Forgive Those Responsible

I open my eyes, only to see death.  The water is black, the sky is black, their eyes are black.  No one moves, no one breathes.  And the only thing I can think is, "why me?"  It's selfish, I know.  But when one is faced with death, the need for life becomes pretty much the most important thing.  It's instinctual.  I only think of myself.  Scratch that, I only think of myself and the people responsible for the little girl that floats dead and blue beside me.  I hate them, and if I could scream I would.  But hate doesn't save lives, so what's the point?  Suddenly I realize that self pity, and anger, and sorrow cannot save me either.  So I mentally relinquish my hate and indignance, and pray for every person still left alive.  Including any crew left that didn't fill those boats all the way.  Or any of the rich, diamond studded women in the life boats that demand that the boats don't come back to save us.  I want every single person that possibly can to make it out of this icy emptiness.  "I forgive you," I whisper.  "Just stay alive."

A Strong People

“The camp songs were of a special type, a mixture of melancholy, sick humor, and vulgar words, a weird amalgam of Russian, Polish, and German” (12).  The Jews not only lost a lot physically, but were also drained of many of their mental freedoms.  They had to sing immoral, twisted songs, against their will, in languages that were not their own.  It sheds new light on my old ideas about the Holocaust.  We always learn about physical hardships, tortures, and atrocities.  But the guards control the prisoners down to what they said and how they said it.  Later on in the book, Wiesenthal  talks more about the singing, and includes that the askaris forced the prisoners to  “radiate contentment” as they sang (60).  The prisoners were treated like animals, sucked to skeletal size, beaten, tortured, killed in the end, and they were expected to act content?  How much can you take away from someone without driving them completely insane?  Simon came out of the Holocaust alive, but how could he ever get past what he went through?  It becomes a wonder that anyone could come out of a tragedy like that and rebuild afterward.  I guess that shows that though the Jews were beaten down to their lowest, they became tough and resilient, allowing them to rise from the terror around them and move on.  Could we have the courage to do so if it were us?

Forgiving an Act of Love

A mother, suffering from depression, drowns her children because she fears they are possessed.  Should she be forgiven?  She murdered her children.  Why wouldn't we lock up a murderer?  Of course, she did hear voices in her head telling her to do it.  She did kill them to save them from the demonic spirits.  Does this matter?  Yes.  I believe it does.  The woman was going mad with the thought of her children hosting such dark spirits.  The voices provided an answer for her, a way to escape the horrors.  Though she did create horrors rather than escape them, she believed that she was doing what she had to.  She "saved" her children in the only way she saw fit.  She loved them.  She can't be denied forgiveness for something that she wasn't even mentally sound in committing. 

Priceless

She cries alone
Hoping that no one will see
And hoping that someone will.
She closes her eyes tight
Shutting out the world, the light.
Shutting out the sight of her ripped jeans
Her holey sneakers.
He sees her
He has nowhere else to go
Nowhere to pretend to run to.
He sits down on the concrete path
Hidden by trees, hidden by time.
He sits beside her, simply touchers her hand
Simply touches her soul.
And he doesn't even know.
Her tears stop running
Rampant, wild.
She smiles at him
Like a child.
One tiny touch
Lifted hate off her back
Lifted hard-pressing sorrow from her neck
Swept away worry
Chased away pain
Brought back control
She couldn't regain
On her own.
Just some compassion, kindness, and thought
Sometimes does more good
Than anything bought.

The Hero

In every story, there is a protagonist, usually known as the “hero” or “good guy.”  The good guy usually displays certain characteristics, and is usually somewhat self-sacrificing. In John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” the strong, heroic, and caring protagonistic personality is displayed in the lead character, George Milton.  George remains responsible even though he would rather be free of the burden of taking care of Lennie so that he could live a more simplistic life.

            Despite George’s dreams of a life without Lennie, he is a very caring person.  George was considerate of Candy’s circumstances, and was willing to let Candy
”wash dishes” in the house that George and Lennie were going to buy, since they would “can [him] purty soon.”  George was very thoughtful to let Candy come live with them.  He knew things would probably be easier without Lennie and Candy, but his compassion makes him think of what’s best for them as a whole.  George showed compassion not only for Candy, but for Lennie as well, since he took him along from job to job, even though Lennie was “a lot of trouble.”  Lennie was a burden and a nuisance, and George’s life would have been so much simpler without Lennie.  George put aside his own wants because of his extreme kind and caring personality.

            George is not only kind, but he is heroic.  In the end of the book, George “pulled the trigger” and killed Lennie to save him from Curley’s “fury.”  Killing his closest friend must have been hard for George, but he sacrificed his own wants for what was safest for Lennie.  George would be free of Lennie, but it was one of the hardest things he probably ever did.  That shows how George again puts others above what he wants. George not only displays heroism in the end of Lennie’s life but also when they “scrammed outta” Weed when Lennie got in trouble.  George got both of them out of trouble, even though it would have been easier to leave Lennie behind.  He is a great hero, even when it means endangering himself.

            Though beaten and broken, George remains strong through his hardships.  In the minutes before George killed Lennie, he filled Lennie’s head with thoughts about how they would “live on the fatta the lan’” and how Lennie would get to “tend the rabbits.”  George remained strong for Lennie as he told him things that would never come true for them.  Killing Lennie would probably complicate George’s life even more, and cause more grief and worry, but he gave up his own want for a simple life.  He was still a rock for Lennie in Lennie’s final minutes.  George shows strength before George’s death, when he smoothly pretends he has nothing to do with the “dead girl.”  George kept himself from loosing control while he calmly made his plan to kill Lennie.  George didn’t want to deal with things like this.  He took responsibility though, and did what he had to while remaining cool and collected.

            George Milton is the classic protagonist.  He is brave, smart, strong, caring, and heroic.  He sacrifices his own wants for others who need his help.  George’s actions teach us how sometimes putting others first is what is best for everybody.  George wanted a simple life with no problems, but he gave it all up for the people he cared about.

The River

Photo courtesy of Google Images

            I walk down to the waters edge, my feet sinking into the soft tan sand.  The moment my toes touch the water, I feel at peace, at home.  The river is cleansing, refreshing, renewing.  I remember coming here with my cousins and sister a long time ago.  I remember driving down the gravel roads in the countryside to get here, remember riding in a red truck down to the river.  I remember going fishing with my dad when I was a little kid.  Now, as a teenager, I breath in the fresh scent of the rolling waters, the cool, clean air, the trees all around.  I’m surrounded by beauty, by sunlight, by memories so clear I can almost reach out and touch them.  This is home.

            I sometimes wish that everyone could feel this way.  I wish that everyone could come bury their problems under the hills of velvety sand, could wash their troubles away in the icy waters.  I wish that everyone could find a place like this, could feel their memories and dreams flow around them.  This place is so simple, yet so majestic, so peaceful, so magic. 

What Were They Thinking?

               The 9/11 terrorists were told to end their lives while praying.  Were prayers really what were filling their minds right before their death?  Osama bin Laden told the terrorists to be praying almost constantly, and to make their last words, “There is no God but God, Muhammad is His messenger.”  The knowledge that I was about to die would certainly be a great distraction from whatever task I was performing.  I don’t think I could “smile and be calm” while I boarded a plane that I knew was bound for destruction.   I don’t think I could “remember God constantly” in a positive, worry free way when I was that close to death.  Even though these terrorists were extremely dedicated Muslims, I don’t think their last moments were as peaceful and God filled as they were intended to be.  The terrorists weren’t in a passive situation.  They were the ones ending their own lives.  The “serious time was upon them.”  They were to know the plan well and expect a “response” from the enemy.  I think all the stress of carrying out such a complicated plan probably tore some of the focus away from the purpose of the plan, and the thoughts that were supposed to be occupying the minds of the terrorists.