A Leader Who's Somewhat Of A Hot-Head

As a child your parents and family have the biggest affect on your character throughout the rest of your life. They are the most influential people you will ever encounter in my opinion. However, their influence can veer your development of character in the wrong direction. Harry, in Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling grows up with his step parents and of course Dudley. Harry is neglected and is treated horribly. This turns Harry in to what he is throughout the books.

Growing up, Harry was always told he couldn't do something. He was always told to stay in the cupboard. He was always told that a pair of old and worn socks was more than enough for his birthday present. Could it be that this sparked the leader and fiery temper in the Harry Potter that we see in later years? Maybe, after so many years of being told no that this was how Harry "wiped off" his emotions and feelings. To prove to his step parents and his awful cousin that he was a leader and that he would never be told that he was wrong. Is the reason for his leadership skills and choleric self all because of the influential power of his family? What do you think?

A Dangerous Task

As I continue to read, The Giver, by Lois Lowry, Jonas and I the reader learn more and more about his utopia society. Things that he never would have known if it wasn't for his placement as the new Receiver of Memory, a very difficult and painful job that however, earns high honor in the community. However, some of the things that Jonas will learn will cause him to suffer just like the previous receiver.

At the ceremony where Jonas was given the responsibility as the new receiver, the elder told him that this was a very painful job. After a few lessons, Jonas asked, the giver, "What causes you pain?" The giver responded by saying, "Let's go once again to a hill, and a sled." Early in the book I learned that once yo reach a certain age in the community you are "released." I believe that the giver will show Jonas what happens after you are released. Death. I think that death is not accepted in the community because people would suffer. This is the pain Jonas will have to endure. However, I don't think that Jonas will be able to endure this and will flee from his community to "beyond the hills" that he expressed curiosity of.

Freedom and Virtue

Imagine a small community where all the power lies in the hands of a few. Imagine that in the community everyone's life is already planned ahead. Your name, what you will receive for every single birthday, and even what job you'll have. There is no sickness, no issues whatsoever. Everything is perfect. Everything is perfect in this utopia community in which Jonas, an eleven year old boy has to experience in the book, The Giver by Lois Lowry. Although I have only read the first few chapters of the immaculate page turning book, the subject of the matter has already got me regarding the flaws of a utopia society.
When I first thought of utopia, I thought of no complaints. Everything would be perfect, therefore what's to complain about. However, as I continued reading the book and investigating Jonas' feelings toward his community I realized that I was wrong about a utopia society. Jonas has no freedom, no liberty. He does not get to make his own decisions for they are chosen for him by others. The only thing I could see as a positive about Jonas' community was that he's safe. Although safety is always important, in this case the more safety you have the less freedom you have.
We all make mistakes. It's part of being human. But it's okay because we all make mistakes. But most importantly we learn from these mistakes. In Jonas' community everything is perfect. No one make mistakes therefore he can't learn valuable life lessons that we learn from our faults. That's why freedom is so important. Without it we wouldn't know between wrong and right. As St. Thomas Aquinas once said, "freedom is the condition for the possibility of virtue."

Spectrums and "Normal"

Over time society has discriminated against certain groups of people because of behaviors or characteristics that society doesn’t see as normal. One of these groups is homosexuals who are harassed to the extent of occasionally committing suicide. This is the issue Bruce Coville tackles in his short story, “Am I Blue?”, which is about a sixteen year old boy named Vincent who’s determining his sexuality with the help of his fairy godfather, Melvin. Vincent is uncomfortable facing the situation. He feels as though he would be in the unpopular minority if he was gay. Because of this he tries to hide the possibility that he might be gay from the people that view homosexuals differently. He tries to conform to what society sees as normal, to avoid discrimination, because he doesn’t realize until the end of the story that “normal” is a spectrum.

In the story Vincent tries to act like he’s straight when he’s still determining his sexuality. For example, after Vincent meets Melvin they decide to go to a café to discuss things over. When walking, Vincent notices that Melvin has a certain “swish” to his walk and says, “Do you have to walk like that?” Vincent is embarrassed being seen with a person that is openly gay and therefore tries not to be seen with Melvin. Another time Vincent tries to act straight or conform to society’s idea of normal is when Vincent and Melvin are in the café. Melvin begins to tell Vincent how he was killed by gay bashers, and that the reason for his visit was to make Vincent more comfortable with deciding his sexuality. However, right after, the atmosphere between Melvin and Vincent drastically shifts. Melvin, “leaned back in his chair, glanced around the room, then winked at a nice-looking college student sitting about five tables away from us.” Seeing this Vincent becomes suddenly anxious and  responded to Melvin’s action by saying in a firm tone, “Will you stop that!” Clearly, Vincent was “afraid of guilt by association” and did not want to be seen as homosexual. He was worried that if he did, he would be discriminated and possibly even gay bashed.

In the beginning of the story Vincent is baffled. He has mixed emotions about his sexuality. This is all before Melvin makes Vincent more comfortable with the idea that if he is gay he wouldn’t be alone. Melvin proves this to Vincent by giving him gaydar, which allows him to see gay people with blue faces. Astonishingly to Vincent he sees more people than he ever would have expected to be blue. This comforts Vincent into making him feel that he’s not alone.  In the end, Vincent realizes that one person may have one idea of normal and the other might have a completely different idea, but its ok because there is no one idea of normal.