Brave New World Controversy

Huxley brings up many topics that are argued with in today's world. There's plenty to discuss about how Huxley feels about birth control, cheating, and drugs in Brave New World. The people took drugs like they drank water. In one part Huxley wrote, "...the warm, the richly coloured, the infinitely friendly world of soma-holiday. How kind, how good-looking, how delightfully amusing everyone was"(77). This is just crazy! In the world we live in today a majority of people would frown upon this.
Huxley does discuss cloning a bit with the children in the beginning. The thought of identical children in every aspect is just scary. I read the cloning articles with the pets, and I am against it. I understand that cloning animals would help make their observations and research more accurate, but for everyone else, it's not good. Cloned animals have had major health issues, and are still their own character. If you pay a ridiculous amount of money to purchase a cloned version of your perfect lab, you are not getting the same dog. Why would scientists really want to make more pets? There are so many animals in shelters that need homes. Just adopt!!!!!

Utopia

I think Utopia is a place where everyone gets along, and there are no conflicts. In a Utopia, everyone is content with the way they live, and we live in such a diverse world; everyone has their own view of how they want the world to run. Think, how on earth could the entire world be happy how they live? Not only is the world diverse, it is corrupted. Innocence is history. There is no way of getting it back, really. There are some cultures that live a nightmare every day, and can't imagine life any easier for them. What would happen to them if society changed and it affected them? Would they cry tears of joy for an easier life, or would they become so stressed to the change that they would scare themselves to death?
In my own Utopia, everyone would support each other and help one another always. Getting into college would be a whole lot easier, no SAT scores required, and it would not be so darn expensive! Getting jobs would not be so difficult, and there would be a lot of family businesses. Unlike Huxley's views to an easier life, I say that drugs and unprotected sex are never the answer. If anything, it causes more problems. In my own Utopia, everyone would have common sense to think before they act. That way, choices made can be meaningful, and possibly benefit other people in society.

In My Hands Memoir

So far I am definately enjoying the memoir that I have chosen. When I read the back of In My Hands, I was automatically hooked. Irene Gut Opdyke reminded me of my grandmother. Like my grandmother, Irene was born in Poland. Irene had to be 16 when my grandmother was born-when WWII started getting serious. My grandmother was lucky enough to leave Poland before it was taken over by the Russians and Germans. Irene was not as lucky as my grandmother.
Irene's family always felt that she was destined to do great things. Irene was raised in a loving and caring family that served all different kinds of people. When she was older, she attended nursing school, and felt she was in the right place, doing what she loved doing, helping others. Irene was traveling with Polish soldiers when they got the report that Poland was no longer a country. They were shocked, and fled into the woods in Russia. There, Irene was attacked and hurt badly.
It's crazy reading what Irene went through. She was so innocent, always meaning to do good. Then all of a sudden she is stripped from everything. She can't go back to her family and the people where she is in Russia hate her. She dosn't even know the language at the hospital at first. The hospital staff was nice enough to keep her there for a while, but she couldn't stay long. Now she is living with one of the doctor's friends and referred to as Rachel. It's sad that she had to go through such a change, and I have a feeling it will get sadder. However I also have a feeling she still has things to do that will change others' lives.

In Cold Blood

This book proves to show that Capote is a very interesting and creative individual. I loved the instant spark he had to write about the Clutter's when he heard of the murders the very first time. He went straight to the source, and became part of Holcomb's life for months, without taking no for an answer. Capote talked to everyone, even the murderers! He did not leave until the story was finished, and that to me shows passion and dedication in writing. To top it all off, he started a brand new genre to write this book!

I am interested in the story, and want to know what happens next. However when the book goes into great detail about how things were, it gets kind of tedious. I just want to know what happens!! Not all of it is boring. I love the creepy thoughts Capote gives readers when the Clutters are still alive. He states the last time that Nancy will ever answer the phone. As well as Mr. Clutter's last walk home from work. "Then, touching the brim of his cap, he headed for home and the day's work, unaware that it would be the last"(13). It's spine-chilling! I like reading the dialogue because the story seems to move a little faster. It's easy to sense that the Holcomb residents are uneasy. They are still in shock over what happened. "'Funny, but you know, Bess? I'll bet that he wasn't afraid. I mean, however it happened, I'll bet right up to the last he didn't believe it would. Because it couldn't. Not to him'"(117). The scariest part of the book is that it's a true story. It only proves to show that bad things happen, and they can happen anywhere.

Salinger's Life and Catcher

Like Holden, Jerome David Salinger was raised in a wealthy home, with not so loving parents. The article I read stated that Salinger's grandparents disapproved of his parent's marriage, and it crumbled after that. Salinger had a horrible relationship with his father. He hated his father so much that he did not attend his funeral. Holden was unable to attend Allie's funeral, but he wanted to be there. Holden felt bad for not being there. Maybe Salinger feels guilty for not being at his father's funeral, and that's why he incorporated that situation in his book The Catcher in the Rye. The book is set in New York City, where Salinger was raised. And like Holden, Salinger was kicked out of a prep school. His parents did not tolerate this, and sent him to Valley Forge Military Academy for a few years. He did go to Europe and fought. While in Europe, he also met Ernest Hemingway, and a couple other famous writers. Holden and Salinger enjoy reading, and I feel they share the same view of how they feel about the authors. "What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up whenever you felt like it"(18). Maybe Hemingway was a good friend to Salinger. Neither Holden or Salinger can keep a stable relationship. Salinger had a few short marriages, but nothing serious. And I think they share the same view on religion. They were both raised as a Catholic, but they left that and searched for something else. Neither of them found a strong belief. The Catcher in the Rye seems like Salinger's personal diary, and he allowed the world to read it. Salinger went through some crazy things as a young adult, and maybe he felt that he should let his story be heard for other young adults who feel lost, or refuse to grow up, as if to reassure them that they are not the only ones who feel the way they do.

What Makes Holden a Typical Teen?

Holden is an interesting individual. He is a typical teen, but he is very unique at the same time. First off, his mouth definitely makes him sound like a teen. It drives me crazy! Gosh, he needs to bulk up on his vocabulary, or something! Like many teens, Holden gets nervous over lots of things. He especially gets nervous when Stradlater is getting ready for his date with Jane. "I pulled the peak of my hunting hat around to the front all of a sudden, for a change. I was getting sort of nervous, all of a sudden. I'm quite the nervous guy"(34). Holden cares about Jane all throughout the book. One unique thing about Holden is how he treats for women. Unlike other guys, Holden gives them respect, and cares about what they think. He talks about how much it kills him how guys like Stradlater take advantage to girls. Holden talks about it a little before the prostitute comes to his room. "The thing is, most of the time when you're coming pretty close to doing it with a girl-a girl that isn't a prostitute or anything-she keeps telling you to stop. The trouble with me is, I stop. Most guys don't"(92). One good quality that Holden has is that he is not shy to speak what he believes. He tells the audience that he is atheist, and how he hates phonies. Holden is not hypocritical, he is not a phony. With Holden, what you see is who he is, minus whatever you don't ask him to share.
Holden is sad because he is growing up. He is afraid of the adult world, and misses the innocence and honesty of childhood. If things could be his way, he would stay a child forever. The metaphor in the book Catcher in the Rye is a rye field. Children are in the field and can't see over the rye. When the children grow and see over the rye, they are exposed to adulthood, which is just as good as death, or a fatal fall off a cliff. If Holden could, he would sweep down and save all those children before they fall. Holden never had a good childhood, and that did not prepare himself for adulthood. I think he just wants to start over, and that's why he does stupid things throughout the book. He's too exposed to adulthood to go back to childhood, yet he is not ready for adulthood.

Reaction to Film

There were some minor differences in the film from the book, however, i felt I got a much better idea of what the characters were like in the film than from reading the book. I became more interested in the film than the book, and that does not happen often! Cheswick stood out much more in the film to me. His character portrayed in the film is the kind of character that drives me absolutely crazy with his questioning and complaining.
At the same time, however, the film completely left out Cheswick's death. I always get ticked off when films do not follow the book!
I can see why Ken Kesey would not be pleased with this film. First off, the film was not narrated in Chief's point of view, like the book. So many beautiful descriptions were depicted in the book that there's no way the film would be able to pick them up. One is the description of the hospital, and Big Nurse being a work of machinery. "So she really lets herself go and her painted smile twists, stretches to an open snarl, and she blows up bigger and bigger, big as a tractor, so big I can smell the machinery inside the way you smell a motor pulling too big a load"(11). Another metaphor not mentioned in the film was the fog that hides chief from the rest of the patients and Big Nurse, the fog made him invisible. The fog was a main element, and would be good to put in the film.
In the book, I understood how the title got it's name through the nursery rhyme Chief learned from his grandmother. I think that anyone who watched the movie without reading the book would probably question why the title is about a cuckoo's nest. I know I would be curious! That would have been good to mention in the movie as well.