It has been argued that Camus, Kafka, Murakami, Diaz, Oates, Williams, Wilson, and Miller are all telling the same story.
What is that one story?
It has been said that there is only
one universal story in the world.
We humans just keep retelling that universal story in different specific ways.
After you consider and compare all the texts we have read this year,
explain:
what is the one universal story
that our authors keep exploring?
(Remember to focus on the universal here --
a universal story is one that embodies universal themes or even actions, not specific ones.)
For extra credit, please make at least 1 comment, and in it please reference at least three of the authors we have read this year --
and at least one of those should ADD, AMEND, or ARGUE with someone else's comment.
Please edit your work. There must be no more than one grammar error in order for you to receive your extra credit for these entries.
deadline: May 28. midnight
What is that one story?
It has been said that there is only
one universal story in the world.
We humans just keep retelling that universal story in different specific ways.
After you consider and compare all the texts we have read this year,
explain:
what is the one universal story
that our authors keep exploring?
(Remember to focus on the universal here --
a universal story is one that embodies universal themes or even actions, not specific ones.)
For extra credit, please make at least 1 comment, and in it please reference at least three of the authors we have read this year --
and at least one of those should ADD, AMEND, or ARGUE with someone else's comment.
Please edit your work. There must be no more than one grammar error in order for you to receive your extra credit for these entries.
deadline: May 28. midnight
40 comments:
BEN ZHOU
In our world, people are disconnected from others when they are not loved because we do not know how to love. We can not achieve our goals in life because we are constantly running out of time. With the lack of time, everything we do will must and will effect out future. We can not be ourselves because of the pressure from society to be someone else.
I agree with Ben when he points out that individuals are not allowed to be themselves do to the judgment that our society inflicts upon them. They become stifled, not allowed to follow their true dreams while severing the ties with their loved ones forever. This in turn affects their sons and daughters’ outlook on life. They will suffer the same fate as their parent. The vicious cycle continues, even though the individual realizes their faults and attempts to mend them. We are all trapped between fulfilling our dreams and tending to our responsibilities, often hurting others in the process.
~Anisa Adame
As Anisa stated, individuals are pressured to live identical lives as their parents. We find it extremely difficult to escape their shadows. This hinders us from understanding ourselves and pursuing our own dreams. Inevitably, we're faced with a choice to either pursue our own dreams or remain shaded by the shadows of our parents. However, neither choice is completely fulfilling. The feelings of guilt or regret is always present in our lives.
Jimmy Chen
In our world, we are in a battle of which side to go with: be ourselves or conform to society. We are the obstacles to society, and society is the obstacle to us. We are abandoned and disconnected from others because we cannot be what society wants us to be. We want to be loved because that's the only support we can depend on even if it was only for a short moment.
I disagree to Ben's comment about us not being able to achieve our goals because of time running out. I believe that we can't achieve our goal because we fear what we have to face to achieve the goal and maybe even the consequences after obtaining it.
In this world, we tend to forget who we are and continue a cycle that is either passed on by our family or a cycle that we fall into with out even noticing. Change could be desire and the way to achieve it is through action. There is different ways of achieving our own escape either leaving our comfort zone and beginning a new life, or standing up for ourselves and declaring a change.
In the last part Ben mentions, “We can not be ourselves because of the pressure from society to be someone else,” I agree and disagree with him. For the most part it is easy to go by society’s standards but it is not always society’s pressure that prevents us from being ourselves. Sometimes the pressure comes by those close to us. That is why it is up to us to break the cycle.
Paulina R.
I definetly agree with Ben on this topic. In our world, individuals are disconnected from society for a huge reason, such as racism. It turns out that the main character in the story goes through the same fate as his or her parent. One thing that I don't agree with Ben is the fact that society doesn't always pressure us to be someone else. I believe that it's our own fear that prevents us from accomplish certain goals or dreams.
Don't forget to vote for Davis Garcia for Prom King, this tuesday during division.
I mean Wednesday. Sorry for the mistake.
I agree with Ben and Anisa, because society definitely is oppressive, restricting us from identity or individuality. It is also true that the effect this confinement leaves on us is lifelong, affecting not only our dreams and aspirations, but our loved ones and the relationships we hold with them. We live in a world where responsibility is expected to override any personal fulfillment, so our dreams are shattered. If we seek them anyway, we usually end up as either outcasts, or total disappointments to our families, our abandonment destroying them forever. In our world, it is almost always a lose/lose situation, and we will never be able to attain total happiness. In our search for happiness, we sometimes end up deluded and blind, searching forever for something that we will never be able to obtain, and eventually ruin any sense of identity or individuality that we originally had and hoped to stand by. I believe we also tend to live loveless lives. We fail to see love when it is offered to us, and we fail to seek love because we fear the rejection that is constantly thrown at us. Therefore, we live our lives our lives in utter unhappiness, because no matter our actions, we hit rock bottom.
Breeanna Greska
I agree with Ben that we are disconnected from others when we don't have love. We are unable to love others when we can't love ourselves. We are unable to love because we were not shown how to love and we never received that kind of love or affection. The love and affection that we get is what helps build the person that we become.
I believe the universal story that authors keep exploring is the fact that we live based on what society, family, or friends want. We need to learn how to follow our dreams regardless of what others may think or feel. Even with others opinion or advise, authors believe that following your dreams is worth the risk.
Korlisha Roberts
I will have to side with Ben as well on this one Ms. Levine. No matter what author we came across, rather it was Camus, Williams, Kafka, etc., all their worldviews seemed to have blamed the same thing for our destruction which was society. The strict, stronghold that society has on our lives, relationships, and decisions is so amazing and powerful. We either conform or be who we are on the inside and take the risk of being punished and driven to our own death.We deprive ourselves of our own happiness just to feel accepted and that's unrealistic.
I don’t really agree with anyone. Like Anisa and Ben said, society does oppress us, but I believe it isn’t entirely society’s fault. I think that the one universal story is the search for us, what part of the puzzle we fit perfectly in. It’s true that we want to follow our dreams, as everyone said, but we need to discover who we are first. We go through trial and error to see what we want to be. The one universal story is full of so many twists and turns, which allows it to be told so many different ways.
-Erica Castro
LEVINE
Good comments so far, and I especially appreciate hearing you cite the different authors we've read this year when you're trying to determine what the "universal story" is. Remember, the question here is not simply: what is our world like, but what story (read that word as you will) have ALL the authors that we've read this year ALL examined?
I think that the one "universal story" that all of these authors keep retelling is one of attempt and faliure. We live our entire lives trying to discover ourselves, achieve our dreams, and find happiness. Even when we feel like we are happy and have done all we wanted, we still find something wrong, something that is missing. In the end, we are never really completely satisfied with our lives and that's just how it is. I agree with Breeanna when she says that life is almost always a lose/lose situation and we can never attain complete happiness. Society traps us into the idea that we can achieve whatever we want in life as long as we work hard and never loose sight of our goals. In reality, we just become more hopeless and loose our sense of self along the way, the more we want what we can never have.
Melissa Chaidez
VIRIDIANA GUZMAN SAYS
I believe the universal story that our authors keep exploring
is that our family's past stays with us from generation
to generation. Whether their past affects or helps
us we still have to confront it one day or the other. We
have two options, either we go and follow our family's past
or we break the chain and do what we wish is best for us.
I extremely disagree with Ben's point of view towards love.
I believe we do know how to love, but sometimes choose to
isolate ourselves and not express our feelings
or show that we care for others. The reason that leads us to do this,
is the fact that we don't want to get hurt when we lose people
we have given our love to.
I also disagree with Ben's point of view towards the influence society has in us.
Yes, we might be pressured by society to be someone else,
but it is up to us to fight against society. Life is a battle
and the only way we can be successful is
by fighting for our own rights, beliefs, and dreams.
CYNTHIA CENTENO SAID
I agree and disagree with what Ben said. I believe that society is afraid to reach certain goals or certain points in there future because of the lack of love society gives. It is certain that a person sometimes needs to receive in order to give, and definately love is something that someone has to give in order for you to be able to return it. What i totally agree with Davis is that nobody around you pressures you to make choices, a person makes there own choices. For example, i believe a universal story is "The Glass Menagerie," this story reveals the universal themes dealing with love within family, and the time that is running from your hands and your letting your future escape. Amanda never gave parental love to Tom, and Tom never gave love to Amanda; both had there own idea and perspective of love but never gave it to each other, therefore both pushed each other away more to another idealism of life. Tom decides to abandon family to pursue his dream in life, which is great because he is doing what he likes but bad becasue he got his family used to him supporting them. It is the same in the world we live around, you got to sometimes receive love to give. Also, you should never let time run by and consume your dream when you could be doing what you enjoy the most, but have a backup plan to the people you are hurting. Everybody makes choices according to there beliefs not because of the lack of time.
Therefore i agree with Ben and with Davis.
I agree with Ben, We are disconnected from society when we are not loved. I think the Universal story is that we all search for true love and happiness. Our happiness comes when we receive true, pure, untainted love and support. When we do not receive this love or support, we result to doing things just to pleas others. We feel unfulfilled within ourselves and we lash out. Ultimately, we are unable to love ourselves or other because we can't see past our hurts and pains.
I disagree with Ben on the issues of time. I don't think time is a factor in our not achieving our goals. We fail to achieve our goals because we lack love and we focus too much on pleasing others. In search of finding someone else, we begin to settle for things that are less than what we desire to do. We struggle to achieve our dreams and goals.
*Kiara Jones*
Ana-Maria Duran
I think that the one "Universal Story" authors keep telling deals with a person and society. The authors create a tension between people and the society they live in (and the people around them in that society). I believe that part of the universal story is exploring where and how an individual person fits in a society AND how that society affects them as a person.
This year, in the texts we have read, the authors emphasize something specific that cuases people to be lost in society and not be able to gain their freedom. For example, in "Death of a Salesman" Miller blames false promises from society (unattainable dream). In "The Glass Menagerie" Williams blames the family and obligation to one's family (societal standard). Also In "Fences" Wilson blames recial oppression in society for Troy's inablitlity to gain freedom.
I agree with Erica Castro, that the authors don't entirely blame society in their stories. For example, in "Death of A Salesman" Miller highlights Willy's inablilty to admit that his dream is unattainable. Some of the fault is placed on Willy. Clearly some of these characters had choices but ultimetly i do think that the authors strongly suggest that society affects a person's choices or the choices that they have to make. For example, Troy could not get anywhere in life. He was stuck, on first base if you will. he was a garbage man. he finally became a driver but then that was it. He had no other oppurtunities due to racial opression in society.
I agree with Ana-Maria Duran and Erica Castro. Society influences the decisions we make but they do not make them for us. The authors talk about their world views towards the relationship between the individual and society. In "Death of a Salesman" Miller's world view is that an individual's American Dream is unattainable do to society's oppression. In "Fences" Wilson blames society for its discrimmination for one's race, isolating the individual. Also, in "The Stranger" Camus blames society for not allowing an individual to be themselves and to believe in what they want to believe in causing their fears act upon them. Through their own actions they are even more of a misfit to society. We are given some of the blame, but in majority its society's blame for affecting our personal decisions and for not allowing us to be different. Society shouldn't have to change someone because of their indifferences with society's standards because our choices are what makes up our own individuality.
Don't forget to vote for Davis Garcia for Prom King tommorow during division. Thanks for your support.
I believe all the authors have explored the idea of self-identity. “WHO AM I?” This idea is simple and human. It is this simplicity that makes it universal. This simple question can be the most difficult to answer. We spend our entire lives searching for ourselves. It is a very paradoxical thing to do, and at the same time the thing that makes us human. The authors create worlds where the characters have been living lives of lies and illusions. In William’s “The Glass Menagerie”, for example, Tom wants to be free of his love for his family. Is he a provider or a poet? Would he have ever known had he stayed with them? All the authors revealed the lives of the characters, and their search for themselves. It is only how they revealed the characters that make them different. Oates presents us with Connie. Connie steps outside her own home, to find land she didn’t recognize. Connie never took the time to see beyond her appearance, and Connie didn’t recognize herself. (“Where are you going, Where have you been?”) Was Gregor’s identity dependant on him being the provider? Perhaps it was and that was all he was ever meant to be. Meursault ends up in a prison cell after he decided what life was to him and who he was in it. Wilson presents us with Troy. Troy is a man whose identity was defined solely on his race. His search for love in someone other than Rose was his way of searching for himself. I do agree with Breeanna when she explains that society can be oppressive and unaccepting. However, these feelings towards society can only come to be after you realize that it is you vs. society. “Who am I?” “Who are YOU society?” “Why are YOU oppressing ME?” All the authors, from Miller to Murakami, expose characters who are at a loss with themselves. Their despair stems from the reality that they don't know who they are.
I believe that the authors that we've examined this year all reveal to us that we live in a world in which we feel the need to please societies and their standards. WE live in a world where we fear not being accepted and this fear drives us to torment ourselves until we please those around us. We become everyone's shadow. Following one another. Ultimately this results in us struggling throughout life..do we conform and become someone we hate but is well liked or do we become someone with our own beliefs and ideas but disliked?
I disagree with Ben about time resulting in the limitations of our dreams except in the case of "Fences" and Troy's dreams of baseball..however I believe that we allow ourselves to be limited because we are afraid of the judgment of others. Overall, I believe that the authors all agree that we should not allow the standards that society has set for us to limit us from pursuing our dreams.
`Gigi Castro.
The one universal story we all tell is that of trying to find who we are and what makes us happy. All of us live in the real world, and we have to face the real problems, among all our problems and pressures, we naturally try to find some form of distraction, something to keep us going, which comes in the form of dreams. Everyone has dreams and though everyones dreams ranges from person to person and the situation they find themselves in, those dreams serve them as something to work for. But it doesn't necessarily have to be dreams, just simple goals and ambitions that give us something to work for. Troy always looked foward to Fridays, when he would get his pay check and he could relax after a stressful week, Tom escaped to the movies, in Murakami's complex world, people look foward to spending time alone, or robbing bakeries, yet people just need soemthing to look foward to. Through Miller's Willy, we see the desire (or rather obsession) of the American Dream, in william's "Glass Menagerie," we see Tom's dream to get away and have an adventure of his own. The bad part come in when like Breeanna said, its a lose/lose situation. Tom is a very clear example of this, no matter what path he had chosen for himself, he would have been unhappy. Its like my mom has always told me, when you work with two masters, you'll always end up bad with one because you can't please both. Tom stayed and went to the warehouse becuase he had to take care of his mother and sister, yet he had often expressed his despise of his job. What all the authors try to tell us is that in trying to make our decision of which path to choose, one in which we fulfill our own dreams or one in which we give up our dreams and serve others, we will never be completely fulfilled.
wojciech kubala
I agree with Gigi when she says that we are afraid of being accepted in society so we conform to their standards. a certain story i feel is most universal is death of a salesman because willy loman has to live with the fact that he can't be successful in life, so he tries to follow the example of his imaginary friend, and doesn't come out successful. And in the end the American dream isn't a reality, but is just an illusion that can't be acheived.
I have to agree with what melissa chaidez said. The one universal story has to be the attempt and failure. We spend our whole life trying to achieve happyness and success that we forget about what really matters. This can especially be seen in "Death of a Salesman" where Willy is so obsessed with the American Dream that he wastes his whole life attemting to reach it, yet he fails miserably. In the process, he pulls back Biff from achieving his own dreams. We can also see this in "Fences" where Troy attemps to play baseball but he fails and he then ruins Cory's chances to reach his own dream.
maria murillo
Magdiel Pillado
Society is singular. It changes by itself and one person alone can't change it. One must conform and go along with society in order to be accepted. Camus, Kafka, and Wilson all tell this same story. All three had different main characters who weren't accepted by society because they were different. They all showed personalities, thoughts, features, and/or attitudes that society within the world of the specific book did not accept. Unfornately for them, society is singular and there wasn't another kind of society that would accept them. Their disconnection from society caused hate towards them, and like Willy Loman from Miller's "Death of a Salesman" would say, "they were not well-liked." To live a happy life, you have to be "well-liked," or in other words, you have to conform to society. These main characters were stuck in a situation where they couldn't conform with society. So people who see this impossibility will never be happy.
Magdiel Pillado
I agree with Devlin. One of the biggest themes within all the novels we have read is personal dreams. All authors suggest that dreams are worth the risk, but sometimes our dreams might take a detour due to society's expectations on us. Society will probably never agree with us pursuing our dream if it is not what it is expected of us. Also, I would like to point out and add that the society's expectations on us are based on our race, religion, social class, sex, age, marital status, and even disability.
In our society we are pressured to be successful in every way, shape, and form. We have the burden of our family's constant pressure and standards. We can never be our own person, but thrive in the path of generations before us. This all leads to destruction in our own lives as we are doomed to repeat the past.
EstefanÃa
Everything we read suggested a pessimistic view about society. Society can make us feel guilty, obigated, and it influences our own thoughts and actions too much. We, for the most part, know who we are, but we constantly battle society to prove something. That something, I am not sure of. But, I know that we end up going about it the wrong way. We follow society's rules in the process, instead of laying out ours. In the end, society gets the best out of us, we lose. Exept for Mersualt, he has my highest admiration.
So, I guess I agree with devlin about we living according to society, and that we need to learn how to follow our own dreams, because in the end, we are always right. I'm not sure if that's, overall, such a good thing, or if it's actually worth following.
Jami Smith
In our world, people struggle to attain the American Dream of being successful. Society has put such an emphasis on this Dream that people become blinded by it. We believe that this Dream leads us to happiness, or at least an idea of happiness. At the same time, just as Ana Maria implies, we disconnect ourselves from others, because they influence us. No matter how hard we attempt to gain control of our lives, in the end we come to realize that we just can not influence every aspect of our existence. Just as Devlin and Ben has stated, society plays a huge part in our inability to grow as a person. We are condemned so much for our differences in behavior and our insecurities that we distance ourselves from others. This causes us to feel restrained between pursuing our dreams and fulfilling the responsibilities that we are given.
I agree with Erica that the real universal story is the search for our identity and how we fit in with the rest of the world. Camus explores this in the Stranger by Mersault being a person who doesn't fit in society, and we still wonder why, the same with Death of a Salesman. Willy is looking for how he can fit in the world successfully, and Biff is trying to do the same, but not in his father's footsteps. Then, in Kafka, we see that Gregor is turned into a bug and how the rest of the world treats him. Also we see how the huge metaphor of being a bug in the world also ties into my idea of "identity,” because when we see our identity, it is how we fit into everything else. Every story that we have ever read, seen, or even lived is basically about how an individual can be part of a collective, and the tears and/or laughter that can come out of that.
-Paul Krysik
PERLA CANO
In all of the texts we have read this year, we could see how each author comes back to the idea of being condemned to die because of society's rejection. Even though we have all tried our best to stive and reach our goals in the world, our happiness is in the hands of society. In Williams' play "The Glass Menagerie," Tom was never able to find true happiness, because it didn't matter which path he took, all it lead to was to lonliness and suffering. In Miller's play "Death of a Salesman," Willy Lowman was never able to obtain his true happiness, which was the American Dream. He also died lonely and unsatisfied. In Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," Gregor was unable to find true happiness. He was condemned die lonely and neglected by his family and society. I agree with Jami when she mentioned how we are condemned by society because of our differences.I would only like to say to Jami that not all of the texts were about pursuing the American Dream. Society is to blame for our misfortunes, but some authors suggest that there might be others to blame along with society. Some blame society and family, while other authors blame individuals and society. What they all have in common is that they blame society, and society's rejection brings an end to our lonely life full of suffering.
I agree with Jamie. People do stuggle to attain the american dream. We are blinded to what is really important to us and what we already have.Society is the one that causes us to see a dillusional world where we can attain the american dream where no one can stop us.Sometimes,it is our loved ones who get in our way to try to protect us but in reality their hurting us from following our dreams.We follow a dream that becomes unattainable and makes us even more hopeless to what we already were.When we are not appreciated by others we become bitter and want a life that we can pursue elswhere.But in the end we will always feel regret for our decision to follow an unacheivable goal.
What first came to mind upon reading the prompt for me was a persons pursuit of their dreams and desires.
Another theme that came to my mind was identity and who we are. To me it seemed that every character through out the novel's/play's/short stories dealt with some sort of identity problem. For example Meursault, Gregor, Biff, Willy, and Tom just to name a few all had an identity crisis. Most of these characters have this identity crisis as a result of their dream versus what is expected of them. What often occurs is that in ones search for their identity and dreams/desires we end up hurting those who loved and cared about us the most. It can be said that life's one big tragedy. Peoples search for their identities and pursuit of dreams will harm the ones that loved them the most.
-Ricky V.
I agree with Jami, in our world we strive for that American dream that society demonstrates us. We try to make our love ones believe in the same dream we hold. This creates a conflict between our family's communicaion and a destrucion towards our family's bond. Our insecurities and lack of confidence keep us from accomplishing dreams. Society is a heavy weight leaning on us, waiting for us to fail.
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