Mood

What is the mood of this novel? Do you find this novel saddens you in any way? why?

I think the mood changed from hopeful to depressing and hopeless. First, when the kids arrived at the island, they cooperated and worked actively to organize their group. They set their leader through voting and planed ways to survive on the island until they are rescued. Since then, everything seemed to go peacefully. However, the peace didn't last long until Jack got out of the group and the group started to fall apart. Under the savagery, kids got wild and fell into chaos. Some children were even killed cruelly. Hopeless and depressing mood was intensified until the very end of the novel when the adults arrived. It's sad how we can fall into chaos and savagery in such a short period without adults' control over us.

Important Simbols

*Entry of my own*

I think there are several significant simbols that we have to think about in order to understand this novel fully. First one is the conch shell. It was first discovered and used by Ralph and Piggy to gather all the kids to the beach. In every meetings, only the person with the conch could talk. I think the conch shell simbolizes the power of civilization. When piggy was killed, conch shell was also destroyed completely. It tells us that it was the moment when the civilization ended. The Lord of the Flies is the sow's bloody head that Jack put on a stake. I think it symbolizes the power of evil. In the novel you can see Simon, who represents moral and goodness, fighting against Lord of the Flies. Piggy's glasses symbolizes the power of science in our society. It was used to make fires. Jack's group (savagery) even came and beat the kids badly to steal the glasses for making fire.

Theme

what is the major theme of this novel? why is this theme important to a teenager living in 2007?

Kids on the island voted for their leader; then, they started making rules and assigning jobs. Under the rule and Ralph's leadership, the group seemed to be maintained well. However, under the Jack's new increasing power the group teared apart. William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, tried to message us the main theme of this novel through Ralph and Jack. I think Ralph represents the civilization and Jack represents the savagery. So, I think that the main theme of this novel is about civilization vs savagery. Under civilization, where there is rule, everyone's harmony and cooperation is important in order to maintain the peace. However, under savagery, where there is no rule, leaders have absolute power; the harmony between each person isn't necessary because each people act to fulfil their own desire and benefit, so there isn't always peace.

This novel shows the significance of civilization; when it falls apart, there would be chaos everywhere. Teenagers often want to be free from rules and act as they want. We, teenagers, have to realize that we would fall into chaos without rules and that we should all be thankful for living under world where there is civilization.

Me as a Greek God!!

If I could become a god, I want to become a god of time. It is human's desire to control time. That is why many scientists research on worm hole, time machine, etc. There were lots of movies that dealt with controling time. Eversince I saw the movie Minority Report, I thought it would be extremely fantastic to control time. It was amazing how policemen could see the future and stop the crime. When I have the power to control time, I would go back and forth the time and solve problems. By making sure that no crimes happen and everyone has straight, happy lives, I will make the world perfect. Then, I think I would be the most admired god of all the gods. I don't think I would have to look scary or monsterous to be feared and admired by mortals. So, I just want to have a physical appearence of a man. I would be riding a flying horse-driven carriage with a huge clock attached at the front.

Greek Monster

Althought it is not sure who are Medusa's parents, it is most commonly known that Medusa is borned between Porchy, god of seas, and Ceto, hideous aquatic monste. Medusa is a demi-human monster; once a beautiful maid but turned into a monster after being physically harassed by posideon Zeus' brother in Athena's temple. For violating Athena's sacred temple, Athena turned Medusa's beautiful hair into snakes, and she gave Medusa a power to turn any mortals into rocks when they look at Medusa. Medusa had three Gordon sisters Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale. Perseus had to kill Medusa to save his mother from King Polydectes. Athena and Hermes helped Perseus by lending him magic winged sandals, a cap, a pouch and a mirror-like shield. By using mirror-like shield and reflecting the image of Medusa, Perseus turned Medusa into rock. With Medusa's head, he saved his his mother.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medusa

Greek God

Eros is the Greek, child-looking god of love and desire. In Roman, Eros is also called as Cupid. There are diverse legends to whom Eros' real parents are, but the most widely accepted one is that Eros is born between and Aphoride, female god of beauty and love, and Ares, male god of war and battle. Eros carries around bows and arrows, which he uses to shoot the heart of god and mortals. When one is shot with a golden, dove feathered arrow, he/she falls in desire of love with the one who he/she sees first. If he/she is shot with a leaden, owl feathered arrow, he/she begins to feel great hatred. Sometimes, Eros' mischief wound others' heart. A story of Eros and Phyche is well-known. Eros' mother, Aphrodite was jealous of Phyche's beauty; so Aphorodite told Eros to make Phyche to fall in love with the uglist creature on the earth. When Eros saw Phyche, he immidiately fell in love with her. Also, Eros' body grew when he felt love. Even though Phyche didn't know Eros' face, she also loved him. Once, Phyche was overwhelm by curiosity, so she lit up her room to see Eros. When Phyche realized Eros is a god, Eros, hurt, flew away from Phyche and never came back. It is interesting how Eros, the god of love, can be hurt from love. One similarity between Herculese and Eros is that they made lots of problems when they were young. There are lots of differences; and, one of them is that Herculese is known for defeating lots of monsters to become a true hero, but Eros is known for enjoy doing many mischievous things using his power.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eros_(mythology)

Comments

SIX COMMENT~

1 comment for Sophia Lee
1 comment for Joseph Falta
1 comment for Hannah Jang
1 comment for Steven Kim
1 comment for Michael Shin
1 comment for David Kim

<1984> Entry of My Choice

First of all, I want to state that this novel, 1984, is a great book. Through this novel, I think George Orwell would have convinced lots of Western nations (As I said before, his purpose of writing this novel was to go against the rise of communism). It was amazing how George Orwell's imaginary scenes appeared in 1984 actually came true when some of the Western nations converted to communism. Since 1984 was based on George Orwell's imaginary scenes, some descriptions in the novel was hard to understand. For example, it was hard for me to understand how the thought police can see each citizens through telescreen. 1984 is a bit depressing book with full of novel ideas, and it leaves a strong impression. George Orwell wrote many fantastical novels, but they contains great messages. Through each important characters in his novels, George Orwell reveals strong themes that criticizes politics and culture. It is why George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair) is one of my favorite author.

<1984> Theme

To find the theme of this book, 1984, you have to know the background of the period it was written. George Orwell wrote this book in 1949, during the Cold War. Western countries were unsure about how to react to the rise of communism. George Orwell designed this novel to warn the Western countries of the communism. I think the main theme in this novel is "Totalitarian government with absolute power can be destructive and dangerous." George Orwell chose the year 1984 and showed Western countries how the future would look under communism. He described the dystopian world under communism where everything and everyone are controled by the government. No human rights can be found, and everyone are nothing but the government's puppets. We have to be thankful for our situations and always make astute, wise decisions.

<1984> Characters

Winston, Julia, and O'Brien are the three main characters in this novel, 1984. Winston is a thirty-nine-year-old minor member of the ruling Party of a dystopian world. Although he works for the government, he hides his secrete abhorrence against the oppressive, totalitarian government. Winston even had the dream of overthrowing the government. O'Brien is the mysterious member of the Inner Party. He tortures and brainwashes people who are against the government. Winston also got brainwashed near the end of the story by his misunderstanding, thinking that O'Brien is the member Brotherhood. Julia is in-between Winston and O'Brien. Although Julia doesn't like the oppressive government, she doesn't take any strong actions against it. If I were living in this dystopian world, I would be like Winston. I don't think I would be able to live under the oppressive government without taking any actions. Although I might be brainwashed and tortured, I think I would fight for freedom and overthrow the government. Winston, Julia, and O'Brien are the important characters; as George Owell did in most of his books, each of the characters in 1984 resembles different people in our society.