When "Justice" Leads to Cruelty

No matter how good-intentioned the founders of a utopia were, the society has always fell into dystopia as a result of its flaws.  A great example would be Puritan society in The Scarlet Letter.  In it, one of the most unpleasant facets of society, the prison, was created first.  Why would a society aiming to be utopian give such importance to something that will be hopefully absent from it (crime)?    Prisons are not used to rehabilitate its inhabitants but to keep a person who is a danger to society out of society.  The question is then, why is an adulteress, who is publicly shamed and and branded to remind others of her transgression given a prison sentence to serve with her newly-born, and thus frail, infant?  It is hard to understand how this much punishment is a just answer to love outside of marriage and speaks to the cruelty of Puritan society rather than its emphasis on justice and righteousness.  This view of a paradoxical Puritan justice system applies to many other aspects Puritan society; for example, if righteousness is encouraged as a result of belief in predestination, there is no rational justification for the poor being rude to Hester when they should be grateful for the gifts she brings.  Even history describes the Puritans as "...neither as somber nor as simple as they are often pictured." (The Life and History of Nathaniel Hawthorne).  The timeless phrase "To err is human, to forgive, divine." brings into perspective the how divergent Puritan justice was in contrast to the divinity that predestination encourages the pursuit of.

Sources:  "The Life and Work of Nathaniel Hawthorne"
                The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
                An Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope

Should You Try to Break Stereotypes?

Pretty much all races of humans have a stereotypical image in society.  People think that Native Americans are alcoholics, Black men are muggers, Asian people study all day because of their mean parents, all Indians grow up to become doctors, the list goes on.  Some stereotypes might be true, but they are almost always the result of socio-economic differences that no on can control  One way to diminish the effect is to attempt to escape from these stereotypes and live completely differently than how people think you should.  This is not foolproof because stereotypes are much stronger to the point where despite having an education, Brent Staples was still "mistaken for a burglar" (Staples 207).  The problem with this course of action is about what happens when one wants to live up to his/her stereotype.  For example, what if a Indian boy or girl wants to be a doctor, but doesn't want to be thought of as "a doctor whose parents made them go to medical school".  Is it worth it becoming something other than what you have dreamt of becoming worth it just to stand out in the eyes of society? Of course not.  Stereotypes are unfair, but breaking them is a group effort, only time can allow all races to be present in every facet of society and mend the wounds stereotyping creates.   No one person should sacrifice their life (figuratively speaking) and live not as themselves but as someone society notices for being outside of the norm.  

Sources: "Black Men and Public Space" by Brent Staples

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC516646/

The Science of Memorials

Neil Patel

9/14/14

1st hour

The Science of Memorials

A huge amount of effort is put into making memorials some of the most evocative forms of art on the planet.  Everything from the location to the materials used are painstakingly chosen in order to immortalize the event it stands for.  For example, part of the materials used in the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial are from the building destroyed by the blast.  This memorial has one of the most vivid resemblances to the event it represents.  Also, physical features are important in cases like the Korean War Veteran's Memorial because of the fact that its 19 soldier statues and their 19 reflections on the naming wall stand to represent the 38th parallel, or the border between North and South Korea after the end of the war. The Vietnam War Memorial has an aspect of time in its design; to elaborate,  if one looks on the right and left of the memorial, they will see the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.  Thus, the memorial tells visitors that every life lost in the war were as important as the country's most famous presidents.  I have never looked at memorials so closely before, but after learning about the hidden meanings each one carries, I just want to see more.

Korean War Veteran's Memorial

Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial

Korean War Memorial:  http://www.kbtours.com/korean-war-memorial/

Oklahoma City Memorial: http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/secondary.php?section=5&catid=119