Billy travels once again to the future in Chapter 5, this time to 1948, when he is admitted to a hospital due to the fact that doctors believe he is going crazy. His hospital companion was Eliot Rosewater, a man, who, like Billy, loved reading science fiction. Whenever Billy´s mother would come to visit Rosewater would be extremely polite and attentive, for he "thought that might make the world a slightly more pleasant place to live in" (pg. 102). Rosewater´s actions reminded me of the novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde Pay it Forward. This book, later adapted into a movie, tells the story of little Trevor McKinney, a boy who decides that the way to change the world is by small, random acts of kindness. In fact, he proposes that every person has to do exactly three favors, one for three different persons, without an agenda or hidden desires. In turn, those three persons have to do three favors each, making the number of favors exponential. Trevor´s hopes were that every person on the planet recieved and made favors until it was just a plain habit. Truthfully the plan was not all that bad, if only everyone had the same desire of helping others and believed in returning what they recieved. We should all learn from this little kid or this "crazy man", and maybe our world will be a better place to live in.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Free Will
At the very end of Slaughterhouse Five´s fourth chapter, when Billy is traveling aboard the Tralfamadorian flying saucer, he begins an interesting conversation with one of the aliens. When he asks where he is, the Tralfamadorian does not give him a direct answer but rather expresses how amused he is about human curiosity. He argues that where he comes from, people just let it be. They don´t ask questions, just live the moment that life presents itself with. I am a supporter of letting things be once in a while, but what the Tralfamadorian was proposing was, basically, a world with no science or philosophy. These are the two ways with which we try to explain our world, and it has led to interesting theories and possibilities. I can´t imagine a world without explanations or wondering, where our origins and our future don´t matter, where nature has no explanation and the stars are never studied. There has to be a balance between letting it be and knowing exactly how it is, or else we end in ignorance or in an obsessive desire to know everything.
The Master and his Slave
In one of Billy Pilgrim´s trips to the future in chapter 3 of Slaughterhouse Five, he arrives at a place where he is already rich and his daughter is about to get married. But when he spends time at home a crippled man rings his doorbell, as does another in his neighbor´s front porch. Billy never gets to answer this door but from his window watches how a man from his Buick Riviera oversees the cripple´s every move.
"...Billy assumed correctly that he was the man who hired the cripples to do this thing". (page 63)
I related to this experience because living in a country where underprviledged people roam the streets you learn a thing or two, even though you have not had the first-hand experience. It is commonly said that the reason why little kids who beg for money in front of stoplights should not be given money is because when they go home, their parents, different family member or plain stranger will take it away and use it for their own benefit. In other words, these evil people are taken advantage of persons who will probably recieve more compassion than themselves and exploiting them, much like this man with the cripples. And it doesn´t apply only to cripples and homeless children, orphan owners and such have also been the victims of such scandals. This is the worst form of exploitation and greediness. Disabled people, people who just need help or don´t know how to handle the real world will succumb to the first friendly face. They are more likely to fall into the scams and manipulation of others and less likely to stop being abused. These manipulators are the pimps of cripples and children and must be treated as such.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Our Fear
In the second chapter of this novel the main character begins to tell us his novel. Billy, his main character, is a soldier in the Second World War who begins to travel trough time. He can either go back in time or travel to the future. In one of these given trips he fast-forwards 20 years when he is paying a visit to his elderly mother. Pneumonia makes it hard for her to talk, but the words she does manage to get out are the following:
How did I get so old? (pg. 44)
It struck me as a familiar feeling. Growing up with a dad who tries to hide his balding spot and a mother who dyes her hair to hide gray hairs, the fright of aging is not a strange subject. Even I, a 15-year old, am surprised at just how true the cliche "time flies" is. That sentence uttered by an old woman sums up mi biggest fear: letting life pass me by and not making the best of it. But at least it´s good to know I´m not alone in this sentiment.
Heroes?
Slaughterhouse-Five, a novel by Kurt Vonnegut, tells the tale of an American soldier who, like the author, was a witness to the Dresden air raid and its horrors. He is now determined to write a book about it due to the fact that many do not know just how bad it was. I have to admit that I would fit the category nicely. Dresden was a familiar city, and I could link it to a World War II tragedy but the details I did not know. For example, in page 10 of the first chapter the narrator tells us the following:
"It [Dresden] wasn´t a famous air raid back then in America. Not many Americans knew how much worse it had been than Hiroshima, for instance. I didn´t know that, either. There hadn´t been much publicity."
Reading this made me react in two different ways. The first forced me to research further on the subject, and this is what I found: The Dresden attack lasted three days, from February 13 to 15, 1945. At the time this was the seventh largest German city and a very beautiful one at that. These three days saw hundreds of war planes launch thousands of tons in bombs. The thousands of fires around the city turned into one, destroyed practically everything. Although it is a hard number to calculate, it is said that between 25,000 to 35,000 died and many, many more suffered from lesions and burns. The missing reports of persons reached 35,000, of which around 10,000 were found alive later. The Dresden attacked, hurt, killed, and destroyed others. I still do not know for a fact if it was worse than Hiroshima, but it was definitely was a tragedy.
My second reaction is closely linked to the research I did. The Ally army won the war. They ended the reign of terror inflicted by Nazis. They were heroes according to many. What they did was admirable, but to what extent were their options honorable? Because the Nazi concentration were just the tip of the iceberg. Many more horrifying things occurred, but the bad guys do not take the blame for everything. In a war cruel things must be done to achieve bigger things, closely following Niccolo Machiavelli´s line of thought "the ende justifies the mean" or the popular saying "All´s fair in love and war". But is this truly correct? Is war an excuse for cruelty? And what if it doesn´t stop there, but the end begins to justify the mean? Would morality still matter?
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wayuus in Inferno
The Wayuus are a group of indians living in northen Colombia, more specifically in the Guajira department. They have lived here for a far longer amount of time than the spaniards, having inhabited the region for hundreds of years. But Dante makes no exception: these people, belonging to what our country calls a valuable culture that should be defended, belong in hell. Their sins? Well, the main and biggest one is the fact that not one of them have been baptised, or even believe in Christ. During his trip around hell, Dante mentioned that figures such as Homer remained in the limbo, for not even being born before Jesus was an excuse for roaming around without baptism. And if being born before Christ will not save you, neither will belonging to another culture.
Another possible location for Wayuus would be in hell´s Sixth Circle, or the City of Dis. Here heretics, or those who deny the existance of God, such as this indian tribe, lie in open-lid tombs. The reason for the open grave is that since they do not believe in eternal life, they shall suffer an eternal death. Wayuus are guilty of these two charges and will probably rot for eternity in hell. But, if what they believe is true, it will be us who will rot in their hell. And who knows, probably Dante Alighieri will be there to be our eternal companion.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
1. What is the difference between a blog and a book?
The biggest difference between a blog and a book is the fact that the book is a physical thing, you can hold it in your hands, while the blog is only virtual and can be looked at, period. Books take a long time to write and a long time to read, blogs can be done quickly and is often light reading. Books are also made of more complex topics, something worth publishing, while blogs can contain any subject at all.
2. How have blogs changed recently?
Blogging has experienced several changes, beginning with its popularity. When it first started only a few existed, but over the years that number began to grow exponentially to the point where hundreds of millions exist today. The content also started out by being a place to write useful information for others, became later a place for publishing opinions and such, and finally turned into a place of personal attacks and negative opinions. Being the most visited blog turned into something of great significance, so many blogs today are writen with the sole intention of catching the attention of the masses. At times, this makes its content superficial and not worthy of reading.
3. Why might you read a blog?
Blogs may be useful when looking for different opinions or insights on any topic. Because it has turned into such a big thing, blogs present us with a great variety of topics, so basically opinions on anything can be found. When trying to defend a point of your own, looking into other people's blogs may be useful-perhaps they managed to put into words the idea you have in mind. Although nobody chekcs if the information on these blogs is correct and anybody is free to upload what they want, often what you are reading is not the truth, but you may also read one to inform yourself on any subject that you are not familiar with.
4. Is there a reason to doubt the objectivity of a blog? Why? Why not?
You might doubt the objectivity of a blog because, as I mentioned before, nobody really checks how correct the information is. Anyone may post what they wish without restrictions or control, and many people make fake information seem like the real deal. For example, I could say that Colombia is a small country located in the south of Asia, a big lie, but who could argue with me? So although it may be a useful site for checking information, it is always best to rely on a safer source.
5. Identify three blogs that mention our summer reading.
"The Blueskies Blog" on "A Brave New World"--http://blueskies2day.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/book-blurbs-brave-new-world-by-aldous-huxley/
"Best Book Info" on Orwell´s "1984"--
"Shmoop Blog" on Dante´s Inferno--
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