tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post8018753487789355108..comments2023-11-05T01:06:15.561-08:00Comments on 20th Century Literature: Assignment 2 (Part A): Reaction toward 20th Century Short Stories or PoemsMechatotorohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15816943718402270287noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-61981759325672667442008-11-10T15:37:00.000-08:002008-11-10T15:37:00.000-08:00The stories “Battle Royal”, “The Right to Read”, a...The stories “Battle Royal”, “The Right to Read”, and “There Will Be Some Rain”, depict the oppression of a system that all of us maintain. If we notice it, we may even arrange them in such an order that could represent the transition of different expressions of that oppression of humanity against humanity. “Battle Royal” portrays an afro guy discriminated by society who tries to overcome the prejudices of society. However, I also see a submissive attitude on him when he regrets in his speech for claiming for social equality. He is not going to be respected as he wishes just getting along with his “white” fellows and avoiding any possible conflict with them as the one during his speech. “The Right to Read” produces a feeling of powerlessness, but it is just the same reasoning of control, although more evolved. As things go by, the most absurd ways of manipulation will appear because of the typical passiveness of our societies. Science fiction will become prophetical one day. Is not it already almost unbelievable, exasperating, and ridiculous that we have become a parody of ourselves by performing the same plot of a science fiction story such as “The Right to Read?”Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04285397609928738096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-37323690382743213602008-11-10T15:31:00.001-08:002008-11-10T15:31:00.001-08:00"There Will Come Soft Rains"This story deals with ..."There Will Come Soft Rains"<BR/>This story deals with humanity and the constant battle it has( even without explicitly mentioning it. We know that there should be people inside the house but there are not. Then, we are given a perception of destruction due to the idea of war, silence, and the house that was mechanically taking actions, and being something similar as the protagonist. With this story I remembered a sudden story because it fools readers who think that the protagonist should be humans and not things or animals; then, it acknowledges that humans are destroyed by their environment and are not as important as they thought they were is a trend of modernism. In "There Will Come Soft Rains" Ray Bradbury is transmitting our path to destruction; many people think that technology is the new tool to save the world that has been destroyed by our actions, but indeed, technology is one of the tools that has been used to destroy it. This is one of our paths to destruction (the one also followed by the hero in a sudden story). Similarly, in Battle Royal, we know that it deals with the destruction of human beings; for it is easy to destroy someone if he or she is not allowed to express what is necessary to say. Yes, society tries to manipulate us, but we decide if we want to let it do accomplish its goal; this is why I am so against social determinism, because society wants us to be oppressed, submissive. Are we doomed to be this way because we live in a place that implants such ideas? Then, in Battle Royal we have a society that first tries to destroy you and then, because you survived, asked you to do something that you know that is very difficult in your conditions (such as giving a speech) then you say: I will not do it because I am not in the proper conditions. Then, social determinism is a fact in your reality. Life is a constant battle, my classmates said, I totally agree with them. The questions are: Are we willing to fight everyday to be ourselves and no what we are supposed to be? Are we willing to defeat social determinism? Are we willing to avoid or even better, to defeat this path to destruction?angiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06474932668482708723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-42934214915962201082008-11-10T15:31:00.000-08:002008-11-10T15:31:00.000-08:00So this is my final comment... I was watching tele...So this is my final comment... I was watching television yesterday afternoon and I noticed something interesting regarding the second reading that supports The Right to Read... Have you seen the new slong for HP? It says "El computador ahora si es personal"... I could not avoid paying attention to the fact that they have all their computers pre-install with Windows Vista and they are completely moking the frase AHORA SI ES PERSONAL because as the story says we are not getting more privacy, on the contrary, we are being watch 24/7 and no one knows... so... do not buy HP! jajajajaja, mentira... As the story says, we are just about to see a change and we are not prepared for that.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12125839676470036016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-90306706385909578132008-11-10T13:35:00.000-08:002008-11-10T13:35:00.000-08:00I want to make a comment on the cycle of racism th...I want to make a comment on the cycle of racism that is presented in “Battle Royal”. In this story two generations, that are the grandfather and the main character, have been discriminated by white people. Even though they have lived in different times and societies, the story is the same. White and black people are supposed to be equal; however, white people believe they are superior. Therefore, they trick black people to take advantage of them. The grandfather who lived in during the Civil War obeyed the rules dictated by white people who were the ones that discriminated him. Unfortunately, his grand son lives the same situation because he is completely humiliated by white people but at the end he does exactly what these men want him to do. For example, he fights in the terrible battle and accepts the scholarship. At least, at the end both of them realize that they shouldn’t fight just because white people want to. That’s why the grandfather declares himself as a traitor.Karlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12682057443157258535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-26589919433499854402008-11-10T13:01:00.000-08:002008-11-10T13:01:00.000-08:00It is not so strange to see in an old movie that, ...It is not so strange to see in an old movie that, in 2005, thousands of technological wonders exist. In the past, when people imagined the future, they believe in flying cars, strange clothes, and colonies in space, among others. Nowadays, they would be surprised by the rare haircuts and clothing but not by the other inventions. The sense of this is that no matter how they imagined this age, they believed that a number of opportunities and freedoms would be the main feature. However, as Richard Stallman portrays it, our current life is not so full of liberties. The choices that we have are a number of new possibilities but other hundreds of limitations. Formats, compatibility, passwords, brands, everything is so complicated. Stallman talks about our right to read, but business people also wants to restrict our right to listen, to see. Or isn’t it necessary to pay for the Silverchair’s new album although they earn a stupid percentage of it?<BR/>The problem as Stallman states is that we have accepted it progressively, in other words, that we have sold little by little our freedom. Julio Cortazar said that if in your birthday a friend give you a watch, you’ll have to clean, carry, and synchronize it. You are going to be worried about it, and worried about time. Therefore, at the end, the watch is not going to be your gift. You are going to be the watch’s gift. Haven’t you thought about it? Aren’t we changing our freedom for our ipod, cell, laptop, or car. Dan Halbert and Lissa Lenz do not sell their freedom. They enjoy it. Maybe our present is not the way our grandfathers imagined, but we possess thousands of possibilities. Let’s enjoy them. Let’s forget the limitations that business robots create.<BR/><BR/>PD. Yes, I believe in piracy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-43013359509074806742008-11-10T10:07:00.000-08:002008-11-10T10:07:00.000-08:00Battle Royal!!! What a battle, quite difficult rea...Battle Royal!!! <BR/><BR/>What a battle, quite difficult reading!!! To be honest the professor enlight me in the understandig of the story!!!. In my opinion, humiliation is a major theme in the story or how people seem to please those who humiliate them. I think that is exactly how our modern societies work. Citizens are oppressed by the goverment which does not recpect people's thoughts or opinions imposing laws or treaties that will affect us later on.<BR/><BR/><BR/>"There Will Come Soft Rains"<BR/><BR/>Apocalipsis??? <BR/>Thurber's??? Just Animals alive again ...<BR/>I've always thought of ours country geographical position and what natural disasters can do to us. Nature as the reading portrays will always be stronger than human kind and our technology will be useless; it could help to prevent but not against it. The story is futuristic and deals with tecnology and tecnological advances.<BR/><BR/><BR/>"The Right to Read"<BR/><BR/><BR/>Regarding this story, I really like it. Eventhough it is pessimistic, we are not too far from that.<BR/>Does our lives are private at all??? mmm not much I think after our last class!!!<BR/>Knowledge??? Restricted??? Well, the story describes incredibly how technology is marginalizing people or imposing what they are supposed to do and not to do. Another theme would be the isolation caused by technology and our dependance to it.<BR/>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<BR/>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<BR/>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<BR/>Thank's ProfeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-2801799409754915602008-11-10T07:38:00.000-08:002008-11-10T07:38:00.000-08:00Correction: So, I think that's all...Correction: <BR/>So, I think that's all...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-17107924600263835272008-11-10T07:37:00.000-08:002008-11-10T07:37:00.000-08:00(My last comment is not complete, so here is the e...(My last comment is not complete, so here is the end)... Be thinking only in work, work, an work. Everything, except for the walls for children, was meant to facilitate the movement from home to work. Ironically, when the family was not working but having fun, their life ended up.<BR/><BR/>So, I think that's all for...<BR/><BR/>P.D: I COMPLETELY agree with Alex. This a hundred times better and more enriching than writing a paper.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-31002650180607720332008-11-09T21:00:00.000-08:002008-11-09T21:00:00.000-08:00There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray BradburyAs well ...There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury<BR/>As well as my classmates, I found interesting the way he exposes human self-destruction due to technological advances. From my point of view, we are carrying this to the extremes because people pretend to control future in their hands. Therefore, one of the consequences, as they said before, is the end of human beings. I would say that the house is the main character of this short story; there are not inhabitants. Certainly, the house description emphasizes the materialist world that waits for us…<BR/><BR/>I would like to know what happened before seven o’clock…Nataliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10694746331795284980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-67895737750141291242008-11-09T19:48:00.000-08:002008-11-09T19:48:00.000-08:00In The Cats of Ulthar by Lovecraft, Alex’s theory ...In The Cats of Ulthar by Lovecraft, Alex’s theory has sense; however I support the idea that the short story just deals with the author’s personal interest in cats. Some people say that Lovecraft loved these animals, so maybe he is like T.S Elliot who wrote many poems dedicated to them. For people who attended the poetry class last semester, probably you will remember “Cats” by T.S Elliot.Nataliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10694746331795284980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-31908835432280029292008-11-09T19:30:00.000-08:002008-11-09T19:30:00.000-08:00My last comment...Regarding the connection between...My last comment...<BR/>Regarding the connection between "The Right to Read" and "There will Come Soft Rains", I see that both stories have a pessimistic idea of the future. Both works show technological advances as means to enslave people and to take people rights' away. In the case of "The Right to Read", it is very obvious the way technology restricts human right of education for books to have mechanisms to allow or not people to read them. This story, as the professor said, could be the reality of a close future. In the case of "There will Come Soft Rains", machines have programs that make peopleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-207969470772627592008-11-09T18:53:00.000-08:002008-11-09T18:53:00.000-08:00Well after davids comment I think I dont have much...Well after davids comment I think I dont have much to say; but another analogy I see is that both The Right to Read and There will Come Soft Rains is that the fictional realties presented are actually not too far-fetched for us now. Interestingly enough, what was said as scifi is just a description of our tomorrows situation. The biggest fears of previous times have become our everyDay chores. What makes me feel sacred is the fact that those seemingly nottohappen WORLDS are what we for sure call immediate future. And is what we write as scifi the next generations reality? <BR/>As in the movie The Children of Men, issues as women not being able to getting pregnant<BR/>In the year 2026 pervade our minds because now we wonder if all we deem as impossible would in fact be the PLAUSABLE AND POSSIBLE. Y que miedo eso...<BR/>On the other hand, what I see in Battle Royal is just how whites use this black pet as a joker for the sake of entertainment. I see that they play with this negro toy just to see how bruised he can get and how electrified at reaching the tokens. This work is definitely showing the black assimilition in the white culture and it does it pointing that even though the main character was going to be given the scholarship regardless of his speech, the whites dont let him know this first and make him go through hell.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-20653750354572130792008-11-09T18:40:00.000-08:002008-11-09T18:40:00.000-08:00Hi! I have a theory about “The Cats of Ulthar” I t...Hi! I have a theory about “The Cats of Ulthar” I think the cats represent black people, and as we all know black people were treated like animal, were enslaved and killed. In Lovecraft’s story, a couple delighted to trap and kill cats. Then, a law was passed that states that “no man may kill a cat". This law could be the equivalent of the one that freed black people from slavery. <BR/><BR/>--Ray Bradbury’s“There Will Come Soft Rains” is a futuristic story which depicts the apocalyptic future for our society. The end of the human beings would be caused by ourselves; humans will destroy themselves, no matter if we are technologically advanced as in the story. All the hi-tech (the intelligent house, cleaning robots, security systems) will be useless to the point that they cannot extinguish a fire. It will be useless because if we don’t change our minds and tolerate each other, there will be more wars, more violence, and it will end up with the destruction of the human race. As we ironically read in the story, only animals will survive. In addition, the story questions the reason for the creation of all this technology if it cannot save us.<BR/><BR/>--Now, Stephen King’s “Word Processor of the Gods” I think is more positive because it has a happy ending (finally!) for Richard Hagstrom. The story deals with the issue of second chance to change Hagstrom’s mistakes and failures. Although the changes were for better, the character of Richard Hagstrom is not the best. He is jealous of his own brother; he desires to have his brother’s son and wife as own. Moreover, I think the story addresses the clash of the “old” and the new generation. Some people of the ”old” generation as Richard don’t know so much about word processors (in this case), and the new generation seem to be totally used to it. For example, the story mentions some genius children who invented several gadgets and discovered things. But, it also shows how people of the “old” generation can learn and to use technological devices. <BR/><BR/>I would wish to have a word processor like that to delete some people I know (among them, maybe several professors and teachers have "taught" me, and 1 or 2 girlfriends jajaja)and bring things I want. For example, I would delete the final exams of this end of semester jajajaja!<BR/><BR/>That would be the end of my comments I guess! THANKS YOU ALL<BR/><BR/>P.D.I have to say I prefer a thousand times to post comments in a blog instead of writing non-interactive papers!!!<BR/>Excellent choice!!Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11731398019060020273noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-18443210481805481972008-11-09T16:13:00.000-08:002008-11-09T16:13:00.000-08:00In this final entry, I would like to write first a...In this final entry, I would like to write first about Battle Royal. It was a difficult to read this short story since the happenings in it are quite strange when bought together as pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. In fact, this story is somewhat surreal. First, there is this account of the death of the main characters’ grandfather, which not out of the ordinary; the problem is after this part. The main character delivers a speech in the ceremony of his graduation; after that he is invited to deliver it the next day but, first, he has to be part of a battle royal which he loses against a gorilla-like man. Finally he delivers his speech in that condition (bleeding tremendously from his nose and mouth) while everyone laughs at him and, after that, everyone goes crazy and there is this rain of applauses. It was too much for me; I understood why the story is related to discrimination (because of the way spectators treated him while fighting) but what about this mixture of accounts.<BR/><BR/>Regarding The Will Come Soft Rains, I really like it (I love all kind of tragic futuristic readings). What caught my attention was the possible symbolism of the house. From my perspective, it represents all the technology and technological advances that humanity creates “to make life more comfortable” and the autoimmunization of life itself; now, what is funny or interesting about the situation is that although we know that in the story humanity is destroyed by some sort of nuclear disaster, the issue with the fire (that the house falls to ashes because of it) suggests that nature and uncertainty is more powerful that humanity, its technological advances, and its attempts to keep everything under its control.<BR/><BR/>As I explained before, I love all kind of futuristic tragedies and although “the Right to Read” is not a tragedy, I loved it too. A reason for this is that it is a fictional and futuristic story that deals with things that are happening right now (this is even scary!). Also, it denounces this idea that humans are every time creating more artificial needs to survive and by this restricting life to certain individuals; in the case of the story, the ones who buy the books and can go to libraries (because they have the money to do it) are the ones that will fulfill the need of having an education. Moreover, the story also suggests that every time knowledge is restricted to more people, and you know what people sayDavid Boza M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01725793425992974857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-14173694887694276142008-11-09T15:46:00.000-08:002008-11-09T15:46:00.000-08:00“The Right to Red” and “Battle Royal” (a.k.a. The ...“The Right to Red” and “Battle Royal” (a.k.a. The Right to Speak) are basically a reaction toward those people who do not want others to express themselves. Who are these people to say others what to do? The government? If they create what we are allow to say or to think (rights), why should they be worried about what they allow us to do anyway? What I am trying to say is that both stories criticize the lack of free will. We all know that life is a constant battle, but there is no death involved. The inability to say what we think to our governments allows them to do what they want because, as the professor said, if we do not care, they do not care either. The major problem is people accepting everything authorities say.Herickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17513184612320438661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-44426854236972933122008-11-09T15:00:00.000-08:002008-11-09T15:00:00.000-08:00Regarding these last three readings, I would say t...Regarding these last three readings, I would say they depict an era of contradictions and the constant battle of human beings against their own restrictions and self-destruction. It shows the insatiable hunger for humans to control humans. We see that in Stallman’s story in which through the use of technology and computers, some people impose their views or ideas by telling others what they can or cannot do. The author mentioned how this is spreading around the world with free trades. Reading is also restricted to those who cannot afford to pay the fees. Then, as usual, there’s a group of people that is marginalized and overlooked, so that works as a “purifying” mechanism. It seems that the puritan ideals still remain. Battle Royal shows the hardships of black people in their fight for equality, and how African Americans have been denigrated, humiliated, mocked in the so-called land of opportunities and freedom. Bradbury’s story shows a contradiction of how even in a time where cutting-edge technology is at its peak, it is useless to avoid human beings from destroying themselves through wars; again for this desire for control.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-6713255392355742522008-11-09T14:32:00.000-08:002008-11-09T14:32:00.000-08:00Battle Royal? Fights, blood, punches, electrified ...<I>Battle Royal</I>? Fights, blood, punches, electrified rugs... <BR/><I>There Will Come Soft Rains</I>? Fire, arms race, destruction...<BR/>One last man and some other very last house standing. To me that's what the two readings are about: fight and war, darkness and coldness, fear and uncertainty...all but tranquility! A moment of tranquility? Think about the tranquility our privacy is supposted to grant us just to find out that we now may be observed and/or manipulated –like in Stallman's <I>The Right to Read</I>. And even though that and Alex’s videos tripped me out a bit, I also asked myself "for how long this's been happening?", "don’t many people -including the government, have much of my personal information already?" I guess the problem's not just the info being there, but who may use and with what purpose. I don't think we have to (oxymoronically speaking) <I>fight</I> to take our tranquility back; do we?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-52069866325668744742008-11-09T13:57:00.000-08:002008-11-09T13:57:00.000-08:00This time I would like to comment about question n...This time I would like to comment about question number 54 of "Questionnaire” and relate it with "Battle Royal”, and how fear has such an important role in our definition as human beings. In my opinion, fear has had also its room in all the literary movements we have seen in class, and it has been present throughout human history. What we are scared of defines us in a way, and restrict us from moving ahead as individuals, as a society and even as race. A simple glimpse to human history, and the things we were afraid of have shown human ignorance, and the presence of fear, along with the fact that there will be always something to be afraid of in the future, tell us that the acknowledgement of those fears in order to conquer them is what had make us able to move forward. Just think of the protagonist of "Battle Royal”, and that his life was define by his fear to the words of his grandfather and to his understanding about them.Job Céspedes Ortizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17866444636101912804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-69620716406175500192008-11-09T13:51:00.000-08:002008-11-09T13:51:00.000-08:00For me the story “Battle Royal” deals specifically...For me the story “Battle Royal” deals specifically with racism and the way black people were treated in the past (However, this story could be an excellent example of how people are mistreated around the world by others who believe themselves as superior). This story also revels that when people feel that they are superior to someone else, they don`t care if the inferior ones are humans too. Moreover, for me the fact that white people didn’t listen the speech of the main character tells me why these black people were considered invisible in these era. So, in this story, the main character is not only fighting against humiliation, but also fighting to be heard as an equal human being. Therefore, for me “Battle Royal” is a story that shows the reality that people saw through the 20th century in which people were discriminated for their color, their appearance or their religion, so this is not just the story of a person that wanted to be heard these is a story of a community that was humiliated and mistreated for a long time.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07913412640865314706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-83205014566298330312008-11-09T13:02:00.000-08:002008-11-09T13:02:00.000-08:00Here is my comment about the stories “the right to...Here is my comment about the stories “the right to read” and “There will be some rain”<BR/>For me, these two stories are closely related since both of them talked about a “super natural power” that does not allowed us to think or act freely (well not super natural but at least a power that controls everybody’s way of thinking). If we think about it this is what we are living today, where everything deals with authors rights, in which powerful companies know how much money we have, and in which the era of communication has become the era of espionage in which every body is controlled(of course by our closer friend the internet). and for me that is exactly what “the right to read” is talking about since as the story said, if the main character give his password to another person that will constitute a crime that the authorities would know immediately and he will be sent to jail (ridiculous but almost true in these days). On the other hand, we have the short story “There will be some rain” that in my personal opinion is closely related to “the right to read” since they are futuristic stories in which technology is a way to control every move that humans do (being technology a “beautiful way” to control us). The story “There will be some rain” exposes how this way to control people’s life will drive us to our own destruction in which silence will be the only memory left by humans on earth. Therefore, I think that these are two incredible stories that are a great illustration of the reality that we are living and the reality that we are going to live if we let technology to dominate our life.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07913412640865314706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-51555340051244289722008-11-09T12:31:00.000-08:002008-11-09T12:31:00.000-08:00I completely agree with Yuly and her idea of EMPTI...I completely agree with Yuly and her idea of EMPTINESS in “Battle Royal” because I think that even though the protagonist of the story is surrounded by many people, he can not trust anybody. The issue of isolation is this story is related to our society in which people feel insecure because you do not know who you can trust. Similarly, in the story “There Will Come Soft Rains” is clearly presented the idea of isolation because we can see the house doing everything thinking that the habitants are there. In “The Right to Read” I also found the idea of loneliness because sometimes technology makes people isolate themselves from the rest of the humanity, and make us think again in the lack of confidence toward people. <BR/><BR/>Regarding Vane’s question, I think that machines or robots can’t survive by themselves because as Yuly said technology depends on human beings.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11599351218946157669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-90707660847430930062008-11-09T11:17:00.000-08:002008-11-09T11:17:00.000-08:00Hello! While trying to compare “Battle Royal” to “...Hello! While trying to compare “Battle Royal” to “There Will Come Soft Rains,” I found that in both stories the hope for a better future was crashed by the cruelty of the power elite. In “Battle Royal,” the narrator’s desire to deliver his message was a part of a dream of becoming an influential member or the African-American Community, like Booker T. Washington (whom you will hear about in our presentation next Tuesday). Actually, he already felt superior to the other fellows who participated in the battle royal because he thought himself to be more intellectual, which placed him in a higher position among whites. He hoped to succeed and gain power, to be “ a triumph for his community.” However, we see how the community leaders cared less about his words and humiliated him as far as they could. In other words, though this opportunity to speak for them could have been thought of as a positive diplomatic act or an attempt to break the silence of the oppresed, it was nothing but a joke to these men. Similarly, in “There Will Come Soft Rains,” the description of the house and of the spots on the walls give evidence of what seemed to be a perfectly peaceful environment. The house had everything needed for its owners to enjoy their da; nevertheless, the explotion of a nuclear bomb, which most probably detonated after the command of a powerfull person, swept away all life and joy. See you!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-39324488930630958152008-11-09T07:37:00.000-08:002008-11-09T07:37:00.000-08:00My comment is about Battle Royal and how Ralph Ell...My comment is about Battle Royal and how Ralph Ellison, in just a story, portrays the egalitarianism between white and black societies. His grandfather represents slavery, a paintful reality, the suffering of many in the United States. The message given just before he dies impacted on his grandson. During the event, the boy has to wait and forces to participate in the humiliating boxing match in order to give his longing speech. The value system of freedom, liberty and equality has changed to money, sex, and power. The boy learns that life is a battle royal. To success, people have the weapon of education and effort. The novel depicted a battle royal of social and political power as well as race, class and genre, acceptance of the black identity in a white America. Whites want blacks to accept social responsability without social equality forcing others to do what they want. At the end the boy achieves his goal, giving his speech and earns an schoolarship that will place him in an equal position of any white inhabitant.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12238573568142753907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-52051393509577189292008-11-08T21:55:00.000-08:002008-11-08T21:55:00.000-08:00The key word that comes to my mind when joining th...The key word that comes to my mind when joining the three stories is EMPTINESS, emptiness of what we`ve been considering important. Education, property(personal information) even your to decide which program you prefer to run in your "personal computer?" is just being taking off from our hands little by little. In "Battle Royal" the narrator states that he needs to win so he will be allowed to present his speach, so that means that if he do not hurt others he will not utter what he prepared? And in "The Right to Read" to manage your personal belogins Dan has to break the low? <BR/><BR/>While reading the second part of "The Right to Read" I also imagined that those machines represent the human obsession for achieving and manteining material confort and the EMPTINESS of life without the intervention of nature, since everything seems so "metalic and controled".<BR/>Vanesa personaly I don´t think machines can keep for long period the normal activities... at least without the normal intervention of humans, not in a couple of decades.<BR/><BR/>Alex, now I understand where that amount of spam comes from...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00435035614537158952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6513634282527192516.post-11739538562080215632008-11-08T19:16:00.000-08:002008-11-08T19:16:00.000-08:00I am so sorry for my mistake! the word "shield" is...I am so sorry for my mistake! the word "shield" is to shelter.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com