Do The Right Thing

I really liked the movie "Do the Right Thing" because though it did not have a true plot line, I think it did a great job of depicting reality and following distressed characters in their everyday lives. There was not a happy ending, but reality does not always have a happy ending either.

I think that Mookie was the character who grew the most as a person. I think once he realized the reality of his life and everything that came with it, he was forced to grow up and take responsibility for his actions. At the beginning of the movie, Mookie did not pay attention to his son like he should have, and he barely even visited his girlfriend, the mother of his son. He did not have a care in the world except for getting money and he tried his best to get the money without working for it. He was lazy and selfish in the beginning, but towards the end of the movie, he realized that he would need to start caring for others in order to succeed in life. After the fire at Sal's Pizzeria, Mookie found Sal to ask for his paycheck. When Sal gave him extra money, he would not accept the extra money. I think that this shows a turning point in his personality because he finally understood a person needs to work for every cent that they earn, and it cannot just be handed to him or her.
Though Mookie changed for the better, I think that Sal changed for the worse. I think that from going through the attacks on his store, he became more prejudice. In the beginning of the movie, he was completely tolerant of all races and he even said that Mookie felt like a son to him. However, once Radio Raheem started attacking him in his store, Sal attacked him back by yelling out every racial slur he could think of. I think this shows that Sal may have become prejudice, but at the same time, he was caught in a pressure situation and he was just trying to defend himself in any way possible. I was in shock when the police man killed Radio Raheem. Though Radio Raheem was acting out, it was unnecessary and cruel for the police to physically kill him. Also, when one of the police was killing Radio Raheem, the other police was shouting, "Stop, that's enough!". This was great of the other police to do to try to save Radio Raheem, but he could have helped even more and pulled Radio Raheem from the policeman's grip before he died. Words only go so far, so that policeman just telling him to stop did not help the situation at all. I think that this policeman was trying to do the right thing, but failed. I think that the entire community was at fault and did not do the right thing. Sal was of no threat to the community and he did not do any harm to them. He was completely tolerant of all races and was nice enough to stay open late and always serve the community his pizza. The community should have tried talking to him or threatening him through words before completely destroying his store and his life over a picture on a wall. I do believe in physical violence and self-defence when it is necessary and the last resort, but in this case it was completely unnecessary and the town did not try hard enough to use other methods to get Sal's attention before destroying his store and using physical violence. I also think that Mookie did not do the right thing by throwing the trash can at the window. Sal was so good to him, and it really surprised me that he was the one to start the destruction of Sal's Pizzeria. However, if you think of it another way, he could have been saving Sal and his sons by directing the attention on destroying the store, instead of destroying the people. I like to think that Mookie was trying to help Sal and his sons by throwing the trash can because I think that Mookie actually felt that Sal cared for him.

Beloved Chapter 9 Response

Memory, rememory, and the power of the past are issues that are addressed a lot in this chapter. After hearing Paul D's distubing story, Sethe needs to go to the clearing to clear her head and find comfort in the memory of Baby Suggs. She goes into the clearing because the rememories of Paul D were too much for her to handle. The weight of her own past and now the weight of Paul D's past was a major emotional burden that she would have to carry around for the rest of her life. However, Sethe tries to avoid dealing with the past instead of facing it in order to move on in the future. If Sethe dealt with the past and talked through her problems, it would lift this heavy weight of her shoulders and allow her to seek a brighter future. The first flashback goes back to when 124 was a community house. Baby Suggs was an influential leader who told the African Americans to look into their future and embrace the gift of freedom. Sethe's memory of Baby Suggs and the memory of her wedding to Halle were the only parts of her past that she truly embraced and did not hesitate to share their stories. However, the rest of her past was hidden in her mind and she avoided sharing the past with anyone else for fear of dumping her burdens on others. She wanted to face the challenges that her past brought on alone. This is a major problem in the book because Sethe needs to stop trying to heal her wounds alone. She needs to confide in someone and let them help her and guide her into a better future.

Emerson's Self-Reliance

How does (and should) a person define his/her place in society? (what does Emerson mean by "society" anyhow?)

According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, a person should define them selves as nonconformists in society. "It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion' it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude." (pg. 23) This quote is saying that it is so easy to be a follower, so most of the world becomes followers out of convenience. In order to become a leader, a person has to want to change and go against the crowd so that he or she will stand out as a leader. A person should define themselves as nonconformists because conforming to society is just taking the easy way out and usually not listening to his or her true opinions. Everyone is able to fit in and go along with the group standard, and that is why standing out is unique and challenging. If a person stands out, he or she will show society that going against the social norm is acceptable. A person should not define themselves based on how others define themselves, a person should define themselves based on their own unique thoughts and opinions.

9/11 Quran Burnings and the 1st Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
— The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

According to the article, "Quran-burning on again, off again", a small church in Florida is planning on burning copies of the Islam holy book, the Quran, in order to protest plans of building a mosque near ground zero in New York.
I think that this planned protest is wrong. Even though a Muslim was to blame for the Sept. 11th attacks, the Muslims who want to build the mosque are completely different people who happen to practice the same religion as the terrorists. They are being scapegoated for something that they had no part in, so they should be granted the freedom to do what they need in order to practice their religion freely in the United States, just as Jews and Christians have the right to do.
Burning the Quran is not a way for the Florida church to protest because it is showing a complete disrespect for the Islam religion, which will make the Muslim people even more outraged and unwilling to make a comprimise with the church. The church should put themselves in the Muslim people's shoes and think about what it would be like if a group went against them and burned the Bible.
The two groups need to make a comprimise or work out their issues, and the way to do that is not to disrespect eachother and show hatred towards one another.

The American Crisis - Thomas Paine

The main idea of this passage was that Paine believed that Americans were being to forgiving of the British and did not understand that the conditions in America would only worsen. Paine was prepared to take on the challenges that they would need to face in order to fight the British, but he needed to get the rest of the colonies to agree with his plan. He talked about how the British treat the American people like slaves, binding them to taxes and other laws that were only created to inconvenience the colonies. Paine wants the entire country to realize that in order to stop the British from binding them furthur, they would all need to work together to fight them off and stand up for their colonies and potential independence. Paine also made many references to God in this passage. He believed that God will give the reward or punishment that people deserve, and if they fight the British and stand up for their rights, God will reward them. He wants the people to start taking action instead of just talking about taking action. "The far and the near, the home counties and the back, the rich and poor, will suffer or rejoice alike." In this quote, Paine is saying that America is one group together and no matter where you stand in society, you are still American and should have equal rights and equally contribute to freeing the colonies. When Paine said, "...but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death," his words reminded me of when Patrick Henry said, "Give me liberty or give me death." Both leaders were willing to sacrifice their lives for the good of their country.