After The War

Apparently, the narrator was a survivor or took a part in the Dresden bombings which caused great destruction of the city. The narrator is telling us how he wrote the book about Dresden and why he did. One interesting thing I noticed was at the beginning he says, “I would had to tell you what this lousy little book cost me money and anxiety and time.” Pg 2. In a way, he tells us that the book took a lot of effort and it wasn’t easy. I have noticed this with WWII survivors. I recall especially when a couple years ago a Jewish war survivor gave a conference to the middle school. He had gone through hiding in many places, suffering of hunger and even losing his father in the war. The moment in the conference that impacted me was when he started crying. It really marked me and gave me a little glimpse of what their suffering was. It was hard for them to talk or write about what they had gone through.

“What he meant, of course, was that there would always be wars, that they were as easy to stop as glaciers.” Pg 3. That has been the path of humanity, war after war after war. Any disagreement that we have between two groups or two governments comes to a war. It’s the only way that we find solutions to our problems, by fighting each other. What they are saying that are as easy to stop as glaciers is basically that they are impossible to prevent. Glaciers are constantly changing and growing. It is impossible to stopping them because they are in zones that there is more snow fall that melting so they are created. Wars, are cause when there is a huge disagreement between two groups and if this is a big disagreement, it is impossible to prevent it since it is our nature to fight each other, as it is nature for glaciers to grow and change constantly.

Life after Death

What happens after getting out of the Inferno? Well in the gate it specifies that there is no going out by saying in its gate, “ABANDON ALL HOPE, WHO ENTER HERE.” Canto III line 9. This says that after going through there is no going back. Besides, it clearly specifies many times that every punishment is eternal. But there was an exception for Dante who had lost his path. He had to go all through hell so he could go out into the Paradise. As Dante goes through the Inferno he witnesses all of the brutal punishments that are implied on the sinners. You know that after seeing all of this cruelty, Dante had to change in some way. “I did not die, and I was not alive; think for yourself, if you have any wit, that I became, deprived of life and death.” Canto XXXIV lines 25-28. As Dante saw the giant Lucifer he had ended his way through the Inferno. It is important to notice how he uses speaks in first person a lot in those last parts also as he uses the word “became” which means changing or evolving. After he is able to leave the Inferno, he describes it with these words: “Until I saw, through a round opening, some of those things of beauty Heaven bears. It was from there that we emerged, to see—once more—the stars.” Canto XXXIV lines 136-139. They finally exit the Inferno and are impacted by seeing the stars, which are beautiful, something they hadn’t seen since they entered that dark forest. If we continue reading the divine comedy, Virgil would take Dante to the opposite of the Inferno, the Paradise for him to meet with his love Beatrice.

The Logical Utopia

The society based on equalness,
Where every day is the same as the last.
It’s funny, not everyone has happiness.

Even though it is different from the past,
To find perfection we need to let things go
To find that place that contrasts.

There are things we had to say no,
By giving up things like love and affection.
These things we couldn’t live without although

We knew it was the way to perfection.
Since jealousy had to be abolished,
We had to make corrections.

Jealousy was severely punished,
So we could grant complete equality.
It is not utopia, but it’s the only way that flourished.

Justice Triumphs

This episode of The Twilight Zone is very interesting. It’s not like TV shows today, it is presented in black and white colors and there were only 3 characters, the narrator at the beginning, one man and one woman. First comes in the woman who seems desperate for food. She is in a city in ruins where there are no people and we know it was affected by a big war. As she finds food she runs into a man, the other character. They have a fight and he ends up with the food but then gives it back. He seems to be tired of fighting and helps the woman who is very doubtful about him. By the end she realizes the man is simply trying to help and get some company and they end up as the narrator says being in love.

I would say that this has a very good example of poetic justice. After all that war that they show as very fierce since nobody had been in a city for 6 years. They also show that they used a “big bomb” which shows it was a pretty destructive war. Apparently these are the only two survivors and they are enemies since they had different uniforms. The man after fighting with her for food, realizes he is sick o fighting and helps her. She is doubtful but learns to trust him, even though they cannot communicate. At the end she trusts him and they narrate it as being a love story. The poetic justice is where after all that war, he finds peace and a companion for helping her and giving her food. Peace was his reward for helping and for living through the war.

This reminded me of another movie I saw, X men. It also had a very clear view of poetic justice since, Magneto, the bad guy wanted everyone to be a mutant as him. At the end this guy finds himself being normal and losing his mutant powers. This is poetic justice and also it is ironic, he wanted something for everyone and ended up not having it himself.

Hello!

Daniel says:
Hello Camilo. How was your day?
Camilo says:
Hello Daniel. It was intense. I got my schedule changed. How about you?
Daniel says:
Wow, that whole thing with the new schedules has been a disaster!
Camilo says:
You bet it has! It had me running all day behind the counselor to change mine! But thank God i'm in the classes I like the most, and your classes?
Daniel says:
Well, I also had to bug the counselor a lot to change my schedule since it was a complete disaster. Anyway I am looking forward to this school year.
Camilo says:
Yeah, me too. My older brother has told me some interesting stories about it. He says there is a pretty cool class with Mr. Tangen.
Daniel says:
Of course, I remember that class from last year and am definitely taking it this one. Hey I have a question are you joining the soccer team this year?
Camilo says:
OMG are you kidding me! Well of course I am! It is only my favorite sport. I dislike the coach but I love the team!
Daniel says:
That is great! I am so excited for the beginning of the season with the school team! Also I want that high school tournament to start!
Camilo says:
Me too! I love that tournament because of the excitement and the prize! Plus, our team has got a better goalie this year...
Daniel says:
Yes! We have such a great team this year. Besides we all grew over the summer and are faster and stronger.
Camilo says:
Exactly. And we have a better chance of winning because we are no longer the freshmen!
Daniel says:
That is the best thing! I am so excited to play the 11 and 12 graders.
Camilo says:
I am too! But enough of sports already. How was your summer Daniel?
Daniel says:
I loved it! I got to meet new people, new places and had so much fun. How was yours?
Camilo says:
Great! First time to Europe, and I found it amazing!
Daniel says:
Europe is the best! I think we should sometime make a trip together with our friends to Europe.
Camilo says:
Yes! That would be so amazing! You know the big brother of a friend of ours just did that for a month!
Daniel says:
I know he told me it was the trip of his life. Anyway see you tomorrow at school! G2G
Camilo says:
Sure will! Have a nice sleep!

So Many Choices

We have seen through time how people evolve and come up with new things for their comfort. It’s been like this through history and will continue to be. The industrial revolution, for instance, is one of the most important examples of this, how we invented new things for our convenience and comfort. Internet is of course one of our greatest inventions in the last centuries. Today, imagining a world with no Internet is nearly impossible since it has become such a large basis in our lives. This really makes a lot of things much easier like for example researching things and finding information since we already have online encyclopedias. Along with the internet came social networks like for example Facebook or Myspace that have also become a very important tool for people, to find old friends, meet new ones and keep in touch. Another big thing that has risen with Internet is Blogs.

There are a lot of people who are unfamiliar with blogs. Sarah Boxer from New York Review of Books explains it perfectly. “A blog, for those who don't know, is a journal or log that appears on a Web site. It is written on line, read on line, and updated on line. It's there for anyone with an Internet connection to see and (in many cases) comment on.” That explains it exactly, blogs are changing a lot of things since it is much more convenient than newspapers or even magazines. The thing about blogs that give them huge advantage is that you can jump form one thing to another, get news how they are and find how people think about it and even comment and discuss about it. Now you can’t do that on a newspaper. The only thing that happens is that not everyone is familiar with blogs and besides people are used to using classical methods to inform themselves.

“Reading blogs, it's pretty clear, is not like reading a newspaper article or a book. Blog readers jump around. They follow links. They move from blogs to news clips to videos on YouTube, and they do it more easily than you can turn a newspaper page.” Sarah Boxer also states this. I definitely agree on some part but also disagree on another. Yes there are people who can use blogs in such a way to do this but not everyone. Probably older people will never use a blog since it’s not their generation to do this. Also people including me for example are too lazy to do all this, and prefer just to hear the news and no need for anything more. Blogs are and will be a huge alternative to hear the news but I think that newspapers and magazines will always be there for a long time.