Custom-Made Fedora

Custom-Made Fedora

A fedora hat is a soft felt hat that is creased lengthwise down the top, or crown. It is pinched in front on both sides. The brim on a fedora goes all the way around the hat, and many fedoras have a hatband. (ehow style). They are identified with gangsters such as Al Capone, but it mainly gives its identity to Indiana Jones. In section 2 of Invisible Cities, Calvino, or rather Marco Polo discusses the city of Fedora. “In every age, someone, looking at Fedora as it was, imagined a way of making it the ideal city…he constructed his miniature model…what had been until yesterday a possible future became only a toy in a glass globe.”(Pg 32)

Every individual's eye is different, just like their desires and identity.

Each person, designing a model of Fedora personalized it. Like Indiana Jones’, fedora hat, each model was an identity of the person. Every individual has different desires and manifests them through different ways. This is why they “imagined a way of making it the ideal city” and that could be referred as their personal utopia. “…Every inhabitant… chooses the city that corresponds to his desires…” (Pg 32) This is just evidence of the utter uniqueness in each being’s aspirations. Personally, I think that this is why utopias can never exist.  The differences in each human being will never cooperate to make an ideal version of the world to satisfy everyone.

Calvino places each version in a glass ball mocking utopias. Although they are real on each person’s mind and can be imagined or in this case seen, they remain inside a crystal ball where it’s only displayed. It will never emerge into reality. I believe that when people refer to living inside a bubble they don’t realize how it seriously applies to life. Every person lives inside his or her own bubble perpetually. Each bubble represents a reality and there are no same realities just like there are no same persons. Thus, everyone wears his or her custom-made fedora hat. “…All [Fedora versions] are only assumptions.” (Pg 32). People only assume what’s the best Fedora version for their reality in an unconscious and selfish manner. There will never be indeed a right or wrong, good or bad, better or worst Fedora version. It all depends on the individual’s perception and therefore assumption. Nevertheless it is all of these vast differences that keep the world going by creating a “check and balance”. 

Show and...Tell or Don’t Tell?

Show and...Tell or Don’t Tell?

In Invisible Cites, Calvino demonstrates how perception is unique for every reader. “Whatever country my words may evoke around you, you will see it from such a vantage point, even if instead of a palace there is a village on pilings and the breeze carries the stench of a muddy estuary.” (Pg 27) Marco Polo is making the Great Kahn understand that no matter where or how a story or information is reveled to him, he will always have a superior point of view influenced by his insinuations. Figuratively, being the writer, Marco Polo implies that Kahn as the reader will always have his own inferences which alter the story.  But what is that makes readers make inferences and how do they differ? Every reader has a different life formed by different experiences. It is this experiences that make each individual vary their perceptions and views. Consequently different inferences are made. The emperor admits it “My gaze is that of a man meditating, lost in thought-.” (Pg 27) It is at this point where our minds linger between reality and idealism, where creativity and imagination take over control, where our past experiences involuntarily influence our thought, where our senses go numb and finally our perception changes inducing our inferences.

Despite the Venetian’s mastering of Tartar language, emblems proved to be more important. “…Each piece of information about a place recalled to the emperor’s mind that first gesture or object with which Marco Polo had designated the place.”(Pg 22) Show don’t tell. Emblems have an allegorical denotation, making each city have a deeper meaning based on its emblem. This symbol makes the reader as well as Kahn create a unique inference based on the emblem’s significance. Like Dawkins’ memes for society, Polo’s emblems for the cities are patterns that represent an idea. Zirma is an example where memes play an important role. “The city is redundant: it repeats itself so that something will stick in the mind.” (Pg 19)  Targeting the remaindering of the city, Zirma uses repetition. Being a pattern and idea that spreads over persons, memes accomplish this remembrance as well in culture. The emblems do the same; they create this sense of recollection in the minds of the audience for the specific city based on its allegorical meaning.

It is throughout this symbolizing and deductions that language lost its power and thoughts gained it. “…The emperor wanted to follow more clearly a private train of thoughts; so Marco’s answers and objections took their place in discourse already proceeding on its own, in the Great Kahn’s head. They went from showing, to speaking, to explaining, to thinking to imagining and then alternated.  On a metaliterary level it depicts the relation ship between the writer and the reader. It’s symbiotic where the showing through an emblem became as important as the telling through Marco Polo’s verbal statements. “ The new fact received a meaning from that emblem and also added to the emblem a new meaning.” (Pg 22).  

Vocaboalrio nel le città invisibili

Vocaboalrio nel le città invisibili

1. Bastions (Pg10): a projecting portion of a rampart or fortification that forms an irregular pentagon attached at the base to the main work.
http://www.flyingoranges.com/img/14406957/Bastion.jpg

2. Usurper (Pg10):
seize something without right
http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/ndi0384l.jpg

3. Festoon (Pg10): a string or chain of flowers, foliage, ribbon, etc., suspended in a curve between two points.
http://www.clker.com/cliparts/3/6/2/b/11970969151549397500johnny_automatic_flower_and_fruit_festoon.svg.hi.png

4. Scepter (Pg 10):
a rod or wand borne in the hand as an emblem of regal orimperial  power.
http://www.shalfleet.net/advent/scepter.gif

5.  Banister (Pg11):
any of a number of closely spaced supports for a railing.
http://hardwareaisle.thisoldhouse.com/images/2007/08/07/freud_bannister_2.jpg

6:  Concentric (Pg 12):
having a common center, as circles or spheres.
http://www.mabelhood.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/concentric-circles.jpg

7. Chalcedony( Pg. 12)
a microcrystalline, translucent variety of quartz, often milky or grayish.
http://www.asia.ru/images/target/img/product/10/71/33/10713374.jpg

8.  Nubile (Pg 9):
suitable for marriage, especially in regard to age or physical development; marriageable.
http://www.exoticindia.es/panels/a_nubile_nymphet_wb54.jpg

9.  Pheasant (Pg12):
 any of numerous large, usually long-tailed, Old World gallinaceous birds of the family Phasianidae, widely introduced.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Pheasant.jpg

10. Tankard (Pg 13):
a large drinking cup, usually with a handle and a hinged cover.

11. Halberd (Pg 13): a shafted weapon with an ax like cutting blade, beak, and apical  spike, used especially in the 15th and 16th centuries.
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA4OFgxMDg4/$(KGrHqJ,!hQE8mHt10HqBPMm41cEi!~~60_35.JPG

12. Palanquin (Pg 14): a passengerconveyance, usually for one person, consisting of a covered or box like litter carried by means of poles resting on the shoulders of several men.
http://ignca.nic.in/images/rar27/big/bsl49305.jpg

13. Awning (Pg 15): a roof like shelter of canvas or other material extending over a doorway, from the top of a window, over a deck, etc., in order to provide protection, as from the sun.
http://www.worthblinds.com/Weinor%20Patio%20Awnings%20by%20Worth%20&%20Co%20Blinds.JPG

14. Keel (Pg 17):
 a central fore-and-aft structural member in thebottom of a hull, extending from the stem to the sternpostand having the floors or frames attached to it, usually atright angles: sometimes projecting from the bottom of thehull to provide stability.
http://media-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/90/1890-004-52F26B90.gif

15. Cornice (Pg 19):
any prominent, continuous, horizontally projecting feature surmounting a wall or other construction, or dividing it horizontally for compositional purposes.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/57/Wheelingcornicecropped.jpg/350px-Wheelingcornicecropped.jpg

Teens vs. Memes

Teens vs. Memes

Stephanie Vainberg comments in her blog Dystopia Today on how Society Killed the Teenager. Sharing her opinion, I agree that society has been degrading as well as evolving the teenage culture. However who or what I should say is responsible for this? Easy… memes.  They are after all the driving force behind society’s cultural changes. True, people are the ones who act upon them, yet memes are the “active agents working purposefully for their own survival.” (Pg 196) Through out time genes have been undergoing cultural mutations reflecting their time period. Like evolution of genes, the environment influences them to.

Taboos are clear examples of memes. There have been revelations towards taboos especially by the teenage culture. In the 20`s, young women started to drink, cut their hair in bobs, and shorten the length of their skirt. In the 50`s the beatnik generation displayed more freedom in sexuality as well as drug use.   They were followed by hippies in the 60`s and so on. Each decade, taboos protested against existing memes as well as mutated and spread others.

As there exist good mutations for evolution there are also bad ones. Memes fit into this as well, I will however leave it up to you to decide which is what. Fashion is a meme that has come to be extremely important for teenagers. This comes in hand with another meme, beauty and the idealism that society has made out of it. Drinking, partying, and smoking have become a ¡n extremely common recreational activity. A meme that affects all society as well is a materialistic view of the world that is constantly fed by the evolution of technology.

When referring to “Society Killed the Teenager” an extremely biased position is taken. Why killed? I would personally say it was a birth rather than a death. Adults were once teenagers and experienced cultural mutations in memes as well.  Genes being immortal in a way couldn’t be killed and therefore neither could the teenage society because they follow the gene’s DNA orders. The stereotyped teen is seen by older generations as killed by society. Younger generations see it as normal or simply born from society. Nevertheless it all comes back to memes and their state and influence on what group on what time.

Meme: A cultural replicator of imitation.

Imitation: Copy or fake

Survival Value: Value for a meme in a meme pool

Cultural Mutation: The alteration of cultural characteristics

Reverse Psychology

Reverse Psychology

Believe the best in other people. This is something I have been told, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.  However this has been a difficult task to accomplish and for the most we end up believing the worst in others. Our selfish genes misguide us into believing that what the other wants, or believes is in their best interest and therefore ours too. Some, being quicker and smarter use reverse psychology to make others want what they guide them to in order to have the other best option for themselves.

When a predator approaches a group of gazelles it is seen as if the ones jumping are trying to grab the predators attention in order to dissuade it from attacking others. What a brave and courage gazelle most would think, but they don’t know their utter intentions. Their real aim is to say to the predator, “Look how high I can jump, I am obviously such a fit and healthy gazelle, you can’t catch me, you would be much wiser to try and catch my neighbour who is not jumping so high!” (Pg 171)

What first seem as a pure altruistic behavior is suddenly turned into nothing but an illusion. This scene is simply a “… competition to see who can jump the highest, the loser being the one chosen by the predator.” Selfishness once again dominates genes, this time being sneakier than others. Jumping high is in this case an advantageous gene for survival.

Reverse psychology is extremely efficient to obtain something you desire for you exclusively. It works at its best when you out-mind tour rival. For example, children are naïve and look out to older people. If a child refuses to eat and you challenge him by saying “I will eat faster than you,” they would want to beat you and eat without analyzing the challenge.  Morally, using reverse psychology is wrong. However on a Dawkins` point of view morality wouldn’t even exist. Selfishness has an absolute monarchy over the world making morality almost unconstitutional.

Cave: from Latin word “beware”. A warning for an approaching danger.Anthropomorphic: attribution of human characteristics to nonhumans

Miscellaneous: composed of varied things

Symbiosis: mutually beneficial relationship

Suckers: Strategy that practices reciprocal altruism indiscriminately

Cheat: A strategy that accepts altruism from other and never pays back 

Grudger: A strategy that practices reciprocal altruism but doesn’t practice it with cheaters by recognizing them

All for Nothing?

All for Nothing?

“… acquired characteristics are not inherited.” (Pg.23) For many this might be a logical statement, but, in the context of Dawkin`s The Selfish Gene it makes you judge it. Why is life then so hard? In the end all of what we worked for or acquired will be worthless. “No matter how much knowledge or wisdom you acquire during your life time, not one jot will be passed to your children by genetic mean.” Why do we suffer the pains of school? Why then should we work hard to get the best grades? The answer comes back to genes and its selfishness for surviving.

“A body is genes` way of preserving the genes unaltered” (Pg.23) We are nothing more and nothing less than genes survival machines. DNA is our boss and life is DNA vs. DNA. Knowledge and wisdom, although worthless for genetic transmission, are advantages for a survival machine. Machines would be generally judged based on abilities and skills. Which car goes faster? Which computer can store more information? Which cell phone has a better camera resolution? However, it is the programming, engines, chips etc. in this machines that make them do what they are. As humans we compete for the fastest, strongest, prettiest within others. Then again our chip, our brain is utterly important.

A combination of all of these is needed in order to achieve the perfect survival machine. This will of course vary depending on the specie, but for humans it works this way. Take for instance high school. The strong guy will never get beat up, the handsome guy will be popular, and the nerdy guy will excel in grades. There is always another side for each story as there is for this one. The strong guy could maybe be ugly and never fit in, the handsome guy could be retarded and fail school, and the nerdy guy will most likely be bullied. However in comes the perfect guy: out-going, smart, and cute. He is the perfect combination and he will excel in every aspect of life, granting him a bigger chance of survival.

Sadly our society revolves around money and its acquisition could almost guarantee survival. The owning of this resource can in many times make up for failures in characteristics like the ones previously discussed. Food that keeps you healthy and alive is obtained by money. For the most, money can guarantee you a mate. It can also buy surgeries and products to preserve beauty. Pretty much, you’re screwed without money. This is why; genes manipulate their survival machine indirectly into the acquisition of money as well as acceptance in society. 

ERROR!

Error!

Mistake: An error or fault resulting from defective judgment, deficient knowledge, or carelessness. (Dictionary.com)

“…It is hard to think of examples where errors can be described as improvements.”  (Pg. 16) Being raised and influenced by our culture we have come to remain on a single judgment in concern to mistakes: they are wrong and bad as stated on the previous definition. However Dawkins makes a realization proving that we in fact are mistaken to judge mistakes in that way. But, why would we be? As infants confusing colors was wrong, as teenagers trying a cigarette was wrong, as adults investing in the wrong place was wrong, and as old people confusing your grandchildren’s names was wrong. Every little detail that breaks society’s rules or plans is a mistake and consequences usually follow. How could we not see a mistake negatively when that is what’s reasonable!

Like every human mistake there is always a counter argument or excuse for in general “mistakes”. In this case we are literally referring to mistakes and this excuse would be that “you learn from your mistakes”. Despite being a controversial point in society it approximates Dawkin`s position. “Erratic copying in biological replicators can in a real sense give rise to improvement, and it was essential for the progressive evolution of life that some errors were made.” (Pg. 16) Here, the “you learn from your mistakes” represents that the learning are better traits for survival. A cost will always be paid for making a mistake, but as seen it’s not necessarily a bad or unfair one.

At first, I couldn’t help questioning whether this evolving from mistakes was selfish or not. My thoughts were that making a mistake was bad enough and at the moment a sort of discrimination or trouble might have popped out. After I reasoned that the long-term result was an utter survival over the other competitors and that is definitely selfish. So as wrong as it may sound the reason that you are here reading this blog entry as you are is all due to a mistake that took place many many many years ago. Who knows what mistake will happen next that will transform the path of evolution …

Is the Glass Half-Full or Half- Empty?

Candide once learned from Pangloss that optimism is strong and needs to be always present.

Candide and Pangloss definition for optimism: “The passion for maintaining that all is right when all goes wrong with us.” (pg 86)

Despite all the miseries that Candide had to endure he was always optimistic and was faithful to his teacher’s saying “All is for the best.” I believe that being on this extreme of the worldview has both its pros and cons. On its defense, while facing a negative situation you don’t get as emotionally involved or as dramatic. This point of view would allow you to be stronger and have a clearer head in the situation. Furthermore this would help you enjoy life more because you’re not constantly worried or pushed down because of a trauma in your mind. On the other hand, being to optimistic can have a long-term negative effect. As a natural human being things have to offend or bother you in a way. Being so optimistic actually means that you are being a hypocrite with yourself unconsciously. After an accumulation of pretending that “all is for the best" you will explode and question the world’s “goodness”.

This is the case of Candide, when seeing the humble Negro in Suriname he threatens to abandon Pangloss’ optimism. In Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut there is also a similar theory. Billy states “So it goes” after every death he witnesses displaying indifference. Like Candide’s optimism, this is just an excuse to evade the misfortunes of life. However, after a collection of indifference something has to break the cycle or produce a negative outcome. Unfortunately for poor Billy it was an unacknowledged trauma with its disorders. 

Martin has a cynical view of the world, “…I have seen and experienced so much, that I am forced to believe that man’s origin is evil.”  (Pg 92) He could be a face of Voltaire himself who after suffering a lot like Martin and seeing all of the world’s evils can believe, under no circumstance, that this is the best of all possible worlds. This other extreme is not completely right. Personally I believe that a balance is needed because there is no good without evil and vice-versa. It follows the Taoist Yin-Yang fundamental.  One wouldn’t exist without the other; harmony is needed for control. 

Der Goldene Utopie

Der Goldene Utopie

“…We have nothing to ask of G-d, since He has given us everything we need. But we thank Him unceasingly.” (pg 79) In this kingdom wealth is inexistent, everyone is equal and has exactly what they need. Candide and Cacambo spent a month in this paradise, but they were not able to recognize that they were actually happy and had everything they needed. This mentality exemplifies the typical occidental man who puts wealth above everything. This term did not exist in El Dorado all of its inhabitants were logically happy with what they had. However as humble and innocent as Candide could be he still desired wealth. On a long-term prediction he could stay there and live happier than anywhere else, but the human greed and selfishness to always want more exceeds logic. Knowing that the people of El Dorado took gold and treasure for granted he planned on taking them and becoming exuberantly rich. Needless to say, he did not predict obstacles in his journey to the top.

Wealth was not the only push factor for Candide out of El Dorado. He insisted on “rescuing” Lady Cunegonde” because he was not able to live without her. He is however blinded by the fact that she chose money over true love. Now, there is another example of the greed and wealth desire I mentioned earlier! If she was a loyal lover and like Candide would do anything for her mate she would have fled with Candide not minding the consequences.

Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.

But he grew old--
This knight so bold--
And o'er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.

And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow-
"Shadow," said he,
"Where can it be--
This land of Eldorado?"

"Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied--
"If you seek for Eldorado!"

This poem, El Dorado by Edgar Allan Poe describes the story of a knight who spends all of his life looking for El Dorado. He each time looses more energy and is more incapable, but he never gives up. In the end of his life he learns that its way is basically through death meaning that it doesn’t exist. Thousand of wealth-hungry humans spent their life in the same way risking it for nothing. This proves that their eagerness for riches overpowered life’s natural path of family and love. Candide was placed in this situation by Voltaire on purpose to mock all the hopeless men who like the poem’s night had a miserable life.

The true intentions of Europeans is not to stay in that complete paradise, but to take advantage of its riches, take them, and show it off to others. He decides to leave in order to accomplish his mission and ironically ends up loosing almost all of his treasures only his way to civilization. He is again weakened by his naïve mind and is tricked by Surinam’s judge and a Dutch captain. He then uses it in proper way by giving it out to miserable humans when finding his companions.  

From Riches to Rags

From Riches to Rags

In life, we are used to only moving up in the social ladder. However, we forget about the slides… Since our infancy we’ve gotten used to the idea and hope of rags to riches with movies like Aladin, Cinderella or Snow White. Today we still see it in shows like The X Factor, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?; and movies like the Pursuit of Happiness. Under this circumstances people are able to succeed either by a talent, merit, or simply good luck. It is most commonly displayed in the American Dream, making Americans inspired by it and foreigners attracted.

In Candide characters slide down instead of climbing up. They are constantly followed by misfortunes ending each time in a worst position. Abigail, the old lady, has the most dramatic slip. "Imagine the situation of a Pope's daughter aged fifteen, who in three months had undergone poverty and slavery, had been raped nearly every day, had seen her mother cut into four pieces, had undergone hunger and war, and was now dying of the plague in Algiers." (pg 55) . She was extremely rich, had royal blood and expected to live glamorously ever after. Escaping her fiancé’s death and heading to a peaceful break she was captured. In a blink of an eye her life was flipped over.  Cunegonde had an overall comfortable life when the Bulgars attacked her home. "... Unless you have been ravished by two Bulgars, had two stabs in the belly, and two of your country houses demolished, two mothers and two fathers butchered before your eyes, and beheld two of your lovers flogged in an auto-da-fe, I do not see how you can rival me; moreover, I was born a Baroness with seventy-two quartering’s in my coat of arms, and yet have served as kitchen-maid." (pg 48) You never know what will happen next that will make you jump out of your comfort zone.

Nevertheless there are some rags to riches examples that have to blame their own victims. Addiction is a path that can lead you straight down. Today, there are many people addicted to alcohol, drugs, and gambling. They have the decision and pick these destructive vices over their welfare. At times, they are sometimes not the only ones affected by their mistakes, but their family too. Teenagers are starting from an early age meaning that their downfall will arrive earlier. One’s future can change drastically because of these toxic obsessions. 

Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if my father’s company went broke, or if they kidnapped me. I want to feel psychologically prepared (not that I want it to happen), but the moment I think of it I knock on wood and just force myself out of those thoughts. Then again why do we evade it? Because humans don’t like to face reality. In Colombia there is a guerilla group that constantly reminds me of reality. Every time I learn about a new crime or read about them I get scared. Earthquakes like the one Candide and Pangloss endured in Lisbon on 1755 can happen at every time.  Recognising the dangers of life doesn’t mean that you should hide at all times and be paranoid. Risks are also needed and with them come fun, experiences, and lessons. I know that life isn’t perfect, and I have to be ready to face a challenge at all times.

Planet Earth is Off Limits

Planet Earth is Off Limits

"Men must have somewhat altered the course of nature; for they were not born wolves, yet they have become wolves. G-d did not give them twenty-four-pounder or bayonets, yet they have made themselves bayonets and guns to destroy each other. In the same category I place not only bankruptcies, but the law which carries bankrupt effects, so as to defraud their creditors.” –James the Anabaptist (pg. 31)
Through out time, humanity has not been able to feel satisfied with what their kind has and naturally is. They have constantly been in the look for new technologies to dominate the rest of the world. Why can’t they feel proud and full filled with their animal qualities like the rest of the species have? This kind of thought can be seen in the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn were humans of our culture have disrupted the balance of nature for selfish purposes. We are constantly and unconsciously doing this, and we’ve reached a point that its now unstoppable. Just like Candide and Pangloss ´“cause and effect” we are causing an unbalance in nature that will produce as an effect global warming and eventually the end of the world as we know it. Humans have already taken control of the world, and there is no turning back. However, there are still things that can be done and traits in our society that can be changed for the best. We should start to value ourselves as humans rather than dressing up as wolves. The world is not made of play-dough and we cant therefore shape it as we please. Planet Earth is a pricey masterpiece and should therefore remain on display untouched. 

Auto-da-fé

Auto-da-fé

In Colonial times, Europeans went about accusing Natives of savages. They, nevertheless did not take into consideration that they too had cannibalistic and wild characteristics.  The Auto-da-fé was “the ceremony for pronouncing judgment by the Inquisition which was followed by the execution of sentence by secular authorities” (Merriam-Webster). In Candide, an Auto-da-fé takes place to prevent further earthquakes hanging Pangloss and flogging Candide. It  is however extremely ironical that the Portuguese translation is literally act of faith. This outrageous ceremony sacrificed people’s life in the exact way that Natives from other cultures did to satisfy their deity. So after all this said-to-be opposites are connected in the strongest possible way; through their strong devotion o religion.

Although the Inquisition was in its last moments, it had still a great influence. Cunégonde lived in a house owned by both a Jew named Isaachar and an Inquisitor priest. It was this priest who had days ago victimized Candide and terminated his master’s life. He had also simultaneously burned two Jews for not eating bacon, but he is still managing to share both a house and a lady with a Jew. This is another simple proof of men’s  never-ending egoism. They are capable of doing anything for the sake of their individual benefit. Even more ironically, they end up dead together.

“The Cardinal was buried in a beautiful church, and Isaachar was thrown on the dunghill.” (pg. 46) WOW… utter shock was my complete reaction after reading this sentence. Yet, how naïve could I have been to not expect it. It is still, an entire  act of disrespect to throw off a dead animal(including humans) to a pile of excrement. They disserve more than that, especially if they have done no wrong. A river would have been fine, or just any other place but that. For most of the world’s history, Jews have not obtained their appropriate burial. They have constantly been persecuted having no chance to get their religiously appropriate burial ceremony. The two Jews burned in the Auto-da-fé did not get anything near an appropriate death since they were burned. Jewish require a natural decomposition of the body, and for it to still be under the ground for the resurrection of the Messiahs arrival.

The Auto-da-fé was obviously in vain as well as most Jewish persecutions. Still, remember that “everything happen for the best”. Candide was flogged in Portugal only to be seen by Cunégonde, her home attacked and she shared with the Inquisitor to see Candide in the Auto-da-fé. The good effect of this cause: Candide and Cunégonde were reunited into true love. 

Farewell Slaughterhouse Five

Farewell Slaughterhouse Five

Slaughter house-Five is probably one of the most striking, memorable and different book I’ve ever read. It’s the type of piece that will always stand out and which I can refer too in the future for memories of WWII. What impacted me the most was the way in which its content can be analyzed and studied. The relationship between characters and connections were astonishing. Staring off by he question of whether Billy is Vonnegut, if he is just a character, or if he´s a character that reflects Vonnegut’s story. They both share some similarities like going through the war as an American soldier, but their personalities are rather different.  Another connection is Kilgore Trout and Vonnegut. While being writers who explore time warps, extrasensory perception, and unexpected things, they share varied pasts and general lives. However the most remarkable connection is Billy Pilgrim with Jesus Christ. Seriously, who would have ever imagined? Both Jesus and Billy where really naïve and nobodies, for some reason lots of people found them annoying. Thus, they managed to go through extremely tough times and survive by miracles.

Vonnegut also exposes very interesting and innovative theories in a creative way. The Tralfamadorian belief of coming “unstuck in time” is illogical as logical.  Although it is physically impossible, to me it makes perfect sense and is somehow appealing.  Time traveling throughout your life would be very reasonable and positive. Destiny would strictly follow its path and you could visit any moment of your life.  However it may realistically be boring; knowing what’s next and not being able to do anything about it. Billy uses this concept as an excuse for his continuous thoughts and memories on his traumatic war experience. It is indeed very interesting how Billy creates the Tralfamadorian world to get over his trauma by mixing Trout’s ideas and his own. All of this simply reflects Billy’s war trauma and how it really affects him. In my opinion, Billy is someone who wasn’t meant to be at war. As a matter of fact, no body really is meant to be but Billy’s case is particular. He was sent with no purpose rather than putting his life at risk. 

The ending of chapter 1 is the exact beginning of a story and the exact end.

“It begins like this:
              Listen:
            Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time.
It ends like this:
             Poo-tee-weet? “ (pg. 22)

This makes the story and the way it’s narrated all the more interesting. It displays a circular pattern, which makes it more tempting to read. Vonnegut’s technique is very particular; with its satirical and straightforward style it has a catchy swing. Something, which still remains confusing for me, is why did Vonnegut write the book, and contradict himself if there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. There has to be something because there wouldn’t be a book otherwise. After all, there are no birds singing in war, and the perfect ending was the tweet of a bird. 

What Grandma Said

What Grandma Said...

In Yvette Abadi’s blog-post Taking Control she depicts the way in which children are forced to take care of their parents.  There are times when the roles need to switch making the young mature and the old childish.  This happens when Billy ages, and unwillingly, her daughter Barbara takes care of him. “Oh my G-d, you are a child. If we leave you alone here you’ll freeze to death, you’ll starve to death.” What hurts me the most is that she uses an irritated tone. My grandma works in an old folks home, and she is very fond of old people. She always says: “One father can sustain 10 children, but 10 children can’t sustain one father”.  This is actually true, and I have evidence in my own family where my grandmother’s siblings (7) abandon and are careless about their parent’s wellbeing, having my mom take care of them even though they’re not her parents.

I cannot imagine what being old, alone, and sick can be like. It’s hard enough to be living under this condition, and having people being irritated by you or abandoning you will always make it worst.  I believe that we should display affection and appreciation to our parents, and this should happen at the moment where they need it the most, that is at the third age. Besides this, we should individually feel grateful for not only bringing us into the world, but also giving us our life in the best possible way.

I see it as a compensation system, having something and then returning it. In your childhood, these people take care of you in the best possible way and are generally always there to support you. There is a point in life when both are mature and stable enough to live completely independently. However, there also comes a point where the parent can’t live independently and need help, this issue becomes each time worst. It is at this point that the compensation comes in… it works like a bank loan. This afternoon I got pair of TOMS shoes. For the purchase of a pair, they give a pair of shoes to a random person in the world who needs it. This as well is compensation, for me the world needs these types of things to mantain a balance. 

Merry-go-round

Mery-Go-Round

It’s February 13 of 1976 the day of Billy Pilgrim’s death. Funny isn’t ir… well at least for Billy it is. We are facing a common, daily, very normal issue… death, then why is the world feeling so uneasy. The response of Billy’s audience to death is the typical earthling reaction, they don’t get the world like Billy or the Tralfamadorians do. “If you protest, if you think that death is a terrible thing, then you have not understood a word I’ve said.”  Billy addresses his audience in a mature and wise way. “Farewell, hello, farewell, hello.” (Pg 142)

For me, this signifies an infinite cycle, time traveling, and a pattern in life… Fare well, hello, and then back again… It’s just like a merry-go-round. Do you remember when you where a toddler, maybe even a kid ridding it? Your dad, mom, grandma, nanny or whoever would stand still in a place while you rode. As the carrousel went round, your guardian would anxiously await for your appearance. As soon as you saw them, you would wave hello fervently, and then in the next round goodbye with the same emotion, always alternating between the two types of waves. Still it was never a final goodbye or a unique hello. The cycle would then repeat itself until the ride stopped.

Lets pretend that the merry-go-round is just like Billy’s time traveling machine. “… It is time for me to be dead for a little while – and then live again.” (Pg 143)  He will say farewell for a small period of time, and then appear and say hello.  After all, this was just a stop in his time traveling so he will soon come back to life. “In the next moment Billy Pilgrim is dead. So it goes.” (Pg 143). This demonstrates the careless sense and way death should be accepted. It’s a natural fate for human beings and from my point of view it shouldn’t be mourned. On the contrary, the good moments and previous existence of the person should be celebrated. For instance take graduation; the high school period faces death. However it is not grieved, people rejoice all of the good memories even though the have come to an end.