Midsummer's Night Nostalgia

Midsummer’s Night Nostalgia

I remember once; The softness of the grass, the whistling of the chivalrous wind, waltzing with Mom’s hair. The light shining against the warmth of her eyes, the ochre shade of a fresh pot of coffee, inviting me over. Like the great wings of eagles, her arms swoop swiftly around me. Eyes glued to the sky, we sit huddled upon the Earth’s silken blanket, silently waiting for the thunder of Prometheus’s fire that sets the sky ablaze every Fourth of July. Boom boom! Go the launchers, far off in the distance where not a soul can hear the Boom boom! of the blooming effervescence that struggles to erupt from my chest. Pop pop pop. Go the golden drops of celestial rain that dive gracefully from the sky like the first rays of epiphany and enlightenment. Pop pop pop. Go my eyes, wide and round as a baby owl’s, ready to take its first flight.

Badum badum. Go the luminous explosions, harmonizing with the beat of the soldiers of freedom and their rhythmic drums, marching through the immaturity of my mind liberating each thought, each dream, that lays entangled within. Crackle crackle. Go the swirls of light that gloss over my small, ever-brightening body. The euphonious symphony of sounds serenades me, as I break free from Mom’s suddenly suffocating embrace. Then silence. My tongue still tingling with the stimulating flavor of the extraordinary dark ocean of the night sky that Boom boom’s and pop pop pop’s, breathing its dulcet drops of freedom and maturity, penetrating the deepest parts of me. I remember once; childhood. Ephemeral as the bursting flames Of a firework, sinking into the vast canvas of the ocean’s stygian waters.

Amir and Baba's Relationship

When Amir visits Rahim Khan in Pakistan, he is told that Hassan is actually his half-brother, making Baba Hassan's real father.  This image relates to Amir's changing feelings about his father.  Amir has looked up to Baba throughout his life as a full-grown, leafy tree, yet after learning about the sins Baba committed, Amir sees Baba as more of a sparse, hollow tree.  The shadow covering most of the tree illustrates the overwhelming guilt that both Amir and Baba have experienced throughout their lives.  The sunlit top of the tree represents the light that Amir sees when he realizes that his father, in the end, remained a good person as he constantly attempted to redeem himself for his sins by performing acts of good such as the building of the orphanage.  The tree itself represents the phases of Amir's life and his transition from shadow to sunlight as he gains understanding.  

South Africa: Power Through Sexual Violence

“There’s a stranger in my bed”, sings popular idol Katy Perry in her song Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).  Most people in the United States would find this situation ludicrous, but for Pearl Mali, a 16-year-old South African girl, these lyrics are a reality.  From the age of 12, she had been a victim of daily rape by an elderly man her mother brought home to cure her homosexuality before being thrown out onto the streets for being “hopeless” (Carter) .  Women and homosexuals like Pearl are preyed upon by the dominant, straight males as a result of the South African government’s homophobic and misogynistic foundations, leading to increased incidents of rape and sexual violence.

In South Africa, there is no tolerance for L.G.B.T., and many homosexuals and transgenders are often subject to corrective rape, a form of sexual violence used to cure the victim of their sexual orientation (Carter).  Homosexuality is painted as a sin in the Christian nation, but it does not stop there- in society, all women are perceived as weak due to the majority of acts of sexual violence being aimed towards them (Mauriss).  This allows men to take advantage of the “weaker” women, often resulting in rapes.  Men can even legally treat their wives as property through the traditional practice of lebola, in which men negotiate prices for their brides (Turner).  This serves to further increase male-chauvinism while lowering the status of women and the odds of female empowerment against sexual violence.  With the estimate that one woman is raped every 26 seconds (Turner), rape and sexual violence rates are revealed to be quickly escalating within the country as a result of society’s beliefs.

In fact, South Africa currently holds the world’s highest rape rates with 74,400 people expected to be sexually assaulted in the month of August alone (Mauriss).  What accounts for these record-high rates?  The South African government refuses to acknowledge the problem, and 2008 president Thabo Mbeki accused activists of perpetuating the racist notion that African men are “rampant sexual beasts” (The Economist).  As a country that has only recently overcome their racist history, the government has become more focused on preventing racism than any other issues, allowing incidents of sexual violence to be ignored.  Furthermore, according to the scholarly journal, The Lancet, only 14% of reported rape perpetrators will be convicted (Turner).  Victims cannot even trust the police, as 1,400 serving police officers, or about one in 100, have a criminal record, many previous rapists (Turner).  Without the government’s aid, victims feel hopeless enough that they believe reporting rape to be a waste of time, decreasing awareness of the extensive problem.  With a society founded on the focus of males gaining and consolidating power (Mauriss), societal values teach men to seek to establish their dominance while suppressing others through acts of sexual violence.

Although rape is a problem shared by every country, none have experienced it on the level of South Africa.  However, in recent years, the country has attempted to take steps to fix the problem.  A general lack of access to information and services has led to the development of new education programs targeting the young (Turner).  In addition, anti-rape campaigns have been launched throughout the country (Turner), yet only time will tell if they will successfully obviate the issue.  Until then, teens like Pearl will continue to tell their stories to those who will listen, patiently waiting for the day they will finally be welcomed home.  

Works Cited

Carter, Claire. "The Brutality of ‘Corrective Rape’." The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 July 2013. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

"IIP Digital | U.S. Department of State." New Aid for Rape Victims. 03 June 2011. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

Mauriss, Samantha. "Washington State University." Spring 2015 Sexual Violence in South Africa A Form of Government Power Comments. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.

"The new face of AIDS; Women and HIV." The Economist [US] 27 Nov. 2004: 82(US). Global Issues In Context. Web. 4 Mar. 2016.

"The problem of rape in Africa; South Africa, in particular, is almost alone in the sheer numbers of rapists there." Spectator[Hamilton, Ontario] 17 Sept. 2013: A13. Global Issues In Context. Web. 4 Mar. 2016.

Turner, Mariel. "Speak Out: An In-Depth Look at Rape in South Africa." Medill Reports Chicago. 06 Apr. 2015. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.

老人的肚子

老人的肚子

“Being so thin, he didn’t actually have a stomach at all, just wrinkled skin forming innumerable tiny folds on his abdomen. When he began to sing the wrinkles billowed out, forming little waves that rippled across his tanned and gleaming. The band of plaited straw that served as his belt began to undulate too. Every now and then, it disappeared into a roll of skin, but just as seemed lost forever in the tidal flow it re-emerged, dignified and pristine. A magical waistband.” (73)

“The old miller smiled too, and went on singing while the skin eddied across his stomach. Luo and I rolled over the ground in a paroxysm of hilarity.” (74)

Thesis: Sijie uses the symbol of the old miller’s stomach to emphasize the point that part of growing up includes letting go of vanity and other hardships. The old man is wrinkled, small, thin, and he sucks on pebbles and sings crude songs in his spare time, but he is one of the happiest people in the story. Therefore, he has fulfilled his life and made the most of it, which is part of growing up. One cannot truly be an adult until they are free from life’s hardships and desires, which is exactly what the stomach represents.

By Sarah, Izzy, Carissa, Lauren

Tao Haikus

Be like the river

Adventure through life’s path

Be ready for death

Be like a flower

Observe beauty around you

The green world beckons

Be small like the mouse

For large lions can be trapped

Within their own strength

Is Your Memory Lying to You?

https://infograph.venngage.com/publish/71038f0f-8459-4ec5-942a-886b0f306963