Justification for Crime

If you felt prejudice against yourself, and there was no way to draw attention to the injustice other than commiting a crime, would you follow through with the violation? What if in that small moment you changed the world just by standing up for yourself? That's what Rosa Parks did. What about Henry David Thoreau, who was jailed for not paying his taxes? How can we live with ourselves if we cannot escape our own consciences because we don't listen to that "gut feeling"?

Although we constantly look to our peers for examples on how to behave and look, it is our thoughts that set us apart from everyone else. The true induviduals take it a step farther, by actually acting out those thoughts. These induviduals are the ones who shape public opinion, make brilliant inventions, and are at peace with themselves.

I'm sure we all want to feel like we have our own specialized "niche" in the world, and I believe that the only way to achieve this is to listen to our hearts, therefore ignoring the consequences.

The True Meaning of Freedom

"Ocean" oil painting

"Road to Wonderland"

Seas of green,
waving in the wind.

Blown away, all seen;

the sun mostly thinned.

Winding trails,

lead to wilderness.

Beneath that veil,

before the kiss, it's tenseness.

Contracting irises focus on the untold,

glistening like jewels, just untouchable.

Impossible to behold,

the process is cruel.

Investigating honesty,

only revealed dreams conflict with reality.

Ruthless world we made was bought cheaply,

staring at silvery reflections briefly.

Returns to the open sky,

free, yet unable to move.

No reply,

to burning questions due for disprove.

Just in case your head is humming,

I'll lead you to the stairway that's calming.

I thought from now on, I'll start writing a new poem for each blog. Each poem will relate to class discussions in some form, and "Road to Wonderland" incorporates the existential them of "we are free but responsible." The clearest incorporation of this theme is the "free, yet unable to move" line. Kathy, the narrator in Never Let Me Go, dealt with this theme every day of her life. Kathy was free to live her own life, to drive around aimlessly, yet she could not stop the impending doom of her donations. The "completion" discussed by all the clones was essentially the day they died from donating their vital organs. None of the clones were free from this fate. Furthermore, they were free to fantasize about being "deferred" or excused from donations by volunteering to participate in social experiments, but this dream never came true for anyone. Even the lucky clones, who were raised in Hailsham, had no hope of becoming normal. My painting shows a mermaid swimming towards the surface of the sea, symbolic of her yearning to be human, and to reach the land. Kathy and the clones also yearn to be human, yet their purposes in life do not allow them to become human in any way.

The Purpose of Work

All of us have purposes in our life's work. For example, we all work towards a goal by working for it. But what if that goal is unattainable no matter how hard you work for it? That is when the question of "what is the purpose of life?" comes into play. Furthermore, people become disillusioned when the realize they cannot reach their full potential. Likewise, "Never Let Me Go" contains characters that realize that their purpose in life is to donate their organs to the "normals". Kathy, who is shocked that she cannot be "deffered" from donating her vital organs when she speaks with Madame and Miss Emily realizes that she is not viewed as a human being by the outside world. In fact, Kathy's and the rest of the donor's "rock" is the donations they give. Each one of us has a rock to push up the hill, and it the quality of our work that keeps the rock from falling down the hill over and over again.