Beloved chapter 9

Memeory plays a big part in this particular chapter, as well as the eniter novel. Sethe talks about her memories of Baby Suggs at the clearing, more memories about the birth of Denver, and about how 124 was when it was in its prime. The power of the past is a power that is huge. It makes up a big part of what a person is and how a person acts. A person who was a slave is going to have a much different opinion on slavery then a slaveowner. Their pasts are different, therefore their thoughts of the present are different. That is not alwasys the case, but the past does have a big influence on the present and the future. The challinging part of remembering the memories, is that some are very painful. For instance, the memory of the boys taking Sethe's milk. This is a memory no one should have, but unfortunatley Sethe has it. That memeory affects the live of Sethe everyday regardless of whether she thinks about it or not, it is always hanging over her. Sadly, she has many memories that hang over her, most of them are from Sweet Home. A connection was made in a memory of Sethe to Beloved. When Beloved first arrived at 124 she was very thirsty, drinking four cups of water without bothering to wipe it from her face. When met Stamp Paid, Sethe, "Begged him for water and he gave her some of the Ohio in a jar. Sethe drank it all and begged more." Memories can be used to make connections between the past and the present, in this case, both Sethe and Beloved were very thirsty after coming out of a river. Maybe this is a coincidence, or maybe there is something more to this.

Self-Reliance and Society

Raplh Waldo Emeron's essay titled "Self-Reliance", talks about how being a non-conformist is the best way to live. He also talks about society and what role self-reliance has in it. Emerson defines society as, "Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity." Clearly Emerson thinks society is totaly against his idea of self reliance because he says people who rely on society fall into conformity. He also thinks when people live and rely on a soceity, their liberty and culture is lost. Emerson thinks a man shouldn't rely on soceity or even be an intrical part in it. In fact, it seems He thinks a man should not define soceity, but live as his own man and make his own decisions.

Quran Burning

Tomorrow there is a possibility that the Quran, the holy book of Islam, will be burned near ground zero. Despite pressure from multiple sources, including the Federal Government, Rev Terry Jones says he will go through with his plan. This just one day after he said he was not going to do the burning. I am all for freedom of speech, but when that speech endangers not only me, but an entire country, a line has to be drawn. He also will endanger our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. When Al Qadea gets word of this, our already terrible reputation will get even worse. They might even respond, and what they do will be a worse then burning a couple of Bibles or Torahs. If they take action, it will most likely be violent, something like 9/11. 9/11, a day we all remember. I remember I was across the street in my neighbors watching the TV. I was too young to understand the full effect of what was going on, but I knew it was bad. Rev Terry Jones could bring that day upon us once again. He is making America look like the bumbling idiot everyone else seems to think we are. If he goes trough with this, this country might suffer major consequences.

RE: The American Crisis by Thomas Paine

The passage I just read was the American Crisis. It lays out the arguments of Thomas Paine on why America should be fully independent from Britain. One of his arguments is that God himself wouldn't let America lose. "God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to parish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent," (pg. 52 AR). Before the war started, America had done everything to avoid the war. Patrick Henry wrote about how America did everything to please their lords. They petitioned, supplications, and even prayed. But everything was ignored by the British crown. But Paine didn't want a select few to join his argument, he wanted everyone. "I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on this state or that state, but on every state," (pg. 52 AR). It's interesting that Paine thought if everyone didn't join America would not win the war, because he previously stated that God would not let them win. If God truly didn't want, or wouldn't let America lose, then not everyone would need to be behind the idea of independence.