Religion Reflection

Our group had the most interesting discussion about the Euthyphro dilemma .. AKA does God command it because it is right, or is it right because God commands it? Even though we talked about it in class it was interesting to delve deeper and hear some more intelligent ideas from everyone.
Obviously there's a problem with this entire thing, hence the title dilemma. If God commands it because it is right, then there must be some perfect form of "rightness".  However, if it is right because God commands it then we are at the mercy of someone or something we can only believe in. This opens up the possibility for people to do some crazy things in the name of God. Our entire group talked about which theory we agreed with more, then we talked about what makes a prophet a prophet, and whether or not their teachings would have the same power if they were just coming from average men. As a group we came to the conclusion that God commanding it because it's right make's more sense. This allows for there to be some sort of higher power no matter what religion you ascribe to, and we liked that.

King Lear

"My poor fool is hanged..."

Cordelia and The Fool are never in the same scene, let alone in the same act. Which is interesting because The Fool and Cordelia are the only ones who really tell Lear how it is, holding nothing back when criticizing him. They also prove to be the two different sides of Lear's mind. Cordelia symbolizes the ideal Lear dreams about, his kids loving him, willing to wage war in his honor and fight for his freedom. She is what he wishes all of his kids were like. Once he banishes her though, the ideal goes away and turns into the awful reality of Goneril and Regan. This reality shows itself through The Fool.

The Fool tells Lear how it really is. His kids are trying to kill him, take his wealth and drive him mad, and the worst part is that it’s all Lear’s fault. It was his ignorance and selfishness that led to his current situation, and that’s exactly what The Fool tells him. The reality of Lear’s situation is almost completely opposite of his ideal life. Since the play ends with the reality and the ideal never colliding (a.k.a no happy ending), The Fool and Cordelia are never seen together. This emphasizes the idea of a tragedy, and is only magnified by the death of Cordelia, which symbolizes Lear’s hope for the future also dying. 

When he says, “My poor fool is hanged”, he creates the connection between The Fool and Cordelia. He calls Cordelia his fool, because both The Fool and Cordelia showed Lear the error of his ways, and made an attempt to guide him. 

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Another thing I'd like to point out is that Cordelia only appears in the beginning and the end of the play. Which are the only points that Lear feels content with his family/future. The middle is where the fool exercises his judgement, these also happen to be the acts where Lear has doubts, starts to see what's really going on around him, and goes insane.

Who do you relate to?

In Death of a Salesman, I relate most to Happy. It's because I have nothing in common with Ben, Linda or Willy. I am not married, I do not have kids, I do not have a career nor do I have my own house, I am not an adult. However I do have plenty of things in common with the children, Bernard, Happy, and Biff. Out of those three I just relate to Happy the most. We are both the youngest, and we both have an older brother, I even have two. I think that the fact that both of us are the younger sibling is what made me like Happy the most. I have never needed to set and example for anyone, and I have never been forced into anything by my parents. If I choose to do something it's because I want to make either myself or my parents happy, not because I need to. Unlike Biff I was never pressured to do anything by my parents, and unlike Bernard I am not super smart and I do not idolize my best friend...because she is an idiot. And that's why I relate most to Happy.

Why is it a Classic?

I believe that Catcher in the Rye is such a classic because of how relatable of character Holden Caulfield is. He is deals with what most teenagers deal with, loneliness, depression, and exclusion. Though he has the capacity to do great things, he chooses not to for a variety of reasons. I think that Holden is someone that most people understand. His snarky attitude and sardonic humor make the mundane activities in the book seem more exciting. 

Another thing that make's him seem more human is the way he speaks. He does the same thing that most people do, reuses statements again and again. For example: It kills me, phony, i'm a madman, no kidding, lousy, corny... and those are just some examples. It makes him seem like an actual person, and not a snob nosed author that has a better vocabulary than a high school english professor. This combined with his real life issues make for a compelling character. 

And that's why I say this book is a classic, because of the character Holden Caulfield. Certainly not for the compelling story, or lack thereof. 

Now if you excuse me I have to go kill John Lennon. 

Catcher in the Rye: Part 5

After weeks of reading I have done what most people would consider impossible... I have finished my summer reading assignments. In the final stretch of my journey...

• Holden got creeped out by Mr. Antolini and left their house
• He went to the bus station and dreamed about running away
• He told Phoebe he was running away
• Phoebe wanted to come
• They went on a carousel then went home

THE END

In the book Delirium the two main characters spend about half the book discussing running away, and in this section that's basically all Holden talks about. He even does the same thing they did in Delirium where he comes up with this ridiculous fantasy, one that could never really happen because it just seems too perfect. Holden wants a cabin in the woods where he could be a deaf mute, and they wanted to raise a family in like a nudist colony or something... it's been awhile since I read it.

I personally connected to the story between Phoebe and Holden. It reminded me of my brothers and I. The way he wanted to take care of her, but she was being a brat. Yeah. I was/am a brat. I feel like that's how it s in most families, so I don't really beat myself up about it. 

Anywho this is the 5th section. Expect my explanation as to why I think this book is a classic in just a short time....

Catcher in the Rye: Part 4

I'm running low on text to text connections. I can only pray that I have enough to last me these final few days. Very little has happened, and whatever has happened is inconsequential.

• Holden met with Sally and discussed running away
• He saw a "heart wrenching" story
• He met up with a guy named Luce and got smashed
• He snuck into his house and talked with his sister.

Alright so the thing that appeared as a common theme in this section and in many other books is sibling love. This was going to be the part where I listed a ton of books about sibling love, but when I googled it, half the articles were about twincest. So I'm just going to give one example, Hunger Games. Though most of that book is about either violence or teen love, it always relates back to how Katniss is doing this for her sister in the end. It's a theme that stays with each book in the series. The love Katniss feels for Prim is similar to the love Holden feels for Phoebe, or even Allie... 

In this section I didn't relate with Holden as much as I did with Sally. Mostly because I have a friend who has tried to convince me to run away as well, and in the situation I had to be the voice of reason, just like Sally. 

One more section to go and only a day to do it. I only hope I can make it to the end of this treacherous journey. 

Catcher in the Rye: Part 3

120 pages in... It is too far to turn back. I'm hoping I can survive the few days I have left in this barren wasteland of a novel. My only hope for survival is to ration my resources...

• Holden asked his third cabby if they knew where the ducks went.
• He went to a nightclub and met his brothers old girlfriend.
• Then he went to a hotel and almost slept with a prostitute, but got beaten up instead.
• He gave some nuns a few bucks.
• And now he is in the process of meeting up with a girl named Sally.

In this section it started to become apparent that Salinger has a very straightforward writing style that has little to no descriptive adjectives. You'll be reading it, and thinking that nothing has happened, then all of a sudden you have to give a brief summary to someone and you're like, "Whoa, s*** went down in this section yo!" But really nothing super important has happened yet and probably never will... Another author who has an extremely straightforward writing style is Hemingway.

I mostly connected with the part where Holden saw his brothers ex. I connected because I have definitely done that thing where if someone asks you to sit with them you pretend like you're leaving to avoid awkward conversation.

I'm hoping my last 94 pages won't kill me. If I don't post back soon, assume the worst.