Shanahan AP Lit

I was watching the iconic movie  The Matrix  for the first time a couple of days ago when one of the characters made a remark about the limits of human happiness that really intrigued me. Agent Smith, the antagonist in the film, explains to the protagonist, Neo, that the human race was miserable despite the fact that they were living in a perfect utopia: "Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world, where none suffered, where everyone would be happy? It was a disaster... Some believed we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world, but I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through misery and suffering." While I don't believe that suffering defines human beings, I do think it plays a very big role in one's quest for happiness (or rather contentment, as happiness is just a temporary feeling whereas contentment is a constant feeling of satisfaction). It is very hard not to grow accustomed to the...

In Wole Soyinka's play  Death and the King's Horsemen , irreconcilable cultural differences play a large part in the tragedy that occurs. The British can't seem to wrap their heads around customs of the native people that they deem barbaric, while the native people only see the British as foreigners out to ruin their way of life. Both peoples ignorance of the others viewpoint is the cause of the death of both Elesin and Olunde, but a British man named Pilkings plays a bigger role in this tragedy than anybody else. Simon Pilkings is a District Officer whose job is to keep the peace and enforce British law in the part of Nigeria he has been put in charge of. So when Pilkings is informed that a chief is intent on committing suicide to satisfy a cultural tradition, he sets out to stop it, ignorant of the importance of this ceremony to the Nigerian people. However, is Pilkings ignorance his fault? I argue that it is not, as he is merely a product of his circumstances. The famous...

                One book that I have not gotten around to reading, or rather finishing, is The Sympathizer , by Viet Thanh Nguyen. I started this book right before the school year started, but was forced to stop within the first few chapters when I realized I had summer reading to do (whoops). I really enjoyed the little bit of it that I was able to read, and will most likely pick it back up once I have some spare time on my hands (basically whenever the college application process is over). Nguyen's novel is about the Vietnam War, a time in history which I don't know that much about and would love to learn more. What makes it so interesting though is that it's told from the perspective of the Vietnamese, unlike most pieces of literature which only address the war from the perspective of how tragic it is from the United States' point of view. I don't know too much else about the novel, as I only read the first dozen pages, but I'm already looking...

                Among all the characters in William Shakespeare's The Tempest , none are as morally ambiguous as Ferdinand. Prospero, Ariel, Gonzalo and Miranda are generally considered "good" people/spirits, while Ferdinand's father Alonso, Antonio, and their underlings are usually viewed as "bad" people. However, Ferdinand is the only major character not to have been clearly categorized by Shakespeare into one of these two groups, which raises the question: does he serve as a hero or villain in The Tempest ?                 I would argue Ferdinand is a hero, primarily because he is able to rise above his surroundings and prevent himself from becoming a terrible person like his aforementioned father and friends were. Even though Ferdinand never did anything particularly heroic (unless one deems flirting with a beautiful island girl and immediately surrendering oneself into slavery at the first sight of dan...

William Shakespeare introduces the reader to a very intriguing female character by the name of Miranda in his play The Tempest . Miranda has spent the past 12 years of her young life on an island in the middle of nowhere, accompanied only by her father Prospero and the monstrous slave Caliban. With no contact from the outside world, Miranda has no idea what is deemed to be socially acceptable, and as a result occasionally acts in a manner that was not thought to be befitting of a lady (much less princess) at the time. The first example we get of this general lack of awareness is when she first lays eyes on Ferdinand and immediately offers herself up to him. Women back then were expected to be less direct, and instead play hard-to-get in an attempt to make themselves more desirable and woo any potential suitors. While Ferdinand fell for her anyway, Prospero was forced to step in and rectify Miranda’s “mistake” by enslaving Ferdinand in order to make Miranda seem like more of a prize. T...

Throughout the duration of Shakespeare's play The Tempest , the characters of Ariel and Caliban serve as foils to one another. Being that Ariel is a spirit with no material body, he/she (unclear on which gender Ariel identifies as) is able to very efficiently serve as the wizard Prospero's faithful helper. Ariel is quite effective in this role and completes practically every task that Prospero needs done, usually with a joyful and mischievous disposition. Caliban, on the other hand, is the deformed and monstrous offspring of the evil witch Sycorax, who once ruled the island he is now enslaved on via Prospero. Caliban is miserable throughout the whole play, constantly complaining and scheming ways to kill his master, whom he hates for taking control of the island that does not rightly belong to him. While both Ariel and Caliban serve Prospero is some capacity, the similarities between the two end there. While Ariel was freed from Sycorax by Prospero and joyfully serves him to pa...