Two of the Same

In what ways does Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress relate to this passage from Pere Goriot?

Honore Balzac, much like Dai Sijie, layers the doom, gloom, and never-ending entrapment, thick; the language in both stories really convey the trapped feeling; "old age declining into death, bright youth pressed into drudgery"(Balzac) and "he didn't possess a single skill that might help him to become one of the three in a thousand. He couldn't even dream of it" (Sijie 18). Reading the book, at parts I started to feel claustrophobic myself. The feeling of being stuck in a position that is as dreadful as the one the protagonist has to live in, and not being able to get away, is not bad, it is depressing. The feeling is enough to make anyone go mad. In the Little Chinese Seamstress, Luo and the narrator have seen the outside; they know how good life can really be outside of "Phoenix in the Sky." Much like the first generation of slaves to America, the "city youths" feel the depression and enslavement more potently because they have known freedom, making living on "Phoenix in the Sky" much harder to cope with. When there seems to be something that will ease the pain, it turns out to be a disappointment; "suffering is always real and joy very often false"(Balzac). And if there is something to help, it is shrouded in resentment; "'So, are you weeping tears of joy?' I said. 'No. All I feel is loathing.' 'Me too. Loathing for everyone who kept these books from us'" (Sijie 99). Nothing can be taken as just joy or good without it being tinted by sadness or evil. Another way Balzac and Sijie compare in the way they portray the feeling of being stuck is through metaphor of the setting. The "valley of ever-peeeling plaster and muddy black gutters" (Balzac), gives a sense of never changing, never evolving, never getting better surroundings. Through setting, Balzac makes us feel and know the hopelessness of the valley. The cave in Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is a different metaphor conveying the same thing; "I'm going to die in this mine" (Sijie 30). The Little Chinese Seamstress and Pere Goriot are two different settings with the same feeling behind them. But there are more differences between the two stories then the setting. In Pere Goriot, it is "difficult to imagine any castastrophe producing more than a momentary sensation there" (Balzac) but that is exactly what happens in The Little Chinese Seamstress; "she had learnt one thing from Balzac: that a woman's beauty is a treasure beyond price" (Balzac 184). The "catastrophe" was the imagination the books opened in the girl and the "sensation" was so uplifting that she got out of the trap.

Evil

I do not think that people are born evil. And i am not saying that because i have some optomistic transcendentalist view of the world, I simple don't think anyone is born anything. I believe personality is purely based on past experience. Anyone that is evil is that way because of the way they were raised and what they experienced. And yes, there are people that are evil, Anyone that argues that people like my mom are just "doing bad things but they are good people" are full of themselves ( i was joking about my mom, i just couldn't think of anyone that wasn't cliche on the spot so i used the typical teen response). One might argue that if evil is only based on past experience then why don't two people that have the same experience, like child abuse or something, both commit an evil action? The answer is that the one that didn't most likely had other past experiences that taught them not to commit the action. So evil is based on the whole life experience, the whole combination of experiences if you will. I believe everyone is partially evil just like everyone has been exposed to some negative experiences. Of course some are more than others but like the saying goes, everyone has their dirty laundry.

Othello

In Shakespeare’s play, Othello, every character is noble in their own way. Either their loyalty or their love shows how each character is the perfect candidate for a good fate. But ironically and tragically, it also shows how each character is the candidate for a terrible fate. The tragedy that the irony defines, for each character, is then beautifully woven together into the overarching Tragic vision. The Tragic Vision manifests itself through the irony of the good characteristics of the characters becoming their eventual downfall.
Society regards loyalty as one of the most important characteristics someone can exemplify. Loyalty is represented in several ways in Othello: husband-wife loyalty, master-servant loyalty, and friend-friend loyalty. Through all these types of loyalty, Othello is connected to the characters of the play. For example, Michael Cassio not only is loyal to Othello as a servant, but also as a friend; “Othello- …[Cassio] went between us very oft” (Othello Act 3 scene 1). While this loyalty made Cassio the noble character he is, it also partially led him to be struck down by the “divine lightning.” The irony of the one trait that makes one a noble person also being the trait that singles one out as a casualty, is the distinguishing factor between a tragedy and just a sad incident.
Desdemona’s loyalty to Othello is derived from her love of the moor. Her love glues her to Othello. Even in the face of death, Desdemona’s love of Othello only grows; “Desdemona- Nobody; I myself. Farewell/ Commend me to my kind lord: O, farewell” (Othello Act 5 Scene 2). Love, arguably the most powerful feeling, also drove Emilia to do the right thing, which ironically and tragically killed her. “Emilia- that handkerchief thou speak’st of/ I found by fortune and did give my husband” (Othello Act 5 Scene 2).
Both of the women’s loves and the loyalty Cassio felt for Othello and Desdemona were their noble traits and their downfalls and thus gave the situation tragedy, but the tragic vision is the accumulation of the tragedies all tied together in a web. Just as Iago foreshadowed, “Iago- out of her goodness make the net/ That shall enmesh them all” (Othello Act 2 Scene 3), the best of people ensnares them in the trap of tragedy.

What is Love?

This is a good question. I don't know. I guess that is why love is so complex because no one knows what exactly it is. People have their opinions about what love is but like the all definitions there are exceptions and differences from person to person. Also Love is arguably the most dominant feeling humans are capable of. So of course it will be complicated to explain. MASTER FEELING. in control of everything! I guess that if you were to give definition to love you would have to do it through examples. like love for family. then love for friends. then love for belongings. then love for things. but this is still supper vague and there are plenty of exceptions like what about people that have pets and love them more than their children (my great aunt). Then are those pets considered family or belongings? who knows. but at the same time there are different cultural definitions of love. like for example when i went to Libya i found that they had a much stronger connection with their family than we have here. Also there they are much more dependent on their neighbors. in America i know plenty of people that don't even know the names of their neighbors much less have any love for them. so from culture to culture and from person to person love is different. so how can one give any definition of love except for their definition. Damn THAT IS WHY LOVE IS SO COMPLICATED.

How am I Suppossed to Refelct on Coming-to-Age When I am Coming-to-Age?

I can say what i believe coming to age means, but i probably am wrong. All i can give is what others tell me it is. I am expecting their experience but i know i probably won't go through it. but i might. I feel that going though teenage years is like driving through the city with out knowing where my destination is, but i do have some directions, but the directions are for another city so they don't match up right. I might run a few red light in my hurry or i might take a few wrong turns, but how am i supposed to know if they were the wrong things to do until the end? It is fate and because of human nature, we try to shape our fate. I don't know what i am supposed to do. Mabey i sould go on my hero's journey like milkman. but then i wonder if that is a egotistical view of myself, thinking i am the hero. mabey i am only the side kick, like a petroclis. but naturally i wan't to reject that idea. I would like to say that this renounceing of lack-of-meaning in one's life is a common feeling throughout all people, but is it possible that some people don't believe that they are the protagonist of the story? regaurdless i feel as if i am approching my coming to age moment, but like the last kid to get picked for teams on the playground i am nervouse that it might never happen. then i wonder if i have already had my moment but it wasn't all that it has been promised to be, like a super-hyped up movie that once you watch it really wasn't all that brilliant (Napolean Dynomite anyone). all in all there is nothing i can do about it.

Family Dinner

I am fortunate for my family dinner every night. No matter how many soccer practices, PTA meetings, or phone calls we have, we always have at least 5 family dinners a week. I love them. I am one of those kids that loves a home cooked meal. Don't get me wrong thought i can kill some hot wings from "Sensational subs" but if i don't get my healthy home food i really can't function well. My stomach gets to rumbling and tumbling. Also as a busy family we need the 30 min a night to bond. I personally make it my agenda during those dinners to pick the occasional fight with my baby sister. My favorite topic to bring up is boyfriends, and what they might do if i "paid them a visit" of course this leads to arguments and eventually i am sent to my room. That is fine by me though, looks like my sister is stuck with the dishes again. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Nothing absolutly nothing... you happy now

Sike. I don't really know... wait i take that back. I do know. I just find it hard to put to words. I learned about not getting a straight forward answer, only question after question like some god awful circle-of-life nightmare (this is why i am a math and history guy just facts and answers). But i kind of already knew about about not getting answers and only questions before. This was more of a practice. like haveing run a couple times and then being trust into a 5k race, you know about running and 5k races you have run before but all of a sudden it is "for real."
I learned that you had the write answer if you said some insightful question as the answer, but the question might seem insightful to me but then sounds stupid when said outloud. It was almost as if the answer you gave was more baced on fate and luck then accual merit, meaning that any question could be torn apart and made foolish or exhalted and worshiped depending on it's fate.
Yeah i might have learned but all that i have learned is not reproduceable. I feel that this is like drawing two silvers, i got stuff from it but it doesn't help me at all. Or mabey it does... can i get 2 exta points for this?

Nothing absolutly nothing... you happy now

uuuuuuugh.... why you making me choose

The romantasized option would be to say freewill. It gives me images of a lone ranger walking off in the horizen towards endless adventurs (much like the cheesy Harley clip our teacher showed us). I know better though, (or i think i do (but if i am doubting does that cancel my knowlege out)) I don't have supreme free will. Or even any free will at that. My teacher was speaking in class about a philosopher whose theory is that fate is not necesarily based on a superior being but by one's genetics, experiences, and environment. This envoked deep thought in myself. I have had similar theories but have never summerized them in such a way. It was as if i was in a car ride up a mountain and all of a sudden my ears popped with out me knowing they were not clear allready. The knowlege hit me and i was cleared. I believe in FATE. but not fate set by a higher being because if the being was so high why would it bother itself with petty things such as the fate of me. If i was a higher being i would just loose myself in pure bliss and never bother myself with work. Fate is set by our experiences, genetics, and environment. I have spent quit a while now trying to think of exceptions to this and i can't. I would like to think when i make choises it is myself that is choosing the choice but it isn't it is the previous experiences that i have remembered that form my decision. And even if i choose at random it is the pressure from the anti-conformity side that brings me to this decision. But i get the anti-conformity idea from my peers or things i have seen or because i want to imitate others (aka the environment/experiences). I have no freewill and those who say they do are fools.

Live for the moment.

There is no question about it. i would live now die in a couple, and be DA MAN. why do you think i would want to live forever and never be known, never be a somebody. I would hate to think of myself as a statistic or my life to be meaningless. I know it might sound conceded but i believe i have an inept feeling of being the center of the world. and i don't mean i am the only one that matters, but i know i am not just a pawn.
another thing is what in this world that is happening now makes you want to believe that this world is going to be a place you would want to be living in for another 70 years. The way its going i might be living in a war torn desolate hell hole for my 70 long years to come. in my opinion the world and culture and climate and politics is on a steady downward spiral and i don't really know if i would be willing to bet my most precious possession on it being around long enough to live the long and slow life.
Ont the other hand if i was to die young rich happy and incredibly famous, i wouldn't have to worry about the world to come. i wouldn't have to work to end up ok. i would pack my life in a moment and blow up in a fiery show of excellence. I couldn't even begin to think of having nothing to live for besides a decent retirement and a nice old people's home with porridge. Like the popular phrase, Go Big Or Go Home.

Two Words: Power Rangers

For me power rangers encompassed my childhood. From the time i climed stone mountain to the time I cracked my head open, I always used to ware my red ranger suit. The red ranger was the leader, the strongest, the bravest, and not to mention BOSSY. All suits i gladly portrayed myself to be at an early age. I loved the way they worked together as a team, much like my friends and I did when we were together. The Power Rangers were the Heroes of my generation. Everyone could relate to atleast on of the Power Rangers, which helped to make the game more enjoyable. And despite the usual fights over the postition of the Red and Pick Ranger, the game of pertending to be the Power Rangers always was fun.

Us against them

Our society is soley baced on comparesions. Who are you compared to the Smiths? What is better coke or pepsi? Who has the fancier car? Who has better grades?Nothing is just it's self. We can't begin to comprehend not being "able to look at someone else and know how far along on his journey he is." We need to know because we then know how we are in comparison. We need it straight and to the point. No wishy wash. We don't want confusion. As a country that strives to greatness, we want to move towardes the future, fast. We need answers so we can move on, not more confusion and questions which only keep us in a never ending circle. We want a beginning and an end. As a society we are linear. In Siddhartha's society, everything is a circle. Everything is part of everything else. there is no end and begining, no black and white, no Brahman and diceplayer.

What McDonalds Means to Me.

The Golden Archs symbolize the collosle machine known as McDonalds. If you go anywhere, even most thirdworld countries, and ask the people what the Arches mean, they will know. A study was conducted in the movie Supersize Me that showed that children below the age of five knew the McDonalds symbol even better than they knew what Jesus looked like. Those arches are every where. It is no longer just on a sign high above the trees at every exit on a road trip, but also in our home, our tv, our school. I choose this icon because a friend pointed it out to me and ever since then i have been seeing it everywhere. I saw it in my house on a cup we were using at the dinner table. I saw it on a girls whatch. I even saw it on the six o'clock news (not a comercial but on the screen). For many those icons mean a quick, easy, tasty meal. But under it all, arches stand for safety, support, strength, and importance. These values might not be the first thing you think of about McDonalds, but they are there subtly.

Today in class a special quote caught my attention in the story "Parker's Back." At first I passed it up and never gave it a second thought. When we read it in class and i thought about it I was cought in thought and spaced out for several minutes. My mind raced with the possibilities and the chances and hundreds of questions raced through my head like planes leaving a busy airport, flying all in different places and each carying passangers that leave for another trip once they reach their destination, many times landing in intersecting paths with others. This created a wed of thought that soon lost me so deep that I came back to reality in a daze. The question that sent me into this state was; "It was as if a blind boy had been turned so gently in a different direction that he did not know his destination had been changed." These are the questions that I loose myself in and I find to be thought changing. I live for the feeling of becoming lost in the infinate possibilities of paths and choises. Questions, like the ones this quote arises, can't be answered or written. The thought process can't be put to paper or even words. Every time I read a qoute or see something that provokes this kind of thought sea, I feel like a horse that has been cramped in a stable is set free to gallop endlessly on a beach. But reluctantly I come back to reality, I do have class.