Hero or Stooge?

The Crucible (Penguin Classics)
So we happen to be reading The Crucible right now, in which the extremely obnoxious Abigail tries to get rid of John Proctor's wife so that she can continue her affair with him. John Proctor dies in the end because of Obnoxious Abigail (funny, since Abigail set this all up to get Proctor, but she makes him die in the end). Under normal circumstances, he would've died a hero, a martyr. But because this situation was completely stupid, I think he died a stooge.

He was the one that made the whole play interesting. Without him, there wouldn't have been an affair with Abigail, who wouldn't have tried to kill Elizabeth Proctor in the first place. Therefore, it makes sense that he was a stooge, his death created a juicy ending for the story, and he was in the plot all along just to make things interesting.

If the whole "children are innocent!" thing was part of the Puritan's belief, than I couldn't possibly say that the situation was that stupid because it's their religion, their belief. But it was only a general stereotype of children at that time, and both Rebecca Nurse and Proctor knew that the girls were pretending. Furthermore, Proctor waited at the last moment to tell the court of his secret affair, when the girls had so much attention and power over the adults. Not to mention, before he was killed, he did lie and confess. Why? What for? To make an attempt to save your butt, just to give your life away?

As I was reading this, I was literally groaning in frustration. Abigail and the whole situation annoys me so much. And the saddest thing is, stupid things like this happen all the time.

-JY

26-Handed God

So..."Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"... Before I say anything, let's start with this: I believe in no god. (I wouldn't say atheist or agnostic, because there are always those cuckoos out there who have some weird radical definition for the said terms, and then they'll come and get me with their stolen snipers. No thanks.) In fact, sometimes I like saying "oh gods" because Greek/Roman mythology is really cool, and because I can!

If I were to listen to Jonathan Edwards preach to me everyday about how God is such a sadist, I would be scared. I would be afraid, such that I'd have no thought of rebelling. I would probably hate God in my mind, and hate Jonathan Edwards, and I would most likely disagree with him. If at most I ended up believing in God, I would think that God is pure and loving, and I wouldn't be so conceited as to think that I'm pre-destined to go to heaven.

Personally, I don't know how I would've survived back then living a life like that. Being so restricted, wanting to escape, yet not being able to (because you would've died from the wilderness). I hate being told what to do, hate not being able to say what I want to say, hate not being allowed to be ethical and smart. In other words, back then, in that kind of society, I would've floated like a cork in water.

I just find it a bit ironic that the Puritans were the ones who immigrated to America to escape religious prosecution, yet they were the ones who ended up prosecuting/killing people who weren't as insane as them.

I think that a lot of Puritans weren't Puritans, that they were just putting up a facade in order to avoid being killed. But with me the way I am today, with freedom of speech, religion, and all that jazz, I would rather commit suicide or something than live in that kind of society. I think I'd feel better dead than to have to put up with the Puritans and their religion. And maybe, just maybe, based on their belief, I might just go straight to heaven.

How depressing.

-JY

There Goes the Neighborhood

Personally, the only "There goes the neighborhood..." moment I've had was when the woman living two floors above us decided to remodel her bathroom and therefore now causes the pipes to leak everytime she takes a shower. But thinking on a bigger scale, I realize that the foreign invasion of Asia was a real kind of "Oh shoot me NOW." I read about it today again in The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason, of British India and Burma.

Starting at the beginning with Christopher Columbus' "India", I personally don't like him very much. Or more precisely, I don't like his fame. (I am not jealous.) Although he is the reason why we are all here, and why corn exists in Europe, I dislike the fact that we celebrate him in America even though he didn't discover the present day US. I dislike that he was the cause of smallpox spreading to the Native Americans, and that he came as a missionary to convert them to Christianity. Most people don't care much because all this is offset by the fact that we exist here in America today and whatnot. In comparison, Hitler accomplished a lot in his reign, like the creation of Volkswagen, jet propulsion, and laid a foundation in genetic engineering. But we don't remember him for those things, do we?

Columbus coming to the Americas was like genocide. Genocide like Hitler, genocide like Rwanda. He even came out to explore for treasure; he purposely said he was out to seize the wealth of others. In the end, however, no one cares about that.

As for colonialization of Asia, I'm starting off with the British rule of India in 1847 to 1856. First of all, I don't understand why, if India was already a country at that point, a bunch of white people decided to come in and take countrol. Was it a race issue? That because people were white they were superior to others? James Dalhousie who was the governor-general (a system of ruling) at that time, insulted Muslims and Hindus by using sacred cow and pig fat to lubricate bullets cartridges that had to be bit open, and annexed princely states and regions.

European penetration of China comes as a pretty personal thing for me, since I'm Chinese. China was split up between so many European countries. On top of that, the British got many Chinese people hooked unto opium. Countries fought over China and reduced it to rubble and chaos. The whole history is long, confusing, and just plain insulting.


At the end of the day, countries fight and invade each other--that was reality back then and even today. I'm only voicing my opinions (aka ranting). Columbus-was-an-idiot or not and China's-Old-Summer-Palace-was-looted-and-burned-to-ashes or not, we're here today, and that's all that matters.


-a piece of JY

Me.

My name is Bob Jiayin Tang.

I dislike writing essays and such because I sound stupid. Informal writings are good, and I like writing random things. (Just random things; don't ask me to expand on that.)

I used to swim. I swam at a club for 7th and 8th grade. I should almost be considered good (obviously, I'm better than the average person), except I was three seconds too slow to qualify for regionals in my 50 breast. I joined cross country in 8th grade, because I thought it would help condition me for swim team. It did, but I ended up liking running more than swimming (and for other reasons), so now I'm running instead of swimming.

I play piano. I should say that I'm good (I've been learning for seven years now), but since I have low self-esteem, I'll say that I'm not. I've seen way too many child prodigies on YouTube, who are such great confidence boosters.

I like reading.

"Inception" was really good.

I'm a very nit-picky and factual person. I hate it when people brag to me that the only thing they managed to learn on the piano is "Mary had a Little Lamb". And then they go on and tell me all the wrong notes for said song. Why would you brag to me something you failed at? I also hate it when people say that "Apologize" was written by Timbaland, featuring OneRepublic. My friends, it is exactly the other way around. In other words, I am a perfectionist.

I always have some sort of "interest of the moment". Maybe today I'll want to learn how to work with Adobe Illustrator CS5, but the next day I might be interested in springboard diving. Commitment comes as a hard concept for me, I admit, because of my fleeting obsessions and the fact that I'm afraid I'm going to fail. I told my mom that I wanted to be a doctor and she agreed to buy me a new piano.

I'm too honest. Translation: I'm really blunt. But I'll only tell you the shocking truth if I know you well enough.

-JY