Falling Apart

Things Fall Apart has kind of opened up my eyes and made me realize how different and even how harsh conditions can be around the world. Reading about the Ibo people displays resemblances and differences societies have whether poor or wealthy. Mostly what i have taken so far from Things fall Apart is that societies have their ways of surviving just like how we do and those ways shouldn't be forcibly changed for the better of the society. From interpretation i know that the "white men" will come and try to transform the Ibo society but things will "far apart." Even though the Ibo people might not be as civilized or as reasonable as us doesn't mean that by trying to change their ways of life will help. It is also clear from the reading that many of the priorities of the men are some what different from ours. The men's priorities in the Ibo society basically are yams, yams and yams. The food and wealth comes first and then family. Although it may somewhat seem this way in our society most everyone who is working hard to gain wealth is strictly doing it for the better of their family. This just isn't the same in Ibo society or at least with Okonkwo. Okonkwo seems to be focused on growing yams not strictly for his family but mainly for his reputation of being a man and never showing weakness. I hope to see this change in Okonkwo later in the story but still highly doubt it.

Our Struggle for Immorality.

I watched the Ted Talk about the four stories we tell ourselves about death by Stephen Cave. Stephen talks about how death plays an extreme role in society throughout history and how we as humans come up with stories about immorality to escape the constant fear of death. The four stories he mentions are elixir, resurrection, soul, and legacy, which are all ideas humanity has relied on to believe that they will live forever in some way or another. Stephen states that when humanity realizes not to fear death but except it and not to rely on these four stories we can truly progress a create a "good story" without worrying about the "end of our book" or death. Stephen reasoning behind this is that humanity has constantly been repeating itself by creating new ways to keep the four stories about immorality alive which has stalled the actual progression of our race. The one thing that i don't agree with is that the human race will want to progress knowing they will eventually die. How do we know that because of this realization we won't just stop trying to progress thinking its not worth anything because we are going to die someday? Is it certain that everyone will want to make the best of there life span and create a "good life story" knowing that you might just be forgotten about in a couple years? I believe that we will never know until this realization occurs if it ever does. 

School is in session

I think that the story of Hamlet could be told through the perspective of a high school. I could see Claudius being the new principal who had just gotten his brother the former principal fired. Hamlet would still be Claudius's nephew and everything but he would be a teacher at the school. Polonius would be a teacher also but instead of being an academic teacher he would be a physical education teacher. I think Polonius would be a physical education teacher because I see Polonius being less educated and not as clever as Hamlet who is clearly a scholar. It also seems that being an academic teacher would be a higher rank or role in the school society, which gives Hamlet the authority to somewhat, sass Polonius and be irritated when Polonius thinks he knows everything. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern would be counselors at the school who were instructed by Claudius to investigate Hamlet. Gertrude would be the secretory of the school who is always greeting people at the front office.

As for the scene I would reimagine I think I would completely change the way act 3 scene 2 is told. I would imagine that scene where instead of Hamlet stabbing Polonius behind a tapestry Hamlet would get Polonius fired. Hamlet who submits some type of fake form to the school district planning to get Claudius fired but accidentally gets Polonius fired. Hamlet would confess to doing this to Polonius in front of Gertrude in her office. All of this would be happening after the school play was finished which displayed how a principal was fired because of a false accusation anonymously given by his own brother. 

To be or not to be.

In Branagh's version of the "To be or not to be" soliloquies Hamlet doesn't act how i would of expected him to act. He acts some what calm and seems like he is in the process of planning something dramatic. When he pulls out his knife while looking at himself in the mirror, he doesn't seem intimidating at all. It almost seems like he is pulling it out because he needs something to fiddle with at the time being. I was expecting an extremely dramatic scene where Hamlet was on the verge of killing himself before coming to a realization but instead it seemed he calmly discussed the serious subject of death.

I found that i enjoyed Olivier's portrayal of this scene from Hamlet far more than i did Branagh's. In this scene Hamlet is standing on the edge of a cliff high above sharp rocks and ruff ocean water. It seems like he is about to jump when we first see him which shows the more serious take on his proposal to killing himself. Hamlet is all around much more dramatic in this scene  and Olivier really nails it when it comes to Hamlet making realizations. When Hamlet pulls out his knife it displays one of Hamlet's realizations because he is looking at the knife in this scene as an easier way out than jumping off a cliff, unlike pulling it out just to fiddle with it like in Branagh's scene. Over all i like Olivier's scene the most because it displays the seriousness of the topic at hand with Hamlet.

Revised Paragraph

In the poem "Digging" by Seamus Heaney, Heaney uses the symbols a pen and spade to show how  the narrator wants to life his own individual life and follow his dreams to write. While doing so he continues to show great respect for his father and grandfather who dug before him and expect him to do dig as well. He displays how we don't have to follow through with moral obligations if we want to branch out and be successful at our own things. Heaney also shows how guilt plays a role in doing so.  Heaney shows us through symbolism that we can live our own individual lives the way we want.

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            In the poem "Digging by Seamus Heaney, Heaney uses the symbols a pen and a spade to show how the narrator wants to live his own life and follow his dreams to write. While following his dream the narrator shows his father and grandfather who dug before him a great amount of respect. Heaney displays how we can be successful at our own things and be happy even if it means not following through with moral obligations. There is a sense of guilt that plays a role on the narrator and Heaney shows us that it is a necessary step to being an individual. Through symbolism Heaney shows how difficult it can be to be ourselves. 

      

Branagh's Portrayal of Hamlet

  

The director Kenneth Branagh's take on Hamlet in act one scene five of William Shakespeare's Hamlet is very peculiar in how he explains he carries out Hamlet's emotions. When Branagh discusses the topic of Hamlet seeing his father again in spiritual form he claims that it is hard for an actor to capture all of Hamlets emotions because no actor really knows what it is like to have your uncle murder your father and then steal his throne and his queen. Branagh also claims that he and his actor playing Hamlet tried to incorporate all of the feelings and emotions that they could. When i finally watched the scene that Branagh was discussing i was mostly just surprised. The entire time the apparition is talking Hamlet just sits there with a seemingly blank face that had little to no emotion at all. I was expecting some dramatic scene were Hamlet completely freaks out when he finds out that his father was killed by his brother but all Hamlet has to say is "O, my prophetic soul! My uncle!". (1.5 48) Branagh however does do an amazing job with the portrayal of the ghost.He makes the ghost scary but most of all i think he did an outstanding job on the way that the ghost tells Hamlet the horrid facts. The actor is at first some what speaking very loudly but when he starts to describe the scene where he was murdered he uses a very soft whisper as if setting up for a sudden loud outburst from Hamlet which of course doesn't happen. I think that because the way the ghost was portrayed it made Hamlet seem that much less emotional and also made it a lot easier for the person viewing the scene to pick up this lack of emotion as well. 

Hamlet"s Sorrow

In acts one and two of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet the main character, Hamlet feels great sorrow because of the recent loss of his beloved father. Hamlet doesnt seem to overcome the feeling of sadness he possesses because of his fathers death and it seems most people he knows have. His mother the queen in one scene becomes frustrated with Hamlet because he is wearing clothing of a certain color. "Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off,/ and let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark." It seems it is very difficult for Hamlet to get over is father's death but that is not the same for others. Hamlet's mother marries the king who is Hamlet's uncle after the death of his father which seems kind of un loyal. It is a son's duty to mourn after the death of a loved one especially a father but to mourn for to long is the inappropriate thing to do. Hamlet's uncle and mother decide to have Hamlet stay close to them and not return to the school in Wittenberg where he was perviously enrolled before his father's death. When Hamlet is alone he exclaims that he does not want to live anymore and he wishes suicide wasn't a sin. He also scorns his mother for marrying his uncle. "O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason,/ would have mourned longer, married with mine uncle,/ My father brother; but no more like my father/ than i to Hercules: within a month;"