EVERY DAY HERO

EVERY DAY HERO:

" We are the hero of our own story." - Mary McCarthy

Looking throughout history, we have presence the word´s best human actions, every natural catastrophe, every war or every sickness or crime there is people who help.

In society, we have known a lot of famous people who are heroes, but we don’t even have to be known or have money to help. To be a hereof we just have to believe in ourselves, so we can be able to be brave and fight against every evil or sadness that came pass our lives.

However, we don’t need to start looking or searching for people whoare in the need to help, we can just wait and be prepared to any situation.

Nowadays, there are different types of heroes which I admire, for instance, the people that dedicate there life to help like volunteers, police, fire-fighters, teachers, nurses and doctors, but also the ones that make a difference by being the voice of the people, also the people that risk there lives to help.

The heroes that I admire the must, are the ones that are not afraid people of being different, help others by make them laugh. The ones that make the difference.

I think that being a hero is to do the right thing, because you feel is the right thing to do, for example when I entered as a volunteer to Corazones Cruzados and I began to work with nurses and doctors so we could work as a team to make the children laugh; it was a great experience for me because it make me feel good and happier to help this children to forget they have cancer for one day. But, I’m not a hero because I couldn’t take it; I couldn’t see four-year-old kid suffering and afraid of dying. That’s why I think that a hero is someone who is ready for the worst but expecting the best. 

"I adore simple pleasures."-Oscar Wilde, 1876

“Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only Beauty. There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.” 
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray.


 

The Picture of Dorian Gray is my favorite book because is a novel that reflects the reality about society and how cruel they can be, by manipulating and criticizing others, but at the same time the fear of enjoying the pleasures of life.

The quote is written by an english writer called Oscar Wilde and is well said by Lord Henry, one of the main characters in the novel. " Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming" this means that in life, there are things that are presented to us, and it´s not always pleasures, it can be experiences, art, a book or a music but the important thing is who we use them and who we get inspired.

Not finding them a meaning, is like living your whole life in fear and boring because " those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the captivated" are the ones that know the real meaning of beauty, which means happiness. To be able to be this kind of people, you have to be free and enjoy the little things, even if they are bad because through the tragic comes the knowledge of all the pleasures and secrets.

There are certain types of things that we cannot talk about or do, for instance, having sex for pleasure; the society recognize this as being " immoral" but what is to act and being moral?. " There is not such thing as moral or immoral in a book. " This means that we do not have the obligation to listen to society,  we can be able to be free, and to talk, write, feel or act anything we want, because they're are not such thing as being moral or immoral, it depends on us.

I reflect myself in this quote because I tried to enjoy every aspect in life, no matter if it´s tragic or happiness, but to achieve this, I tried to don´t listen to society  because there ideas doesn't allow someone to be different. Maybe their intention it´s to help but at the end, they just demonstrate how afraid they are from life.

Oscar Wilde is one of my favorite authors because he stand up from his beliefs without caring what society thought about him. 
He was born in October 19, 1854 and died in November 30, 1900. He was well known as a extravagant man, he was arrested ones with the accusation of being homosexual.
 He was married with Constance Llyod and he had two sons: Cyril and Vyvyan.
Oscar Wilde´s work was based on novels and plays, mostly about criticizing society, that´s the reason his work will always be good, because no matter the time or years, his novels always will be present, and never forgotten.

References:

Oscar Wilde, (2005) Biography.com [ on line] Available at:

http://www.biography.com/people/oscar-wilde-9531078 [ Consulted in April 24, 2013]

SUMMARY THINGS FALL APART PART III

SUMMARY PART III
THINGS FALL APART

Okonkwo has everything planed when he returns to Umuofia, He have two more wives and two beautiful unmarried daughters.

He thought that he will caused an impact to the village, however this will not be possible because Umuofia change. The church had develop and grow in strength and the white men develop a juridical system to the village.
Okonkwo was very  mad because he couldn't believe that a strong people as Umuofia wouldn't exile the white men, but the event of Abame cause sadness and fear among the people. 

However, Akuna ( one of the clans leader) and Mr. Brown, the white missionary spend hours talking about religion, but the white missionary was a clever man because he began to learn about religion and who to manipulate the people of Umuofia. So he began to built schools and hospitals but Mr. Brown began to get ill so he was force to go away, and Mr Smith took his place.

Mr. Smith wasn't a clever man as Mr. Brown, he was very close minded and intolerant person, so he only knew one thing: black is bad and white is good. As time passed, more and more people began to convert, one of them was Enoch, he was an intolerant and selfish man who unmask an egwugwu during the annual ceremony to honor Mother Earth. The next day, egwugwu burn up the church.

Time passed and Mr. Smith talk to the District Commissioner; they

 talk to the clans leaders and Okonkwo was among them, the news 

was that they could allowed another violent crime as the egwugwu

 do, so they say that they had to pay two hundred fifty bags of cowries, if they didn't pay them, the leaders will be death.

The people of Umuofia decided to pay the fine.

After their release, the village began to get mad towards the white men, so they set up a meeting. The next morning, Okonkwo was enthusiastic and exited because he thought that his people finally will fight against the white men. He took out his war clothes and his machete, the began to remember his years of glory.

At the meeting, they were gather all the clan´s nine years; the first speaker began to lament about the damage caused by the church and the white men. He reminded the clan that is worth to fight against this injustice. In the middle of the speech, five court messengers were among the crowd so Okonkwo took his machete and kills one of them. The reaction of the crowd wasn't Okonkwo expectations, they allowed the messengers escaped and they began to question Okonkwo, why he killed a messenger? .
In that moment, Okonkwo understand that the people will never going to fight.

The District Commissioner began to search for Okonkwo, and the ones that didn't cooperate they will go to prision. Obierka and a group of men began to search for him and they found Okonkwo in a tree, he hanged himself.

REFERENCE:
Chebe,C.(1994).THINGS FALL APART. New York, Anchor-Books

PART TWO: SUMMARY

PART TWO: SUMMARY

After Okonkwo´s crime, he was exiled within his family, so he went to Mbanta to stay with his mother, when he arrived he received the help from his uncle Uchendu and his mother´s kinsmen to built his obi and three huts for Okonkwo´s wives, also he received three pieces of land for farming.

It seems that the life of Okonkwo was raising again, but in his mind was falling apart, Okonkwo felt depressed and his joy and enthusiasm was lost. He had this goal of being a chief of the clan, in which he will never achieve.

The second year of exile arrived, Obierka came to visit Okonkwo. He brought with him two young men to carry bags full of cowries. Uchendu received the guests and begin to drink wine. While they were drinking, Obierka told them an event that will change the life of Umuofia forever.

"The Abame has been wiped out" this unbelievable and terrible story was about the arrival of a white man ridding an iron horse in Abame, but it wasn't an albino, it was different. The clan went to ask the Oracle for advice and the message was " The strange man would break the clan and spread destruction among them". In that moment, the clan went to kill the white man, but the problem was that the white man didn't say anything. 

The last thing is what worries Uchendu, because after killing the white men, the land of Abame was cursed. It occurred a big market in Abame and three white men and a large number of men surrounding the market, and they began to shoot and everyone of the clan was killed except the old and the sick that were in their homes.

Two years later, Obierka pay another visit to Okonkwo, but this time the event was that missionaries had come to Umuofia, they built a church and convents and they send evangelists to the surrounding villages or clans. It was a chaos. The thing that motivated Obierka to visit his friend is seeing Nwoye among the missionaries in Umuofia and when Obierka tried to speak with the son of his friend and ask him about Okonkwo he just answer " He is not my father".

The arrival of the missionaries in Mbanta has caused a chaos among the people, because all the stories about the white man and terrible.The White men began to talk about the new religion; God and Hell within the purpose of convince the clan that their religion was wrong. When they  mentioned Jesu Kristi, Okonkwo began to make fun of him, also he cannot believed that his son was captivated.

Three moons has passed, and the missionaries were in the need of a piece of land to built a church so the clan gave them what they wanted but in the Evil Forest with the hope that the white man were death within four days. The time passed and the clan thought that the white men presented like a rare magic or an unbelievable power. Thanks of this, the clan began to think that the new religion was true. Since that day Okonwkwo fear the future for the children and his son.

The time passed and more members of the clan become Christians, the outcasts found a place were they belong in the new religion, and the clan was divided more and more. New statements were declared to take off the rights of the new Christians.

Seven days of exile were finally over, so Okonkwo prepare a big feast to gave thanks and he was ready to go back to Umuofia.

BY: SANDRA CASTAÑEDA MOTA

Story: "Mother Kite"

STORY: " MOTHER KITE"

CHAPTER 15: " THINGS FALL APART" BY CHINUA ACHEBE

Obierka came to visit Okonkwo and bring to him some cowries with the help of two young men. Uchendu has been told that three strangers had come to Okonkwo´s house, so he went to know them.

While they were drinking wine, Obierka told them an event of the arrival of a white man riding an iron horse to the village of Abame, and the Oracle´s advice was that" the strange man would break their clan and spread distraction among them", so the clan  killed the man.
Obierka told them that the white man don't say a word before they killed him, and after that the clan was now completely empty, the lake turn red as blood and a great evil has come upon their land.

" Never kill a man who says nothing. Those men of Abame were fools. What did they know about the man." said Uchendu.

At that moment, Uchendu told them a story to illustrate his point, " Story of Mother Kite"

This story begins when Mother Kite sent his daughter kite to search for food, she went out and come back with a duckling. Mother Kite asked her child what did the mother of the duckling say when you took its child away, the daughter answer that she said nothing. Mother Kite quickly told her to return the duckling. Daughter Kite do what her mother told her and come back with a chick, Mother Kite asked her the same question, and her daughter answer that the Mother of the chick cried and began to cursed her, and that moment Mother Kite told her that it was fine to eat the chick.

The story´s message of  is that the person who didn't say a thing when someone else do something terrible towards him or her, is a person to be aware of. It´s a sign that something terrible is going to happened.

In conclusion, Uchendu told that story because he was explaining who fool the village of Abame had looked when they killed the white man that didn't say nothing, and that´s the reason that the Abame is suffering from a great evil upon their land.

BY: SANDRA CASTAÑEDA MOTA







REFERENCE:
Chebe,C.(1994).THINGS FALL APART. New York, Anchor-Books

SUMMARY CHAPTERS 6-13

THINGS FALL APART by Chinua Achebe

CHAPTERS 6-13

That time of the year finally arrived to the village of Umuofia, the day of the wrestling match is here!

Everyone is excited, specially Ekwefi because when she was young Okonkwo wins her heart when he won against the Amalize Cat, but also she always enjoys to watch 

Today´s match it was between two men Ikezue and Okafo, but before theres going to be a fight between boys of fifteen and sixteen years old. Maduka, the son of Okonkwo’s friend Obierika, wins the match proudly.

However, while the match continues Ekwefi was talking with Chielo ( the priestess of Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and Caves) but as a normal women, she began to question the health of Ezinma and the happiness that she " would stay" because she has the age of ten and has survived.

 Otherwise, Ekwefi has suffered a lot in her life, because she became mother of ten children in different time of her life, and nine died as very young, unless Ezinma. Okonkwo visited a lot of medicine man, the first one  told him that an ogbanje was tormenting them. An "ogbanje" is a wicked boy that always enter to the mother and died all over again. The second one told him that it was the place Ekwefi was having her child so she went to live with her mother in another village and gave birth to Ezinma. But now maybe the destiny has curse Ekwefi because Ezinma is dying. Okonkwo search for medicine plants with the hope that Ezinma will survived.

One night, Chielo as he priestess of Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and Caves arrived to the household of Ekwefi with the purpose of taking Ezinma with her. But Eswefi and Okonkwo tried to stop her in which Chielo began to curse them. 

When Chielo left the house with Ezinma on her back, Eswefi decided of going after them. Chielo went to all nine villages and finally arrived to the caves and entered, Eswefi stayed outside waiting for her daughter, when she saw Okonkwo that he also was going to wait. The next day, Chielo went to the household of Ekwefi and left Ezinma resting.

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Ikemefula has live in the household of Oknkwo for three years, at first he didn´t adapt at all, but when the time passed the children loved him, also Nwoye. Ikemefula was adapting to the village and forgetting his past, he began to speak to Okonkwo as " father". His influence was reflected on Nwoye and Okonkwo was very happy to see his son trying to be a hardworker and to listen to his stories instead of being with his mother.

Until one day a surprise came to the village, the locusts arrived to town. The locusts were little animals that travel down to earth from the top of the mountains once in a generation. Between all this excitment Ogbuefi Ezeudu vist Okonkwo with the news that the Oracle has demand to kill Ikemefula but Okonkwo cant participate because the boy tells him "father".

When the day was arriving to its end, some men entered to the household in serch of Ikemefula. They told him that he was going home, Ikemefula was nervous and somewhere in his mind he knew that it was a lie.

When they were walking in the road, Okonkwo arrived and saw when a man tried to kill Ikemefula with a machete, and the boy saw Okonkwo and he tried to run towards him imploring for help but Okonkwo kills him.

Since that day Okonkwo cant sleep and didnt eat for two days, and Nwoye felt that something was wrong and he took a distance from his father.

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The day has come, the justice arrived to the village. 

The clan of ancestral spirits, known as egwugwu had emerged form a place in which the women arent allowed.

They are men dressed as spirits and is the law and the ones that decides the most important decisions such as the one is going to be presented.

A trail have made between a man named Uzowulu and a women named Mgbafo. The problem was that were married, but the man beats the women. So the brothers of Mgbafo went to rescue her and bring her to there home so she can be saved. The thing was that Uzowulu wants her back.

The Evil Forest listened to the case and each opinion of both sides and decided that Uzowulu will bring to the family of his wife palm-wife and will beg Mgbafo that she comes back to him. But if he beats her again, Uzowulu´s genitals will be cut.

The wedding of Obierka´s daughter was finally here, Okonkwo´s family help to prepare the ceremony and the bride, and the village contribute with food. Obierka bought a huge goat to be as a present to the family in law.

But the huge goat escaped and the cow owner had to pay a fine to all the farms the cow has passed.

Otherwise this problem, the ceremony was a success and beautiful.

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The village of the Igbo culture received a terrible notice " Ogbuefi Ezeudu died" . Since this man was very loved and a great wrestler with three titles out of four, a lot of people went to his funeral.

When the men began to play the drums and play some music to show respect to Ezeudu achieves, life and now as a spirit, Okonkwo´s gun accidentally shouts and kills Ezeudu’s son ( 16 years old).

All the village began to get crazy and mad because " killing clansman is against of the earth goddess", so Okonkwo and his family were exile for seven years. Okonkwo took his family to the house of his mother in the village of Mbanta. But as tradition, the men burn Okonkwo´s household, animals and crops.

The friend of Okonkwo, Obierka began to question the accidental murdered and the punishment it has been settle.

By: Sandra Castañeda Mota

REFERENCE:
Chebe,C.(1994).THINGS FALL APART. New York, Anchor-Books