Memories

The night my Grandpa died I held his fragile hand and sat by his side but my mind was elsewhere. A flood of images, a stream of mental photographs, a million memories collaborating to fill the black hole the death of my grandfather was sure to create. Memories that would live on even as my grandfather slipped away, memories that only grew stronger as his life escaped slowly with every breath he took. Now that my Grandpa is gone these memories have become him; they have taken the shape of his big blue eyes, his wrinkled Irish face, and his trademark cap. People die but memories live, immortalizing a loved one for all of eternity. Though I will never see my Grandpa alive again, never be able to hold his hand or kiss him on the cheek, I can always visit him in my mind, in the millions of memories he has forged there throughout my life.

I believe in memories. Images, photographs, reruns deep in the mind that can be recalled easily to keep someone alive eternally. My Grandpa has left his footprints but they are not in sand; they cannot be washed away. My Grandpa’s footprints are set in stone, to exist in my memory for the rest of my life. I believe in footprints, concrete and irreplaceable; evidence of a long trek, a relationship that cannot be erased.

Memories burn and memories heal but the one thing they do for sure is immortalize; they trap one’s existence; they glaze over the footprints making them permanent. They help us to recall; they make themselves known whenever we feel alone, whenever we need our loved one the most. The memories only grow stronger as the years pass, as the gap between a loved one’s last breath and the present elongates. Memories thrive because they comfort those left behind, they keep a person alive in spirit. My Grandpa continues to exist not only in my memory but in the memories of his entire family, of everyone he has ever come in contact with. Whenever I think about him, whenever I feel the pain of his absence, I recall one of his footprints and that footprint reminds me that he is still alive.

A Modest Proposal

It is troubling to see the effects of deviance in religious belief as it plays out in the world. Violence with radical terrorist organizations killing innocents for the sake of their god, killing under the guise of religion. Churches and other places of worship discriminating against “immoral” members of society, attempting to force their view of what is morally correct on all people. Just look at the news, somewhere something is being done to discriminate against those impartial to religion or of a different religious perspective than another.

It is dangerous to allow such disagreement for the world, with its increasing arsenal of atomic weapons and nuclear missiles, is at stake if religious bickering is allowed to elevate. It is, however, an incredibly cumbersome and challenging task to attempt to resolve such discrimination and violence for there is generally no consensus as to which approach would be the most feasible and most logical. Nevertheless, the fate of the world relies on such a decision.
After extensive research, fact-checking, critical analysis, and discussion with experts, I feel confident in my knowledge on the topic. Having spent several years weighing out the various factors and intricacies involved with such an immense problem, I have developed a means through which the religious problem can be solved. Democracy finds its basis in the majority rules belief; when there is a majority opinion, there must be some logic to that belief and therefore it should prevail. To let a minority overtake the majority is simply undemocratic, unjust, and unfit.

Unity is the key to peace between the conflicting religious beliefs of the world. Were unity to exist, there would be no need for argument, the problem would be removed entirely from the root, never to grow again, and the world could thus live as one. Through my studies I have discovered that thirty-three percent of the world is of the Christian religion, followed by twenty-one percent Islamic, and then several smaller percentages of little consequence. Of the thirty-three percent Christians there are approximately 1,050,000,000 Catholics followed by 240,000,000 Orthodox Christians and then about 630,000,000 Protestants.
Having discussed the issue with several good friends, I have been well informed that requiring one religion is quite effective in maintaining crime and peace within society. Logic follows that because Catholicism makes up the greatest percent of the largest religion in the world, then the majority believe in the Catholic faith.

I will now propose my solution to the religious issue and hope that it will not face extensive criticism due to the nature and complexity of the issue and the lack hereto of any reasonable solution.

I have developed a plan by which the world and all of its constituents will adopt the Catholic religion; a plan through which international legislation will set moral standards with strict and unwavering penalties associated with misconduct. The pope will be reinstated as the new World Leader and those who refuse to comply with the rules and beliefs of Catholicism will be swiftly executed. All national governments will be overthrown and all national constitutions or contracts will be voided so to allow for the Pope and clergy to take over quickly and easily.

It should not be difficult to enforce Catholicism once in place for it will become the Catholics duty, as the majority, to stake out anti-Catholics and report them immediately. The penalties associated with breaking the code of conduct are harsh for a reason. People will fear breaking the rules and moral standards put in place and thus obedience will ensue.

Not only will my proposal solve the issue of religious animosity and hatred, it will lead to a moral cleansing that will result in less promiscuity among our teens thus less unwanted pregnancies. People will think more about having sex for they will have no choice but to deliver a baby once conceived, thus eliminating the irrational and irresponsible urges society so often falls prey to.
The world will be preserved through complete domination of the Catholic church for only the leaders of the church will possess weaponry. All current weapons will be confiscated and held in the Vatican, the new capital of the world. Terrorist organizations can no longer kill innocents for they will not have the means to do so. Those people who cling to their religion will not be given two shots; the first time convicted they will be put to death in order to maintain order, stability, and peace. The same goes for those who disregard the morality statutes which will disallow any form of homosexuality, ban abortion, and ban birth control.

I can think of no rational reason not to accept the said proposal for the advantages it offers are far greater than the disadvantages. There are some who claim that freedom of self expression is necessary, is the key to happiness, yet does this freedom really play out the way the idealists believe it will? I think not for it is human nature to try to inflict one’s own beliefs on another. There is an inherent superiority complex present among the human race; each person feels in their own self-righteous manner that he knows better than all others and therefore freedom of speech, freedom of expression, is not actually a working model. I wish to hear no more of the foolish plans advocating religious tolerance, acceptance of all people, separation of church from the doings of the government for these are hair-brained and ill-planned. I wish to hear no more about negotiation rather than violence, about letting others live as they wish to live, about living in harmony despite carrying different beliefs. These, my friends, are far too idealistic to ever thrive in our world.

Therefore, I leave you with my proposal, one of much research and development and one which I believe will be of the utmost effectiveness. As I am an atheist myself, I do hope that you do not believe me biased in my proposal for I will not benefit from it in the slightest.

Huxley v. Orwell

Though Orwell's vision of the future world has some relevance, fairly minute, to today's society, huxley's was a much more accurate predicition. POstman's assertion that Brave New WOrld is a better reflection of today's society than 1984 is definite.

It is relatively simple to see parallels between many of the things we see every day and many of the things Huxley foresaw in his novel. The massive expanision of technology and scientific development coupled with society's emphasis on leisure and convenience are prominent indicators of a modern world similar to that of Huxley's vision, though Huxley's vision is taken to the extreme. The governmental oppression comprising Orwell's 1984 is not nearly as easy to relate to as the oppression stemmed from a love for "the technologies that undo their capacities to think" (Postman). Though to some degree there does exist a level of governmental censorship, especially in regard to certain violations of free speech such as the Patriot Act, it is foreign to that of Orwell's prediction. The prohibition of learning and knowledge is not a reality to society today but "man's almost infinite appetite for distractions" is (Postman).

Since the 1950s, society has generally lost much of its work ethic as science and technology have paved the way for laziness and leisure. Things ranging from mathematics to cotton-picking can be done infinitely faster and more easily thus draining the need to use one's brain and increasing the amount of time available for sheer leisure. Stem cell research, if used for the wrong reasons, can be a dangerous prelude to the "baby manufacturing" depicted in Brave New World. In addition, the instant gratification concept displayed in Huxley's novel is much more prevalent today than in the 1930s society in which the book was written.

Sexual culture has evolved almost beyond recognition since Huxley's time as sex and promiscuity have become much more commonplace and socially acceptable. In this, Huxley's theory of instant gratification can be seen clearly. The growth and accessibility of both prescription and over-the-counter drugs is another dangerous prelude to the society ruled by soma in Brave New World. Drugs ranging from antidepressants to male enhancement and energy boosting pills are a reality in today's world. It is easy to see such drugs becoming a gateway to the drug soma depicted by Huxley.

Without a doubt, Huxley's Brave New World vision can be seen in modern every-day life. Orwell's radical governmental dictatorship, on the other hand, is not nearly as applicable, at least to U.S. society.

Manipulation in a Dictatorial Society

In a dictatorial regime it is fairly easy for the controlling power, whether it be a single person or an entire government, to manipulate the minds of the citizens. Generally the motive behind a dictatorship is lack of guidance and confusion among the society, perhaps following an overthrow of power. Once a dictatorship is established, the dictator is able to censor the information that his citizens receive and the citizens tend to accept the dictator for he represents some form of guidance and organization. This censorship can keep the society ignorant of the facts and, if allowed to continue for too long, can make the society highly vulnerable. When the people are forced to rely on what they are being told, with no solid evidence to support the information, they will inevitably start to lose touch with reality.

In the beginning, rebellion is nearly impossible in a confused and unorganized civilization because the people are being given some form of leadership, something they all agree that they need. As time goes on, though dissatisfaction may grow, it becomes harder for the society to rebel or to even form a consensus against the abuses of power as they generally become stronger. If, early on, the society were to form a consensus to rebel against the dictator, it is true that things would probably not work out for him. However, a dictator will usually push his limits gradually, beginning with minor manipulations of the truth and thus entrapping his citizens in a cycle that thwarts rebellion.

The dictatorial regime of Napoleon in Animal Farm is an obvious indication of the ease with which a dictator can manipulate the minds of his citizens. Napoleon takes charge of a society confused and searching for guidance. He invokes fear through his ever-present guards, the dogs, and starts his manipulation of fact gradually. The animals accept Napoleon as their leader and though there is discontent as time goes on, the majority of the animals believe what they are being told because they have nothing to support a view contrary.

A tactical dictator rises from the disoriented masses recognizing the vulnerability of the society. It is easy to see how the citizens get caught in a cycle of manipulation following the establishment of such a dictatorship for they are given, for the most part, no solid facts. Their form of knowledge is simply word of mouth and it is difficult to argue when the majority of those in the society accept the information either out of fear or lack of anything else to go by.

Are values degrading?

As I was watching the news this weekend I was shocked by the amount of outrageous accidents that occurred on "Black Friday". A pregnant woman was trampled by a mob and had to be taken to the hospital, for example, and a store clerk was actually killed by the crowd as he let them into his store. These types of ridiculous stories really made me wonder what the world is coming to. Correct me if I'm wrong but this just does not seem like something that would have happened 50 years ago. I find it highly disturbing that people could be so self-consumed as to harm someone else in order to be the first one to the iPod display. This kind of ignorance and lack of concern is a major problem with this generation and the overall lack of values is truly upsetting and foreboding for the future.

I feel that a lot of this behavior can be attributed to the high priority society places on material aspects and the fact that, through TV and videogame violence, a good portion of this generation has grown desensitized to other human beings. We are so accustomed to seeing violence both on TV and in real life that we tend to overlook it. As we get more used to being around violence, we also become more accepting and less upset by it. This degradation of values and the appreciation for human life is depressing at best.

The fact that the day after Thanksgiving could be so filled with materialism in itself is contradictory to the spirit of the holiday. Thanksgiving should be a time to appreciate the things that matter in life, family and friends, not a time to rest up and leave at 1 in the morning to hit the sales at your local mall. In my opinion, Thanksgiving has become far too commercialized as a shopping oppurtunity and much of the original value of the day has been lost in translation. Thanksgiving should not be all about shopping and eating; it should be about people and memories. Too often I believe people lose that meaning. Any thoughts?

A reflection on life's changes

"It's now 1990. I'm forty-three years old, which would've seemed impossible to a fourth grader, and yet when I look at photographs of myself as I was in 1956, I realize that in the important ways I haven't changed at all. I was Timmy then; now I'm Tim. But the essence remains the same. I'm not fooled by the baggy pants or the crew cut or the happy smile—I know my own eyes—and there is no doubt that the Timmy smiling at the camera is the Tim I am now. Inside the body, or beyond the body, there is something absolute and unchanging. The human life is all one thing, like a blade tracing loops on ice: a little kid, a twenty-three-year-old infantry sergeant, a middle-aged writer knowing guilt and sorrow" (236).

To a great extent, throughout our lives, we retain many of the qualities and characteristics we were born with. Though experience serves as the greatest teacher and, through experience, people are inevitably shaped as they grow, there are values and traits that will never change. Albert Einstein stated that, "Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death." This quote supports the fact that each and every one of us will change with time as we continually expand and broaden our scopes. This, however, does not mean that we become new people as we age.

There are traits that will be influenced with new knowledge and personal experience and there are traits that will remain from birth until death. Intellect, political persuasion, and the ability to be understanding and empathetic are all examples of things that could change with time and experience. Generally speaking traits involving morals and values do not change too dramatically with time. The basis of our conscience is rooted in the value system instilled in us from a young age by our parents and guardians. Each and every one of us is taught the difference between right and wrong, in varying degrees from family to family and with various interpretations, and this knowledge stays with us throughout life. Essentially, it is the experiences that one goes through that change the person one was and shape the person one becomes but some element of that person's prior self will always remain.

O'Brien writes, "The human life is all one thing, like a blade tracing loops on ice". I agree with this statement because our current viewpoints and feelings are an accumulation of our past. As we grow, we take each and every new experience and add it to our databank of memory and we expand as a person, we do not completely change. We do not forget the way we were before, it stays with us forever and that is what O'Brien means when he says that though he has changed from Timmy to Tim the essence remains the same. The components of our personalities are built on the things we have learned; the "essence" of ourselves remains the same because when push comes to shove we revert back to what we have always known, back to the values our parents taught us. Though critical aspects of ourselves do indeed change as we age and mature, an element of that inner self will stay with us forever.

I know that I am not the same person I was in middle school, for instance, but there are certainly things about me that have not changed and will not change. My personal principles and values have not changed and I recognize that though I am much more talkative than I was then, I will always be the quiet, refined girl I was in kindergarten. By that I mean that, though I may force myself to be more outspoken now, I still have that nagging self-conscience aspect that will most likely never cease. That element of my original self, though I may try to channel it in different ways, will always be there. Some things just do not and will not change. I don't believe that anyone can honestly reflect back on their younger years and say that they are not the same person, in any way, they were then. Some piece of each person travels with them for life, whether they were the little boy who was made fun of for wearing cowboy boots to school or the popular girl who was admired by all. Memories last a lifetime and though things may change, some trace of those memories live on inside of us.

Frank McCourt--> Why I Write

There was no single motivation behind my choosing to write, no one force that demanded my attention; more a collaboration of emotions. I knew since I was a kid that I wanted to tell my story one day for others to grow and learn from, but Ireland in those times didn't give a poor kid much leeway in breaking the ranks of societal prejudices. America was different, much different, and I was able to move much more freely toward my goals. I wanted the world to understand that out of poverty and hunger do not automatically arise misery and sadness. We can learn from that which challenges us and I hope that my presentation of my story has conveyed some sense of perspective to those who read it. My writing parallels my growth from a niave child to a mature adult.


As a young child I didn't comprehend the full extent of my family's dire situation. When you are born into a life filled with hunger and poverty, you know nothing else and you make due with what you're given. You have no reason to think that things are better elsewhere when most of those around you are living in similar conditions. Overall, I was a happy kid. People tend not to understand that, they think for some reason that I must have been in constant misery, but again I was more grateful for the little I did have than most.


Having experienced the confusion of growing up, made all the more wonderful by Catholic Ireland, I understand the difficulties of finding balance. As a kid I was plagued by the smallest of incidences that I believed may be considered a sin. The old Irish "guilt-trick" is one that I am beyond familiar with. Guilt and worry were key players in my childhood and, when taken from a more grounded perspective, the things I concerned myself with were quite ridiculous. Of course as I entered my adolescent years things changed dramatically for by that point I was tired of the worry and wary of the Catholic hypocrasy.


Life becomes more clear only as we grow. By writing very factually and portraying my growth as an individual through my early years, I hope that most can take a greater appreciation of life. Don't sweat the small stuff; in any situation there can be found some light, regardless of how small. Take advantage of the things you have, look more to that than to what you wish you had. Through incorporating some humor, at least I hope most readers found some humor, I meant to lighten the mood of the story; to lessen the depression and bring forth the fact that things are never as bad as they seem if we can only allow ourselves to look at the positive. In everything I try to find humor because nothing is as out-of-control as we sometimes find ourselves viewing it. Just take a step back.


It's easy to make mistakes in life but it is what we do with those mistakes that makes the difference. Mam, bless her soul, failed to see the light in her life. One mistake will only dictate your future if you let it and Mam, as hard as she tried not to, let her mistakes cloud her view of the light. We live in a country where socioeconomic class does not have to hinder your ability to persevere and find success. In Ireland, I probably never would have conquered the perceived notion of "nothing but another poor kid" which usually raised prejudiced questions of my integrity. I was rejected by even the church, the oh so pious church, in two of my early attempts to push forward. To break class status, and thus to break poverty, were, to say the least, not encouraged.


Overall, I write to prove a point: where you came from doesn't determine where you're going, and from everything we experience in life, we can learn. Not everything is the end of the world, in fact nothing is, and if we would all lessen our burdens of worry and anguish, we could move forward.