Blog Post #2
The
city of Baltimore is a beautiful place that has so much potential to grow into
one of the largest cities in the United States. This Thursday in McGuire Hall,
Erricka Bridgeford and Ellen Gee spoke about their efforts to protect and
preserve the city of Baltimore by reducing gun violence throughout the city
that they call home. I feel that if they continue with their strong efforts and
expand their organization the city of Baltimore will be a much safer place. Everyone
wants to live in a perfect city but perfection is something that is
unachievable. I agree with author Nathaniel Hawthorne in that perfection is not
found on this earth, it is strictly reserved for the afterlife in heaven. The Ceasefire
organization fights for peace which is a popular cause throughout the United
States. They do not wish to perfect the city of Baltimore because they know it
is a goal that is unachievable but with tons of support reducing gun violence
will benefit all current and future residents of Baltimore. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s,
“The Birthmark”, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, we can
see that obsessing over the wrong desires or attempting to achieve perfection can
lead to the destruction of someone’s life.
In “The Birthmark”, Nathaniel Hawthorne
exemplifies that perfection is exclusively found in the afterlife in heaven. In
this short story the husband, Aylmer, strives to find a cure for his wife,
Georgiana’s birthmark. He views this mark on her cheek as the one imperfection
that holds her back from being the perfect women. Even though most of her
admirers think that her birthmark is what makes her special, Aylmer resents it
because he thinks that it is corrupting her beauty. One can claim that Aylmer
does not really truly love his wife because instead of accepting her for who
she is, he only desires to change her. Being obsessed with anything is very
dangerous because it is very easy to lose sight of the current situation when
your vision is blurred. Similar to how Aylmer wants to correct the flaws in his
wife, the women of the Ceasefire organization wish to correct the flaws of
their home. Unlike Aylmer, Erricka and Ellen are not obsessed with correcting
every flaw that the city of Baltimore has because they know it is impossible to
achieve. Their efforts in reducing gun violence is in order to create hope for
all Baltimore residents so they can make their home a safe place.
In Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow
Wallpaper” the narrator who suffers from a mental illness, is continuously shot
down by her husband, John. Although John is a physician, he does not seem to
care much for his wife’s mental health or any of her opinions. I believe that
John is the reason for the illness of the narrator because instead of nurturing
her with love and care he prescribes her bedrest isolating her from the real
world. Being separated from nature can leave someone to go mentally insane
because they are missing out on the beauty that the world holds. In this
circumstance, the narrator seems to become obsessed with the yellow wallpaper
in her house even though she originally despised it. Each day she sat inside
and focused more on the wallpaper trying to recognize the pattern. She claims
to have seen a woman behind the wallpaper trying to escape, so she became
obsessed with freeing her. She goes into a frenzy and ripping down the
wallpaper only for her husband to walk in on her bizarre actions causing him to
faint. Similar to the narrator, Erricka and Ellen both look at their homes and
see it desperately calling out for help. They develop passion and motivation to
help the people around them just as the narrator wanted to free the woman in the
wallpaper. They do not want to see their city destroyed so they will do whatever
it takes to remind people of what true peace and safety feels like.
I think that Erricka Bridgeford and
Ellen Gee, are going to be very successful in their efforts to reduce the gun
violence in Baltimore because instead of obsessing over it and trying to
perfect the city of Baltimore they only wish for a reminder of what it feels to
go to bed at night in peace. The two main characters in these short stories
seem to have corrupted values and lost sight of the meaning of life itself. I
think that if the Ceasefire organizations continues to spread and influence the
community it can make a significant difference in our generation and the next. The
Ceasefire organization tries to persuade shooters to put down their weapons for
a few days to recognize that violence is not the answer in order to make
positive changes for their city. This organization is only asking for a few
days of peace which is not much to ask from the residents of Baltimore. I admire
William Woodsworth approach to life in “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, because
he loves the nature that surrounds him and openly accept the world for what it
is. In my opinion, I feel that all humans need to have this mentality because in
this world the beauty outweighs the evil. Erricka and Ellen don’t despise Baltimore
for its flaws but they want to correct them for the benefit of the whole city. Caring
for the people around you is an essential part of human life because it shows
that you are loving and trustworthy. I think one of the main reasons the
Ceasefire organization is going to be successful because unlike the two main characters
in these short stories, this organization has a set of values and they care for
the whole city. The actions taken by the Ceasefire organization benefit
everyone and gives residents hope for for a unified Baltimore.
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