Destiny Response

"When asked if he wanted to live in Rivendell, Strider replies honestly; he would like to stay in comfort and safety in Rivendell is a given but it is not his destiny.  This raises a question: what part does destiny play in the lives of the characters?  And, if literature is an imitation of life, or a mirror image, if you will, then what does that mean about real life?  Thoughts?"

 In the lives of the characters, destiny plays a huge role. They all believe that they have a destiny and that that rules them. Frodo believed that his destiny was not to sit idle in the Shire, as Strider felt that his destiny was not to stay in Rivendell. They believe that their destinies control what they are going to do, and they live based on the feelings that they get. Frodo took his feelings that he should not stay in the Shire to lead him on his journey to be the ringbearer on the journey of the Ring from the Shire to the fires of Mount Doom and all of the troubles in between. Strider used his destiny as a reason to wander and find peace of mind as well as adventure in his travels with Frodo.

I think that destiny can play a huge part in real life, if one thinks about it and believes in it. If I did not believe in destiny, then I would think that I am choosing everything that happens in my life and that everywhere I go and everything I do is entirely up to choice. However, I believe in destiny, and I think that I was at least partially destined to do the things that I do. I think that if I was given skills in math and science, I should use those skills in my future, instead of focusing on art and music, which I can do but not nearly as good as I can do math and science. Therefore, I think that destiny plays a large part in my life. If I didn't believe in it, I don't think that destiny would play a large part in my life, because I wouldn't think it was destiny.

Destiny, in all, to me is a state of mind. If you believe in it,  it works for you. If you don't believe in it, it means nothing to you and it does nothing for you.

By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead

No, this isn't a suicide note. At least, not from me. Instead, this is a post about the book I finished most recently that posed some interesting questions.
Yes, it posed the questions, but first let's start with a description. By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead is a novel by Julie Anne Peters. It follows the story of Daelyn Rice, a girl who has attempted- no, failed, several times before with her latest failure leading to a damaged esophagus and damaged vocal cords. When we come into her story, we find her dealing with a boy staring at her, something she doesn't experience often. The most she gets are the glares and the looks that quickly turn into laughter and torment. Daelyn has been bullied all her life. Mostly, she is made fun of for being fat, but that's not all that's happened. As she's researching wills, she discovers www.Through-the-Light.com.
Through-the-Light presents Daelyn with an interesting opportunity. It's a place that says that self-termination is her right, and it gives people places to talk about why they're committing, ways to go, and most importantly to Daelyn, a time to go. The minimum limit is 23 days, something Daelyn rebels against immediately. Why should she have to wait that long? However, she agrees and the site immediately begins to pose questions. "Will you be prepared, Daelyn Rice?"
"How will you get to the light?"
"Who will see you through the darkness?"
"What awaits you?"
"How will you be remembered?"
"Who becomes you?"
"What choice do you have?"
"Why are you here?"
All of these questions are asked over her 23 day period, and all the while, the boy begins to make contact with her. His name is Santana, and he's going through a time just as rough as Daelyn. The only difference is, he doesn't want to go, but is instead faced with a terminal illness. Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He's relapsing, and going through chemo again. The whole time, he fixates on Daelyn. She tries to ignore him, but his persistence gets to her. Santana is the only one who figures it out, simply because he's the only one she's confided in. He's seen her scars on her wrists from when she cut, and she's sent him the final clue on the night before her "Date of Determination." He bugs her about the neck brace she wears until the night of 2 days to go, when she finally responds with "i drank ammonia and bleach so i could die. r u happy now?"
On the day before she commits, Santana finds her yet again on the bench. He talks to her, telling her that everyone hurts sometimes, and all she can do is sob before she finally talks to him. He takes it all in stride and instead asks her to join him, yet again, for his birthday dinner. The book ends with Daelyn heading into the light, but it doesn't really tell you if it's the light that she was aiming for all along, or the light of another day that she will face, maybe this time, not so alone.

The things in this book made me question my actions. What if every time we say a word to someone, it pushes them to committing suicide? What if that one time you say something hurtful is the time that pushes them over the edge? On the other side, what happens when you're pushed that far? What happens when you're bullied beyond the point that you can cope? When you want to commit suicide, are you really ready to leave everything behind? Is there someone you're leaving behind that will end up in the same situation you're leaving?
A majority of the questions asked by the website aren't designed to turn someone away from suicide, but it does make you think about your choice long and hard. Would you be ready to leave on a set date? How many of us would panic as we felt that deadline approaching, not only the end of the time you've had to say goodbye, but the end of everything? And the biggest question of them all: What does leaving this world get us if we commit suicide? Does it stop the bullying or does it just encourage the bullies to do more? Daelyn was just one of many targets who were torn down so that others could feel better about themselves and their lives, but Daelyn never really tore anyone else down. She was pushed into silence by the power that her peers held over her.
But why is it that our peers hold so much power over us? For Daelyn, they held enough power to lead her to killing herself, having attempted so many times before she even found Through-the-Light. For others, it might just be enough pressure to do something we don't want to or shouldn't do. So why is it that people our own age can hold so much power over us?
This book raised a great deal of questions for me, and I know that they'll have me thinking for a long time to come, but what do you think?

The Lost World in summary

As I approached the conclusion of this novel, I began to wonder exactly how it ended. With fifteen pages left to the novel, the main characters find themselves in a room surrounded by raptors with what appears to be no way out. Even as the book draws to a close and the last inked words are read, I was confused. Yes, they were on a boat off the island, but we don't know if the boat has enough gas to get them back to the mainland, or even if they make it back due to other conditions. All we really know is that they do get off the island on a boat, as Ian Malcolm describes to them the answer to a puzzle they were working on the whole time they were on the island.

Despite this rather anti-climactic ending, Malcolm certainly brings up some good points.

"'Human beings are so destructive,' Malcolm said. 'I sometimes think we're a kind of plague that will scrub the earth clean. We destroy things so well that sometimes I think, maybe that's our function. Maybe every few eons, some animal comes along that kills off the rest of the world, clears the decks, and lets evolution proceed to its next phase.'" (Crichton, 429)

What if we are the next destructive force? The things we've already done to this planet are astounding. Not to mention the things we do to each other. In one way or another, it seems to me that the human race is intent on tearing each other down and not stopping for anything else in the paths of what we want. Even the most peaceful of protests is violent and destructive in its own way.  And maybe that's exactly what we need right now. A new force to step in and show us that we aren't always fully in control.

 

Kelly Curtis

Kelly Curtis is one of the characters in the story who has the fortune (Or misfortune, if you choose to look at it that way) of surviving the experience on the island. However, when we meet her, she is just a bored seventh grader in a classroom being instructed via video on a subject she already knows about. Her only friend in school is Arby, or R. B. Benton, an eleven year old boy who has skipped grades. She is considered a freak to her fellow classmates, all because she is good at math. However, she is chosen to help out Richard Levine, a scientist who is trying to prove the existence of dinosaurs in the modern world. Even by Levine, though, she is ignored and looked down upon, just like Arby.

For a while I associated myself with Kelly. We're both very smart, and at times looked down upon because of that. However, we both have very good friends who rely on us and like us just the way we are. We both have a passion for helping out someone who we think will appreciate the work we do. I would love to see dinosaurs up close, just as she does when she takes a trip to the island after stowing away in the trailer with Arby. We both have a sense for adventure and friends that others look down upon, as we are looked down upon ourselves. However, I think that there is where the similarities stop. I have not really been picked on too much for being smart, and I wonder if that is the time difference. This book was written in 1995, almost 16 years ago.

The time difference may be the reason that Kelly is so tormented by her fellow classmates, but I really doubt it. I think that the reason she is picked on so much might be due to the fact that she is a female, and therefore not expected to be as smart. Why is that, though? Why are women not allowed to be smart? It's not like we don't have fully functioning brains as well. Many times, a problem can be solved only by a woman because of her abilities to think differently. So why is that we are still so discriminated against for simply being smart?

Why read a book about dinosaurs? I'm a teenage girl!

As odd as it may sound to some people, I chose this book before I even knew we would be doing an independent reading assignment. As a stereotype, I should be reading a book about a relationship, or maybe some other feel-good style story. Instead, I chose a book that will probably end up a little gory, with few people making it out alive and the rest come out of the experience traumatized in some way or another. (But only if the book ends like Jurassic Park did!)

So, why did I choose it?

Well, for a few main reasons, I suppose. I chose this book first and foremost because I loved Jurassic Park when I finished it over the summer (I read it on the way to a college visit and back home.) As the sequel to one of my favorite novels, I had to read it. I also chose it because I have seen the movie, and I know that typically, the book is far better than the movie. So far, it has not disappointed. But I also chose this book because the whole Jurassic Park series has been an important part of my life. My grandparents and parents used to joke that they would have to start learning some dinosaur names to be able to talk to me and they were even shocked when at four, I was reciting names like Tyrannosaurus Rex and Pachycephalosaurus.

I also picked this book because I thought it might challenge me a little. The material is a lot harder to understand than a lot of the materials written for people my age, and I get bored with it all very easily. I am focusing on this book, and devouring it with the hunger of a bookworm. It's a great book, well written, with no real 'hero' to be outlined as a savior or romances to look at in depth.

The Lost World- Michael Crichton

The novel I have selected for my independent reading is a sequel to the famous Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, The Lost World. Proceeding the events of the catastrophe in the original novel, Ian Malcolm has been sworn to silence about his previous misadventures on Isla Nublar. He is discovering, though, that keeping that oath is not nearly as simple as he once thought. Once he meets Richard Levine, he soon discovers that the possibility of a reoccurance of the first island is higher than he thought.

Richard Levine, though, takes on a larger role of a person going through a maturity change than the children do. Levine discovers a specimen on an island down by Costa Rica and decides after hearing that it might be suspicious, just as he figured, to continue to investigate after dropping off the map. He sets off on a quest to prove the existence of the dinosauria. Let's break it down in layman's terms:
What do we need?

• A quester
• A place to go
• A stated reason to go there
• Trials and difficulties faced along the way
• A real reason to go (Or an end result)

So, we have a majoriy of those things within this part of the story

Our quester is Richard Levine. He heads out to the island of Isla Sorna, his place to go. His stated reason to go there is that he wants to prove the existence of dinosauria in this time period. He has many trials along the way, including his getting lost on the island, something which his guide helps him with. That is, until his guide gets killed by dinosaurs. In which case, he is stranded, alone and surrounded by raptors. He manages to make a call though, and his real reason for his quest looks like it could turn out to be something along the lines of surviving on his own in an extremely dangerous environment and learning what his pestering of Ian Malcolm about his own experiences feels like from the other side.

Acceptance

This week, I recieved my acceptance letter to my college of choice. This made me start thinking, what does it really mean to be accepted, not just to university, but in life as well?

The Webster dictionary defines acceptance as "the act of receiving willingly." What does that mean to us, though? Does it mean receiving a person willingly, or receiving an attitude or a gift? Can we only receive things that are tangible, or can we receive something that is intangible as well?

I think that acceptance can mean choosing to settle for something as well. Sometimes you have to accept a grade, something that cannot be changed and is fairly tangible. However, you can also accept a death. It is intangible, but the emotion you are left with is something you accept and it is intangible.

However, acceptance isn't always settling for something. Phrasing that way makes it seem like it is a bad thing to be accepting. You can also accept someone as a friend. You accept their differences, their mannerisms, and their attitudes as something you can put up with for the source of reliability they provide. You can get accepted somewhere, as in to a college or to a club or even a political party. You can accept a nomination, choosing to represent something.

What do you think acceptance is?