately easily can be realized by such a volcanic eruption.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Regarding the Power of the Rich
In Mark Twain’s “The £1,000,000 Bank Note,” a man by the name of Henry Adams finds himself stranded in London with literally no money to his name. However, by a stroke of luck two eccentric millionaires happen to be bickering about the possibility of a million-dollar bank-note being of any worth. These millionaires decide to give the note to a stranger that appears to be “honest and intelligent…and with no money” and see if he can survive a month in London without starving or being thrown in jail. Henry happens to be this fortunate gentleman. Naturally this saves and changes his life forever. But there seems to be a deeper level to this tale then just the surface plot. This act of giving a stranger one-million dollars which evokes a great change in the man’s life illuminates the power of the rich to do good or evil to less monetarily endowed individuals.
Soon after receiving the note, Henry began using it to his full advantage; first to buy clothes, then food, and so on until he was nearly infamous for his use of the note. Millionaires today sometimes attempt to help others through charity, but may not produce such a drastic change. However, their donations surely accomplish something.
On the other hand, the rich also have the same power not to change people’s lives, and therefore leave them in harm’s way. The fact that these eccentrics used this man to resolve a mere argument must be remembered at all times. Just as easily this could have been another man or perhaps even no man at all, and if either of these were the case I fear that the story would have ended with Henry’s death as opposed to his promised grand life.
Aside from telling an entertaining tale of a man with the power to obtain virtually anything he desired, this story portrays the rich as beings with the power to severely alter the paths of less rich people. That, I’m both glad and sorry to say, is true.
Soon after receiving the note, Henry began using it to his full advantage; first to buy clothes, then food, and so on until he was nearly infamous for his use of the note. Millionaires today sometimes attempt to help others through charity, but may not produce such a drastic change. However, their donations surely accomplish something.
On the other hand, the rich also have the same power not to change people’s lives, and therefore leave them in harm’s way. The fact that these eccentrics used this man to resolve a mere argument must be remembered at all times. Just as easily this could have been another man or perhaps even no man at all, and if either of these were the case I fear that the story would have ended with Henry’s death as opposed to his promised grand life.
Aside from telling an entertaining tale of a man with the power to obtain virtually anything he desired, this story portrays the rich as beings with the power to severely alter the paths of less rich people. That, I’m both glad and sorry to say, is true.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
