We live in America, the land of freedom, or at least that's what we tell people. There are more laws in America then any other country. Now, I'm not saying that these laws are unjust, or completely unfair, I'm simply saying there are a lot of them.
I grew up in a court room. My father is a public defender, and my mother is a real estate attorney. I've been to prison, I've watched countless security tapes, I'm my mother's receptionist, and when I was a kid on days when I was sick I sat in the back of a courtroom and watched my father do his job. I've seen the law to the fullest extent, and although it might not be perfect it is a constantly changing thing.
My father does one of the most controversial jobs out there. He defends people who have done horrific crimes, things such as murder, drug dealing, and rape. The perpetrators of these crimes are the people he has to defend every single day. So I guess you can say that I've seen the law both ways, I've seen it acted out to put bad people in prison, and I've seen it acted out to keep bad people out of prison. Kind of tricky from my point of view.
Either way, I've come to see the law as the law. It should be executed to the highest degree in the fairest way possible. The law is a ever changing thing, it changed in the 1960's with the black civil rights movement, and it was changing these past couple years with the gay rights movement. The law is something that must be acted out to serve the highest majority of the people, or truthfully it would never work. This might not always be fair, but nothing in life is truly fair.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Week Five
There is a number you can text, 542-542, where you can ask a question and it will send you the answer. For example, you would text the number: What's Gabby Pietro's address? And it would send back: 325 West Poplar. So last night out of boredom, and in an effort to avoid my math homework, I sent in "Who is Grace Goodman." The answer that came back? "There are multiple Grace Goodmans listed, please try and narrow your search." In reality there are probably multiple Grace Goodmans out there in the world, but there is only one of me.
This lead me to the question, who am I really? Yes, I am Grace Goodman, but if there are so many of us out there, what sets me apart? So I came to the to conclusion that you had to have a strong sense of self. I can be any of the other people in the world, but I'm not. I'm me. There has to be a reason for that.
Everyone is put on this planet to do something, to go along a certain path in life. Sopholes writes about fate, and destiny. In each of his stories his characters hear a fate about themselves, and in a effort to avoid their destiny, they end up running head first into it. This helps the characters in his plays develop a very strong sense of self. In Antigone, Antigone goes against the state, because she believes so much in that what she is doing is right. She's is the best example for a strong sense of identity.Antigone knew she was Antigone from the begining, she didn't have to text anyone to figure it out.
This lead me to the question, who am I really? Yes, I am Grace Goodman, but if there are so many of us out there, what sets me apart? So I came to the to conclusion that you had to have a strong sense of self. I can be any of the other people in the world, but I'm not. I'm me. There has to be a reason for that.
Everyone is put on this planet to do something, to go along a certain path in life. Sopholes writes about fate, and destiny. In each of his stories his characters hear a fate about themselves, and in a effort to avoid their destiny, they end up running head first into it. This helps the characters in his plays develop a very strong sense of self. In Antigone, Antigone goes against the state, because she believes so much in that what she is doing is right. She's is the best example for a strong sense of identity.Antigone knew she was Antigone from the begining, she didn't have to text anyone to figure it out.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Week Four
Death is an ever present thing in everyday life. It's one of those things that's constantly over your head, waiting for the right moment to strike. It may be someone you love or even yourself. I don't mean this in a pessimistic way, I really don't. I've come to the conclusion about death that it's going to happen to everyone, at some point. So why waste time worrying about it?
That doesn't mean I don't worry about death hitting someone I love though. I mean, death is more painful to watch then the action (I'm assuming I've never actually "died") Through the past year I have watched death in the closest sense of the word, and I can honestly say that it doesn't get easier. Now I don't exactly know if this is a bad or a good thing. Good in the sense that this means I'm growing up, or bad in the sense that I've become a cynic.
I will give death this though, he's fair. He agrees that everyone should be treated the same, and receive the same fate. This is more then I can say for anything else in life. Every single person is going to face this penalty unless you find the fountain of youth, or are the reincarnated Jesus Christ.
So what brings me on this topic? The work Oedipus. Throughout the entire story, the tragic hero, Oedipus, is trying to escape the fact of his fate: That he will kill his father and bed his mother. His wife/ mother, Jocasta, does the same thing by trying to kill her newborn son, after hearing the fate that he will kill his parents. Both of these heroes are trying to escape the same over all fate, dying or killing someone, which is in fact causing someones death. These things can't be escaped, and by trying to escape them they both in fact cause their own demise.
That doesn't mean I don't worry about death hitting someone I love though. I mean, death is more painful to watch then the action (I'm assuming I've never actually "died") Through the past year I have watched death in the closest sense of the word, and I can honestly say that it doesn't get easier. Now I don't exactly know if this is a bad or a good thing. Good in the sense that this means I'm growing up, or bad in the sense that I've become a cynic.
I will give death this though, he's fair. He agrees that everyone should be treated the same, and receive the same fate. This is more then I can say for anything else in life. Every single person is going to face this penalty unless you find the fountain of youth, or are the reincarnated Jesus Christ.
So what brings me on this topic? The work Oedipus. Throughout the entire story, the tragic hero, Oedipus, is trying to escape the fact of his fate: That he will kill his father and bed his mother. His wife/ mother, Jocasta, does the same thing by trying to kill her newborn son, after hearing the fate that he will kill his parents. Both of these heroes are trying to escape the same over all fate, dying or killing someone, which is in fact causing someones death. These things can't be escaped, and by trying to escape them they both in fact cause their own demise.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Week Three
It's already been three weeks of my senior year in highschool, and time has never flown by so quickly. I guess the saying is right, time flies by faster when your older. Which leaves me leaving every english class, wondering what comes next. Especially this week, with a focus on society and the roles we need, or choose to play out.
I was always brought up in the manner that you do what you do, and as long as you were the best at it, and if you weren't the best you tried hard to be, my parents would be proud. That goes along with being a functioning member of society, get a good education, go to college, get a high paying job, start a family, and into this boring lifestyle that even at age seventeen I know I will never be truely content in. I don't want to grow up and become a Bartleby, where I'm just so boring and uninterested, but on the inside I'm tormented by the want, or some would argue need, to do something productive.
Being stuck in the same job every day, every month, every year, would possibly drive me insane. Actually scratch that, it would completely drive me insane. So is it so wrong of me to want to step outside the box and try something different that society wouldn't expect? It's always the people who did the unexpected that get remembered.
But on the other hand, where would this society be if we didn't have say "cubical workers" and "number crunchers." I mean where would we be? Not everyone has the willingness or wants to step outside their box, and I guess in the long run not everyone can or nothing would get done. So is it wrong or right to want to try something new, or does it just depend on the person?
I was always brought up in the manner that you do what you do, and as long as you were the best at it, and if you weren't the best you tried hard to be, my parents would be proud. That goes along with being a functioning member of society, get a good education, go to college, get a high paying job, start a family, and into this boring lifestyle that even at age seventeen I know I will never be truely content in. I don't want to grow up and become a Bartleby, where I'm just so boring and uninterested, but on the inside I'm tormented by the want, or some would argue need, to do something productive.
Being stuck in the same job every day, every month, every year, would possibly drive me insane. Actually scratch that, it would completely drive me insane. So is it so wrong of me to want to step outside the box and try something different that society wouldn't expect? It's always the people who did the unexpected that get remembered.
But on the other hand, where would this society be if we didn't have say "cubical workers" and "number crunchers." I mean where would we be? Not everyone has the willingness or wants to step outside their box, and I guess in the long run not everyone can or nothing would get done. So is it wrong or right to want to try something new, or does it just depend on the person?
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