Into the Wild -- Post 2

After finishing the book Into the Wild by John Krakuer , I really felt like I was still reading it. This book takes you so deep into the life of Chris Mccandles and it's very hard to escape from it once your done. I think that this book does a great job of sort of giving a nice resolution for COA and for the book itself. This book really struck me as having a really strong evident amount of forgiveness in it and freedom. While Mccandles was of on his many adventures he really was looking for something and this was forgiveness. He felt like he had to be at peace with the world if it was the last thing that he did. Chris Mccandles was definately not the type of person that would ignorantly watch terrible things happen and do nothing about it. Unlike most people he rejected the idea of society centered around money and made his own way of life.

          Examples of forgiveness are scattered all over in the book especially when he is on "adventures". In these adventures you might think that he is really just trying to get away from corrupting society and finally breathe fresh air. In some ways this is true but he is also getting closer to society by leaving it. All his journeys are really based on looking for answer's. These answer's can be for a numerous amount of things but are normally centered around his parents. It's obvious that he is very confused and upset about the relationship he has with his parents. He feels like they don't understand him and he definately doesn't understand them. While he is off adventuring , most of his time is spent really just thinking about his parents and the issues he has to face on a daily basis. He feels bad for them but also really doesn't and just want's to get revenge on them. In the end although he definately comes at peace with the world and his parents.

        Examples of freedom are also really scattered in the book because they make up most of it. This freedom he's striving for really is to understand / reject society. He never really agreed with the ways of society where everyone gets a job and works for years and then buys a house and so on. He thought that this type of society was in some ways very evil and had unfair advantages to the rich and unfair disadvantages to the poor. Chris wasn't looking for a communist type government ,  but he was looking for something similar. Something that he could participate in without feeling bad about himself. At the end he really did find that type of society which just so happened to be out in the wild where he was the only one that made the rules. He burned his money and invented a new way of life for himself.He found "Freedom" there and died in freedom.

In conclusion , Into the wild is a very elaborate book that contains two main themes and more smaller themes. Chris Mccandles never really could accept the was of society so he made a new one up for himeself in the wild. All in all at the end of the book Chris Mccandles did come to peace with himself and parents, forgiving them for not understanding him. Even thought he did pass away , it's definately better than him being forced into the cruel society in his view.

         

Into the Wild & Coming of Age

       
 After reading up to the halfway mark in the book Into the Wild,  I think that I can really see the roots of this book intertwined with "Coming of Age". Into the Wild is a book about a guy named Chris McCandles and his emotional and physical journey through life. The setting of the book is scattered between Alaska, Virginia and Mexico. At the beginning of this book there is a lot of retell and explanation that needs to be done about McCandles early life so the author goes on about McCandles journeys across basically the world  and his short journeys to places. Through the middle to the end of the book although the author mainly goes on about the alaska expedition that proved fatal for Chris. If theres really one thing this book is hitting at it's that coming of age can be really tough and hard and that the only person in charge of your coming of age is yourself.
             
The first example of this is just plainly Chris's relationship with his parents. His parents want him to basically follow along in there path and end up being a normal adult in civilized society(Who can blame them). They buy him a car even thought he says that he doesn't want one and is greatly angered when he has to give up his old car. They even send him checks of money and other things he doesn't wan't in order to try to ensure his path to be a normal adult. The problem with all of this is that he's decided what type of person he wants to be when he gets older and no one can change that. In some ways I think that this type of confidence is really important. The period of growing up is very long and hard journey that takes place through life.In this period there is a lot of questioning that goes on about who you are. It's so important in a time like this to have the confidence that Chris McCandles holds because it helps you get through this rough period.
           
  The second example of this is Chris McCandles and Ron Franz. Ron has almost the same opinion as Chris's parents and really believes that Chris should "make more out of his life" and get a good job and settle in a house with a wife rather than live on the streets and journey across the US with limited food and money. The problem with this is that Chris honestly does like this lifestyle and enjoys it a lot. This type of real care for something is really important just like confidence is in this period. No matter what people say you should always go by your own instinct rather than just follow the "rules" that may even make you regret that you went by them. This obviously doesn't apply to federal laws unless the laws are honestly unfair or discriminatory.


In conclusion Chris really had a great passion for a type of lifestyle that not many people agreed with. This still didn't change anything and he ignored the people telling him he should "make more out of his life" when this way of  life he really enjoyed and cherished. This passion for one thing really helped him grow as a person and discover new things he never knew. In the end he Chris died of starvation in the Alaska bush. People might think this was really sad and think of how great a life he would have had if he just followed his parents advice. I disagree completely with this and think that Chris definitely lived his life to the fullest and couldn't have been happier. Sure he could have just gone along with normal society and he probably wouldn't have went to Alaska in the first place; but he probably would have been very depressed for the rest of his life for doing this.

Friar Lawrence : Where would Romeo be without him

          Instead of writing a normal blog post about the book i'm currently reading, I thought that it might be interesting to do more writing on Romeo & Juliet and sort of begin to get an idea of how my Literary essay was going to be laid out and it's focus .Through this post I hope to finish my first 3 paragraphs

     "Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast". I think this quote really does a good job of summarizing Friar Lawrence's character throughout the book. He acts almost like a father to Romeo throughout the book and is always there at Romeos side when he's needed until the end. My theory is that Friar Lawrence's purpose in Romeo & Juliet is too guide Romeo too good decisions and prevent him from  actually going through with the almost crazy decisions that Romeo is going to make. I think without Friar Lawrence's guiding hands Romeo would be dead halfway into the book.

    The first example of Friar Lawrence playing this leading part is in Act 2 Scene 3 where Romeo finally consults Friar Lawrence about his new beloved love and gets the exact feedback he needs.Throughout the scene Romeo expresses that he has a strong love for a girl named Juliet. Friar Lawrence brings up a reasonable point that Romeo has taken a lot of time thinking and weeping about Rosaline and he is sad it's gone to waste. Friar Lawrence goes on to say "Women may fall when there is no strength in men". This  is one of the first points the Friar brings up that really stand out as good guidance to Romeo. Even thought this might almost seem like an insult to Romeo, really in reality it's not. Friar Lawrence just wants Romeo to get over his past emotions with Rosaline, the woman that brought Romeo numerous counts of sadness. Rather than trying to make Romeo feel bad because he is "without strength", he's just trying to teach Romeo the lesson that you can't expect a women that doesn't like you to suddenly have feelings for you when your weeping over the women and thinking about her constantly.Romeo agrees with him and says that Friar Lawrence "Scolded him often for loving Rosaline". Friar Lawrence goes on to say that he wasn't scolding Romeo for liking Rosaline but for "obsessing" about her even when Rosaline had no love for Romeo. At the end Friar Lawrence mentions that he will help Romeo with a marriage with Juliet. He also mentions that the marriage might help to break the bonds of hatred that the Montagues and Capulets share with each other.

      The second example of Friar Lawrence once again taking on this Leading role of Romeo appears in Act 2 Scene 6. In this brief yet important scene, Friar Lawrence leads the marriage of Romeo and Juliet.
Romeo comments that anything bad that happens wont stop Romeo from feeling great joy that he is married with Juliet. Friar Lawrence's comment to this is very smart. He says "These violent Delights have violent ends and in their triumph die like fire and powder". In this line he is saying that even the joy Romeo feels today can abruptly change and quickly disappear. He is really trying to set up Romeo so that if something does come in the way of his joy he wont do something irrational and instead be ready for it. Another really important quote he makes is that too much honey tastes great but it makes you sick to your stomach. He then tells Romeo to love in moderation in order to half a long successful relationship.

Keeping the mood in Romeo+Juliet

       After watching the movie Romeo + Juliet by Baz Luhrman I was really amazed at how the weather and overall lighting of the movie almost told the story itself. The movie tells the tale of "two star-crossed lovers"who end up taking there own life at the end.The movie is specifically based  in modern day US even though the original play is based in the Elizabethan era. Even though this movie isn't formatted the same as the original Shakespeare play, it's very closely knit to the original play and in some ways is better for our generation to see. Throughout this movie like I mentioned weather and lighting plays a prominent part in crafting the movie and setting the mood of it. I think that this is very important in all movies and especially in this movie where the script is in older english and the audience may find it hard to understand whats going on in the movie. This use of the lighting and weather can really help to set a general idea of the movie for the members of the audience who don't have any clue what is going on in the movie.


     If I could, I would unpack the whole movie, but theres way too many examples so i'm only going to do the very large important ones. In the beginning of the movie the scene sets with a fight. Hopefully you would know this from all the other details but if you didn't the sharp bright and intense looking lighting really does it's job here and explains it. The bright, sharp look really helps you see the stressful, alive, quick setting that you would feel in a fight. In another scene after Romeo has met Juliet and he has to leave it starts raining. This part of the video becomes slightly blurry and the sky becomes dark. I think that the rain here really represents the happiness that Romeo and Juliet share when there together but the sadness and "tears" they exchange when it comes time for them to leave each other.In another scene Romeo is sitting by the beach with his head hanging low smoking. This part of the video is blurred and in the background the sun is setting over the horizon. I think this setting sun really represents his depression from not being with Juliet. The sun generally represents life and happiness so in this example his happiness is going away where he wont be able to see it.


        In conclusion the lighting and the weather in Romeo + Juliet the movie represents the overall mood and really helps to guide any confused audience. When I say this I can tell you that i'm not lying. These different details that may seem like minor useless information really helped me to understand the events of the movie much better.Without them where would the movie be. I really don't think that people would enjoy any movie where the setting(weather) and lighting had absolutely no significance int the mood or structure of the movie.

looking for a talent: Finally Sucessful

      This is my final response to the book Be Different. In the end of the book he primarily talks about finding your voice or talents. In this whole book i've reconized that the author has been keeping up with the topic of how Asperger syndrome can really make your life a very hard one to live. He talks about how it can create a social barrier in you and can almost ruin your chances of people liking you whether its friends or girlfriends.This dramatically changes in the chapter i have reached where his focus is mainly on finding your talents. In a sense where moving from negative numbers to positive ones. I think that he is sort of finally revealing to the audience (reader) that you still can become successful if you have Asperger syndrome. Without telling us he is giving us hope that if we know someone or even are someone with this syndrome we can make a change.


      In the last pages of the book, he really elaborates on his abilities rather than his defects. He goes on to tell us about his success with a band and finally getting a girlfriend.Like i mentioned I think that he really does a great job with making the reader not feel like there under the water from all these defects that Aspergers are faced with.In one line he states "I was a loner when it came to creating my designs but i was a team player when it came to designing them". I think that this line shows that he really has realized the importance of other people. I think that he sees the world now in more of a technical way. Instead of seeing people like other living beings that disagree with him and make fun of his ways he now sees them as a way of extending his interests and helping him to create his ideas. Some people might call this selfish but i wouldn't agree. This jump to finally relating to people is so large that i would credit it as a success.




         All in all Seth Godin has done a great job of introducing all the conflicts in this book and then slowly fading out of them and fading into successes. Instead of overwhelming the reader with all the bad things he does a really nice job of evening it out to the good things of Asperger syndrome.  This has been a really great book for me because now I can see a whole new other way of thinking that takes place in the mind of an aspergian.(someone with asbergers). If i ever come to meet someone with this syndrome (which i probably will) this book will really help me to understand their cause a little more.

The Potato Eaters

I would recommend zooming in to see all the small but big important details. (Look at Faces)
        
       I really don't know why I like this poem so much. When I look at it I just can find a way to take my eyes of this thought provoking work of art. Maybe it's the lighting or the facial expressions of the people. Maybe I  will never know. Anyways all in all I definitely think this painting should get noticed so i'm including it in this blog post.In the painting portrayed named "The Potato Eaters"(by Vincent Van Gogh) 5 old ragged tired looking people crowd around a table. One lady on the right pours something that looks like coffee as two other people on the far left share a small plate of potatoes.All of the people look very famished and struck in the depths of poverty. At the top of the painting one stray light hangs aluminizing the table . From the men and women's hats I predict that it takes place some time in the 1700s in England. At first I couldn't think of any observations good enough to match this very sophisticated poem. After some thinking I came to my theory.This is that the lighting in the painting is part of the reason that this painting is such a good looking and intriguing piece.It really helps us to infer a lot about the painting and just make us want to think about the picture. Without it this painting would look like a simple work of art.



       When I say lighting I don't just mean the light itself. I mean all the different elements of lighting such as the shadows on the small walls and the dark spots on the peoples faces. I think that even the lamp hanging from the ceiling and barely lighting the table has lots of significance. The dark spots on the peoples faces lead us to think that they are tired. Maybe we could even go further and infer that these people are peasants that do hard work throughout the day. From there dark bony hands we could infer that they do there work mainly with their hands. The fact that the they only have one light which hardly lights their house could lead us to think that they can't afford another light because of their wages from their job. The lack of color in their clothes could lead us to think that they either didn't have access to other colored clothes or couldn't afford it. The overall darkness in this painting even sets the main, depressing, sad mood showcased.


     All in all this picture really does it's job.Whether it's supposed to inspire, or just press thought into someone it succeeds. In my opinion if a painting changes someone than it's doing it's job. This poem is doing exactly this. I could really connect this paintings characters to myself (sometimes). These people look like they are just waiting for something better to begin. I feel the same way sometimes when i'm in a bad mood or just sad overall. I get over it but I don't if these people ever would. These feelings that I share with this picture are definitely also shared in society. Anyway this is a great painting  and should be seen by everyone. Good job Van Gogh.


        

ALL Star Mentor goes to MATISSE

                     After reading Matisse's blog post Peak i've decided that he should me my mentor. His writing exemplifies the good writing habits that we have been talking about this whole year. For example he crafts thought provoking concepts and puts them in his first paragraph. He also does a great job at turning the blog post into a personal level by making many self to book connections. Including all this he gives a great summary to help explain/support his concept. All in all he has done a great job. Good job so far and keep it up.