Blog Reflection... final post of the year!

When I first created my blog, I chose the name "Stories Are Light" because this was a line from one of my all time favorite books, The Tale of Despereaux  by Kate DiCamillo. My mom read this book to me a couple years ago, and every night we would read a couple chapters, and talk about the book-- something we haven't done together in a really long time. Keeping this blog made me motivated about reading, and really encouraged me to think deeper and push myself as much as I could. 
Keeping a blog throughout the year has been a really interesting experience and forced me to really understand and analyze the books I read. In the past, I realized that as a reader I don't always pay as much attention to my books as a should. Before this year, sometimes I would read a chapter and have no idea what had happened and not had the attention or motivation to go back and reread. But this year books have really come alive to me, and I've felt this amazing feeling of wanting to read and just sit down with my book instead of watching TV or something else. This experience has benefited me so much because I have learned to care about what I'm reading-- about the characters, the writing stye, the plot arch, etc. Through this blog I have appreciated and enjoyed books like never before, and that skill of being able to read challenging books and still think deeply about them is so important for high school and the rest of my life.
I think that writing online allows us to edit our work, and make it sound just the way we want to. In this way, sometimes people online can be very fake. This doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing in my opinion; sometimes it can be great to be fake! :) Sometimes being able to not be yourself and to project who you want to be can be an outlet or an opportunity for you to thrive. But I do think that sometimes this can be negative, and sometimes people abuse the freedom that being online gives you. Just because you can be fake doesn't mean you should. People a lot of the times form relationships over an online site like Facebook and say things that they wouldn't have the courage to say to someone's face. That again can be good and bad, because maybe you're less shy online, but having a friendship strictly through text or Facebook is unhealthy and wrong, because you really don't know that person the way you should know a true friend. 
I could see myself blogging on this blog in the future-- maybe a little less frequently though. I definitely can see myself writing a post after I finish a book, just to make sure I was paying attention and actually thinking about what I was reading. I don't really see myself as having a blog when I grow up-- one where I just put my opinions out. For me, I don't completely feel comfortable letting anybody in the world hear what I have to say. Maybe if I become really passionate about one particular topic…
Overall, although I would sometimes dread every other Thursday night where I knew I would have to be writing a post, it was a good experience. Around January I really started to not mind the constant posts, and it became so natural writing them. I was worried less about making them perfect, and focused more on saying the most intelligent thoughts and ideas I could. This has been a great experience, and I do think some people are going to take this experience and become big bloggers when they grow up (it's a great way to express yourself and let other people make connections to you)… but I don't think I could create a lifestyle of blogging. 

The Matrix-- What it means to be living

       The Matrix, directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski, is a mind-bending, science fiction film, exploring the ideas of a world within a world. The main character is a man named Thomas, who during the day is an average guy, but at night, takes on another character of Neo, a computer hacker. Neo is tracked down by Morpheus, a legendary computer hacker who is wanted by the government (the agents). Morpheus introduces Neo to the reality of the life he is living; a destroyed world where humans are simply part of a machine-- the matrix-- that lives off of energy supplied by humans. Throughout the movie, questions of reality -- actually living vs. being part of a computer program-- come up frequently, and the idea of what is means to be alive guides the movie. 
        This movie connects to our philosophy study of what is a person, and what our body and mind actually are and do. The whole set up of the movie is a time when our world has been destroyed, and we (as humans) are living in a machine called the matrix in which we supply energy to keep it going. As I was watching this, I found myself baffled at this whole idea of this lifestyle. I questioned whether you could actually call this living. 
       Chapter 13 from Philosophy for Dummies is labeled, "What is a Person?". In this chapter it states, "If you believe that all that exists is matter, then you'll naturally believe we are nothing but matter." I guess from reading this, you could say that yes, living within a machine is living, because we are matter within that machine. But the next part of that section says, "If you think that all is mental, you'll believe that we human beings are all fundamentally nonmaterial minds." In this case, it takes a little more than simply being matter to be classified as a living person.
       I personally agree more with the second part. I think being programmed into a machine and not really having any control of yourself is not real living. I think it's more about your mind, and your abilities to think and feel and speak for yourself-- for what you believe; not what some computer program is telling you to. It's crazy, this idea that we could be living our lives within a machine and have no idea whatsoever. But I think we can't let ourselves think that way, because as far as we know now as people, we are living. We have the capability to say what we want, and feel what we want. Our minds and bodies are who we are. The Matrix is a movie that makes your head hurt, trying to wrap your mind around what it is suggesting about a possible form of human race. But when you really see the difference between living and just being part of the system, is when Neo is taken out of the Matrix, and isn't plugged into any machines or having formulas programmed into his mind. He is simply living, and breathing, and thinking. He is more than just a piece of matter when he is out of the matrix. He is a human being. 

The Great Gatsby: Truth and Justice

       In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the characters are so wrapped up in their heads, consumed by the ideas of wealth and luxury, and often times choose the "socially acceptable" choice, over the emotionally fulfilling one. Daisy and Gatsby are both extremely complex characters who are lying to themselves and to each other. Daisy hides her emotions, and chooses the life path that will create the least damage, even if it means being unhappy. Gatsby, on the other hand, is this mysterious man, who even by the end of the book, I still feel like there's more to learn about him. Who is Gatsby? That is a question that comes up very often. There's a lot more to him then what's on the surface-- or what he allows to be on the surface. This book shows the difference between appearance and true self, and what the value of truth and justice is.                          
       What it means to be honest to yourself and to others is an idea that is carried throughout the story. Most of the characters, with the exception of Nick, are liars. They lie about their affairs, they lie about their emotions, and they lie about their past. Is lying ever okay? I think there is a difference between lying about emotions and lying about facts. Tom was cheating on Daisy with Myrtle-- that was a fact. That was not okay to lie about. That was not something he was allowed to simply keep from her. But with Daisy and Gatsby, the lies become more complicated. Daisy is living her life in a lie. Her emotions and feelings for Tom are far from genuine. She is miserable, and finds happiness only when she reunites with Gatsby. But she throws it away for wealth, and stability. She takes the "safe" route. She lies to herself, and I think that kind of lying, even though it may not be right, is acceptable-- as long as it's only directly hurting yourself.
       This leads me to think about this difference between right and okay (or acceptable). Just because something is wrong doesn't mean it's not okay, and just because something is right doesn't mean it is okay. The difference between morally right and emotionally right is big in my opinion. 
       Another big concept in the book is the idea of justice. At the end, Tom (who is the one of the more intolerable, "bad" characters) has no punishment whatsoever for his actions. His actions of both cheating on Daisy, as well as being a rich, stuck up jerk to Gatsby goes without consequences. Gatsby however, has a less than simple ending, and gets (certainly) not what he deserves. He is unfairly accused and punished (in the most severe way possible) for something he didn't even do. This makes me think about justice in our world. Is there justice? Are people fairly prosecuted for the things they do? I think justice can be defined as many different things depending on the situation you are in, so it's hard to define it as a whole. Although technically there is a dictionary definition, I don't think there should be a universal definition of justice that you can apply to anything. Because fair can mean a lot of different things, and have a lot of different levels to it. 
       Overall, The Great Gatsby explores many philosophical concepts, revolving around truth and wealth and justice. Truth and justice connect in both the book and in our lives, because evidentially it's truth that creates the issue of whether justice is being served or not. Without truth and lies, we wouldn't have much to measure justice based off of. The Great Gatsby shows how unfair the world we live in is, and people don't always get what they deserve. A lot of the time, the rich do come out ahead, because they are able to manipulate and lie their way out of trouble, whereas others don't have that opportunity. This was an amazing book which was thought provoking and opened my eyes up to the realities of the world we live in, the flaws it has, but the improvements and long way we have come since the time The Great Gatsby takes place in.