I read The Picture of Dorian Grey towards the start of the quarter. This quote still means a great deal, because it shows that when something is defined, it confines it. Definitions cause stereotypes, which causes expectations. That's why without defintions, people can do what they want and aren't held to a standard. In my picture, the two hands are attempting to shape the human head, which symbolizing defining someone. The blood shows the pain that is caused.
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It wasn’t very clear, but I saw his body. His still, lifeless, pale, body. My mouth felt dry and dehydrated, even though it was just a dream.
I woke up to a thirst that had to be quenched. The cold water flowed down my throat reassured me that I was awake as I pondered what I just saw. The scenes were still vivid as an awful feeling was felt in my gut. The ringing of the phone on the table interrupted a session of concern. As my grandmother Jose picked up the phone, the anxiety residing inside me greatly increased. Her face revealed everything that was being discussed on the phone. The concern, the frightened countenance, spoke to me. “Its Fernando,” she whispered. “We need to go to the hospital.” My mother, Juan, overheard everything, and was getting the car keys. It was as if our car was the only one on the road. The void of humans and the still, dark, sky gave a sense of loneliness. The car felt like it was taking forever to get to the hospital. A million thoughts passed through my head as I listened to the faint, but existent hum of the engine. We drove down the same road that we took everyday as we visited. Unfortunately, this was likely not a meetup, it was a goodbye. “I felt so scared,” Juan recalled. “So many different things could have happened.” As the car pulled up to the hospital, things happened as if it was in slow motion. I got out of the car door and ran into the hospital. The elevator came down, and Juan pressed the floor twelve. The elevator went ding and the doors opened. Jose told the nurses why we were there, and the doctors escorted us to the room. It was dim inside. Three other doctors were huddled around my grandfather. Struggling helplessly in his bed, our hearts pounded as we watched his oxygen and heart rate levels rapidly increase then decrease again. The doctors tried hard to stabilize the fragile, old man. His heart rate lowered once more. The desperate and tired doctors inserted a tube down his nose. Blood, combined with mucus and other foreign liquids came out. The water in his body swelled up his skin. The doctors kept at work as we stood there helpless. Blood was now blocking his throat and as a result, oxygen was having trouble getting down to the lungs. Again, the doctors inserted a tube down his nose. Shaking, the tube removed all the fluids and the patient was stabilized. The heart rate was at a steady eighty six beats per minute. Still, I was hesitant to become relaxed. I felt very guilty for having little hope after the vision I had just seen. If anything bad happened, then my nightmare would come true. I looked at the patient and then to Juan and Jose. They were just as apprehensive as I was. Just then, the monitor displaying the pulse started dropping. For the third time, the medics inserted the same, bloody, mucus-filled tube down Fernando’s nostril. The convulsions increased. Fernando couldn’t speak, but his eyes showed desperation, pain, and regret. And then came the farewell. It was brighter outside. We had stayed there for more than an hour, yet it felt like a few minutes. Juan remembers what she said. “I gave a sigh. ‘It’s enough,’ I said, with grief in my voice. ‘Maybe we should... let him go...’” My grandfather’s heart rate lowered slowly as the doctors stepped away. The monitor read fourteen, then eight, and finally zero. The sound of the flatline pierced my heart. My mother and grandmother started crying, but my emotions were confused. On the one hand, I was sad that my grandfather was no longer with us, but on the other, I felt glad for he that he wasn’t in pain anymore. On the way home, the thought of the passing of Fernando wasn’t quite grasped inside my brain. The reality of the whole situation seemed unlikely. It was only when the body was But death doesn’t tear us away, it sets us free. I don’t know about Jose or Juan, but I thought it was better to be in a state of peace rather than in a state of suffering just to be near and close. Fernando Rodriguez was finally out of his misery. The funeral was held a few days later. The sky wasn't dark nor light, it was a hue of grey, as if the gloomy part of death combined with the brighter part to create the shade. Weird, it was my first encounter with death and my emotional state remained steady. In the classic Lord of the Flies, the book opens up with a group of young British schoolboys crashing on an island. Ralph and Piggy quickly establish a democratic type government to organize the boys. Jack, a more aggressive boy, wants more power on the island. With the other boys, he rebels and attacks Ralph and Piggy. To add to this chaos, the boys are scared of a beast on the island, obviously a figment of their imagination. Though the beast does not exist, it symbolizes evil and communism. The boys are all scared of the beast, but in the end, they are overcome and they themselves become savages.
This book should not be banned. Children must know of “the fear of the unknown.” Although there is a lot of violence and profanity, Golding sends an important message throughout the book. Human society is flawed, and that logic will keep on getting destroyed as humans progress and that perfection is impossible in suck an imperfect world. Piggy and Simon symbolize morality and humanity, and in the end, they were both killed. Simon says that the “beast” was really themselves, and he was very correct. Human society will crumble and fall unless we as humans retain our morality and humanity. Absolute power, such as those given to an individual in communist type and dictatorship type governments, is corrupted. Children should be introduced to the greedy and violent nature of man. They should know that man is dangerous and that they should choose wisely how to use power and not end up like the boys in Lord of the Flies. In general, the Lord of the Flies has potential to be banned, but the need for it to be banned is greatly outweighed by the need to learn lessons from the book. In Divergent, the setting is a post-apocalyptic world. The lingering survivors are fragmented into five factions: Abnegation, for the selfless; Amity, for the peaceful; Candor, for the honest; Dauntless, for the brave; and Erudite, for the intellectual. Tris has to select what path to take in her life and how to keep a deep secret that she has. She also must learn to be stronger. The Call of the Wild is a classic set in the late 19th century. Buck is the dog of Judge Miller, until he is stolen and sold. He gets shipped to Seattle, starved. Buck attacks the men as an attempt to get free, but gets beaten and learns his lesson. His new owners, two Canadian men, train him to be a sled dog. When Buck gets to the Arctic, he gets tormented by another dog, Spitz. Buck must learn to be stronger and work his way up to the leader. If you enjoyed Divergent, then you will definitely enjoy the adaptive character in The Call of the Wild who must also strive for power and survive in the world.
First of all, both main characters in the novel are thrown into a new environment very quickly and are expected to adapt to it. In Divergent, Tris chooses to go to Dauntless. In the training, Tris must adapt to fit in. Tris also doesn’t know who she can trust with her secret. She has to choose wisely. In The Call of the Wild, Buck is also thrown into a new atmosphere, the Arctic. Abducted and sent to the Arctic to work, Buck’s feet are not used to the hard ground, and his owner has to sacrifice “the tops of his own moccasins to make four moccasins for Buck. ... Later his feet grew hard to the trail, and the worn-out foot-gear was thrown away” (London 35). Eventually, though, he gets more used to the environment and thrives. Tris and Buck both adapt well to their new environment. The themes between The Call of the Wild and Divergent are comparable because they both relate to the strive for power. In Divergent, one of the main characters, Jeanine, is thirsty for power. She will do anything for power, because that is what defines people and gives them control. Desperate, she will lie and do anything to gain as much power as possible. In The Call of the Wild, Buck, the main character, must gain power in his group of dogs. At first, Buck is more pacifistic, but after he sees dogs being murdered in cold blood in front of him, he understands that he must become more powerful and rise to the top in the sled team’s hierarchy. He sees one of the most friendly dogs get killed. “There was no warning, only a leap in like a flash, a metallic clip of teeth, a leap out equally swift, and Curly’s face was ripped open from eye to jaw” (London 16). During the murder, Spitz the strongest and lead dog, laughs, which is why Buck develops an everlasting hatred for Spitz. Buck must rise and become stronger than Spitz. Jeanine and Buck both attempt to kill their enemies to obtain what they want. Although these two novels have an analogous theme that is to strive for power, they also have another similar theme, which is to survive. In Divergent, Tris is pursued because she is a divergent. She must survive because she doesn’t want to be killed by Jeanine. Survival for Tris also means that Jeanine must die because Jeanine is the cause of why Tris is in hiding. In The Call of the Wild, Buck must survive too. He must unlock his survival characteristics that have been long forgotten in the domestic world. For Buck, survival means getting along with other dogs, killing his enemies, and returning home. “[Buck] must master or be mastered; while to show mercy was a weakness. Mercy did not exist in the primordial life. It was misunderstood for fear, and such misunderstandings made for death. Kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, was the law; and this mandate, down out of the depths of Time, he obeyed” (London 85). It is indubitable that in both novels there are many similarities in theme. The adaptive, power-driven, enduring characters and more are all found in Divergent and The Call of the Wild. Most everything a good reader loves in Divergent can be found in The Call of the Wild; if you like Divergent then you should read The Call of the Wild. |
Brian"The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up." ~Random dude on the internet Archives |