Outside Reading #7

I am still reading The Road, and lately it has been getting more and more depressing. I find my self feeling terrified for the boy and his father. Just recently in the book they came upon a gang of cannibals. One of them grabbed the boy, but the father shot him, and they fled into the forest. Fortunately, they escaped but there is the ever present fear of the rest of the gang. Also I learned that the mother of the boy killed herself (before they saw the cannibals) because she thought that the cannibals would in the end rape and kill them anyway. This book is becoming darker, and darker, and unfortunately I there does not seem to be a happy ending in sight.

Outside Reading #6

I finished reading Survivor, but I cannot in good conscious ruin the end of a Chuck P. book. So I started reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Although I haven't read much I can tell you that it is about a father and a son traveling south along the road. They are trying to make it to the south before winter. The landscape around them is a desolate wasteland that once was America, a biproduct of a nuclear war. The book so far is shaping up to be a warning for the aftermath of modern warfare, and the tale of the desperate struggle of a father and son.

Heroes in a Box: Russian Heroes

I decided to make my category of heroes Russian heroes. I have collected artifacts on three main heroes, Yuri Gagarin, Grigory Zinoviev, and Vasily Zaytsev. Although they are all three heroes they are very different from each other. I chose this group of heroes for that exact reason. I decided that three very different heroes would help me best analyze what it truly is to be a hero.

Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space, undeniably a dazzling accomplishment. But what about this makes him a hero? To become the first man in space Gagarin

had to undergo very intense physical and mental training. He also had to be selected from all of the pilots in the Soviet Air Force to become the first Astronaut. After he was selected he had to face the uncertainty of being the first to travel into space. This must have been terrifying. As shown in this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2C1FkPz5vU) crawling into the tiny compartment of the ship, all alone, on a voyage into the unknown, would have been terrifying indeed. Certainly Gagarin's courage alone makes him a hero. So if there is one trait of a hero that Yuri Gagarin has shown us, it is courage.

The name of our next hero is Grigory Zinoviev. Zinoviev was a leader in the 1917 October Revolution. In which the Communists led by the Bolsheviks (including Zinoviev) overthrew the government in an armed struggle. At the time Russia was in horrible condition and just about any change was good change. Thankfully for them Zinoviev and the other Bolsheviks sought to do just that. Zinoviev wanted to help the people of Russia, so from him we see a kind of selflessness in a hero.

The final hero is Vasily Zaytsev. He was a Russian sniper during World War II. He killed over 242 Germans, many of which were high ranking officers. To say Zaytsev was good with a rifle would be a vast understatement. Zaystev was undeniably one of the most, if not the most skillful sniper of his day. He was awarded with countless medals, including the most prestigous Hero of the Soviet Union Award. As picture in this video (skip the first 3 mins os so http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zrdMO1a4EU) Zaytsev was the hero that the USSR needed, and he lives on as just that. So the hero trait we acquire from Zaytsev, is a special skill of some kind.

These three great Russian heroes have taught us three important traits of a hero, courage, selflessness, and a special skill. Another thing they all have incommon is that they accomplished extraordinary feats, and that is another important trait of a hero.

Outside Reading #5

I just started playing the game Fable 2. I wouldn't normally do an outside reading about a game, but because it pertains so well with our current unit, I figured it would be okay. The game is all about becoming a hero. Your aim is to do many different quests to gain, so that you will become famous around the world. You can choose to do good or bad deeds, to help decide wether you will be good or evil. In the end you ultimately decide which one. I like that this game helps examine what it is to be a hero, and mainly how to become a hero.

Outside Reading #4

It would be unbelievably frustrating to be unable to communicate with others. Using a word chart like the one in the article would be really annoying to use. That is why if I was paralyzed like that, I would want to use the word chart, and a common phrases chart. This chart would have things like "I want to watch..." or I want to listen to..." or "How are you?" That way if I wanted to say something they could ask me if it was on the phrases chart. I fit was they would go through it until we got there. If it wasn't then we would use the word chart. If it was but it was something like "I want to watch..." then I would use the word chart to spell out what I wanted to watch.

Siddhartha, the Enlightened Man

Siddhartha has lived one of the most interesting, and fulfilled lives I have ever witnessed, and I have known a lot of strange characters in my day. From growing as the son of a Brahmin, to becoming a Samana, to hearing the teachings of Gotama the illustrious one, to becoming a rich merchant, to being trapped in the pits of despair, to becoming a ferryman, to becoming a holy man, Siddhartha has lived it all. The last time I layed eyes on Siddhartha I was looking at a holy man. Siddhartha had reached enlightenment. Through Siddhartha's various experiences in life, Siddhartha had learned enlightenment.

Siddhartha started on the path of the average man of religion. He was told to meditate and worship. "Siddhartha had already long taken part int eh learned men's conversasions, had engaged in debate with Govinda, and had practiced the art of contemplation, and meditation with him" (Hesse, 3). Siddhartha was a talented and bright young man, who followed the path set before him. One day he left to become a Samana, but he was still very much on the path others were showing him. Even when he went to Gotama he was on this path. After listening to Gotama Siddhartha realized that he was following someone else's path, and that he could not reach his goal in this manner. So he finally left Govinda to follow his own personel path. "Immediately he moved on again and began to walk quickly and impatiently, no longer homewards, no longer to his father, no longer looking backwards." (Hesse, 42). Siddhartha was finally finding his own and ownly path to enlightenment, but before he could get there he had to experience the pleasures and sorrows of the world. And that is just what he did when went and lived in the town for several years. He became a rich merchant, he learned to love a courtesan, he became addicted to dice, and he learned to love the pleasures of the secular world. One day Siddhartha realized what had happened to him, so he left the town and its pleasures. From there he was cast into despair where he almost killed himself. After Siddhartha shed the pleasures, and despair of the world he experienced a rebirth. After which he learned to listen to the world from a ferryman named Vasudeva. From this Siddhartha eventually became at peace with himself and the world around him. He had finally reached enlightenment.

Every aspect of Siddhartha's life was part of his path to enlightenment. Each event was part of cause and effect. Without listening to Gotama he wouldn't have left Govinda, without experiencing the pleasures of the world he wouldn't have experienced his rebirth. Siddhartha's experiences throughout his life all played a role in his reaching his ultimate goal of enlightenment.

Outside Reading #3

Back to Survivor. A lot has happened since my last post on Survivor. We have learned a lot more about the church that the main character grew up in. They are called the Creedish, and are very much like the Amish, in the sense that no outside stuff is aloud. But they are very different in their beliefs. The Creedish only allow their first born to marry. They send the rest of the kids out into the outside world to work. That is what Tender Branson is. Also we learn that they believed that god would call to them to heaven, and as soon as he did they would commit suicide. In the novel all of the Creedish within the church district committed suicide. Tender is one of the last ones, until a killer starts triggering cluster suicides among the other survivors. Then Tender becomes the last one. The mass suicide within the district happened along time ago, and was a huge story. It is really interesting how Palahniuk shows how it has almost melded into the pop culture, by telling having some people in the bus tell "Creedish jokes". Like "why did the Creedish cross the road? Because he couldn't get any cars to hit him." Although it sounds awfull you can't help but see Palahniuk is making fun of our current society, not just the one in the book. He knows this is just the kind of thing that would actually happen.

Outside Reading #2: Chuck Palahniuk

For this outside reading I would like to discuss one of my favorite authors, Chuck Palahniuk. Palahniuk is most noted for his novels Fight Club, and Choke, which are now both major motion pictures. I want to talk about him because I am currently reading Survivor, another one of his novels. In the past I have read his novels Choke, and Rant. Palahniuk's writing style is very unique. It conveys a type of satire, and humor that is truly unique. In my experiences Palahniuk's novels generally tell the wild story of the perfect anti-hero as the main character in a very believable modern world. That is the absolutely unique thing, the main character seems so diabolicly evil, but you can always picture them in the real world. It is almost scary how real it can seem some times. An example of one of these anti-heros is Victor Manchini, the main character in Choke. During the story Victor begins to constatly ask himself, "What woud Jesus not do?" Now in Survivor the main character is telling suicidal people to go ahead and kill themselves. These are cold blooded characters, who make for some really great books.

The answer

Dear Mukesh,
It seems like your friend is in a very different place in his life. It seems almost like he wass reborn. It is pssible that he has learn to shed the pleasures of our world, but he is still suffering from withdrawl from them. Just let him finish this path alone, but be there to watch him so that you may step in to help, if he needs it. This is a good thing that he is going through, so don't be worried. He is being reborn, a new man.

Need Advice

Dear Wise Advice Columnist,

I have been following a man by the name Siddhartha. He was a Samana,but he has become a very rich man. He has since left his riches behind, and is now traveling aimlessly like he used to. I am worried for him. I don't know if he was ready to experience the world in such ways. He was a secluded Samana who was suddenly thrust into the pleasures, and horrors of the world. It seems he is now deeply depressed. "He had become rich. He had long possessed a house of his own and his own servants, and a garden at the outskirts of the town, by the river" (Hesse 75). Siddhartha had grown very occostomed to his riches, and then he suddenly left them.

I am worried about his well being he is a completely new Siddhartha. I can not tell wether this is good or bad. So I ask you, what is Siddhartha experiencing? Is he okay? Can I help him? What should I do?

Sincerely,

Mukesh

Outside Reading #1

I am reading Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. The book opens with the main character, Tender Branson, alone in a large plane, that he hiijacked, with about 5-6 hours worth of fuel left. He has decided to recount his life's story into the plane's black box, before it crashes into the australian outback. He begins by talking about how the newspaper printed a suicide hotline ad with his phone number on it. When people saw the ad they started calling him for advice. When people called he pretended he was a hotline and gave them advice, and often encouraged them to commit suicide. Once the newspaper corrected the mistake he put up flyers with his number on them saying it was a suicide hotline, and he continued what he was doing. I think that Tender enjoys the position of power that he has over the people that call him, in their desperate state of weakness. This is shown clearly through the fact that he put up his own flyers after the newspaper corrected the error. It is disturbing to think that there are people in the world who would find pleasure in telling others to kill themselves, especially when that person has called for them to tell them the opposite. "There's the blast, just a sudden burst of static, and somewhere a receiver clunks to the floor. I'm the last person to talk to him, and I'm back asleep before the ringing in my ear starts to fade" (Palahniuk, 280)*. In this all too disturbing quote, you can see how routine calls like this have become to Branson.

*Note the page number is 280, this is because the page numbers are counting down. This will be covered in a later post.

Siddhartha leaves Govinda

Govinda is clearly not taking his seperation from Siddhartha very well. I think Govinda is scared to step out into the world alone. Siddhartha would have been a very powerful person to have at your side, I can see why it would be scarey to be alone after traveling with Siddhartha for so long. Siddhartha is right though, you can not follow another man down your own path to salvation. Hopefully in time Govinda will recognize that this is the best way for both of them. That is, it is the only way for both of them.

Txt

G- Hey Mukesh I need some help
M- wat
G- Siddhartha left. now Im alone
M- why
G- he didnt want to follow the teachings of Buddha w me
M- why not
G- I dont know. I think he wants to find his own path
M- Siddhartha is a wise man. you must let him find his way
G- I know but I want him to be w me
M- wat did he say before he left
G- he said I was finally taking my own step on my own path
M- he is correct. although u want he to be there w u he cant because then u would never find ur path. it is a path u must follow alone
G- thank u i c u r correct. thank u Mukesh. ttyl
M- yes my son ttyl
G- g2g
M- bibi

Siddhartha Chptrs. 1-4

I am Mukesh, and I have been watching Siddhartha ever since he traveled into town with the other pilgrims. He was an interesting lookinking character so I ask around to figure out his story. I was told he had left home several years ago when he decided he had much to learn and discover that his home could not offer to him. So he travelled on and joined some monks who taught him some more things (not sure what I was only half listening, because at this point I had 9,000 rupees on the table and was getting pretty jumpy about their well being). Anyway he ended up leaving them because he believed he had learned all he could from them. Also his friend and him wanted to see the Buddha. So they traveled here and listened to the Buddha's teachings. The next day Siddhartha went and spoke to the Buddha. I heard (from a distance) him say things about how you cannot reach Nirvana with other people's paths, and that he layed eyes on a truly holy man and what not. Anyway Siddhartha left and didn't take his friend with him. I guess his buddy was gonna stay with the Buddha. Since I had to go to one of my plantations I followed Siddhartha out of town. I heard him speak of his new revelations about how he would find his own path to Nirvana, and that he was reborn, and seeing the world for the first time. Then I could see that he realized how alone he was. I could see that he thought he was the loneliest man in the world. He didn't even know I was there.

Avatar-Mukesh

My name is Mukesh. I am a very rich indian business man. I own several tea plantations as well as a fabulous hotel in Dehli. I enjoy testing my luck in cards in the bar at my hotel, with my many rich western business associates. I have been told by a now homeless employee of mine that I can be rather harsh and demanding, but that is the only way to make it without getting plowed over by the westerners.