Growing up, I never really had a set group of friends in my life. I always wished that I could have that small group of people that I could rely on for anything, could talk to, and be myself with. In grammar school and middle school, I had my best friends like everyone does, but one this always led to another and that would end. Even entering highschool, I had friends, but I was never sure of who the people were that I could trust. As a child, I sometimes felt very alone. This is possibly the worst thing to experience at a young age. I also went through a move during these years. Saying goodbye to old friends was not nearly as hard as finding new people that I could call best friends again.
More than any other time in my life, this year I couldn’t be more thankful for my family. However, I’m not talking about the family you think. I finally found the people that I can always count on. They are my best friends and I could never ask for anything more than them. We are all so entirely different that sometimes I wonder why we get along so well, but we are brought together by something we all love: theatre. I could not ask for better people to spend my last year a high school with, making memories with. All of them touch my heart and change my life all the same. People always say when they graduate that there are certain people and things they will never forget. Their hand prints are on my heart forever.
This year, I want to thank you guys for being all I could ever ask for. You are my heart and soul and are forming the person I am today and who I want to become. I can be myself and laugh about anything. Happy Thanksgiving guys I love you all forever.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Poverty. Who's To Blame?
Poverty. From it stems off more issues than any other social issue facing people today. From it, people are more likely to become addicted to drugs and alcohol, get a poor education, and be drawn into criminal lifestyles. In some cities, it seems that the rates of people in poverty are only climbing to new heights. Unfortunately, a large majority of these people are young children. They are unable to change their situation because they are born into a world that their parents’ poor choices have made for them. For some children, like the Walls children, they find a way out.
In The Glass Castle, who is to blame for the horrible living conditions of the family? Personally, I blame both of the parents. Firstly, the father is to blame because of his addiction to alcohol. Every time the family comes into a little bit of money, he wastes it all with no concern to how it will affect his children. I also blame the mother, maybe even just as much. In the beginning of the memoir when the children find a ring that could buy them food and decent clothing, the mother keeps it for herself. Not thinking of her starving children, she keeps it out of selfishness. Also, when the mother actually got a paying job, she often refused to go, being to lazy and greedy to get out of bed. She cared more about her tiredness and unwillingness to work more than the lives of her family.
Now that I think of it, I almost blame the mother more than the father. In the end, we find out that the mother owns a large sum of property worth a million dollars. While the children go through life scavenging for food, wearing ragged clothing, and fighting over who gets to sleep with the dogs for warmth in the winter, the mother could have easily solved all of their problems, probably for life, with this money. Also, the mother could have left the father. In all reality she would have been much better off.
When the children leave their family for New York, they made the best decision they ever would. They had been born into a life they could do nothing about. They could not solve their father’s addiction, nor could they do anything about their mother’s depression and selfishness. In leaving to start new lives, they broke away from poverty. When the parents follow them to the city, we see how unwilling the parents are to finding a new life as well. For the first winter, they live on the streets. Then, they find a home in no better condition than the broken down home in Welsh. This may sound horrible, but I do not feel bad at all for the parents. They had so many options to change their situation, even if only in a small way. Instead of trying to make their lives better for both themselves and their family, they ignored their problem and acted as if life was just one big adventure. In my opinion, the roles of the children and the parents was completely backwards in every way. It seemed as though the children wanted a better life for the parents more than the parents wanted decent lives for their children.
If children brought into these situations can change their lives for the better, why cant the adults?
In The Glass Castle, who is to blame for the horrible living conditions of the family? Personally, I blame both of the parents. Firstly, the father is to blame because of his addiction to alcohol. Every time the family comes into a little bit of money, he wastes it all with no concern to how it will affect his children. I also blame the mother, maybe even just as much. In the beginning of the memoir when the children find a ring that could buy them food and decent clothing, the mother keeps it for herself. Not thinking of her starving children, she keeps it out of selfishness. Also, when the mother actually got a paying job, she often refused to go, being to lazy and greedy to get out of bed. She cared more about her tiredness and unwillingness to work more than the lives of her family.
Now that I think of it, I almost blame the mother more than the father. In the end, we find out that the mother owns a large sum of property worth a million dollars. While the children go through life scavenging for food, wearing ragged clothing, and fighting over who gets to sleep with the dogs for warmth in the winter, the mother could have easily solved all of their problems, probably for life, with this money. Also, the mother could have left the father. In all reality she would have been much better off.
When the children leave their family for New York, they made the best decision they ever would. They had been born into a life they could do nothing about. They could not solve their father’s addiction, nor could they do anything about their mother’s depression and selfishness. In leaving to start new lives, they broke away from poverty. When the parents follow them to the city, we see how unwilling the parents are to finding a new life as well. For the first winter, they live on the streets. Then, they find a home in no better condition than the broken down home in Welsh. This may sound horrible, but I do not feel bad at all for the parents. They had so many options to change their situation, even if only in a small way. Instead of trying to make their lives better for both themselves and their family, they ignored their problem and acted as if life was just one big adventure. In my opinion, the roles of the children and the parents was completely backwards in every way. It seemed as though the children wanted a better life for the parents more than the parents wanted decent lives for their children.
If children brought into these situations can change their lives for the better, why cant the adults?
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Courage Fear and Embarrassment
In war, what is courage? Does it mean that you are not afraid to kill a man? Not afraid to die? Or is going to war cowardice to begin with? In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien considered not going to the war at all. Instead, he wanted to run away from it all. However, sitting out in the boat in the river, he realized that he did not have the courage. The passage with all of the faces in the river calling to him was probably one of the most powerful for me. Here, we see characters we have yet to be introduced to and Tim’s internal struggle with himself. He was so unsure of what would be the courageous thing to do. To him, going to the war was an act of cowardice for not being strong enough to get away. It was also cowardice to run away from people the people whose lives you may change or save. Does it take more courage to run from war, or is it harder to fight?
A quote that really stuck out for me in this book was about fear. "They were afraid of dying but they were even more afraid to show it" (O’Brien 20). In war, once you are there, it is all about being tough, and being able to withstand what you are faced with. If you are afraid, and another member of your platoon sees, you are no longer the strong "warrior" that everyone expects you to be. Also, if someone else sees your fear and admits to it too, slowly, one by one, your platoon weakens. To them, showing your fear weakens your strength and your hopes.
In the Vietnam War, most of the soldiers were only kids just fresh out of high school. They barely got a taste of the real world before they were shipped off, and more than likely, killed. They all wanted to act as courageous as possible, but to most it was just a lie. How can people so young truly believe that they are ready to die for a cause that many of them are unsure of? I believe that if they are afraid, they have every right and reason. Showing it however, is their own battle.
I recently talked with a U.S. Marine about how he felt about courage during a time of war. What he said really related to the scene in the book where Kiowa dies and all of the men involved feel responsible. The Marine said that in times of war, especially if the bond between soldiers is close, one man would put his life on the line without a second thought for another soldier. When Kiowa died, all of the men took responsibility for the death, especially Norman Bowker, who eventually committed suicide. Because of his bond with Kiowa, according to the Marine I spoke with, he could not live with himself for being to weak put his friend’s life before his own. Another thing that this Marine said to me was that "Fear lets you know your alive." I thought that this related a lot to the novel as well, because when those boys were out there fighting for their lives, I would think they would need some sort of reminder that they’re alive when people all around them are being killed.
Anyway. Back to my original question, what is courage in war. I think that killing a man is cowardly, because I also feel that a lot of wars are unnecessary . But that’s just me.
A quote that really stuck out for me in this book was about fear. "They were afraid of dying but they were even more afraid to show it" (O’Brien 20). In war, once you are there, it is all about being tough, and being able to withstand what you are faced with. If you are afraid, and another member of your platoon sees, you are no longer the strong "warrior" that everyone expects you to be. Also, if someone else sees your fear and admits to it too, slowly, one by one, your platoon weakens. To them, showing your fear weakens your strength and your hopes.
In the Vietnam War, most of the soldiers were only kids just fresh out of high school. They barely got a taste of the real world before they were shipped off, and more than likely, killed. They all wanted to act as courageous as possible, but to most it was just a lie. How can people so young truly believe that they are ready to die for a cause that many of them are unsure of? I believe that if they are afraid, they have every right and reason. Showing it however, is their own battle.
I recently talked with a U.S. Marine about how he felt about courage during a time of war. What he said really related to the scene in the book where Kiowa dies and all of the men involved feel responsible. The Marine said that in times of war, especially if the bond between soldiers is close, one man would put his life on the line without a second thought for another soldier. When Kiowa died, all of the men took responsibility for the death, especially Norman Bowker, who eventually committed suicide. Because of his bond with Kiowa, according to the Marine I spoke with, he could not live with himself for being to weak put his friend’s life before his own. Another thing that this Marine said to me was that "Fear lets you know your alive." I thought that this related a lot to the novel as well, because when those boys were out there fighting for their lives, I would think they would need some sort of reminder that they’re alive when people all around them are being killed.
Anyway. Back to my original question, what is courage in war. I think that killing a man is cowardly, because I also feel that a lot of wars are unnecessary . But that’s just me.
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