Small Minded Lilliputians

As we grow up, authoritative figures preach traits such as kindness and respect, and it seems as if it is second nature for us to understand that these are important, but there is always one that is slightly confusing. This so called virtue was usually labeled as “To-See-Far” and I always wondered what did that really mean? They obviously aren’t talking in the literal sense so, to me, it means two things that are closely correlated. One, that you are able to see the possible outcome of decisions that you make and can educated reactions based off of those reads, and second, you can see things from every point of view and from every aspect, so you fully understand the effect of the things you do. In the first voyage of Gulliver’s Travels, he meets 6 inch people called Lilliputians. The largest fault of the Lilliputians is that they can see the second definition; they can’t see the big picture. This drives out maybe the greatest figure that this race has ever encountered, Gulliver, and they lose the leverage they had over their enemies, the Blefuscudians. If we can’t see the bigger picture, whether it is in government, education, or just daily life, we will mess up the great opportunities that present themselves before us.

As the Lilliputian government compiled articles on all the accounts where Gulliver broke the law they failed to see what he has done for the Lilliputian people. The premiere example of this is when the Lilliputian palace is engulfed in flames. With quick think Gulliver urinates on the palace putting out the fire, but the Lilliputian authorities -- especially Skyresh Bolgolam -- fail to see the deed that he has done for them only think of him as disposing his waste on their sacred home of the Emperor. This is just one of the instances where the Lilliputians exhibit their lack of the ability to see the bigger picture. The second exhibit of the Lilliputians not being able to “see far” is the way they elect people of honor. Candidates do physical competitions to elect someone to a position where your mind is being constantly challenged and rivaled. High honor Lilliputians are then not fit for the roles that are to carry out, and as you may think the problems that arise are ones of epic proportions.

The United States of America understand, for the most part, on how to elect and place people into high responsibility roles. If you take a look at most of the successful people throughout history you will find that they were able to soak in the information around them, analyze it, and then make the decision that they believe is correct. In life, we have found that one that reasons will always outweigh the one who makes rash decisions and for that the politicians, the educators, and the leaders of the future should be taught this trait just as they are now. If we are blind to some of the options that are available, we will make decisions that could bring serious repercussions, and, government-wise, could send a country, even one of great prestige, back to a state of utter chaos.

Though Jonathon Swift did not tell the Reader about what happened to Lilliput, because he was not there, it is possible to make guesses on what may have taken place. First, I believe that it would start back slowly in the fact that in some tasks that were simple with Gulliver was now tedious and time consuming. Then that would eventually escalate to maybe the Lilliputians to be over taken during the time that they were rebuilding from the loss of Gulliver. All of this would occur just because they looked at the cons of Gulliver instead of the pros.

When we don’t look at every aspect of each situation we will end up making irrational decisions and karma may come back at tear you apart. Take time and look around you. Take each detail and lock it in your memory. Then, apply these details to whatever crisis you are dealing with and make the correct decision. This will help you avoid the problems which will bury you alive and you can be a successful individual in a confusing world. So now, as the teachers tell us to see far take their advice and stay true to it and help yourself and whoever else your working with become the leader that you were meant to be.

Depressing Hope

Author's Note:  After reading Fahrenheit 451 I was very disappointed with the ending. Throughout the book I loved it and then I personally thought that he messed up. In cause, I decided to explain why Ray Bradbury was wrong. In this piece I tried to show change in my fictional narrative and I also wanted to make it easy to relate to while still having a strong level of intellectuality. If you completely disagree with me, feel free to challenge what I said.

You are going to be great. Everything you have ever wanted in life will be placed at your feet. Then, time passes. You realize that you are just another leaf in the bush and your dreams shatter to the ground leaving you, alone, dripping with disappointment and embarrassment. Ray Bradbury is trying to get people to believe in hope at the end of Fahrenheit 451. The truth is, hope is a creation of the human mind for the mentally weak to grasp on to, and we must start living in the Now rather than making ridiculous expectations for our future.

Every child has dreams. Some want to be professional football players, others want to be rock stars. How many of these dreams actual come true? Their false hopes lead them to disappointment and once they learn that they can't just be whatever they want it is then when they become mentally mature. If you start worrying about what you are doing today maybe you do have a chance of doing good. Hope extinguishes the realization of having to do something in the present leading us to do nothing but wait for the world to fall in our hands.

Ray Bradbury had everything right going into the finale. Then he got it all wrong. Instead of Montag going off to live in the prairies with his hippie friends he should have either died alone or gone completely insane. He was hoping that he could bring back literature into a society that already marked it as taboo and turned their backs against it. Not only was it an impossible to task to complete, it was an impossible task just to stay on the fringe of sanity, any yet he managed to get out alive and sane. Being optimistic isn't always a good thing. Being filled with false thoughts isn't good for anyone and I don't think it should've been preached in Fahrenheit 451 .

If we give ourselves unrealistic goals our lives will be filled with disappointment which could end up in depression. If in fact you do end up depressed, my guess is that you're pretty far off from the original plan that you set before yourself. People need to worry about the present and not get caught up fantasizing about their futures. If it is meant to be, it will happen but that is only if you do what is needed today. Hope is the wrecking ball for our futures and we need to eliminate it as much as possible and enjoy what you have, while you have it.

Knowledge Through Fear

Author's Note: This essay was in response to how the quote "What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger." relates to Montag at the end of our last reading. For the opening I tried to do a fictional narrative and still add some text evidence because that has been some of my weak spots and I think I did an average job with that.

Fear. Angst. Frustration. Right, left, right, left. Your feet move swiftly across the gravel, weaving in and out of the thick trees, running for the haven without looking back. With each step strength, experience, confidence stream into your body acting as fuel in the chase of life and death. A slip, a fall, on the ground you moan. The darkness closes in and you start to go, along with all you've worked for, all you've gained. It falls to the floor and shatters to pieces, an impossible puzzle that you are left to fix, with only the knowledge that you have gained along the run. A philosopher in the world of robots, you are alone with no one to help you, yet with the fear there comes all that you have learned and it helps you start to make a dent in the monstrous challenge that lay before you. Montag and Faber, with only each other, they too try to pick up the pieces with the knowledge that they have learned and attempt to fit them together. It is in Fahrenheit 451 in which we learn that fear turns to knowledge and that fear is a necessity, or we would be lost in a world of mystery.

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury teaches us many things throughout the text. One of the most striking things is that he puts an emphasis on how fear is one of the greatest teachers of all. With each mistake we learn to not do that anymore. With each crisis we figure out how to handle it, and once our faces are wrinkled with hardships it is then when we are all-knowing. If we run away from fear, we may be happy, but we won't know about the world around us. Embrace it, learn from it, because if you do not die from it, it will only make you stronger.

Montag experiences more fear than most of us can ever imagine. One against one hundred. An outcast against a society. With each day though, he rises above the society, for he has knowledge. His belief in literature and its capabilities gets him into trouble but comprehension of the world starts to overwhelm his formerly brain-washed mind. Understanding is what we really all strive for in Life and through Montag's struggles he gains it drop by drop.

"What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger." Friedrich Nietzsche understood how we should view Life. We should not cower away from it, but stand tall and bare the storm, for afterwards we will be better. We need fear in our lives, for we need knowledge and fear brings knowledge along with it. If we can stay strong, we can comprehend the trees and the birds that surround us, and do what the human species is intended to do. Live, the right way.

The Phoenix and the Turtle by William Shakespeare

About the Poem: The Phoenix and the Turtle  is an allegorical poem about the death of ideal love. When William Shakespeare wrote it was untitled until publishers gave it a name. The turtle in the title is actually a turtle dove, not the animal that has a shell. This poem has been considered one of Shakespeare's most obscure works and there have been many different interpretations of the poem's meaning. Also, this is not the whole version. Due to length and difficulty of poem I decided to cut it down to this portion of it.

Let the bird of loudest lay,̊

On the sole̊ Arabian tree,

Herald sad̊ and trumpet be,

To whose sound chaste wings obey.

But thou shrieking harbinger,

Foul precurrer ̊ of the fiend,

Augur of the fever's end,

To this troop come thou not near.

From this session interdict  ̊

Every fowl of tyrant wing

Save the eagle, feather'd king:

Keep the obsequy ̊ so strict.

Let the priest in surplice ̊ white

That defunctive ̊ music can,

Be the death-divining swan,

Lest the requiem lack his right.

And thou, treble-dated crow,

That thy sable ̊ gender mak'st

With the breath thou giv'st and tak'st,

'Mongst our mourners shalt thou go.

Here the anthem doth commence:—

Love and constancy is dead;

Phoenix and the turtle fled

In a mutual flame from hence.

So they loved, as love in twain

Had the essence but in one;

Two distincts, division none;

Number there in love was slain.

Hearts remote, yet not asunder;

Distance, and no space was seen

'Twixt the turtle and his queen:

But in them it were a wonder.

So between them love did shine,

That the turtle saw his right

Flaming in the phoenix' sight  ̊;

Either was the other's mine.

At the time Shakespeare wrote this people were getting very extravagant with their culture. Nature was a large part of their arts and everyday life during the time of Modern English. Shakespeare shows both the extravagance and nature in this poem. The way the language reads is over-the-top so it sounds sophisticated and exaggerated. For example, he once says " 'Mongst our mourners shalt thou go." The nature symbols are clear being that the poem is named after and birds are frequently referenced throughout the course of the poem. These are the two main signs of Modern England that are seen in the poem.

Veteran's Essay

Author's Note: This was my essay response to the prompt "Does Patriotism still matter?".

In America, we pride ourselves on our loyalty and love for our country. If we do not have any Patriotism, the United States of America isn’t the great country that all of our ancestors and soldiers have built it to be. We are raised to have Patriotism flow through our veins and it is as natural as the wind and sea. This country is fueled by Patriots and I believe that we will always have an endless supply of it as long as our country stays afloat.

Every day, every second of our day people dedicated to our beautiful country put their lives, everything that they have ever worked for on the line, just to maintain our freedom and try to get fellow countries the same. When you think about it, it is absolutely mind blowing that they would do that. That right there is real Patriotism that exists among us, and it really does matter.

Seeing those great Americans fills everyone around them with a sense of Patriotism too. When my great grandfather told stories to my family about serving in the war everyone was proud to be related to such a character, and then to think that there were thousands of other people like him serving our country was a wonderful feeling. Patriotism.

This country needs true Patriots to keep it special. We can find them in everyday people that just have an ever-burning love for red, white, and blue. We should cherish these people and make sure they know that what they are doing is helping this country and the pride of it. If we can all be true Patriots the U.S.A. will be stronger than ever and nothing, absolutely nothing, will break through our wall of love for the home of the brave.

The Power of Power

To have power is one thing, yet to use that trait effectively is something even greater. Not many people can obtain these attributes for an extended period of time or even at all, but when they do they will always exceed the limits set by the pioneers before them. In the novel Animal Farm, by George Orwell, many animals have power. Though they may come in different forms, they are still there. Examples of this are Snowball, Napoleon, and even Boxer the powerful horse. Unfortunately, only Snowball was able to do good with his, and he was eventually ridden out of his leadership. Supremacy is a rarity in today’s society, and needs to be used not in destructive ways, but in constructive manners which help the everyday life of the citizens.

In the Russian Revolution, leadership was changed repeatedly. First Czar Nicholas II was in control and then Trotsky was accompanied by Stalin in controlling Russia. Later Trotsky was eliminated from the system by his thought-to-be friend, Stalin. Yet, under these main figures other people had power, but they had the problem that lets Communism continue its dominance in the country, being that they can’t put their skills in effect to overturn Communism.

This scenario is exactly what happens in Animal Farm. Farmer Jones, who would represent Czar Nicholas II, owns and runs Manor Farm. Then, the animals of Manor Farm rebel, being led by Snowball and Napoleon. Eventually, the animals were found to be victorious and Snowball and Napoleon ran, what was now called Animal Farm, side by side. Later, in power’s usual fashion, Napoleon turns against Snowball and voids Snowball’s authority on the farm. This signifies the large-scale dispute Trotsky and Stalin engaged in.

Simply, dominance is something that is ever-changing and is quite unpredictable. It also comes in forms that you wouldn’t expect. For example, Boxer is the strongest horse in all of Animal Farm and nothing can even think of challenging his strength. What holds Boxer back is the intelligence aspect. Boxer doesn’t have one thought of his own and he just follows whatever the leader of the moment says. This is proven by one of his two famous sayings, “Napoleon is always right”. In cause of this, Boxer is as ineffective at rebelling against the corrupt Napoleon as a calculus lecture given to kindergarten students. So, Boxer represents the peasants of Russia who work all day and worship, cherish, and love every syllable that falls out of their leader’s propaganda-ridden mouth.

The peasant’s and Boxer’s unintelligence feed the Communist government and helps it prosper. Stalin being a smart dictator realized that this would happen and kept the Russian peasants from education. Therefore, they would never have the brain power to form a rebellion, let alone even think of one, so they just clasp on to the lies from the leaders that are eventually converted into facts.

George Orwell litters his writing with warnings to all the non-Communistic governments in a satirical form. Even though average farm animals, running a farm seems like an immature idea, it actually contains a deep intellectual level. Animal Farm is made to make us afraid of what happened in Russia to the point where we should never let this happen to our Democratic government. Also, due to the fact that I read carefully, I found some suggestions from George Orwell to keep this from happening, like getting an education and having thoughts of my own.

John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton once said that “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Animal Farm thoroughly shows us this throughout its course and many lessons can and need to be taken away from it. For those of us who can find the responsibility of power and authority among ourselves, we must learn this lesson of how to control our greed and use it in a way to help the people. Then, we will truly have what Karl Marx intended for, a fair society.

Catcher In The Rye

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Catcher In The Rye

View more presentations from heggers21.

Tom's Childhood Decisions

When you are a child you must remember many things. These things may include a large array of thoughts or directions such as how to do long division, to always be a caring friend or even to let the dog out when he cries, but the most important thing to store away in your memory is to be who you are, for if you act as a phony as a child, you will end up one in your adulthood and you will not be happy. The decisions we make and ways we act when we are adolescents make up who we are no matter what. Whether you are one that inveigles others or you are a docile individual, it was all made up by experiences and decisions that occurred in your childhood. Tom Sawyer understands this quite well. He always makes the best of his childhood simply because of his fear of an adulthood of boredom. This will make Tom Sawyer an interesting person to be with and he will enjoy his life.

Tom’s fear is what made him leave to become a pirate. This is because he saw a glimpse of his future, and a life of routine and rules was not what Sawyer needed. He needed to be able to possess adventure and free will. Most importantly he needed fun, and if he kept on going with these exact routines he would grow up to be the average male. But Tom foresaw this crash course with daily boredom and successfully diverted the pain by making the decisions he did. He is now a wealthy child who won’t even need to get an occupation when he becomes old enough.

Not many people can do what Tom did, but when they do they are extremely happy with their life. They maintain sustaining memories of fond times and potentially even money. Of course, money is not the cure to sadness, but it definitely makes things easier. You may call one a fool for spending his life to do something adventurous or out of the ordinary, but you can’t call them a fool for spending their life doing something they love. And if they do succeed, open up your mind and believe that anything you dream of may come true if you are willing to do everything possible to get it.

Tom lived, in many people’s opinions, the right way, a way where he decided which road his life would take and how it would turn out. We as people must remember this and make our one chance at life the one we want. We must not get caught up with the daily routine, but live on our own spontaneous plans and wants, and by doing this we will not morph into some unwanted angist creature but into a frivolous person that we deserve and that the world deserves, too.

The ADVENTURES of Tom Sawyer

Adventure is an experience people long for. It causes some adrenaline components including excitement, danger, and sometimes even success. Isn’t that what people wish to do with their lives – something that is unique and something they will remember? Tom Sawyer definitely gets a large dose of this in his spontaneous life. Because of that, Tom enjoys life and its excitement that comes rushing on by. Simply, adventure is the thing that keeps us getting up in the morning.

Adventure is truly what keeps Tom going on a daily basis. Whenever he is without it he gets depressed and feels meaningless. Tom’s reason to leave his civilized life to become a pirate was because he felt like his life was a pain having to go to school and getting licked for wrong doings. Sawyer believed that life should be filled with joy, adventure, and free will and not of punishment, and when Tom, Huck, and Joe became pirates they fulfilled Tom’s dream and life was finally enjoyable.

Longings like this are usual with people across the globe. The cycle of an average person’s daily schedule often becomes dull and life seems like a task. At this point they call in for a life line and “spice up” their life even a little bit. The ways people do this may include vacations or activities outside their usual comfort zone, but either way it adds change and is wonderfully refreshing.

People need change in their lives and adventure is a beautiful way to make change happen. When you enjoy what you are doing you are overall a happier person, and with that the world will be a better place. Of course, we must keep our activities under control so it doesn’t turn negative, but still adventure is a great thing that is essential in most every human’s life.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Final Response

You begin as a juvenile child in a large, perplexing world. You think you know things about the world and what your future will hold, but truly you don’t. This is not uncommon though. Even Francie Nolan encounters this in her life.  This is why in everybody’s life they go through a many year quest from innocence to experience and the roads that take each person, to their own place, their own destiny, is what makes each person themselves.

Francie Nolan is a young girl growing up in a confusing world. Her questions are endless. She pleads to know things that she just couldn’t grasp at the stage in her life that she was at, but she keeps trying to learn and comprehend the things she sees as her life goes on. As she matures she starts to understand why things are so imperfect in life and that all she can do is try to cope with what faces her, while having flashes of exuberance along the way.

This is like many of our lives. Going from confusion to understanding is important in this world of ours. It is a long, drawn out journey, but definitely a needed one. People want to know the world with just the snap of their fingers, and want their questions and hardships to be the past, but I believe that one of the most important reasons of life is to learn the ways of the world and to develop into a better person, the type of person that is truly wise and helpful to the innocent ones in their life, so that they too then can become experienced and educate the young in their lives also. That truly is a spectacular aspect in life. It is such a powerful thing that it keeps the Circle of Life going perpetually.

The travel from innocence to experience is extremely important in life and while reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn it is obvious that Betty Smith grasps the situation impeccably. She expresses this process so everyone can relate. Myself being innocent, I can tell what the future may hold for me. It may not end up being as climactic for me, but it still will be memorable and life changing. That is guaranteed.

The road from innocence to experience is very important in life and you should not try to force yourself away from the path. It will be a long journey with its highs and lows but if you just go along on the ride you will be set out for a life of joy, wisdom, and pride, and you will get those traits because you are who you are and you should find self love in yourself no matter what obstacles face you.