Stepping Out of Character

One of the things I find the most amusing about this book (The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas) is the diction. Rather than saying, for example, "The cooking food smelled good," Dumas says that the food was "very grateful to the olfactory nerves." Hahahahahaha. Although I am a firm believer that sophisticated vocabulary elevates both written and spoken word, Dumas sometimes takes it over the top, which I find quite amusing. 

(Out of character: I can't stop thinking about the fact that tonight is Senior Night for the band. Soon ends the happiest chapter of my life. Tonight, I will again take up the persona of Hermione Granger, in the form of my traditional Regulator shirt. To clarify, the idea to use that name on my shirt came first and this blog came second, caused by my decision to use that on my shirt. After I take off that tear-stained shirt tonight, I'm not going to be able to look at this blog again in the same way. The era of Harry Potter, the essence of my childhood, has ended, and the era of band, the essence of my high school years, is drawing rapidly to a close. The connection of my childhood best friend and role model, Hermione, who is so like me that writing in her character is no challenge whatsoever, with the emotions of Senior Night will create an extremely powerful memento of my teenage years. I am seventeen now, the age at which Hermione is immortalized. For the past eight or so years, when asked to describe myself I have often compared myself to her. Looking past her grades into her actual character, the similarities are uncanny. Once, I wrote out all the similarities. They filled a page. Before every birthday, I would read the book pertaining to the age I was about to turn. There is no book for eighteen. And so will end another chapter of my life, as I step out of character for the last time on my eighteenth birthday. I don't know why I'm thinking about this now. I guess Senior Night has just got me thinking about endings. The publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows signaled the end of my childhood. Senior Night heralds the end of band. And my eighteenth birthday will force me to step out of character for the last time. I apologize for the rambling digression, but I think a slight indication of what this character means to me will increase the impact of my blog. But this was really more for me.)

Epic Battles

Because nearly all of The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas is about either A. swordfighting B. love (which I don't feel like talking about today) or C. nothing discernable (which is hardly conducive to good writing), and because my friend and I are doing a Muggle Studies project about wandless dueling: The Art of Dueling with a Sword, today's post centers on epic battles. Besides, after both Harry and Neville slayed giant, evil snakes with swords, and after personally killing a piece of Voldy's soul with the same sword, I have a new appreciation for the Muggle weapon.

Poll for the Reader:

Which of these battles is the most epic and why? Please leave any thoughts in the comments.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring--Aragon v. Lurtz

Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope--Obi-Wan v. Darth Vader

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Peal--Jack v. Will

Monty Python and the Holy Grail: King Arthur v. The Black Knight

The Princess Bride: Wesley v. Inigo Montoya

If you're not familiar with any of those people, go turn on the idiot box.

Today, fencing, even with blunted swords, is no longer an acceptable method of settling disputes, but the heritage of triumph of strength lives on in such battles as arm wrestling and thumb wrestling. Recently, Muggles even developed a similar game called "fencing." Both parties stand a pace apart and hold right hands, extending their pointer fingers towards their opponent. On the count of three, both attempt to stab the other with the right pointer finger without unlocking hands. It's rather intense. Try it.

Currently

Sentences of the MONTH:

3. "forced to believe them by my act of trusting people" --"The Farewell" by Edward Field

2. "This collision of teeth, of tongues and lips, is like feeling for the door in a strange room, blindfolded." --"First Kiss" by April Lardner

1. "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" --Emily Dickenson

Not only is Dickenson's quote fantastic and original in and of itself, it holds special meaning to me because it was used by my best friend to describe my philosophy on life.

I have been extraordinarily busy this week so only read 32 pages (putting my total to 953 pages), but hey, at least I'm honest about it!

Desensitivity to Violence

Many people these days are convinced that our society has desensitized itself to violence through modern movies, magazines, video games, and books. I think that's nonsense. Violence has been the focus of entertainment and literature since the beginning of literature itself. In fact, I would argue that generations long long before ours thought even less of violence than we do today. For example, look at this passage from The Three Musketeers written by Alexandre Dumas in 1844 and set in 1625:

"Grimaud had tried to waken the stable-boys, and the stable-boys had set upon him and beaten him. When they opened the window they saw the poor lad lying senseless, with his head split by a blow with a fork-handle."

Horrific, right? They split a guy's head open with a fork handle! Jeez! Talk about anger management! That's awful! But look now at the very next sentence:

"Planchet went down into the yard, and proceeded to saddle the horses."

Grimaud's grim fate is already old news, and that's the last we hear of his incident. Dumas had already moved on, matter-of-factly, treating the loss of a servant as nothing but a minor logistical setback, forcing Planchet to saddle the horses instead. I went back and reread that paragraph twice to make sure I didn't miss something, then just laughed out loud at how ridiculous that was. There are many examples throughout the book of a very casual attitude toward violence, but that one just struck me as absurd.

If anything, modern culture is far MORE sensitive to violence than the culture of France in 1635 depicted by Dumas!

Knights in Shining Armour

What's more romantic to a girl than the proverbial knight in shining armour, the glorious guy who would literally risk his life to save his damsel in distress, riding in majestically and attractively? Not much of anything actually. (I wonder if the resemblence to the English "armour" and the French "amour" (love) (which was adopted into English to mean "illict love affair" a.k.a. scandal) is coincidental.) I'll admit, I first realized that I loved Ron when he was astride the knight in that Wizard's Chess game first year and he brilliantly commanded the game, finally, heroically sacrificing himself for us. It was so romantic and I was so mortified that my beloved might be hurt that I almost undid his sacrifice by running off my square to hold him and tend to him! It's amazing how things that seemed important, like winning the game to stop Snape, lose all their importance when a loved one in in danger. As I felt my own distress, I realized how much he meant to me, though my eleven-year-old naive self did not recognize I was in love for almost 3 years when I desperately wanted my knight of shining amour to escort this damsel to the ball.
D'Artagnan in Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers is both literally and figuratively a knight in shining armour as he rides off to risk life and limb to because he was bidden to by the woman he likes. Amazingly, he was able to convince his three best friends to accompany him without even needing to tell them anything about where they were going! I wish Ron and Harry listened to me like that! If they would just listen to me, we all would be right! Currently, our adventures are journeying to London per the instructions of D'Artagnan's crush Madame Bonacieux, and already, have been beset by misadventures and duels. Still, the fierce, loyal love of the French knight of shining amour is the most attractive piece of this saga.

Epic Claims

Best Topics:

http://addie-line.blogspot.com/

http://beccaboola1013.blogspot.com/

Best Claims:

The soothing, cheerful melodies and harmonies, light vocal instrumentation, and playful, relaxed rhythms in McFerrin's song, depicts a mood of lighthearted cheerfulness and soothing rejuvenation. --RocketGuild

(soothing rejuvenation--I really like that!)

On the album cover of Titus Andronicus's "The Airing of Grievances," the commanding, classic font and layout of the cover, as well as the cluttered and colorful use of space in the photograph convey the band's homely practice environment and admiration for the old-fashioned symbols of history. --The New Zealander

(Honestly, I never look at album covers, but I really liked that!)

In Bérenger's black and white photograph, his dramatic contrast and enticing depth of field draw the viewer into the picture with active negative space that elevates the shadows from the composition to illustrate an ominous and mysterious mood.--Kim's Corner

(WOW! It's amazing how much you read into this! Way to state the ineffable!)

In this contemporary dance, choreographed by Mia Michaels, the varied confusion of the movement, pain and romance shown through the emotion, the regret expressed through the dull costume choice, and the dominating and agressive use of space create a sense of lighthearted passion between the two dancers.-- My Everyday Sticky Waffle

(That almost contradicts itself... yet it doesn't... very nice!)

In this scene from Nick Cannons film Drumline, the aggressive and alert style, quick, narrow movement, and percussive, thundering rhythm expresses an alive sense of energetic celebration and modest jubilation--Case 1

(Music expresses the feelings of the soul, and words merely attempt to capture what cannot be said.)

 

Phantom Regiment--Spartacus (2008)

A Word About Drum Corps:
First of all, it's Drum CORE, not Drum CORPSE. Just saying. Second, but as important if you don't like to sound like an idiot, a Drum Corps is NOT a marching band. You will offend people by saying that. Most notably, marching bands have woodwinds (flutes, clarinets, saxophones) while Drum Corps don't, but there are numerous other little differences. Drum Corps compete in Drum Corps International, or DCI. They are comprised of 13-22 year olds who choose to spend their summers competing in some of the over 100 competitions in the DCI circuit. They practice or perform almost all the time. There are over 5000 total members (just over half of which intend to major in music), who perform for over 400,000 fans. While they are the self-proclaimed "Marching Music's Major League (TM)," they do NOT pay members. In fact, members pay around $2000-$3000 annually, depending on the Corps--assuming they pass the rigorous audition process. They do this because they want to and have a passion for marching music, and are the best of the best, putting on perenially amazing shows. Almost all of the above information is from http://www.dci.org/ because I actually knew very little about Drum Corps before today. Nevertheless, I have always been amazed by what they can do, and I hope you are to! Please give it a chance, you may be pleasantly surprised by how incredible the art form of marching music can truly be.

The Show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TyfrQCtJe8

The Words Trying to Describe an Ineffable Art:

Drill: linear, filling space, fast-paced

Choreography: militaristic, violent, fluid

Music: loud, powerful, brassy, marcato, accented, dark, lyrical, ballad, percussivePerformance Quality: precise, in character,

Inferences: arrogant, violent, desperate, romantic, lamenting, vengeful, professional

Claims:

The Charles Dickens Version:
The professionalism, precision and characterization of Phantom Regiment allows for near-perfect execution of the show's wide range of emotional contrasts: from arrogance, showcased through forte, marcato music and condescending, violent choreography,  to romance, expressed through graceful movements and a lyrical ballad, to combativeness, conveyed through brassy hits, percussive rhythms and fast-paced, militaristic visuals, to lamentation, through quiet music and slow drill, finally to vengefulness, underscored in the musically and visually strong and powerful finale to the saga of Spartacus.

The Sparknotes Version:
Phantom Regiment's professional execution of the contrast between powerful, fortissimo fast-paced, militaristic style and the more lyrical, graceful, slow ballad underscores the emotional contrast between vengeful violence and sorrowful lost love.

P. S. Apparate to a competition this year! While Drum Corps season has ended, competitions in Indiana, probably the strongest marching band state, are well worth seeing. October 1 and 8 are at Homestead and October 29 is the much anticipated State Finals in Indianapolis.

Poetry

"Dust," Dorianne Laux

Someone spoke to me last night,

told me the truth. Just a few words,

but I recognized it.

I knew I should make myself get up,

write it down, but it was late,

and I was exhausted from working

all day in the garden, moving rocks.

Now, I remember only the flavor —

not like food, sweet or sharp.

More like a fine powder, like dust.

And I wasn’t elated or frightened,

but simply rapt, aware.

That’s how it is sometimes —

God comes to your window,

all bright light and black wings,

and you’re just too tired to open it.

 

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"First Kiss," April Lardner

 

This collision of teeth, of tongues and lips,

is like feeling for the door

in a strange room, blindfolded.

He imagines he knows her

after four dates, both of them taking pains

to laugh correctly, to make eye contact.

She thinks at least this long first kiss

postpones the moment she'll have to face

four white walls, the kitchen table,

its bowl of dried petals and nutmeg husks,

the jaunty yellow vase with one jaunty bloom,

the answering machine's one bloodshot eye.

 

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"Crying Man" Charles Douthat

  At O'Hare, after a first jump west to California,
I thought my father was dying, as I waited

for the connecting flight. Being hungry
I ate pizza with the people eating pizza.

Feeling uninformed, I bought newspapers,
opened magazines at a bookshop wall.

Near my gate, I pretended not to watch
a dozen others waiting, as they pretended

not to watch me. But finally, in a hectic airport
restroom, I heard the crying man in his stall.

"Oh God," he cried, behind a stained steel door.
He didn't sound old. And in his privacy, not shy.

"Oh dear God," rang harshly in the close tiled room.
I stood alongside others, a simple traveler

at a public urinal. Behind me the restless waited
their turns. "Oh dear life!" came the third cry.

I shook myself, zipped, found a vacant sink for washing.
Spurting water dwindled to a trickle on my hands.

I lathered and rinsed as I'd been taught. Grabbed
for paper towel. Didn't linger at the mirror.

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 I really don't want to talk about these too much. For once, I actually enjoyed the poems I read, and I think it wasn't so much that these were better poems than I've read before, but that I didn't need to analyze them for structure and style and voice and allusion and metonomy and all those other useless things that became the focus in my Muggle Comprehensive before being admitted to Hogwarts. The point of poetry is to elict an emotional response, not to check off a bunch of useless literary terms. So my comments on each poem with be brief. The first poem moved me because it represents my current faith life in the most accurate way I've ever seen. It succeeds in articulating a problem, a feeling, that I've had for quite some time. The second poem made me laugh with its description of kissing, and tugged at my heart as I empathized with the poor girl waiting for a message. So poignant, so real. The final one illustrates the lack of compassion and the self-centeredness that characterizes the generations of both adults and teens today. Nobody cares. It's profoundly sad, but only because I have witnessed that happen and have done it myself. Tragic. These poems have spoken to me because, for once, I wasn't too tired to listen.

Currently

This week, I read 114 pages of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers. That puts my semester total at 921 pages.

Sentences of the Week:

"For tell me, where can you find a love like mine, a love which neither time, nor absence, nor despair can extinguish; a love which contents itself with a lost ribbon, a stray look, or a chance word?" --Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers

It amazes me how melodramatic and creeperish the Duke is in his attempts to woo the queen. The whole scene (which lasts for a few pages of the same general idea) was so over the top that I could not help but laugh at him! Yet somehow it almsot seemed to be working on the queen...

"That’s how it is sometimes —

God comes to your window,

all bright light and black wings,

and you’re just too tired to open it." --"Dust," Dorianne Laux

 

Profound. I really like that quote.

But the quote of the week is:

"Love is the most selfish of all the passions." --Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers

Two words: So true.

The Rock-Paper-Scissors of Fencing

Because so much of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers focuses on fighting, and because that fighting, despite the name, is actually fencing and has nothing to do with muskets, I decided to quickly look up the basics of fencing to better understand the plot. One site, http://www.whatisfencing.com/, compares fencing to game of rock-paper-scissors. In rock-paper-scissors, as everyone, Muggle and magical alike, knows, the object is to try to guess what your opponent will choose and choose the one that will stop them. (For an added challenge, attempt rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock. Although few know how to play, it is rather more mentally stimulating and is a good deal more fun.) Because I know nothing about fencing, I will relate the rock-paper-scissors of fencing in the site's original words:

This is how it works in fencing:
Simple Attack (an attack executed as one quick action) is defeated by:
Parry and Riposte (defending with the blade and/or distance, and then attacking), which is defeated by:
Compound Attack (an attack executed with multiple “feints” to close distance and draw out the final parry), which is defeated by:
Counter Attack/Attack on Preparation (a timed Simple Attack into the early, non-threatening phase of the Compound Attack), which is defeated by:
Counter Time (a feint or preparation used to draw the Counter Attack so the ATTACKER may then make Parry and Riposte), which is defeated by:
Feint in Tempo (a compound counter attack used to evade the Counter time), which is defeated by:
Simple Attack (the wheel has come full-circle).

A quick skim through the rest of the site reveals that fencing is not only athletic but involves a similar mentality to a chess player. If that is the case, Ron, chess champion of Gryffindor house, would be a brilliant fencer, but as Ron constantly reminds me, I am awful at chess and am unathletic so fencing would not be an activity for me. Besides, just as wizard's chess is completely barbaric, so is attempting to wound someone with a sword for amusement. It is irrelevant that the tips are blunted; the very notion is barbaric. (Aside from my aversion to the violent mentality of wizard's chess, I have no idea why I am bad at chess. I am logical and reasonable and smart, so should be good. Maybe it has to do with what the fencing example was saying. Maybe I simply fail at predicting an opponent's move. I don't know.)

Anyway, now I understand that fencing involves a good deal of strategy, not mere athleticism. And as few of you will be fencing, I challenge you to try to be a rock-paper-scissors champion this week!

P.S. Speaking of champions of simplistic games, tic-tac-toe is a solvable game. There are three possible openings (center, side and corner), and if you go second and choose the correct move for the opening your opponent chose, you cannot possibly lose (barring making a moronic mistake). Challenge: figure out each proper second move and never lose a game of tic-tac-toe again. I haven't in years. But if you play someone who also knows this strategy, every single one of your games will end in a tie (or cat's game). So make sure you choose an unsuspecting victim.

A Royal Scandal

The action in The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas has really picked up. After plowing through a plethora of difficult pages, bursting with vocabulary from an antiquated lexicon, a story has begun to develop. Our hero, D'Artagnan, has fallen in his first love. Unfortunately, the object of his passion is already married, being older than he. However, there is more to Madame Bonacieux than simply being D'Artagnan's first crush; she is one of the maids of the queen. The queen is suspected by her husband and by the cardinal to be having an affair with the Duke of Buckingham, and their suspicions are not too far off. Friendless and lacking in love from her husband, the queen is hard pressed to overcome the temptation of succumbing to the Duke's efforts to woo her. I feel bad for the queen, for she is clearly terribly lonely and obviously likes the Duke, but she still, with difficulty, resists his advances. It is hard enough to experience unrequited love; I cannot even imagine the pain inherent in rejecting someone you love. Poor Queen. People always dream of being royalty, but, in my humble opinion, a much better wish would be for good family, friends, relationships, and health. Those things bring a lot more happiness than royalty! Though I must admit it would be glorious to be a Disney princess, as their stories always have a romantic happily ever after. I would want to be Rapunzel, if I had the choice. Her story is epic and Flynn is amazing :). But I digress. My point in all of these ramblings is that The Three Musketeers is actually interesting now!

Currently

Because it has been a rather busy week, and because it is only Thursday, I have not yet quite completed my reading quota for the week. So far, I have read 54 pages. I intend to finish my reading for the week tomorrow. I have read The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.

Weekly Total: 54 (will update after Friday)
Semester Total: 807

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Sentences of the Week:

"I'm Nobody! Who are you?" --Emily Dickenson

My best friend used that line to describe my personal philosophy in an essay. So I guess that represents me. Take what you want from it.

"This collision of teeth, of tongues and lips, is like feeling for the door in a strange room, blindfolded." --"First Kiss" by April Lardner

My first kiss was with Ron Weasley (who I'm still with <3) in the middle of The Battle of Hogwarts, completely randomly, with no romance leading up to it, born out of sheer desperation and desire. I still laugh out loud when I think of Harry standing there yelling, "Oi! There's a war going on!" completely bewildered by our behavior. But I must say that is the world's best description of a kiss.

"'But not till two o'clock,' said D'Artagnan, with the same calmness." --The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas pg 52

This was the line uttered in the funny scene where three best friends realized they had all come to fight the same boy who had offended them all. He had a duel with the first at noon, the next at one, and the last not till two o'clock. Something about the simplicity of his answer in the midst of the three best friends freaking out about what just happened struck me as very funny.
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Random Top Three of the Week:

Candy!!!

Magical:
1. Chocolate Frogs
2. Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans (purely for entertainment value--great at parties!)
3. Toothflossing Stringmints (in honor of my parents)

Muggle:
1. M&Ms
2. Twix
3. Skittles

The Three Musketeers and One Really Stupid Boy

I'm still reading The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (pronounced doom-ah, not dumb-ass). At this point, though, it seems like it would be more aptly titled The Three Musketeers and One Really Stupid Boy, as the main character is D'Artagnan, an eighteen year old boy that left home with nothing but an old horse (which he sold), a sword (which he broke) and a little money (which he spent on a new sword). With nothing but a sword, he endeavors to join the musketeers, the elite group of highly trained guards of the king. Although well received by the captain, he is naturally refused in his attempt to become a musketeer. Yet mere minutes after his conversation with the captain, through extraordinary clumsiness, ineptitude, and sheer stupidity, he managed to offend three separate musketeers! Yet he quickly becomes friends with them because he stabs one of their enemies. Boys. In a world run by men, like France in 1625, stabbing someone else wins you respect and repays your debts! Men are so irrational that way, as if bravery and violence can replace reason! I once read a quote that went something like: "If women ran the world, there would be no more wars. Countries that were mad at each other would just give each other the silent treatment." How accurate. And men think we're irrational.

Nevertheless, there is something attractive about D'Artagnan and the romantic period in which he lives. Sometimes I really wish I could lead a successful life by just heading out with a sword, with no particular plan, no N.E.W.T. courses, nothing but determination. These days, it seems like every waking moment is to prepare you for something. You take beginner level courses to prepare you for O.W.L. courses to prepare you for N.E.W.T. courses to prepare you for a job to prepare you for a higher position to prepare you to support a family to pay for an education to prepare your kids to get a job... and it goes on and on and on and on. We spend too much time preparing and not enough living. My goal for this year, my last year at Hogwarts, is to live. To focus not quite as much on preparing, even if my grades slip a smidgeon (ok maybe without my grades slipping... reminds me too much of my Boggart), and actually enjoy this year and have fun with my friends. Despite being so pragmatic, sometimes I wish we could go back to a more romantic time.

Voting

Trying to comment gives me nothing but error messages (may have to do with Hogwarts' magical interference, I'll ask the librarian, Pince), so I looked at these 9 blogs:

1. The Written Word
2. Becca's Blog
3. UNDERWATER
4. "So many books, so little time"
5. My Everyday Sticky Waffle
6. TheyCallMeFreshMoney
7. Stormy Days
8. Live, Laugh, Read
9. JoeChemo

And... Drumroll please... I would like to vote for The Written Word and Becca's Blog

A Whole New World... From Modern Day Sweden to Futuristic Farms to Medieval France

Having finished The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Animal Farm, I am diving into a new and completely different literary adventure! Recommended to me by Lavender Brown, I am now starting Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers. Amazingly, the book only cost $1.25 back in the seventies when ti was printed (that's about 2 sickles and 3 knuts, according to this converter: http://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizworld/galleons.html). I wish I could still get books that cheap! I haven't gotten very far into the book yet, but it is a rather more challenging read than my last two books. All I've gathered so far is that the main character, D'Artagnan, is an arrogant little toerag with the emotional range of a teaspoon. He's an idiot with no sense of judgment who literally takes offense at everything. I can't help but be rather fond of him. I'm a huge fan of medieval fantasy literature, so I hope I will enjoy this book.

It's Friday, Friday, Friday, OH!

Sidenote: For once, I don't blame Sirius' mother for erasing Rebecca Black from the family tree. I'd be ashamed of her too.

Anyways, this week I finished The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and honestly have no idea how many pages that was, but I know it was more than 150, so I'll use that number for now. I also read the entirety of Animal Farm, which was 114 pages. So for now, I can guarantee that I've read at least 254 pages this week, so 606 for the semester thus far. I will update this post when I have official data on The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

I already did my favorite quotes for the week, so this week's random Top Three is Saturday Morning Cartoons!

1. Pokemon (the original series: if Ash Ketchum isn't in it, don't waste your time)
2. Jimmy Neutron
3. Tom and Jerry

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Edit: Actually, I read 401 pages last week, so 753 total. I just made up a number for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo in the original post.

Animal Farm

Yesterday, I read the entirety of George Orwell's adult fairy tale, Animal Farm. I have always been fascinated by political fiction, such as Orwell's 1984 or Huxley's Brave New World because of the perspective they show on the future of both Muggle and magical societies. It's currently too early for an explanation of how modern-day politics appear to set the stage for many of the atrocities perpetrated in these books, but nevertheless, the parallels are there and I challenge you to look for them. To me, the most striking aspect of Animal Farm was the ease with which the innocent, good animals who truly hoped for a better future for them all, were manipulated by the pigs into monsters. The pigs lied to them again and again, eradicating history and tampering with their own memories. For the first time, I grasp the importance of learning an unbiased account of history (even History of Magic taught by Prof. Binns, who is so incredibly boring that he did not even realize he died). History is the rubric by which the present day is graded. If it is either not taught, or worse, is taught with an agenda, there is no way to accurately view the present. To me, the innocent animals represented all those who commit terrible atrocities, such as the Nazi soldiers in World War II, without full awareness of the consequences of their actions due to near brainwashing by authorities. The majority of people in any organized, statewide movement, such as Nazism, had no intention of harming others. Fear of authority obviously drove their actions, but so did man's natural propensity to obey. One look at Milgram's controversial experiment on obedience uncovers the atrocities man can commit simply because they are told to. Animal Farm is a great choice of book for anyone who wants a short book, easy to read, that provokes a great deal of thought.


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Quotes of the Week:
This week, all quotes will follow an Orwellian theme, essentially because Animal farm is still fresh in my mind.

"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others" Animal Farm by George Orwell (133)

This satiric parody of America's proud Declaration of Independence summarizes the general theme of the book and condemns not only Communism, but also the democratic-republic that the West is so proud of.

"I will work harder" Animal Farm by George Orwell (75)

This is a tribute to Boxer, the best character in the entire book, and his tragic fate.

 Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage. --Tytler

Where do you think your country falls on this continuum?