Okonkwo = Captain America = Ant-Man

 

     In Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is considered a strong and respectable man among all the tribes; however, he started from the bottom. Okonkwo's father was as lazy as can be and owed money to multiple people, so Okonkwo became determined to work as hard as possible and devote his life to the Ibo culture. In the end he became the very antithesis of his father. As I read this, I recognized this same pattern in many other stories. Out of my own curiosity, I began to ponder on the many stories with a similar plot of a protagonist's rise from the bottom. I came to the conclusion that DC's Captain America and Ant-Man were very similar to Okonkwo's journey to the top. Steve Rogers (Captain America) was a scrawny boy with many physical problems, but he was determined to fight for his country. He was continuously denied from the military, but that didn't phase him. In the end, his determination was recognized by a scientist who made him into the respected man he is today. Similarly, Scott Lang (Ant-Man) is a convicted criminal who is trying to find his way in the world. All he really wants to do is be there for his daughter. However, his ex-wife and her new boyfriend keep forcing him out of her life. Scott keeps trying to lead a successful to show his ex-wife that he is worthy of seeing his daughter and he eventually becomes Ant-Man, which brings him very close to his daughter. All three of these protagonists started from the bottom and were still able to reach their goals with their unwavering determination.  

Banana

  

     I ate a banana today. It tasted like any other banana I've eaten, but my own surroundings and feelings made me realize this was a very unique banana. I ate this banana right after I ate dinner, meaning that I was still hungry and unsatisfied with my meal. I probably wasn't in the best mood which explains the reason why I violently threw the banana peel in the trash once I was done. Maybe I really ate the banana because I am sick. "Eating an apple a day keeps the doctor away" so maybe I ate the banana because it was a healthy option for a snack. I could have been thinking that I would feel better and become healthy again quicker. I also may have used the banana to gain enough strength to begin doing my homework for the day. The idea of all the exhausting homework I was about to do could have been enough to make me eat a banana before I even started to do any of the homework. Even though all these details surrounding my experience of eating a banana may have affected my experience slightly, I believe that my true reason behind my desire for eating a banana today was my spirit animal: Curious George.

Power in the Hands of the "Qualified"

     In the novel Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift, Swift has Gulliver discover a unique society that is similar to a miniature version of the real world. This particular society calls themselves the Lilliputians. As Gulliver passes time in this bizarre world he finds out that the people that become officials in the government are chosen based on their ability to dance on rope. At first, I just assumed it to be a weird custom that the Lilliputians followed, and I was interested in their other customs. However, my curiosity about the rope dancing kept bothering me. As I was thinking about that some more, I soon came to realize that this was the only real qualification that a person in their society must have to become a government official. This makes absolutely no sense because these people aren't tested for their ability to actually run a government, but only for a trait that has almost no relation to their job. They even test current officials by making them dance on rope again to prove that they are still "qualified" for the job. Swift uses this irrational qualification to satirize the government of the real world, specifically England. He characterizes politics in general as faulty and ineffective since the most qualified people to run a government aren't necessarily chosen and only the people who, in this case, are good at impressing others are chosen. I found this satirization really interesting because Swift never explicitly says how ridiculous this qualification is and the fact that this can be easily related to today's world. 

How Did Frankenstein Not Predict Elizabeth's Death?

     After Frankenstein leaves his home, he learns from his professors about science and eventually his curiosity becomes so great that his they can't help him anymore. Frankenstein continues to fuel his curiosity for science by furthering his knowledge by himself and he ends up creating life, proving his brilliance. However, somehow Frankenstein is still not able to find out that Elizabeth was going to be murdered by his monster. His monster promises Frankenstein that the creature will be there for Frankenstein's wedding day. For months, Frankenstein believes that the creature will try to murder him and doesn't consider any other options. When the day finally arrives, Frankenstein obliviously leaves Elizabeth alone and the creature kills her. It is very intriguing that an intelligent man like Frankenstein was not able to predict this. All the creature wanted to do, after Frankenstein ruins the creation of his female companion, is to make Frankenstein's life miserable. If the creature was just going to kill Frankenstein, Frankenstein wouldn't be able to feel sadness the creature feels. By murdering Elizabeth, the creature does exactly what Frankenstein did to the creature. He is able to make Frankenstein overcome with anguish just like how the creature felt when Frankenstein took away the creature's chance for love. The fact that a man like Frankenstein wasn't able to figure this out is very perplexing. The creature even murders Frankenstein's good friend before to make Frankenstein guilty and to lose a companionship. The creature's goal to make Frankenstein experience the same pain that Frankenstein placed on the creature seems very obvious and the I find it very interesting on how an ingenious man like Frankenstein couldn't uncover this.

Can Too Much Curiosity Lead To Your Own Destruction?

As Frankenstein's creature began to learn more and more about this human world and his place in it, he eventually uncovers a sad truth. The creature ends up living in a hovel that is adjacent to a cottage with three other people after finding out that interacting with humans isn't resulting in anything good for him. However, his curiosity still forces him to keep on eavesdropping on many of the cottage people's conversations. He eventually learns that he is really different from human beings and that no one would really ever regard him as the same. He goes on to say, "Knowledge is permanent and irreversible; once gained, it cannot be dispossessed". This knowledge that was exposed to him came from him not being able to restrain his curiousness of this intriguing new world and the people in it, but who is to really blame him? Frankenstein completely abandons his creation and now the monster has to fend for himself, so the creature is at first able to use this curiosity to his advantage and learn things to ensure his survival. Nonetheless, he continues to learn and ultimately comes across this horrific news about his isolation. Shelley also provides parallels to the creatures situation, like Safie, about alienation and not being accepted into society, further illustrating the creature’s distress. Even though the creature's main goal was to fit in with society, his curiosity only shows him that he will never truly be a part of this human world.

Frankenstein's Monster = Curious George?!?!?!

     After Frankenstein's monster comes alive, I can't help but imagine how curious he must be of this strange world he is forced into. If I were to be placed into some random alternate timeline I definitely know that I would try to discover as many new things as possible which has to be what the creature is also feeling. The worst part is that Frankenstein just ignores the creature and doesn't help guide his curiosity of this peculiar world he is placed into. The creature also doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of society which only makes his attempt to divulge into his curiosity even harder. I believe that Frankenstein's creature is exactly like Curious George. George is monkey who doesn't really fit with his  city surroundings and just wants to discover more and more about this astonishing place. While exploring George gets becomes very mischievous which is a parallel to the creature. All the creature wants to do is try to understand this unfamiliar era and while doing so he may have just murdered William. The creature's curiosity may have gotten a little out of control. But really what is to blame, the creature's curiosity or the lack of responsibility of Frankenstein himself. 

Two Line Poem?

- In a Station of the Metro

       So I was just cruising the internet looking for anything that interested me, and I happened to run into a two line poem that somehow is actually meaningful and symbolic. At first, I thought this must be a joke and decided to move on, but my curiosity got the best of me. I mean, who wouldn't be interested in a two line poem. After reading it, I understood that the author, Ezra Pound, was trying to describe a metro station that on the outside seems to a dreary and mysterious place, since it was symbolized as a "wet, black bough". But, the people are also described as flowers which counters the bleak description of the station and reveals that this Metro is actually not that menacing. I still couldn't get over the fact of how short the poem was, so I went on to find the era it originated from and it turned out to be the modernism era. This poem now made complete sense to me. This era was full of the improving technology that people had to adapt to, and a place like a metro station filled with the chaotic bustling of people could appear intimidating to people. Pound is able to illustrate to the readers that this improving technology is not all bad by introducing the image of people as flowers into his poem. I was very intrigued about the significant meaning behind such a short poem and I hope you were just as curious as I was about such an interesting thing.