The Selfish Gene: The Immortal Coil

As we keep on reading this interesting book, we see how Dawkins has started to explain and define the world of genetics. He starts telling us that in the chapter there will be very important terms to facilitate the gene explanation. As Dawkins says " Different sorts of survival machine appear very varied on the outside and in their internal organs" (pg. 21) meaning the different gene terms.

allele: When two genes are rivals in a chromosome (Dawkins).

Meiosis: Division of cells produced in sexual relations (Dawkins).

Mitosis: The normal division of two new cells (Dawkins).

START Symbol: The first letter of a sequence of nucleotides in a protein chain (Dawkins).

END Symbol: The last letter of a sequence in a protein chain (Dawkins).

mimicry: Edited or rearranged.

Point Mutation: Error corresponding to a single misprinted letter.

Attached to this key terms in regards to genetics, Dawkins explains that the immortal coil is the DNA. "It consists of a pair of nucleotide chains twisted togetherin an elegant spiral; the double helix; the immortal coil" (pg. 22). This chapter is more scientific than any other one. This gives us a better perspective to continue undestanding th book.

Active to Passive Voice

Passive voice

1. The bottles can´t be easily opened by the children.

2. A road was built right outside her front door, by the goverment.

3. As he walked through the store, he broked the antique vase.

4. The changes amazed her when she arrived.

5. Street repairs are being made by the construction workers all month long.

6. His retirement will be celebrated by the party.

7. His oral exam was being discussed by his professors in front of him.

8. All the homemade cookies were eaten by my son.

9. The hull of the ship was damaged by corrosion.

10. While I was there, the old homestead was being visited by some children.

Passive and Active

1. Change this active sentence to the passive:
A client delayed Joanne when she was leaving the office.
-Joanne was delayed by a client when she was leaving the office.

2. Change this active sentence to the passive:
The tennis club was holding a meeting at 6.30.
-A meeting was being held by the tennis club at 6.30.

3. Change this passive sentence to active:
The doorway was blocked by Sheba, the dog.
-Sheba, the dog, was blocking the doorway.

4. Change this active sentence to passive:
Joanne had to take Sheba to the vet.
-Sheba had to be taken to the vet.

5. Change this active sentence to passive:
Her condition worried the vet.
-The vet was worried by her condition.

6. Change this passive sentence to active:
The dog was treated by the vet while Joanne went home.
-The vet treated the dog while Joanne went home.

7. Change this active sentence to passive:
The vet told Joanne to get out of the house.
-Joanne was told to get out of the house.

8. Change this active sentence to passive:
The telephone call confused Joanne.
-Joanne was confused by the telephone call.

9. Change this active sentence to passive:
The police captured the burglar.
-The burglar was captured by the police.

10. Change this active sentence to passive:
The dog had bitten off his fingers.
-His fingers had been bitten off by the dog.

The Selfish Gene: The replicators

In this chapter Dawkins starts talking about simplicity an how every living thing starts simple and starts getting more complex. This is an obvious statement because throughout live living things experience different changes that make of this a more complex way to live as they evolve. Because of this, Dawkins says that there is a more simple theory way to survive and its the survival of the stable. He says that If anything changes and keeps the same way forever, it will stay that way and "survive". In his text he describes this survival skill as the first one on earth."The earliest form of natural selection was simply a selection of stable forms and a rejection of unstable ones"(pg. 13). This might be a new theory stated by the own author and that really makes a lot of sense. Afterwards, Dawkins talks about the biological part of the genes and how after a long, long time the 'replicator' which is a molecule that can copy itself is created and provides stabilization. This is called primeval soup. He continues telling us about the replication of genes and how these are machines that provide live to our body and mind.

The Selfish Gene: Why are people?

As we start reading the selfish gene by Richard Dawkins, we see how he supports Darwin´s theory of evolution in every aspect in regards to the human being and every living thing. These series of historical theories make the author realize that our genes are always in competition and are what define all human beings. He talks about to very important points that affect the live of every living thing, in both positive and negative aspects. This two important aspects are Altruism and Selfishness.

Evolution is just a theory that we don´t really know for fact if it is true; Just like Dawkins said "Have they discovered evolution jet?" (pg. 1). But we know that there have been outstanding minds over the years that have invented these theories of why we are here, such as Charles Darwin. Darwin talked about the survival of the species, instead Dawkins changed it to the survival of the gene. To explain this he defines these two words. Altruism is the act of risking oneself for the well being of another and selfishness is caring about yourself and no one else. What I think about this is that Depending on the behavior of the gene, we are what we are. It is scietifically proven that your genes make you what oyu are. In this case, It is important to state that the selfish gene may exist because of the survival of his own. Also if it is altruism, it is also selfish do to the fact that you are acting in a selfish way because you are defending your species. It will always be a selfish gene. "Anything that has evolved by natural selection should be selfish"(pg. 4).

Instructions to blog

Instructions:
1. Read the preface, plan your accomplishments, research more deeply your topic to make it helpful
2. Reference and citate your work for further help to relate your topic to other sources. This might be helpful
3. Determine the intended audience. See if your tone, style, level of information and assumptions are appropriate for your topic
4. Determine if your topics are facts, opinions or propaganda
5. Be sure to have many evidence to make your topic real and comprenhensive
6. Make the language objective or emotional. Use a good mix of primary and secondary sources for information
7. Check for accuracy. Is the information recent? Be sure to have good, new information to have accuracy in your topics.
8. Do some cross-checking. Compare with other sources

The Power and the glory: Treason

In this new chapters of the book, we see how the priest has matured and has reallly been interested in changing and being a good priest, no matter if that costs him his life. To refresh our minds, we know that mestizo has found the priest to tell him that the gringo is very ill and that his last dying wish is for a priest to hear his confessions. The priest very devoted to his work, accepts but still has a feeling that mestizo is leading him into a trap that will cost him his life. ""Why do you think me such a fool?" the priest said. "I know why you´ve come. You´re the only one they´ve got who can recognize me, and they can´t follow me into this state"" (pg. 178). I bvelieve the priest in in all his right to doubt about mestizo; he colud be a priest and a very noble man but he sure isn´t a stupid man. Still, they went to the other state, were the priest was completely vulnerable.

They arrived to a little hut were suposedely was the gringo. We see how the priest is filled with nervous impatience because everything could happen in that moment. But at the moment when he enters the hut, he instantly realizes that mestizo isn´t a traitor. "But all the same you needed to be a litle drunk to die. He got to the door - not a sound anywhere; then a voice said, "father". He looked round. The mestizo stood in the clearing with his face contorted: the two fangs jumped and jumped; he looked frightened" (pg. 186). everything was normal then. Something that is very strange is that the gringo didn´t want to tell any confessions to the priest and it seems to be a little trap of mestizo. Indeed, the gringo died and in the moment the lieutenant appears in the door of the barraca. After all the mestizo is a traitor; well thats what I think. They get to talking and they remember the two previous times that they have met. I thought that maybe the lieutenant could be moved by the priest but no, he tells him they have to take him to trial. After a long night storm, the priest is captured by the police and sent to trial.

The Power and the glory:

After crossing the border of a different state, the priest seems to be so relieved and honestly he should be. He has dealed with to much pressure and adrenaline and now he can be secure and without risking his life at every moment. As he arrives he meets two German-Americans protestants that live there; Mr. Lehr and his sister Ms. Lehr. They don´t like to much the catholic faith, but in that town, everybody is happy to have a priest because they didn´t have one for three years and they were eager to have their babies baptized and someone to hear their confessions. ""A church?" The priest ran his hands incredulously over the wall like a blind man trying to recognize a particular house, but he was too tired to feel anything at all. He heard the man with the gun babbling out of sight, "Such an honour father. The bell must be rung..."" (pg. 158-159). As we see the town is completely happy with the arrival of a priest because now they can celebrate their religous traditions.

But these series of fortunate events end when he is leaving to Las Casas. He is getting ready to go when he sees mestizo and he tells him the gringo is dying and his last dying wish is for the priest to hear his confessions. The father knows it´s a very risky act to do but he feels so much pressure of his title as priest that decides to go. This is a new adventure for the Whiskey priest.

The Power and the glory: The story continues

I picked up from the vacation in a part were really didnt say much nothing about what was happening. The priest has just gone out of prison because of a supposedly contraband of alcohol. He was very lucky that the Luetenant did not recognize him, instead he was a very nice guy to him. ""You are getting too old for work". He put his hand suddenly in his pocket and pulled out a five-peso piece. "There", he said. "Get out of here, and don´t let me see your face again. Mind that"". (pg. 140). Here we see that the priest is very lucky or god still loves him and is protecting him from everyone that wants him down. It is strange but maybe later on he gets caught and my perspective of him being protected by god, might change.

As he goes out of jail, the priest heads to the Fellows´place but as he gets there sees that the house has been abandoned. He is in bad shape: hes hungry and theres no food, he has no were to sleep and strangely he doesn´t stay there but what´s more strange is that this house is abandoned and also is the little hut were he stays after being at the fellows´ place. I relate this with his persecution. Maybe the authorities knew that they helped him and this could end up being a tragedy, all becasue of the priests´escape. In his moment an awful thing happens. The priest finds an indian woman with her child and in that same part the child dies. It is an impact to read about this and how poor families are. The child was very sick because of the conditions he lived in. What was worse was that the child had been shot. "He sat down on the ground and said slowly, "It will have to be buried". She understood that, nodding" (pg. 152). The indian woman asked the priest if he could help her burry him. He did and afterwards found a christian place full of crosses. That for me could be a sign for the priest of keeping alive the religion. The priest leaves the lady alone and goes on his way. Here the priest starts feeling a lot of guilt and paranoia. He is know safe because he crosses the border in a state were religion is not outlawed, but still he doesnt feel safe with his soul.

The Power and the Glory: The River

Something that I have found curious in the book is that with a new beggining of a new chapter, the plot, the characters and the setting of the book changes. A new character is introduced. His name is captain Fellows and he is an american in Mexico because he runs the "Central American Banana Company". He seems to be a very happy man and he is proud of running the American company. His life in Mexico seems to be alright. "I don´t like you snouts, O trouts. He was a happy man" (pg. 31). But like every man that is happy, I guess he should have a family, and Captain Fellows had one. Mrs. Fellows and her daughter Coral.

He gets home and finds out that Coral is talking to a police man, which later on we know that is the Lieutenant that is looking for the stranger. After he is gone Coral decides to tell his dad what really is going on. After all the Lieutenant was right of going to talk to Coral because she was hiding the stranger. "He is a priest. I trust you will report at once if he is seen." (PG. 35). Here the religous problem comes into context again. It is really amazing how a thirteen year old like Coral can have the idea and responsability to take care of a man that inspires her trust and above all likes.

Later on we see how this amazing new character takes an important role that permits us understand more about the whisky priest or the stranger. "he had answers as plain and understandable as her questions. He said, "There´s the pain. To choose pain like that - it´s not possible" (pg. 40). We start seeing from another perspective what the stranger is passing through and we start analyzing this ambiguous character. He has been ordered by Captain Fellows to live the barn of his house and he does. He gets to a little village were he find a hut to stay in and mostly of all, to hide. It was a grat event in the village for a priest to appeat because eveyone felt that they had the necessity to confess all of their sins and who better that a priest. "No, father. But it is five years since we have see a priest... it was bound to happen one day" (pg. 43). Here he finds a place to stay and reorganize himself and his thoughts. Later in the book we will see how the priests story ends.

The Power and the glory: The capital

As the second chapter of the book starts, I see a drastic change in the plot and the direction of the book. There is a complete change in setting, characters and even theme of the book because we now are reading about a lieutenant, in a police station. In the context of the book, there is another character that is "el jefe". He tells the lieutenant that there is still priest of the catholic faith, and that this is not permitted and he reacts. " Something you could almost have called horror moved him when he looked at the white muslin dresses" (pg. 22). He seems to have somehting against them and he feels rage to know that there are still priests out there. "And that was easy, the lieutenant thought, easy. Himself he felt no need of women. He said, "We will catch him. It is only a question of time."" (pg. 23). He seems to be desperate for the clandestinity of this so called whisky priest.

As they talk about the Whisky priest and the connection with the boy and her mother, we see another clue of why could the priest be the stranger that was drinking with Mr. Tench. The boy, is very intrigued about what is happening and about the story his mother told him about the persecution of priests. "But the boy - he asks such questions - about the whisky priest. I wish we had never had him in the house." (pg. 27). This gives more power to the movement against religion that the government has. We see a very similar case. The case of Padre Jose. He once was a priest and when the law against them was ordered, he abandoned priesthood and got maried. He is seen as a nameless priest with shame of abandoning what he really believed in. "An old man who married was grotesque enough, but an old priest.... He stood outside himself and wondered whether he was even fit for hell" (pg. 29). This new topics and characters make the story more interesting becasue now I think that the climax will be the inifying of all of this situations. I will be looking forward to it.

The Power and the Glory: The port

The new novel that we started reading in English class until now has been very easy to read. The novel starts by introducing the main character: Mr. Tench. He is an English dentist that lives and works in a little town of Mexico. He seems to be "stuck" in that little town becasue he gives the impression of always being angry and upset with everything that happens there. "A faint feeling of rebellion stirred in Mr. Tench´s heart, and he wrenched up a piece of the road with splintering finger-nails and tossed it feebly towards them" (pg. 7). Here we see how Mr. Tench feels about living in Mexico, everything that happens, not mattering if it´s not bad, bothers him. As we keep on reading, we see how he anxiously waits for the General Obregon, a ship that will sail to Veracruz. I think that is a much better place than the place were he lives right now because he desires to get on that ship. Also becuase there is alot of religous persecution, most of all the one hat goes against the state.

In that moment is were he meets the famous "stranger". He is a guy that realtes with Mr. Tench because they both speak English and decide to go and have a couple of Drinks. They both want to get on the ship. "You´ll have a job not to miss the boat." "I shall miss it," he said. I am meant to miss it." He was shaken by a tiny rage" (pg. 17). We see how the boat is important more for Mr Tench than for the stranger, but later on we see why. As the stranger goes to help the little boy with his sick mother, Mr Tench finds a book that the stranger had left. It seems to be that it has religous content. It all makes sence. He was being persecuded, he helps no matter what consequences and he has a religous book. The stranger might be a priest.

Rhetoric: Ethos, Pathos, Logos in an op-ed article

Ethos: Argument of character

ex: "Mrs. Clinton wouldn't repeat Mr. Gore's foolhardy mistake of running away from her popular husband and his record, even if she could. But almost every answer she gave last Sunday was a rambling and often tedious Gore-like filibuster. Like the former vice president, she often came across as a pontificator and an automaton — in contrast to the personable and humorous person she is known to be off-camera. And she seemed especially evasive when dealing with questions requiring human reflection instead of wonkery."

Pathos: Argument of emotion

ex: "None of this would matter if the only issue were Mrs. Clinton's ability as a performer. Not every president can be Reagan or J.F.K. or, for that matter, Bill Clinton."
"Some 13 months before Election Day, the race's dynamic seems immutable. Americans can't wait to evict the unpopular president and end his disastrous war."

Logos: Argument of logic

ex: "If you buy into the Washington logic that a flawless campaign is one that doesn't make gaffes, never goes off-message and never makes news, then this analysis makes sense. The Clinton machine runs as smoothly and efficiently as a Rolls. "

The Soccer War: The End

The last chapter of the book arrives and not many things are cleared up. In this last blog I just want to resume and share my thoughts regarding Ryzard Kapuscinski. It´s very hard to find people so devoted to their work as him, more likely when your work threatens your life. In many occations we see that Kapuscinski´s life is about to end and he knows. "Suddenly there was an explosion in my forehead, deafining, as if someone had smashed my head with a hammer. Excruciating. I leapt up and started to scream: Scorpion! Scorpion!" (pg. 217). Here, almost at the end of the book, he does not cheat death in war but with nature, and still he keeps on working. Also something that I liked is that there are great historical events that the book talks about. I believe that this is a novel that captures the readrs attention imediately, all because Kapuscinski job was a perfect job, just for someone so devoted to his work as him.

The Soccer War: There will be no paradise

As we know thw writer, he likes to write about wars; a little to much in my opinion which I don´t consider bad, but risky. I say this becasue once more Kapuscinski has gne to another country to be at a war, in this case in Cyprus in a war between turks and greeks. Not mattering that he doesn´t know nothing about Cyprus, he decides to go.

Something very particular from a war is that it may leave people homeless or without a job, and still they are the ones that fight and get killed. "Powerful, massively built peasants with angular heads and black, closely-cropped hair. They are unemployed. The war has cut them off from work and deprived them of their fields" (pg. 206). This is what Kapuscinki is dealing with, and a part that is very funny is the instant that they confuse them and hand him a microphone to talk about the situation. Then we see that in this case, is not like the other wars because o thing Kapuscinski says. " I have seen much misfortune in my life and here I see more" (pg. 207). This is an impact for me because Europe is like the richest continent in earth and in Cyprus is the worst the author has seen. He talks about it´s beautiful views, and landscapes, but this is just a cruel way of living. This war has converted in an unliving hell for everyone. They can´t go out by themselves and everything, at everytime, is dangerous. "The girls cannot walk alone; their mothers or grandmothers accompany them. The cannot look around, because that is in bad taste." (pgs. 211-212). This is the situatuion in Cyprus. Nobody does anything in reagrds to the UN or even its government. It seems to be that there will be no paradise in Cyprus again.

The Soccer War: Silence as a dominant character

As we keep on reading we realize that Kapuscinski does not narrate more of his lifetime stories, like in honduras or in Algeria, but here he dedicates his time to talk about silence and how it affects an intire society. It starts telling us how in some parts, silence is something you need to keep, to stay out of problems. "Each dictator makes a calculated effort to maintain the ideal state of silence, event though somebody is continually trying to violate it! How many victims of silence there are, and at what cost" (pgs. 189-190). Kapuscinki what is trying to tells us is that silence is what keeping in sort of way this wars on going because in some way this is a battle in a country were nobody speaks about it, and problems in prisons, are all about it.
In this part of the book, we see how kapuscinki gives his opinion about many of the things that he has experienced in his life of adventure , and gives it assosiation with the wars that have been leading in the book. He talks about silence, spirits, guerrillas, and the problem of money, that lead to wars. It is completely certain that Kapuscinski has a great connection with war and he knows so much about it that he might like it

The Soccer War: Conflicts in Central America

Starting the chapter "The Soccer War", we see that Kapuscinski is in Mexico and is starting to learn about Central America. With the help of Luis Suarez he starts to understand how conflicts start in Central America and honestly, I did too, and never imagined that people all over America are so brutal and stupid to begin wars for little problems.

The war between El Salvador and Honduras started over a soccer game. "In Latin America, he said, the border between soccer and politics is vague. There is a long list of governments that have fallen or been overthrown after the defeat of the national team" (pg. 159). Just because the two soccer temas of these two nations have had conflicts, This two countries started a war. It´s hard to imagine that a war could have started because of that because know a days we are used to wars being fought over scarce products and power. The author is trapped in this war becasue he wanted to visit many places in Central America and just as he got to Tegucigalpa the war took place. As he experienced this event, he thought he should right about it and inform it to Warsaw, and he did. Here is were he really shows us that his passion of repoting news is so big, that he would risk his life for it. "Excited by the patriotic ambition, I decided, as the only Pole on the scene, to attach myself to the group that intended to make the desperate march" (pg. 168). He continues with the rest of the group just to report to the world what atrocious war Central America was going through.

As they continue, we see several acts that happen at wars from know a days. One thing that Colombians might be aware of is the child abuse that guerrillas perform in war. They poison childrens minds for them to fight and send them as bate. In the book we see when they get a Salvadoran boy as hostage. "A wounded boy arrived in a truck. A Salvadoran. He had taken a bullet in the knee. He was ordered to lie down on the grass. The boy was barefoot, pale, spattered with blood" (pg. 172-173). We see how also in the Salvadoran army they use children to fight for their country. Kapuscinski needs to get to get to Santa Rosa de Copan and in a moment he finds someone to lead his way after being in a heavily fired attack were he almost lost his life. With guts, he decides to continue and send the dispatch to Warsaw.

The Soccer War: Kapuscinski continues traveling

As we keep on reading the book, we see that Ryzard Kapuscinski is the complete opposite person of a hard working business man which deals with problems and "wars" in an office. The author is tired of this work and decides to head for another trip, but this time to Central Asia.

As he returened to Warsaw, he decided to head to Latin America and first stop Santiago de Chile. In this specific part of the book, the author seems to be completely desorientaded and naive becasue he didn´t imagine that this place and situation would be any similar as the one he was living at. "In this way I discovered a world I had never Known it had existed. The Owners of these furnished apartments were aged ladies, widows, divorcèes and old maids in slippers, bonnets and furs" (pg. 149). Its great how he describes this place and how it´s easy to imagine and compare this with europe. It is a developing country and Kapuscinski is completely used to this, but in a more drastic way. He continues to travel all around Latin America and experiences many of latin american culture. "If there is a jungle, it has to be enormous (the Amazon); if there are mountains, they have to be gigantic (the Andes); if there is a plain, it has to be endless (the Pampas); if there is a river, it has to be the biggest (the Amazon)." (pg. 151). He continues to ravel around all of Latin America but still we don´t know what for. It´s intriguing what Kapuscinski might be doing in America. I can´t wait to see.

Audio Clip: Ryzard Kapuscinski

As I heard the audio clip about the writer Ryzard Kapuscinki, I could see that all the things that we have discussed in class, are said in the clip. First of all, I think that Kapuscinski is a very passionate man for society conflicts most of all in Africa. As we see from his friend Lawrence, his most important book or most famous book is The Emperor, a book also about social problems in Africa. His writer friend explains how he disguises everybody in Africa because he is a white man and still nobody notices his prescence. Also when they talk about Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Kapuscinski, and tell us that they were great friends, it´s fun to know and try to compare and contrast his novels. This friendship also may explain why latinoamerican literature has so much to do with Ryzard Kapuscinski and why here he is so important.

The Soccer War: The story goes on

As all the tension passes for the author, he starts explaining and letting us readers know a little about his life. As he arrives to Lagos again, we understand his position and vision of a white man in Africa and also about Africa itself. He feels completely desperated because of ilness and fright of Africa. "I have no strength left to fight the pain, so I ask Warsaw for permission to return" (pg. 137). He has had enough of adventure in Africa and ants to go back to his home, to his country, to Poland.

As kapuscinski leaves Africa, i stop to think in one thing. He might leave but doesn´t him have curiosity of what might happen later on? Maybe his just too freaked out to stay and reveal all the misteries in all of the different countries in Africa. But when he gets to Warsaw, he also finds a "War" for him. '' I have never had a desk, and I have never joined in meetings where people shout into each other´s faces and jump down each other´s throatswith a desk between them. ''(Pg. 146)Also he is not used to be behind a desk, he just likes work were adrenaline is always present, just like in Africa. Its completely understandable that he doesn´t like this kind of work and I can relate it to contemporary reporters. I have seen real life reporters that like very intense experiences to tralk about and certainly Kapuscinski is one of them. "Upon the desk, I have declared a silent war. It is, after all, a specific piece of furniture with particular properties" (pg. 146). It will be very interesting to see what decision would Kapuscinski take, if be present at a civil war were he could get killed or would lonelyness and boredom would "kill" him in his desk.

The Soccer War: The dispute of Power all over Africa

The first chapter ends with Ben Bella´s story and do we know if his story is going to appear again? that´s something that Kapuscinski has kept for himself and later on in the book it may appear. I also think that the disguise that Kapuscinski is doing with Ben Bella´s story will later on come in great portions of suspense and a great development for the book.

As we keep on reading we realize that as the author travels, he starts seeing the really poor and crude part of Africa. After being in Algiers, he flies to Accra and from there he starts a journey through many African Countries. One of them is Dahomey, and he describes the vast poverty that Africa is facing at that time “Dahomey is a poor, underdeveloped country. To lift Dahomey out of poverty will require enormous effort concentrated energy and education. But nobody is even working.” (pg. 123). As we know Africa is still the poorest continent in the whole world, so it is easier for us readers to associate the situation that the narrator is telling us. And most importantly, the author is risking his life. In the moment, Africa is passing through many civil wars because guerrillas such as the FLN in Algeria. In dahomey the situation is different because the goverment is completely divided. "So Dahomey had two presidents, two heads of state. Such a situation cannot go on for long."(pg. 124).
This contradiction in the powerful classes of Africa is hwhat is causing the disturbance and also the civil wars.

Also in this chapter we see how Kapuscinski cheats death becasue this is a very hostile environment and well let´s face it, he seems to be a white guy, with nothing to do in this civil wars of Africa. “I had to experience everything for myself.” (pg. 130) He experienced everything with a lot of apreciation but once he almost got killed for appreciating a lot. “I wanted to live, but life was abandoning me. I wanted to live, but I did not know how to defend my life. My life was going to end in inhuman torment.”(pg. 134). This happens when in Nigeria they almost end his life in flames. Here we see how military movements like UPGA try to cause terror or send messages of power by killing people. This is what the lack of demanding power is doing to Africa, it´s tearing apart it´s country, it´s culture.

The Soccer War: Algeria hides it´s face

As I started reading, many things went to my mind about the book. First of all, i´m learning a big amount of African culture, specifically Algerian culture. The books starts telling us that Ahmed Ben Bella, the president of Algeria, was overthrown on June 16th, 1965. That introduction is completely catching my atention because i want to just keep on reading. As the book explains Ben Bella i see he lacks of presidential "requierements". "In fact, Ben Bella had an uneven nature. Everything about him was fluid, uncoordinated, contradictory. He was a seething element, electrified, one that could not be confined". (pg. 95-96)

Also we see that he was sort of a hyperactive and impulsive person that in a moment of rage or temper we would not care of what he was saying. "When excited, he would let words fly, unchecked, unconsidered, and then make irrational decisions That he would have to disown next morning" (pg. 96). This qoute explains us maybe why the only good place in Algeria is Algiers. I think that the socialism thought that Ben Bella had, could have been the answer to the rural part of Algeria that is nine tenths of all the country but he needed more knowledge of managing his power. This is also why I think that he was overthrown by Boumedienne, because of his military power and desire, he might think that the solution was by the military way.

Despite his great closeness with Boumedienne, to gain power of the country in 1962, he was betrayed but still we dont know what´s the deal with Ben Bella. "There were problems that still needed to be solved: the millions of unemployed, the rural poverty, the confusion in the private sector, the lack of expertise, the gap between what the goverment said it would do for the country and it´s actual state, the deficit" (pg. 109). Not mattering what Ben Bella had done to the country there were also negative aspects of his period of ruling. This first chapter explains how Ben Bella had controled everything in the country now I hope to read fast why was he overthrowed and most importantly, betrayed.

The Stranger: The End

The book is now finishing and really i feel frustrated because of the main character. As i said in my more recent blog, i really thought that Monsieur Meursault was starting to change in a way were he´d start caring for others, from now on. This is were i notice a very rare characteristic in Meursault. He would start expressing his feelings from the moment he realized to the future but never would he look to the past regreting anything so this might be a false way of showing his feelings and really not regreting anything.
As soon as he knows that he will be murdered by choping his head off, i realized and fet that there was kind of a temerous feeling inside him and really i think is completely human to feel it, even Meursault. ''That is why I ended up sleeping only a little bit...the hardest time was the uncertain hour when I knew they they usually set to work''(pg.113). He starts to feel a lot od fear and suddenly he realizes that it is completely normal to feel the way he is feeling. '' I remember feeling a little disgusted by him at that time. But now I understood, it was perfectly normal"( Pg.110). This is were I see what Meursault does in the entire book, he soes it again. He does not want anybody to see that he is nervous and frightened so he seems not to care about his death sentence but im sure he does care. It is typical of him to do that. This i can relate it not with death presently because sentence of death is not that common now a days but people are frightened of losing there jobs, loves etc... and for them not to look "small" the trust completely in their pride and really think that would take them some place. At the final moment of his life he realizes that he doesnt know himself at all but only wishes that some people might get happy with his death. "I felt ready to live it all again too. As of that blind rage has washed me clean, rid of me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifferece of the world. Finding it so much like myself, so like a brother, really, I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again."(Pg.122-123.)Cruedly this is how the book the stranger ends, sombody hoping that their murder might make happy other lives.

The Stranger: Feelings

As we know Meurssault is still in jail because of the Arab´s murder. But at this part of the book something that personaly didnt believe that was possible happens. Meursalut is completely alone in jail so here he has time to think of the meaning of his life and of what he has done with it. He even starts to talk alone and here he realizes how lonely he is. What I think is Meursault´s problem is that he does not want to get hurt by nobody and therefore demonstrates to the society that he doesnt care of nothing at all. Theres an example y was thinking about that supports completely my statement. "Nevertheless I answered that I had pretty much lost the habit of analyzing myself and that it was hard for me to tell him what he wanted to know" (pg.65). Here Meursault is being asked by the attourney about his feeling towards his mother but he still wont show anybody that he cares for other people. Also when he has a new nickname: "Meusieur Antichrist" because he denies god and says that he wont believe in him. This is what meursault is trying to make belive the other characters of the book but us as readers we see that Meursault is experiencing change in his life. Who would´ve thinked that jail, something that at the beggining when meursault just entered, would make the main character change the way I think he is changing. Its good that he starts to get feeling for other people and also for him.

The stranger: A Murderer

Im completely amazed. it´s just so awkard and bizarre!! Well if you don´t know why I´m freaking out is because Monsieur Meursault ended up being a killer, not only a person without feelings but a killer! In the second part of the book we see all the suspense of when Monsieur Muersault kills the Arab. The consequences that he had to deal with were going to jail. Here is were i realized that Monsieur Meursault doesnt have a meaning for life. He just didn´t think it was a big deal. "Then he wanted to know if I had hired an ottorney. I admited I hadn't and inquired whether it was really necessary to have one.....I thought my case was pretty simple"(pg 63). Is he going to change in some part of the book. I see it in a very realistic and normal way and think that a person with that sort of attitude and lack of feelings, will never change or will never try to change. Nevertheless Meursault does show some kind of feeling towards the man he killed, but not in a very special way. "He simply asked in the same weary tone, if I was sorry for what I had done. I thought about it for a minute and said that more than sorry I felt annoyed."(pg.) Talking in the court he seems to be so calm and without worries that still makes me think he will never change. In my personal opinion, jail is one of the worst places in tho whole world but we know for Meusieur Meursault there is nothing in the world.

The Stranger: the middle

As we read further in the book, we see how not even the intimacy with another person makes monsieur Meursault change. Since he moment he knew Marie, i started thinking that it would´ve been a good chance for him to start feeling and caring about other people, or things, but he sure didn´t. "She asked me if I loved her. I told her it didn´t mean anything but that I didn´t think so". Here we can see how Meursault rejects in an awful and cruel way, the feeling that Marie has for him. Here we see how Meursault doesnt care about anything or anyone in a very intense way. What I think about this event is that Meursault might start feeling but he doesnt want to because he fears that he might suffer. He prefers to keep a low profile with no expectations of anything or anyone. One thing that I realized in this part of the book is that Monsieur Meursault is proposed alot of things that could change his life drastically. One of them is the work in Paris that his boss offers to him. The other one is when Marie proposes to him for marriage. It a nice opportunity to start feeling and most important, living.

The Stranger: Dealing with Problems

As I kept on reading, Monsieur Meursault has kept the same identity which we saw at the beggining of the book. In chapters 2-4, we can see how Meursault´s environment changes but he still keeps his monotonous life an nothing in him changes. He meets a women that in some way makes him "feel", something that he is not very in touch with. They go together to the movies and start dating. My opinion about this event is that the insensitive part of Monsieur Meursault needs to have a role in his life, and for me an excellent way to do it is being with a women and trying to feel something like love. I believe this drastic change in his life, won´t work out well, because love is a very strong feeling and you just can´t force it.
Later on I got really confused of what were Monsieur Meursault´s expectatives towards this woman he met. If you analyze deeply the part were his neighbor Raymond invites him to his house and talks about his wife, you´ll see how his actions are not coherent with what he thinks. I think this because As they talk about His neighbors wife, I could realize what is their projections towards women. They talk about women in a rough and rudimentary way, like if they didnt matter at all. For them is completely normal to beat women and treat them inferiorly. For me this is a huge problem for both women and Monsieur Meursault because this discrimination is very affective in a persons life and for Monsieur Meursault this search for feelings might affect his way of life, but really it´s now being affected.

The Stranger: Beggining

As a read though the first pages of this book, I came up with many ideas and associations from the real life. In the beggining we see how Monsieur Meursault´s life is so vague and monotonous. He seems not to worry nothing about his dead mother that really, is everything that is left for him in the world. His concerns about his life are none, the only thing I figured out that he might worry about, is his job. Here I connected this event of the book with many people that are completely devoted to their work, nothing else matters for them. The fact that Monsieur Meursault is the narrator helps us see his feeling towards the most important event in this chapter, that is his mothers death. I feel that he does not really care about it, he just goes on with his life. For me this might be a great concern later on in the book, because this impediment of feelings might have serious causes in his life.

Hello, this blog was specially made for reading related activities. Here we will discuss english literature with the books given to us in the english class. I hope you enjoy the discussions.

santiago