Blog 4

Blog 4

Megan Holden

On October 12, I attended Elizabeth Smart’s heart-wrenching lecture where she told her story of being kidnapped, help in captivity for 9 months, and was constantly raped and psychologically abused. She reflected on how initially all she wanted to do was give and die, but each day her desire to fight and live grew, while her faith in God kept her spirit strong. Elizabeth lived through a horrifying nightmare that most would struggle to overcome, but she promised us that the key to overcoming adversity and finding happiness is, “Never let your past dictate your future.”

In “Tableau” by Countee Cullen, Cullen describes a black boy and a white boy walk arm down a street unaware or uncaring of how they may look to other people they pass by. Just by walking together, the two make are making a statement, and they carve out a path for themselves that other people might not have recognized as even being possible. As friends, or even as lovers, the two boys do make a provocative statement to society. They might not recognize or care that they are, but through the act of publically and proudly walking down the street they stand out against adversity and make their community question what society dictates as okay and not okay.

In “Theology” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, Dunbar writes a satirical little poem where he descriptions what he believes consist of the afterlife, or heaven and hell. He says he knows that both exist, for he has felt heaven pulling his soul up, while hell must be real because that’s where his neighbors are going. He jokes about the subject, but this brings to question: “Why does he hate his neighbors?” and “Why does he believe they should go to hell?” Many people spend their whole lives obsessing over being good in order to get into heaven, but Dunbar talks about death so nonchalantly and with conviction that he is going to heaven, it makes me question why he’s able to discuss such a tormenting concept like death with easy humor.

The first half of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley focuses on Victor creating a monster and his feelings surrounding the monster after he sees how hideous and frightening his monster is, and abandons. Both the monster and Victor suffer from alienation society; Victor creates his own loneliness by hiding away in his lab for months on end, becoming pale and recluse. On the other hand, the monster is ostracized from society just for his horrific appearance, even though he is able to learn and shows empathy and compassion towards others. He realizes that mankind has rejected him, but instead of taking his revenge out all willy-nilly, he targets Victor and by extension his family for bringing him into the world to avenge his sorrow.