Otherness

In Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris, the topic of "otherness" was often discussed.  For the most part throughout the novel, otherness was seen as a negative thing, especially when looking at Quasimodo.  In recent news relating to "otherness", the article "Full-face transplant recipient marries woman he met in burn support group" (http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/30/17533222-full-face-transplant-recipient-marries-woman-he-met-in-burn-support-group?lite).  This article puts the issue of being different into a positive category.

In the United States, otherness when looking at an individuals looks is not as large of an issue as Hugo makes it in his novel, we are more accepting.  Dallas Wiens was injured in a construction accident in 2008 after coming into contact with a high-voltage power line.  His now wife, Jamie Nash, was severely burned on her hands, back, and legs after being trapped in her care that erupted in flames.  These two individuals met at the hospital where they were both being treated.  Nash said that "I just looked at him across the room, and there was something about him."  To these individuals, looks were not a big issue, or the idea of otherness. Although the article did not really talk about it, Wiens received a full face transplant.  This reduced his "otherness" factor.  Reading this article has given me some hope in humanity that looks and being different are not an issue.

World News on Feminism

As I am currently reading The Waiting Years by Fumiko Enchi, the topic of feminism has come up throughout the novel.  There are many things happening in the world today relating to feminism, one being protests over the rape of a five-year-old girl in India.  Here is where you can find the article, "Indian PM Manmohan Singh: women's status and safety a growing concern," to read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/21/indian-pm-singh-women-status-safety.  Although this isn't quite the same level of feminism going on in Enchi's book, I still found it rather interesting.

So the prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh is trying to make a collective effort to protect women in the country during the protests that are going on.  Currently, India has a rising rate of sexual assault, and is especially growing in the incidents involving sexual violence to minors.  In the case of the five-year-old girl, officers initially refused to investigate the crime because the girl, who was from a working class family, disappeared while playing outside her home.  She was later found.  Then the media picked up the case, and the parents of the girl were offered 2,000 rupees to drop the case.  I think that this is horrible, especially in spite of the victim being five years old.

With all of this, I am glad to see that the prime minister is trying to make the country more safe for women, as well as increasing penalties for sexual assault and in addition making sexual harassment a crime.  Singh stated that "The safety, security and status of women in our country is a matter of concern.  We have to make vast improvements in this area."  Although some of the public is upset about this issue, feminism is seeming to become more of a predominant issue.

Foreign Film Fun

Hey all, I'm back once again!  Having some time to kill this week, I decided to watch a foreign film.  I ended up selecting the movie I Wish, which is a Japanese movie (thank goodness for English subtitles).  Despite what I was originally thinking, this movie was really good.  Basically to get the plot line in quick, two brothers were separated by divorce of their parents.  There is this myth that if you see when two bullet trains pass and make a wish as they are passing, your wish will come true.  The son who lives with his mother is desperate for his family to be back together, while his brother is not.  So then these two boys end up, along with some of their friends, getting on trains and meeting where these bullet trains are going to pass.  Everyone makes their wish, except for the brother who wants his family back together.  The boys then part ways and return home.  At times  this movie confused me a little, but I think it was mostly because I was caught up in reading the subtitles or just not paying close enough attention.  Also, I think that sometimes I get caught up in the need for a happy ending, which this movie didn't really have.  Some of the people who made wishes that day experienced their wishes coming true, but I was kept guessing about the dog, Marbles, who died prior to the trip, was carried all the way along in a backpack, and wished back to life.  At the end, some of the children peer into the backpack, but it is never shown what happens to poor Marbles.  I was also confused by the fact that the kids wore t-shirts with all English writing on them.  I really enjoyed this movie, and I just may have to watch some more foreign films.

Learning a Lesson the Hard Way

Often while sitting in my World Literature class, our professor speaks to us in French.  Having taken Spanish in high school, I am always lost.  Thankfully, he usually tells us what he said in English.  A few weeks ago we read The Man who Walked Through Walls by Marcel Aymé.  This short story was originally written in French, but was actually translated into English by our professor! 

So the main character, Dutilleul was 43 when he finally realized that he could walk through walls.  I understand that this would definitely be a strange thing to discover, especially at this age.  So Dutilleul goes to the doctor where he is prescribed a pill to take twice a year as well as doing tiring exercise.  So he takes his first pill and puts the other in a drawer and sort of forgets about it.  One day after getting mad at his job and escaping to a closet, he goes through the wall.  You would think that after the events that follow here, he would realize that when he gets home he should take his pill to prevent his ability to go through walls.

So why didn't he continue to take his medication twice a year?  He obviously at first did not want to be able to walk through walls or he wouldn't have gone to the doctor to get medication to block his ability.  Then especially after realizing all of the benefits of his ability Dutilleul wouldn't want to go back to the time when he couldn't walk through the walls.  Getting revenge on co-workers, being considered a hero for committing robbery, and escaping from jail are definitely what he would consider positives.  Despite all of this, he is taught a lesson, and he teaches it to himself, which is what I think I enjoyed the most. 

He had never really used his ability for good or to benefit others, which is one of the reasons why he was taught a lesson.  It ended up that he was just being greedy with what he had.  After having a good night with a woman, Dutilleul has a headache and takes a random pill from the drawer (yep, the ones from the doctor that stop him from walking through walls), all so he won’t miss another night with the woman from the previous night.  Dutilleul goes to see the woman again, has a good night once again, goes to leave through the wall, but because of the combination of tiring exercise and the pill, gets caught in the wall.  Serves him right for being greedy and taking a random pill to guarantee he would feel better by evening.  This lesson should have taught him that he shouldn't have been greedy with his ability because now instead of possibly using it for good and being successful, he is stuck in the wall with absolutely nothing.

Substance and The Way

In class we have been doing quite a bit of analyzing parts of the Tao De Ching by Lao Tzu.  We have particularly been looking at the Taoist traits that come out through the text.  Taoism is based on the Tao, or Way, which particularly focuses on balance in life.  A yin yang is one of the Taoist symbols that shows balance.  Where one section of the yin yang is dominant, the other is declining and vice versa.  It also shows a cycle, where one section of the yin yang ends, the other section begins, a never ending cycle around the circle.

I’m going to take a look at what would be considered Chapter 12, Substance, of the Tao De Ching, which you can find here: http://www.chinapage.com/gnl.html#12 .

The first section of the selection is really focusing of the balance aspect of Taoism.

“Too much colour blinds the eye,

Too much music deafens the ear,

Too much taste dulls the palate,

Too much play maddens the mind,

Too much desire tears the heart.” 

This section causes me to think about good things in life because although sometimes I think that you can never have too much of a good thing, often this proves wrong.  There is a balance that needs to be found where just the right amount of a good thing plays the role that it should in one’s life.  Using this section as an example, some people enjoy listening to their music on a loud volume, but one day that is going to have an effect on hearing.  Somewhere the appropriate volume level needs to be found, one where an individual can still enjoy their music without damaging their hearing.  Finding balance in one’s life is what leads them to following the Way.

The second section talks about what the sage would do.  This seems to be the way that Lao Tzu is giving the reader advice about how to possibly follow the Way.  The last line particularly stands out to me, “He ignores abstraction and holds fast to substance.”  I would say that this line tells readers that to follow the Way, one needs to stop worrying about perceptions and focus on what is real in life.  Individuals need to accept themselves for who they are and this will lead them to the Way.

Hush Hush About TillyTilly

So I have done quite a bit of reading so far this semester, and we're only about half way through.  A few weeks ago, we read The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyami, and it was a book that I really got into because the character of TillyTilly is such a mystery.  Although TillyTilly can do all of this great stuff, and is there as a friend for Jess, she wants to be kept a secret.  In my opinion this is because she is trying to protect Jess from what others are going to think about her.  Despite what TillyTilly wants, Jess blabs, and honestly I would have done the same.   Her parents just take the idea of TillyTilly as Jess’s imaginary friend.  As events continue to unfold with Jess and TillyTilly, her parents start to believe that there is something wrong with her psychologically.  This leads to visiting a psychologist, which is something TillyTilly really didn’t want to happen.  Although she meets a friend, Jess ends up getting hurt physically and mentally, which is what I think TillyTilly was trying to avoid and that is why she wanted to be a secret. 

Just as TillyTilly wants Jess to keep her a secret, Oyeyami keeps TillyTilly somewhat of a secret from the reader.  Oyeyami would want to keep TillyTilly a secret to keep readers guessing.  It kept me hooked until the end, where Oyeyami still doesn’t expose if TillyTilly is real or not.  This definitely challenges the material reality of here and now.  It also challenges the reader’s psychological, spiritual, and supernatural beliefs.  The belief of TillyTilly being real or not up to the readers, so keeping her a secret really allows the reader critically think to come up with their own conclusions.

Introducing....Myself!

Hi all! My name is Kimberly and I'm a junior at Silver Lake College.  Blogging is something I've never done before, but it is something that I am willing to try, especially when it's graded for a class.  World Lit is just another stop along my path to what I really want to do in the future, teach.  In this class, we are reading a variety of books, some which I just can't seem to get into, and some that seem to be fairly good.  As a teacher I'm going to have to do numerous things with reading, especially because I just found out in one of my classes elementary students spend around 180 minutes a day doing reading and language arts.  So, as I read my way through the semester and then blog about it, you can join me...it just might be enjoyable!