King Lear isn’t much of a king in my book and actually makes me angry. He’s arrogant, petty, and dumb. How does one expect to be treated like a king when he is giving all of his power away. The fact that he thinks he should still be treated as a king for nothing makes me kinda angry I’ll admit. I don’t even think he was that good of a king to begin with as he doesn’t seem very well liked. But the main part here is what happens after he finds out he’s gonna be nothing soon. The storm arrived and is rampaging through the village and now Lear feels bad for the homeless in the kingdom. Bruh. He starts to feel bad for the people that needed the most help after he loses everything. Lear isn’t a king anymore but now that he’s lost everything he becomes Mr. Thoughtful which is ridiculous. Shakespeare did such a great job of making such an unlikable main character. I think its rather comedic the timing of this statement and I actually started laughing when he said it. I can’t wait so see where this story ends and what happens to Lear in the end. Also check the One Republic reference in the title. lol
Author: JAMES T.
Just Listen
The Doobie Brothers was a rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose California. Their most widely known song “Listen to the Music” was released in 1972 on their beloved album Toulouse Street. It’s peak position on the billboard hot 100 was 11 and for some odd reason reaches number 3 on the Canada billboard. The song was written by Tim Johnston in 1971 and was a true hit. The song is about finding happiness and coming together through the art of music. Not only is this song a true piece of art but it is also true poetry.
Don't you feel it growing, day by day
When the song came out in 1972 the Vietnam War was in full swing and the Cold War was boiling. There was so much conflict going on in the world and the hippie band known as The Doobie Brothers had a perfect remedy to bring everyone together. The first Lyric “Don’t you feel it growing, day by day” talks about the rising tensions in the world simmering into a full boil with all that is going on. But the songs happy vibe produces a sort of utopian alternate reality where life’s problems are truly solved by music. The happy upbeat rhythm in the background creates imagery of a California like beach and people dancing through the music.
Gotta get a message, get on through.
This lyric is about the song itself getting through to the masses of people. It is said that the best way to get a message out to lots of people is through a popular song so that’s what the band is trying to do. The song has a clear message about how they want to solve all of the violence and hate in the world and in itself says what their plan is. We learn of the happy motives of the band and in itself The Doobie Brothers, you can imagine how peaceful they are.
Oh, oh, oh listen to the music
Oh, oh, oh listen to the music
That lyric is the chorus of the song and is said multiple times to get the point across. The Doobie brothers use refrain here to show the listeners their solution to the hate going around during the time. They also us repetition multiple times with this lyric to again, get the point across. The band does realize that this song us more of a utopian society as not everyone likes music that much and music won’t stop violence as that is just an outrageous thought. But in their minds and in their imagination if everyone would just stop and appreciate something together then maybe we would be more united.
The Dating Game
My opinion on relationships is very similar yet very different to the opinion of the author of Exit West. I feel like relationships are very important yet I feel if they are the relationships you are supposed to have then they will last. I don’t like how Nadia and Saeed kind of fell of at the end of the book and it doesn’t represent how lasting relationships should act. Yes most marriages end in divorce or at least half but maybe those relationships weren’t supposed to be. I’m a big believe in faith and I feel people end up with the person they are supposed to end up with. I agree with the Author and I do believe that a life without relationships isn’t really a life and I personally thrive off of them. I don’t even just mean dating when I say that, I mean friends, family, and dating. People need other people to get through hard times caused by other people. It’s kind of funny how human nature works: we get hurt by humans and lean on humans to get us through that pain. That’s exactly what happens in the story with Nadia and Saeed. I agree with the author that relationships are needed but I don’t like how they ended for Nadia and Saeed.
Sisyphus is not Happy
Camus’ argument that Sisyphus is the happiest person in the world is just a flat out lie. I would like to know how pushing a rock up a mountain for the rest of your life brings happiness. Just because Sisyphus was “the wisest and most prudent of mortals” doesn’t make him the happiest. I actually would like to argue that his realization is what makes him the most sad man in the universe. I’d like to connect Sisyphus and Camus’ theory to a show I watch called Rick and Morty. I’m going to focus on Rick who in the show is the smartest man in the galaxy and is basically a God because of this. But on the other side of his intelligence is that he is extremely depressed, because he is so smart that he realizes that he is in a TV show and knows that his life is “absurd”. This is almost directly tied to Sisyphus and maybe his wisdom has allowed him to realize that life is absurd while the rest of us live our life with the window dressing of meaning.
Lack of Mutual Recognition Today
Mutual Recognition is a theory made by Jessica Benjamin that allows people to realize that we are all human and recognize others. Today mutual recognition is lacking in a lot of areas in human life. People are going into a school system that doesn’t recognize them as people, and completely forgets about them. People are being fired because of Covid, and people just forget about them. Innocent people are being killed by the people that are supposed to protect them. We as a society need to see others individuals and truly take into account others emotions and lives. Mutual recognition can be restored with a lot of work. We all need to do better.
Looking for Humanity
Escape from spider head revolves around an unethical experiment that removes emotions and empathy from the subjects. The experiment scams these subjects into feeling intense passion and love for each other, and then rips it away from them in a second. The main subject we follow is named Jeff, and you really see him find humanity throughout the story. When Jeff was asked to “Darkenfloxx” which is basically torture, Heather or Rachel at the beginning of the story he said “I really didn’t care”(56). An answer that has no empathy behind it and shows a complete lack of humanity, speaking that this “darkenfloxx” has the power to kill someone. When Jeff was told that Heather was gonna be “Darkenfloxxed” he said “I don’t want you to darkenfloxx Heather”(67). Yet again they use their scam to get Jeff to agree. At the end when they try to “darkenfloxx” Rachel he completely disagrees. Jeff then sacrifices himself to save Rachel and says “I was happy, so happy, because for the first time in years, and forevermore, I had not killed, and never would”(81). The story ends with Jeff completing his search for humanity, and decides that he wouldn’t let anyone be hurt anymore.
Story Power 