Dead mens path

"This path was here before you were born and before your father was born. The whole life of this village depends on it. Our dead relatives depart by it and our ancestors visit us by it. But most important, it is the path of children coming in to be born."

            This story raises the argument of church and education. In the story the fight is between a school and a village. The village in the story represents the church because of the spiritual beliefs that are held. Unfortunately for the characters in the story both sides lose. At the end of the story the path is still closed off and the headmaster of the school gets a bad report. However, does this mean that children in schools cant have a spiritual belief as well as a hunger for knowledge?

            No. The education of the next generation, and the generation after the next generation, and all the generations to come will not lose a spiritual sense. This is because people need to believe in something, whether its that our past ancestors are still with us, or something as simple as wearing a cross everyday. The reason why people need these beliefs is because it gives us a sense of meaning. There are certainly people who don't have spiritual beliefs, but these people still believe in something. That something could be the idea of being the best. This idea and belief gives motivation, drive, and meaning behind acting. For example, a person might not believe in god or anything spiritual, and if they believe in an idea, they suddenly have meaning.

            This idea of believing in an idea or something spiritual cannot be taught in school. It can only be learned through action. This is why my position on the main character in the story is that he is arrogant, and I am glad his school didn't pass the inspection. Although knowledge through education is important, meaning through action is equally as important, so, if people in the middle east want to kneel before God however many times a day they do, let em.

police brutality Image

Saboteur

“When a scholar runs into soldiers, the more he argues, the muddier his point becomes.”

            I struggled to find a deeper meaning to this story. The only thing that I can think this story is about is how the police officers in this story were being brutal to this man for no reason. Although there could be a deeper meaning to the story that I am not getting, the focus on police brutality in this story could be important. The authors purpose could have been to zone in on the mundane of police brutality.

Brokeback Mountain

“It was his own plaid shirt, lost, he'd thought, long ago in some

damn laundry, his dirty shirt, the pocket ripped, buttons missing,

stolen by Jack and hidden here inside Jack's own shirt, the pair

like two skins, one inside the other, two in one.”

This quote is important because it brings a lot of closure to the story. It sums up the relationship of Jack and Ennis into one line. I think that this describes how attached Jack and Ennis were. In the beginning of the story when Ennis is driving away from Jack he becomes physically sick. His stomach starts to get cramped and he tries to puke but cant. I found this part of the story interesting because I have never read a story or saw a movie where the characters were that entranced by one another.

            Certainly, I have read stories when the characters become irrational and emotional when their partner leaves them. However in the stories I normally read the characters usually just get depressed after a breakup. And they may do irrational things, for instance some people think so irrationally that they cant move on at all. Although that is not the way the story goes. Neither character in this story thinks irrationally because of the way that they feel about each other.

            This story is a great example of a paradox. Jack and Ennis meet and their lives are changed forever. The power of their attraction controls their life. When they see each other they begin to feel whole again. Through out the story neither of the characters becomes irrational. Normally if something has complete control over a person it can cause them to act out irrationally.

the voorman problem

This film made me think about God as a cynical creator. When Mr. Voorman is asked why he seeks amusement in humans I found it interesting how he considers himself to be a bored God. For the sake of this blog post let it be known that there is a God, and there is only one God. Now if this is true and I am not saying if it is or isn’t, but if it is would you be afraid of God? If there is a being that can control every aspect of the universe is that something to be feared? This film shines light on how it is very frightening to not actually be in control of your own life.

            Mr. Voorman embodies the reasoning behind God. He is very cynical, and the reason why he creates what he creates is for pure amusement. To think that the reason why we are here is because God is bored and he is looking for entertainment is a frightening thought. That makes me feel very much like Dr Williams at the end of the film. If God were actually as cynical as Mr. Voorman I would feel helpless. I would think that every decision I made wasn't my decision. I would begin to think that my whole outlook and perception is just the way that someone else wanted. I figure if there is a master plan that god wrote there are two ways to look at it. The first way is I can choose to not do anything important because I don't want to give in to a god. The other way of looking at it is I can choose to change and grow for myself. But the catch 22 is if I choose the latter is that all part of Gods plans. Was it he who decided my fate or was it me.

            Fortunately I don't have to worry about it. No one knows if there is a God, and no one can prove if there is or isn’t a god.

tim parrish blog

“And at that moment I hated him, for hitting me, for making bob go to war, for being an adult in a place that made no sense. But mostly I hated him for being week in the way a child sees weakness, hated him for being unable to solve complexity with a single gesture, hated him because when he held Mr. Ramos I’d seen the limitations of his strength.”

             This quote has multiple meanings. There is the meaning that this quote has in general, the meaning of this quote for this particular part of the story, and the meaning this quote has in the grand scheme of the story. In general to hate someone because they are acting like an adult shows that the main character, like many other kids, doesn't want to grow up. The irony of this is that the main characters sense of strength is that of an adult. From the perspective of the main character solving a complex problem with a simple solution is the best way to do it, even if that means losing that sense of pride that many adults carry with them. In his eyes this makes him weak as an adult.

            As and adult the characters father makes many decisions that are questionable. He hits his child, and he doesn't try to convince his other son to stay home from Vietnam. This quote is important because it sums up what the main character has been thinking and leading up to the entire time. And it is written in such a formulated way that this is probably exactly how the kid felt, but could a kid in real life articulate his thoughts like this.

            In the grand scheme of the story I think that this quote goes a long way in helping the reader find meaning. For most of the story I didn't have a sense of what the point of all this was going to be until I read this line. This line highlights the limitations that adults have when faced with tough decisions. Sometimes it is easier to think like a kid when deciding something important.