On the Reservation

After watching "Smoke Signals", "30 Days", and reading "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" I have seen examples of what life can be like on a Native American Reservation. When comparing the society, culture, and area that I live in to Arnold's there are noticeable similarities and differences. To start of with what is most obvious to me and most prevalent is the rampant alcoholism on Native American Reservations. In my neighborhood alcohol is an almost non-existent problem, yet on many reservations it is so prevalent that it is one of the first difference that I wanted to talk about. It sounds like alcohol is not just a problem because of health risks but how it can stop people from following their dreams. Arnold said that if people had paid attention to his parents dreams that they could have been teachers or musicians and I think that that's a very significant statement. In my community for example simply because I liked computers someone asked me to intern at their computer shop which I have been doing for almost 2 years now. There are many more opportunities than there are on the reservation. On the reservation it seems as if there are many more cultures and traditions. There aren't very many traditions that my family and none that have much historical significance. Despite these differences, from a social perspective there are similarities as well. As kids it seems most similarities can be drawn from their dreams. In the end we still live inside of the same country and are all human which makes us similar. On the reservation it seems as if Native culture is still very alive although only time will tell if it stays that way.

Native Sons

You read some books for entertainment, and you read some books for enlightenment. Native Son definitely falls into the category of the latter. In book three of Native Son there was a twenty-two page speech given by Max, Bigger's lawyer. I found it to be a great speech, while it did take place in a fictional world, it brought up points that were anything but fictional. While the tactics that people used to catch and prosecute Bigger may have been exaggerated, they showed what things perhaps seemed like to Bigger. Calling 60 witnesses to the stand, combing the entire city of Chicago, these were all very grand and all only because Bigger was black. Max gave, in my opinion, a great speech. It raised many points and was not just a speech that was trying to fight for Bigger. He was fighting for civil rights all across America. He brought an almost fresh perspective by not trying to say Bigger was innocent, but instead trying to argue how things could change in the future. If I was on that jury I would have certainly not wanted to give Bigger the death penalty, or at the very least not for the murder of Mary Dalton. Bessie seemed to have been used as more evidence rather than something to charge Bigger with. Bigger certainly wasn't innocent, but Max's speech made me feel sympathy for him. Max seemed to know everything that Bigger was trying to say but couldn't. Max was definitely one of the most likable characters in that book and its a shame that he didn't win the case for Bigger.

A Principle to keep

When living life things can get quite hectic or confusing, however if you have a strong set of principles they can help you react in different situations. While these aren't a cover all handbook to life, they can assist in the making of decisions whether they are big or small. Some people might not eat certain things and others might have certain priorities over others. I personally hold a principle that deals with people, namely that I will never leave anyone who is crying. This isn't a principle I have to use everyday although it's not an extreme one either. Unless someone asks me to I won't leave them crying. The reason is that while some people don't want people to see them crying because they perceive it as a sign of weakness, sometimes all they need is to remember that there are people who don't want to see them cry. No matter what the reason is that they're crying as long as they don't feel alone then they haven't lost everything. Having somebody next to them can help them focus on what they are going to do next instead of focusing on what they're sad about. You don't even have to be physically next to the person, sometimes just a phone call or texting will work. I chose this as an important principle over other ones because I believe that one the of the most important things in life are the relationships you build with other people. So even if you don't always want to be comforting someone or helping them out, in the end it's worth it. Like I said before this isn't always a principle that I have to use but when I do it's very important that I follow through. So the next time that someone sends you a text at 12 at night it's probably better to respond if they sound sad rather than just putting your phone away.