If writing didn't have the power to enact social change, then why do people write books? Why do politicians create documents that can do anything from declare independence to enforce laws? Why do historical figures write about their experiences and leave them behind for us? Why are millions upon millions of newspapers printed each day? Why do websites such as myspace, facebook, xanga, and even blogspot exist? If writing can't procure social metamorphosis, then why write at all? Plain and simple, this is done because writing does indeed enact change, period. It has done it plenty of times in history, over and over again.
Nearly 4, 000 years ago, King Hammerabi of Babylon inscribed 282 laws on a large stone monument for all to see, basing his rules on the Law of Retaliation philosophy.
In the late 1500s, five of the nations in western New York- the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk- formed an alliance known as the Iroquois League.
Sometime after Hernan Cortes arrived in Tenochtilan in 1519, both Cortes himself and an Aztec inscribed their views of the events that took place on the turning point of Cortes's invasion on paper and left their views to the world.
In January, 1776, Thomas Paine published a lively and persuasive pamphlet called Common Sense for his fellow Patriots.
Between June 11 and June 28, 1776, Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, our nation's most cherished symbol of liberty.
And what exactly was the aftermath of these situations? Hammerabi enforced those laws because the preface of the stele the laws were written on suggest that he was chosen by the gods install some discipline into his people, moreover based off of codes he agreed upon being moral. And these morals were exactly what people followed. The Iroquois League existed in hopes of establishing peace between the Five Nations. And, at least for a while, that is exactly what The Constitution of the Five Nations did. Cortes and an the unknown Aztec wrote about their perspectives about the battle in Tenochtitlan to defend their honor and persuade the people of tomorrow to believe in their story. Thomas Paine published Common Sense to ease public opinion about whether or not the colonists were still loyal to the British king. Believe or not, the colonists’ views about being loyal the the king soon changed after. Jefferson and the rest of the committee that drafted the declaration did so because they wanted to express the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people. And before they knew it, they were fighting in the famous American Revolution.
Long and short of it all, these documents did exactly what they had hoped to do. In the long run, they make the people of today look back at the story of yesterday, and still install some form of opinion into modern day society. And I know that one day, someone just might look back at this blog, and shape their perspective upon my opinion.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
What Defines Your Character?
Growing up, everyone goes through the same dilemma: what defines who I am? What we fail to realize, however, is that the answer is right in our faces, whether it be in the kitchen, in the garage, in the master bedroom, or even sitting beside you in the living room. The answer is our own flesh and blood: our parents. Our parents are the basic outline of who we are. Unfortunately, in some cases, people don’t always want this to be true.
Throughout the book The Price of a Child, you meet a family known as the Quicks, who helped free protagonist Mercer Gray from her brutal master, Jackson Pryor. In this family, you are specifically introduced to a man named Tyree Quick. As far as first impressions go, he seems to be a hardworking, honest, and trustworthy man. He works hard to support the rest of the Quicks, especially since his father, Emmanuel Quick, had a stoke and now doesn’t seem to function as well as he use to. In addition, Tyree dedicates a good chunk of his time to the Vigilance Committee, a determined group of individuals who are devoted to freeing enslaved African Americans from their cruel and unjust masters. What a well-respected man. Kind of like his father, who still works even though some days he is condemned to a wooden chair, trying to find his strength again. The Quicks, with “Manny” and Tyree as what we can refer to as the “alpha males” of the Quick Clan, seem to be quite the tight, functional unit.
Later on, we start to find out a few dirty secrets about Tyree and Manny. Tyree married his brother Roland’s widow. But, he married her because of his yearning sexual desires for her. Apparently, both him and his wife, Blanche, are incredibly unhappy. As for Manny, he must of married his wife, Della, for the same appalling reason because after a few subtle hints have been dropped, we find out that he has a mistress by the name of Rachel, who he attempts to see whenever he can, often forcing his sister known throughout the book as Aunt Bea, who has an incredulous liking to alcohol, to carry messages between the two. In addition, he has a history of abusing his wife. And it gets better: a huge sum of the family’s money went to Rachel’s brand new house.
Now, what does his father’s lying cheating have to do with Tyree himself? Well, since Tyree first saw Mercer Gray at the docks, he fell for her, quite hard. In the meantime, he builds up a particular disgust toward his father. For not only giving someone who isn’t even blood related a better life then they have with their money, but through it all, after years of his mother, father and himself slaving away, where is all of the money? The whole family has been working like dogs for years, and his father never showed20a genuine concern for the family’s financial issues? Throughout the book, you witness Tyree telling his father and himself that he will never be like his father, never beat or cheat his wife or cheat the family out of their money. In the end, he cheated his wife with Mercer.
In synopsis, the more Tyree fought, the more Tyree became his father. Even Aunt Bea said to Tyree at one point in the book “You are the new Manny”. But, becoming what we truly are isn’t something we can fight. The more he fought, the more inevitable it became as poisons of his parent’s mistakes started to overtake him. I’m not saying that we are always condemned to repeat our parent’s faults and turn into our parents per say because everyone is their own person. But it’s either you accept them for what they are, or your bitterness and resentment towards them will turn their faults into who you are.
Throughout the book The Price of a Child, you meet a family known as the Quicks, who helped free protagonist Mercer Gray from her brutal master, Jackson Pryor. In this family, you are specifically introduced to a man named Tyree Quick. As far as first impressions go, he seems to be a hardworking, honest, and trustworthy man. He works hard to support the rest of the Quicks, especially since his father, Emmanuel Quick, had a stoke and now doesn’t seem to function as well as he use to. In addition, Tyree dedicates a good chunk of his time to the Vigilance Committee, a determined group of individuals who are devoted to freeing enslaved African Americans from their cruel and unjust masters. What a well-respected man. Kind of like his father, who still works even though some days he is condemned to a wooden chair, trying to find his strength again. The Quicks, with “Manny” and Tyree as what we can refer to as the “alpha males” of the Quick Clan, seem to be quite the tight, functional unit.
Later on, we start to find out a few dirty secrets about Tyree and Manny. Tyree married his brother Roland’s widow. But, he married her because of his yearning sexual desires for her. Apparently, both him and his wife, Blanche, are incredibly unhappy. As for Manny, he must of married his wife, Della, for the same appalling reason because after a few subtle hints have been dropped, we find out that he has a mistress by the name of Rachel, who he attempts to see whenever he can, often forcing his sister known throughout the book as Aunt Bea, who has an incredulous liking to alcohol, to carry messages between the two. In addition, he has a history of abusing his wife. And it gets better: a huge sum of the family’s money went to Rachel’s brand new house.
Now, what does his father’s lying cheating have to do with Tyree himself? Well, since Tyree first saw Mercer Gray at the docks, he fell for her, quite hard. In the meantime, he builds up a particular disgust toward his father. For not only giving someone who isn’t even blood related a better life then they have with their money, but through it all, after years of his mother, father and himself slaving away, where is all of the money? The whole family has been working like dogs for years, and his father never showed20a genuine concern for the family’s financial issues? Throughout the book, you witness Tyree telling his father and himself that he will never be like his father, never beat or cheat his wife or cheat the family out of their money. In the end, he cheated his wife with Mercer.
In synopsis, the more Tyree fought, the more Tyree became his father. Even Aunt Bea said to Tyree at one point in the book “You are the new Manny”. But, becoming what we truly are isn’t something we can fight. The more he fought, the more inevitable it became as poisons of his parent’s mistakes started to overtake him. I’m not saying that we are always condemned to repeat our parent’s faults and turn into our parents per say because everyone is their own person. But it’s either you accept them for what they are, or your bitterness and resentment towards them will turn their faults into who you are.
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