Drive to Succeed

Do you think that people who drive themselves out of poverty and into the world to work and try to provide for themselves and their family end up becoming more successful then people who inherit their money and place in the world? In my oppinion people like Frank McCourt who come out of poverty and are able to dream and achieve that dream are more driven to leave poverty because they have that to run from, they work and work because they dont want to return to where they once were. People who have never experienced poverty tend to take things for granted and sometimes chose that they like were they are and there isnt a point to work to better themselves or their familys. Poor people who manage to escape poverty seem to build momentum in their drive. Even Jeanette Walls's family is now doing well in the world because they do not want to go back to the way they once lived. Frank escapes with a dream of America and as we don't know what happens next in Angela's Ashes he seems now to be very, very successful due to his poor chldhood.

u2 song

well, obviously the chorus
"don't let the bastards grind you down" is the most relevant part to the book and this quote i found to be something very meaningful in the way that both in the song and the book it is almost looked over as a let down to something that might be very important, and the fact that it is in a rock song almost demonstrates the low keyness of the quote and how it is something that just anyone would throw around. But to me it seems very powerful and meaningful because of that fact. The song is basically about how everything is fake and you shouldnt believe in what you hear and lean, and of course this ties into the book because everything is propaganda and is just being said to fool the people in Gilead to believe in a false truth. But dont let the bastards grind you down has an eerie feel to it and becomes very powerful in my opinion.

We reflection

"We" has been my least favorite of the novels we have read so far in class. Given the characters were interesting and had definite traits to them, I didnt like any of them at all. I didnt feel a connection to any of the characters or feel bad for any of them. So this book just didnt make me feel at all, so i couldnt become scared or anxious anywhere throughout the novel.

"That's sad," said Montag, quietly,(referring to The Hound) "because all we put into it is hunting and finding and killing. What a shame if that's all it can ever know."

This quote is ironic because the society Montag is living in knows nothing at all, it doesnt know emotion or fear or sadness or hate. So when he says what a shame if thats all it can ever know he isnt thinking about how much of a shame it is that his society is a shame.

Fahrenheit 451 analysis

Looking back on Fahrenheit 451 I see it as one of the most propaganda filled books we have read. Maybe not most propaganda because the Handmaids Tale was full of it but the most successful use of propaganda, since the majority of the people in the society believed the books were truly objects of evil. It seems so irrational though to think that even characters who seemed to be intelligent like Beatty told themselves what to believe in order to fit in with society. Not to avoid the true idea of disorder and chaos but more so to conform. I felt that idea throughout this novel was more prominent then the thought of avoiding chaos like in we or anthem, it was a conformist idea and alot of the citizens in the society felt more strongly about not being an outcast than how they felt about the books.

Handmaids Tale reflection.
My feelings on the handmaids tale are of disbelief and that it would be a society I would want to change in a heartbeat. The way of life becomes so surreal and distant from anything that we would ever even dream of. The roles assigned are something that we cant really comprehend but only get an idea of in the book. This reminds me much of how we feel about the holocaust. We know it was something terrible but we were never there, we never knew the horrors that the camps with held and sadly enough we cant identify with the people who went through it all and in a hundred years it will become something foriegn and the emotional aspect of it will be forgotten and it will be welcomed only as a fact. The historical notes at the end of The Handmaids Tale already suggest this occuring, how it was facts, not feelings or people that went through what Offred did. Already few of us can name any who was a victim of the Holocaust nor can we match a face to it. It amazes me how so many people went throught the reconstruction in The Handmaids Tale and did nothing about it. It was like the past was too far to bring back. Too far to dream of revolution and start a rebellion. They do escape yes but where did they go? Where Offred and Nick a reason the society did not last? Did they go form a resistance then an army and attack and bring things back to the way things are? Well things could never be the same but maybe back to where things could and should be. These things are just questions that arose and struck me throughout the novel. But mostly the fact that in the real world this would just eventually be a small scar on the face of history left an impact.

The Hanmaids Tale analysis.
In important part of The Handmaids Tale is obviously the biblical references that govern Gilead. This in my opinion was a wise thing to create a society ubder because it uses God and the preaching of the bible to support their rules. Anyone who attacks the government of Gilead would clearly be attacking the word of God. The naming of things under the names of things in the Bible has countless purposes. They are mostly used for irony in this novel, such as something like the angels are usually an innocent thing and the angels are the soldiers in the novel. The paper we wrote covered the allusions and common things between the bible and the book but not all of the purpose in creating a society in such a way. Purpose could include propaganda, the thought if it is in the bible it must be good. People turn to religion as an escape and emotional support in tough times, in Gilead religion is the society so when the people of Gilead need help they will possibly turn to their government and the religion that governs them for help. This was an interesting way to start a new country under one religion while today diversity is becoming more and more favorable. This new society is stripped down and almost has a midievil feel to it in the classes and the all powerful religion that shapes everyones lives in more than just a God. It is their lives and the rules that they must follow because it is written in the Bible. There is nothing new to question just the morals of a book thousands of years old, and who would question that? Who would go against one of the most time tested things ever written? Many of these people dont seem to realize how modified Gileads version of the bible is but still the over ruling Bible was an incredible way to begin a new society.

I-330

I-330 is my favorite and probably most interesting character in the novel We. She manipulates like no one else in the novel besides maybe the benefactor himself. She is very remeniscent of a person from today's society, she drinks, smokes and does what she needs to to get what she wants and needs. So in a way she represents society as how it used to b. D-503 is a puppet and represents the current society where everyone is basically nothing and can be made believe in anything. She wears clothes from ancient times and uses them to seduce D-503 much like someone might do today to get what they want.

Anthem Analysis

One thing that I find vital to the power of anthem that is missing in the other utopia novels we have read is the lack of technology. Though modern science such as the hound and the killing machines in We add to the mystery and fear of the novel it seems to get off track from the original focus. Anthem is stripped to the bone giving us a clear look at what life is like, rather then confuse us in a sense. It lets us see the conformitiy of the society and the controll that the council has over the citizens. Equality is the genius in a sea of nobodies and this is a threat so he is given the worst job, they do not want his genius to grow. This reminds me of Harrison Bergeron and how he is the best lookin-most intelligent but he is forced to have things the worst for him. Equality is much like Harrison and the Golden One is much like the ballerina. They rebell and go above the rules of society but unlike Harrison and his ballerina, Equality and the Golden One succeed in escaping into the forest. I think that breaking things down to candles and ancient tools lets us examine the feel of the book more so than if we had intricate technology to study. It lets us see a society in its completeness.

oh no

i did this in the wrong blog.....

The Opera in the Mountains

This story is incredibly fascinating, in a horrifying way. With wars like vietnam, and any situation of extreme terror a certain mystery is felt about the situation, something beyond what humans normally feel and see. The mountan story about the troops who were sent there to record sound and report anything strange gives off this feeling, being far far away from home, in a strange jungle of death, these young men go crazy hearing an opera, and band playing right above them in the mountains. This shows what war does to people, it drives them away from reason and what they think is real and true. It brings them to the edge of the human mind and what it can contain. To me that is what this story conveys, the incredible capacity of fear and stress that the mind can contain.

Baby water buffalo

This scene was shocking, very in fact. It is a metaphor for Rat Kiley and his young self, and the unbelievable pain he is put through. Not just one shot to the head, or something to concentrate on, to heal, his wounds are a mess. The young water buffalo is like Rat because they are young, so many possibilities for a future but it is taken from them by incredible pain. The war has ruined Rat from what he could have been. He is physically, emotionally, and mentally broken. To display this he has to destroy the Buffalo beyond repair. Not just kill him which would have been simple and to the point, Rat's pain is neither of these, his hurt is complex and it will linger for years and years.

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