Power Plays

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is set in Afghanistan during a time of war. It covers many deep and powerful themes, but one of the most interesting and complex were the ideas of power and control that were explored throughout the book. Even in near-present day, examples of strong classism and racism are prevalent in the book. The books begins with the friendship between Amir, a wealthy boy, and his servant Hassan. 

It is here that the themes of power and control begin to come through.

Amir is watched over by Hassan. Hassan cooks for him, washes his clothes and defends him from neighborhood bullies despite the fact that they are the same age. Amir holds poet over Hassan, but resents him because Hassan is "too good" and Amirs father treats him like a son. This resentment and feeling of inferiority drives Amir to abuse his power. Hassan is illiterate, so Amir lies to him, saying that "imbecile" means "intelligent" in otder to tease him. Though Hassan doesn't even get to go to school, Amoi feels jealous to a point where he pelts Hassan with fruit. Hassan's true power shines through in these scenes- even while Amir is being cruel, he holds his ground and remains kind and accepting, simply taking Amirs violence when he could've fought back.

People throughout the story use and abuse their power to feel superior over others, when they themselves are insecure about their faults. Assef, an old school bully, was half Arabic and half German. Because he was insecure about being biracial, he set out for "racial purity," targeted against certain sects of Muslims. Later on, as an adult, he abused Hassan's son in a cruel display of power. He used Hassan's son as a tool to degrade Amir. 

In this book, power is a running theme. It showed me how people use power over others to cover up for their own insecurities and faults, because it is their own faults which they loathe most.

Power in Octavian Nothing

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing is all about power. It is the story of a Revolutionary War Era young African prince. Son of an enslaved princess, he is a test subject at the College of Lucidity, a group of intellectuals dedicated wholly to science and bound to no laws nor morals but he laws of physics. Octavian is give. The same privileges and education as a European prince in a study to test if Africans are equal to Europeans. He is proving to be just as intelligent and talented if not more, and Octavian leads a charmed, if strange life... until the power balance shifts.

One of the first demonstrations of a power struggle is between Octavian's mother and her callers. She is constantly fending off unwanted advances, but even though she is treated like a queen by members of the college, as an African and a woman she is regarded as lesser by the rest of the community. This makes for complicated power dynamics, because men are expected to bow to her and court her like a woman, but she is a prisoner to their wants because of her place in society. 

Octavian's mother is once again the victim of vicious power plays. When she is sent to live with a slaveowner named Mr. Sharpe, she is whipped in front of Octavian and treated as a slave. She is stripped of her dignity in front of her child, but she grasps at power int he form of pride. She wears dresses bloody with the stains from her whippings to shame Sharpe and let him know he can never truly own her. 

Octavian too is subjected to Sharpe's ruthlessness. Sharpe's favorite method of feeling powerful is to degrade and dehumanize Octavian, by whipping his hand and then punishing him for bleeding, or even worse, denying him his education. Octavian studies languages and music with dedication, but is forced to give up the violin and read only tiny fragments of legal writing, if he is permitted to read at all. Sharpe says that it is because he must remove variables from the experiment, but he soon lets it slip who's really pulling the strings- investors. Money makes the world go 'round, and when the college's experiment with Octavian was funded by an unbiased donor, he was given controlled variables, an environment equal to that of a prince's. The scientists taught him “... of color, that it was an illusion of the eye, an event in the perceiver's mind, not in the object; they told me that color had no reality; indeed, they told me that color did not inhere in a physical body any more than pain was in a needle." They respected him and maintained a balance of power where neither was in control. When the project's funding was provided by wealthy slaveowners, things took a turn for the worse. Slaveowners didn't want Octavian to be proven as their equal, they wanted him bound and enslaved with the rest of his people. And, they had the money, so they "...they imprisoned me in darkness; and though there was no color there, I still was black, and they still were white; and for that, they bound and gagged me.” This passage shows Octavian's ideas about race and power, and how something like an "illusion of the eye" can make a man feel entitled to such power.

Octavian nothing provides interesting insights into the battle against racism and for civil rights. One conversation sticks in my mind, when Octavian argues with Sharpe about the crimes of slavery. Sharpe retaliates- 
"They are not crimes," said Mr. Sharpe. "Your escape is a crime."

"How?"

"It is the theft of my property. Your labor belongs to me."

"When did I sell it?"

"Your body belongs to me."

"When did I—"

"Good God! How!" yelled Mr. Sharpe, striding to the door and unlocking it. "Put the mask back on him! I do not need to argue points with a specimen." 

This conversation sums up what I believe this book was all about. Octavian is equal to, or even superior to his "owners" but they still have power over him. Sharpe can't win the argument, so he calls Octavian names in attempts to dehumanize him and then resorts to brute force to beat him. Even then, Octavian was the true winner. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing is an excellent book filled to the brim with intriguing ideas on power, race and what it means to be human.

Upfront World Affairs 2014 Response

The recent issue of Upfront covered world affairs, and one article in particular targeted the grim. "How the Murder of Four Teens Started a War," by Patricia Smith was about how the militant killings of four boys escalated into battle. Three Israeli teens were killed by Palestinian militants, and Jewish extremists retaliated  with the killing of a young Muslim teenager named Muhammed Abu Khdeir.

What's shocking to me is how this conflict grew into all-out war, even killing 2,173 citizens of Israel an Palestine, most of them civilians. Such violence seems unthinkable as a result of the murder of four, but at a closer look there were many other causes for war to suddenly break out. Israel claimed its existence in a land where there were already the Palestinians. The English-controlled area complied, but the Arab citizen did  not. When Israel was first formed, Palestinians citizens attacked. Several more wars were fought, and each time Israel captured a chunk of land from its neighbor tensions mounted.

I think that this war, like many others, can be traced back to colonialism. The English gave the Jews Israel because it was their native homeland and they already controlled the area near it, Palestine. They had no regard for the native Palestinians and bier wishes, and so crammed two very different peoples together. Colonial-era tensions have lead to war all over the earth. The English-run government keeps a lid on both ancient and modern tensions, but when they leave the newly independent nations have old hatreds and new issues to deal with. Ancient times were very different from now, but those old hatreds run deep and effect us even now.

"Darkness Too Visible" Reading Response

We have recently been learning about banned and challenged books in ELA class. "Darkness Too Visible," by Megan Cox Gurdon is a Wall Street Journal article about young adult fiction. This article states that young adult literature is inappropriate for teens, and that many of the topics in modern young adult literature, such as self-mutilation, are too dark for teenage readers.

Megan Cox Gurdon utilized quotes and narrative to strengthen her claim. She quotes several controversial young adult books such as The Marbury Lens. She uses bloody scenes from these books to exemplify the material in many such novels. Gurdon also uses narrative and quotes from parents, teachers and authors to further her claim. However, she neglects to use one very important perspective- that of young readers. After all, who better to decide if books have a detrimental effect on young readers than teenagers that know how books effect them first hand? Many, apparently. Though she didn't represent young adult readers, Megan Cox Gurdon uses loaded words like "horrendous," "hyperviolent," and "hideously distorted," to describe the contents of young adult books. These words are meant to evoke strong feelings of revulsion, worry and even fear from readers.

While I thought "Darkness Too Visible" was very well written, I don't agree with the authors opinion. Megan Cox Gurdon writes that young adult fiction gives "hideously distorted portrayals of what life is." I believe that some "inappropriate" material is necessary to make teen characters realistic and relatable. While Gurdon writes about how profanity is too abundant, real-life teens curse. If self-mutilation is too dark a topic, many teens experience it firsthand. Teenagers experience what they read about in the real world, and reading young adult books can help them deal with the not PG-13 problems that they may be facing. 

Symbolism in Looking for Alaska- Is Young Adult Literature Valuable to Young Adults?

“I go to seek a Great Perhaps,”- François Rabelais. And then he died.

Last words are one of the many symbols that John Green uses to represent the experiences of Miles “Pudge” Halter in Looking for Alaska. Looking for Alaska is a coming of age novel about how the boring and meaningless life of Pudge Halter is transformed when he goes away to boarding school. He meets exciting and fast-paced friends, Alaska and the Colonel, and with them has his first experiences with love, friendship, and even death. Pudge learns about how his happy-go-lucky friends have troubles of them own, and when Alaska dies in a car accident, he is forced to learn about death, and even while losing a friend, begins to find himself. While reading about symbols such as death and alcohol can be troubling to a reader, Looking for Alaska explores the thoughts and questions we all have about death, life, and meaning.

Early in the story, cigarettes are introduced as a symbol for Pudge’s new friendships and new, risky experiences. He first meets Alaska when the Colonel visits her to buy cigarettes. Smoking out in the woods is where Pudge first gets in trouble and learns that his friends will stick with him through thick and thin. It is also where he learns about his friends as people and gets a sense of who they really are. Dually, cigarettes represent Alaska’s dance with danger. “ ‘Why do you [Alaska] smoke so damn fast?’ I [Pudge] asked… She [Alaska] smiled with the delight of a kid on Christmas morning and said ‘Y’all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die.’ ” This is Pudge’s first glimpse of Alaska’s darker, more self-destructive nature and the risks she is willing to take. 

Another symbol of Pudge’s growing friendships is alcohol. Friendships are a big theme in Looking for Alaska,  as meeting new people and forming relationships is central to a teen’s identity. Alcohol is used to represent their closeness and their trust. For example, the first time Pudge and Alaska hang out alone together they read Kurt Vonnegut books by moonlight and get drunk on Alaska’s secret stash of strawberry wine. The meaningful experience is accompanied by the strong image of drunkenness, which can be difficult to read about. Alcohol is romanticized and almost endorsed. Playing a drinking game with his friends is how Pudge learns about many of the traumas and hardships that his friends were trying to escape using wine, or cigarettes, or books. He learns that Alaska watched her mother die of an aneurysm and was blamed by her father, causing her to feel guilty ad responsible for years. The Colonel had an abusive father and an unsteady childhood. This is where the symbol of alcohol begins to show a darker side. Alaska is driving drunk, and is tragically killed in what could have been an accident or a suicide. Alcohol is no longer romanticized, but is shown to have clear, harsh consequences. While alcohol may be troubling to read about, in Looking for Alaska the topic is handled in a way perfect for teen audiences. The consequences are shown to be real and heartbreaking, without the use of scare tactics to try to “scare the audience straight.”

A final symbol in Looking for Alaska was last words. Pudge always had a fascination with them, and shared the morbid quotes with his friends at every opportunity. Pudge’s grim fascination with the words of the ting represents the eerie fascination that all people have with death. Whether you believe that death brings happiness, torment, or nothing, it still remains a mystery that will never be solved. Everyone thinks about death, maybe even wishing for it, and each person must find their own way to deal with these strange and troubling thoughts. While death can be a heavy topic to read about, Looking for Alaska shows us that no matter what tragedies befall us, we can choose how we deal with our thoughts and feelings of grief. When Pudge water to go to boarding school, he quotes Francois Rabelais as his reason: “I go to seek a Great Perhaps.” Pudge’s way of thinking of death as a mystery rather than an end is what enables him to feel hope for Alaska instead of just mourning. Pudge got through his grief by thinking of life as a journey and death a discovery, versus Alaska, who often thought of life as a “labyrinth of suffering” that death was an escape from. Alaska’s thoughts of life as hell and death as an escape were dangerous as well as glorified death. They put her at a risk of hurting herself. People’s attitude towards death greatly changes the way that it effects them, and everyone must choose for themselves how to address and take on one of life’s greatest mysteries. Pudge’s optimistic way of thinking of death as the “Great Perhaps” helped him deal with the loss of a friend in a contemplative and meaningful way. Though Looking for Alaska is filled with dark topics, the book is mostly a guide for teens struggling with the content, and is an excellent way to get messages about grief and dealing with loss across.

In conclusion, John Green skillfully uses symbolism to add depth and meaning to Pudge’s experiences. Be it love, death, wine or cigarettes many objects and shared experiences shaped Pudge’s friendships, helped him deal with death, and taught him about life. The symbolism of alcohol abuse is also shown to represent the danger in a life like Alaska’s. While dealing with a lot of heavy material that may be considered inappropriate for teens, Looking for Alaska teaches many meaningful lessons rather than using smoking and death to lure in more readers. Alaska’s death is a harsh but effective way to hit home the dangers of drinking underage and driving drunk. Dealing with loss is an uncommon theme in YA literature that can really help people struggling in similar situations cope. In the end, the dark symbolism in Looking for Alaska is used to guide YA readers and give them a realistic, relatable teacher.

Creative Writing- Parts of Speech

The trees around the edge of the circular clearing bow to the wind that is whipping through the small, sleepy town. Somewhere quite close to the small school yard there lies an old white house, with rotten siding and an overgrown yard. There are insects living in the tall, brittle grass, and the house is full of old furniture covered in white sheets. The ancient armchairs and slightly damp futon are blanketed by the moth-eaten sheets, as if they were ghosts haunting the empty house. Once, there was more in the home than leaks and cobwebs and an aching feeling of nostalgia and regret. 

As the man paces through the seemingly vast rooms of the house, the floorboards complain loudly. He can hear the “plink, plink,” of water dripping into the old, cracked porcelain sink. A sudden memory grips ahold of him as he rips to ghostly sheet from one of the objects.

He was smaller. The house, no, not house, home, is full of laughter and joy and people. The clink of tall glasses of lemonade and the shrieking giggles of small children echo in his mind with the smell of burning barbecue. It is warm and the door was never locked. Two white cats with yellow eyes came and went as they pleased, much to the delight of the little ones. The grass outside was sun-baked and short, and there was a fullness in that golden moment that just made everything feel so right.

The man is back. His fingers trace over the worn leather of the old chair, where many stories were shared and many children were held. The leather is cold now. His calloused hands scrape along the cracked surface and the floorboards are rippled and bowing with moisture. His cheap shoes and darned socks gradually begin their retreat. He walks the heavy walk of a man with too much on his mind, wanting to linger in the memory of his home, but wanting to escape the cold and decaying house it has become. A deep, raspy sigh breaks the silence that has filled the place for so long, and his heavy feet find there way out of the old oak door. Closing it is difficult, the dampness of many winters has made it swell. It seems reluctant to let him go. His rough hands give a final tug, and the squeaky screen door snaps shut. 

He leaves the white house, with a chill in his bones and a strange, indescribable weight around him. As the man walks to his car, an old pickup with a chipped paint job, and looks back one more time. He is leaving for good, after all. He looks over his shoulder, and then turns fully around to really see the long grass and dirty windows. His breath is shaky. As he turns back to go, not go, flee, his breath catches a little in his throat because for an instant he saw a white cat and the fierce glow of yellow eyes..

Reading Response 1: A Long Walk To Water [Spoilers!]

A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park is truly a book like no other. It is about a young boy, Salva, in Southern Sudan in 1985, juxtaposed with the story of a young girl in Southern Sudan, Nya, in 2008. Both children struggle with poverty, war and the harshness of the desert environment. Nya's primary conflict is the terrible drought that has struck her village, and for Salva it is escaping becoming a child soldier in the  civil war after he is taken from his village. The story is unique because it juxtaposes history with the present, talks about serious and important conflicts, and is based on true events.

First and foremost, A Long Walk to Water is a unique and interesting read because of how it flows effortlessly from timeline to timeline, and explains serious and intense conflicts. The book starts off with Nya, explaining the brutal "Heat. Time. And thorns," that she must endure every day as she makes the journey to and from a muddy pond to fetch water for her family. It transitions to the life of Salva, which takes place almost 20 years earlier, but is almost identical. "“Salva was well aware of how lucky he was to be able to go to school. He could not attend the entire year." He and Nya are both controlled by the harsh climate and need for water, but this is where their paths diverge. Salva is surrounded by "“smoke and dust, he couldn’t see the school building anymore. He tripped and almost fell. No more looking back.” He is forced to abandon his village, and is almost kidnapped to join the rebel army. Civil war ravaged Southern Sudan in Salva's time, and poverty continues to plague Nya. A Long Walk To Water deals with these conflicts brutally but honestly and brings the horrors of war to light.

In addition, A Long Walk to Water is important because of how it is based on a true story, and real historical events. Many young men and boys we forced to flee South Sudan during Salva's time to escape being forced into fighting in their bloody civil war. Many of those young men endured terrible hardships while trying to escape the war. Salva Dut and a small party of refugees trekked across the Akobo desert. The journey was harsh and near fatal for many. “The sun was relentless and eternal: There was neither wisp of cloud nor whiff of breeze for relief." Nya too, faced terrible suffering. Her younger sister Akeer, drank unpurified water. Illness was common, and people had to face it every day. “For the elderly and for small children, the illness could be dangerous. Unable to hold anything in their systems, many of them starved to death, even with food right in front of them," said the passage. Nya has to risk a dangerous journey to a clinic with her terribly ill sister, but also with the horrible knowledge that she was powerless to protect her from getting sick again.

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park is the true story of the experiences of Salva Dut, combined with the fictional character Nya. Nya, however, was a combination of many travelers and villagers that had struggled with finding water and other issues. It is meant to show the plight of many people in the world, as well as the horrors of war, and how we can help our fellow citizens of the globe. Nya's life is totally changed when a well is drilled in her village. She no longer has to go fetch water for hours a day, and can finally go to school. She doesn't have to fear for the health and safety of her sister. Salva was saved by his own determination, devotion and strength, as well as a few compassionate people along the way. A Long Walk to Water is an incredible story sigh a lot to teach everyone, and a beautiful novel about the resilience and strength of human nature.



This work contains Excerpts From: Linda Sue Park. “A Long Walk to Water.” Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (www.hmhco.com).
This material may be protected by copyright.