Being manipulated can cause rage but rage itself is the greatest manipulator.
I finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and it was an absolutely beautiful book with an incredibly deep story line of an even deeper message. Continuing from my last post, the African American man (named Tom Robinson) accused of rape is (basically) revealed as innocent but is still made guilty and got killed when he tried to escape to his family. The man who was the "victim's" father (his name was Bob Ewell), had actually beaten his daughter and blamed it on the African American man which costed both their lives. This happened when Bob Ewell became extremely angry at Atticus for almost proving that he had beaten his daughter and near the end of the book, attempted to kill Jem and Scout. While doing so, he broke Jem's left arm, and while struggling, fell on his own kitchen knife (that he planned to use for killing Jem and Scout), killing himself. So who is the real enemy?
Technically Bob Ewell would be but in a way, wasn't rage? If anger had not consumed him he would not have beat his daughter, he would not have hated Atticus or his family, and he wouldn't have attempted to kill Jem and Scout. Of course, this is still his fault for you cannot blame anger. It is purely an emotion but when one chooses to let anger be their drive, that becomes a fault of that person with deep consequences. It is hard though, shielding yourself from the temptations and want of rage, revenge, anger, and all those negative but powerful feelings. We have to stay strong though, and resist this want to get angry for anger can become a weakness and blind ourselves.
I am not a hypocrite so yes, I have been and still get extremely angry sometimes. So angry that all the reason and sense in my mind is replaced with hate and flames of fury. Can we see behind flames though? Can we see those trying to make us understand or those who care about us? Anger will only grow, infecting its victims with the destruction it can cause, like a wildfire destroying the trees and forests that were once serene. If one does not put out the flames, it will become an inferno that can only destroy, and when the day comes that the fire goes out, they will realize that the burns would be too severe to heal.
You never know what one may do when blinded by anger. Offend someone, injure someone, kill someone...kill themself. I don't want to know and nor do I wish for others to. It is alright to get angry, we are only human and anger is a part of us but what we do need to know is when to calm down and let things be.
Rage is the greatest manipulator but that doesn't mean that manipulators have to win.
Please feel free to comment and share your opinions or experiences.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
It makes me sick, it makes Dill sick, and doesn't it make you?
Today, as I was reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the emotions of three pages hit me like an avalanche. The book, set in a Southern town in the 1930s, revolved around a girl named Jean Louise (but usually called Scout), her older brother Jem (Jeremy), and (sometimes) their friend Dill. The father of the two siblings, Atticus, was a lawyer who in the book fought a case where his client, an African American man, was accused of rape (Atticus is the defendant). Many things, emotional and surprising, unraveled as the case and depth of it all, revealed itself. The three pages I'm writing about today occur when Dill and Scout exit the courtroom due to Dill feeling sick, after watching a long period of the trial.
In those pages, Dill, who was crying, talks a lot about feeling sick when the (white) prosecutor talked in an incredibly disrespectful way to the African American man accused of rape, even though the one accused was very mannerly. What struck me so powerfully were the words spoken to Dill about him crying and being sick, by Mr. Raymond, a man from their town . As he talked about how Dill would no longer cry about specific things when he grew older, these were his words (mind the language) "Cry about the simple hell people give other people- without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they're people, too." I found these two sentences sadly true. Remembering that this book was published in the 1960s, I understood why Harper Lee's book included such a strong quote. One of the strongest I've ever heard in fact, and perhaps it was because she had written what the problem for over a hundred years was.
To be honest, it should be that she wrote the problem of a hundred years and counting. In my opinion, that quote in the book applies to all. Before people start being rude (or worse) to whatever something may be, they should think. They should acknowledge that though that person, or plant, or animal, or any living thing, isn't us, may not be someone/something we know, may not be at all related to us, that they STILL deserve respect. They still have feelings, emotions, joy, anger...pain, just like each and every one of us. Scientists may not be able to prove it but do we really need proof to live? Can't we for once, access the world with not only our brains, but our hearts as well?
It is the utter most self conceited and ignorant thing to say that we are superior because we are humans. It is just as bad when people say they are superior for more specific categories such as race, colour, etc. Nothing is superior and everything deserves respect, whether its a person or tree or even a bug. You may ask why a bug would deserve as much respect as humans but the question from me is why not? Respect does not discriminate, it is not selfish, nor is it cruel but unfortunately, those who are capable of showing respect, are also capable of doing all those things. Maybe that's why Dill was sick and maybe that's why I feel like that too.
I feel sick, Dill feels sick, and really, shouldn't we all?
Please feel free to comment
In those pages, Dill, who was crying, talks a lot about feeling sick when the (white) prosecutor talked in an incredibly disrespectful way to the African American man accused of rape, even though the one accused was very mannerly. What struck me so powerfully were the words spoken to Dill about him crying and being sick, by Mr. Raymond, a man from their town . As he talked about how Dill would no longer cry about specific things when he grew older, these were his words (mind the language) "Cry about the simple hell people give other people- without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they're people, too." I found these two sentences sadly true. Remembering that this book was published in the 1960s, I understood why Harper Lee's book included such a strong quote. One of the strongest I've ever heard in fact, and perhaps it was because she had written what the problem for over a hundred years was.
To be honest, it should be that she wrote the problem of a hundred years and counting. In my opinion, that quote in the book applies to all. Before people start being rude (or worse) to whatever something may be, they should think. They should acknowledge that though that person, or plant, or animal, or any living thing, isn't us, may not be someone/something we know, may not be at all related to us, that they STILL deserve respect. They still have feelings, emotions, joy, anger...pain, just like each and every one of us. Scientists may not be able to prove it but do we really need proof to live? Can't we for once, access the world with not only our brains, but our hearts as well?
It is the utter most self conceited and ignorant thing to say that we are superior because we are humans. It is just as bad when people say they are superior for more specific categories such as race, colour, etc. Nothing is superior and everything deserves respect, whether its a person or tree or even a bug. You may ask why a bug would deserve as much respect as humans but the question from me is why not? Respect does not discriminate, it is not selfish, nor is it cruel but unfortunately, those who are capable of showing respect, are also capable of doing all those things. Maybe that's why Dill was sick and maybe that's why I feel like that too.
I feel sick, Dill feels sick, and really, shouldn't we all?
Please feel free to comment
Sunday, December 2, 2012
About to go too far...or already too far gone?
Over the week I read three picture books, "Freedom Summer" by Deborah Wiles about two friends, one white and one black, facing the challenges of racism, "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss about cruelty to the environment, and "Fox" by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks about the friendship between a maimed magpie and dog being tested to the limits by temptation. In all three of these books I found unfortunate truths for the reality of these "children's" books are quite evident. It hit me hardest though when I thought about how the situations of each book may have already passed the point of no return.
When I say point of no return I mean it as in things will never be erased. The pains and wrongdoings of people can never ever be erased. The cruelty done to African Americans will not suddenly vanish. The trees so brutally cut will never grow back, and as for Dog and Magpie in "Fox", the scars on their friendship won't ever go away. Even if things are mended, the "mending" can only fix the problem, not turn back time and make it non existing. What can people ever do to make things right again since the majority of things cannot become right but just less wrong. Of course, mistakes can help one learn and in "Fox", may actually strengthen the friendship between Magpie and Dog, being that Magpie decided to return to Dog knowing that she would have to face the guilt of her betraying him, but that does not mean that the trust between them will be as strong as it were before. The wounds will still be there and perhaps in moments may sting even more than when they were fresh.
Even more depressing is the fact that many are still doing such horrible things even if it already passed that point where things cannot be truly fixed. Emotions and hearts are not like machines where you can just fix it with some tools. We, as in all living things, are living but why can't this being of life be respected as it should always be? With the situations of the Truffula trees in "The Lorax", yes, the boy did get a seed, the last seed of all those trees but will the forests look the same as it were before it was all cut down? The animals will not come back and even if they did, their sufferings are irreversible. Don't people think before they act? Apparently we are the smartest of all animals, but I do not see how, for we cannot even see that doing something wrong cannot be undone and are the ones who have actually caused the greatest damage. Actually, we are the ones who are causing the greatest damage because people have not stopped. We are way passed the point of no return but do not even see that humans, as in ALL of us, are the cause for all these unnatural and horrendous issues that have blossomed into deaths, sufferings, and hearts that will forever have a long, jagged, and ugly crack. It seems that perhaps even the heart of our planet will one day be broken when it too can no longer stand such abuse.
While things cannot be erased, at least we can make the effort to have less things that cannot be so. Doing the pathetic action of making issues seem invisible is not one of those options. As for whether or not we are too far gone, yes we have gone too far but not so far gone that we cannot stop these actions if we really try.
Please feel free to comment.
When I say point of no return I mean it as in things will never be erased. The pains and wrongdoings of people can never ever be erased. The cruelty done to African Americans will not suddenly vanish. The trees so brutally cut will never grow back, and as for Dog and Magpie in "Fox", the scars on their friendship won't ever go away. Even if things are mended, the "mending" can only fix the problem, not turn back time and make it non existing. What can people ever do to make things right again since the majority of things cannot become right but just less wrong. Of course, mistakes can help one learn and in "Fox", may actually strengthen the friendship between Magpie and Dog, being that Magpie decided to return to Dog knowing that she would have to face the guilt of her betraying him, but that does not mean that the trust between them will be as strong as it were before. The wounds will still be there and perhaps in moments may sting even more than when they were fresh.
Even more depressing is the fact that many are still doing such horrible things even if it already passed that point where things cannot be truly fixed. Emotions and hearts are not like machines where you can just fix it with some tools. We, as in all living things, are living but why can't this being of life be respected as it should always be? With the situations of the Truffula trees in "The Lorax", yes, the boy did get a seed, the last seed of all those trees but will the forests look the same as it were before it was all cut down? The animals will not come back and even if they did, their sufferings are irreversible. Don't people think before they act? Apparently we are the smartest of all animals, but I do not see how, for we cannot even see that doing something wrong cannot be undone and are the ones who have actually caused the greatest damage. Actually, we are the ones who are causing the greatest damage because people have not stopped. We are way passed the point of no return but do not even see that humans, as in ALL of us, are the cause for all these unnatural and horrendous issues that have blossomed into deaths, sufferings, and hearts that will forever have a long, jagged, and ugly crack. It seems that perhaps even the heart of our planet will one day be broken when it too can no longer stand such abuse.
While things cannot be erased, at least we can make the effort to have less things that cannot be so. Doing the pathetic action of making issues seem invisible is not one of those options. As for whether or not we are too far gone, yes we have gone too far but not so far gone that we cannot stop these actions if we really try.
Please feel free to comment.
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