English week8B response

English 205 week8B

The depiction of women in Uncle Toms Cabin is the way things were a long time ago in the United States and still are in some countries around the world. Fortunately for both our generation and future generations we as Americans have evolved to be a more mature culture.  The problem is, that as humans we believe in what we are doing to be right. Not only did the men to believe these things to be right, but so did the women. The whole argument that men and women are created equal is incorrect. We are equal as far as human rights go but we were not built the same. There is a reason there are more women in some career fields and less in the other. To break it down even more, most humans are not created equal. An example of this would be Michael Phelps. 99.9% of the population of this planet could not swim as fast as him, no matter how much they practiced. The list could go on but I think I made my point. Just like the last discussion board, we keep dwelling on the past instead of looking at what we have now and continually improve the future. On a side note, there is a woman in the running for president.

150 words

English 325 week8B

I thought the film version was a pretty good adaption of the short story of Albert Camus' The Guest. I think the film does a good job portraying the Arab and his concern for Daru. When I reached the end of reading the text version I didn't get at first why the Arab would head East and go turn his himself into the authorities; they clear this up in the film mentioning that the Arab understands that Daru will be considered a traitor if he doesn't show up and so he sacrifices his own life for Daru's. The Arab doesn't really say as much in the text, especially the lines at the end of the film when Daru leaves the Arab to decide for himself and the Arab says "I know what they'll do to you", I don't think that was necessary, but I would liked to have seen Daru add into his narration that the Arab must have known all along what they were saying. I also thought that the film's lacking of so much of the third person narration lost out on a lot of good tid bits of information, there was basically just the shortened beginning intro and an added ending in the film. 

The one part they especially missed out on in the film was the writing on the blackboard at the end, I think that is what really makes the story and creates a lesson of a sort. The message reads "You handed over our brother. You will pay for this", which creates this kind of ironic ending, where by doing nothing actually puts you at fault and that it is impossible to escape from being part of the world. Obviously, the Arab's "brothers" probably have no idea about what actually went down and that Daru actually let the man decide for himself and as it happens, the Arab willing gave himself up, but now it looks like Daru is to blame. Though, there is a possibility when the Arab was walking outside at night that his "brothers" had visited him and maybe had said something or not, it is hard to say. Also, in the text Daru believes to hear a noise shortly after he is leaving the plateau, which is most likely his "brothers" writing the stuff on the blackboard from seeing him take the Arab away, but like I said I think they are just interpreting it that way, but maybe they know and are just pissed that Daru didn't decide to join them.

I also thought Balducci was a lot nastier than I pictured when reading the text as I was watching the film. I think that is because to some extent they change Balducci's lines or portray them so to give him a certain bitter personality. In the text he says " I don't like it either. You don't get used to putting a rope on a man even after years of it, and you're even ashamed" which is ommitted from the film, so it shows that the text version of Balducci doesn't really like the situation either and he also says he won't tell on him in the text, he justs make him sign the paper saying he received the prisoner, which also is kind of the same thing Daru is doing; he doesn't want the full responsibility so he gives the prisoner to Daru and once the paper is signed the burden is off him and placed on another, in this case Daru. In the film version, he makes a whole nasty speech about being a traitor if he doesn't do it which is completely different. I liked the film, but missing that ending which shows that Daru cannot escape picking sides was a huge thing for me that I wish they would have done.

150words