In chapter five of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile, Jacqueline de Bellefort and Monsieur Hercule Poirot discuss the love, her and Simon shared and his relationship with Linnet. Jackie then states “Look at the moon up there. You see her very plainly, don’t you? She’s very real. But if the sun were to you wouldn’t be able to see her at all”. Linnet is the sun, Jackie is the moon when the sun shines it blinds you it’s all you see. To Simon and many others Linnet is the bright shining sun that shines on everyone. The moon can be seen clearly, it’s not shining upon you. The moon rather stays to itself, it doesn’t get in your eyes, you can’t feel it on your skin.
Author: Julia Pasato
The 1967 adaptation of “The taming of the shrew” directed by Franco Zeffirelli displays examples of egotistical empathy. Bapista is particular acts from a place that benefits him, that helps him get rid of the eldest daughter Katherine. He doesn’t hide it at all that he prefers Bianca, he shouts in from the streets in the beginning of the film. If it was altruistic empathy, Baptista he’d want his daughter to continue being herself, protect her from manipulation that Petruchio causes Katherine. Another character that I’d like to highlight is Petruchio who cares about his own wealth, and in the end that is what he receives he also accomplishes his goal of taming the shrew. Lucentio acts for love, butthis love is a lie from the start, he does it to have an advantage over the other men who are fighting for Bianca’s hand in marriage. It seems that none of the characters act from a place of selfness, they all act for personal gain. Their behavior demonstrates this in how they all act with one another, how they speak to each other. I’ve spoken about three of the men in the play, no women act from a place of any sort of empathy, I highly doubt they are allowed to either.
“Persepolis” was written by Marjane Satrapi an Iranian novelist, the novel tells the real-life experiences of Satrapi growing up through the Iranian revolution. In a period of societal and political pressure, Marjane is sent to Vienna. Where she faces the barriers of being a young Iranian woman in the world. In 2007 the book was adapted into an animated movie, directed by Satrapi herself and French artist/director Winshluss. It does an incredible job of enhancing the story while staying true to its source material.
Body 1 The vegetable, The change from a young girl to a young woman
Body 2 The horse, The people surrounding her
Body 3 The end, The end of her marriage and what it means to be a divorced woman
Conclusion
My favorite chapter of Persepolis so far would be chapter 9 entitled “The Sheep. We’ve seen how close Marji’s and Uncle Anoosh have gotten. In this chapter we lose him, he is executed. He always says “everything will be alright”, something that Marji will also say later on. He never held back from talking with her instead of talking to her. Marji already knows that his trip wasn’t really a trip, it’s just what someone says to cover up what they can’t say. I loved the illustrations, especially the expression Marji makes when she finds out her uncle went on a “trip”. I also appreciated the conversations between Marji’s parents about going to the United States, it’s short but important. The life that they could have, would come with a lot of struggle and pain. What specifically led me to choose this chapter was how Marji yells at God himself, it’s very contrasting from her other conversations with God. She floats in space surrounded by darkness, and yells “shut up”. It’s an incredible way to illustrate how a child perceives the world, how unfair life is, how people die and how things end. After this chapter, there’s a shift I would say, from childhood to adolescence.
“New boy” follows a young boy named Joseph, a nine-year-old boy, as he experiences his first day at school. All the children seem friendly enough until it comes to Christian Kelly. Joseph is an easy target to pick on for Christian Kelly, with him being the new kid and all. It’s clear that he doesn’t want to bring any attention to himself, he does as he’s told to avoid conflict. This type of behavior seems to have been taught. Some people would call him shy. I’d say that he’s observant and very self-aware. Throughout the story, small details are revealed about Joseph. We learn that he’s African; he hasn’t been in a classroom for months. His father was killed, he was a teacher, and this is all new territory for him. There’s a narrator, we aren’t being told about Joseph’s first day by Joseph. I would say it’s because this situation is bigger than Joseph himself, he’s nine I don’t think he could grasp the emotions he’s feeling. He’s smart but he’s a child who’s experienced the tragedy of losing a parent and is now in a whole new country. Certain things trigger him to the tragic day when he lost his father, in particular, loud sounds and bells transport him back to his old life. The question is does Joseph change from beginning to end? He does in the sense that his guard is down; he’s able to be another nine-year-old boy with his new schoolmates. Joseph doesn’t hesitate to grab Christian Kelly’s fingers once he’s pushed. There’s a flashback to when his father was killed, and a feeling of weakness of fear, and of running away hits Joseph. He doesn’t speak up when asked what happened, none of them do. At that moment they become “the three musketeers”.
