Norwegian Wood 2nd Reading Journal

           Although the story starts with Naoko and ends with Midori, Toru seems to be lost from the beginning to the end. Toru’s personality seems to develop as he faces with different occasions and people. However, most of the times, he seems to be passive. At the same time, he feels responsibility for his actions. This kind of attitude made him suffer from dragged relationship between Naoko.

           From the beginning, he had to endure his closest friend Kizuki’s suicide. Kizuki is also an abnormal character who seems to be isolated from other people. He really liked Toru because he could provide the secure feeling which he would probably craved for. For the same reason, Naoko wanted Toru to be close to her. After facing death of close people, she would have felt much more detached and wanted to Toru to relieve her partly. Then Toru ended up having sex with Naoko. This incident added more weight on Toru’s responsibility to take care of her. Just like Toru likes being alone, he does not want to make himself a burden for anyone. Leaving her in that situation would totally go against his thoughts. He even went to the asylum in the middle of a mountain because he cannot forget her. But that feeling was not just pure love but mixed with guilt. That suicide of her freed him from her in the end.

           Compared to Naoko, Midori is much more secure and stronger. In a sense, she loves Toru but she does not desperately need him for her own good. Although Midori and Naoko both lost her family members and other close people, the way they react to those incidents are significantly different. Whereas Naoko lost track of her life, Midori tries to hang on to it tenaciously. Although they both want Toru, their reasons are definitely different. I would say that Midori’s feeling is much closer to love.

           Unfortunately, Toru seems to be always lost. “Where was I now” was the question he asked himself at the very last part of the book. From Nagasawa to Reiko, Most of the characters that are close to Toru seem to be imperfect in some parts. This shows Toru’s role in their relationships. However, none of the relationship was started only with his effort or will. Although he is good at fitting into a system, he does not know how to live for his own. So in the end, he ends up in the “place that was no place.”

Norwegian Wood (~p.50)

     It seems to me that Koreans love Murakami. When you go to any bookstore in Seoul, it is not very hard to find one of his books located on the "bestseller" sections. This is the second time reading his writing and first time realizing that it is much better than I thought. Watanabe, the main character, has different relationships with people around him. However, every relationship is fragile and insecure that he can get comfort from no one. We also face this kind of issues. With friends, families, and others, what does it mean when you say you are "close" with someone? Of course, you can be frank to your best friends. But most of the times, it is very hard to become truly oneself with other people.
     For Watanabe, he does not have any friends. There are a lot of people that he can hang out with. Although he used his roommates for his own purposes, he was never close with him. Nagasawa was with him a lot of times, but as he mentioned, he never fully trusted or relied on him. He seems to have interest on Midori but just seems to only have interest. He seems to be reacting to people who have interest on him, he never acts first to get close to someone Rather, he stay still until someone approaches him. That attitude might have prevented people to come closer to him.
     Other characters also appear to be very isolated. Those three characters, Storm Troopers, Nagasawa, Midori, are all by themselves in their each status. The story is filled with a bunch of loners. Watanabe is special in such a way that he can relate to each of them. They like him because he knows how to listen and adjust himself for that person. Just like Kizuki and Naoko agreed on, he is a great tool to connect those isolated people to the society.
     Characters seem to look for each other for their own motives. Unlike "friendship", they do not sacrifice benefits to satisfy others. The relationship is based on 'give and take' which seems to be very realistic. In other words, those relationship will break easily; when someone cannot provide something or when someone does not need anything. Most characters seem to longer for other person's attention for their loneliness. They want to look strong on their outside due to their backgrounds but they are not that strong in their inside. For that disparity, they look for Watanabe.
     At the Ami Hostel where Naoko is staying, Watanabe seems to defend his positions. He tries to justify why he had slept with many girls whom he did not know. He raised Naoko and Nagasawa both at the same time, but inside those words, he was mainly defending himself as if he had no choice but to commit those actions. Although Watanabe seems to be very flexible and can suit other persons, he is also very selfish that he never let anything to happen that could turn into a flaw. (504 words)

Dinner for free (Chicago Essay)

Essay Option 3.

Susan Sontag, AB'51, wrote that "[s]ilence remains, inescapably, a form of speech." Write about an issue or a situation when you remained silent, and explain how silence may speak in ways that you did or did not intend. The Aesthetics of Silence, 1967.

Anonymous submission.

     Speaking nothing is much better that actually speaking something. Words exist because we use them to express our thoughts and opinions to other people effectively. Because languages are types of social agreements between people in a society, they are kept and used for so many years. But sometimes, silence can carry more meaning than thousands of words even if the person did not mean it. That was why my family ate dinner for free at the restaurants few years ago.

     On the Friday evening, my family headed for the steakhouse nearby. Everyone was in a good mood. Especially, my brother and I were excited, thinking of juicy steaks that were waiting for us. Anyway, we arrived at the steakhouse and ordered the soup for the appetizer. A few minutes later, the waitress served our bowls of soup. Unfortunately, there was a piece of hair floating on mine. I did not notice at first, so I did not ask them for a new one. Later, I found out the hair after we finished the meal. It was uncomfortable to realize the fact that I was eating on a soup that was flavored by the hair.

     “Was everything okay?” asked the waitress.

     Other people said yes, but I did not say anything. Probably thinking that my reaction was out of the ordinary, the waitress asked the same question once again. I repeated.

     At first, her expression showed that she was not expecting this situation but nothing was serious. However, after I repeated my silent answer, she was more worried. Then a different question came out from her mouth.

     “Do you want to see the manager?” she asked with a worried look on her face.

     Silence again. Then she went inside the kitchen. A little bit later, a man with a black suit came to our table. His name tag told me that he was Mr. Ratzlaff, the manager of the restaurant.

     I did not expect this incident to become so big that but observing that silence could shift things around, I kept being silent. Then somehow, there was a manager in front of me asking how to help. Thinking that I should stop at some moment, I told him about the hair, that it really disgusted me, and caused me to lose my appetite. Surprisingly, he told my father that we did not have to pay for the dinner and told me that he really felt sorry for such inconvenience.

     Silence makes the listeners to think about and beyond what the speakers want to tell. While they are thinking about the unspoken words, it is really hard for them to draw a line between rational and irrational thoughts. Most of the times, they end up with exaggeration of the situations and make errors due to the fact that they do not know what those speakers think. That is why silence can make other people behave differently, probably more paying more attention at the situation than usual. I bet you that you want to eat out for free, then say nothing when the waiters ask you “How’s everything going?”

Take Home Essay

Make a rational argument for a position you do not support personally. For clarity, please state your true opinion first and then argue the opposite position. Consider an issue that has affected you personally.

     Forcing high school students to choose between arts and sciences is pointless. But still, it can offer students advanced courses in the areas of their interests. Before they engage in any forms of higher education, students are more prepared. In high schools, they get to concentrate their academic pursuits in the areas they have chosen. Some students might prefer this system because they do not have to spend their time studying subjects that they dislike. 
     Although many students who have diverse interests cannot perfectly fit in to this dichotomy, governments and universities can classify students more easily. It is important because the efficiency directly links to the policies regarding the public education. Furthermore, because this structure has been kept for many years, the society is closely intertwined to the division of arts and sciences just like a tradition. Therefore, it could waste resources if people try to change it. People do get some benefits from this system, I guess. (999 characters)

BenX Final Review

          This movie reminded me of one of my classmates Woojin. I was in 3^rd grade back then. Woojin had autism but he enrolled in classes with “normal” or non-autistic students. Sometimes he showed aggressive attitudes toward other students without any reasons. When he threw his desk, we get to rest a little during in the middle of the class so that the teacher could make him calm. Although the teacher told us to be friendlier to him because he was special, we just could not do it while getting hit by his fists. Regardless of his will, he was isolated from his classmates including me. In the end, he moved to different schools. What should we have done for him and for us?

           The movie can be divided into two parts. The scene where Ben was saved by Scarlite is the midpoint because that moment is the turning point. Before that scene, Ben’s real life was constantly compared with the life in the game. These comparisons are visually presented. As an example, when he walked to his school, his image appeared in two different ways: actual and virtual images. Also when Ben tried to use his weapons, the similar situation in the game appeared right before he took out his cross. But after he met Scarlite, those visual comparisons disappear completely. Not a single item box appeared in the screen.

           These visual changes intended to show how Ben changed so that he could solve his problem at status-quo. Before he met Scarlite, he was constantly comparing himself with the identities in the real world and the virtual world. At the beginning of the film, he mentioned that he only sees a “jerk” in the mirror which is totally opposite to his avatar that has the highest level. The difference between two worlds makes him frustrate because there is a huge gap between what he thinks he can do and what he can actually do. However, after he meets Scarlite, he no longer resorts to the computer game. He gets to accept himself and realize how he really is in real life. With her, he managed to devise a plan to surprise everyone and change them to care more about people that are nearby.

           Then what is the answer? In the movie, Ben successfully managed to solve his situations but this kind of dramatic scene can only come true in the theaters. Personally, I believe the ending is half success. This movie succeeds because it really brought up the autism to the public. After watching this movie, it gives audience a time to think about the issue and how to do something about it. Along with raising up some important social issues, its happy ending gives people some hope that there might be a solution for this. However, this movie also has little problems in some areas. To begin with, how the movie wrapped up is so unrealistic. The idea of devising such plan with an imaginary girlfriend is absurd. This is not a realistic solution for autistic people to pursue. Of course, this is not a major issue because the movie's goal is not to present an answer but gives chance to people to think about things that they have never thought about.

           One thing that came to my mind was that the existence of Scarlite really played important role in reforming Ben’s behaviors and attitudes. She functioned as a haven for him who explains why he became so confident and optimistic compared to his gloomy past. So for the autistic people, we have to share the role of “Scarlite” so that autistic people can actually adjust to the society without getting much pain. Collaboration would be the solution that we should be patient and understanding for those people. Maybe, if I had taken my hands toward Woojin, he might not have transferred to a different school.

10 Flash Fictions

1. Finally, the ship’s voyage began. “Turn the water off while you are taking bath!!”

2. "I am studying now!” he said, as he opened the so-called "Homework" folder.

3. “It is not important whether you are white or black. Green is what that matters.”

4. “My mom is the most beautiful person.” One of the best misconceptions of all-times.

5. He can’t go home by himself. “Would you please press 24 for me?”

6. The teacher said, “If you studied a lot, it is natural to be nervous.” Maybe that was why I wasn’t nervous.

7. “Eww, there is a slice of pepperoni pizza on my cockroach.”

8. “You guys should fix those ticket machine over there.” 
    “Sorry but your card exceeded the limit.”

9. You should always buy guitars and books because they can always become great decorations.

10. I can’t understand why people put different people’s faces on their Facebook profiles.

BenX Review 2

     

     A twist in the end was really effective. Also the ending that came right after the twist was so dramatic. It was like watching the reincarnation of Jesus. (Maybe that is why he made a weapon that shaped like the cross.) But personally I felt that the way it ended was somewhat frustrating.

     

     The great part about the ending was that it was fresh unlike any other similar films. Most of my classmates failed to predict it and this clearly shows that the director really put some effort to differentiate from most of the people's expectations. However, when you think about the ending, it partly shows that Ben is helpless. What really pushed Ben forth to create such complicated plan? Scarlite wasn't even a real person but just a hallucination in Ben's mind. Maybe the "Superman"? After all, Scarlite started to appear in his imagination after he took the pill. But the director would not want victims to do drugs to get rid of bullying. Personally, I don't agree that the plan was result of Ben's own efforts or abilities. Many of those factors that seem to motivate Ben are out of the reality. They are possible because this is a movie. Also in the end, it seems like Ben decided to stay out in the ranch. It portrays that it is too hard for him to adjust in the "normal" society where people could not accept and understand his conditions. 

      

     Another thing that came up to my head was about how people's reactions changed after someone's death. At the funeral, every one of them felt sorry and cried for Ben. Even the bullies felt guilty for what they have done. But why do not they change their attitudes until a life is sacrificed? This really shows our reality. When we hear about suicides  related to bullying, many of us feel empathy for them and curse those people who forced him or her to death. But when we actually get involved in the bullying, almost all of them become a spectator doing nothing but covering up the problem. No one has the courage to do something about it.