Author's Note: In my house we are required to read classic books. So the other day when I was reading my chosen book I was thinking about what gives a book the right to be called a classic. These are just some thoughts on the subject.
In America people obsess over 'classic' books. Adults gush over them, children are told to read them, and people right excessive notes on them, but what gives a book the right to be called a classic? After all there are many other books that are just as good and loved.
Classic books could be books that were very well written or loved by everyone, but some books contradict this statement. For example The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was refused by the Concord Public Library Comittee and called trash. Although a lot of people loved it not everyone did so that reason wouldn't work. Perhaps classics are classics because they don't offend a certain group of people, but that wouldn't go either. The book Jane Eyre was said to be discrimanating the church, even though Charlotte Bronte the authortried to prove otherwise. If classic books are not classic because of any of the previous reasons then maybe they are classics because of some historical or deeper meaning, but once again some books don't have any of that. Alices Adventures in Wonderland or Alice in Wonderland has no historical or deeper meaning. It was merely written for the amusement of two children. Maybe that's it then maybe classics are classics because they are entertaining, but isn't just about every book entertaining to someone in someway?
So you see, there are many reasons why a classic could be a classic, but then something always contradicts them. In my opinion there souldn't be any certain books that are considered better than others, because there is no such thing as being better. The final question is what makes a classic a classic and why does it deserve to be called that?
Author's Note: Sorry it's kind of boring, and I'm not even sure if it makes sense, but if you have an oppinion on why a classic book is classic then please comment on it. Also if anyone has a suggestion on a better way to format it that would be great. ( Oh and I realize the last sentence contradicts itself with two questions, I just couldn't find a better way to word it)
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The Truth of a Human
Author's Note: This is a response to an independent book I read a long time ago. I kind of forgot about it, and then I found it in my files. It's a response to the book Witch Child. In case you didn't know Witch Child is about a girl who lives in England and is suspected of being a witch, because of this she flees and the book is basically her diary as she journeys to America.
Who is a human being and who is not is confused by many. In truth everybody is human and has feelings whether they be good or bad ones the feelings are there. In my experience I have seen how certain people are so cruel to others. Neglecting the thought that they are human even if they are different. This leads me to think about my past, and the girl who was like a sister to me.
Mary was distant and alone much of the time, she was an outsider to the community like me and my father. She was adopted by a woman named Martha, who became a good friend to my father and later a wife. We lived together, Martha Mary my father and I. All next to the Riverses. Mary was not like many of the girls in the community. The ones who giggled and flirted constantly. She was intelligent and a good friend to my Rebekah.
Everyone suspected she was different. Me, Martha and my father most of all. There was an air about her that told of a sad past and a dark secret. Though she hid her nature well people stilled suspected her of being a witch, and to them that was the darkest evil. To me I did not care I knew her for the person she was and nothing else. The day that I last saw her was a day of the Devil.
We had been called to the Meeting House for a Day of Humiliation, naught but a month after me and Rebekah’s marriage. There was a strange man there. He told us there was an evil one with us, and even as he said it I could tell he meant Mary, for he looked at her with a hate as I have never seen before. I believe that Rebekah going into labor at that moment was a gift from God, for it gave Mary some time and a place to run and hide. Soon enough they accused her of being a witch of the devil and possessing the girls of the town, but I know different. I know she’s a witch though the devil does not possess her, and Mary does not use her magic for evil. Even as the girls accused her you could see the malicious lie in their eyes. If the villagers had wanted to know the truth of the sickness inside of the girls then they should have looked at the girls themselves and they would have saw the consuming madness inside of them
As soon as Mary was accused all hell broke loose. People jumped up to catch her, making their own accusations. I saw her face them frightened, then I caught her eye. The look on her face told me what to do I went to the door and in the midst of the chaos I was able to open it, let her out and close it back again. As soon as they realized she was gone the Reverend, the strange man, and a couple others headed straight to the Riverses house where Mary had moved to only months before. Me and my Father followed, pretending as if we wanted Mary dead. Once we were in the house Sarah Riverses told them they could look anywhere, but she was gone. Pretty soon after their search was done they demanded entry to the room where Rebekah was giving birth. I could hear her screams of pain, they made me want to run to her, but I held back and stood by the door shoulder to shoulder with my father. I thought I saw a glimpse of Mary slip out the window, but it was probably just my imagination. Martha told them they could not come, the strange man she said had consumption sickness and mustn’t touch the babe. They would have come in any had Rebekah not screamed for a second time. They decided to search the forest with their dogs, but little did they know the affect Mary has on dogs.
When they left and Rebekah’s birth was over and the baby was named Mary Sarah, we made plans to leave. We had heard tell of different communities where you could believe freely in whatever you like. Wasn’t that why we came here in the first place? We knew that suspicion would soon fall on us. Jonah and Martha would be first to be suspected, then Me and Rebekah and the rest of the Riverses. Jonah and Martha left the next day. The rest of us waited until Rebekah was better, and then we moved on.
I never saw Mary again after that. Although I heard tell of a strange Indian with dirty blonde hair and gray eyes. The villagers of Beluah may never realize their mistake, but us outsiders do. We saw the evil things they were up to when they claimed it was in the name of God, and all along their biggest mistake was not treating a person as a person should be treated, but instead like an animal to hunt. That is why I write this to you my children so you may see that wherever you are in your life that all people are the same in the sense that they have feelings. Even the ones different from the rest, the outsiders they can be emotionally hurt too.
Who is a human being and who is not is confused by many. In truth everybody is human and has feelings whether they be good or bad ones the feelings are there. In my experience I have seen how certain people are so cruel to others. Neglecting the thought that they are human even if they are different. This leads me to think about my past, and the girl who was like a sister to me.
Mary was distant and alone much of the time, she was an outsider to the community like me and my father. She was adopted by a woman named Martha, who became a good friend to my father and later a wife. We lived together, Martha Mary my father and I. All next to the Riverses. Mary was not like many of the girls in the community. The ones who giggled and flirted constantly. She was intelligent and a good friend to my Rebekah.
Everyone suspected she was different. Me, Martha and my father most of all. There was an air about her that told of a sad past and a dark secret. Though she hid her nature well people stilled suspected her of being a witch, and to them that was the darkest evil. To me I did not care I knew her for the person she was and nothing else. The day that I last saw her was a day of the Devil.
We had been called to the Meeting House for a Day of Humiliation, naught but a month after me and Rebekah’s marriage. There was a strange man there. He told us there was an evil one with us, and even as he said it I could tell he meant Mary, for he looked at her with a hate as I have never seen before. I believe that Rebekah going into labor at that moment was a gift from God, for it gave Mary some time and a place to run and hide. Soon enough they accused her of being a witch of the devil and possessing the girls of the town, but I know different. I know she’s a witch though the devil does not possess her, and Mary does not use her magic for evil. Even as the girls accused her you could see the malicious lie in their eyes. If the villagers had wanted to know the truth of the sickness inside of the girls then they should have looked at the girls themselves and they would have saw the consuming madness inside of them
As soon as Mary was accused all hell broke loose. People jumped up to catch her, making their own accusations. I saw her face them frightened, then I caught her eye. The look on her face told me what to do I went to the door and in the midst of the chaos I was able to open it, let her out and close it back again. As soon as they realized she was gone the Reverend, the strange man, and a couple others headed straight to the Riverses house where Mary had moved to only months before. Me and my Father followed, pretending as if we wanted Mary dead. Once we were in the house Sarah Riverses told them they could look anywhere, but she was gone. Pretty soon after their search was done they demanded entry to the room where Rebekah was giving birth. I could hear her screams of pain, they made me want to run to her, but I held back and stood by the door shoulder to shoulder with my father. I thought I saw a glimpse of Mary slip out the window, but it was probably just my imagination. Martha told them they could not come, the strange man she said had consumption sickness and mustn’t touch the babe. They would have come in any had Rebekah not screamed for a second time. They decided to search the forest with their dogs, but little did they know the affect Mary has on dogs.
When they left and Rebekah’s birth was over and the baby was named Mary Sarah, we made plans to leave. We had heard tell of different communities where you could believe freely in whatever you like. Wasn’t that why we came here in the first place? We knew that suspicion would soon fall on us. Jonah and Martha would be first to be suspected, then Me and Rebekah and the rest of the Riverses. Jonah and Martha left the next day. The rest of us waited until Rebekah was better, and then we moved on.
I never saw Mary again after that. Although I heard tell of a strange Indian with dirty blonde hair and gray eyes. The villagers of Beluah may never realize their mistake, but us outsiders do. We saw the evil things they were up to when they claimed it was in the name of God, and all along their biggest mistake was not treating a person as a person should be treated, but instead like an animal to hunt. That is why I write this to you my children so you may see that wherever you are in your life that all people are the same in the sense that they have feelings. Even the ones different from the rest, the outsiders they can be emotionally hurt too.
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