We Never Learn

Human kind is the most intelligent and advanced animal on earth. Over time we have developed skills that have allowed us to evolve without boundaries. But every good thing has its negatives, and humans are not the exceptions. Hand in hand with evolution, has been the oppressed of the weak and their struggle to break the injustices. Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening,” and Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” both show injustice oppressions made by society on people who are considered less.

In the first, we see the oppression of women, and in the latter, we see the oppression of people who do not seem to fit society’s rules, and are seen as mad, and how the people try and break the ties of society that are holding them down. In “The Awakening,” there’s Edna an atypical women for her era, who goes against the role of women during her time. The book was written in 1899, were women were supposed to be two things: wives and mothers. Their life revolved around their family and they were the ones in charge of making the household work. On the contrary, Edna decides to forget her house duties, and “completely abandons her Tuesdays at home, and does not return the visits of those who call upon her.” (pg. 110) On the other hand, in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” two characters are the ones responsible to go against society. For many years, people have been placed in a mental ward because they are not considered normal; they have traits that go against what was accepted by society. One example is a man called Harding that was put in the ward because he had feminine attributes and liked men. The Chief, with McMurhpy’s help, take “arms” against the combine and disturb the running of the hospital. They end up winning because the Chief escapes. In both books we see the struggle that the oppressed groups have to go through to win the battle against the injustice. Through history, people have been degraded fro being what they are. Even though there can be people that support them, the common view of society is a phenomenon that controls many. It is this common view that ends up degrading the oppressed, and they alone have to stand up for themselves and beat society.

This phenomenon has been seen all through history. Various groups, such as women, black, gay, Indians, have been affected by the rules of society. Unfortunately, masses of people go with the current and fear what’s different. Most of the people follow society’s law, and look down at the people that don’t, and here is where the oppressions starts. With these two books we can see the injustice that these two groups suffered, and we can see that it had no reason to be. Never the less, it seems as though we don’t learn fro our mistakes, because as some oppressed groups win the battle and gains acceptance, another starts being oppressed. 

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, presents a character that way ahead of her time. Published in 1899, Edna Pontellier has characteristics that appear many years after the book. During this time, the role of women revolves around the household, taking care of the husband and children. It is more accurate to name these women wives. But Edna is different. She feels uncomfortable with her situation, as surely more women did, but defies society, and gives more importance to herself as a human being, than to her role of a wife. Her characteristics portray her as a women of today.

Edna is a woman who does not fit the image of the women of that time. She is always defying the authority of her husband over her, and the chores that were given to her for being a woman. It is more the time that she spends wondering the streets, and failing her duties, than being a good wife or a mother. She never says he does not love her husband or her children but we are given the impression that she does not like to be with them.  In fact she says that she would give her life for her children, but not her self. On the contrary to almost every other women, she feels that her self is more important that her children and husband. That inner self that defines her is the most important thing in her life.

She is a complicated character, full of mixed emotions. Even though she gives the impression that she could live with out her family, when her husband left to New York, “she cried…calling him dear, goo friend, and she was quite certain she would grow lonely before very long and go to join him in New York.” (Pg. 136)  But at the same time, her children also left, and she felt “a radiant peace settled upon her when she at last found herself alone.” (Pg. 136) She even took over the kitchen and the meals, something that she had resigned of doing, maybe because she was doing only for herself, and not doing work for anybody else. Edna is happy alone, she feels relieved, but at the same time she misses her family and thinks about them; she cannot decide on what she really wants. It’s as if she was on a road to self-discovery, but is a long way from getting there. She knows for sure that the duties of the woman do not fit her, but she fails to know where she stands on love and relationships.

Edna does not fit in the society she lives in. She is much more similar to the women of today, who know give the same importance to work and the family. Back then women were 100% devotes to the household, but know it’s more balanced. Women are still related more to the household than men, but they are also given importance in the work force.  Clear examples are the high positions that women have, such as CEO or even presidencies of countries.

Leave the worst or best for last?

It does not matter wether we are talking about an adult or teen, everybody procrastinates at some point in their life.  It is something that has been present for many years, and one of the most common activities (or inactivities) through out the human race. The true questions is why do we do it, or rather do not do it?

There can be various reasons as to why one prolongs certain types of activities, but the most common reason is because we do not enjoy what we have to do. I can speak from a student's perspective and affirm that "procrastinations is the student's curse." We simple delay our ask because we don't like what we have to do. Or rather because there are other things that we could be doing. The same happens to Hamlet, who delays his revenge as much as he can. Very few people could say that it is fun to kill some one. Rather, very few could say that the enjoy killing the uncle. Hamlet loved his father and he felt justice had to be made, but since killing was not some thing he enjoyed doing, he looked for excuses to delay it as much as possible. The same happens for our day to day lives. As a student, I can say that I enjoy some classes more than others, and most of the time I work first on the ones that I enjoy. I almost always leave the worst for last. But this is a trend in society. When one has to do something that one doesn't enjoy, it can de dreadful to complete the task. No one likes to do something that they don't enjoy, some can even suffer by doing so, so, our human feelings and guts tells us to leave it for last. And as humans, I am sure that if it weren't for deadlines creeping in, we would only do the things that we enjoy; it's in our nature. We don't like to suffer, we like to have fun, and since things we dislike exist, we procrastinate, and leave the worst for last. 

Some times leaving the worst for last, is actually far worse than better. I am a strong believer of the opposite: "leave the best for last," because I like to get over the things I don't like fast, but sometimes it's also good to take it down a notch and procrastinate. It can even lead to good things, like being able to think things through and take the correct decisions. In conclusion, it is good to procrastinate some times. Being a chronic procrastinator is another story, but sometimes delaying things, is for the better. 

What to Take IN

One of the greatest advantages of Shakespeare’s plays is that they lend themselves to many different interpretations. Not only can the plays be acted in different ways, but also people can understand and view them differently.  In the beginning of the podcast, this is shown when glimpses of different interpretations of Hamlet are played. All of the actors’ voices and interpretations are different. Even though the play has a literal meaning people interpreter that meaning in different ways. Also people take in different messages and read and understand the play differently, base on their current situation and what they want to learn from it. 

For many, the prisoners from the Missouri Eastern Correctional Center were not only acting out one of the most important plays in history; they were engaged in an act of self discovery.  At first they were reading lines, and had difficulties because many did not graduate from high school, but towards the end, they transformed into the characters they were playing. They took something that materially had no meaning to them and were able to complete the meaning of the characters through the memories of their respective crimes. Since the first time that Dan Waller read the ghost’s opening scene he knew he wanted to play it. He felt that the man he killed was “talking to [him]” through the ghost, reminding him“what [he] put him through.” Also, James Word saw so much of himself in Laertes that he ended up feeling “I am Laertes. I am. I am.”  A 400-year-old play, that many would think had nothing to do with them, changed them.   This is also true for those forced to reflect on crimes they have committed. The prisoners acted out a play, and through the play, they relived their crimes.  More importantly, they rediscover their humanity in the face of a society that has deemed them monstrous. As they discovered themselves in the characters, the felt human again. In their perspective, they went from being monster to actors, which gave them the feeling that they were important.

The prisoners were just acting out Hamlet. But when they starting reading the lines, they understood the poem because they were able to compare themselves to it. Life comes with things that may seem to have no relevance to your life, but every situation has something to offer, you just have to want to learn and grow. 

Forced to Act

“No! I am not Prince Hamlet, now was meant to be,” is a famous line from T.S Elliot’s poem, The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock. He is referring to William Shakespeare’s famous character, Prince Hamlet, and even though he is not Prince Hamlet, they have very similar characteristics in their personality.

Both of the characters described in the poem and the play, are very doubtful and have trouble making up their mind, but in the end, Prince Hamlet is the only one that takes action.  In his poem, TS Elliot is describing a man that has an obsession for a woman but can never decided for the right time to act. He starts by wanting to ask the women to go with him: but then starts making up excuses to delay that question by arguing that there will be "time yet for a hundred indecisions…”  At the ends he never makes up his mind and ends up growing old alone. On the other hand, Prince Hamlet has trouble deciding when to act, because what he plans on doing takes a lot of courage. Taking revenge and killing one's uncle is not an easy task to do.  All through the play he questions himself and always finds obstacles to avenge his father’s death, just like J Alfred Prufrock, cannot decide to ask the women.  Both of them have trouble making up their minds and acting because they lack the necessary self-confidence; they feel insecure and are afraid that things don’t go out as planned. Most of the time, this is what makes people doubt. The fear of failing is what keeps us from taking importance decisions. But life is about making mistakes and learning from them. Just like J Alfred, and Hamlet, many people delay their actions, and have trouble making up their mind, but the only road to success is actually trying. Even though J Alfred was all alone and Hamlet died, the later was the one that succeeded because he actually acted. 

Both approached different situations in similar ways. They delayed their actions because of self doubt, never the less, Prufrock failed more than Hamlet because he never tried. Even though, Hamlet was forced to act, he ended up doing it and accomplish his goal. And this is what has to be done in life. People have to take away their fears and act, because as the old [modified] saying goes it is better to have tried and failed, than never have tried at all. 

Ted Talk Response

The central issue of this ted talk is a worldwide factor that has happened to everyone more than once. Her example on the “one-sided story” is one affecting a whole culture, a whole country; in fact, even a whole continent. What really worries me about the issue presented by Chimamanda Adichie is that it is a common issue that everybody is guilty of making at least once.

The most prominent example is Chimamanda Adichie herself. Even though she has been a victim of a one-side story, she has also been a guilty of at least believing a one-side story. She could not believe that the family of the poor boy could make anything, she “only saw them as being poor.” But a one-side story is not only something that affects masses in general, it can be very specific, like listening to a gossip and already judging the person with out really knowing them. It does not matter how many people are affected by the story, and the magnitude of the effects. What really matters is that it can be degrading, and have negative effects on people.   

In the Name of Kurtz

Towards the end of the novel, Marlow personally encounters Kurtz, but before that he had a very interesting conversation with the Russian guy. Like many others in the novel, the Russian did not view Kurtz as a normal man, but rather a remarkable one. In his opinion Kurtz was an example, a warrior, a great man, and he believed every one thought of him that way. All this glorifying resembled Kurtz as a god-like figure, but really, Kurtz was the complete opposite.

On man´s opinion does not make a man´s reputation, but many others shared the Russian´s thoughts about Mr. Kurtz. He described Kurtz´ arrival as coming with “thunder and lighting,” two things associated with the greatest God of the Olympians: Zeus, who was known for being the God of lighting, and ruling the skies. Kurtz was described with such honors.

Also, through out the book, the people who thought highly of Kurtz always said that it was difficult not to love him. As a catholic, I can say that we love God. This is what we are taught since little and this is exactly what the father talked about in yesterday´s mass. He stated repetitively that nothing could exist without love. That we humans cannot live without God´s love; it is a necessity for us but not for him. This is exactly why Kurtz is not a God, even though many thought of him as more than a normal man. He is the opposite of God. God loves of but does not demand love in return. Kurtz, on the other hand wanted all the attention and wealth to himself and did not think about others. The Russian told Marlow “he [Kurtz] declared he would shoot me unless I gave him the ivory,” (pg. 104) even though the Russian had been a good friend, who had kept him company and had even cured him twice.

The author described the Russian as “Kurtz last disciple” (pg. 109) and by no means was he equivocal. He was the last man standing in the heart of darkness who still worshipped Kurtz. He talked about him like there was no other important man in the universe, but him being the perfect disciple did not make Kurtz a God.

Every body has a different perception of God, but there are similarities between everybody´s opinion. One of the most common could be that God always put everybody before himself, and Kurtz did not do this. He was so consumed about getting wealthy with ivory that he forgot about every thing else. Also, God never acts to prove others right or wrong and it seemed that “Kurtz wanted and audience:” (pg. 102) an audience to watch him conquest an impossible task. Something, that at the end he could not accomplish. He died trying to accomplish his own task. He died alone, with nothing but a stranger by his side.