Since the last blog post, I managed to finish the book and it ended on a really spooky cliffhanger. Some basic points of what happened was that the main character, Offred, started having this weird affair with her Commander(the husband of the family she was assigned to) who confusingly tries to woo her. For example, he played Scrabble with her, gave her hand lotion, books and magazines, and took her to a love hotel of sorts. It turns out that the Commander is infertile, which is a sin to mention because only women could be, and she is coerced into procreating with Nick, a worker under the same family. There's a lot that happens and she finds herself desperate for a companion and starts to meet with Nick secretly. The book ends with Offred being taken away by government officials but the reasons are unknown, Nick is revealed to be a spy but he insisted on her trusting him. which leaves the ending pretty open.
There's not much to compare to The Handmaid's Tale. but I feel like the overall oppressive government and rules is very similar to the Hunger games during the actual games. People are monitored to stay in line and keep to a certain role, as a tribute or as a Capital member. rebellion is huge but there are oppressive enforcers to eliminate the threat, and much more. In the day as Offred, who is considered a pretty high role for being fertile, lives a pretty restricted and secluded life. She isn't given rights and she is forced to learn that every fault is in women, not in men. She usually has a designated partner to walk around the town to shop, can never be left alone, and has to cover up modestly. She witnessed a lot of executions due to religious reasons and oppressive actions and has nothing to do at 'home'. Compared to that, living in America definitely has more rights for everyday life but there are still places where women are oppressed because of religion and men-ruled governments. Though, the difference in how women are treated is not too far, especially in the cases of rape where the victim gets blamed for something they had no control over as well as in pregnancy and abortions connecting to religion and families.
0 Comments
Although it's heavily implied that the people are supervised 24/7 and every building is 'baby-proofed' making suicide impossible, most likely from previous incidents. So far from what I read is that the book switches from the main character's everyday life as a handmaid in the home of old, infertile Serena Joy to memories of her past when she was in an affair with Luke--a married man, having a baby, getting separated in her escape from the enforced government, having her memories of them get erased and being put into a 'handmaid academy'.
I have read dystopian books before, coincidentally I just finished one called Proxy by Alex London, but they weren't like this one. This book is really intense, the world is depressing and restricting, and the people are like animals in a zoo. I really don't know what to think, there is so much happening and I can't wrap my head around all the many characters we are introduced to. All I know is that I would never want for this to actually happen in real life. I mean, how does someone just come up with a story like this? It's really creative, that's for sure. I'm not exactly sure what similarities there are but I feel like the misogyny, the women's roles, and the extreme (mis)use of religious text relates to the older eras of history. I'll be commenting on Melia's and Fernando's blog posts. "Accused Toronto serial killer charged with 7th murder"
In this article, 66-year-old serial killer Bruce McArthur is accused of his seventh murder. His recently suspected victim, 42-year-old Abdulbasir Faizi, was filed as missing back in 2010 and was probably one of his very first victims. The police have yet to finish the search regarding McArthur’s victims while McArthur waits in Toronto South Detention Centre.
For some information on McArthur, he was a self-employed landscaper whose “signature” was burying his various victims’ remains in the properties that he worked on (in several planters and private gardens). In the article, there are many details on the various speculations and news of McArthur and his actions as a serial killer. Police were recorded commenting on McArthur having some sort of relationship with each victim, at least for the seven that were accounted for. They believed he mainly targeted from “Toronto's Gay Villages”--such as Church and Wellesley where the population mainly consists of the LGBTQ+ community--finding many of his victims from online dating sites/gay bars; though there has been a change in victim profile with new evidence sometime earlier this year. Each known victim was discovered through missing persons cases in 2010 to 2017, most were the focus of many projects and searches prior to his arrest. The police are currently still looking for any other victims in 75 different properties that McArthur has been associated with as well as any links to cold cases in 1970’s to 1990’s. This event, as mentioned slightly above, was all in Toronto in Ontario, Canada. In 2012 and 2017, the police sent out investigations of an unprecedented scale, under the names of Project Houston and Project Prism respectively. Project Houston’s purpose was to “find” Skandaraj Navaratnam, Abdulbasir Faizi, and Majeed Kayhan (3 of the 7 victims) and Project Prism used the information from the previous project to search for Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman. They combed through an estimate of 30 different properties, finding remains in four in Toronto and one in Madoc. There is to yet to be a trial for McArthur, with all the evidence against him and the still undergoing investigation, it will take a long time before they completely “solve” the case. In the suspicions of a couple decades of “work”, McArthur was arrested on January 2018 with initial charges of first-degree murder of two men, Esen and Kinsmen. The course of three to four months brought on more accusations and more links up till the present 7 victims we have now with Faizi being identified and linked to McArthur. I had to search through more various articles and websites and there is evidence of previous incidents that foreshadowed his crimes. In October 2001, McArthur did his first criminal conviction, striking a male prostitute with a metal pipe and pleaded guilty in April 2003. He was sentenced to two years and three years’ probation, forbidden to be near the “Gay Village” or male prostitutes. That was only the beginning as the men listed above as victims all seemed to have some sexual relationship with McArthur before disappearing. Though nobody who ever knew McArthur suspected a thing! They believed him to be a very sweet, kind and earnest man with not the smallest hint of aggression or malice in the time of knowing him. It’s very hard to find my own opinion on this matter. The case has been going on for almost a couple decades and it’s only been suddenly opened. I’m actually terrified that people like McArthur exist, like another actually painful reality check. It shows how easy it is to hide the most horrifying details of ourselves as an attacker, how easy it is to just get swept up and just disappear without anyone knowing where you are as a victim. Murder is indescribable, I just can't find any words to elaborate on how I feel. I hope McArthur gets what he deserves and I hope the families of those victims get their closure. I will comment on Elena's and Melia's blog posts. "School Shooter pens Pro-gun Law letter, says he owes his life to 'Hero' Educator who stopped 2004 attack"
The article, stated above, is about a past shooter (Jon Romano) from an incident in 2004 who writes a letter to the person who stopped him from harming his classmates (Assistant Principal John Sawchuk) a decade later. It focuses on how Jon communicates to his ‘hero’ on a personal level and advocating for the Florida victims who are fighting for gun control. Just as the title suggested, a past shooter writes a letter to his ‘hero’ talking about his own personal feelings towards his own actions. He also mentions a lot of his opinions of school shootings happening now, a decade from a shooting he attempted before. Jon Romano reflects on his own behavior back then and thanks Sawchuk for stopping him while the latter retells of the event through his own eyes. Some of the details being the personal experience of that event and some being his response to Romano’s letter. While John focused mainly on the events of the 2004 shooting in the article, the experience, fear, and the events are still relevant now.
Jon Romano’s attempted school shooting took place back in 2004 in Columbia High School in East Greenbush, New York. While the article covering his letter is from a decade later (present time), he is spending his 20-year sentence at a New York state prison in Coxsackie. He was charged with attempted murder and reckless endangerment. It’s a bit hard to understand why people do things like school shootings. There are many reasons for someone to break, like mental disorders, stress, and/or trauma from their environment. For Romano, it seemed like he was definitely an outsider. It was stated by law enforcement officials that he had a variety of mental illnesses, a short period of his school life was being homeschooled before returning to Columbia High School, he also lost all of his friends in that period of time. It was also stated that there was proof that Romano’s mother bought the firearm used in the attempted shooting, which could have been an impulsive item in Romano’s actions. I came to this bit of conclusion that Romano was definitely under some influence of outside examples, such as the presence of a weapon, similar events happening nearby, and a muddled judgement as an “outsider”. It’s hard to empathize with his behavior, but I believe that the topic of school shootings and the people behind them are so very complicated. There are many ways to help this issue, if we can’t fix it, like making gun control more strict, having more responsibilities of gun ownership, promoting mental health above school, etc. Though some ideas are very far fetched, in the society we live in now, I just hope that we can act upon them before it’s too late. For example, Romano was able to reflect on himself with time and become pro-law on gun control. Change is possible, but we need to work and make time for it. (I will comment on Nia's and Mariah's blog posts)
If I had to write a sequel, I would love for it to bring a lot more awareness into the stigma of sexual harassment as well as the conservative society of Afghanistan and other similar countries. Like, it would be shown through Sohrab's journey towards healing, living, and gaining trust back into Amir. Amir would still be the main character, describing the outward changes and experiences with Sohrab and Soraya. I would think Amir would slowly come to believe that Sohrab is his, like a sort of how Baba loved Hassan (through outsider's eyes, it was servant-master; through Baba, it was father-son). I would find that Amir would grow out of his instability and sort of become a new "Baba" figure in America; it seems like a good path for him because Baba was charitable to atone for his own sins, just like how Amir is trying to atone for his own.
I would LOVE to recommend this book, just not for the faint hearted + extremely imaginative readers. It's an extremely well-written book, it pulls at your heart and you can almost NOT put your book down. I found it to be very dramatic, almost empathetic, and a very heart-racing, with secrets, regrets, and so scary. Especially with this unforgettable quote "For you, a thousand times over." It's written as though it's a personal story, even though it's a fictional novel. I really hope that people give The Kite Runner a chance and revel in its story line! (I will comment on Sorel's and Henna's blog posts)
For this blog post, I honestly don't see myself being a huge part in this book. I actually would like to NOT be apart of this book, it deals with a lot of violence, guilt, social stigma, and really stressful situations. Though, if I had to be somewhat in the book, I would think I would be somewhere near Amir and Baba's time in America. I don't think I would have a significant part in their lives, just because they tend to stick to their own "kind" and they have their own set of rule and standards that I wouldn't be included in. Though if I were somehow incorporated to Amir's childhood, I probably would've been a victim to Assef's bullying and, again, not very close to the main characters of the story. Though I would very much disagree with how Afghan children are being raised, through an outsider's point of view. It's very unconventional and they seem to ignore mental issues because it suits their public image or something of the same sort.
(I will comment on Kaycee's and Sorel's blogs due to inconveniences)
This sort of leans onto the topic of this blog post, which is describing character relationships within the book. I'll be focusing on pretty much the main relationships that Amir has in the parts of the book I've read:
Amir and Hassan: I felt like, depending on how it is interpreted, their relationship was almost one-sided and held a lot of a superiority complex from Amir's side. While Hassan seemed to do as much as he can for Amir, sacrificing himself in the face of shame, supporting and encouraging him, and allowing Amir to do almost anything to/with him. I honestly felt like Hassan knew about Amir and his greed but chose to ignore it. In terms of advice for Amir in his actions and behavior toward Hassan, there's not much I can give. Amir chose to be like this, without regards to Hassan as a "friend", I just wished he took the time to better himself rather than put down Hassan to feel superior over him in the time of their relationship together. Though, their relationship in general was just the start of the conflicts throughout their lives. Without it, they probably would've turned out way too different, possibly for the better, if Amir had chosen to do the "right" thing and confess. Amir and Baba: This relationship was probably one of the most confusing out of all of them. At first, there were obvious signs of almost complete disinterest from Baba, which leads to the internal struggle of Amir and his overall behavior (with Hassan and more). Amir had to "win" his father's approval so desperately in the beginning, the consequences not even registering until it was too late. It led to the main conflict between Amir and Hassan's relationship and their lives from that point. Then as the book continued, it showed that Baba loved him, just not in the most obvious or conventional way. They seemed to share an almost good relationship then, with light teasing and boastful compliments and affections toward his son, rather than the disappointment in the beginning. I know it must have been hard for Amir in the beginning, to get that approval, but I wished he could've handled the situation better at the time before they moved to America. Their relationship did end up having an impact on the book as he led to the first piece of conflict as well as to the marriage of Amir and Soraya. Amir and Soraya: It was love at first sight, I suppose. He fell hard and fast and a lot of stigma around her created a bit of drama that developed into a happy relationship. They couldn't conceive a child, and even though it messed up the relationship a bit, they were still very much in love. I felt like Amir doesn't need any advice on this part of his relationship with people, though I felt like he could have come clean about his own past as she did with him before they got married. Their relationship didn't seem like it changed much of the plot, it did change how Baba and Amir's relationship ended (on a semi-good note) and the parts of Amir's life in America. (My partners: Elena Seitzinger & Sorel Straughan)
Amir won and Hassan offers to finish the game and retrieve the loser's kite. First mistake! Hassan gets cornered by the trio of bullies and gets violated while Amir ended up watching, as he was looking for him. Amir chose to run away instead of intervening, due to his cowardice. But at least he got his father's affection, right? It basically just broke the bond between Amir and Hassan, making Amir an insomniac and Hassan extremely withdrawn.
Both are extremely caught in a web of fear and depression. There's guilt and a secret, both not even telling anyone about what they experienced. It seems so far that it's destroying both of them, Amir's being more selfish in my opinion. I know there wasn't much to do in the situation of his friend in danger but the way he handled it made me a bit sick in the stomach, I really wished he didn't turn his back. Hassan definitely did NOT deserve that. From Amir's actions after the incident, to both Hassan and in general, I believe he'll choose more "self-sufficient" decisions to escape his guilt as well as try to redeem himself in a sense of intimidating Hassan into avenging himself. Both options are pretty unreasonable, and I'm extremely stressed by that fact! I hope that the next part of the book will be, in some sense, happier...(most likely not) Other than that, I found this to be one of the most intriguing books I've read! Despite being so completely agonizing to read, due to intense events and the stupidity of certain actions, its got me on a hook and I'm bleeding. I'm honestly scared for the rest of the book, I'm not sure my heart will be able to take it. ;-; (My partners: Elena Seitzinger & Sorel Straughan) "After a 7-year-old girl was raped and killed, Pakistani women speak out on abuse"
The article “After a 7-year-old girl was raped and killed, Pakistani women speak out on abuse” was about how a single death birthed a chain reaction of action/responses as well as the discovery of a suspected serial predator. When the body of Zainab Ansari was found, on January 2018, it caused an uproar and even started a Pakistani version of the #MeToo movement. Many Pakistani women came out with their own stories of sexual assault and desires to change the tradition of abuse being shame on the victims rather than the predator.
Many people have gone to blaming the government for police inactivity and failure to protect children, with many traditions within family situations coming into the light. The article has brought confessions from parents of victims or the victims themselves about how sexual assault would be kept secret in Pakistan, due to cultural taboo, and the police having no interest in the cases of abuse. Though the case of young Zainab got police to test the DNA found with other cases which brought out 8 other victims, around 20 other cases of similar events, and a suspected serial predator. A bit about the history of similar events is just as heartbreaking. In 2015, there was a child pornography ring uncovered in the city, with around 250 kids captive; in 2016, 4,139 cases of child sexual abuse were reported, and in the first half of 2017, a total of 1,764 cases of child abuse were reported throughout Pakistan, according to Sahil, an organization focused on documenting child abuse in the country. Yet many still go unreported because of Southern Asia’s socially conservative society. Mostly because of what people would think, in terms of influence and connections, sexual assault is always blamed on the victim. The history of rape culture and its many branches of issues, it’s different for every society and there’s so much to explain. This event is just one of the many that create a opening for the oppressed, most of which are still suffering. This was probably a really daunting topic to do a first blog post on, but I find that it defines a lot about the world and how complex issues are. I’m very sad for the many victims, and not even just those in Pakistan, for all of those who suffered through a similar experience. It’s just almost unbelievable that it took one girl to break through years of unnoticed silence in a country. I hope for the future. I sincerely hope that people--who haven’t already--will take action or at least notice what is wrong about this problem. (I will comment on Karley Saxon’s, Mariah Perez’s, Elena Seitzinger's and Karsten Roachell’s blog post.) |
Author... Archives
June 2018
Categories |