Do The Right Thing

What similarities / differences do you see between Do The Right Thing and "How Bigger Was Born"?  What are the specific ideas and examples used by each text to make their points?  What conclusions can be made as a result of this comparison / contrast?  (Note - this is an analytic statement, not a personal one, so you should avoid using "I" - stick with what is expressed in the film and essay)

The movie Do The Right Thing and the essay "How Bigger Was Born?" can be easily connected. In the movie the main character Mookie made a very big character change at the end of the movie. In the fight scene at the end of the movie Mookie shows a change when he picks up the garbage can and throws it through the window of Sal's restaurant. This act seems to be the result of a building of problems that occurred throughout the movie. What started the fight was when Sal broke the Radio Raheem's stereo and called him a nigger. Sal using this word seemed to push everyone else in the restaurant over the edge. Though Mookie and Sal were close the racial slurs used against him over and over again seemed to reach a breaking point, and he turned to violence. This can also be seen in "How Bigger Was Born?",  Richard Wright shows the reasons behind Bigger killing in this essay when he states, "The white neighbor to limit the amount of education his black neighbor would receive; decided to keep him from the police force and out of the local national guards; to segregate him residentially... and to build up vast, dense ideology of racial superiority that would justify any act of violence taken against him to defend white dominance; and further, to condition him to hope for little and to receive that little without rebelling." (pg. 438). This quote shows that the whites have all the power in society over blacks, that the blacks aren't able to hold positions of power, and because of this they are unable to have and hope without rebellion. Though Bigger had more oppression during his life than Mookie because of the different times they lived in, Mookie experienced similar discrimination. When Mookie acts with violence, he had been called awful names, and on of his friends had just been killed by a police man; so it can be easily seen that Mookie could have lost hope, and resulted to rebellion believing it was the only way.

 

What are your personal (emotional, critical) responses? What are your feelings, at the movie's end, for Mookie, for Sal, for the police, for the community, for Radio Raheem? Who does--and who does not do--"the right thing"? Whose actions seem meaningful, purposeful, humane? What has been earned, learned, or lost? (Note - this is a personal statement, so should be all about the use of "I")

 

At the end of Do The Right Thing I had a lot of sympathy for Sal. I feel that Sal never did anything wrong, to deserve what was done to him. Buggin' Out decided to boycott Sal's restaurant because he didn't have any pictures of blacks on his wall only of Italians. I think that Buggin' Out wanting to boycott Sal's because of this is just looking for trouble. Sal was never discriminative to anyone, he normally defended the minorities that Pino was rude to. I think that Sal wasn't purposely leaving blacks off the wall, he had successful Italians on the wall because he was Italian and it was an Italian restaurant. I think that if Buggin' Out hadn't been out looking for trouble none of this would've ended up happening. I also had a lot of sympathy for Radio Raheem, though Radio Raheem shouldn't have had his music on in the restaurant because Sal already asked him not to play it in his restaurant he shouldn't have been killed. The police had no reason or right to kill him, they should've maybe arrested him, for attacking Sal, but not kill him. The police seemed to be unjust throughout the whole movie, they were abusive while stopping the fight, and also earlier in the movie they were unjust. The man who got his car soaked they didn't even listen to. Mookie to me was a hard character to judge, during the majority of the movie I liked him and felt he normally was usually doing the right thing, but towards the end of the movie I wasn't sure how I felt, not only did it seem like he wasn't there for his son, but he also was the source of the destruction of Sal's restaurant. I think that Mookie overall did the right thing, though like every character in the movie he did make some major mistakes.

Power- document 2

This document was about Carl Stokes the mayor of Cleveland. Dr. King was planning on going to Cleveland but Stokes was worried the effect King would have on Cleveland. He didn't want King to come to because he was worried he would disturb the peace and balance in Cleveland. He knew that it was important to not anger the white voters with coming because he knew he couldn't win the election without the whites votes. Stokes respected King and thoughout is courage was very honorable but he knew how important winning the election was. When King came Stokes did what he desicribed as one of the hardest things of his life, he asked for King to leave. King said he couldn't leave but he promised not to cause problems. King respected this promise and in the end did limit his actions and ended up really helping the city.

Stokes’s concern about the SCLC’s activities in Cleveland was political. What does Stokes’s dilemma
suggest about his understanding of the politics of getting elected?

As I stated above, Stokes was worried that the SCLC's activities in Cleveland would angert he whites and the balance the city had would be lost. He was worried that these actions would bring hate and anger out of the whites. He knew that if the whites were angry they wouldn't vote for him and he couldn't win on the black votes alone. He respected Dr. King and knew that the things he were doing were important but it would hurt him politically and the political campaign was very important to him.

Beloved Chapter 9

The past plays a major role in this novel. Throughout the book there are many flash backs that allow the reader to put together the pieces of the present. In chapter 9 one important memory Sethe addresses is of the Clearing. Sethe wants to go back to the clearing to bring back the happiness and memories of that time. When she is there her memory is so strong she believes she can even feel Baby Suggs's presence. On page 113 Sethe explains, "The fingers touching the back of her neck were stronger now- the strokes bolder as though Baby Suggs' fingers were gathering strength...Somebody chocked me...Grandma Baby, I reckon. I just asked her to rub my neck, like she used to and she was doing fine and then just got crazy with it, I guess." This quote shows the power of memory, Sethe was remembering the past and imaging that Baby Suggs was rubbing her neck like she used to and in the end she had physical and real effects from her memory. Also in this chapter rememory is talked about. Rememory is something that is not something you remember easily or normally it is something that was called back by someone talking about,etc. In this chapter rememory is seen after Paul D starts talking about Halle, these conversations bring back memories and thoughts of Halle, which shows rememory. This is seen on page 116 when Sethe says, "Trust and rememory, yes, the way she believed it could be when he cradled her before the cooking stove. The weight and angle of him; the true-to-life bear hair on him." This little details of her time with Halle are things she wouldn't normally think about but because Paul D was talking about Halle these memories come back and cause pain for Sethe. For Denver many challenges and issues occur when Nelson Lord asks Denver about her mom being arrested in the past. This happens on page 123, "Would she let that happen? Murder, Nelson Lord has said. "Didn't your mother get locked away for murder? Wasn't you in there with her when she went." After Nelson brought up this question of the past it caused many issues for Denver. She struggled for a long time with the question and waited along time to ask her mom about it. It made her skeptical but she avoided the question of the past because it was a serious subject that was hard to address her mom about. This shows that when the past is brought up it can be hard to face it or to approach others about it.

Emerson's Self- Reliance

In the essay Self- Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson explains how to be an honorable person in society. Emerson explains that in order to be successful one should define themselves as a non- conformist. Emerson repeatedly stresses the importance of only acting on what one believes in and what is important to them, and not to let others influence them or define them. Emerson shows this when he says, "What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think" (pg.23). This quote shows that the only thing that people should only act on what concerns them, because in the end our actions define us. If we worry about what others think or their opinions of us, we will end up letting others have an influence over us, therefore we are conforming based on others. In order to define our place in society we need to be non- conformists.

9/11 Quran Burnings

This article explained how a church in Florida is planning on burning copies of the Quran in protest of building a Mosque on ground zero. Aftering reading this I feel that the man who is runnning this is judging a whole group of people based on a few. The church is disrespecting a religion and could be offending many people who had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks and that have lived in America all their lives. At the same time I understand why some people who lost family members or friends in the 9/11 attacks might feel offended or hurt, by people building a symbol of the same religion of the attackers on ground zero. The article said, "In Afghanistan, at least 11 people were injured today in protests against the planned burning". I think that this quote shows the reverend is wrong by acting with violence and irrationally. At the same time I think that something that doesn't pertain to one religion or group of people should be built on ground zero, their should be a memorial there that pertains to many different types of people so that everyone can relate and pay respect to those who lost their lives. 

Thomas Paine- The American Crisis.

The main idea of this reading seems to be that the way England has been treating America should be treated and looked down upon the same as murder. Paine shows that the actions of the King are just as bad as if someone were to murder and innocent human being, and that just because the King has power he shouldn't be treated differently than an individual murder or criminal. Paine shows this when he says, "whether he who does it is a king or a common man; my countryman or not my countryman: whether it be done by an individual villain, or an army of them? If we reason to the root of things we shall find no difference." Paine also argues that God is on their side. He says that there is no way that God could help the King fight the Americans when the King is the perpetrator and America the victim. Paine shows this when he says, "I cannot see on what grounds the king of Britain can look up to Heaven for help against us: a common murderer, a highwayman, or a house beaker, has a good pretence as he."  I think he uses the argument of a higher power so people aren't scared to fight, if they know that God is on their side than they shouldn't have to worry about losing or being killed. This allows Paine to make the people feel confident and like they are doing the right thing. Paine also compares Americas situation to slavery. This seems ironic because as he is saying how it is wrong the way they are treating the Americans and how they shouldn't allow this, he doesn't say anything about freeing slaves.