Is Revenge Justifiable? Not

In Hamlet, Hamlet encounters his father's ghost and finds out the truth about his father's death. His uncle had poured poison in his father's ears and married his mother. Hamlet swears to seek revenge on his uncle Claudius. Some people agree that revenge is necessary and moral, an eye for an eye. In my opinion, revenge is unnecessary. Revenge is used as an excuse for people who cannot overcome their obstacles. Inflicting pain to a person in order to relinquish one's anger and grudge seems unhealthy and immoral. There are many other ways for people to recover from their loss. Avenging someone or hating on someone only makes the person holding the grudge feel much worse. For example, if a person kills another person's child and as revenge the victim kills the murderer's child, everyone is left angry, abandoned and scarred. As for Hamlet, I think he made the wrong choice to take revenge on his uncle Claudius. Hamlet does not know that doing so will hurt him and the people around him. Revenge should never be an option and should be avoided in any circumstances.

Leaders' Characteristics

Everyone seeks for an honest leader. A person who puts the majority as the priority. In my opinion, people who have unwavering integrity  and a vision of a better community are fit to be a leader. They want to become a leader because they want to change the poor conditions of society they have encountered. I think all leaders start out with good intentions. I think the amount of power that is given to a leader position is what corrupts them. Ego is not necessarily the reason that corrupts people, but it can be a major factor. For a leader to have a strong ego is important because it prevents them from being swayed by judgement. However, when they have too much of an ego, or if they have bad intentions, it is extremely difficult for them to rethink their decisions or let go of their desires. Which are often the causes of economic downfall and corrupt government. I think leaders can stay true to all of the personal values and morals they have. However, it is really difficult. As much difficulty a leader has to withstand, they are given enormous amount of authority. Having the integrity to use the power for selfless deeds and not for their own gain is a hard decision. Although many of the politicians start out with good intentions, many of them indulge themselves with money and abuse their power. If I learned that many of the leaders that are in power came about their position through corrupt means, I would try to spread the awareness and try to uncover the truth.

The Right Thing To Do: The Ones Who Walk Away From The Omelas

In the short story "The Ones Who Walk Away From the Omelas", people live in ultimate happiness. No one is dissatisfied. They are given no rules whatsoever. In another words, they live in paradise. However, to maintain the society's happiness, a child is sacrificed. The child is locked away in a squalid room. He is covered in filth and all he could do is hope. After people started to find out, they start leaving Omelas. 

I think there is an obvious irony about the modern society. Only people choose not to take in the truth. For example, when people buy diamonds, they know that one diamond cost thousands of lives and excruciating work. Although we are aware of the blatant problem, we never try to solve it. This issue can be used anywhere. When we're buying a fur coat. We know that hundreds and hundreds of animals were killed in order to produce this merchandise, however we choose not to mention it and we blindly walk away from the problem. Which brings me back to the short story. The people who walked away from Omelas only walked away to avoid the problem. They never tried to save the trapped child or fix their way of living. They simply walked away. This only means that they were afraid of the consequences so they left to avoid the reality. 

Reading this story made me despise the people of Omelas. However, it is hard to say because many of the people who live in this society depict a lot of their characteristics. Although I find the people of Omelas cowardly, I feel that even I lie to myself to find convenience. Even though I know that the oil underneath the earth's crust is slowly depleting, my family choose to fill up our cars everyday for the convenience of our needs. I buy fur jackets even though I know that hundreds of animals had to be skinned in order to produce it. Although it is hard to admit, I think the short story is a depiction of the selfishness and the narrow-mindedness of humanity.

To The Ladies & Eveline

 James Joyce's "Eveline" demonstrates the stereotypical norm society pressures upon women. People who do not fit into that norm are ostracized and looked down upon. Eveline, the main character is a nineteen year old girl who lives with an abusing father and two remaining brothers. She is asked from her lover to move to Buenos Aires, however, Eveline decides to succumb to the societal pressure and refuses to leave to a better place. Eveline loses her chance to start a better life because of her hindering conscience. Although her current living situation is extremely inadequate, Eveline chooses to stay because of her fear to step out of her comfort zone. She is constantly bothered by not being able to fit in and following the expected standards as a women. 

Both Lady Chudleigh and James Joyce exploits the inequality and the societal pressure women face. While Joyce describes a life of a young naive woman, Lady Chudleigh explains the life of a married woman. She describes the pressure and restrictions women face after marriage. Lady Chudleigh's bold and strong remark on marriage is striking and anachronistic at the same time. Out of many inspirations, her personal life may have given her the idea to write literature that supported women. Some sources state that Lady Chudleigh had an overbearing husband who influenced her to have a different outlook on marriage. Lady Chudleigh's powerful and moving words clearly illustrates to the readers the restricted conditions women had to cope with.

Introduction

My name is Cindy Choi. I'm a sophomore at Sage Hill School. This is my second year in Mr. McCandless' class. I'm thrilled to learn about world literature. All of the books for this year look amazing. This blog will serve as a way for me to express my thoughts on the reading we do as a class.

Literature Travels Through Time