Author Archives: Rafal_N

Essay #2 Draft

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Introduction

Experiencing something new, is always an adventure for a person. The main character of We, by Yevgeny Zamayatin, D-503 has that happen to him. D-503 is a model citizen, he is well respected and is the driving force behind building the Integral, which is a massive space ship in the book. He follows the word of the One State to the T and truly believes that is what is expected of him. D-503 doesn’t stray away from the path that has been laid out for him in any way, until he meets I-330, the secondary main character of the book, and that is when his world is turned upside down. D-503 begins to experience emotions he has never had, and this cause him to stray away from what he has known and has him going against everything the One State has taught him.

Claim 1
The first encounter that D-503 has with I-330 there is a brief exchange to which we see the first sign of his change from his normal behavior.

“For some odd reason, I felt embarrassed and tired, in a rather stumbling manner, to explain my laughter to her logically. (6)”.

Claim 2
Further along in the book, once D-503 meets with I-330, he is yet again experiencing doubts about his beliefs.

“That brazen mocking tone. I definitely felt: now I hate her again. But why the “now”? I have hated her all the time (56).”

Claim 3
Towards the end of the book, D-503 has lost all sense of reason as he’s full embraced his infatuation with I-330.

” ‘Well, you are sick, you jave commited crimes because of me-has it not been a torment to you? ANd now, the Opertion-and you willcure yourselfof m. And that means-farewell.’
‘No,’ I cried out.
A pitlessly sharp, dark triangle on white:
‘What? You don’t want happiness?’
My head was splitting; two logical trains collided, climbing upon each other, crashing, splintering… (185)”

An Interesting Turn of Events

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The final chapters of We, to me seemed like a giant roller coaster of emotion. Everything began to spiral down and become unwound, with events fluctuating between calm and chaotic. This is essentially why I believe the ending is really well written. The statement
“Because Reason must prevail.” (We .232) is so powerful, that upon reading it, I put the book down and just “Wow.”

D-503’s down fall was that he was infatuated with I-330. This new sensation caused him to lose focus on what he began doing at the beginning of the book. As the book progressed and he delved deeper into this emotion, he began to act without reason and on impulse only due to his feelings. Now, I am not condoning the fact that he was operated on to lose those feelings, as I truly believe at times it’s good to act on a whim (in a controlled situation of course, not in the downfall of your society), but the book does have a moral to it. I was truly not expecting that ending.

We, was very much a book that took you down the rabbit hole. I think it really does a great job at capturing raw, human emotion. The beginning was a bit rough for me, but towards the middle I began to feel more comfortable with it, as it turned more into the perspective of someone wrestling with his feelings, and that is something I can relate to. One of these days I will definitely give it another read through, as I feel the second time around, it will hold much more subtle little hints about the end than on the first, but for now, I must say, I am quite content with what I read and definitely will recommend it to someone.

Infatuation will make you do crazy things

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What started out as a very strict and studious journal, has now turned into a whirlwind of emotions and feelings. D-305 has taken a very dramatic turn from the character he is presented to us as in the beginning of the book, and now it is like I am reading a completely different story. D-305 has completely given into I-330 and by doing so has broken the mold which society had written out for him. I think this particularly represents how people would naturally react to something new and especially if it really has their attention. D-305 reacts this way because he has never experienced this before, and he doesn’t know how to think rationally about his situation due to the way he has been brought up in the society. At this point in the book, I am really seeing I-330 become the downfall to the story, everything about the current situation just doesn’t seem right to me.

” ‘Good. I promise you: after the holiday, if only…Oh, by the way, how is your Integral doing? I always forget to ask-how soon?’
‘No, what do you mean, ‘if only?’ Again? ‘If only’ what?
But she, already at the door : ‘ You’ll see yourself…’ ” (WE 134)

This quote shows how infatuated D-305 is, he focuses more on her than the actual things that she is saying. He does pick up at the end about her questioning the Integral, but doesn’t pay it as much mind as I believe he should.

 

Society’s toll on a person

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The final chapters of Brave New World, seem to me as if they wrap up the story perfectly. The author could have easily left John to be on his own and live out his life in peace, but that would have not been true to the underlying view of how society is. This book was never a fairy tale with a happy ending.

“Slowly, very slowly, like two unhurried compass needles, the feet turned towards the right; north, north-east, east, south-east, south, south-south-west; then paused, and after a few seconds, turned as unhurriedly back towards the left. South-south-west, south, south-east, east..” (BNW 231)

I think this is the only way the book could have ended. The way the society was structured in the book, there was no hope for change. John attempted multiple times to change things, and even when not in the midst of the society, he was still badgered and harassed. The people in the book, due to their conditioning would never have been able to let down what John was doing, even if he hadn’t chosen to commit suicide. The persistence due to their conditioning would have continued to lead on-lookers to where John was and with that he would never have found his peace.

I think this is also a prime example off how society can push someone to the point of breaking. There are always situations to be heard of, how someone is bullied or misunderstood, and unfortunately some believe that the only way out is through taking ones life. People tend to be ruthless, especially when motivated by mob  mentality, and with their conditioning as in the book, there would have been no shot at change and understanding of how John wanted to live out the rest of his days.

I actually have read this book in highschool, but barely remember any of it. At the time it seemed unappealing and I can say I was without a doubt unappreciative of it. Now, a few years later, I can say I definitely enjoyed the book and was able to understand it more. I believe it was a fitting ending.

Brave New World Chapters 6-9

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These three chapters really open up the world of the book to the reader. I particularly enjoyed chapter 6 of the book because I saw it as a situation to which I can relate. I believe everyone at one point or another has tried so hard to explain something to some one but has lacked the the ability to get their thoughts across. This in turn makes things harder for the person you are trying to explain it to understand, especially if that person strictly stands by their beliefs.

The quote that part that stuck out the most to me was,

” ‘But, Bernard, you’re saying the most awful things.’
‘Don’t you wish you were free, Lenina?’
‘I don’t know what you mean. I am free. Free to have the most wonderful time. Everybody’s happy nowadays.’ ” (BNW 90)

This sticks out to me as I have of lately been cutting back on hanging out with friends and slowly going into a different mind set when thinking about school and the future. I’ve tried to explain to the people I know why I prefer to stay at home on weekends and not go out and party, but they have a hard time understanding that. In a way I could really relate to Bernard specifically in this chapter. I know that a lot of my friends go out and drink every weekend, and taking that step back from all the partying in a way was like me giving up the soma. To them it seems a little blasphemous that I would rather sit at home and watch a movie or play video games, hell even read a book on a Friday night and I can see them being the society that Bernard lives in.

Bernard feels very strongly about his emotions, and trying to explain to someone why you feel that way, and having them not acknowledge it can be destructive. Bernard as a character is very persistent and stands by his views, but at times he does slip up and indulges again in the soma. This I believe is a wonderful representation of humanity as a whole, we are always being tempted by something, not necessarily in the biblical view point, but in life choices. A majority of us will stand tall and stick to our views but there are instances where we slip up, and I think what is being shown here, is that Bernard is the closest person to us as readers in this current world.

Utopian Dream

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My perfect world, my Utopia, would for one be a peaceful place. Wars wouldn’t exist because people would be honest with each other and work together to resolve conflicts through speech and coming to understandings. Technology would continue to thrive, making things much easier for people but also encouraging people to go forth and meet with one another, have discussions, and be social without the help of technology. Society would have given up on categorizing people and all prejudice would be eliminated. Not one person would ever have to feel left out or alone, as we would all be able to get along with one another without feeling hate or any sort of malice towards one another.

I imagine the world green and sunny. The environment taken into account even with the amount of technology being used. I imagine something along the lines of The Shire from Lord of The Rings. Rich green hills, with houses built into them, sheltering people but not destroying the luscious landscapes. Warm light from the houses would cast a comforting glow across the hills at night, welcoming and inviting. Everyone would have their own little niche to call home, and none would remain homeless.

Work would be available for all, and poverty would be eliminated. Everyone would be on the same level as one another, and no one would have more. Greed would be a thing of the past, and ultimately eliminated. People would always have the urge to better themselves, and stray away from any path that would ultimately lead to crime or causing one another any pain or suffering.

I also think manners would be heavily enforced, I feel like our world right now is severely  lacking in that. I think if more people practiced manners it would lead  the world towards a more beautiful place.

I think all of this would create my Utopia. Unfortunately I do know that there is always two sides to each coin, and it never goes as planned, but this to me would be a Utopia I would love to immerse myself in.

 

No ideas here

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The  Machine Stops is wonderfully written. While reading this story, I could see some similarities between the lifestyle of the people in the book and our current society. The reliance on machinery is so heavily put forth in the story that it puts things into perspective on how we as a society may slowly be losing touch with one another as people. The story it self, has a scary quality about it. When you read about how Kuno had practiced his muscles to, it only makes you think, how frail are these people at this current point in the story? I imagine after years of living cooped up in the rooms, without having to do much other than pressing buttons, the human being has deteriorated to something that may resemble a sliver of what humanity used to be. Simple day to day activities such as walking from one place to another can greatly influence the general health of a human being, and the people in the story don’t even seem to do that. The story seems to reflect what it would be like if humanity had completely given up it’s rights to free thought and just indulged in the glitz and glamour of technology. Vashti’s love and incredible denial of how the Machine could be wrong, borders on cult like behavior to me. She is incapable of seeing through the veil that has been place in front of her. This to me shows that humanity truly has just bent to the rules and knows no other way to live. I believe the text can be seen as precaution, to allow ourselves the privileges of which machines bring us, but do not allow ourselves to hand over our free will and free thought. We as people should always have a check system, to make sure to continue on wards with human contact to benefit ourselves as a race.

-Rafal Napierala

Hello!

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Hi guys! I’m Rafal, or Raf for short. I was born and raised in Greenpoint Brooklyn, currently living out in Kew Gardens, and I’m currently studying Graphic arts and Advertisement. I hope to one day be working for a company that designs logos and graphics, preferably for clothing or video games. I’m a huge nerd at heart and have just recently began really embracing that side of me. I love to read, mostly sci-fi and fantasy books. I’m taking this course because it is required, but I do hope to learn a few things as I am trying to write a video game based web series as a fun little hobby and any information I can gain about how writers approach certain things will surely only help in the process. I’m very open to people so if you have any questions feel free to ask. I hope everyone enjoys and has a wonderful semester!

me

 

– Rafal Napierala