April Blog Post

So it looks like ive skipped a few months. I probably ran out of things to say or waited too long and decided it was too late to get away with posting something. But maybe I make up for that somehow because I write a lot. So I dont know if is the last blog of the year but I think weve read all the books we're ever going to so from what we've read so far I have to say ive noticed an overwhelming trend; overly depressing novels. So in the Power of one, everyone important to peekay dies, everyone dies in Hamlet, everyone dies in Wuthering heights. Okonkwo, Dorian and Edna kill themselves. The characters in the Tell Tale Heart and the Yellow Wall Paper are mentally insane, notice a trend here. I suppose this kind of theme makes for a good interesting story and all but its all been pretty heavy stuff. And I cant say this situation is too different from real life either. All the big news industries have figured it out already a long time ago, everyone wants to know whats going wrong with the world. Every once in a while they throw in a somewhat nice story but really the news is mostly about whats going wrong with politics, whats going wrong with other countries, whats going wrong because of "global warming" and I parenthesize global warming because people still haven't made up their mind about that from what it sounds like. Everything is going wrong and someone thought it was a good idea to put it all in thirty minute blocks, advertised by strait faced reporters with snazzy outfits. My point is more like a question, why are these novels put on the list as some of the greatest in the history of literature. Everyone loves Wuthering Heights but I thought it was a pretty miserable story and all. I suppose it must be considered to be so great because it can get a response like that from the reader, but I think they're could have been some "lighter" novels thrown into the mix. They say, "if it bleeds it leads" bad news catches peoples attention. Stories of pain and suffering are things that people relate to and it brings out sympathy. So people are drawn to sad stories, its a fact of life. I always thought it would be a good idea to have a news station or paper or something just for good stories. Just simple random things people write in about that happened to them, but thats really off topic. So despite all that I really did enjoy the selection of books for the most part. The movie version of Wuthering Heights seriously made me cry though. My favorite books were probably the Fountainhead and the Power of One, I just thought they had the best stories and the best characters. Everything that we read had really great stories though even though they were still slightly on the depressing side, but you really end up feeling for the characters and that what makes the stories masterpieces in my opinion.

January Blog Post

For some reason, my entries get progressively longer with each month, and while right now I cant imagine how much I possible had to say about Beowulf, I'm far too uninterested to actually go back and read it. On that note I do remember complaining that we couldn't pick what we were allowed to write and reading packets containing the countless comments and opinions of experts was downright boring. I at first had no idea what I could possible write about for this entry.
But really, every group of books has something in common so its only natural that there is a common theme between what we have been reading. The most prominent similarity has to be of course the treatment of women throughout history and in different countries. Its no surprise that women in the middle east are treated as second class citizens. Its something we as students of course have known about for a while and the most one could say is well "its terrible the way people are treated like property, some societies are just primitive." However, with a thousand splendid suns, we actually got to step inside the lives of these women in a way that no mere t.v documentary can allow. Its strange how when you don't fully understand things you cast them aside as being unimportant. Books like these really open your eyes to the way things really are, and I have to say well, it was depressing to say the least. I'm truly not a fan of depressing stories and books are worse than movies because it takes longer to read depressing books than it takes to watch a sad movie. But my point is, reading something like a thousand splendid suns, it gives more of a face to a problem the world is facing. The trials of Mariam and Laila really hit home because although we cant necessarily identify with their situation, we can identify with their fear and uncertainty. The feeling of abandonment that Mariam deals with is something everyone can identfiy with. For some reason, every time we hear about a car bombing or a hijacking in a middle eastern country, we don't fully understand the ramifications of it. Its only a simple headline in an American newspaper but its affected so many lives, already made difficult by poverty and crime. I have read many books documenting the lives of people all over the world, but not once have I read one that shows a viewpoint of Americas "biggest enemy." Its really eye opening and if anything the reader has a better idea of how women actually suffer. Few people took into consideration the lives of African American slaves before the 1900s and imprisonment was acceptable because it was "in the bible." America is guilty of the same crime to an extent, but we have openly admitted this and avidly asserted equal rights since. Africans were treated as property in a similar sense as women are in some countries. I have read documentaries about slave life and it gives a similar understanding as this book does. Not saying that a civil war will free women of hundreds of years of mistreatment, but a thousand splendid suns only makes the suffering of women all the more clear and identifiable to the average person, and sheds a whole new light on my perception of the middle east.

December Blog Post

King Darius of ancient Persia, may have been centuries ahead of his time in his observation of the treatment of the dead in different countries. The idea of learning to learn about and tolerate other cultures in the world is a concept that many races have discovered only quite recently. While reading the article I was surprised at how one person had collected my thoughts exactly and constructed them into an essay. Some may call my views liberal, I call them tolerant and accepting. It is exactly what the article describes, cultural relativism, while easier to read than to say aloud, is simply the observation of practices of different countries. There is a difference between acceptance and tolerance, and being aware of that difference is what the rules of cultural relativism spell out. The article also argues the nature of morality. Its concept dates back to biblical times but to be completely serious about cultural relativism, one must remain completely neutral. One must accept the fact that every custom of every country is on equal standing and importance to our own. It is something I have thought of in the past, to look on both sides of the situation before making a decision, and knowing me, I could find an excuse for the people who drove a plane into the twin towers, or bombed Pearl Harbor. I suppose that is the true nature of Cultural Relativism, to look beyond our original, predetermined observation and find a reason for everyone everywhere. The fact that the Eskimos kill their young at times because they can not care for them, is similar to the reason that we have two less skyscrapers in New York. So its their culture, we have to accept it? I think that statement is a bit extreme but that would be a strict interpretation of cultural relativism in a way. I believe its concept is one to live by; wars would be avoided, as well as crime and poverty. The belief that all the people in the world have something in common, something to be respected, is one that should be truly thought about. We are all human. We need water, food, warmth and love, one would think that that is enough to bind us as one. In times of crisis though, it is found that we unite. I think that the key ideas behind cultural relativism(I still have to look back at the paper every time I spell that) are ones found in every religion, in all of there "bibles." We as "sophisticated Americans" should keep an open mind in dealing with a world that runs on the dollar, and although cultural relativism should be more loosely interpreted, it should be considered, as it is taught in churches, mosques, synagogues, and temples around the world in its own form.