Brave New World: Society Today

When Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World, he was making a point that our society was becoming more and more like that of Brave New World. When I first tried to find similarities between brave new worlds society and ours, I couldn't. The unbelievable level of government control in Brave New World made it hard to see any similarities that it shared with our society which boasts freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The first time that I noticed a similarity was watching the news. The news is something that many people base their opinions on. The news is also affiliated with the government. This means that indirectly the government is controlling the way we think. It`s can`t exactly be called brainwash and it`s nowhere near the extreme seen in Brave New World, but it is still a way in which our opinions are altered by the government and the media.

Brave New World: The Role of the Savage

The savage in Brave New World represents the fight against cheap pleasure and is on the side of freewill. This contrasts to almost everyone elses views in the book because all the characters in the book have all be brought up in the government controlled society, where they have been brainwashed into thinking that their way of life was the only good one. One main thing that is cut out by the government in order to maintain stability is culture. Art, music and theatre are all gone because they cause people to think. The peoples only sources of entertainment are drugs and feely`s which are mindless movies that they `feel`. Early in the book John the savage finds a play by Shakespeare. He reads it all the time and falls in love with Shakespeares romanticized view of the world. He believes in true love and happiness and beauty. When he comes into contact with the society all he sees is mindless drugged people who have no goals except to reamain happy as much as possible. In the end, John kills himself, and i think that this represents the authors view that we are slowly turning over to cheap meaningless happiness.

Brave New World: Implications of Absolute Government Control

This book is about a society that is completely controlled by the government. In our society, the government controlls what we do by passing laws that tell us what we can and can't do. In this society, however, the government controls its citizens through a much more direct means. The government actually controls what the people think and do by affecting their early devlopment. This means that everyone in society is just another limb of the society and isn't actually a free-thinking human being. Not that there aren't any upsides to having absolute government control. The society is much more peaceful because the government tells them to be peaceful. Society also becomes incredibly efficient if you can create workers with almost no ability to think to work the factories, never going on strikes, and always content with their position. The controversy is that when you control people, you take away their freewill and therefore take away their ability to have true happiness. This assumes that blind blissful ignorance is not true happiness.

Life of Pi: Brutality

"I stabbed him repeatedly. His blood soothed my chapped hands. His heart was a struggle - all those tubes that connected it. I managed to get it out. It tasted delicious, far better than turtle. I ate his liver. I cut off great pieces of his flesh. He was such an evil man. Worse still, he met evil in me - selfishness, anger, ruthlessness. I must live with that. Solitude began. I turned to God. I survived."

This quote really caught me off guard. I was surprised by the transformation of a young vegetarian boy that was so committed to religion into a monster. Pi's original good nature was so quickly lost to an ease of cannibalism and this really made me think of how much an event can change a person. “It is simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even to killing" I did not expect this book to be so gruesome and have parts of cannibalism and murder from the knowledge that I had of the book prior to reading it. This passage really shows the brutality of humanity how people can change so easily with necessity.

Life of Pi

Life of pi has 100 chapters and is divided into 3 parts. Part number one tells the story of pi’s life before and after an unnamed horrifying event that caused great suffering to Pi. Part number two describes in great detail the event not spoke of in the first part. Part number three begins by investigators asking Pi questions, Pi telling the story of part number two and this part ends, the book ends with the investigators opinion on the story and the main characters life. I really liked the format of this book. The last part tying the whole book together by starting before the first part, and adding the second part in the middle of it in chapter 97 “the story” made the book more interesting to me. Another aspect I liked of the book was the use of listing. Throughout part two there was a lot of repetition, and although this made some of the book hard to read, I found that this really portrayed the sense of boredom and urge to survive that Pi was feeling.

Life of Pi: Unique Conclusion

"As an aside, story of sole survivor, Mr. Piscine Molitor Patel, Indian citizen, is an astounding story of courage and endurance in the face of extraordinarily difficult and tragic circumstances. In the experience of this investigator, his story is unparalleled in the history of shipwrecks. Very few castaways can claim to have survived so long at sea as Mr. Patel, and none in the company of an adult Bengal tiger."

This passage is the last paragraph of Life of Pi. I thought it was an appropriate ending, because it fundamentally represents Mr. Okamoto accepting Pi's first story, and by extension, accepting God and not accepting humans and purely animalistic species. Pi presents Mr. Okamoto with the possibility of shaping life as one would like to, seeing it in its most beautiful form. While Mr. Okamoto believed Pi's second, more tragic and horrible story, he prefers the first, and so Pi tells him to believe that one. It is not clear what choice Mr. Okamoto makes, until this final paragraph, which shows him accepting the tiger story which he at first finds so hard to believe. This passage made the meaning of the book clear to me. Although before reading the book, I was not expecting this book’s ending to be what it was. I really enjoyed this conclusion and made the book very unique.

Clockwork Orange language: Nadsat

The language in this book is quite difficult to understand. Filled with words such as droogs, devotchka, groodies, veck, it was quite frustrating having to guess the meaning of these words at the beginning, however i could understand what most meant by the end of the book. The narrater (Alex) uses a youth slang called Nadsat. It is the language used by the violent youth gangs of the city. Anthony Burgess wrote the entire book using this fictional slang. By writing the book in an unfamiliar language he alienates the readers and gives them the feeling that this society where the story takes place is truely different from ours. The language also seems to desensitize the readers to the violence that is taking place. The gruesome deeds of Alex and his gang all seem less gruesome when described in Nadsat language, but when you think over what they've done, their merciles violence against civilians is truely shocking.

weak parenting, no control

“Not that I want to pry, son, but where exactly is it you go to work of evenings?’ I gave him a straight dirty glazzy, as to say to mind his own and I’d mind mine. ‘I never ask for money, do I? Not money for clothes or for pleasures? All right, then, why ask?” (37)


This is the scene where the state of Alex's family is revealed. His parents live in fear of him and although they have suspicions of his late night criminal activities they are too scared to do anything about it. When his father tries to know what is going on at night, Alex quickly shuts him down. He is just a ruthless child who goes unopposed, no one is able to confront him and punish him for his criminal actions. This shows the state the society is in, violent youths are uncontrollable and even their own parents can't do anything to stop them.

Clockwork: violence

“Pete held his rookers and Georgie sort of hooked his rot wide open for him and Dim yanked out his false zoobies, upper and lower. the old veck began to make sort of chumbling shooms-’wuf waf wof’- so Georgie let go of holding his goobers apart and just let him have on in the toothless rot with his ringy fist, and that made the old veck start moaning a lot then, out comes the blood, my brothers, real beautiful.”(pg.7)

The violence in this novel really caught me off guard. The gang of four led by Alex, find their first victim of the night, an old man walking out the library with books. They circle the innocent man and after a bit of verbal harassment they proceed to savagely beat the old man. The gang's love of violence is shown as the narrater (Alex) comments on the beauty of how blood came out of his mouth. Anthony Burgess describes the beating of an oldman in horrific detail. This quote shows the readers a glimpse upon how violent the city youths have become and the problem this society is facing.

A Place Called Home For Dean Makepeace

Dean Makepeace emerges in the final chapter of the book as another protagonist character alongside the narrator. Dean Makepeace resigns from his post at the school a day before taking the expulsion action on the book's narrator. The reader is informed of his reasons which in such short of a passage accumulate to be as interesting as the narrators story and how the book concludes on his story and not the narrator.
Dean Makepeace could not settle to the new lifestyle with his sister (Margaret) and after realizing how attached he had become to the environment of his former school, he feels convinced to return with all odds against him. Obviously he could not return as Dean, though being a teacher satisfied that desire equally. The final sentence of this novel, 'His father, when he saw him coming, ran to meet him' (page 195) left me thinking for a while who the father was and who the son was between the new Dean and Makepeace. The quote contributed the importance of Makepeace's forty years as Dean which became his real life.

Ayn Rand Visit Is Unreal

Reading 'Old School' chapter of Ayn Rand's visit to the school, the narrator is hit with one reality that he may have never agreed to or thought of as reality. Being a great admirer of Ernest Hemingway and his way for literature and style of writing, the narrator hears another perspective of a personality, being Ayn Rands that contradicts that of Ernest Hemingway. She believes that she has nothing to regret to and never will because she is and always has been rational towards her actions. It is further illustrated through her books with heros, that upon reading, may not agree to Rand's perspective but definitely describe an irrational truth of literature.
The narrator denies to accept this perspective because I believe he is influenced for his admiration for a writer that he has never seen but only write.

Old School by Tobias Wolff

'And it led to a commandment: Thou shalt not smoke.' (page 29)

This quote stood out to me because in the book, the boarding school is described to be prestigious, well reputed in the introduction but the above 'commandment' was only established after an event that set the entire building on fire and caused thirteen deaths. Being the institution described described so highly in the opening pages of the book, such rule should have been based at the first day in history of the school. It took thirteen innocent young deaths and a building put to ground to regulate such a rule amongst students.

This nevertheless to the narrator, caused a change in his social habit since the meaning of being at the school meant more than satisfying his own needs which implied quitting smoking for his years there.

Ending

In my book the Wars it ends with the main character, in a barn with horses. When other soldiers surround the barn and set fire to the barn. This fire kills all the horses plus severely burns Robert and 6 years later he dies never recovering from his burns. This was really devastating for Robert that all the horses were killed, he loved all animals and he was depressed for the rest of his life at the sights of animals and hearing birds.

Blame

When Roberts sister falls out of her wheel chair onto the hard ground and dies. He blames himself because she was his whole life. His mother Mrs. Ross has issues with closeness to people that she truly loves. Later on it is revealed in the novel that her brother died in a completely random trolley accident and ever since then she realized how hopeless it was to keep people alive. This way of being "distant" from the ones she loves is displayed early on in the novel when she joins Robert in the bathroom during his bath. She tells him that "people in the world are all born alone and at the hands of strangers" and tells him that she could do nothing to keep him alive from the moment he was cut away from her. This statement makes it seem as though she doesn't care about Robert going off to the army because she can't keep him alive anyways. Later on when Robert is labelled as "missing in action" by the army, Mrs. Ross goes blind almost as though without her son in the world there is nothing left to see.

The Wars and Animals

While reading i came across a man named Rodwell. Something odd about him is that when the soldiers and him were on patrol one day, Rodwell came across a bunch of animals under a hedge. He found a toad, hedgehog, a bird and rabbits. All the animals were injured and he takes care of them in the barracks under his bed. All the other soldiers think it is weird at first but then get used to him and enjoy the company.

A Crucial Point

During my presentation I read this pivotal quote:

"I look out at Mam at the kitchen table, smoking a cigarette, drinking tea, and crying. I want to get up and tell her I'll be a man soon and I'll get a job in the place with the big gate and I'll come home every Friday night with money for eggs and toast and jam and she can sing Anyone can see why I wanted your kiss." (28)

This quote clearly demonstrates that, from the young and impressionable age of four, Frank understands that his father's behaviour is wrong and counterproductive to his family's wellbeing. He wants to be his mother's protector and puts a huge importance on "being a man." I saw this develop into a bit of an obsession throughout the book, and I wanted to share an important quote that proves this.

"At the end of the week Mrs. O'Connell hands me the first wages of my life, a pound, my first pound. I run down the stairs and up to O'Connell Street, the main street, where the lights are on and people are going home from work, people like me with wages in their pockets. I want them to know I'm like them, I'm a man, I have a pound. I walk up one side of O'Connell Street and down the other and hope they'll notice me. They don't. I want to wave my pound note at the world so they'll say, There he goes, Frankie McCourt the workingman, with a pound in his pocket." (314)

Diction in Angela's Ashes

An interesting way that McCourt displayed the cultural differences in the book is through the use of spelling. Frank uses different spelling to illustrate the different accents. For example, when Irish people are talking, McCourt spells his words in the form of an Irish accent. Some of these are "eejit" instead of idiot, "aisy" instead of easy, "o' " instead of of, "tay" intead of tea, and "mam" instead of mom. When Frank moves to America at the end of the book, the difference is evident because McCourt immitates the American accents. "Pawty" is used to display party. The spelling difference emphasizes the cultural difference as well, as Frank's father is often discriminated against for being from Northern Ireland, meaning his accent is strange. It is interesting that McCourt picked up on these differences and their importance so early on in his life. This definitely speaks to the time and culture in which he grew up.

An Interesting Point of View

Throughout my reading of Angela's Ashes, something that really stood out to me was the unique point of view from which the book is written. Frank is a young child dealing with extremely harsh and adult themes, such as poverty, addiction, death, illness and discrimination. While these issues are undoubtedly serious and heavy, it is different hearing a child's thoughts on them. Frank is so naive and honest that his thoughts on the matter often add a refreshing element of innocence. The issues discussed can be depressing at times, but McCourt overcomes this. At certain times these very serious issues are overshadowed by the fact that Frank is a child. For example, when Frank, his mother and brothers are evicted from their home and have to move in with Angela's cousin, Frank is just happy that him and his brothers might not have to go to school the next day. Through careful consideration of the issues Frank faced mixed in with the occasional comedic relief, McCourt displays his story in an effective and enjoyable way.

Loss of Innocence

As the novel progresses the boys lose their innocence, as they change from civilized British schoolboys to the painted savages seen in later chapters. They go from hunting for their survival to hunting for pleasure. Hunting animals to hunting and killing humans. The character development of even the most civilized boy, changes dramatically because as their time on the island increases, the theme of savagery is promoted more and more. The loss of innocence is attributed to the fact that the natural savagery that exists among the boys and in all humans has been allowed to mature and develop.

The Beast

The idea of a beast was originally dreamt up by one of the littluns; however, the idea of the beast quickly consumed the minds of the older boys. The beast contrasts the conch as it represents the savagery that exists in all humans. As the boys become less civilized their conception of the idea that a beast exists becomes more and more realistic. Simon was the only boy who realized that the beast was not a living monster but rather something that already exists inside of them.

The Conch

The conch found by Ralph in the first chapter is significant because it acts as a dominant symbol throughout the novel. It is used to call meetings and it represents civilized order or the fact that the boys were currently at a more advanced social, cultural, and moral way of life. The holder of the conch possesses the right to speak at the meetings that occur, and as a result of this it regulates the meetings. The power of the conch allows the ideas or strategies of the group to be discussed in a just way.

Antigone #3

“A fortune won is often a misfortune” – Creon (pg. 202) “Tell me, Tell me briefly : Had you heard my proclamation touching this matter?” – Creon “It was public. Could I help hearing it?” – Antigone “And yet yo dared defy the law.” – Creon “I dared. It was not God’s proclamation. That final Justice That rules the world below makes no such laws” – Antigone (pg. 208) “No pride on earth is free of the curse of heaven” – Chorus (pg. 215) I believe these are the most important and interesting points in the play because they have a major meaning for all the characters regardless of whether they said it or not (referring to the Chorus). Creon quote is ironic as he win a fortune (King of Thebes) but it becomes a misfortune when everything gets out of control and his family dies. The second quote between Antigone and Creon is also very important because Antigone reveals to the person that created the law that she does not believe in it and that she would not follow through with it because it unjust and following the law would break the laws of the gods. The final quote said by the chorus is basically referring to Creon and Antigone because they were both very proud of themselves for different reasons and in the end it left them in misfortune. This quote also gives us an idea of what the Ancient Greeks believed because they believed that they would be judged and punished for their sins after they died. Overall, I found this a very good book that allowed me to think about what the Ancient Greeks believed and it was interesting to read about someone who was willing to risk their life in order to do the right thing.

Key Information on the book Written by: Sophocles Type of work: Play Genre: Tragedy Language: Ancient Greek Time/Place Written: 441 BC in Athens. Analyzing the book allowed me to learn more about the Ancient Greek culture and their beliefs. In the book, I noticed many themes that I believe correspond to the Ancient Greek culture and beliefs in one way or another. Some of the themes that I noticed was religion, fate, struggle of women, natural law v. human law and action v. inaction. Religion is a major theme because it impacts Antigone's choice on whether to bury her brother or let him get eaten by animals Fate is a major theme as well because it has on impact on Creon and what will happen to his future if he makes the wrong mistake (Teiresias tries to warn him ) Struggle of Women is revealed in the book and it gives us a good idea of women's status around the time that this book was written - there is alot of proof in the book when Ismene and Antigone are discussing how they are only women who have no say in what goes on in the Thebes Natural Law v. Divine Law is the biggest one of all because it is Antigone's biggest conflict on whether she should follow human law or the unwritten laws of the gods Action v. Inaction is the final major theme that I believe has a major impact on everything that happens within the book. (eg. Ismene - whether she should take action and help her sister bury their brother or just pretend as if she knows nothing, Antigone - to bury Polyneices or not to bury him, Creon - whether he should kill Antigone or not)

Character Observations

Key observations: Antigone:

• sharp-tongued


• manipulative – pg 190


• willing to take control


• risky, brave


• loyal, family oriented


• secretive


• uses a sarcastic tone – pg 193


• motivated


• religious

Ismene

• deliberately ignorant


• cautious


• pessimistic


• follows by the laws

Creon

• power struck


• changed a lot since Oedipus was king


• became a tyrant


• seems to be a big threat especially with the proclamation


• politically talented


• impatient very quickly

Love is like a Paperclip.

The first thing that people seem to ask me, when I tell them I’m reading Pride and Prejudice, is what it is about. The majority of them recognize the name, but know of it only for being a romance novel. I disagree. I don’t view Jane Austen’s novel to be the modern day’s romance novel. In the recent “romance novels” that I have read, the plotline revolves purely around those in the relationship, and the troubles relating to it. Pride and Prejudice does not follow these restrictions in the slightest. The relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy is the cause of many realizations to come, but the novel continues to explore these realizations past the points that directly relate to their romance. It’s almost insulting to call this novel a romance novel, because it’s so much more than that. It’s about the issues of social rank, of women needing to marry to have a place in society. It’s about ridiculous people, about personalities that simply cannot change, and some that can. It’s about being wrong: and being sensible enough to admit it. It’s about realizing that people aren’t perfect. It’s about incompatibility: the struggles that couples cause and face when their marriage is hasty and ill-thought out. It’s about misunderstandings and they hurt they cause. And most of all, it’s a story about pride and prejudice. It’s a story that happens to tie together its loose ends through marriage, and so, has been misnamed as a romance novel. But Microsoft word is not a paper clip that states the obvious. It simply happens to involve one; an aspect that may or may not be helpful at the time. I equate this concept with the relationship that is formed between Lizzy and Darcy. It is there, it often causes problems, but it also has the piece of useful information that just may be the realization you need to find your happiness: or finish a project.

Elizabeth Austen

The more I read the book, the more I felt that Jane Austen was expressing herself through Elizabeth. It isn’t the small details, like both being mostly taught at home, both constantly going on long walks, both having their closest friend be their sister, both living under the threat of losing their home when their father dies—those are just the comparisons between them. But Elizabeth often expresses her opinion in such an honest and clear way, that I can’t help but think this might be the opinion of the author herself. For example, in chapter 24, page 133, Elizabeth says “There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense.” And in chapter 29, on page 163, Elizabeth contradicts Lady Catherine with “I think it would be very hard upon younger sisters, that they should not have their share of society and amusement because the elder may not have the means or inclination to marry early.—The last born has as good a right to the pleasures of youth, as the first. And to be kept back on such a motive!—I think it would not be very likely to promote sisterly affection or delicacy of mind.” Elizabeth’s opinion on things is a remarkably sensible one, and much of her language reminds me of Jane Austen’s own language, in the letters she wrote to her sister, Cassandra. It’s interesting that Elizabeth’s sister, Jane, happens to share the name of the author. Perhaps that was Austen’s way of getting her signature into the book, as it was first sold anonymously: being written “by a lady”. I believe Jane Austen uses the character of Elizabeth and the lessons she learns to portray her own opinion about society, and about life.

Sarcasm: A Coping Mechanism

One of my favourite characters in Pride and Prejudice is Elizabeth’s father, Mr. Bennet. The sarcastic comments and witty responses that he speaks are ones that I find really amusing. As I was reading the book, some of his comments even made me laugh out loud. In Chapter 2, for example, on page 8, Mrs. Bennet is complaining (I find her rather hilarious as well) about her daughter, Kitty. Kitty happened to cough. Mrs. Bennet says: “Don’t keep coughing so, Kitty, for heaven’s sake! Have a little compassion on my nerves. You tear them to pieces.” Mr. Bennet responds to her comment, almost making fun of his wife, “Kitty has no discretion in her coughs,” said her father; “she times them ill.” The ridiculousness of the situation is a concept that is repeated many times in the novel. When Jane needs the carriage to ride to Netherfield, for example, and Mrs. Bennet forces her to go on horseback and she gets sick, Mr. Bennet says to his wife: “Well, my dear,” said Mr. Bennet, when Elizabeth had read the note aloud, “if your daughter should have a dangerous fit of illness, if she should die, it would be a comfort to know that it was all in pursuit of Mr. Bingley, and under your orders.” (Chapter 7, p. 32). As many character flaws as Mr. Bingley has, he is also sensible enough to realize them, in the end. He does his best to fix the failings, that he has previously let slide, in Kitty. His sarcasm and wittiness are his way to deal with the silliness of his wife and youngest daughters, and although they might not be the best way to correct behaviour, they make for a very entertaining read!

The Shame

Reading this play had an impact on my life because my Aunt and Grandfather are both currently very sick, and seeing someone throw away their life because of shame over making a mistake is very hard for me to sympathize with. It shows me that no matter how many mistakes you make, nothing is worth taking your own life. Also, you should never keep big secrets from your loved ones because they will haunt you until they lead to self-destruction. If you make a mistake it is best to own up to it. Willy’s mistake of sleeping with another woman not only affected Willy’s life, but shattered Biff’s future as well. If Willy had told Linda it may still have impacted the family, but at least Willy would have taught his son to be a man and own up to his mistakes. Instead, Biff chooses to give up on his plan for his future when he is faced with failure. Biff fears the shame that he will feel if he cannot finish high school and attend university. Willy felt it was necessary to lie about his job and the way he was treated by his customers because he was attempting to maintain the image him sons had of him. If Willy worked as hard at selling cars as he did trying to impress the boys and get their respect, he could have achieved everything he told them. I learned that it is not always necessary to be, the biggest man, as Willy describes himself constantly throughout the text, but to put in the hard work and to be humble about your successes. Otherwise, if you spend too much time boasting, when you fail you will not be able to handle the shame.

Between a rock and a hard place

One of the major themes in Death of a Salesman is reality vs. illusion. “Be liked and you will never want.” (pg.33) is a common belief and a flaw of Willy’s throughout this play. The reality is that being liked will not materialize into success. Hard work must also be a factor to success. Illusion was that Willy believed he and his children were successful in the business world but in realty they were not. After many years as a salesperson, he still struggled to make sales. He would not let go of his dream even though all the signs were there that this was not the job for him. Biff was well liked as an athlete but without the grades he was unable to materialize his dream. When Biff failed math, Willy’s commented “You mean to say Bernard wouldn’t give you the answers?”, or the teacher wouldn’t give you the points needed, rather than helping Biff find a solution to the situation, like summer school. Willy is flawed in his beliefs. Towards the end Willy believes “you end up worth more dead than alive (Pg99). He took the easy way out in hopes to give his kids the capital needed to keep his dreams for them alive.

The Wonder of Life

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is a play about an American family in the late nineteen forties. The protagonist is Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, who has lost his excellent car sales skills. Willy has the misfortune of losing his salary which results in him only being paid in commission and no longer receiving a base salary. Willy has two sons named Biff and Happy, and a devoted wife named Linda. Their family dynamics differed when Biff and Happy were young because they worshipped the ground that Willy walked on. Willy was always away selling cars and making a competitive salary, and the family was significantly happy. Biff was the captain of the football team and was offered a scholarship to Syracuse University for his athletics. Unfortunately, Biff’s math mark was suffering since he was always outside practicing football instead of studying. Happy is the classic younger child who is always overlooked for his older brother who is much stronger, bigger, and more athletic. Happy is always in Biff’s shadow.

The End Result

Originally I was considering changing my book halfway through, because I was seriously disturbed by a few scenes. However, I am the kind of person who cannot put a book down when they start and in the end was grateful for it. A Thousand Splendid Suns was a beautifully written story that informed me of not only the history of Afghanistan within the last thirty years but also their culture and religion. Reading the book made me so much more appreciative of my country and freedoms as an individual and more specifically as a woman.

Khaled Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns is the story of two women living in Afghanistan. Throughout the story, there is a background history of the last thirty years and the devastation that the war has brought to their city and country. After reading the book, it was really interesting to read the author’s biography and learn that Khaled Hosseini was actually born in Afghanistan. As well, the city that most of the setting took place in, Kabul was the city that he grew up in. Khaled and his family were granted political asylum in America when the war broke out in Kabul. After 27 years, Khaled returned to Afghanistan and was shocked by the devastation that the war had brought to his hometown. He spoke with many people on the street and found that there was still a traditional spirit of hospitality and generosity with their tragic stories. This trip not only sparked the beginning of his work to provide humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan through The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, but also his next book, A Thousand Splendid Suns. The story wasn’t necessarily based on a specific life story he heard on the streets, but rather on the collective impact the war had on specifically women and children.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

I really like Khaled Hosseini's style of writing. In terms of vocabulary it's very simplistic; however I found this book hard to read because of the actual events. I found that I had to read this story in intervals because of the powerful emotional response to the characters’ struggles. I would say one of his greatest qualities as a writer is his ability to paint a vivid image in your mind; although sometimes I wished he didn’t have this ability because at times they were graphic and horrifying. It’s a reality that you don’t want to face or believe could be real.

Sarah's Key

Some of the major theme's uncovered in the novel Sarah's Key are knowledge vs. ignorance and secracy. Knowledge vs. Ignorance is a crucial theme throughout the book in not only Sarah's case but Julia's as well. For example, on page 40 Sarah comes to a realization that maybe things would have been easier to cope with if she just knew about the problems associated with Jews:

"As she looked at Eva and her mother, the girl wondered if her parents had been right to protect her from everything, if they had been right to keep disturbing, bad news away from her. If they had been right not to explain why so many things had changed for them since the beginning of the war. Like when Eva's husband never came back last year. He had disappeared. Where? Nobody would tell her. Nobody would explain. She hated being treated like a baby. She hated the voices being lowered when she entered the room. If they had told her, if they had told her everything they knew, wouldn't that have made today easier?"

This quotation also, connects with secracy. The parents chose to hide the information about the war and what was going on to protect Sarah's innoncence, and not get her involved with grown-up troubles. This is just the beginning to a book filled with "key" secrets and "key" events.

Sarah's Key

While reading Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay I paid close attention to not only the tone of her writing but the varying degree of seperation between the two protagonists. Sarah's Key is composed of two interweaving storylines: Sarah, in the past and Julia's quest in the present day. The structure of the novel in the first chapter of Sarah's Key Sarah, an eleven year old Jewish girl, describes the tragic day when her family was taken to the Velodrome d'Hiver on July 16th, 1942 and further sent to a concentration camp in France. In the second chapter, however, there is a total shift in character and mood, instead of hearing more about Sarah and her troubles the reader is introduced to a new character altogether, Julia Jaramond an American reporter living in Paris. This reporter has just been told by her director to write an article on the events that took place at the Velodrome d'Hiver, in the midst of her research Julia comes across Sarah's story and how they are connected through their Parisian apartment. After a constant back and fourth between setting and characters Sarah's perspective is completely removed from the chapters starting on page 167, and taken over by Julia alone. At this point, Julia takes on Sarah's story on her own and searches for the ending herself. This twist adds connectedness to the novel along with the additional mystery.

Sarah's Key

The New York Times best seller, Sarah's Key, is a story filled with sorrow and mystery. Written by Tatiana De Rosnay this profound novel was published in 2007 and has brought light to a Parisian tradedy of the past, the Jewish round-up that took place at the Velodrome d'Hiver on July 16th, 1942. This historical event is the only non-fiction element portrayed in De Rosnay's novel and it is important to understand what exactly happened in Paris at that time in order to be fully empowered by this epic novel.

Velodrome d'Hiver a.k.a La Grande Rafle

Early on the morning of July 16th, 1942, the French police, acting under orders from the German Gestapo, took over 13,000 Jewish men, women, and children from their beds. Most of the adults were sent directly to the concentration camp at Drancy, while parents with children remained at the Velodrome d'Hiver, an indoor stadium used for bicycle races and other various events, for days without food. While the Jewish families waited inside the hot stadium with no washrooms or places to sleep the French police scanned the city of Paris for the remainder of the Jews that were to be brought to the stadium. For six days straight the horrified prisoners of the Velodrome d'Hiver endured physical indignity while French police stood by doing nothing to prevent the future genocide. After a week at the stadium all Jews were shipped to different concentration camps across France and Germany where they were seperated from their families and murdered.

This was a shameful time in history for France that is rarely talked about today, and will always be remembered through De Rosnay's story, Sarah's Key.

HEART OF DARKNESS: THE CRITICS

Criticism of Joseph Conrad’s famous work is extensive. Many critics accuse Conrad as being an imperialist, a sexist, and a racist; I would like to focus on the latter. Conrad, a racist – many feel he is simply a product of his era. Most Europeans during this time denied any possibility that Africans could have their own culture. Europeans dominated and dehumanized the Africans. Chinua Achebe, an African, criticizes Conrad as an “extreme” racist. Achebe blames Conrad for playing into the Western world’s stereotyping of Africa. He believes that Conrad is prejudice of both his country and his people. He claims that Conrad held views that dehumanize Africans, their “savage” behaviour, and accuses him of encouraging Africans to be “in their place” which included performing activities such as singing, shouting etc. Also, Achebe states that Conrad attempted to create a barrier between himself and the characters by using a framed narrative, a story within a story, to resist exposure. Achebe’s accusations of Conrad being unquestionably racist are met by Wilson Harris, who comes to Conrad’s defence by saying, “he missed the point”. Harris believes the novella can be read as racist but it was made this way on purpose. He believes that Heart of Darkness is a parody; everything that the character says and thinks from the European’s colonial attitude, to his protagonist’s condescending sympathies, is intentional. Harris states that Conrad does his job so well that as a result he appears racist. Harris believes that Achebe is unable to comprehend the depth of what Conrad has written. Harris accuses Achebe of being biased and critical of any literature that is not written by an African. Achebe does not acknowledge Conrad’s message. The novella is not about a journey into the heart of the Congo, but rather a journey into the soul of man. This human experience is what Conrad is talking about. Harris believes the characters needed a place to go and where better than the unexplored part of the world to discover one’s soul.