Hola 

“Oppression doesn’t exist whereas ideas do.”

As is already known by you, 1984 is a novel written by George Orwell between 1947 and 1948 and V for Vendetta is a series of comic which is written by Alan Moore in 1982. This is a graphic novel about a totalitarian system in which the rights of free thinking and expression were forbidden and the face of the Anarchy which is “The philosophy of a new social order based on liberty unrestricted by man-made law; the theory that all forms of government rest on violence, and are therefore wrong and harmful, as well as unnecessary” (dwardmac.pitzer.edu), appeared with V, the main character who is the icon of revolution and who fought for people’s freedom besides his own revenge. “Your pretty empire took so long to build, now, with a snap of history's fingers, down it goes.” (Moore, 1989)

 

Both novels, 1984 and V for Vendetta share very relevant topics such as totalitarianism which wraps repression, oppression and submission; loyalty, Irony, packages and what they produce on people. But they differ in some of the ways that those are faced in each novel. In 1984, Orwell did not allow Winston to achieve his goals, he let him to be controlled and repressed. Winston was just able to establish the sense of people’s individuality, subjectivity and the hunger of freedom whereas Moore allowed V, in V for Vendetta, to express the sense of anarchy in all its ways and let him win and produce changes in the totalitarian system through his acts and ideas.

1984 is really interesting for many points of view. The sense of Irony through repression it presents with the ministries, proclaiming exactly but what their names actually mean, the way the totalitarianism is shown, the false loyalty and the packages (the slogans).

A clear example of this is “The idea of screaming certain favorable slogans in favor of the political party, shouting against of the traitors in a way to escape from the vigilance of the thought”. (Portal de las culturas)

Or the language related to not free memories. The truth ministry, which is dedicated to manipulate or destroy the historical documents of every kind in order to obtain that the past evidences match with their version of the history. Or the language related to not free imagination. The books were forbidden, the only documents they could read were the ones given by the government. And the language as the most significant way of stealing people’s feelings. The love ministry which is in charge of administrating the punishments and different kinds of torture.

In V for Vendetta, the only book allowed to read, was the bible, which express the government thinking, which is shown to people in a specific world with specific punishments and rules they should follow in order to be free in other lives. This again presents Irony and repression since the novel represents the corruption of it through its best prophet, the priest, a complete normal person who was supposed to be correct but instead of that, was corrupting a girl being supported by the system.

Another similarity is that in both novels exist the human necessity of transmitting, sharing and moving and being moved; feelings which are based on ideas, ideas in which the only reality is the package where they are print. In the case of 1984, the slogans are the clear sample of how ideas through language (the package) can motivate or move people to do something. The slogans moved Winston and created awareness on him about the city reality finally making him reveals against the “Big brother party”.

In the case of V for Vendetta, the story written in a toilet paper (the package) that Evey found when she was a prisoner is the example of what ideas again, through language can make in people’s hearts and mind. There it was expressed what the writer was supposed to feel and think without mattering where or in which condition. It is supposed or understood that her feelings of freedom and strength were always there waiting to be read and shared in order to move other people. Here it didn’t matter if that was true or not. But it moved Evey and that is the point. Another interesting reflection here which represents the idea of Anarchy again is that this small creation of piece of text automatically becomes a kind of literature since it touched other’s hearts and nobody can avoid it and judge it, nobody can control other’s sense of subjectivity or other’s likes, other’s identity. So in a way the forbidden literature (everything except the bible) was broken at this time. When ideas exist there is no literature forbidden. Or also the sense of the impossibility to kill ideas or “you can kill a man but can’t kill an idea” (Sophocles). Moore plays with these concepts and makes them win in the V final revolution.  

“I know there's no way I can convince you this is not one of their tricks, but I don't care, I am me. My name is Valerie, I don't think I'll live much longer and I wanted to tell someone about my life. This is the only autobiography ill ever write, and god, I'm writing it on toilet paper. I was born in Nottingham in 1985, I don't remember much of those early years, but I do remember the rain. My grandmother owned a farm in Tuttlebrook, and she use to tell me that god was in the rain. I passed my 11th lesson into girl's grammar; it was at school that I met my first girlfriend, her name was Sara. It was her wrists. They were beautiful. I thought we would love each other forever. I remember our teacher telling us that is was an adolescent phase people outgrew. Sara did, I didn't. In 2002 I fell in love with a girl named Christina. That year I came out to my parents. I couldn't have done it without Chris holding my hand. My father wouldn't look at me, he told me to go and never come back. My mother said nothing. But I had only told them the truth, was that so selfish? Our integrity sells for so little, but it is all we really have. It is the very last inch of us, but within that inch, we are free. I'd always known what I wanted to do with my life, and in 2015 I starred in my first film, "The Salt Flats". It was the most important role of my life, not because of my career, but because that was how I met Ruth. The first time we kissed, I knew I never wanted to kiss any other lips but hers again. We moved to a small flat in London together. She grew Scarlet Carsons for me in our window box, and our place always smelled of roses. Those were there best years of my life. But America's war grew worse, and worse. And eventually came to London. After that there were no roses anymore. Not for anyone. I remember how the meaning of words began to change. How unfamiliar words like collateral and rendition became frightening. While things like Norse Fire and The Articles of Allegiance became powerful, I remember how different became dangerous. I still don't understand it, why they hate us so much. They took Ruth while she was out buying food. I've never cried so hard in my life. It wasn't long till they came for me.It seems strange that my life should end in such a terrible place, but for three years, I had roses, and apologized to no one. I shall die here. Every inch of me shall perish. Every inch, but one. An Inch, it is small and it is fragile, but it is the only thing the world worth having. We must never lose it or give it away. We must never let them take it from us. I hope that whoever you are, you escape this place. I hope that the world turns and that things get better. But what I hope most of all is that you understand what I mean when I tell you that even though I do not know you, and even though I may never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you. I love you. With all my heart, I love you. Valerie”. (Moore, 1989)

 Another concept is the false loyalty. In 1984, we can see it when the store owner is always being loyal to the dictatorship but he seems to get a mask of honesty. And in V for Vendetta, when people get the masks, they no longer profess loyalty to anyone so just after then, they can tell the truth.

Finally, I would like to add that 1984 makes me think in our reality. How United stated is controlling our minds through packages, Irony, some ways of repression and false loyalties. Making us to think, react and reflect as they want us to do it and V for Vendetta in what comes after, the ideas of revolution that probably will appear in a near future in which we are going to reveal with masks as we were taught to do in order to end with the oppression. 

Valentina Guerra, Dicember 11^th, 2015.

References:

dwardmac.pitzer.edu. (s.f.). Obtenido de http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/goldman/aando/anarchism.html

Moore, A. (1982). V for Vendetta. En A. Moore, V for Vendetta.

Portal de las culturas. (s.f.). Obtenido de https://portaldelasculturas.wordpress.com/2012/06/10/1984-critica-y-analisis-de-la-obra/

Sophocles. (s.f.). Obtenido de http://www.theatredatabase.com/ancient/sophocles_005.html

A Native American joke...

remembering the first classes..........

Kamehameha was born in 1758, the year Halley’s Comet made an appearance over Hawaiian skies. Kamehameha was born in Paiea on the Big Island of Hawaii. Kamehameha means “the lonely one.”  Hawaiian legends claimed that a great king would one day unite the islands, and that the sign of his birth would be a the comet. this one was visible from Hawaiʻi in 1758 and it is likely Kamehameha was born shortly after its appearance.
Kamehameha grew up in the court of his uncle, Kalaniopuu. When Kalaniopuu died in 1782, his power was divided between Kamehameha and Kalaniopuu’s natural son, Kiwalao, who inherited his father’s throne. Civil war broke out, however, and Kamehameha emerged as the Big Island’s ruler.
Many more battles ensued. During one raid in Puna, Kamehameha slipped and caught his foot in a crevice of lava. Seeing this, one of his fleeing opponents returned and beat him on the head with a canoe paddle until it broke. As a result, Kamehameha proclaimed Mamalahoe Kanawai, or “Law of the Splintered Paddle,” providing protection to unarmed noncombatants in war. “Let the aged, men and women, and little children, lie down safely in the road,” his law decreed.

The Hawaiian kingdom enjoyed a period of peace during Kamehameha’s reign. The king unified the legal system and used taxes to promote trade with the Americans and Europeans.

Kamehameha died in 1819, and his son, Liholiho, took the throne. Kamehameha’s bones were hidden by his kahuna. Today, his final resting place remains a mystery.

Oneness: A little preview...

Hey, Glassiators (?). Coni, Abigail, Joselyn and me will talk about Oneness in our presentation this monday. Maybe you ask: "What the *@#~ is Oneness". Well, it's a complex concept, but related with the feeling of beloging on the earth.


There is a poem which could helps us to understand the Oneness vision in the Native American context. It's called The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee. Let's see it!

I am a feather on the bright sky

I am the blue horse that runs on the plain

I am the fish that rolls, shining, in the water

I am the shadow that follows a child

I am the evening light, the lustre of meadows

I am an eagle playing with the wind

I am a cluster of bright beads

I am the farthest star

I am the cold of dawn

I am the roaring of the rain

I am the glitter of the crust of the snow

I am the long track of the moon in a lake

I am a flame of four colors

I am a deer standing away in the dusk

I am a field of sumac and the pomme blanche

I am an angle of geese in the winter sky

I am the hunger of a young wolf

I am the whole dream of these things

You see, I am alive, I am alive

I stand in good relation to the earth

I stand in good relation to the gods

I stand in good relation to all that is beautiful

I stand in good relation to the daughter of Tsen-tainte

You see, I am alive, I am alive.

If you wanna learn more about this beautiful concept, don't miss our presentation on Monday!


Greetings! Manrox.

Nicole Aguilera

I want to share with you this interview and give you some information about Sherman alexie.
His writings are meat to evoque sadness, ut at the same time he uses humor and pop culture . His influences for his literary works don’t trust only on traditional Indian forms but instead he blends elements of popular clture, Indian spirituality and the drudgery of poverty ridden reservation life to create his characters and the world they inhabit

Alaska Natives and Chileans : Something in common.

Well, I like to make a comparison between the Chilean and Alaska Natives. As you can see in our presentation, I said that the Alaska Natives passed down their stories from generation to generation. Well, this also happens in our country, especially in southern Chile, where this tradition is still preserved.




















I wanted to gather these two cultures because, despite being far away places, have a tradition in common, what makes one form or another, all have a cultural connection.

Apaches: A sacred ritual for girls

On monday my group and me  we are going to talk about of tribe Apaches, specifically a sacred ritual for girls. In this link you find information about the religion of Apaches and the rite.

http://southwestcrossroads.org/record.php?num=521

Hawaii: A Beutiful Island

About the last class on introduction last Friday, when he gave us the talk of teacher from Hawaii, I leave this link of a video I found it on how Hawaii was formed. Hope you like it. Bye.

My name is Khan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uNDm6YfN2k

This is a good film to show the cultural divesrity and how people from other cultures have to deal with discrimination. I saw it, and I loved it! :)

I invited you to visit this website www,weday.com for to help the children around the world.

We Day is a secular, non-political movement founded by the international children’s charity Free The Children.

For every 'like', our sponsors will donate $1 to Free The Children. Created by Free The Children to celebrate the power of young people to create positive change, We Day is a day-long event that ignites a year-long program for change, called We Schools in Action. Add by Facebook!!!

"SUNDAY BlOODY SUNDAY"

I´ve choose this song because is an important memory. The conflict between England and Ireland represents an ugly and a recent remembrance. The band "U2" wanted to make the people identify with the theme.  When the terrorist group IRA used to caused the panic between both nations.
I think the lyrics of this song reflect the feeling of Irish.
This conflicto knowing like "The Troubles"caused great loss of life during the second half of the twentieth century.
                                            Sunday Bloody Sunday
                                                
 Yes...

I can't believe the news today
Oh, I can't close my eyes 
And make it go away
How long...
How long must we sing this song?
How long? How long...
'cause tonight...we can be as one
Tonight...
Broken bottles under children's feet
Bodies strewn across the dead end street
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
And the battle's just begun
There's many lost, but tell me who has won
The trench is dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters 
Torn apart
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
How long...
How long must we sing this song?
How long? How long...
'cause tonight...we can be as one
Tonight...tonight... 
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away
Oh, wipe your tears away
Oh, wipe your tears away
(Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
Oh, wipe your blood shot eyes
(Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
Sunday, Bloody Sunday (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
Sunday, Bloody Sunday (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
And it's true we are immune
When fact is fiction and TV reality
And today the millions cry
We eat and drink while tomorrow they die
(Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
The real battle just begun
To claim the victory Jesus won
On...
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Sunday Bloody Sunday...

I want to show you this film for to do a reflexion about the convivence between the natives and the settlers. where both shared their indifference to the conflict that was happening in that time. England and France were disputing the Canadian territory. The focus of this history is "the last survivors of the Mohawk tribe". This film is based on the novel by James Fenimor Cooper, "The last of Mohawk". 

This is a good legend  of the Alaska Natives. You can see the relation between this story and a recent film " The Princes and the Frog". 
<sup>"Alaskan and Pacific Northwest Legends"

"Tlingit Frog Story"........ a story from the Cape Fox & Tongass Tlingit people ........
The Tlingit have a high regard for frogs believing that they bring good luck and fortune. One day a young woman saw a frog in her path and made a slighting remark about frogs. This was a serious offense which the Tlingit believed would be firmly punished. Soon afterward she met a handsome young man who asked her to marry him. (He was actually a frog but appeared to her in human form.) She agreed to meet him later at a certain lake in the woods. He told her he would take her to his home where his father was a chief. At the edge of the lake he instructed her to step on a patch of water lilies but she was afraid until he stepped on them. They followed a path and were soon in a large village. He took her to his father's house, though she did not know it was the frog's home beneath the lake.
Knowing that the young woman had offended the frogs, her relatives decided to give a feast to them in the hope that they would return her. An invitation was delivered to the lake and the feast prepared. Toward evening they saw the young woman with two frogs, a large male and a small one - her husband and child. They were sitting on a marshy spot in the middle of the lake but soon disappeared. Then her relatives drained the lake and recovered the young woman. She related her experiences but did not live long afterward.
It is said that those who live extremely pure lives may sometimes see her rise from the center of the lake. One must fast many days and follow strict taboos in order to see her, but great luck and riches will come to anyone who succeeds. She is most apt to be seen when the sun is shining on the water. Then her hair gleams with a bright luster.</sup>

Elizabeth, The golden age (By Romina Herrera)

The movie is full of powerfull dialogues, majestic outfits, character's building, music and a script made of romance, intrigue affairs, and treason.
This movie can be seen as a contribution to England's power because its facts are true and cure approved only the English Academy of History.
Shekhar Kapur made ​​a very subjective film that seeks to enlarge the image of England also only shows an image of Queen Elizabeth's maiden.

Education is the key against discrimination

“Education is the key against discrimination” by Diego Escobar C

Since I read the topic of the slavery in the south of the U.S.A, I started thinking about all the events based on racist ideas. These events have brought discrimination and segregation to many different societies and in most of the cases they have ended with many deaths as a result.

In the sixteenth century, in the U.S.A. black people were farmers’ slaves and even after the war in 1865, black people and white people did not share the same rights. Joseph Stalin was responsible for killing more than 40 million of Russians, Ukrainians and Czech people during the Soviet Union in Russia (www.historyplace.com). Something similar happened during the Second World War, when millions of Jew people were persecuted and exterminated during the Nazi Regime. Finally, Two months ago, one Chilean guy was murdered because of being homosexual. It seems that all along the history of  civilization in the world the fact of being different has brought pain to us, in spite of all the human, scientific and social advances it feels as it had never been solved.

Many countries and different kinds of associations have tried to end the problem of the segregation, discrimination and racism by creating new laws. On August 26, 1920, the 19^th Amendment to the constitution was finally ratified, enfranchising all American women and declaring for the first time that they, like men, deserve all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. (www.history.com)

The RDA (The Racial Discrimination Act) has specific prohibitions which are Australia’s obligations. It is unlawful to discriminate in areas such as employment; land; housing and accommodation; provisions of food and services; access to places ; facilities for use by the public and also enhance the access of minority groups to justice, cultural expressions and other rights and freedoms. (Racial Discrimination Act, 1975)

In our country the famous law against discrimination or “Zamudio Law” has been approved by the parliament in order to end with the discrimination to the people of different sex. (www.bcn.cl)

Even though these advances have meant a big step in terms of giving end to discrimination to the minorities, I don’t think that by creating new laws we are going to end with segregation and discrimination. I believe they are helpful but they do not reach the core of the problem. According to Thoreau: “Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice” (Thoreau, 1848)

A study, carried out in Turkey, shows that Turks are prejudiced against the members of the minority communities but that prejudice is based on complete lack of knowledge. A total of 1,108 people around the country were questioned.

When asked who they would not like as a neighbor, 57% said an atheist family, 42% did not want Jews in the neighborhood and Christians followed at 35%. An interesting figure is that 76% admitted having no knowledge of Jews but they didn’t want them as neighbors. (http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com)

It has made me think a lot and I believe that many of the minorities which have been discriminated  against nowadays such as the Mapuches in our country or even the Chilean’s discrimination against the Peruvians or Bolivians are results of the lack of knowledge and the lack of education that affects our world.

We don’t need a new law that dictates: “Mapuches cannot be discriminated against  anymore”. As a society and as future educators, we have to educate people and make them aware of who their neighbors are, what religion or sex they have and why we have to respect them and also to respect them as autonomous minorities that share the same rights as we do.

I leave this trailer for a movie that I love and that is my favorite film director Tim Burton.
It is based on the novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace.
The main element of Big Fish is the idea of reconciliation between a father and son.

It's a beautiful movie. See it only!

Nicole Aguilera

How do you think Martin Luther King´s influences have affected other latin american cultures?