The Mysterious Green Light

As we begin our journey into the novel The Great Gatsby, one of the main ideas introduced is the difference between West Egg and East Egg. West Egg was the area of New Money and the "less fashionable of the two." The people tend to be lavish, flashy, yet innocent in the material world. On the other hand, East Egg was the area of Old Money. They were the aristocrats who were more formal and absorbed in the material corruption. Then there is the Valley of Ashes which runs between the two sectors. The Valley of Ashes represents the corruptness of society where the outcasts are pushed down from the ongoing consumerism and modernism. The people there have not yet found their proper place or rather can't find their proper place. That is also where Tom Buchanan met Myrtle and began their love affair. As people pass through this valley, especially from the West Egg, they experience and learn of this darkness. It seems as if the Valley is the bridge the humans cross through their lives, through the peril and evil. As they reach the end of the bridge and step onto the East Egg, they will have become a new person with blinded by the greed and no longer possess true morals and a sense of humanity. People like Nick and Gatsby are now naive characters just introduced into this world of wealth and economy. However, pretty soon they will be driven by greed and the widening gap between the rich and poor to embark further in their economic gains. In addition to this, at the end of first chapter, the mysterious man, Gatsby, was "trembling" while staring out at a "single green light" across the dark waters. He may have been looking out at the East Egg from his land. This foreshadows how the green light may be the material and corruption beckoning him to cross over the dark waters to the other side, or the East Egg.

Why an Imaginary Friend

Humans in the world establish goals to reach in order to find their own direction. Whether it be to become a top anesthesiologist or to have a star of fame at Hollywood or to bring down the right to bear arms in the state or to climb Mt. Everest in world-record time. We, humans, have these desires or goals in order to have a purpose in life. Our decisions tend to form based on our interests along with the conditions and society we live in. If you are really against the right to bear arms and believe it is harming humanity, that'll lead you to want to write a petition. If you live in a society that respects the freedom of speech, you will then speak out and fight for your belief. When you decide on a goal to pursue you reach out to others to support you, to agree with your viewpoint. Almost always we have someone or even some people standing by our sides, supporting our decision. However, in the Bluest Eye, Pecola did not receive this treatment. Because of the standards society had inflicted on her, she yearned to be "beautiful" like the whites with blue eyes. Most people couldn't relate to her, and eventually alienated her. Even her own family members and close friends started her to classify her as an inferior in order to make themselves seem superior. This pitiful case Pecola had to go through was brought upon by society itself. Also, this tragedy was heightened by the fact that no one stood with her while she had to endure these pressures. Pecola was pushed to brink of sanity; she couldn't withstand all the burden any longer, so she involuntarily created her own imaginary friend. Her friend listened to only her and sided her almost everything she said. Her imaginary friend agreed that Pecola had the "bluest eyes" and the "prettiest [it has] ever seen." Creating an imaginary friend is Pecola's fight response, knowing that there is no way to take flight from this dreadful racial oppression,

A Thousand Years of Twigs Make a Great, Big Tree

Racial standards and beauty standards are both socially constructed. These standards are evident in society, and most people have just come to just accept them. People would either conform to them to fit the idealistic image or stray away with their own expressions to keep individuality. These standards are ingrained in human minds since youth. The "first twigs are thin, green, and supple;" the young and tender twigs, which represents children, are easily bent in whatever direction is forced upon them. They may be hurt in the process, but it would be too late once they realize because they would already have a scar. Children don't have as much knowledge of the world or have control over their feelings and actions. Therefore, they are led by society, the adults, the ones who set these standards for a child's world. This is an everlasting cycle of direct or indirect corruption. It is true that the nurturing of a child is a job of a guardian. It is important that the lessons that are taught to them in a way for them to grow up with the right positive message. Twigs sprout from the branch or stem of a tree, so they essentially come from the mature ones, or the adults. In fact, everyone together can be seen as a large tree. The pioneers start as the seeds and eventually form the roots. The later coming adults are the first trunks which give the tree its stability and structure. Then the younger kids create the numerous branches, which tag along. Finally, generation after generation, the children and newborns sprout as twigs on the tree. The twigs are what add on years after years to create such a tree. Twigs on a tree are what make a tree a tree. However, they can never act totally independent. They grow with the tree and wither with the tree. So how about we take a moment and try growing our tree in a way we will be proud of, growing our tree in a way that'll make a lasting impact for the many generations to come, A thousand years of twigs make a great, big tree.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich

First full day of first grade began on a bright, sunny day. I was excited yet nervous to see Schroeder elementary and what it has to offer. The teacher was very inviting and I got to know some other kids. One thing I noticed was that I didn't look like most of the other students. A lot of them had blonde hair with blue eyes or brown hair with green eyes. I, on the other hand, had black hair and dark brown eyes. Some of those blue-eyed and green-eyed kids stared right at me. I wasn't quite sure at that time what it was their faces were saying. Everything else seemed to be alright, until lunch time came. I opened my bowl of rice and other Chinese foods. Instantly, I got glances from the people around me. They just glared at my food and me, then whispered silently among each other. I could feel their looks as I look down at my food. Then, I noticed a lot of the people around me grab out what I later realized was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It's a combination of peanut butter which was a sweet and salty mix, and jelly which is a very sweet jam of fruit. Not to offend those P&B sandwich lovers out there, but I never quite understood the greatness of that kind of sandwich. A big part of this is probably because of my background and what I was exposed to as a kid. This is parallel to The Bluest Eye's main character, Claudia's, trouble in understanding what is so lovable about dolls. She was confused by those "blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned" dolls, which apparently was deemed as beautiful and only for those "worthy" of them. She could not see past the "turned-up nose", "blue glassy eyeballs" and "yellow hair." What about those characteristics made the doll so beautiful? What about a sandwich with peanut butter and jelly together made it so great. So ideal...So normal...

I won't deny that I felt a wanting, a need, to be like the other kids. I didn't want to stick out so much. I wanted to have a lunch similar to them to seem normal, to end the weird looks. That was the me years back. I am now in a very diverse community. My high school is filled with so many different ethnicities and backgrounds. I was able to understand that it is okay to eat different foods. It is okay to be different. It is okay to look different. Everyone is different and it's the differences that make us special and make us human. I mean after all, a P&B sandwich does take two very different items and combines them to become such a masterpiece.