Life and Loss

Life and Loss

The life of a person is precious. It is what forms life as we know it, makes up the people that develop the world and that effects others life every moment of the day. However, more often than most would like to admit, a life is taken out of whim. Similar to the shooting of the Arab in The Stranger, by Albert Camus, a startling number shootings and murder is coming about in life.
  In the novel, Meursault committed homicide by shooting an Arab man. Subsequent to his actions, Meursault shot the man four more times. This cold blooded form of killing is seen more throughout life, one most recognized as the 9/11 tragedy of 2001. That day, 2,996 people lost their lives. Many more lost their family members or friends. However, this is not the end of the attacks that people are creating. In more recent times, a French newspaper company, by the name of Charlie Hebdo, was attacked by two Islamic men, killing twelve employees. And, in a more recent occurrence, Baltimore, Maryland is in an uproar due to the killing of a black man in the possession of the local police, leading to the riots -burning of buildings, increase of robberies- that are taking place this week in Baltimore. All of these tragedies are centered around the cold blooded killing of another person.
Though, an interesting fact to take note of is the fact that each of these killings deal with the conflict of race. Concerning Meursault and the Arab that he killed, the exemplifies the conflict between the French and the Middle Eastern people, similar to the Charlie Hebdo attack. The destruction on September 11, 2001 consists of the conflict which the Islamic organization Al Qaeda had towards Americans. Lastly, the Baltimore riots are due to the fact that African Americans are feeling as if they are still being treated badly even after 150 years having passed since the thirteenth amendment was passed in the United Stated was passed abolishing slavery. Each race continues to feel a constant threat and resentment towards another race. In an ideal world, it would be satisfying to say "each race must coexist in peace, learn to live amongst one another", and that is how life progresses. However, in the world we live in, the hatred that people feel towards others is too deep to be simply fixed by simple words. It is not so simple to issue a world order of commencing homicides. People will act the way they wish. It is only a matter of if they were taught right from wrong that will decide how event will continue to unfold, and how many lives can be spared in the future.  

Words of the Sinner

Words of the Sinner

Power over another being is a dream that many people secretly desire. This is the reason people strive to become president, the reason why little girls idolize queens and princesses and why young boys are mesmerized by the amount of power superheroes hold over villains. As babies, people learn that they can have power over each other. However, there comes a time in everyone's life when they realize that society's invisible grasp is tightly around each and every person. The disapproval and acceptance of other person is heavily based on the public opinion; and one topic that society has the power to influence when concerning opinions is the act of partaking in the seven deadly sins.
Perhaps it is human nature for people to be drawn to the seven deadly sins- lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. It is the reason that books and movies are created about the topic. The seven deadly sins contributes as inspiration for art work. Effecting only a small portion of people, it was also the parts of the play The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe,  which people in the class would admittedly volunteer to read before any other part of the play. However, after the acknowledgment that the sins is what humans naturally desire to indulge themselves, it is still seen that society is rejecting the idea of sinning. As seen in The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, Faustus rejected each of the deadly sins as each of them were presented to him by a tempting Lucifer. This is how people are taught to act towards sinner, whether it be by the churches that are attended or from parents. Sinning is bad. However, at the same time, we are taught that everyone is a sinner, it can not be helped, it is in our nature. Therefore, why is it frowned upon to have a person act in the way they naturally desire? Why is it okay for society to have the power to tell a person not to act the way that gives a person fulfillment? Society should not be given the satisfaction. For that reason, people need to learn how to turn the ears away from the whispering scorn of society. People must learn that nobody should stop them from acting how they desire; if it is what contents a person then nothing should stand in the way of that satisfaction.

Cut the Brusies Short

Cut the Bruises Short

Pain is one feeling in life that, at one point or another, everyone experiences. Though, it may be different for everyone: losing a loved one, experiencing a heart break. But hat happens when the pain that is felt is not only emotional but also physical? When a loved on that is held very dear is the person that also causes visible scars. This is the type of pain that very few people have empathy concerning. When it comes to domestic abuse, though the percentage of experience is fortunately low for majority of people, the awareness is just as low.
In A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, one of the main character, Mariam, experiences forms of domestic abuse. Though, it is uncommon to hear stories of women - or men even - being forced to eat a fist full of rocks by an enraged spouse, the same way Mariam's husband Rasheed makes her do, stories of the weaker spouse being beat are popular.
According to Safe Horizon, which is an organization that works to provide safety  and refuge for abused victims as well as spread awareness among the public, one in every four women will suffer to the hands of domestic abuse, and "women from ages twenty to twenty four are at greater risk of domestic violence." With these numbers, it can be expected to have a larger awareness base amongst the public. However, the fact that each year more marriages are falling to the hands of domestic violence - and even teenagers being involved in abusive relationships - proves that the knowledge of the these tragic occurrences are small. A way that this issue can be solved is to educate teenagers before it becomes too late. Just telling teenagers not to let another beat them is not enough though; that would only make teenagers turn a blind eye. However, if schools took a week out of each year to dedicate to domestic violence awareness, including an event containing willing healed survivors of these brutalities to speak out to the public in a relatable way to educate more people, then the statistics of the amount of people that suffer from domestic abuse would start to decrease.

Lack of Gender Equality

Lack of Gender Equality 

History teaches people that equality is what makes society stronger. Equality in religion, sexual orientation, and race are just examples of human qualities that Rights Activists groups fight for to keep America diverse. However, an issue that occasionally appears to be dull in modern day society is gender quality. America has come a long time long from centuries ago in making genders statues equal. Though, it is no longer a widely accepted practice of having the man go out in the world and make the money and decide what takes place in a families life while the women stays home, has children and does the man's bidding - as seen by Nora and Helmer in A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen - there is still a strong difference in which gender has more power than the other.
In the society that we have now, it is widely accepted for a man to do whatever he wishes and he will not get criticized as harshly as a women if she had done the same action. Though this idea was also accepted in The Doll's House, when Nora was found out to have committed forgery - she was told that she would be disgraced and that she would no longer be able to be with her children, though when Krogstad was convicted of the same crime he was able to remain with his children - that play was written over a hundred years ago, therefore it could be assumed that the times have changed since then. However this is not the case. Psychologists have realized that because of the games girls and boys play when they are younger, they learn to form an opinion based on the gender when an individual says an order. Since little girls are taught to share and make sure everyone has an equal opportunity, later in life when a women gives an order, surrounding females automatically go to call the other women obscene names. However, boys are taught to realize that there is a hierarchy in society, so when a man gives an order, others accept it without giving complaint. People are taught at a young age to accept that fact that men are supposed to give an order. However does this diminish a girls image of herself? Generally, it does not because a good percentage of the girl population will glorify a guy and diminish other girls imagine. I experienced this fact recently. I recently found myself in a situation where I shared a kiss with a close friend of mine when I should not have. However, when others found out about it, the immediate reaction that girls gave was "Watch out, you don't want to seem like a slut." However, at the same time, none of these girls said anything about the guy in the situation. Time and time again, girls are put down for doing or acting a certain way. And what is worse is the fact that girls are doing this to themselves. In the words of Tina Fay "[girls] have got to stop calling each other sluts and whores. It just makes it okay for guys to call [girls] sluts and whores." Girls need to stop calling themselves repulsive names because it is only hurting their reputation. Or, if girls are going to continue their ways, they should start calling guys such names so that the insults become universal. The insults that genders face should be equal; either both genders break free from being put down for the gender that they are or everyone - girls and boys - prepare to face the hardships of gender insults.    

Stop the Hatred

Stop the Hatred
A world filled with judgement is a world that is killing itself. This is seen frequently in life. People are feeling like they don't have a voice to speak up against judgment nor do they feel that there is a way to even stop it. Similar to Alfred Prufrock in the poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, the narrator felt the pressure of his peers judgment every day, people in reality get bullied because of their peer's judgment. The hateful words that people say are toxic; it can start a chain reaction. It can make a young child feel insecure about themselves, or lead a teenager to feel as if they don't have anyone to feel comfortable with in this life. Such cases has been seen many times throughout history, such as the case of Amanda Todd. She was just a girl that wanted to have a fun life, just like everyone else. However, after hearing the various bad things that people had to say about her, she could not handle life. Quite literally, this kind of judgment and bullying can lead to death. Even though schools around the country are bringing awareness to students that no matter what may be going on in each individual's lives - events will always turn around to be better than the present moments - the suicide rates have gone up. 

Psychologists have observed that during the adolescent age, people will be worried about the opinions of their peers the most. That is the time for children to make friends and to set the bases for how their life is going to turn out to be. However, if this time in people's life is blacked with hatred, then that is what the child is going to grow up learning. What is said to them durning this time in their life will always remain in their memories for the rest of their lives. For this reason, a new system for spreading the word of bullies and judgment needs to be created. The path that society has chosen to spread awareness could be improved. Continuously lecturing children and teenagers about bullying will eventually get tiresome in their minds. Therefore, a strategy in which a child will understand and take a liking to needs to be created so that bullying can decrease. Turning a blind eye to such issues will only poison the world further, awareness is the key.