Inferno Analysis Cantos 12,13
June 11, 2009 
The contrapasso for the murderers and violence toward neighbors is to sit in blood for eternity. Since the sinners were violent in their lives by harming others and spilling blood, they sit in boiling blood for eternity. The sinners’ punishment for their sins is similar to what they did in life—wallow in blood.
The contrapasso for suicides is to not be given human form and suffer pain forever. Since the suicides destroyed themselves in life, they are destroyed in hell and cannot have a human form because they did not keep their lives. So the suicides’ souls are encased in thorny trees that are eaten by harpies.
Dante uses metaphors. When Virgil insults the Minotaur, Virgil tells Dante to run while the Minotaur “is blind with rage” (12. 26).The metaphor increases the severity of the Minotaur’s rage.
Dante uses personification. Nessus the centaur tells Dante, “It is there that Holy Justice spends its wrath…and everlastingly milks out the tears” (13. 133-136). Personification brings more character to Holy Justice and the actions it commits.
\"Viva la Vida\"
October 27, 2008 
Poe Parody
August 15, 2008 
Tenant
In an abandoned town where shadows roam endlessly, how could I ever be content? There is no laughter of happy children and even the easter bunnies are thin and frail. There has not been a visitor to my town in 10 years. I was poor and penniless, but at least I had my mansion. It was the largest building in the whole village. At least I possessed a place to settle and plow along on my day-to-day activities. There were no shops in the town, so I had to walk to the next town to receive my fresh food, and I kept a good supply of items in my mansion. I wished I could be rich, and I didn’t ever imagine that my situation could get much worse. I was wrong—very wrong, indeed.
So long ago, I had a life to live. My town was filled with hardworking plumbers who lived happily, and all was well within. When the will was read out loud I was young and foolish. I unwisely believed that the money would last forever. Instead, within a few weeks of my receiving the money, there was nothing left. As a rare and fateful coincidence, the city was destroyed by an overnight rampage of easter bunnies, and my mansion was one of the only buildings that remained standing.
The banging that vibrated violently on the door one night came as a surprise. I envisioned a cheery TV reporter ready to welcome me with the Nobel Prize. What had I completed to deserve the Nobel Prize? I gave a short laugh that was soon cut short when I considered what else might be behind my front door. Police, perhaps, in their despicable dull-blue uniforms. They were an abominable, yet dangerous species. The banging continued, increasing in volume and I felt the fear well up inside of me. I wandered through the shadowy hallway, warily biding my time. I peered through the front door and pulled it open.
I found myself staring at an old, escaped Kentucky fried chicken with its sweet-smelling basil rub and its lunchbox. It rapidly pushed past me and made it clear that this was where it wished to live. At an amazing speed, its belongings were carefully arranged in the room it had picked. I wondered why anyone would want to live in this town, and not anywhere better.
“Would you please explain to me why you barged into my home in that manner? You arrived so quickly I also didn’t catch your name. I have a strict policy for visitors too! You have to pay rent!” I shouted.
“Goldsworth,” said the old chicken. It turned to face me, the beady chicken eyes staring me down. “I am living here because you need me here. You should be glad. Take this nickel and buy yourself a loaf of bread! Rent? In this town? Don’t be foolish. I am being very generous here, you hear? ” screeched Chicken Goldsworth.
“What’s that liquid you have there?” I asked, eyeing the yellowish-brown water. “I am allergic to apple juice so I’m sorry but I am going to make it a rule that we don’t have apples in the house.”
“It is my special water,” said Chicken Goldsworth hesitantly. It resumed in a more confident tone, “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind that I have to drink it quite often because of my failing health.” I watched it stroll away, clutching the glass bottle of “special water”. Its footsteps echoed through the hollow walls. A veil of shadows enclosed me, and I sensed the air freeze instantly. For a moment I was immobilized, stunned, and quietly held prisoner to the shadows around me. I felt the shadows quietly slip loose and I could clench my fist. It was an early warning signal, an admonition to the approaching events. The shadows never lied; I had experienced the precisely same event the night before the great rampage of easter bunnies.
Quietly I pursued it to its room. I peered in through the door. I watched it haul open a giant lunchbox containing dozens of glass bottles of “special water” and carefully pry the lid off one of the bottles and release about 1/3 of the liquid on the rug. Then it looked up at the door and pulled it wide open.
“Disgusting liquid,” Chicken Goldsworth declared loudly. “Yes, what do you want?”
I glanced around the dimly-lit room and uttered, “There is no smoking in the house. That’s just another rule to be conscious of.”
“Oh, you mean the cigarette lighter? I use it for lighting my candles when it’s dark, obviously,” said the retired chicken escapee with a sneer.
“We have electricity. You may turn on the lights,” I suggested.
“I prefer candles,” Chicken Goldsworth announced, “because candles are more beautiful.” Suddenly it tripped and the glass container soared out of its claws and landed on the rug and shattered into a million pieces, drenching the rug with “special water”.
“Oh dear me, “said Chicken Goldsworth. “What are you doing just standing there? Go fetch something to clean up this mess. Yes, the dustpan and the broom. Do you expect to have me do this? Go quickly now.”
Convinced that the old chicken had intentionally tripped and spilled its water, I was reluctant to leave the room. Piercing eyes on my back, I finally agreed to get the dustpan. As soon as I was out of its room, I searched wildly for the dustpan. “Dustpan, dustpan, dustpan,” I muttered. What would it do to the house when I wasn’t watching? My feet thudded rapidly on the dusty wooden floor.
“Dustpan, dustpan,” I cried nervously. I suddenly remembered that I kept a dustpan in the attic. I crept up to the gloomy attic and probed for the dustpan. Each precious second ticked away and chilliness grew inside of me. I heard gentle crackling, like of a campfire on a hot summer day. “Why do I smell smoke? I thought I told that old chicken that it could not smoke in the house,” I said, suspicion brewing. I was suddenly filled with a terrible feeling.
“No,” I cried, “that would be impossible. I didn’t do anything. Why would it want to burn up the house?” What was I doing up in the attic searching for a dustpan when the mansion could be in flames? I leapt down from the attic and dashed into its room. Wisps of smoke rose to my nose.
“What did you do? What did I ever do to you?” I screamed, filled with rage. I filled a bucket of water from the bathroom and hurled it on the floor.
“A wasted effort, it is too late,” answered the old chicken. “Within an hour there will be nothing left. It has been ignited by oil.” The bucket I was holding dropped to the floor and clanged loudly.
“Oil? What oil?” I asked. I realized that it meant the “special water”. “No! No! This cannot be happening. Help me put it out!” I shouted.
“I am surprised you have not figured it out yet. I set the fire, do you not?” replied Chicken Goldsworth. “Join the party. I’ll be pleased to have you,” it spoke calmly, tossing some more glass containers of oil on the floor. They exploded on the rug and the climbing inferno leapt even higher.
“Why?” I screamed. “Why did you have to choose me? Why!”
“It happened when I was 20,”the chicken revealed quietly. “I had everything I could ever want. I had my dream, my childhood wish, it all came true. I dreamed of owning the biggest movie theater in the world. But that movie theater was more to me than my business. It was my home. So when your great-great-grandfather left that popcorn machine on that night, the movie theater burned up the next day. I lost everything I ever owned. Worse, I was taken and enslaved as a fried chicken. Can you imagine what I have been through? A lifetime of hunting you down, and it all fries down to this.”
“Gold’s Movie Theater,” I said, remembering. “Why me? I did not burn down your theater. It is not fair!” A fiery beam collapsed from the ceiling and separated me from Chicken Goldsworth.
“Nothing is fair, child. Was it fair that I lost everything at age 20? Was it fair that I had to survive on the streets for the next 60 years of my life?” cried the old chicken.
I realized that I would be destroyed soon if I did not escape from the house. I gave scream of utter despair and bolted out of the room and out of the house. As I ran, I glimpsed the Kentucky fried chicken escapee sitting motionless, finally fulfilling its fate as a fried chicken.
I stepped back and watched in misery as my home was enveloped in flames and fell to ashes. “Nooo! My mansion!” I moaned softly. An easter bunny beside me mewed sympathetically. “Easter Bunny, she has destroyed everything. What shall I do? I have no home, no money, no belongings, no job,” I told it. The bunny hopped on my shoulder and perched there, questioning me, imploring me for an answer. I stared in its eyes and, suddenly, I knew what had to be done. “Easter Bunny, we may have lost our homes and our entire way of life, but working together, we can bring justice to those who wronged us!”
The Indian Removal Act
Angel Leung & Maggie Locke[HKL1]
5/22/08
Indian Removal Act Project Research Paper
During the 1500s and 1600s, Spanish, French, and British settlers arrived on American land/soil. They sometimes traded and fought with the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole Native American people living near the Great Lakes, these people being called the Five Civilized Tribes. The Europeans formed alliances with the native people over time, and the Europeans gave gifts to secure their friendship. Each powerful European country wanted control over the American land, and they paid money to Indian Tribes for land, sometimes against the wills of the Native Americans. In 1828, gold was discovered at Dahlonega, Georgia, which was in the heart of Cherokee territory. White miners, hungry for a quick fortune, invaded the Cherokee nation (Stein 13). Vowing not to fight, the Cherokee people went to court and argued that the federal government had granted them their land by treaty and therefore should be protected from the gold miners, their greedy neighbors, and the government of the state of Georgia, which also wanted their lands. The Georgia Court gave the Cherokees no help at all, and the Cherokee lawsuit eventually reached the Unites States Supreme Court. The Creek and Cherokee refused to meet with Jackson on May of 1930 then hired William Wirt for their case in the Supreme Court. The Creeks withdrew later, but Cherokees pressed on and won the case, the decision was confirmed in Worcester v. Georgia. President Andrew Jackson later announced that he didn’t plan on keeping the Supreme Court’s decision and passed the Treaty of New Echota in 1835[HKL2] , which had been signed by Major Ridge and the Treaty Party, a few hundred Cherokees who were afraid that Georgia would take their lands away without payment, agreeing to move off their land in return for 5 million dollars and 13 million acres in the West. President Jackson said that both Indians and Americans would be happy after the removal, saying that the Indians would enjoy free land, and the Americans could build up defenses and expand on Indian Territory (Sneve 22). The Indian tribes most affected by the Indian Removal Act were the Five Civilized Tribes. The Cherokees walked through more than 800 miles to Oklahoma from the Mississippi Valley where they lived, and suffered from October 1838 to March of 1839. 4,000 Cherokees died on the trip, later called the Trail of Tears. Even in Oklahoma, the location of the Indian reserve, the climate was harsh and many more Cherokees died (Stewart 11). After the Indian Removal Act, there has been much dispute over whether President Andrew Jackson was justified in enforcing the Indian Removal Act. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), an American essayist, philosopher, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early 19th century, wrote that the Native Americans were denied justice.[HKL3] Andrew Jackson was not justified in enforcing the Indian Removal Act and the Native Americans had the right to their land because they were an independent, civilized, sovereign nation, and the Americans had no right to remove them from their land.
Andrew Jackson and the white men were only greedy for land and possessions. Hoping to harass the Indians into giving up their territory, the whites organized groups called Pony Clubs, which were gangs of rowdies who rode into Cherokee country to start fires and plunder homes. Also, many gold miners stole Indian cattle and attacked Indian women while neighboring whites that coveted Cherokee land encouraged them (Stein 13). The white men took advantage of the Cherokee people, their land, and their possessions. They committed terrible acts and used violence to invade and take hold of Cherokee people, land, and possessions. On May 20, 1777, the Cherokees signed their first treaty with South Carolina, and the Cherokees had to move out of the state because white settlers wanted their land. In 1785, the Cherokees signed a treaty with the U.S. government and the Indians lost more land. One such treaty was the Fort Laramie Treaty in which the Sioux Nation agreed to move onto a reservation, also eating up the Ponca Tribe’s bulk of land (Sneve 19)[HKL4] . By 1819 the Cherokees had lost about 75% of what they’d originally owned. Previously, the United States recognized the Cherokee nation in treaties after it became a sovereign nation; however the Cherokees lost more land after each treaty (Sneve 18). The federal government had promised to keep new settlers off Indian land, but never did. In this way, the United States government took advantage of Indians’ intentions to settle matters peaceably took away more and more land that the Native Americans owned. In 1802, the U.S. government, hungry for land, signed an agreement with Georgia, the Act of Congress of 1802, and urged the Cherokees to exchange their homeland for land in the West. But only a few Cherokees agreed, while the rest refused (Sneve 21). In 1830, the Indian Removal Act was passed, removing Indians from their land, since the population in the U.S. was increasing, and so more land was needed. The Indians were in the way of the settlers, and the removal was issued to provide more land. The United States took land from the Native Americans without the consent of the majority of the Native Americans (Stewart 9). Only seeing the great opportunity to gain land before them, the Americans didn’t look to consider the feelings of other Native Americans and only thought of themselves.[HKL5] The Creek Indians agreed to the Treaty of 1832, agreeing to move, but the whites wanted Creek possessions, and threw out the Creek families as they were still packing, to snatch the Creek possessions (Stewart 62). This proves that Americans took advantage of the Native American moving, and were greedy for Native American possessions. [HKL6]
Andrew Jackson and the white men didn’t care about feelings of Native Americans. The white men kept taking the Native Americans’ land, and the Cherokees were angry that their land kept shrinking. They could no longer depend on hunting for food, and had to rely on farming instead. The Native Americans had to change their way of living because of the selfish white men (Sneve 19)[HKL7] . In the 1754 war between the French and English for land in North America, the Cherokees sided with the English. The Cherokees helped the English fight the Americans in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), but the English did not protect Cherokee towns and more than 50 states were destroyed and hundreds of warriors were killed (Sneve 18). The English did not repay the Cherokees after what they did the help them and didn’t care about how many Native Americans died trying to help them. The English still took Native American land after all the Native Americans had done to help them. [HKL8] Miantonomo, a Narraganset chief, observed, “Our fathers had plenty of deer and skins…our covers full of flesh and fowl. But these English have gotten our land, they with scythes cut down the grass, and with axes fell the trees; their cows and horses eat the grass…and we shall all be starved”(Behrman 14).[M9] The Americans destroyed the Native Americans’ land but did not help them or offer relief after they took the Native American land. During his Second Annual Message to Congress in December of 1830, President Andrew Jackson said[HKL10] , “It is supposed that the wandering savage has a stronger attachment to his home than the settled, civilized Christian? Is it more afflicting to him to leave the graves of his fathers that it is to our brothers and children?”(Jackson 2). President Andrew Jackson considered the Native Americans a lesser priority. He didn’t care about the strong importance to the natives of the graves of their ancestors in their land, thinking only of the American gain of land. Almost 16,000 other Cherokees didn’t want the Treaty of New Echota, called the Ross Party because they signed a petition that John Ross took to Washington. But President Andrew Jackson didn’t even look at the paper (Sneve 23). The Treaty of Echota that gave away all Cherokee lands east of the Mississippi in exchange for new lands in the West and a cash settlement had been signed by only a tiny minority of the Cherokee people, and some signers had been bribed by government officials. But still, the federal government insisted that the treaty was valid (Stein 23). The Native Americans deserved to stay on their land because only 12.5 % of the people actually signed the treaty of Echota (Elish 44). The Americans weren’t giving Cherokees enough say in the decisions made. Ideas of the majority of Cherokee people were not even considered. Georgia Governor George Gilmer summed up his feelings [M11] about land treaties with Indians, saying[HKL12] , “Treaties were expedients by which ignorant, intractable, and savage people were induced without bloodshed to yield up what civilized peoples had a right to possess.”(Stein 15). George Gilmer took advantage of the Native Americans and refused to acknowledge their rights. He considered them savages, though they were very civilized and American-like. In a letter to Martin Van Buren about the Treaty of New Echota, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, [HKL13] ”Such a denial of justice and such deafness to screams for mercy never heard in times of peace…does this government think that the people of the United States are become savage and mad? From their minds and sentiments of love and good wiped clean out? The soul of the man, the justice, the mercy…does abhor this business.” (Elish 45). New Jersey Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen said[HKL14] , “We call them brothers, but steal their land. It has to stop.” (Stewart 59). Ralph Waldo Emerson and Theodore Frelinghuysen both acknowledged[HKL15] the wrongs of the U.S. government and that the Native Americans should be[HKL16] given the right to their land, or their own terms[HKL17] of how they should be treated.[HKL18]
The Native Americans were a civilized, sovereign, and independent nation. The Cherokees believed they were a part of nature. It was part of nature’s plan for a hunter to kill animals for food. The men used spears, blowguns, and bows and arrows to hunt and fish (Sneve 8). Realizing that the whites were there to stay, the Cherokees had chosen cultural accommodations, or peaceful compromise, with white society. They tried to combine the best elements of European and Cherokee culture. The Cherokees and Native Americans had their own, different ways of life, but still yet showed a civilized society in many ways similar to an American society (Stein 6). The Cherokees so emulated the whites of the Old South that they even adopted the practice of keeping black slaves. Cherokees married white settlers, and a Cherokee named Sequoya created a Cherokee alphabet of 86 characters (Stein 8). Cherokees were adamant about staying on land, said that they were a sovereign nation, and wrote a Constitution, went to church, and had a school.[HKL19] The[M20] Cherokees became different from other tribes (Stewart 49). A sovereign nation has a Constitution, like the Cherokees did. The Cherokees blended in well with American society, and appeared civilized and independent. Henry Knox, George Washington’s appointed secretary of war, believed that the Indian tribes were “sovereign, independent nations” and hoped that the Indians could blend in with European customs, and become part of the expansion of America (Elish 20). The Cherokees had done this very objective. They had blended in along with American society and culture, adopting many American customs. The Americans had no right to move a civilized, sovereign, and independent nation that was growing to be a part of America elsewhere.
The Native Americans were the rightful owners of their land. After Christopher Columbus claimed to have discovered a “New World” in 1492, Spanish and English settlers arrived in the Americas, where the Native Americans had lived for centuries (Behrman 9). In 1540, the Cherokees met Hermano De Soto, the Spaniard who explored the Southeast. On and off for the next hundred years, English colonists came to the seacoast. The Native Americans allowed the colonists to stay on the land (Sneve 18). The Native Americans were on their land long before the Americans first colonized North America, and had the right to all of their land. In 1684, England made a treaty with the Cherokees as a sovereign nation, or a country that ruled itself. The Hopewell Treaty, passed in 1785, was signed to protect Cherokee “holdings.” It clearly marked the borders to their land and gave the Cherokees the power to ward off intruders. However, some states like Georgia and North Carolina persisted that they had power over Indian territories (Elish 20). In addition, in the trial Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, Justice John Marshall decided that the Cherokees were “not subject to rule by individual states” (Remini 1). The states Georgia and North Carolina broke the Hopewell Treaty that protected Indian holdings. These states had no right to invade Native American territory. In the Treaty of New Echota, the government paid $5 million for the Cherokee land. The Creek and Cherokee refused to meet with President Andrew Jackson in May of 1830. Instead, they hired William Wirt for their case in the Supreme Court. The Creeks withdrew later, but Cherokees pressed on and won the case. The decision was confirmed in Worcester v. Georgia, but Jackson later announced that he didn’t plan on keeping the Supreme Court’s decision and passed the Treaty of New Echota in 1835.[HKL21] President Andrew Jackson’s words were,[HKL22] “John Marshall has made his decision. Now let him enforce it.” (Stein 37). Even after the Supreme Court had decided that the State of Georgia couldn’t move the Cherokees, President Jackson disregarded the Supreme Court’s decision and continued on removing Native Americans from their homelands. President Jackson violated the Constitution and the Supreme Court’s ruling that was meant to be “the supreme law of the land.” It was unconstitutional for Jackson to disregard the Supreme Court’s decision and continue removing the Cherokees from their homelands.[HKL23] The Americans didn’t abide by the laws and treaties that they themselves had set up, and they arrived at America long after the Indians had so the Native Americans were the rightful owners of their land.
The Indian Removal Act was an error made by America. The Native Americans clearly did not want to move, but the Americans did not regard the Native Americans’ rights. The Native Americans were their own civilized, sovereign nation, and that was “thus far advanced, further than any other nation or tribe in America,” as one white missionary wrote in 1808. Andrew Jackson and the white men were only being greedy for land and selfish, disregarding others’ rights. The Indians rightfully owned the land, but the white men did not care. Now, Native Americans are still living in reservations set aside by them during the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Many Native Americans have returned to their original homelands now set aside by the states and returned to the Native Americans. They found jobs in other parts of the US, often in casinos making good business. Now, many Native Americans have blended in with American customs and culture. Many still live in tribes trying to keep alive their old customs. They have also often found greater job opportunities because of racial preference and their Native American ancestry. The Indian Removal Act also helped in founding our nation because it helped show us that “all men are created equal” and became a black scar on U.S. history. We[HKL24] Americans have learned to respect the goals and desires of people of other races and backgrounds, and try to understand the reason for their actions[HKL25] . We[HKL26] have [HKL27] learned that we shouldn’t only[HKL28] consider our own dreams, and learned to abide[HKL29] by the law that we set up ourselves[HKL30] , the Constitution, and our treaties. From this incident, the president’s influence has been reduced, and there have been debates over the fairness of the Supreme Court ruling. The Indian Removal Act serves as a lesson to Americans about what happens when its members consider themselves superior.
Word Count: 2,674
[HKL1]My name goes first in the heading because my name is alphabetically first
[HKL2]You repeat this exact same thing in the body
[HKL3]I changed stuff here.
[HKL4]This isn’t one of my notecards! Is this relevant to Cherokee removal, by the way?
[HKL5]move this to the end of the paragraph to conclude TS.
[HKL6]Ok so if you move what I said in comment 5 as the conclusion, you need a transition to the creek Indians stuff because it doesn’t flow well.
[HKL7]The NAs having to change their way of living is CM, not CD. Aren’t you only supposed to frame CDs?
[HKL8]I am confused about this, because the NAs fought against the Americans, so shouldn’t the Americans be mean to the NAs?
[M9]Guess what: they are. Duh dun…………duh dun duh dun….
[HKL10]I changed stuff here
[M11]Quite right. HA. I used it for emphasis.
[HKL12]I changed stuff here. “As GGGG spat” doesn’t sound right
[HKL13]I changed stuff here
[HKL14]I changed stuff here
[HKL15]they’re both dead, right?
[HKL16]have been
[HKL17]what such terms?
[HKL18]Conclude TS2
[HKL19]There are two separate clauses here. Say, “The Cherokees were adamant about staying on land and being a sovereign nation. They wrote a Constitution, went to church, and had a school.”
[M20]You wrote something here about it not flowing well…well I don’t know what you mean…
[HKL21]You repeated this same thing in the intro (my comment #2). Reword.
[HKL22]I changed things here
[HKL23]Conclude paragraph, tie to TS
[HKL24]who is we? Maybe say “We Americans”
[HKL25]You can’t learn to understand reason for actions. You just do. Say try to understand…
[HKL26]we americans
[HKL27]have
[HKL28]only
[HKL29]but
[HKL30]are you talking about the Constitution and that all men are created equal? if so, say it in the paper
Indian removal act abstract
Maggie Locke & Angel Leung
June 3, 2008
Abstract
In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, forcing the Native American Indians out of their homes and on to reservations designated for them in Oklahoma. This was to give the rapidly American settlers more land to settle. In the blinding greed for more land, the American settlers unjustly forced out the Native Americans from their lands. In many documents and letters from Native Americans and Americans, the cries of pain and protests from many tribes were being ignored by the Americans. The Native American point of view was not being considered greatly, and President Andrew Jackson carried on removing the Native American even though they were sovereign, civilized, and independent. In addition, the Native Americans had many age-old treaties with the Americans. By removing them, the US would be breaking and disregarding all of those treaties. Clearly, the Americans proceeded with the Indian Removal Act without listening to the Indian arguments. In the Cherokee trial, President Jackson ignored the Supreme Court’s decision and carried on with the Indian Removal Act. As a result of this, many Native Americans did not live through the unforgiving relocation to the Oklahoma reservations. The Cherokee tribe suffered through the Trail of Tears in which 4,000 Cherokees died. Even more Native Americans perished at the reservations, in which conditions were insanitary and harsh. If the voices and cries of the native Americans had been considered and agreed to, then these many people would never had to suffer through the Trail of Tears and the deaths of countless loved ones at the hands of Americans. The US would have also been proven more trustworthy, because they would have kept their scores of agreements with the Native Americans instead of breaking them to the deaths of numerous Indians. This research helps us understand that the Indian Removal Act was unjustified.
analysis of the pearl
In John Steinbeck’s The Pearl, Kino is a poor pearl diver living in the city of La Paz with his wife, Juana, and his son, Coyotito. Their lucks shifts when Kino finds a large pearl believed to be of great value. Following his finding of the pearl, Kino changes character dramatically, altering his family’s lives forever. Kino’s wife, Juana, tells Kino that the pearl is evil and that it is responsible for the misfortunes following Kino’s discovery of pearl. Kino or the pearl is responsible for the sudden change in Kino’s character. Kino’s own actions brought the sudden change to the lives of his family, not the pearl.
Kino’s planned for impossible things, and became greedy after he . Kino decides to buy “a rifle-but why not, since he was so rich” (25). Kino thinks that he will be a rich man, and he stated his probable wealth as a fact. This is why it destroys Kino when he finds out that he will not be a rich man after he sells his pearl. Kino also planned that his “son will go to school” (26). Kino’s people didn’t go to school. Kino dreamed to have his son be the first to get an education. Instead, the pearl buyers are not willing to pay very much for Kino’s pearl and Kino’s dreams are shattered. This resulted in Kino’s greed for money to fulfill his dream of his son in school.
Kino grew attached to his pearl out of greed, and became unable to let it go. “In the pearl Kino saw himself and Juana squatting by the little fire in the brush house while Coyotito read from a great book. ‘This is what the pearl will do’, said Kino” (26). Kino dreams about Coyotito’s education and the pearl that would pay for the education enters Kino’s thoughts, constantly reminding him of it as Kino grows to feel a need for the pearl. “’This pearl has become my soul’ said Kino. ‘If I give it up I shall lose my soul’” (67). Kino changes to become a fearsome protector of the pearl that he believes is a part of him. Even after he has lost his brush house and his canoe, he will still not let go of his dream of getting married, having a rifle, and educating Coyotito.
Kino greatly fears losing his pearl, and stubbornly keep hold of his dreams. Kino said, “I will fight this thing. I will win over it…we will have our chance…no one shall take our good fortune from us” (37). Kino changes character to become he is afraid of losing the pearl. He believes that the pearl will bring them wealth and fulfill his dreams, and believes that the people around him are trying to take his dreams from him. Kino and his family become victim to Kino’s struggles to carry out his dreams. “Our son must learn to read, he [Kino] cried frantically” (71). Kino fears losing his pearl; for his dreams of getting married, getting a rifle, and Coyotito receiving an education that he had planned and wished would not come true. He was no longer content, but was greedy and frantic for his dreams.
Kino is responsible for the dramatic change in character of himself, his family, and their perception of the world around them.
Utopia
I would describe human nature as generally good. This is because we know that there are natural human instincts to do things, like killing other animals for food. Doing this cannot be counted as a bad human nature but rather as a natural human instinct that is needed to survive. I would say that most humans are decent if they are brought up in a loving household and taught proper manners and rules which can lead to a world without crime. Crime happens because people feel discomfort of their early lives or the pressure of their present lives. So to prevent crime, I would make sure that everyone was brought up in a loving household. I think that humans are good, and people don’t commit crime because of what they always were like.
The primary goals of my utopia would be to function as a whole and do what is needed for the well-being of the people and the country. This is because the people must work together and function as a whole in order to be happy. If several groups of people broke out to go their own ways and run their own government in society, there would continue to be the dispute and war that we often experience in our everyday lives. Everyone must do what I needed for the society in order to live in an orderly community and remain as happy as they can be. Everyone must work, or there would be nothing to eat. They must care for each other in times of need or the many people would suffer if they were ever left without help. The people of my country would have to strive to reach these goals in order for there to be an orderly and prosperous future society awaiting them.
I would implement these goals by setting up a reward system for the most polite and hardworking citizens. Everyone would strive to achieve these prizes, awarded monthly. The citizens who rebelled or threatened disrupting society would be kept under close eye by city officials to make sure they did not harm any of the other citizens. At a young age, I would make sure that all children were raised in a loving household and taught the correct decencies of life. They would also be taught this in school, using games to reinforce these rules in their minds. This way, the goals would be reached and a prosperous an orderly society could develop. The most effective way to make a child an ethical and moral being is by making sure he/she is raised in a loving household. Parents and family members are the most important in a young child’s life. They teach and take care of the children. If they grow up in a loving society, they will likely grow up to be decent people because of their happy memories of the society. A child becomes bad when they carry memories of an abusive or unhappy childhood. They grow up hating society and everyone in it. This raises the potential for crime because of their hatred for the society. If they didn’t ever know anything good in it, they wouldn’t see much harm in destroying it. The function of the ruler in my society would be to carry out the desires of the people. The ruler would also not make decisions by them self because there would be likely that the people wouldn’t agree with the law or decision and rebel. Society would then erupt into violence and chaos. A ruler without the hearts of their people is useless. The ruler is just one person while the people have many more. The ruler can be easily overthrown so it would be best for the ruler to go with the ways and desires of the people, not just making important decisions by themselves. I would appoint qualified government officials that I see have large influence among the people and are liked by the people and also can be loyal to me, the country, and its rules. I would set up a reward system for the most decent and polite citizens. The most influence on what children grow up to be like is from their parents. I would require parents to attend a seminar explaining why it was important to raise their child up with love and how that could be done. Those who disobeyed my goals would be tried in a court with jury and receive training on what they disobeyed and what they should do. Those who continue to disobey laws would be kept and supported by government in an area where they could live and learn about the rules of society. They would be kept away from any harm to themselves of to other citizens
magical myths
Long ago, the universe was a balloon. The balloon was filled with sparkles, like all others. There were also beings. These beings could appear in any shape or form they wished, and they were very proud of this. There was one particular being. His name was Dotado, and Dotado had a high reputation among the other beings for being his creations. Dotado had a daughter named Disimulada. She was very small, but she was like Dotado, and wanted to create too.
Dotado owned a large estate, and the beings partied there from day to night, and the years dragged on. Sometimes Dotado would bring out his balloons filled with sparkles and explode them into the air. Other times Dotado would take a few trusted friends to his laboratory where he would create other beings. Dotado would always make sure that his creations were destroyed, for even he knew that the beings could be dangerous.
One day, Disimulada said, “Kind Father, I have seen your creations, and I want to try some, too. I am smart, and I have a quick mind. They will not frighten me.”
Dotado replied, “Not now, Disimulada, I have guests to entertain. Perhaps I will show you tomorrow, or the day after. You are too young to create now. Go back to your room.”
Disimulada knew that Dotado would never have time to show her. He was forever entertaining guests. She knew that Dotado would also never let her create. It would not be well to enrage Dotado. He was strong and he could destroy her if she was inside the creating space in his laboratory. But Disimulada’s love for creation took her to the ultimate risk. She would steal into Dotado’s laboratory at night, when the beings were dancing. He would not have time for her, or to create in his laboratory.
When Dotado finally called that it was time for dancing, Disimulada snuck downstairs to Dotado’s laboratory. She had been in the laboratory before, and knew the controls well. She opened the creating area and brought the platform to her arms. She brought out a sparkle-filled balloon that she had collected and placed it on the platform. A piece of dust landed on the platform beside the balloon, but she didn’t pick it up. A drop of water from the cup of water she drank fell into the platform, but she didn’t wipe it up. She pushed them into the machine and started heating up her items, because this was how beings were created. She saw the creation of another being like herself, and continued heating up the machine.
At that moment, Dotado rushed into his laboratory and grabbed Disimulada. “Why did you disobey me, Disimulada?”he growled. “Now I will have to destroy this!” He snapped his fingers, and the sparkle-filled balloon exploded. Instead of fading away, it was spread to many fiery balls and scattered throughout the creating space. These became the many planets and stars. They were scattered in clumps, which made up the solar systems and galaxies. The water from Disimulada’s cup became the oceans on certain planets, the dust became the land. The being of many forms split to pieces, and took all of the possible forms on different planets. However, the highest concentration of the life forms was on planet Earth.
Dotado listened patiently to Disimulada’s explanation, and then asked, “Does it mean that much to you? Guarantee us no rebellion from them and you may keep them. I am not a cruel being. Take them away, and don’t let me see them again. I hope you have learned your lesson.”
As he left, Disimulada turned and hid her creations in her closet where it was always dark except for the bright light from the still fiery planets (stars). She made sure they would never escape from her closet, and never again tried to create. This is how planet Earth and our universe was created.
