"The Twelve" Presentation

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Problematic Africa

Alan Paton is a very creative writer. He uses metaphors to describe the condition of the natives of Africa. These creative forms of writing are also used to show the condition of the country as a whole. The countless accounts of this shows just how talented Paton really is.

In Alan Paton's book Cry, the Beloved Country, he shows in his work that the white African sees differently than that of the natives. Stephen Kumalo, an African native, and James Jarvis, a white African, both show the perspectives of the land from the eyes of their races. They both see the land as beautiful and vast, but their individual thoughts that go beyond that are astoundingly different. Stephen Kumalo thinks about how the hills, ".. fall to the valley below, and falling, change their nature. For they grow red and bare; they cannot hold the rain and mist, and the streams are dry in the kloofs." (pg. 33) This tells us about the condition of the land and the country in the eyes of the native people: unkempt, cold and uninhabitable. On the other hand, James Jarvis thinks about how, ".. they must needs look out over the barren valleys and the bare hills that were stretched below them. Some of their labour was drawn from Ndotsheni, and they knew how ear by year there was less food grown in these reserves." (pg. 162) From these sentences, we can tell that the white Africans have no real concern about the condition of the land or the country or the people who suffer in it. The only reason they have to worry about is that if the land is in a bad condition, their workforce will be too weak to work and will eventually starve to death. This is a great example of how Paton shows us that, while the native Africans worry for the land, the white Africans are selfish and only care about themselves and their businesses.

Paton indirectly addresses at the beginning of the novel how abused the natives are in South Africa. Alan Paton describes the earth being, ".. torn away like flesh. The lightning flashes over them, the clouds pour down upon them, the dead streams come to life, full of the red blood of the earth." (pg. 34) Just looking at these sentences, it is apparent that the native Africans are beaten, bruised, and overworked. It is not that big of a surprise that the natives would demand their equality and freedom.

The end of the first chapter describes the epidemical issue all the African tribes are facing. Paton writes, "Down in the valleys women scratch the soil that is left, and the maize hardly reaches the height of a man. .. The soil cannot keep them anymore." (pg. 34) The last sentence of this chapter was very powerful to me. Now we know that they are also underfed, and that they cannot live in these conditions any longer. This would explain the corruption that begins to arise as they flock towards Johannesburg and away from the broken land. It is sad that so many people have to leave a peaceful tribal life to live in a corrupt city environment, all but enslaved by the white minority.

The lives of the African natives are expressed metaphorically throughout the novel. Alan Paton does a fantastic job at expressing the problems of South Africa through his writing. He is a phenomenal writer and has enlightened readers around the world.

Unconditional Love

I believe that parents should supply their kids with unconditional love, regardless of what may change about them that they can't help. Children go through changes throughout their lives, be it sexuality, religion, or general views on societal issues. This can cause anarchy within a household who firmly believes in something that the child no longer believes. It can cause the child to feel abandoned and unloved. We all look for encouragement to be ourselves and confirmation from those we love. We all want to feel accepted.

All my life, I was brought up to believe in Christianity. It was just a general idea that everyone, on both my mother’s and my father’s side, believed in. In middle school, however, I began to question whether or not I truly believed in it. For the next couple of years following this phase, I would continue to identify as a Christian, so that I would continue to be accepted by my friends and family.

At the beginning of my sophomore year, my mother invited me to go to a Christian women’s convention. I agreed so that I would have something to do that weekend. We packed our bags and set out for St. Louis, Missouri, our destination. Everything was going well; our hotel was fancy and our dinner was splendid.  The first meeting we would attend was that night, though.

Everything went well. My grandmother and my mother had a wonderful time, singing gospel and listening to the sermon like everyone else. I, for one, did not have as good of a time. During the sermons, I began to question my belief further and further, until I had finally come to a verdict. I slept well, knowing now who I truly am. I would have to wake up early to make it to the next meeting with my family.

My grandmother left early that morning to save our seats. When we all arrived about an hour afterwards, though, someone had piled our things onto one chair and had taken our seats. After a few minutes of arguing with the women, who were adamant about their claim over the seats, we moved to some seats further away from the stage. Needless to say, my mother and grandmother were unhappy, while I felt indifferent.

When we got back to the hotel room, all I could hear from them was discussion on how “un-Christian” those women were to have taken our seats. I took this time to confess my new discovery about myself: I am an atheist.

They reacted like any family in a stereotypical "coming out" story would react. They were unnecessarily rude and, after a lot of arguing, told me that I should not call myself an atheist. It was like I wasn't the same person I was a few seconds before. I don't want anyone to go through what I did. Parents should love their children unconditionally, especially over things that they can't change.

Halloween Cream Cheese Sausage Balls

Ingredients:

• 1 lb hot sausage, uncooked
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/4 cups Bisquick
• 4 oz cheddar cheese

Preparations:

Preheat oven to four hundred degrees fahrenheit. Mix all of the ingredients until well combined in a large bowl or a mixer. Personally, we prefer the former, mixing in a large bowl and taking shifts when our arms get tired. Once they are fairly combined, roll them into one-inch balls. Then, bake for twenty to twenty-five minutes, or until brown. (If you are using frozen sausage, add a few minutes to baking time.)

I felt so accomplished when we had completed those steps, washing my hands as my aunt put them in the oven. "Finally, we're done," I said. "Now, when will they be ready, again?"

"In about twenty minutes," my mother answered, cleaning the countertop of the mess our cooking left behind. My aunt was shuffling around some of the dishes that were already made to make room for the upcoming sausage balls.

"Well, I'm going outside to hang out with the boys," I said, grabbing a handful of candy and running out to the front porch just in time to see my brother, dressed in convincingly terrifying attire, scare a couple of trick-or-treating girls that looked at few years older than us. I sat down next to my uncle and began to munch on the candy, laughing along with them as the girls tentatively returned for their bounty. Then, before they had the chance to retrieve the candy promised, my cousin scared them off the premises in an equivilently convincing garb.

We sat out there for what seemed like ages, talking and laughing and nibbling on candy before my aunt came out, informing us that the sausage balls were ready. At that, I rushed inside, eager to be the first to taste them. I picked up a handful and dumped them into the bowl; thus, I burned my hand, since they were just out of the oven. Then, I returned to the front porch where my cousin and brother remained. They were both picky eaters, and preferred not to eat the sausage balls we had worked so hard on.

"I don't eat sausage," my cousin said, waving my off nonchalantly. "It just doesn't taste good to me."

"Me, too! Sausage is gross," my brother puffed, trying to follow my cousin's example.

"Yes, you do! You eat sausage when Mom cooks it for breakfast!" I exclaimed, determined to convince my brother into trying them.

"Well, they don't look like that. That looks gross."

I decided against continuing the argument, knowing that I wouldn't sway his stubborn view of the sausage. He would rather continue his reign of terror of the property, anyway. I took over candy bowl duty, freeing my brother to roam the yard and seek out his victims. No longer interested in the candy, I felt more generous as I handed out candy to the brave children who dared to approach us. While they began devouring their candy, I was busy savoring every bite of the sausage balls. Their warmth made my stomach a hearth, fueling the flame inside me that kept out the chilly October air.

"Can we bring some sausage balls home? Please?" I begged as we gathered our things and piled them into the car. An hour had gone by since the sausage balls had been taken out of the oven, and it was getting late. My aunt, worn out and sleepy, soon conceded to my demands. Appeased, I barely even noticed my mother apologizing for my manners as I climbed into the car with my brother. As we drove home I drifted into a tranquil slumber, my stomach still containing the warmth of the dying flame in the hearth.

Depth Behind Absurdity

Recently, I read a story called "The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. (link) It was actually a quite intriguing story to read. I found the story to be rather silly, though. But, despite these two facts, I think the story must have some important meaning behind it. The story was a very interesting one to read and has piqued my curiosity.

            Some of the things I read in this story I found to be quite interesting. To start with, the size of this man is described to be giant. This made me began to wonder whether he is a giant, or if these people are actually really small and Esteban is a average-sized man. Another questionable factoid I found in this story is that corpses wash upon this village's shore regularly. Why are so many people dying out at sea? We may never know. A disturbing thing I noticed about this story, though, was that the children played with Esteban's corpse. What adult allows their children to go out to the beach, unaccompanied by an adult, and play with a corpse? It all seems very strange to me. The longer I think about it, the more things I find about the story that intrigue me.

            Although there are many things that strike my curiosity, I find most of it to be rather silly. I mean, who just finds a man washed up on the shore that barely fits into a house that occupies an entire family? I also do not understand why the women become so attached to a corpse. The man is dead, and that cannot be changed. The fact that they would spend so much time and money buying flowers and preparing a funeral for a stranger seems rather strange, too. This entire story seems rather silly, despite its interesting qualities.

            I feel as if there is some meaning behind this incredibly strange and silly story. This stranger seems to be the perfect man to all the women in the village. They become attached to this personality they give the handsome corpse, throwing their trinkets onto it, perhaps hoping that if he somehow wakes up, he will notice it and think of the kind woman who gave him it. The men all find this ridiculous until they see his face, to which they are stunned by his beauty. They are all so awestruck by this man's beauty that they do not want to anchor the man, insisting that they free him to come and go as he pleases. All of this may symbolize the perfect match we all imagine for ourselves or who we want to be to others. Leaving it unanchored to let it come and go as it pleases might represent you altering the way this image looks, or you forgetting about the imaginary person for a while. This entire story could have a deeper meaning that we just can't see.

            This story was actually quite fun to read, despite my ridicule on the silliness of it. After considering what I read, I have chosen to believe that there is a deeper meaning behind all of the absurdity in the story. "The Handsomest Man In The World" will always be a choice favorite for me to read.

A Growing Controversial Issue

            A recent New York Times article, "Why Abortion Is Not Like Other Issues," by David Leonhardt (link) opened my eyes to a growing issue. I agree with the author when they state that the American population is almost equally divided on this issue, as well as the bill Texas is attempting to pass, although I am not Pro-Life. If women want to have an abortion, I believe that they should have it in the first trimester of pregnancy. Also, I think that the political parties will eventually have to choose a side on this matter. Abortion, in my opinion, is not as bad of a thing as people make it out to be under certain circumstances.

            The restrictive abortion bill, according to the article, bans abortion past the first trimester. The first trimester ends generally in the fifteenth week of pregnancy. By this point in time, the fetus is beginning to form limbs and growing hair. According to this article, eight in ten Americans think that abortion is taking a life. I believe that this bill is fair because, at that point, it begins to become more of a human being and less like a growing cell in your body. In some points in the article, it states that it does include exceptions to rape and incest, but sometimes it does not. If there are exceptions, I think that this bill actually has a chance of passing. Whether it passes or not, seventy percent of the American population surveyed believes that abortion should be banned in the second trimester.

        This subject cannot forever be ignored by the political parties. Eventually, they will have to choose a side on the matter of abortion. I think that the Republican party will choose Pro-Life, and the Democratic party will choose Pro-Choice. This is because the Republican party has always preferred the more "traditional" lifestyle, while the Democrats are more accepting to the minorities as well as change and civil rights. I do not think that they will immediately make these their preferred choice, but over time they will have to pick a side on the matter. This will start another political war between whether the issue should or should not be accepted. Usually, the right to do or be whatever it is the issue is about wins in the end. The political parties cannot avoid the subject of abortion forever.

            Under certain circumstances, I believe that abortion should and should not be accepted. Generally, when people think of an exception to make for abortion, they think about rape and incest pregnancies. My mind has a wider spectrum of exceptions for this. For example, if a teenager gets pregnant, she should have the choice to get an abortion. Just like any young adult, teenagers may not be able to take care of it, financially or physically. They may also want to focus on their schoolwork, and they cannot do that nursing a child. I do not think that people should use abortion as a form of birth control. If they do not want to get pregnant, they should take the steps to prevent it, such as taking birth control beforehand or wearing a condom. Abortion is not a bad choice if you are under tough circumstances.

            America will eventually have to make a decision on what they will do about abortion. Most people believe that abortion is taking a life. The political parties do not choose to take a side on this matter. Perhaps some people may not be able to properly care for that life just yet. Abortion is looked down upon by most, but some people may not have another option.

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