Letters to God

    In the novel The Color Purple, the protagonist Celie's letters to God make it clear that she is a religious person, but it also shows something about the way she sees God. It would seem that she thinks of God as someone to whom she can tell all her problems without too much judgment, perhaps someone to confide in. As the book goes on her letters begin to sound more and more like a diary, or maybe just letters to a friend. However, in her first letter, Celie writes, "Maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me." In this instance, it is clear that she is addressing the God who would be the recipient of her letter, were she able to send it. Perhaps, as the story continues, her faith in God becomes secondary to her belief in what is happening now. In the beginning her letters are also much shorter--brief confidences, or confessions; it is difficult to tell sometimes why she writes things down. As she continues, the letters get longer, and it seems more as though she is telling the story of her life. It is as if she thinks of God as the only friend she has, or the only person who would care enough to listen.
    As I have mentioned, the letters mainly seem to record the goings-on of Celie's life, with particular attention to things out of the ordinary. There are several different potential reasons for her doing this.  Maybe she wants to keep a record of important events in her life so she can look back on it later on; she may not want to forget anything, and the best way she can think of to remember is by writing everything down. Or, based on the aforementioned sentence from the first letter, maybe she is going through a confusing time as compared to her life before the letters. In this case, she would be writing things down to more easily process them, to help her get a better understanding of what is going on. This seems somewhat more likely, as she mainly records those events which break her regular routine; many of them she seems to be confused about, or uncertain, and perhaps she needs to work out her feelings on paper. This would explain why none of the letters are dated.
    Another possible reason for her letter-writing may be related to Celie's sister, Nettie. In her eighth letter, Celie writes, "I know I'm not as pretty or as smart as Nettie, but she say I ain't dumb." Celie goes on to explain how her sister tried to teach her things she was learning at school after Celie herself was taken out of school by her father. So it's possible that Celie is also writing things down because she wants to improve her writing. She might see this as learning something (which it is), and because her sister is no longer present to teach her things, she wants to find some way to teach herself.

Child Actors as Role Models

Child actors in shows for young audiences should expect to be seen as role models. The reasoning behind this is fairly simple: if you idolize someone, you want to be like that person in some way. Many children, especially younger ones, look up to the people in the shows they watch, and I'm sure most of you have seen some form of that imitation. Simple things like wearing the same kind of clothes aren't particularly bad influences, but other issues arise as well.

Parents generally expect to be the role models for their children, and may not consider that their kids may want to be like the people in their favourite shows, which can have unfortunate results. To quote Dr. C. George Boeree:

"Unfortunately, most children today look to the mass media, especially T.V., for role models. It is easy to understand why: The people on T.V. are prettier, richer, smarter, wittier, healthier, and happier than anybody in our own neighborhoods! Unfortunately, they aren't real. I'm always astounded at how many new college students are quickly disappointed to discover that their chosen field actually requires a lot of work and study. It doesn't on T.V. Later, many people are equally surprised that the jobs they worked so hard to get aren't as creative and glorious and fulfilling as they expected. Again, that isn't how it is on T.V. It shouldn't surprise us that so many young people look to the short-cuts that crime seems to offer, or the fantasy life that drugs promise."

It can be difficult for children, particularly young ones, to tell the difference between fiction and reality. They may assume that because the characters on television do less-than-desirable things and get away with it, they should be able to do the same things without repercussions. Shows for both children and teenagers, not to mention those targeted at adults, don't portray life in realistic ways; children learn appropriate reactions from these shows at least as much as they do from people around them, though of course this varies with the frequency and type of shows they watch. In addition, many younger children watch shows marketed toward teenagers and sometimes even adults, making it more likely that they will encounter bad role models without realizing it.

You can say all you like that people, particularly children, shouldn't be taking their cues from people in the television and movie industries or the characters they play. You'd be right, too; no one should assume that X person is a good role model just because he/she/it is famous. But they do anyway. And child actors, at least, knowing that kids watch their shows frequently, should realize this and shape up.

Sources:
The biggest 2009 show-biz lesson: Celebrities are NOT role models!
Essay on Erik Erikson, briefly dealing with role models
Children and role models

The Kite Runner

Perhaps it is time to present another important aspect of writing: believability. How much suspension of disbelief can an author require before a story falls apart? This can be very well demonstrated by The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini’s historical fiction novel. It tells the story of Amir, beginning with his life in Afghanistan with his servant and friend Hassan. Although he moves on from this life in many ways after his departure from the country of his birth and his marriage, the memory of Hassan never quite leaves him, a fact which becomes clear when he goes to meet an old friend of his father’s. But I am not here to discuss the plot of the book; I am here to discuss what, in this story, stretches my own suspension of disbelief.

In a previous essay (On the Nature of Being Qfwfq), I mentioned that character flaws are an important part of every story; that they are, at least in part, what makes a story readable. The Kite Runner’s Amir certainly has flaws, because the main character of a book is required not to be flat and boring. However, consider his friend and servant Hassan. There is something slightly odd about him as a character, which may not be obvious at first, but think: when does Hassan show that he is not “perfect”? He always takes the blame for things Amir has done, he never seems to get angry, he offers Amir endless encouragement and defends him when it becomes necessary. For example:

“...he never told on me. Never told that the mirror, like shooting walnuts at the neighbor’s dog, was always my idea.” (4)
“If he felt the sting of my tease, his smiling face didn’t show it.” (28)
“That was another thing about Hassan. He always knew when to say the right thing...” (37)
“Hassan held the slingshot pointed directly at Assef’s face. His hand trembled with the strain of the pulled elastic band and beads of sweat had erupted on his brow.” (42)

The last example is, perhaps, the most telling. Hassan is willing to defend Amir despite the fact that, as a Hazara, he is in more danger from Assef than Amir is. He is also quite obviously afraid of Assef, but he doesn’t allow that to stop him. All of this, as well as the later events that eventually cause Hassan to leave, make it clear that he is almost uncannily perfect; his arsenal of positive traits appears to have no end. This comes up again in Rahim Khan’s account of his reunion with Hassan: when first confronted with the idea of leaving, Hassan “said the village was his home now; he and Farzana had made a life for themselves there.” (206) But after Rahim Khan had spent a night in their house, Hassan informs him that they have decided to drop everything and go to Kabul to help him take care of the house. He gives no explanation, and nothing specific seems to trigger this change of mind--it’s simply another example of his lack of flaws. All in all, Hassan is not a very convincing character, simply by virtue of his virtues. This is not to say that it is impossible to have a believably selfless character, but Hassan isn’t it.

There is also an interesting correlation which I think may be more than just a coincidence. Near the beginning of the book, when Assef harasses Amir and Hassan, Hassan’s threat is as follows:

“‘...If you make a move, they’ll have to change your nickname from Assef “the Ear Eater” to “One-Eyed Assef,” because I have this rock pointed at your left eye.’” (42)

One might be a little confused by the decision to be specific about which eye, because it doesn’t seem to be an important distinction--at least, not until Amir again meets Assef.  Amir has come to retrieve Sohrab, and Assef forces Amir to fight him. Sohrab proceeds to defend Amir with his slingshot:

“Then Assef was screaming. He put his hand where his left eye had been just a moment ago.” (291)

Again, it doesn’t seem like much at first, just a bit of helpful detail. But when you examine the two statements together, you notice that in both cases it is the left eye that is threatened. Now, consider the fact that Sohrab is Hassan’s son, and that Hassan, from what we know of him, would probably have done the same thing to protect Amir if it became necessary. Besides being a reminder of Hassan’s unrealistic personality, this underlines how similar Sohrab is to his father. Take this with the fact that Sohrab is almost identical to Hassan, and you have a twist of fate that doesn’t quite ring true.

In fact, Assef seems to be a center of impossible coincidences. The most obvious of these by far is Amir’s meeting him while searching for Sohrab. Hosseini seems to realize how ridiculous this is, and makes an attempt to point it out while staying in character:

“The moment felt surreal--no, not surreal, absurd...My past was like that, always turning up...he was already here, in the flesh, sitting less than ten feet from me, after all these years.” (281)

Although this is an admirable effort to put the situation into perspective, saying that he, too, finds it difficult to believe, its real effect is to make the coincidence seem even more impossible. The way in which the revelation is structured leads the reader to wonder whether the author simply ran out of surprises; whether he constructed this scene just because he couldn’t think of another way to further the plot. A similar emphasis on unreality surrounds one of the direct results of Amir’s meeting Assef; Amir is in the hospital reflecting on his injuries:

“I kept thinking of something else Armand/Dr. Faruqi had said: The impact had cut your upper lip in two, he had said, clean down the middle. Clean down the middle. Like a harelip.” (297)

Here we have an example of an absurdity associated with Hassan, who had a harelip as well, though he was born with his. The situation seems to say that Amir has, in some sense, become Hassan--or at least, the two are now much more similar. Now, I must admit, fiction is not intended to be exactly like real life; if it were, we wouldn’t bother to read it. However, an author cannot insert something as bizarre as this and make the reader believe it. Even if it is accepted on one level, on another the reader will be thinking that maybe the situation is just a little too perfect.

The Kite Runner does not by any means fail to get its point across, mainly about the struggle to overcome one’s past and the difficulty of stopping a chain of lies once it has been started. The story itself is riveting and generally well-written. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t read it--but be prepared for an overabundance of impossible coincidences. Be careful of scenes that fall apart when given too much thought; they can be the downfall of an otherwise good book.

A Follow-Up on the Justin Beiber War

You know, my original intention wasn't to prolong the argument. I just wanted people to stop fighting. Clearly, that's not going to happen. I would like to back out of this argument, but first I must clear something up.

We have the right to express our opinions about whatever we want. You might not give a damn about him but we do. Just because you don't like him and don't listen to his music, it doesn't mean that the whole world is going to stop this because what you say. quite frankly you should eat your own words because you are not being tolerant yourself were not the ones getting all crazy and angry about the opposing side disagreeing with us. --Karen Chavez, in response to my own post

I was not denying your right to express your opinion at all. On the contrary, I was saying that everyone has a right to an opinion--which is the reason we should not be arguing. I suppose I may be nullifying my point by responding to your post, but the concept is a sound one.

As for the claim that I specifically don't like Beiber, may I direct you to this statement of mine?

I don't have an opinion on Justin Beiber...but I'm not a "hater" either. I find it extremely interesting that there is no middle ground, only the fans and the "haters".

I do not dislike Beiber just because I don't listen to his music. I simply don't care one way or the other.

Now, to your third point, that I am being intolerant and "getting all crazy and angry" about others disagreeing with me. As a matter of fact, this is impossible, because I am not in direct disagreement with anyone whose post I referenced. It's all right with me if you guys disagree with each other, but why can't you respect that other people have opinions just as much as you do? Why can't you just agree to disagree?

I will not escalate this further. There is no point in attempting to provoke me. My point is to prevent an argument, not to start a new one. Go ahead and continue arguing if you want, I guess, instead of learning to be understanding of others. I can't stop you, and I will not be a part of another unnecessary argument. So I leave you with the following thought:

Isn't a war just a larger-scale argument?

A Mid-November Morning's Ramble

Writing interesting stuff on demand is hard. I'll bet you've encountered this at one time or another--which is why most of what goes up here is random story chunks on which I need feedback (which, by the way, I don't seem to be getting). Writing boring stuff on demand is also hard, because writing anything on demand is hard, but it's slightly easier because on-demand brain-spew is usually rather dull from the point of view of anyone but the source.

So here I sit, writing a brain-spew post on demand in the least interesting way possible.

I wonder why this is. I know plenty of people, myself included, who can bang out a decent short story in about ten minutes with the right inspiration, but blank out completely when confronted with an assignment. If I were commanded to write a completely new story right now, with no specific range of subjects, I couldn't do it--partly because most of my story ideas have to marinate in the brain a bit before they get written (with a few exceptions), and partly because my current thoughts consist of Give me some parameters, dang it!

Why can't we generate something new and brilliant when commanded to do so? Why is it that we wake up in the middle of the night with brilliant ideas, but are incapable of this when someone tells us to? (Which is only a guess, because I don't have much experience with this. Incidentally, have you noticed that I really like parentheses?)

This is what happens when you let my brain loose to spew where it may. Perhaps I ought to have warned you, but I didn't think of it until just now. Sorry.

To drag out a nothing-post even longer, isn't it interesting how our writing styles tend to mimic those of our favourite authors to a certain extent? I'm not just referring to my strewing of "u"s here (although I must ask, what do Americans have against this innocent vowel?)--after reading a particularly good book, I unconsciously alter my writing ever so slightly so that it becomes similar. This sometimes happens with particularly bad books as well, in which case there is nothing to do but reread something by Terry Pratchett, or someone else amusing (and, often, British).

I think perhaps I ought to end this ramble before it becomes large enough to devour the entire internet, or possibly just the more accessible parts.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

An Introduction to the Encyclopaedia Fantastica

Alternate title: "Constance is Starting a Pointless Project"/"Soon Every Post Will Have a Classification"

Some of you may know that a lot of my free time is spent making up weird, random creatures, mostly in the realm of dragons but sometimes involving other species as well. Most of these creatures have enough information attached to them to fill a small book, and most of them never get a story into which I can insert this dreck. So I have decided to write an Encyclopaedia, which is like an encyclopedia, but with an extra "a" and a superior air[1].

Periodically, you will see posts which consist of a drawing (done by yours truly, and therefore probably not of much interest, but oh well) accompanied by an outline of the information found in an encyclopedia, with reference to that species. I will keep this up for as long as it takes for someone to get bored and complain.

Note: The Encyclopaedia Fantastica contains only those creatures I have conjured up to exist in this world. Those native to my imaginary world, Terre[2], are supposedly being catalogued elsewhere as soon as I get around to it.

Enjoy?

---

[1] And British. Look up “anglophile”, why don’t you.

[2] If you speak French, you will know that this is a total cop-out name for a world, because “terre” is French for “earth”. Hey, you try coming up with a creative name for your own planet while juggling as many imaginary countries as I do.

A Commentary on the Justin Beiber War

I think you guys will both be very lonely if you keep trying to singing Justin Bieber's songs, because if you do then (one) you will be devastated and live a pessimistic life when he dies and (two) you'll probably want to sing his songs for a living or something, but you would barely get any money and end up as a hobo on the street. ASTI probably accepted you to cure you from singing those songs all the time. You really need to rethink your life.    --Jesse Valdez

I like Justin Bieber and I don't have to change. What if you like ballet, should you stop being so attached to it because no other guy is doing ballet? Why don't you think that over?  Jesse thinks he can stop Sam and I from signing Justin Bieber. I do not think that ,that is going to work. So do please try again.
--Billy Lau

I want to respond to this post to defend all the Beiber HATERS!!!!!! yeah WOOT-WOOT! people have to understand that every celebrity has people that dis-like their signing voice and everything that may have to do with them, including and in this case it would have to be the voice. --Ivan Arreola

It appears that, throughout the school year, there has been an ongoing war about people liking Justin Beiber or not. Above you will find excerpts from those posts I have been able to unearth. I believe this can be used to demonstrate a long-standing concern of mine--so you Beiber-soldiers listen, and listen well.

For myself, I don't have an opinion on Justin Beiber. I have never listened to his music, mainly because I find that most contemporary teenage music is...well, I don't care for it. Obviously, this keeps me miles away from the class of "Beiber fangirl", but I'm not a "hater" either. I find it extremely interesting that there is no middle ground, only the fans and the "haters". I think this says a lot about our society, actually--but more on that in another post.

Each side in this Beiber-war seems to be trying to make themselves seem right, to subjugate the other side's opinions. Jesse says that fans of Justin Beiber will end up as hobos and need to rethink their lives; Ivan mocks Beiber's singing voice; Billy, later in his post, tells Jesse to "go back to 8th grade to learn your amendments". Karen Chavez, in a post I have not quoted above, claims that "if you say you hate him and that his voice sounds like a girl,you know that you secretely like him and secretely listen to his music".

You know what? I don't give a damn about Justin Beiber. He's a singer, and some people like him, and that's fine for them. Some people don't like him, and that's fine for them too. I'm sick of everyone trying to force their opinions on everyone else. Why can't we just let people have their own preferences? Is a little tolerance really too much to ask?

Stop arguing about Justin Beiber. It doesn't matter. No matter how essential you believe it is that everyone in the whole damn world be in love with Beiber, or that everyone hate him, it still doesn't matter. So give it a rest, because we're tired of hearing it.