Blog Phase 2: Things Fall Apart #6

“Obierika with five or six others led the way. The Commissioner and his men followed their firearms held at the ready. He had warned Obierika that if he and his men played any monkey tricks they would be shot. And so they went.
There was a small bush behind Okonkwo's compound. The only opening into this bush from the compound was a little round hole in the red-earth wall through which fowls went in and out in their endless search for food. The hole would not let a man through. It was to this bush that Obierika led the Commissioner and his men. They skirted round the compound, keeping close to the wall. The only sound they made was with their feet as they crushed dry leaves.
Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo's body was dangling, and they stopped dead.

"Perhaps your men can help us bring him down and bury him," said Obierika. "We have sent for strangers from another village to do it for us, but they may be a long time coming" (270).

As a result of the white inhabitant and the betrayal of his brothers, Okonkwo was fed up with all the changes and the weakness of his clan; thus he committed suicide. He realized that his clan was becoming weak by transferring to a new custom – the fact is he didn’t want to become equal to the whites because in his view he was more superior to them. Even though, it’s clear that the missionaries considered the tribe to be weak and believed the clan to be unequal, they decided not to use force in order to acquire more converts. However, Okonkwo wasn’t willing to give in because he wanted to keep the power in his clan, and since he was powerless to do so which demonstrate his inequality to the whites, he decided not to give in, but to give in through suicide. He wasn’t willing to convert as it was a sign of weakness, however, his suicide contradicted his beliefs because it showed his weakness and powerlessness to fend against the converts and bring back his tribe to fruition.

This is a clear example of how people in the world when they feel that they’re treated wrongly, and looked down upon just because they were raised to believe in something someone else disagrees with will decide to follow their own actions. They don’t want to be seen as inferior just because of how they were raised and what they believe in; obviously people have different views of the world. However, if they’re pressured so much by others, they’ll eventually either give in into something they disagree with or they will consider ending their lives.

In today’s world, those who are discriminated against because of their skin color – if they’re constantly beat up by a certain group; they may acquire hatred for that group and as a result follow through with what those people did to them to gain revenge. Another example is those who are homophobic; thus causing those who are homosexual to hide their sexuality; but once they’re secret is leaked, they decide to commit suicide because they’ll be constantly picked on.

There’s inequality all over the world, all in different forms. Each time no one will be able to fit in because another group will continuously look down upon them.

Blog Phase 2: Things Fall Apart #5

"Does the white man understand our custom about land?"

"How can he when he does not even speak our tongue? But he says that our customs are bad, and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart" (230).

This passage demonstrates inequality because the tribe broke apart because they noticed that their customs were bad. Once they were introduced to something superior, they left inferiority because they wanted to be on the side that will clearly win – they wanted to be with a group that isn’t known to be inferior. The tribe threw away all their customs and claimed it was “bad” compared to the new religion they were shown by the missionaries; thus those who stayed with their old customs can’t fight against the new customs. It was their fault that they had allowed these intruders to stay and they now can’t bring fight back because the missionaries now even have more power – their own brothers who left the clan. Clearly, the old tribal systems are inferior and those who are still part of it are considered to be inferior.

This passage is important because when some people/groups known they’re inferior they decide to throw all their customs away – they want to be seen as equals and gain power, while they betray their old systems, who still want to keep their own traditions. The tribe knew that they were unequal to the new customs that were brought into their world; thus they decided to join with their cause in order to become equal. Also, this passage demonstrates that if one sees another’s custom as strange, they want to change it because they want their following to become bigger.

For example, when a person feels like they’re unequal and powerless, they join a group who has power because they want to make themselves known. Even if it was unconscious, the tribe still betrayed their old customs in order to be known. No one was to be in an inequality section of society because they want to be equal, those who are unequal will be looked down upon and wouldn’t be able to do things other groups are able too.

Blog Phase 2: Things Fall Apart #4

“Ekwefi knelt beside the sick child, occasionally feeling with her palm the wet, burning forehead.

Ezinma was an only child and the centre of her mother's world. Very often it was Ezinma who decided what food her mother should prepare. Ekwefi even gave her such delicacies as eggs, which children were rarely allowed to eat because such food tempted them to steal. One day as Ezinma was eating an egg Okonkwo had come in unexpectedly from his hut. He was greatly shocked and swore to beat Ekwefi if she dared to give the child eggs again. But it was impossible to refuse Ezinma anything. After her father's rebuke she developed an even keener appetite for eggs. And she enjoyed above all the secrecy in which she now ate them. Her mother always took her into their bedroom and shut the door.

Ezinma did not call her mother Nne like all children. She called her by her name, Ekwefi, as her father and other grownup people did. The relationship between them was not only that of mother and child. There was something in it like the companionship of equals, which was strengthened by such little conspiracies as eating eggs in the bedroom.

Ekwefi had suffered a good deal in her life. She had borne ten children and nine of them had died in infancy, usually before the age of three. As she buried one child after another her sorrow gave way to despair and then to grim resignation. The birth of her children, which should be a woman's crowning glory, became for Ekwefi mere physical agony devoid of promise. The naming ceremony after seven market weeks became an empty ritual. Her deepening despair found expression in the names she gave her children. One of them was a pathetic cry, Onwumbiko--

"Death, I implore you." But Death took no notice,- Onwumbiko died in his fifteenth month. The next child was a girl, Ozoemena--

"May it not happen again." She died in her eleventh month, and two others after her. Ekwefi then became defiant and called her next child Onwuma--

"Death may please himself." And he did.

After the death of Ekwefi's second child, Okonkwo had gone to a medicine man, who was also a diviner of the Afa Oracle, to enquire what was amiss. This man told him that the child was an ogbanje, one of those wicked children who, when they died, entered their mothers' wombs to be born again.

"When your wife becomes pregnant again," he said, "let her not sleep in her hut. Let her go and stay with her people. In that way she will elude her wicked tormentor and break its evil cycle of birth and death."

Ekwefi did as she was asked. As soon as she became pregnant she went to live with her old mother in another village. It was there that her third child was born and circumcised on the eighth day.

She did not return to Okonkwo's compound until three days before the naming ceremony. The child was called Onwumbiko.

Onwumbiko was not given proper burial when he died. Okonkwo had called in another medicine man who was famous in the clan for his great knowledge about ogbanje children. His name was Okagbue Uyanwa. Okagbue was a very striking figure, tall, with a full beard and a bald head. He was light in complexion and his eyes were red and fiery. He always gnashed his teeth as he listened to those who came to consult him. He asked Okonkwo a few questions about the dead child. All the neighbours and relations who had come to mourn gathered round them” (101-103).

The relationship between Ekwefi and Ezinma shows not inequality, but the effects of it. Ekwefi who is one of Okonkwo’s wives shows a close relationship with her only daughter. This close relationship isn’t typical because their relationship is rather close because Ekwefi had so many children who previously died during infancy. Because Okonkwo has multiple wives and he’s barely ever there for Ekwefi, she values her daughter because they have each other, in which they must survive together. It’s basically the championship that Ekwefi loves about Ezinma. Not to mention she’s the only child that managed to survive; but because Ekwefi is basically scared of that Ezinma’s sickness may cause death – she’s scared that she’ll lose her only true friend in the world she can depend on. Since Okonkwo has multiple wives and children, whenever a new wife was introduced, the other wife did not hold animosity towards the other. This is because Okonkwo is known for power, he beats his wives whenever he’s angered causing them to have to band together in order to tell each other everything will be fine. This demonstrates the inequality and powerless Okonkwo’s wives have because they had no choice but to marry Okonkwo and they all have to face his abusiveness. They can’t run away because Okonkwo is the chief of the tribe and nor can they go against him or they’ll be murdered. They’re basically trapped since they depend on Okonkwo to survive.

This is important because women were known as inferior and in some countries still are, they are forced to come together because they have nothing else. Men who had the power could constantly abuse them because they could. Also, women couldn’t do anything about it because society had disallowed them from acquiring any source of power; thus they were belittled into following everything they were told to do. No matter how much they wanted to talk back or go against their husbands, they couldn’t because they would be killed. As a result, women needed to form together in order to go against the regime and fight for their freedom – they all had the same cause and purpose for doing so, which indicated that their only choice was to have faith in each other, not hatred.

Inequality had negative effects on women because they wanted to have jobs and roles just like men had. They were capable of doing the same things, and yet they were looked down upon. In some places today, they still are because men don’t want them to acquire power. In fact, it took so long for America to finally allow them to work in places considered too masculine or a man’s job. Thus, they create their own unions and meetings in order to establish their own power and role in society – clearly they want to be equal to men, not discriminated against because they’re weak – when in actuality they’re not.

Blog Phase 2: Things Fall Apart #3

“And at last the locusts did descend. They settled on every tree and on every blade of grass, they settled on the roofs and covered the bare ground. Mighty tree branches broke away under them, and the whole country became the brown-earth colour of the vast, hungry swarm” (72).

The locusts symbolize the inevitable faith of the Igbo people. Their faith is sealed once the missionaries settle within their colony and change their whole society. This is basically foreshadowing of the colonists who attempt to take over and change every culture the Igbo people are accustomed too. “Mighty tree branches broke away under them, and the whole country became the brown-earth color of the vast, hungry swam” is the foreshadowing of this change of culture and religious views. The world as the Igbo people know will come to an end. When locusts destroy crops, back then there was no way to get rid of them; so their destructive nature demonstrates the powerless of the Igbo who cannot do anything against the new colonists who clearly have more advanced technology.

Inequality is demonstrated as the “locusts” destroy and eat everything in their paths. While the missionaries want to convert the Igbo into Christianity. In order to do so, they must destroy everything that the Igbo is accustomed too; however, even if the Igbo want to fight back, they can’t because they’re only used to using wooden weapons compared to the more advanced guns that the missionaries use. The Igbo can’t fight back because they’ll die, thus most turn over to the churches being built and convert to Christianity. Since Nwoye couldn’t meet his father’s standard, he acquired power to satisfy his father wishes. However, after the death of Ikemefuna who taught Nwoye to become strong in his own way, Nwoye decided to convert. This action had angered his father which he eventually disowned Nwoye. Obviously, Nwoye was never treated right because he was pressed to live in his father’s footsteps – something he did not want to do; as a result, he severed their father-son relationship by converting to Christianity.

Nwoye’s actions show how inequality will affect people. Okonkwo thought nothing of his son until he acquired the power his father wanted for so long. However, Nwoye was powerless to go against his father because he was always beat and nagged; thus he gained power which pleased his father. But after the death of Ikemefuna who was basically an older brother figure to Nwoye, he decided that his father was wrong all along and reverted back to his normal self, but this time holding a grudge against his father.

Inequality today is still amongst society. People aren’t treated right because they don’t meet others standards or views. When one group hates on another, the group that is hated will eventually hate on them as well. It’s a never-ending cycle which continues to drive humanity. Nwoye demonstrated that he was unequal to his father and since his father kept abusing him, he decided to turn against his father without any thought because he wanted to be equal.

Blog Phase 2: Things Fall Apart #2

“Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. At any rate, that was how it looked to his father, and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating. And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth.

Okonkwo's prosperity was visible in his household. He had a large compound enclosed by a thick wall of red earth. His own hut, or obi, stood immediately behind the only gate in the red walls. Each of his three wives had her own hut, which together formed a half moon behind the obi. The barn was built against one end of the red walls, and long stacks of yam stood out prosperously in it. At the opposite end of the compound was a shed for the goats, and each wife built a small attachment to her hut for the hens. Near the barn was a small house, the "medicine house" or shrine where Okonkwo kept the wooden symbols of his personal god and of his ancestral spirits. He worshipped them with sacrifices of kola nut, food and palm-wine, and offered prayers to them on behalf of himself, his three wives and eight children” (16-17).

Okonkwo is strong; therefore he fears weakness – this “anxiety” was caused by his father whom would always run away from fights and gamble away all his money leaving little food to supply his family. Because of this, Okonkwo hates weakness and because he finds Nwoye his twelve year old son to be lazy and weak, he’ll beat him indefinitely in order to make him stronger. Nagging and beating is Okonkwo’s way of making his family strong, he obviously has great wealth and power. With wealth and power, no one is going to stand against him because of fear. Notice how he has multiple wives, a common practice back in the day, however, his wife isn’t going to against him for beating their son because she can’t – if she does, she’ll be beat in return. This action demonstrates the high hierarchy where the head of the family is the husband. Since Okonkwo is the manifestation of strength, his family will also need to demonstrate this or his status will be looked down upon amongst the other 12 tribes that are interconnected. As a result, he plans to make Nwoye powerful. Nwoye is a symbol of Okonkwo’s father – who Okonkwo hates with a passion – Nwoye, who shows feminine traits clearly does not want to become like his father – a tyrant. Although, if he doesn’t, he’ll be repeatedly beaten and disowned causing his mother whom he loves to be in a terrible situation; thus he’s trapped in this cycle of remaining himself or a struggling conflict of following his father’s footstep.

Hierarchy is a classic example of inequality. The men in the family are higher up in which the women depend on them for money and basic survival. Even the sons who are supposed to have power as well when they take over the family are treated with disrespect because power engulfs everything. Okonkwo is an example of power and thus he brings forth inequality – for both genders. He sees Nwoye as weak because he shows no interest to become like him. As a result, he’ll beat him until Nwoye realizes that he has to become like his father – Nwoye is his eldest son; so he wants him to become strong. In reality, you can’t force someone to become like you – they want to create their own life, their own destiny, and their own path. Everyone is different in the world and has different views, trying to create a clone of yourself isn’t exactly a great idea. Inequality, is treating someone has inferior; but the important notice is that Okonkwo is beating his own son, who doesn’t want to become like his father; but rather like his grandfather. No matter how hard Nwoye tries, his father will always see him as inferior because he’s worthless to Okonkwo’s family if he continues to remain weak. In other words, he’s not the right candidate of being heir, but since the tradition of eldest son takes over remains, Okonkwo will continuously beat Nwoye until he becomes strong; however, what will this powerless cause Nwoye to do? Inequality will continue to cause problems as it’s basically a struggle between groups of people – one group discriminates against another just because their views, actions, religion, skin color, etc. are all different from their own views.

An example of hierarchy and inequality still remains in the Indian caste system, although it’s now as definite as it was hundreds of years ago. Each group who has little wealth are not allowed to marry, associate, be seen with, befriend, or live amongst those who are higher in the caste system. Although it’s now abolished, a reminiscent of it is still being used today; though not as bad. However, people are still being mistreated in India because of lower status.

In current day society, there are still parents who expect their children to become what they want. The high achievement is becoming a doctor or lawyer. However, their child doesn’t necessarily want to study these professions. It’s important that if you don’t like your job and what you do for a living, even if it provides wealth and status – that doesn’t mean anything, you have to like what you do or you’ll just be bored and tired of it in a matter of days. The child doesn’t want to upset their parents by simply disagreeing; but they’re not creating their own identity. This is a form of inequality because the child will be forced to either anger their parents or ruin their own path in life – demonstrating powerless – they’re parents nurtured them; thus they wouldn’t want to go against them.

Blog Phase 2: Things Fall Apart #1

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things Fall Apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
--W. B. Yeats, "The Second Coming" (Achebe 2).

Achebe uses the opening of W.B. Yeats’ “The Second Coming” as an epigraph to his novel. This isn’t added just because Yeats’ poem is famous. Instead, it actually serves a purpose – chaos is established in the African tribal system due to the hostile takeover of the imperialist bureaucracies. Also, white missionaries enter to convert Africans into Christians – this is the “second coming” in Achebe’s story. It’s important to note that Achebe intentionally leaves out the rest of the poem – this eradicates the potential foreshadowing of the dangers the missionaries will bring upon the tribal systems. The whole struggle is between the Okonkwo – the main protagonist and the whites who attempt to destroy everything Okonkwo’s tribe is known for, no matter how hard he tries to keep the current regime/system going, his clan begins to give in.

It’s evident that in the beginning poem by Yeats is the foreshadowing of destruction – the “chaos” that is to come to Okonkwo’s tribe. Even though, Okonkwo strives for power and strength, he’s simply no match for the whites in his current state. This demonstrates inequality since the tribe can’t fend off the white missionaries who symbol current technology and destruction. “Anarchy” is the introduction of something new, though it’s not a new government in a sense, but a new religion. No one is going to respond to a new change with respect or positivity, instead they see it as negative; however, what can one do when they are clearly inferior? – In their (African tribe) current state they can’t do anything until later when the story begins to reach its falling action. Obviously, the missionaries see the tribe as inferior and due to the widespread of religion in the 1890s, they wanted to capture Africa for themselves and continue spreading Christianity. “The Falcon cannot hear the falconer” is a classic example of the difference the tribe will face when they’re face with new churches being built – they have to watch the burning of their current systems – they’re clearly trapped in a new world, with no hope. Even Okonkwo who’s known as strict and continues to examine power as his father was weak – he wants to demonstrate that he’s superior to his father (who in his opinion destroyed his tribe with his weakness), he’s powerless in the face of the missionaries.

Though this novel isn’t set in the future, it does tell us currently that if one society was to take over another, for example, missionaries attempted to take over the African tribe system. We’re a world filled with war, every country attempts to acquire power in their own way – but what would happen to all those undeveloped countries who are powerless? – They’ll be engulfed in cycle of war, and obviously if they don’t follow the commands of others, they’ll be murdered or incarcerated. In order to establish order – the people with power will treat those who were conquered through inequality – this is evident during WWII where the Japanese who lived in America were accused and imprisoned as being spies. Also, again in the Holocaust where the Jews were imprisoned because of their religious views – they were prosecuted for their beliefs and inferior belief of God. This reveals that the present still has examples of inequality – gender roles, racism, hatred, etc. In the world, these things will never be destroyed because a group of people will continue to follow through with the cycle of hatred and continue that cycle throughout – this is seen in war, everyday life, etc.

Cleaner Environment

Environment:

In the picture above it seems like trees and the environment are spreading at a rapid pace. This indicates that people are more focused on the environment and keeping the cities more ‘fresh’ as a way to keep it clean. However, the cities aren’t very appealing as buildings are only white and the surrounding areas are green. Also, the environment looks much more cleanly compared to the polluted industries that create smoke. Birds inhabit the area as if they it’s abandoned, with the whole green environment it doesn’t seem like there’s any people as if they let the land grow like that without doing anything about it. This could also indicate that people left the area and this is why the world is transforming. Without human population the area has become more clean because industries are abandoned which causes no pollution in the atmosphere. The city doesn’t necessarily look appealing because everything is just one of two colors – green or white. Having an area full of trees just looks like a tropical forest and with forest lurk dangerous animals and creatures that hide. This depicts that humans caused too much damage to the environment and that led to isolation or ghost towns which the forest began to rapidly spread.

Can the population even live in an all tree filled society? How far will people go in order to save their cities? Will people live in this city? How much destruction had caused people to isolate this city?

No matter how much destruction is caused, people will still continue to live in the city and overtime they’d just fix it. I think people who love the environment would actually live happily in this city as it’s what they wanted all along. Also, with much cleaner air people could live in a much safer environment.

Industrial Cities

Technology:

As depicted in this futuristic city, the future will become much more industrial. Buildings will become closer to each other and instead of being bright and colorful, the world transforms into a much more dull and colorless. It also seems that Coca-Cola is still a drink in the future meaning that it’s still a leading drink. In the sky, there are flying vehicles where traffic flows in one direction; but it seems rather unorganized meaning that without traffic signals the future is accident prone. Everything seems rather dusty and old which means that maintenance isn’t a concern as people seem to be airborne. However, trains and boats are still used most likely for those who can’t afford a futuristic car. The train resembles a bullet indicating that it’s much more efficient to travel on land. If a train wasn’t faster as a flying car than train services will be far in profit; thus they needed to match a car’s speed by creating a much more efficient way to travel. Though, it doesn’t seem like a boat has advanced as much, but the engines could be made quicker. It’s also important to note that some buildings are actually bigger than a car’s travel route which indicates that people who aren’t experienced would crash into them. As a result, licenses might not be given as easily and laws are stricter in order to have more experienced drivers on the road. This indicates that in the future cities will be more based in the air in terms of travel; however, for those who prefer land, they still have the options to choose from a train and boat.

How would people react to flying cars? Why are buildings larger than the maximum height cars travel by? Why does the city look more industrial and badly maintained? Will people accept these changes? How far will people be willing to go to adapt to these changes?

While flying cars may be a cool idea, it doesn’t mean it’s necessarily safe. As depicted in the picture cars seem to drive at a lower height than the taller buildings which means that it’s dangerous. Just because laws and customs changes when obtaining a driver’s license it doesn’t necessarily mean that people will be great drivers. Also, with the lack of traffic signals it seems like the airways are rather unorganized which may cause mayhem.

Experimental Destruction

Inequality:

Children of Men is a movie where women aren’t able to have children anymore which causes devastation among society as no child has been born for 18 years. Unknown to them an African woman is pregnant and thus needs to be transported away before people suspect what’s going on. Since people aren’t able to have children anymore the population is dwindling. Once people find out they attempt to go after the woman as a way to experiment on her. It seems like the population is going against women as a way to experiment on them to find the source of their infertility. They want to experiment until they can find the cure; but they’re too obsessed with returning the population to normal that they cast away rights. Since people want their legacy to be carried on in their children they’ll reproduce, though in this society they aren’t able to do that and by experimenting they attempt to find a cure with little to no possibility that they will. It’s like they’re treating the pregnant woman as if she was a miracle but the problem is that she’s not willing to allow the society to take her baby away, so she creates a way to hide herself. If she was taken into custody she would have the chances of losing her baby and in another way she could save the human population. However, she rather save her own child and move on rather than help the population; but society won’t allow her to do that; thus they’re taking her own rights away as a way to save the population. Either way if she didn’t want to help then she doesn’t – forcing her would only take her rights away; but this shows that people will do whatever they want when an opposing side disagrees.

How would government help the people – would they choose saving one person or the whole population? Is it one person’s right to save the population even if they don’t want too? Will people continue to fight for what they think is right?

In conclusion the government will always do what’s best for the entire population even if they had to steal the rights from one person. The fact is that if it’s one person they would rather save the whole population compared to only one. If someone had to save the whole population they wouldn’t have too, but it’ll be best if they did.

Censorship as a Source of Control

The following excerpt is taken from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

Government:

IT WAS A PLEASURE TO BURN

IT was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.

With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous

kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the

hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning

to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history. With his symbolic helmet

numbered 451 on his stolid head, and his eyes all orange flame with the thought of

what came next, he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire that

burned the evening sky red and yellow and black. He strode in a swarm of fireflies.

He wanted above all, like the old joke, to shove a marshmallow on a stick in the

furnace, while the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and lawn of the

house. While the books went up in sparkling whirls and blew away on a wind turned

dark with burning.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury demonstrates a strong censorship of books enforced by the government. The government isn’t trying to aid the people; but instead they’re destroying it. It’s plausible that the government originally intended to burn books because society decided that it wasn’t worth the time anymore. However, by doing so they brainwash the people by not only allowing society to think for themselves by educating them with less education – only sports and activities where they can’t stop to think. If they allow society to stop thinking then they won’t go against the laws they set. With a strong government control people won’t go against laws and just follow it exactly which allows the government to create whatever laws they see fit. People don’t even see the need to think because they know that the government will help them in creating a strong centralized society; but they will never be able to understand that when they don’t even stop to think. Censorship is established to control, not help – what the people in this society don’t realize is that the government isn’t helping them. If the people allow leaders to lead the control with 100 percent authority, they’ll use that to their advantage by gaining absolute control and people will lose their freedom. In Fahrenheit 451 if people wanted that type of government they should have moved to a communist or a dictator run country instead – which goes against ideal society of America. This shows that when people throws something away such as reading – the government will establish laws to censor it in order to end disputes; but as people give up on other things; that’s when the government will take full control.

How will the world stop the government if they took full control? Will the government ever attempt to gain absolute power? Is censorship going to lead to the end of society? How far will people go in order to stop something?

In the end, there will always be a group of people to go against the government because everyone has their own set of ideals. No matter how hard the government attempts to destroy something another group will continue to form and hide items that are censored and spread their ideals. Government can’t gain full control even if they wanted too as others will go against their enforcement.

One Man War

War:

The movie “The Book of Eli” takes place in a post-war future and presently there’s still some war waging on. Denzel Washington who plays the main character Eli is blind; but yet he has mysterious powers that protect him from danger – it’s later shown that the Bible was protecting him. As he continues to travel west he encounters a man named Carnegie who attempts to steal the bible from him. The whole movie is depicted with war which is waged against one man – Eli. Carnegie is trying to steal the book in order to control his town and have power; but the only person standing in his way is Eli. A war against one man is dangerous; it’s like having the whole world against you. However, Eli is still able to pull everything off whenever he holds the book but because he’s blind it stops him from being able to know what he’s doing and once he loses the book, he’s done for. It’s obvious that no matter how strong one person is or how capable their abilities are they won’t survive in a war filled world by themselves. Since the setting is post-war it indicates that in the past that the world was most likely purged to rid the world of humankind as technology increased. People wanted power and that led to devastation and even in Eli’s world he’s still in a war – a war for the possession of one book. War destroys everything as you can see in the movie trailer, the towns and buildings were all destroyed and it seems like everyone has resorted to becoming bandits – to steal and kill. War leaves nothing and that’s the whole depiction of the movie because war continues to destroy rather than help human population. The movie demonstrates that when people attempt to gain something they will wage war, no matter how terrifying the losses will be they still continue on.

With war will everyone join one side? Is everything going to be destroyed? What kind of weapons will be created in order to combat against one another? How far one people go to obtain something? How far will someone go to protect something? Would war lead to change?

In conclusion, war will destroy mostly everything as when people try to steal or destroy an opposing side will always attempt to protect. In order to win against war – each side creates a more advanced technology in order to fight against the opposing side or the losses will become devastating.

Futuristic Destruction and Devastation

Environment:

The video above is a movie trailer entitled 2012, what 2012 depicts of the future is the end of the world. As you can see in the video, the words, “How would the government of our planet prepare six million people for the end of the world?” The images shown in the video shows the ocean consuming everything and easily destroying a building as it crumbles into the violent waves. 2012 depicts yet another apocalyptic movie – however, it does state that there will be no survivors indicating that the world will truly come to an end. This devastation is caused by the earth’s core increasing in atmospheric heat causing natural disasters. People won’t be able to escape and nor will the earth’s population ever be brought back with no survivors. The use of huge waves engulfing everything shows another theory in our current society – Global Warming where the polar ice caps are melting due to an increase in temperature and climate changes. Global Warming will cause more water to be added into the ocean depths causing less land. If this movie was to be true then civilization will end as we know it. The monk in the beginning of the traveler rings the bell to warn others; but it doesn’t seem like there’s even anyone around him and he was the only person shown. Ocean waves had destroyed everything by the time – the waves reached dangerous levels – it was above land. No matter how people try to escape there won’t be an end, and if the whole Global Warming controversy is true than the world will end as shown in the movie; though, I don’t think that it will be real as the world ending in 2012 has no real proof besides the Mayan calendar – which evidently ends at 2012. In fact, Harold Camping stated that the world would end in 2010; but he was wrong, and recently he stated that his calculations were all wrong and the world was to end in October 21, 2011 which Rapture would occur; but yet again it’s October 25, 2011 right now and the world still hasn’t ended.

If the world was to end will it occur just like it happened in the movie? Will the world even end? What will happen to the population? Will people continue to ignore those who try to make depictions? Would the world survive?

In conclusion, the world may not end as depicted in the movie because even if Global Warming was a cause it’d take years for ocean levels to increase over land.

An End to Civilization

Religion:

In the video above it depicts the opening cinematic for a video game called Darksiders, the game demonstrates several aspects of its future – an apocalypse and the usage of figures from the bible – the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The name of the protagonist is War, after being accused of starting the apocalypse early has to confront a multitude of tasks – destroying both Heaven and Hell’s army. As depicted in the bible, the Four Horsemen are to bring forth the devastation as harbingers of the Last Judgment. Even though this event is described in the bible it’s nearly impossible for anyone to being upon an apocalypse as it just happens. I doubt that during an apocalypse that anyone would even survive or live to the extent for years. Having dangerous monsters isn’t possible as those are just shown in movies and if that was true; someone wouldn’t be able to fend off all those huge monsters like War had done. The game heavily follows chaos being foretold in the bible, obviously with its own variations. It wouldn’t actually be cool if an apocalypse were to happen because throughout the game there were no human survivors – only monsters, an army, and War himself. Everything is destroyed and there’s basically nothing left, even though War stopped the whole gap of destruction, he would never be able to bring back civilization – note that despite being a harbinger he only went against his job because he was accused of treason; so ultimately he was only trying to clear his name. No progress will be made or would civilization ever be revived due to monsters inhabiting the land; thus according to this game and the bible an apocalypse will only bring upon devastation rather than cause change to mankind as humans are wiped out.

Is an apocalypse really going to occur? Would Four Horsemen even come upon the world? I don’t have any religious preference but it seems like something as mythical people would ever be true. Could civilization survive during an apocalypse? There might be some people who would survive, but even if they did the question is how long would they survive? – Probably not very long as if there’s only one survivor, it means that humans will be wiped off the face of the earth. Could people ever try to find ways to stop this event from occurring? It just happens so I doubt it could be stopped. Though it might not ever happen even 2012 mark the end of civilization; but that’s also unbelievable. It doesn’t seem right to me that an event could even occur even if the bible depicts this event – nor does the bible explicitly states when the apocalypse will occur.

Sub-Zero Temperatures - A way of Living?

Biotechnology:

With the recent release of Batman Arkham City – a video game, the fictional character above known as Mr. Freeze is an example of biotech. After an accident he’s can only survive in a cryogenic suit. All his powers revolve around the theme of ice which in the future means that people will have the ability to mutate and create dangerous suits and weapons like Mr. Freeze. This suggests that people will acquire the technology to alter their genes and mutate into something beyond human – a superhuman. The idea is still far-fetched as currently individuals do not gain super strength through gene alteration. It’s impossible to acquire power such as someone’s body only being able to survive in sub-zero temperatures; however, if that was to happen, technology can be created to allow the person to survive. Though, under normal circumstances will a person be able to survive a cryogenic environment. With new technology coming out like the iPhone – which advances with every new release and more advance technology being revealed even super computers can be built; thus creating a super powered suit is plausible. However, I doubt that someone would be able to survive below sub-zero temperatures even if they were altered since the normal human body temperature is about 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit which makes it almost impossible for anyone to survive – in fact, they’ll freeze to death. In the future, the idea may be plausible because technology advances every day and with technology that Batman uses/creates it just means that knowledge will keep on increasing which will eventually lead to development of suits just like Mr. Freeze’s and gene alteration – which may or may not be dangerous depending on the alteration and person.

Questions are if society will ever reach or consider altering their bodies in order to have superhuman powers? Will these powers come with consequences? For example, in Mr. Freeze’s case, his downfall is that he cannot survive without his suit or anywhere warmer above sub-zero temperature. Will society ever allow mankind to become like this? How would society use this advancement – either positively or negatively? Would people become insane with power or use it for the good of others?

Even if this idea may be far from being possible, I do think that most people would like to have superpowers. Though, some might use it for evil purposes – these powers do come with negative side effects. With side effects, I don’t think most people will ever consider trying to become this advanced, unless of course the positive outweighs the negatives. Society may resort to altering genes to save the lives of people; but that’ll ultimately come at a cost. It may seem cool to have superpowers, but that’s not always the best option for humankind to follow or go towards.

Down Through The Ocean Depths

Environment:

The image above demonstrates that we as society are moving towards. This city looks like it’s underwater with no signs of a dome to protect the citizens – they can’t breathe. However, because there seems to be no form of protection this also illustrates that in the future people will begin to live underwater – without fear of being attacked by sea creatures. From the looks of it, killer whales and mantis rays seems to be heading towards the city meaning that they’re attracted to it. This could be the result of the light shining from the dome. Currently it’s impossible for society to move fully underwater – it’s still far reached from what technology is fully capable of; however, as society begins to evolve more, we may be capable of producing something as high-tech like an underwater themed city. This could also suggest that with the impact of Global Warming society is becoming more strained; impact of natural disasters will cause nations to fall beneath water and as a result scientists come up with a way to prevent us from drowning. With large changes in technology today such as the use of 3D, who knows where society will end up in a couple of years?

My questions are as a nation who’s already fully dependent on technology; will this cause us to fully become lazy? – Technology makes things more ‘efficient’ in terms of getting rid of the need to do something by making it ‘easier’ – as a result it forces us to become too dependent. How can we fully live in the ocean? Can we become adapt to the ocean currents and become like sea creatures – just like growing fins, etc.? What happens if the city fails to protect us – humans? Will we ever survive in a small island? Living in the ocean may sound like a great idea; but will it benefit us? I rather live above the surface than stay trapped in the ocean with dangerous creatures lurking about.

Controlling Society

Government:

The following excerpt is taking from 2 B R 0 2 B by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

"Or something," said the painter. He took a list of names from his smock pocket. "Duncan, Duncan, Duncan," he said, scanning the list. "Yes—here you are. You're entitled to be immortalized. See any faceless body here you'd like me to stick your head on? We've got a few choice ones left."

She studied the mural bleakly. "Gee," she said, "they're all the same to me. I don't know anything about art."

"A body's a body, eh?" he said, "All righty. As a master of fine art, I recommend this body here." He indicated a faceless figure of a woman who was carrying dried stalks to a trash-burner.

"Well," said Leora Duncan, "that's more the disposal people, isn't it? I mean, I'm in service. I don't do any disposing."

The painter clapped his hands in mock delight. "You say you don't know anything about art, and then you prove in the next breath that you know more about it than I do! Of course the sheave-carrier is wrong for a hostess! A snipper, a pruner—that's more your line." He pointed to a figure in purple who was sawing a dead branch from an apple tree. "How about her?" he said. "You like her at all?"

"Gosh—" she said, and she blushed and became humble—"that—that puts me right next to Dr. Hitz."

"That upsets you?" he said.

"Good gravy, no!" she said. "It's—it's just such an honor."

"Ah, You admire him, eh?" he said.

"Who doesn't admire him?" she said, worshiping the portrait of Hitz. It was the portrait of a tanned, white-haired, omnipotent Zeus, two hundred and forty years old. "Who doesn't admire him?" she said again. "He was responsible for setting up the very first gas chamber in Chicago."

"Nothing would please me more," said the painter, "than to put you next to him for all time. Sawing off a limb—that strikes you as appropriate?"

"That is kind of like what I do," she said. She was demure about what she did. What she did was make people comfortable while she killed them."

---

Leora Duncan is a citizen that worships Dr. Hitz simply because he created the first gas chambers. When asked a question she blushes and states “Gosh..that – that puts me right next to Dr. Hitz”, she’s basically hypnotized to the point that she thinks anything that Hitz does is for the well-being of the people. Basically in a dystopian society the people follow authority in order to avoid putting themselves in danger or because they can’t think for themselves – authorities will take advantage. Leora is an example of following others and thinking they’re great because she feels that it’s right; however, she’s not thinking about the consequences – she could even be the next person sacrificed. But yet she still “admires him”, the fact is, when given a chance people follow leaders instead of thinking rationally. In this dystopian society, the government censors us into follow their lead, if we don’t, we’re sent to the gas chambers. Fear is the whole control; thus we can’t think for ourselves leading us to look for someone that can lead us. It’s obvious that Hitz is a villain, but yet Leora worships him as if he was a god. As a result, Hitz has condemned society into believing gas chambers was right – a correct way of trying to control and maintain society – to what he feared, if population became too big a revolution would begin.

After World War II, the Milgram experiment was conducted – people had headphones, a button, and an authority figure standing next to them. They were told that the person in the next room would be shocked whenever the button was pressed; no matter how badly they wanted to stop (since they could “hear” the person screaming stating that they need to stop because they had a heart condition) they couldn’t since the authority figure said they had to continue. However, the trick was that they did not have to stay – the authorities weren’t forcing them to stay. This experiment proved that people listen to authorities even if they don’t agree with their ways; more people in this experiment continued on; but only a few actually left. Along with 2 B R 0 2 B, this shows that people follow authorities even if they don’t believe in their ways. As a society we just follow laws and only a few people would go against it – these people believe that some laws are wrong and should be revoked. Though, the majority just follow and never question because they believe that authorities are always right – though this is not always the case.

Eureka

Technology:

In the TV series Eureka, a funeral was taking place during the beginning where a woman named Susan was being buried. However, after the funeral there were these strange ghost-like images which would later play a role again. It would later be evident that the woman who was buried was actually alive, but all her memories of the past have been removed. According to her she never had a child, though an investigation of ‘her’ house has been checked and in a photo she was seen with her child and husband. Later, a boy also saw the ghostly image and started drawing the white figure on his wall. I think that since this town is full of scientists there was a void that cause this ghostly image to reappear each and every time, but not because it’s actually a ghost, it might actually be a reminisce of the past – a void that opened to allow past figures back into the present. The episode never fully explain what the ghostly figure actually is, therefore they want the audience to think about what might be the cause – from the woman being revived to the boy seeing the image and drawing it all over his wall. They never explicitly say what it is and what it actually does, but I think that each time the figure appears it’s actually the portal that’s being reopened into the past and bringing people back into the present, hence the image being shaped like a human – human portal or gate. In reality, that would never happen, however in a society full of only scientists that experiment with new technology each and every day than this could be possible.

I think the episode is trying to say that being human is just living and if we die there are ways to be brought back to life. Technology becomes so advanced that we can no longer believe in what can actually happen and what cannot happen because we don’t know how advanced technology will ever become, thus we must believe in all possibilities. The image of the ghostly figure could have represented a void that was opened through technology, though because no one knows what’s going on it must have been an experiment gone wrong. In order to come back to the future the characters will lose all their memories as depicted with Susan – she didn’t remember even having a son, but in the picture of her, she actually did have one. Technology can only bring us so far that we can’t comprehend reality because no one can actually be brought back to life. By showing that ghostly figure, we wonder what it is and why the producers are showing this image to us. However as the story progresses we begin to depict what might actually be going on. If a person was being brought back to live in society when they were declared as dead then anything is possible in the future.

A Change of Nature

A change of Nature

"Willow blow just as they please
Dancing with each subtle breeze
Orchestras command the wind
Much like the way it's always been

But clouds aren't like they used to be
And rainbows come in twos and threes
Winds that blew the night away
Continue on into the day

Perhaps the earth won't turn as fast
And revert to patterns of the past
Maybe turning upside down
And throwing many things around

Watch the sun's coronas glow
For when it's time you'll surely know
By then you will be in your place
To help preserve the human race"

Environment:

This poem begins by explaining that the future will be the same, but because of everyday occurence, people begin to realize that it's too similar to the past. According to the first stanza, in the line "much like the way its always been", this means that there are things that follow the presence of the past, such as the wind acting the same way. The difference is in the second stanza where the "clouds aren't like they used to be" meaning there are some changes to the world, though they might not be big changes there are still changes nevertheless. However, the major changes include rainbows coming in "twos and threes", currently when there are rainbows it comes in one and in rare cases two - double rainbow. In this poem, the major changes include the earth not spinning as fast which results in it "[reverting] to patterns of the past", just because the earth is slowing down doesn't mean that changes won't occur. I think that this author is trying to make an example of saying if the earth stood still than nothing will change, but it would reform to its original patterns because in the future they expect that the earth will rotate at a quicker rate. The world can't turn upside down from rotating, however if it actually could then the author would be correct in stating that everything will basically be thrown around - kind of like an earthquake, tornado, or hurricane. If we continue to acknowledge the changes made, we will most likely "help preserve the human race", by continuing to change the world and cleanse it - the human race will not be destroyed; thus we will be allowed to survive.

We as humans should begin to realize that the world is changing and by keeping the world clean we can help preserve it. There's never a time when people should think for themselves, but we should think for others. In order to save mankind, we need to adapt to the changes - Global Warming - we need to help reduce the pollution in the world and strive to protect it - recycle and reduce the usage of toxins - fossil fuel, factories, etc. As humans we need to be aware - aware of what's around us rather than things that we're not able to understand, we shouldn't strive to understand the great changes, but the world will continue to shape itself and people should help the world - by reducing pollution we'll be able to stop natural causes. Although, we can't necessarily stop earthquakes, hurricanes, and tornadoes, we can still help the earth last longer. If we continue to pollute and contaminate the earth - the past and present as we know it will cease to exist and as a result an "upside down earth" will appear in the future - a future full of natural disasters. By creating a depiction of natural disasters that is to come if we don't shape the world then the worlds will change, "willows blow just as they please", "clouds aren't what they used to be", and things will be "turned upside down". Nothing will be the same, thus by creating those images we as people don't want those disasters to occur and learn to preserve the world as we know it instead of having a devastating change.