Jeff Williams

[jeffery-williams]

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[jeffery-williams]

Are we the Proles?

When reading 1984 I could not help but think, in some ways we are the Proles. Sometimes we fight or bicker about things that do not matter, a few of us will walk among us spreading rumors which we take as fact and get us riled up, and we are the key in fluence change since we are more in numbers than those in charge (even though we do not know we have this power). Also from the point of view of other countries we are these barbaric self centered creatures kind of how the Proles are first described. So if you do not like being compared to the Proles just keep in mind that, “The future lies with the Proles.”

[christopherthewinsomer-blog]

From Alpha to Epsilon | A Brief Review of “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley

Let’s consider, just for a moment, that the societal construct witnessed in Brave New World is not as barbaric as it seems.  Thus far, we’ve witnessed a series of communities utilizing genetic recombination to benefit the greater good of their society. Through the bastardized process of meiosis, the community is able to replenish their numbers at will with the exponential growth and replication of embryos. However, to avoid encroaching upon the aggressive waters of eugenics, my fascination is aimed towards the classification of the genetically altered children.

As displayed above, a child is placed under one of the following categories: Epsilon, Delta, Gamma, Beta, or Alpha. Based on the child’s cognitive, physical, and intellectual abilities, they are herded and groomed into one of the five categories. As inhuman as this hierarchy is, we utilize a similar “system” today, although incredibly diluted. We cannot evade the fact that some individuals are simply better suited for different roles that, ideally, contribute to society. What separates our present day hierarchy from Brave New World, is the continuous development throughout life and the freedom to pursue whatever role it is that we want to play.

[jeffery-williams]

Very interesting to think about.  You mentioned, “The freedom to pursue whatever role we want to play,” but I think it is sad how a lot people do not utilize this freedom.  How many people are like Montag that are doing what their father did just simply based on that fact?  How many people are working at jobs like burger King with no future plan?  Most of these people do not hold the Hindu belief of the Caste system but still kind of live their lives as if they do.  For some reason some people tend to just accept what status they were born into and never try to become anything else.  It just interesting to think about where we would be if everyone reached for the stars and tried to change the world. However, like you said, it is their freedom to be whatever they want to be.  

[jeffery-williams]

The End is Near....

One thing I think is interesting is how the stories we have been reading have all been dated, but they have the same fear, the fear of government control, the fear of censorship.  Like I said these stories are all dated but people still have the same fears today saying that the government is trying to control us too much, trying to take our privacy away, and we are heading towards the end of freedom.  Now, these are valid concerns but it is interesting to me that these same concerns were big fifty/sixty years ago as well.  It just reminds me of how throughout history people have been advising the end is near but we are all still here.

[notericclapton-blog]

Clarisse McClellan... The Ultimate American

Clarisse McClellan from Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451″ embodied what is is to be an American. She did not conform to the ideas of society and lose herself and her individuality. Clarisse stood firm to who she was even though the kids in school didn’t like her and people told her she was “abnormal”. I believe she inherently knew that it was her “right to be uncommon”. 

If there is anything I took away from this book, it is to be true to who you are. Do not allow society to dictate your personality. Be like Clarisse… Be an American. 

[jeffery-williams]

“The road of success is a lonely one.”

Your post reminded me of this video.  I think it is amazing how those that we look at as “odd balls” often go on to be successful.  Often we are quick to label people as “odd” because we do not understand their vision or think they are crazy.  We often try to be like others to achieve greatness, but I believe it is easier to achieve this goal if you are “uncommon”.  America was built on the dream of being different, so take the lonely road and achieve greatness.  Clarisse was alone on the sidewalk before Montag, separated from society, and sadly died alone.  However, she did not bend her will to others, and inspired Montag who inspired Faber, leaving her mark in life.  Take the lonely road, the hard road, be an American

[jeffery-williams]

Pending Doom:

I think it is interesting that overhead there is always a pending doom in Fahrenheit 451 (the planes in the sky), an almost invisible war right in front of a blind society.  To be educated means to ask questions, and to ask questions is to find the truth.  Now what would be the greatest war of all time?  Would it not be the war to control the mind?  To be able to control the mindset of society would mean to enslave them, however if done in a way where they believe they have a choice, and to be able to have them asking the wrong questions through control of the education system would mean a definite “win”.  I think in the book the government was successful in controlling and enslaving society buy keeping them busy with things that truly didn’t matter and keep them from questioning what is truly going on.  However, you will always have those that will find the truth which in turn will cause conflict which is why there would always be a pending doom lurking overhead, waiting in case of an outbreak of the truth, waiting for the government to drop its shoe and crush the outbreak like some bug.  So to me I see the planes always overhead in the story to symbolize the conflict that is happening, much like how rain is used in stories to show despair. 

[gayliegirlfempower-blog]

The Surprise

A Lovely Surprise

One of the things I like most about this little story is how much I can identify with the writer and the main character, Maybonne.  From the very first scene, she’s writing a letter.  I have written letters to friends and family alike since I was old enough to put some sentences together.  I’m also fortunate to be from a time (60′s, 70′s) when letter writing was the only other option we had besides the telephone.  Long distance calls were not cheap and chances are - your parents weren’t going to allow those high long distance rates on the phone bill. So, letter-writing was something I did quite often.  Maybonne knows her audience well and it’s evident by the casual style she uses - as Professor Clark suggested - almost as if she’s writing in her diary.  I’ve also been away from home and lived with relatives briefly as a teenager and young adult - missing your friends and family and everything about your home town.  By the way - these are sweet memories.  Letter writing is so much more personal than an electronic email - I don’t care what anyone says. 

I can always fall in love with a story when I immediately relate and understand what the character is about. Don’t we all read the story from our own filter anyway?  In the second scene I actually become the character and the writer because of the time period referenced in the scene.  The name of the song and the popular phrases of the time that she writes about.  I love the big questions she asked.  Especially, the one about God.  I love that question.  I like to think that something went right in Maybonne’s life that gave her the internal permission to ask such big questions.  At her age, I was terrified to question things - especially things about God.  Don’t worry - I made up for lost time as a young adult.  I love how she wants to know - what is God to me and what am I to God?  Not a religious type of knowing - but a deeper level of presence “knowing”.  The author is writing this story at a time in history when we were all just beginning to talk about the Holocaust and about what it really meant to be a slave or a descendant of a slave and what is racism.  I watched “Roots” for the first time in the 70′s as kid in elementary school.  It made a profound impact on me.  I sobbed throughout that entire week as I watched families being torn apart at the auction block. Or human beings being punished for things I couldn’t imagine. I never saw black people the same - and I’m glad.  Living in the south, you didn’t hear about the slavery and segregation, as an education anyway - not in those days - the South was still slowly integrating schools - yeah, it took that long. I always wanted to be even more kind to the African-American students at school after that.  It was very confusing.  When I watched Schindler’s List - I had the same profound reaction in the theater.  I was sobbing - and so was everyone else.  Yeah, things like that make you question - what is this (life/God) all about?

In the fourth and final scene I was struck by how Maybonne and the author were able to put a bow on the whole thing.  This was such a deep and enlightening cartoon - I’m sure many people weren’t ready for it.  I concluded that Maybonne and the author both had a lasting hope for themselves and for humanity.  Maybonne ends with the salutation, Peace + Love, and then she signs her name with a fancy looping signature and a bouquet of flowers on either side.  Yeah, she’s got hope and P.S. I still think life is magical.  So do I Maybonne, So do I. 

[jeffery-williams]

I have to admit I never was never a big fan for writing letters except for passing notes in class, but that is most likely because of the generation I grew up in. 

I have to agree though that something must of happened for her to be asking questions like this at such a young age. Most of us are still seeing the world as magical at that age and we tie that to the religious views are parents instilled in us.  Example would be that the magic of a sunset is Gods work.  Whats interesting in the story to me is that she still views the world as magical but she is able to separate this from her views of God and question God.  I believe we all at some point question religious views but I think for most of us this is when we become older, more educated and with education often the magic in the world dies.  We are taught 1+1 = 2 and we seek answers from the world in this format.  The sunset is just simply the cause of the Earths rotation/orbit around the sun.  I read somewhere that when we define something then we restrict it to our definition and in doing so we kill the beauty of it. 

Asking questions is important as it shows signs of being educated.

To look at something and appreciate it as it is without seeking answers it to enjoy the beauty of it and to keep the world magical.

Both are important and I believe should be balanced out.

[jeffery-williams]

Expanding on the ideas behind “Knowing Things”

In the short comic “Knowing Things” by Lynda Barry one important lesson came up that we discussed in class was do not force your negative experience on others as you are changing their reality.  I read somewhere that the biggest dream killers are your friends and family due to us holding their opinions highly and often they are not as passionate about our dreams as we are.  I think often we do not think about these things we just try to out of protection tell them that something will not work.  This however creates a world of inventions never created due to people listening to the negativity of others. 

Another concept I enjoy is that our world is all in our heads, that how our minds translates the info it receives shapes what we consider reality.  This means that a bat lives in a totally different world than we do since they view the world through a different set of eyes.   This concept has a little scientific backing as we know that white light is actually a combination of every color, we just perceive the color to be white. 

If you sit across from someone, facing each other, with an object in-between you and both were to point to what you believed to be the left side of the object you would get two different answers.  Both would be correct since the answer is dependent on the viewer’s point of view.  This results in a blur of right and wrong as most “wrongs” and “rights” are dependent on the viewer’s perspective.  

Out of compassion we try to protect others from our failures by pushing our negative views on those we care about.

Accepting the views of others over your own is a form of dictatorship as you are suppressing your views and as noted above our reality depends on our perspective or how we perceive the world. 

By the way in case you have not noticed by now, I enjoy reading philosophy!

[juliestudent0809-blog]

Never Know what you got ‘til its gone

After reading “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson I’ve had quite a few odd thoughts about the literal reading of the story as well as the irony that is embedded within the entire story. I find it very odd that no one found it odd or wrong unless it was their own family or themselves. This makes me think of the quote “You never know what you’ve got until its gone.” During this story the winner of the lottery this year was Tessie. At the beginning of the story Tessie was joking around with the other women of the town about the lottery and acting like it was no big deal. That is until it is her husbands name that was drawn. When that happens, its almost as if the reality of what really is happening during the lottery finally clicked in her head. It was not until she realized she was going to lose her husband that she realized this lottery was unfair. 

[jeffery-williams]

I believe this is how most of the world thinks though.  I believe our teacher touched the fact that the actions in the Middle East didn’t bother most Americans since it was so distant, so far away.  However, once 911 happened, everything became real for us, suddenly the conflict was at our door step. We didn’t have an issue until it affected us.  So the question comes up as to why MOST (not all) of us are like this.... I believe that it is due to a few facts:

No matter how hard we try we are mammals and with that we have a basic need for survival, meaning that we will take our own needs over others to survive.  

We are living in the age of technology.  What does this mean? It means that we surround ourselves with the cold machines that we create, that we try to conquer our environment (man vs nature), and we are slowly acting like the machines that surround us.  How mechanical are we?  We try to organize everything, try to become faster, and try to do more.  Example, man built the clock, are not slaves to the clock in a way?

Is there not a system for us to follow for our lives?

School

College - Loans

Work

Marriage - Loans

Buy a house – Loans

Work to get out of debt

Retire

How much of what we do is us and how much of us is following a path that was laid out for us? I believe the more machine we are the more inwardly we think.  "It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t affect me."  Also if we are living life as a system to follow then nothing would matter unless it is in our path keeping us from completing our desire task which is the goal of the system.

I think I’ve rambled on long enough, sorry!

[jeffery-williams]

My thoughts on “The Lottery”

I think a big part of this story has to do with blindly following traditions/orders without knowing why.  This to me is not a hard concept to grasp as we still do this today.  Studies show that if someone is born into a republican/democrat family then they are most likely to not change when they older, and the same is true in regards to religion.  In fact for me, when I took a world religions class it raised a lot of questions about my own religion and of the other religions.  When I sought out the answers to these questions I was looked down upon for having questions and not just accepting everything in faith.  I believe this is wrong but is why we as a society do not ask questions.  We are afraid of being “wrong” or the “odd ball” of society as we all seek acceptance of some sort, we seek to fit in. To me if one TRULY cares about “x” then they will ask questions to make sure they have it correct in their mind so that without a doubt they believe/know “x” is true even during hardships.  In the story we see that people support the lottery but when it affects them negatively then they have concerns/issues with what is going on.  I believe this is because they truly do not believe in what they are doing because they do not have all the answers, they do not know why they are doing it.  In short, I believe all of us should seek our own answers to everything in life because then it will become our own truth and will mean that much more to us.

P.S. Did anyone else think that the kids were just collecting rocks to play with because it was the 40’s and they didn’t have anything else to play with? Seriously did not see the end coming lol.