In Lines 425-430, Teiresias and Oedipus have a heated conversation and lead to certain accusations and statements. The quote that came out to me was as follows: “Oedipus: Do you imagine you can always talk like this and love to laugh at it hereafter? Teiresias: Yes, if the truth has anything of strength. Oedipus: It has, but not for you; it has no strength for you because you are blind in mind and ears as well as in your eyes.” I have chosen these lines of text, especially the last statement Oedipus says because it is very much a true statement for anyone who is close minded. The truth has power but does nothing for someone who refuses to listen to it, and this line can also serve as a reminder for everyone to always have an open mind. Close-minded people often do not want their ideas challenged and in this day and age has led to a lot of discrimination and judgment that shouldn’t happen to begin with.
Christina Berry
The boy in the story seems to be dealing with “love at first site” or what he thinks is love. I would describe him as determined, passionate, and easily influenced. He was so fascinated with a girl who he only exchanged very few words with and he didn’t know why. While he wasn’t mature yet, I feel like he was on the right track to be because he was aware that he didn’t know why he felt so in love with her. He felt obligated to bring her something from the bazaar, possibly thinking that a gift may be the way to win her love rather than just speaking to her. When his uncle forgot he wanted to go to the bazaar and came home late, he was upset but still very determined to go. When he ended up going late and not buying anything, he was angry and defeated. The bazaar seemed to be closing and he couldn’t find anything to buy for his crush. I think he was angry at his uncle, but at himself too for thinking it was a good idea in the first place.
“The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara was a very interesting read. The group of children went on an outing with Miss Moore to F. A. O. Schwarz, an expensive toy store, that had plenty of things most of them couldn’t afford. Miss Moore showed them expensive toys and it seemed as though she was pulling reactions out of all of them and seeing how they all felt about the prices of everything. Sylvia and Sugar were different, yet the same in the way they reacted to the whole outing. Sugar shared her insight being that she was a more outspoken and opinionated child, while Sylvia didn’t seem to want to say much. Sylvia appeared to be getting frustrated about everything, and even more so when Sugar decided to speak out. In the text, Sugar seems to speak on how she feels about the price of the sailboat, “Then Sugar surprises me by sayin, “You know, Miss Moore, I don’t think all of us here put together eat in a year what that sailboat costs.” And Miss Moore lights up like somebody goosed her.” I assume this angered Sylvia because she felt like it was disrespectful to them. I think Sylvia knew what the problem was, but didn’t want to admit it. I feel like she was in denial and did not want to talk about the issue.
The boy in the story seemed to be curious but non believing. He watched the other people praise someone they couldn’t see and never saw before and wanted to know why and how, but he didn’t follow in their footsteps. He watched other people become saved and waited himself to see the light they were talking about. It was obvious at first that he didn’t believe them but probably didn’t want to speak against the adults. I would describe him as impatient and curious. I would say he is a very respectful kid since he held in his emotions and actually felt really bad about lying to everyone. He’s different in the end of the story because everyone else believes he was saved. After he watched the other boy give in after being tired of sitting there for so long, there was even more pressure on him since he was the only one still sitting down. He felt bad for letting it get so late and holding everyone up. It’s funny because he was thinking about what God might’ve thought about Westley because he had lied about being converted, but he didn’t see the light that would let him be saved by God. It’s like he doesn’t believe but at that moment he was speaking as if he somewhat believed in him.
I feel like this story was assigned as the first story of this course to show us how much a stranger can influence others. While it is not a common situation to be in, there are certain things in this story to relate to. When the women see this handsome man, they give him a worthy name and make clothes for him. They don’t know him and even while dead, he makes such a big influence on the women. After finding out he doesn’t belong to any of the neighboring villages, they decide to take in his influence and rebuild their village in memory of him. The look on his face and the size of his body caused them to change their way of thinking and living even though they never knew him. I feel like this relates to how we feel compassion for people all around the world even though we never met them. A simple picture of someone who looks sad can cause thousands of assumptions on why the person may look that way. Many people feel compassion for people naturally and want to help them in any way possible. Maybe not in the way the story tells, but in other ways we are able to.
