Mao Tse-Tung • Problems of Strategy in China’s Revolutionary War

June 24 2012

How the wicked sposed to feel him?

When I’m saying Stop treating young gods as villians?

My shit prolly been in the Louvre –

not a pot to piss in

this aint rap, boy –

it’s ganja spillin

the whole uh Rasta wittim

Y con muchas swollen nalgas oggalinim

what he doin on a rhythm

what he do without a rhythm

what he do with girlfriends

what he do without a woman

The drugs?

They have affected me m-moderately.

You know what?

That don’t change that God has sent me.

What? N.O. Part II

Lots of our budget problems are locked in, principal light AND long term. Terrible agreements reached in a more chummy time, obviously.

We need our budgets written right, right now. We need NO open-amount government contracts. All of these must be renegotiated to determine the sustainability of the produced good or offered service, and to examine the real tenability of the arrangement itself.

At present, there can be NO wasted dollars. Domestic needs require and demand compliance from manufacturers, especially fabricators of machinery and infrastructure.

Companies do sometimes devote significant proceeds to outreach. It is fast becoming a matter of corporate[‘]s ethics.

Given this, in the quagmire we’re in, why aren’t we admitting our responsibility to each other?

Earnings reports from NRG companies are billions a quarter.

 

There is a tremendous amount of encouraging news of cities and municipalities all over the country – and especially west of the Mississippi – launching thrilling new endeavors using resources innovative and traditionally.

Without having researched the arrangement, I recall reading that the community around Lambeau have an ownership stake in the Green Bay Packers.

It’s always impressed me. I firmly believe the next professional sports franchise ANYONE sells should be offered first to the community. It’s such a common sense decision, truly rich in opportunity.

With as heroic as our athletes have been over the last few years – the university and college student athlete out in front of the pack – it only becomes easier to foster the trust it takes for a city to thrive.

Ways of aggregating our buying power as energy users can keep us from having the next cable pricefixing scandal.

 

What part of N.O. didn’t you understand? (Part I)

5 years ago, I wrote, published and publicized “An Open Letter to Barack Obama.”

5 years later…

Our process-engaged citizens seem, again, locked in

election’s monogamous 2-headed embrace.

 

Living legends have long lain out leader roads and ways that last,

culled from life.

 

Change of course so central to a new direction, there are several I would set out

right now.

It’s always upset me when people shit in the spinach OR the Taco Bell Chalupa.

We can accept NO ingredients which are a product of gene modification in the food supply of humanity, with an effort to removing it from the domestic diet.

This would include a fundamental reassessment of the use of national yields. Right now: corn.

Numbers range estimating three-fourths to eighty eight percent of domestic corn is genetically engineered.

The price of gas rises and rises.

When we look at matters honestly, we don’t want to eat food that’s been tinkered with.

We needn’t argue sustainability’s merits. Only sustainable buildings keep standing.

I bet it works, this idea I had:

Dedicate those crops for energy. People don’t want to eat that junk.

Another nonsustainable practice is drilling holes in the ground for industrial appetites.

(More on that later)

Our banks, accounts and entire cities are going broke all over the world.

Lots of our budget problems are locked in, principal light AND long term. Terrible agreements reached in a more chummy time, obviously.

We need our budgets written right, right now. We need NO open-amount government contracts. All of these must be renegotiated to determine the sustainability of the produced good or offered service, and to examine the real tenability of the arrangement itself.

At present, there can be NO wasted dollars. Domestic needs require and demand compliance from manufacturers, especially fabricators of machinery and infrastructure.

Companies do sometimes devote significant proceeds to outreach. It is fast becoming a matter of corporates ethics.

Given this, in the quagmire we’re in, why aren’t we admitting our responsibility to each other?

Earnings reports from NRG companies are billions a quarter.

It’s Logic, As Long As It’s Nobody That From My Clique – Logic Exercise

Rights, by logic.

I was very solitary in my anti-war stance after the Twin Towers fell.

But, my point then…

(And aint it funny how some conversations are easier alone?)

Can, should,
Does bad move you?

Does bad done to you imbue you with rights?

Does evil give you rights?

And if it has,

What does “bad”, “wrong” allow you to do?

That you couldn’t do before?

Which is really saying…

how do YOU interpret

bad, and bad times?

Did they convert you?

Is it a new way of life?

That, yes, you were taught?

That yes, you can reject.

Fuck that,

every drop of aid,

every kind man child and vegetable

Come home.

Somebody hit a building here,

and we built this bitch!

COME HOME. We sick. That simple.

Take care of ours, and the next bomb, they fuckin too hard.

We here in school.

I know somebody don’t like that, but I aint got time for you…

homework.

It’s Logic, As Long As It’s Nobody That From My Clique – Logic Exercise

Rights, by logic.

I was very solitary in my anti-war stance after the Twin Towers fell.

But, my point then…

(And aint it funny how some conversations are easier alone?)

Can, should,
Does bad move you?

Does bad done to you imbue you with rights?

Does evil give you rights?

And if it has,

What does “bad”, “wrong” allow you to do?

That you couldn’t do before?

Which is really saying…

how do YOU interpret

bad, and bad times?

Did they convert you?

Is it a new way of life?

That, yes, you were taught?

That yes, you can reject.

Fuck that,

every drop of aid,

every kind man child and vegetable

Come home.

Somebody hit a building here,

and we built this bitch!

COME HOME. We sick. That simple.

Take care of ours, and the next bomb, they fuckin too hard.

We here in school.

I know somebody don’t like that, but I aint got time for you…

homework.

Old Assignment I did for RST535

This is stuff which might be food for people. Cites a book i’ve found difficult to place.

This is where I saw a word I ainno I knew: theodicies. Probably an industry term, or McGuire’s coinage – def woulda been from the chapter, and lock in with the text. Helps cite inside the work to an extent – 30-40 pg chapters these.

Done in 2 sessions. Long story- if there are fontoddities.

Yes, I wrote those sentences. That aint surveillance – working with the text I was given, clearly inspired to great work, and i’d gotten better with it. (I just put my hand up like manny ramirez hit a rbi double in front of me readin one of these!)

I’m in a LIBRARY!

Sound!

God is great.

Enjoy, I hope.

May 25 2010

How does religion support the status quo?

    Simply by its nature religion is conservative. The traditions, beliefs, and rituals upheld by a faith’s adherents preserve the past. Once religious practices or allegiance to symbols are tied to the approval, protection or love of a Higher Power, they will be very difficult to change.

    Social scientists like Karl Marx and Max Weber have also postulated ways in which faith furthers the status quo.

A classic Marxian analysis would contend that religion and religious ideology are nothing more than tools of the dominant class to protect their material interests.

Marx believed that the religious experience was the projection and misattribution of our needs and wants. Religious fervor served to keep the workers of the world in chains by dulling the sharp pangs of hunger which might spur them to demand economic justice.

Weber showed how theodicies, like the Hindu concept of reincarnation, could work to preserve social strata by linking acceptance of the caste system and one’s “lot in life” with the disposition of lives to come.

Unlike Marx, Weber made a distinction between stratification due to economic considerations and lifestyle or prestige differences.

While this does allow for more flexibility in analyzing modern movements which may not overtly coalesce to further their own economic interests, by seeking “power-over” in the political arena – especially when, like the example of the “New Christian Right” offered by McGuire, presenting a vision which is not pluralistic – the distinction need not even be made.

To my eyes, it remains an attempt to control and subjugate others which has no long-term viability.

    Religions can, of course, can also directly legitimate the status quo.

There can be collusion between corrupt parties, with a mutual game of manipulation being played. Machiavelli even advised rulers to support the religious institutions and rituals of their nation for the express purpose of social control and cohesion.

Religious figures, using God’s name, have legitimated slavery, imperialism, war, segregation and antiunionism.

In fairness, however, there were doubtlessly some clerics of conscience during these epochs in human history.

How is religion a potent force for social control?

    There are several important ways in which religion contributes to social control.

The judgment of the group to which an individual belongs alone does a great deal to keep human [beings] in well defined roles.

This opprobrium is often all it takes to control individuals.

    I can speak from personal experience.

Raised a Jehovah’s Witness, there were sometimes people with whom my family or I were close who were disfellowshipped by the governing body of the faith.

We could not speak with the individuals, though we never told as a congregation what the offense was.

    Once, a great friend of our family was disfellowshipped. I was told she played Lotto. This unbelievably sweet woman, a Dominican national named Mercedes Garcia (may she rest in peace), would still bring my mother gifts from her trips home. Our doorbell would ring, and on the doorstep were plantains, assorted tubers and candies. She would call our house and not speak. Mercedes loved my mother dearly, and she respected the rules of our religion so much she dared not speak her love. It is truly a tragic story, one which illustrates the powerful effect religion can have over its adherents.

    As we look at the issue more closely, we come to see that religion can often be a more powerful way to reinforce social control than the authority society wields because the control reinforced by the spiritual tradition becomes an independent internal mechanism moving its subjects toward socially acceptable behavior and away from behavior which, whether or not it is socially proscribed, is often well within the lines of societal stricture.
   

How does religion promote social change?

    The classic example of how religion promotes social change is the American civil rights movement, spearheaded by the religious leaders of the SCLC, chief among them the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The prophetic vision which McGuire describes in Chapter 6 (7?) was brought to bear on America’s archaic policy of segregation.

Especially through the use the doctrine of nonviolence, the masses of people fighting segregation demonstrated a superior moral character which ultimately won the day.

    The example of the Indian lawyer turned man of God, Mohandas K. Gandhi, is another excellent case study of religion forcing social change.

Gandhi often spoke of “noncooperation with evil”, and their peaceful actions, including strikes and economic withdrawal from imperialist industries (like the boycott of English dyes), were the major contributors to India gaining independence from the United Kingdom.

    Even the Muslim leader, Malcolm X, transformed many lives with his message of empowerment and social freedom for American blacks.

Tragically, all 3 of these leaders paid for their selfless work with their lives at the hands of assassins.

Their lives, however, continue to be a shining example of the ability to transform society within the religious framework.

What are some of the factors shaping the interrelationship of religion and social change?

    I did not get this far in the chapter (I was writing as I went). This question, while I could offer an answer, would not be “using McGuire”, as requested.

    I’ll say this: While I am not a Jehovah’s Witness, I admit that their belief that this system of things is hopelessly corrupt continues to resonate with me to this day.

At the same time, I put nothing past our incredible species.

Without some acknowledgement of our interdependence and deserved equal protection, we will continue to benefit some at the expense of most.

I am very, very grateful for all the blessings and opportunities available to me as an American citizen.

Still, we must develop a global awareness to move our shared experience of life to a “higher octave.”

I cannot argue some religion’s determination to separate themselves from what can seem such an unjust society, wherever that society may rule.

To me, whatever mode of thinking makes one a more loving, accepting, forgiving and inclusive person is wonderful.

May we all come together, under God or just the Lord’s blue, blue sky.

A.S.F.S.: About Statistics, For Statistics

 

Alberto Rivera

Statistics

I.M. Klahr

March 24, 2010

The Art of Sampling

 

Over the course of this semester, I have grown a lot. Life has a wondrous way of forcing growth. As I look over the last couple of months, there have certainly been lessons I have picked up from my experience in Statistics with Professor Klahr. My attitudes regarding several matters have changed, shifted and even transformed as a result of taking this class. Please allow me to share some.

One very important lesson I have learned is to defer to the instructor’s wishes as pertains to formats for submission of assignments. Professor Klahr asks that students e-mail the assignment in Word 97-03 format, and bring 2 hard copies to class. After finishing an assignment late one night, I said to myself, “Ah, what’s all this for? I’m just bringing the hard copies!” My attack of willfulness did not serve. I was unable to submit the assignment the next day in person, and ended up being marked as having submitted 2 late assignments.

This experience highlights 3 qualities which I continue to work to develop: respect, courtesy and trust. It is important to respect that we are full grown people with entire lives and communities to attend to. Especially as we advance in age, technology becomes an invaluable aid, helping us meet our obligations and continue to live our lives. Beyond that fact, it is also just plain nice to do what is asked of you, when possible. Also, of course, Professor Klahr has done this before, too. He has taught Statistics here at DC 37 for a while, it seems. It does not hurt to trust that there may be a method to his mathness.

Another area where my attitude has changed is with eating in class. I was often hesitant to bring food to class, not wanting to disturb others, or tantalize them with exotic scents and spices. I feared upsetting the balance of food for tummy and food for thought. However, Mr. Klahr always brings sweets, juices, or thinly sliced cakes for us to enjoy. The wall between these 2 forms of sustenance has fallen. All my senses are atwitter as I sit in class. This is a revelation and a joy.

I can also say that my attitude towards 86 year olds, too, has changed. Professor Klahr is an impressive octogenarian, feisty and full of vim and vigor. I see another 30 years of selfless teaching and timekeeping work ahead of him before he need even consider retirement.

I would like to say my attitudes towards mathematics or numbers have changed. However, I have always loved numbers and studying the laws of their nature, use and application. I found this class to be a welcome refresher course in the laws that govern normal curves and finding and using measures of center.

It has been a welcome assignment to reflect on what I have learned in my time in this course. I have come to see that my growth as a person and a man has continued as I studied under Professor Klahr. I have learned to be more accommodating and pliant, and have been given the gift of seeing that one need not be “old” because our bodies age. I am grateful for the model, and God willing, I get to be an old man one day, too.

 

 

 

Lessons in “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”

 

Alberto Rivera

Logic and Argumentation

D. Brunt

Lessons in Jonathan Livingston Seagull

January 7, 2010

 

I was recently introduced to a beautiful story written by Richard Bach entitled Jonathan Livingston Seagull. It is a very hopeful and magical work. I will select some of the important lessons contained in this parable, and offer how I relate to them based on my experience. However, let us begin by recounting the tale.

This very mystical story is told simply. The title character, Jonathan, is banished from his flock because his innovations in flight challenge the Flock’s norms. Branded an “Outcast”, he spends years in solitude developing his talents and broadening his awareness. He enjoys a rich life in exile, whose joys he is unable to share with other gulls: “What he had once hoped for the Flock, he now gained for himself alone; he learned to fly. […] Jonathan Seagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gull’s life is so short, and with these gone from his thought, he lived a long fine life indeed.” (36)

One day, Jonathan is visited by a pair of brilliant birds, and ascends with them to another plane of existence. There, he is free to learn all he wants about flight with likeminded creatures. He develops quickly, and learns to transcend time and space from Chiang, the flock’s leader. After teaching Jonathan this skill, Chiang vanishes. Jonathan shares what he learned from Chiang with his new flock, but as time passes, he feels a deeper calling. Jonathan chooses to return to Earth to help other “Outcasts”.

Fletcher Lynd Seagull, a new Outcast, is approached by Jonathan fresh off the heels of his banishment, and becomes Jonathan’s first student. Jonathan teaches a small group of seagulls, all Outcasts, about flight and their own limitlessness. This tiny group eventually returns to their kind and begins to display its talents. They persevere despite the initial resistance of the Flock, reintegrating itself into seagull society, and drawing more gulls to the study of flight. The wealth of knowledge they possess begins to transform the lives of the Flock’s members. Finally, Jonathan leaves for parts unknown to continue teaching, naming Fletcher as the new leader of the flight school they began together.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull is, clearly, a powerful work in many ways. The language and style are pitch-perfect. I believe parable is a great teaching tool, and Bach executes the form masterfully. I have a great respect for writers who address our biggest questions with our simplest words. It is a big part of what I strive to do with my own writing. The humble language makes Jonathan Livingston Seagull a refreshing read, and allows the deeply magical events to infuse the story with life. Bach’s words do not get in the way of the wisdom which studs this story.

Bach’s parable has many moral lessons. The power of love is central to Jonathan Livingston Seagull. When Chiang leaves Jonathan’s new world, transforming into pure light before the flock, his final words are for Jonathan. He urges the younger bird to “keep working on love.” (60) In fact, it is Jonathan’s tireless love of flying which is the driving force in his life.

This love compelled Jonathan to continue learning about flight while his sensible side bade him forget his dreams. It forced him onto a solitary path on Earth, but allowed him to pursue his passion unhindered and let go of external conceptions about life’s purpose. Chiang imparted precious wisdom to Jonathan before disappearing, and it is Jonathan’s continued “work on love” which ultimately moves him to return to the people who wounded him so.

Practicing forgiveness like that displayed by Jonathan is also emphasized by the author. Fletcher must agree to forgive the Flock in order to learn to fly from Jonathan. Late in the book, the Flock tries to kill Jonathan, calling him a devil. Yet the very next day, Jonathan urges Fletcher, not only to see the good in each gull, but to help each gull see it within their own self.

A third reminder I found meaningful is how essential it is to release our belief in our own limits. Leaving our minds and hearts open leaves our minds and hearts open – to grow. Understanding our true nature’s perfection and limitlessness is Chiang’s basic lesson to Jonathan in time travel. Both Jonathan and Fletcher discuss this idea with their students, even while teaching them more mundane methods of moving around. Again and again in the book, the point is underscored, and deservedly so.

In my experience, it has been extremely important to my personal and spiritual growth to let go of limited ideas about myself, humanity, and the nature and purpose of earthly life. What is compassion but a rejection of the limits delineated by our own form, an assertion of one’s connectedness to the other? I have worked to bring down the walls within myself, and those lying between myself and others. It has served me exceptionally well. Certainly, we are solitary beings. At the same time, however, I see my destiny as inextricably intertwined with the destiny of others.

Here, the teaching work several characters engage in is of paramount importance. We as humans have worlds of untapped potential. We can end hunger or poverty today. I have often said, though, that you cannot make a Ferrari from Model T parts. We have to share our hard-won wisdoms to move our experience of life further. This is work that never ends.

Love has had its champions all throughout history, and for good reason. I have come to see – like I wrote in a song many years ago – that “love is the only true modern art.” The power of love to change our hearts, minds, and lives is utterly inexpressible. Discovering the inexhaustible supply of love within me has transformed the quality of life I enjoy. Aligning my awareness with this energy has helped me relate more authentically with my fellow man, and given me a joy I wish everyone could feel. Learning to love another person is a great course of study.

To me, living the lesson of forgiving is a practice. I have been blessed with a selective memory. I like to say, “I only remember the good things.” Like most statements, it is easier said than done. I have learned that I must make a constant effort to loose myself from the burdens of grudges and hatred. This practice of forgiveness can, to my mind, only work in concert with love.

I accept that we all walk through life with many wounds. It can be difficult to find the strength to be kind and patient given these wounds. It can be difficult simply to allow our wounds heal. Not only do we fail to seek healing, but we can also fall in love with our pain, nursing and feeding it rather than the strength and beauty within us.

However, we must forgive. We must forgive ourselves for all the moments where we fall short of our own ideals. We must forgive others for not sharing those ideals, and for firing whatever slings and arrows of outrageous fortune pierce our being. I have also learned to seek the forgiveness of my Creator. It is a blessing I earnestly desire, and one I request daily.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull was a true joy to read and experience. I recommend it highly to anyone who is sustained by a kind word. It is a reassuring and inspiring work, urging me to love more, forgive more, share more, and grow more. This story and I have become fast friends, and I am better for having read it. I intend to purchase copies as gifts for friends.

Works Cited

 

Bach, Richard. Jonathan Livingston Seagull. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1970.

 

 

 

The Unbearable Kite Upstairs

 

Alberto Rivera

Modes of Analysis

D. Brunt

The Unbearable Kite Upstairs

January 7, 2010

 

The Dancer Upstairs by Nicholas Shakespeare, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera are three novels written by three foreign-born authors about three different foreign lands. They all have love stories. They all have war stories. Yet and still, they could not be more different. I will discuss some of the major themes of these three internationally recognized books, and compare and contrast their descriptions of war. Their works are heralded around the world for good reason, and war is one common theme these three novelists explore, albeit in different ways. Let us begin in South America.

The Dancer Upstairs is set in Peru. A major theme I find in this book is that of return. The book begins with Dyer being recalled to his paper’s home office. He must return to his dead wife’s homeland, Brazil, to pursue his final lead. Rejas must return to his hometown in order to find Ezequiel. Without this return, he may not have found him. His daughter, Laura, changes classes from classical ballet. Though she takes up modern dance, she ends up dancing to and playing the traditional music of the indigenous people of Peru. It is a return to her own roots, as Rejas is an Indian.

There is another great example of this theme of return. Late in the novel, Dyer realizes why he was entrusted with the policeman’s story: “Rejas had confessed to him for a reason – because Dyer was still capable of doing things that he could no longer do for himself. With Rejas’s story, Dyer had the power to give Yolanda back the light.” (Shakespeare, 266-7) It is the promise of this return which gives the reader a sense of hope as the book closes and Dyer begins his novel.

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is full of powerful themes. One of the strongest is that of guilt, forgiveness and the search for redemption. Amir is plagued with guilt about his treatment of Hassan. When he discovers Hassan was his brother, he feels it all the more strongly. Soraya seeks Amir’s forgiveness before they marry because she had previously taken a lover. Returning from her cousin’s wedding, she breaks down and reveals her continued struggle with the pain of her decisions as a youth. She feels redeemed by her good fortune in finding Amir. The general awaits the end of the occupation to return to his former glory as a statesman. Even Assef speaks of forgiveness in the alley – before he rapes Hassan.

Amir’s search for redemption takes him back home to Kabul. He believes the only way to right the wrongs he committed against Hassan and Ali is to save Sohrab from the life of an orphan. Amir remembers his conversation with Rahim Khan: “There is a way to be good again, he’d said. A way to end the cycle. With a little boy. An orphan. Hassan’s son. Somewhere in Kabul.” (Hosseini, 226-7)

This brings up a connected theme which runs through The Kite Runner: good and evil. Hosseini creates two nearly stereotypical characters who are polar opposites. Hassan represents a very pure good, while Assef is a character embodying evil. I find the choice to have such one-sided characters questionable, but Hassan’s nearly unconditional love for Amir is extremely moving and inspiring. Hassan is incredibly noble, and is deservedly referred to as a lamb at several points in The Kite Runner.

Assef is just a malignant caricature, in many ways. The archetypical villain, he is murderous, a rapist, sadomasochistic, a member of the Taliban, a fan of Hitler and a pedophile. He also probably leaves the toilet seat up.

Another very important theme in The Kite Runner is Afghani family structure and culture. Throughout the book, Afghani customs, cuisine and language are lovingly detailed and shared by Hosseini. Later, there are several instances where the author creates scenes highlighting how Afghani family and culture adjusts to life in America. Among them, the shattering of the storekeeper’s window by Baba highlights the challenges which many people face in adjusting to a new culture. Baba, besides being a man of great pride, came from a place where the baker marked a tree branch to denote how much naan he was owed for. Thus, when Mr. Nyugen asks for identification with a payment by check even though the men had known each other a couple of years, Baba is deeply offended. Hosseini also shows how immigrants to America preserve their long held traditions and honor their proud histories.

Kundera’s novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, is, in part, a rather traditional and heartwarming love story. Intrigues, infidelities, and incomprehensibilities abound. However, as the book ends, there is a simple and pure love which reveals itself between Tomas and Tereza.

Interestingly enough, this love is difficult to see mutually manifested throughout the whole work. Tomas inflicts such pain on Tereza through his infidelities it is a stretch to call his feeling for her love. Certainly, they were almost inexorably drawn to each other, but beyond the fact that they kept returning to each other, there was little evidence of real regard, tenderness, or respect on Tomas’ part. Tomas brought Karenin home to help him “cope” with his wife. He was flagrantly unfaithful to her, and eventually even stopped trying to hide his affairs.

Tereza’s love for Tomas was easier to see. She was deeply wounded by his philandering ways, and her dream world assaulted her with visions of being murdered by Tomas. The intensity of her nightmares speaks to the depth of her feeling for Tomas. Hers was a longsuffering love. Tereza even entertained thoughts of becoming a part of his affairs by tending to his partners, and sought out friendship with Sabina even after discovering she was one of Tomas’ mistresses. Though she too was unfaithful, her dedication to and love for Tomas are plain as day.

However, in the end, we do see growth on Tomas’ part. Where earlier in the story Tereza’s dance with his colleague threw Tomas into a fit of jealous rage, the novel closes with Tereza and Tomas going out dancing with others without incident. Tereza can feel his love: “She had summoned him to follow her as if wishing to test him again and again, to test his love for her; she had summoned persistently, and here he was.” (Kundera, 310)

The major theme in The Unbearable Lightness of Being, however, is an exploration of duality, especially those of lightness versus weight and strength versus weakness. Kundera does not provide any answers on which of these is to held in higher esteem, nor does he make any judgments about the matter. He simply presents both sides of the coin, even within single characters. The reader is left without any easy, pat answers, but certainly with a better grasp of how mutable people and relational dynamics can be. He describes the perspectives of different characters in relationship at various points in the novel, and as the story unfolds like postmodern origami, we become less sure of which pole belongs to which person. It is a very interesting and ambitious undertaking.

Each of these novels has a distinct character and style. The major theme in common between these three works is the horror of war. The Kite Runner deals with the Russian invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, and goes on to relate the harsh realities of a broken country being held in the grip of the Taliban. The Unbearable Lightness of Being tells the story of another victim of Russian imperialism: Czechoslovakia. The Dancer Upstairs fictionalizes the insurgency of El Sendero Luminoso (The Shining Path) in Peru. All three authors’ characters change as a result of the conflicts taking place in their home countries.

Hosseini’s book is graphic and frightening in its account. The author details Baba and Amir’s flight as refugees from their home without any niceties or varnish. The descriptions of the roads, the fate of Ali, the need to wear a false beard in order to travel safely – all these are details which make the state of affairs in the post-Russian occupation Afghanistan all too real. We return to Amir’s childhood home in Afghanistan a couple of times, and see it transformed from a place where two brothers grew up together to a shell of its former state. The same could be said of Afghanistan, where war still rages today.

The changes Hosseini’s characters go through are relatively predictable. It makes sense that the lamb, Hassan, would be a martyr of the Afghani infighting following the retreat of Russian forces. It is also no surprise with whom Aseef ended up casting his lot. Amir and Soraya’s families are among the many refugees who are forced to flee their homeland as a result of the fighting. The tragic fall of Afghani society following all the unrest of the Russian invasion is one of the saddest transformations in The Kite Runner.

Shakespeare’s account of Peru’s problems, while graphic, is not as visceral as Hosseini’s. What I see in his work is a blurring of the lines between good and evil. He does not draw a distinction between murder at the hands of the state or at the hands of rebels: it remains the taking of innocent lives. In fact, both the murder of a troupe of student actors and the rape of an old woman by three men are acts perpetrated by the military. None of the violence in The Dancer Upstairs is justified by Shakespeare – in fact, violence itself, in any form, is frowned upon by the author. Rejas risks his career to prevent the murder of Ezequiel at the hands of military personnel. In my reading of The Dancer Upstairs, Shakespeare even treats the solitary confinement of Yolanda as another hellish, senseless act of violence, which I applaud.

In The Dancer Upstairs, the players change a result of the raging war, but war serves more as a vehicle to allow the parties on either side of the conflict to dialogue and present their positions to each other. Santiago and Rejas have a very meaningful discussion in La Posta about the philosophy behind their stances. There, Santiago’s – and, by extension, Ezequiel’s – position is exposed as a perversion of Kantian philosophy. Rejas and Yolanda also have several encounters where they discuss the insurgency. Here, however, the conversation serves to humanize the struggle for justice and equality pursued by the freedom fighters.

Kundera, to my mind, did not really explore the war itself as deeply as Hosseini or Shakespeare. His discussion of Dubcek’s transformation after his kidnapping was very sad, but he mainly offers visuals of tanks and soldiers, without delving into the terrible aspects of war. It is the psychological war for the people’s minds which riles Kundera: the interrogations, the surveillance and slandering of Czech expatriates over commandeered airwaves, the assassinations of character directed at the prominent Czech nationals who remained. Kundera also paints the expatriates as very impotent, and not so different from the totalitarian Russians.

The characters in The Unbearable Lightness of Being are affected differently by the onset of war. Sabina becomes quite successful as an artist, gladly benefiting from her status as a cause célèbre. Tomas is also able to profit, in a sense. He finds a position in Switzerland where he can continue to practice medicine. Tereza, though, is brought to life by the opportunity to chronicle the injustices against her people. Though their life is turned upside down by the invasion, Tereza finds purpose in her life, and takes up photography in the midst of an occupation. Her talent is obvious and extraordinary, based on the fights between Western journalists which would break out over her rolls of film. The war, however, has long, lasting effects on the Czech people.

Tomas is forced to make a decision: recant his insignificant letter to the editor, or lose his status in Russian Czechoslovakia. He must go lower and lower in society simply to live without the harassment of the authorities. Czech heroes continue to be undermined and destroyed by a regime bent on breaking the spirit of their people. War is, indeed, hell.

In conclusion, we can see that war can be used as a major player in a work of art (as in The Kite Runner), a backdrop for the resultant change of individuals or groups (Being), or a literary device allowing opposing viewpoints to air their differences and reveal their commonalities (Dancer). I found Hosseini’s account of war appropriately horrific (and, I pray, chastening to its readers). Kundera highlights the “fallout” from war and imperialism, the toll it can take on people and the road to perdition it leads us down. Shakespeare paints both sides of a war in the same colors. I believe violence is a system of control trapping its proponents in a cage smaller than Yolanda’s, and its glorification does not serve us or our youth. After reading these three books with an eye to the author’s writings on war, I believe many people would begin to advocate for pacifism. It would be a gorgeous sight to see.

 

Works Cited

 

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead Books, 2003.

 

Kundera, Milan. The Unbearable Lightness of Being. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 1984.

 

Shakespeare, Nicholas. The Dancer Upstairs. New York: Anchor Books, 1995.