Mexico City

What are the advantages and disadvantages of life in Mexico City?

Thousands and thousands of people every year migrate to Mexico City from the rural areas of Mexico. That being said, the city grows day by day in both population and area, now claiming a massive 1,500 km² of land. It towers over all other cities in population density and ranks the second most populated city in the world with an astounding number of 21.5 million people in the metropolitan area. But why do the people move into this city? Why do they leave their countryside dwellings and come to this rumbling mass of concrete that sinks into the earth day by day at a catastrophic rate of six to eight inches per year? Why do they come to this trap of a capital surrounded with active volcanoes on all sides suffering from major earthquakes month by month? It is time to find out.

Mexico City is the largest and by far the most economically and industrially developed city in the whole of Mexico. It houses 20 colleges, the University of Mexico and many other educational facilities including the unrivaled Museum of Anthropology and Modern Art. This of course also encourages tourism and so provides a major economical factor in Mexico City. New industries have also erupted in this settlement ranging from textiles to car assembly also providing with vacancies. This act of migration may as well be the start of a new life for many a person that wish to escape their rural poverty and have a chance at a greater opportunity. The city calls to all rural settlers with its bright lights and prospects leading them to a less isolated future up in this metropolis.

On the other hand, not everything is so great in this city. Almost half of the current population in Mexico City lives in ‘shantytowns’ – improvised low-cost dwellings migrants move into while in search for jobs or permanent accommodation. Life in these settlements is very tough and without any basic services such as underground sewage, policing or electricity. Pollution is also a major hazard in the life of these citizens on par with volcanic and earthquake risk. The increased population, as well as an increase in industry pollute the atmosphere immensely being trapped within the circle of volcanoes that encompass the city and putting many people in danger. The fact that Mexico City is located near one of the most dangerous earthquake hotspots in the continent doesn’t make the city a safer place to live and visit. Last but not least, the services are not keeping in time with the ever-growing metropolis. The sewage, the police and the fire departments are way too far behind the migration rate, which makes living in Mexico City so much harder. Sewage is also a problem as the constant rate of the city sinking makes the waste all go to the surface and block many a pipe. It is all quite a fetching problem for the city.

All in all, there are both positive and negative factors to this city (as to any one, in fact). Here we have got a brighter future with education and jobs competing with pollution, loss of services       and poverty, so it is clearly not a fight to be taken lightly. In my opinion, Mexico City can be accessed from both points of view, but in all honesty I would not like to live there, no offence. But if you are that desperate and life in this great city seems just what you need – a challenge – it is a city that you might enjoy.

By Valentina C.

Lord of the Flies - Simon's Death

Simon’s Death – Analysis

There are several factors in play through the pages 167-170 that make the scene as realistic and dramatic as possible. The storm, the tribal dance, the chant and the overall build-up all contribute to this effect and make the extract worth reading. The fear and the excitement, seen through the boys’ behavior and presentation, seeps through between the words, giving the pages an otherworldly feel. The question is, how did the author achieve this? Through the skills described below.

One of the greatest senses the author uses in this passage is sound – the chant, the storm and the clamor. Golding, on page 167, tells us that the blows of thunder “were only just bearable” and the children were “screaming” in their newfound restlessness. When the chant begins – “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” – we sense the build-up. The mastermind behind the scenes entered the chant at specific times in the extract, intensifying the emotions he tries to convey. The thunder and the storm also play their role, striking us with the atmosphere in phrases like: “whipped like thunder…” and “rose a tone in agony.” The author shows us the pain and terror of the scene by using “shrieking” and “abominable noise”. We almost find ourselves engulfed in this new world.

Another main point is vision and the presentation of the boys. The dance, the movement, the emotion overwhelm us and this is very hard to do with words. Golding did. The “dance” (most likely more of a demonstration) of the hunt and the killing of the pig gives the boys’ a kind of savage air, blinding us with their beast-like intentions. Roger “mimed the terror” of the pig, “grunting and charging” and showing us the vile mind of the tribe driven to a kind of madness by their own desires. The movement throughout the passage is rapid, uneven, shown through the “dark” language used – “dark and terrible”, “clamorously”, “hemmed in the terror”… The author says that it was a “demented but partly secure society”, meaning that the madness was also a type of community, like a tribe, that can also be a comfort when greater terrors arise. The motion of the “circle”, overcome with the insanity and the killing intent of the “beast inside them”, is vivid – “crunched and screamed”, “surged after it”, “tearing of teeth and claws”, “horseshoe”, broke the circle”…. The whole manifestation of the scene makes the boys look animalistic, broken down and demonic, like servants of their own and individual “Lord of the Flies”.

The build-up of the extract and the storm come in together. Even the sound continues wildly over the moment of killing, bringing it up to a climax. “Him! Him!” – they shouted, in harmony to the seemingly endless thunder and lightning. It was, as if in pain, as they “leapt” on the “beast” and “poured down the rock”. They were in a trance, ensued by their own instincts to kill this unearthly creature that came out the forest – violent, savage. The growing strikes of the “blue-white scar” in the dark sky push them to this crime of murder and the author eventually leads us to that moment. To highlight this issue even greater, he unexpectedly drops the scene – “There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws.” This makes the scene dramatic, more dramatic than one could have made it by any other device. Golding even “opened” the clouds for us to give us a still picture of this dead body under the endless rain that “bounded from the mountain-top.” Only the beast lay still… It is very interesting how the book is as if written from the point of view of the boys – only on express moments is Simon actually called by his name and not as the “beast”. This is also an artistic effect, but it also has symbolic meaning – only Simon actually knows what the beast is and now he is the beast…

The moment of killing, in itself, is interesting. The “screaming” gashing of the “claws” and the “tearing” – it is all so striking in the way the author presents it. The powerful words used also enlarge the effect. For example, “staggered”, “struck”, “bit”, “struggling”… As well, one must notice the few moments after the murder: “Even in the rain, they could see how small the beast was; and already the blood was staining the sand.” We almost feel sorrow for the small child who knew, but no-one listened. In this he is portrayed as Jesus, wanting to tell the men of good and evil, but being killed for his beliefs. The blind emotion grips me greatly. The fear and the excitement shown, thrill – “agony”, “steady pulse”, “superficial excitement”, “throb and stamp of a single organism”…. It is breathtaking to feel the emotion, the blood-thirst. This animalistic side of the boys is remarkable to watch, as it progressed almost stepping into the chasm of lunacy. As the boys “rushed… into the darkness”, the parachutist was lifted into the air by the wind and settled into the sea, as if telling us that the truth will never be now known. Through this effect, we see that for the boys it can be described as the “spirit” of the beast, being freed from the mountain and pushing the boys down into this darkness in their hearts – “vastness of wet air… falling, still falling…”

At the very end of the chapter, Golding decided to contrast the violent storm by an almost heavenly scene of Simon’s “funeral”. It was said that the lagoon became “a streak of phosphorescence” as the tide flowed and “mirrored the clear sky and the angular bright constellations”. For one, it may seem as though the sky is “accepting” this body of the child to take into its heavenly dome. The author writes this fantasy-like scene, where there are “strange, moonbeam-bodied creatures with fiery eyes”. It is all like a dream, a fairytale, with its “coat of pearls” and “layer of silver”. Simon’s body is further described as being, as I see it, “cleared from sin”. His hair is dressed with “brightness” and “the turn of his shoulder” became “sculptured marble”. It is all so very sacred in the passage – it feels as if the fiery-eyed bodied “lift” the body into the water, as it turns in this godly tide. It says that “somewhere over the darkened curve of the world the sun and moon were pulling…” It is beautiful metaphor for the tide, but also one can trace it to the sky and the sea acknowledging Simon as a part of their cycle and consent to him. It is described, that the “bright creatures” surround the body that is “itself a silver shape” beneath the stars as moved to open sea – all awareness of his secret lost and peace engulfing him. It is another reference to the Bible and the comparison of Simon to Jesus.

As a conclusion, one would most likely say that the extract – dramatic, emotional and strong – features many a skill of writing that Golding uses with immense experience. The author uses language in a way that makes us want to be in the story and feel that we actually are. He uses weather, sound, movement and time to greatly focus our attention of the scene and its emphasis like the director’s ability would envelop us in a performance. The use of vocabulary in the text is also very proficient – repetition, simple, but “deep” world and clever metaphors all make a great impact on the writing. Golding thrills us with his ability of description and setting, so that we cannot but continue being overwhelmed by the passion of the prose and hope that the book will never throw off its iron grip.  

By Valentina C.       

Juliet

Juliet

In among all the characters of Shakespeare’s romance to this point, Juliet seems to grow and mature most, seemingly young and childish at the start of the play and progressing towards a thoughtful yet headstrong woman to the very end. On one side she is doubtful and reasonable, though obedient to her elders, but on the other she can be willful and determined, despite being a tad naïve at her age of thirteen.

Her child-like nature and obedience are shown at the very beginning in Act 1 Scene 3, when she presented with the prospect of marrying Paris. Her young age shows when she states that marriage is “an honor I dream not of.” It seems as though she has never thought of the prospect at this point and is compliant in any decision her mother makes. Juliet says that her consent is not the most important thing, but that of her families.  Also her naivety shows further on during the scene on the balcony for all her questioning and reasonable mind, she still rushes in with no backward glance and says that she will marry him tomorrow if he is serious and what not. It is truly a young mind that just jumps into it with such thoughtlessness.

On the other hand she is cautious, witty and demanding of others, as when Romeo first encounters her she engages in a witty banter with him and plays along with his metaphor. She also shown caution in Act 2 Scene 2 when Romeo is all but keen to vow his love for her, but she says it is all “too sudden, rash, unadvised…” She seems to understand that she cannot believe his word for they are young and passionate, but what then? Juliet is quite demanding as well, stating that if he indeed is serious she will send a messenger to him tomorrow and have all the arrangements of the wedding to hand. Quite hard on Romeo, is she not, for who can organize such an outing in a single night?

As well as all that she shows a clever reasoning in her. She seems to not agree with the feud between their parents and also seems reasonable in her set of priorities. When Romeo ambushes her on the balcony she is first wary and suspicious of the man’s identity and reason for intruding upon the mansion and then start worrying over him herself having true claims on him being killed as a trespasser. Juliet seems to run over all the possibilities and more “real” claims before letting go and starting into the romance between the pair. In this she is quite mature and more thoughtful than her choice of partner.

Currently we have not seen all of Juliet and not all of her personality, but in general we see that for her disobedience and romance are all anew. She still seems underdeveloped in this moral topic of love and family, but in the future we already have the means of seeing how fast she will progress and mature through her life and upon her untimely death.

By Valentina C.

How does William Golding use and develop the idea of the beast in Lord of the Flies?

How does William Golding use and develop the idea of the beast in Lord of the Flies?

 It’s seen throughout the novel that Golding thinks greatly of the mind and human nature in general, creating a novel that interprets different aspects of the human mentality into characters and acts as a microcosm for society. He also vastly exploits the idea of the beast, a.k.a. Original Sin, in each of us, expressing it in most areas of our lives as seen on a smaller scale of the island. I hope to expand on the idea of the beast and present to you Golding’s great talent in opening our eyes to our own selves.

 In Chapters One and Two, though very subtly, the author also invades us with an idea of something greater at large on this island. Only in retrospect can one notice that the choir is described to be a kind of “dark” beast moving along the beach. They are even addressed as “a creature”, as they approach. We do not notice it at first, but even now Golding gives us the feeling of darkness and mysteriousness about the newcomers, that give pretext to the slow derision to savagery further in the novel. In Chapter Two, though, the beast is now addressed directly as the “beastie” that the little ones as afraid of. Though in the light of day, the island is a shining paradise, when night comes all the humans on the island feel the gloom beating down on them. The same can be equally said about our own world, where life can seem brilliant and full of perspective during the day, but at night one feels somehow defied by this sense of well-being and dwells on the fact that it will change nothing on a bigger scale.

 Also, in Chapter Two, we already see this deterioration of Jack and some others to a kind of mild savagery. Jack, himself, talks about killing and murder. Though reined down by a sense of society still in place, Roger also gives a feel of foreboding as we see the sinister side of him that unleashed can bring much mischief. The fire on the island also has a very distinct flavor of fear, as Golding cleverly sets us up for two more flames – one in the boys’ souls and another on the island itself that finally and continuously destroys all signs of life in the end. Through the entire premonition though, without knowing the further evil that sets foot on this miniature word, we simply dismiss this as the fears of a childhood fantasy so far from truth, but yet so close to reality.

 Chapter Five though is a chapter of great importance in the further misgiving of their collective sanity. Addressing one’s fear, now commonly used as a method of cure in consulting psychology, was considerably depicted in the novel as a starting point of realization by the author of the different viewpoints and possibilities of the mind that come through to the reader through the various characters in play. Simon with his ever philosophical and vaguely religious viewpoint stated that “’maybe it’s only us’”. Only now as the portent of the future presents itself, we realize how terribly close he may have been to the truth. Piggy, with his common sense and intellect, also realizes, though on a more logical scale, that we could actually get “frightened of people” at times as we do in the real world at a kind of unconscious level. The fear in this Chapter is almost tangible as Golding wisely gives us small, but valid remarks on a mirror image of our own lives.

 “Fear can’t hurt you any more than a dream.”

That is what Jack says to the boys during their discussion of fear. And it is true, to some respect, in the way we govern our consciousness. To dwell on fear… Well, it is a hard job for any of us. Though he says that fear can’t hurt anybody that fear was the cause of Simon’s and Piggy’s death. The fear is part of the beast – the fear of decisions, the fear of others and oneself, the fear of being alone. Those are all fears we see building up in this microcosm of an island and when they unleash, the true face of humanity will present itself. It is a build-up to a greater conflict.

 In Chapter Six, the children address their fear as an equal, giving a name – a symbol. In my opinion, it gives the fear power over them as they go searching for this “beast” on the island, giving in to the animalistic-like thrill of locating a dangerous predator. It is kind of a supporting Chapter, as the author portrays it – something that joins the two major parts of the story together; the part where there is only fear, and the part where there is the beast. Also in this Chapter, there is the conflict between the two leaders – Jack and Ralph. It is not a first, but it is a major part of this atmosphere that we can feel on the dusty sands and the mirage. Simon experiences in this scene of the novel, a kind of incredulity at the beast – a disbelief that something so horrid yet unknown could be found here. Simon is the philosophical being in the mind of men, and he was and is right – all the beasts are only human, both “heroic and sick”. I think the author, using this character that while not major is a great part of the novel, encourages us to question this idea of the “beast” and dwell on the fact that it can be “only us” and it can be only a “sin” to begin with.

Chapter Seven is filled with a ghastly frenzy that further threatens us to believe that it may all end worse than expected. Over the whole of these scenes there is a kind of madness; the hunt, the chant, the “tribe-like” atmosphere, all encourage us to believe that soon society will falter. And as society falters, the beast will come. The beast, at this point, is intangible, but something that is always there in their subconscious urging them on into the vicious savages that they depicted as at the very end. There is also mention of the parachutist in the Chapter. Personally, I find it as a kind of Trojan Horse – a thing that is not what it is seen to be. The boys were afraid of it, calling it the beast and all, and searching for something to grip on in their fear. The boys wanted to give their fear, which is in a way the beast, a physical body so that they would have the ability to confront it as something real. Or, on the contrary, be overcome by it.

Chapter 8 has more of a real focus on the beast than any other previous chapter. Here, the beast is worshipped, met and “spoken to” – confronted. Jack and his hunters degrade morally and physically as their motives become colored by the wildness around them. They, like real savages, make sacrifices to the “beast”, as if it were a dark god of an unknown world. The choir boys, not long ago singing of paradise and Jesus, now refer to aboriginal faith and gift. A head of a pig; the death of innocence. Figures, doesn’t it? The “beast” develops now, as a god, worshipped and made complacent to these unwholesome humans. It seems that the boys give up on finding the beast on the island (because there is none), but still cannot forget about it. And then Simon meets the beast; his own beast, in his mind. And he converses with it; or it converses with him, in any case, making him understand what he couldn’t put into words before. It was the “Lord of the Flies” – the devil, Beelzebub, Satan; a creature with many names, but one entity. Simon recognized it. Simon understood. I feel that the author is giving us a message through those words that there is a devil in each of us – darkness, a sin, evil. Golding is trying, in one respect, to realize that everyone can commit an act of bad will, be it on a solitary island, a metropolis or a patch of countryside. And people do, in many cases, not realizing it.

“…I’m the beast…I’m part of you…”

Now all the build-up has come to a logical conclusion – the degradation came to its outmost point of savagery. Chapters 9 and 10 talk of murder and violence and foreboding. It says that there was a storm the day that Simon was killed, like a memory from the night when they grew stranded on this land.

“Nothing prospered but the flies that blackened their lord…” It is quite true.

The only thing that ever prospered on this island this whole novel was evil. Simon, a portrayed Jesus, recognizes this and comprehends that there is nothing more to fear on the island except turning into what they fear. He finds the corpse of the parachutist, the truth of the Trojan Horse, but it is after all too late. It is said that the parachutist is a “parody”, a vile “parody” on something only vaguely truthful. At the same time of this ruthless realization, the choir boys take a turn for the worst. Theirs is a “demented but partly secure society” of violence and threat. The fear of the unknown and, partly, the things that cannot be controlled lead them into a wild frenzy.

“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”

It is a steady “beat”, an incantation of power that the boys lead each-other into. So when ‘the one that knows’ enters their “feast” and “tribe”, he is ignored and destroyed. Here again the boys are describes as an “organism” or a “creature”, their hearts beating like a steady “pulse”. Even in reality, when one works oneself up into such a turmoil or agitation, it enforces itself into your perception of people and your surroundings. This is the machination that Golding in supposition is trying to convey.

During the last few scenes of the Chapter, Simon is even referred to as the beast, as if even the author is infected with this superficial excitement of the dance. One can say, that Lord of the Flies has had his way. It is ironic that the one, the only one that knows the truth is mistaken for “the beast”. It can be seen by some as a sign to live life as it is and not look for reasons, but others may state that it is not always like that and finding the truth is quite and foremost important. At the very end of the manslaughter, it is said that there was only “the tearing of teeth and claws”, like a real animal. Also the author noted how “small the beast was” and how dead. Simon was murdered. And all evidence of the parachutist and the truth, in a way, destroyed. In Chapter 9, the Trojan Horse is carried and disposed of by the sea, while Simon, again depicted as a holy figure, slowly makes his way to heaven.

Chapter 10 tells us about the aftereffects of the feast and the reactions that the different figures of the novel have to it. The analytical Piggy refuses to dwell on the murder and the happenings of last night, altering his own perception. He wants to believe it was a accident, wants to block the guilt away from his mind. Ralph, the leader, on the other hand, wants to discuss this event and acknowledge, but yet again blocks it away from his mind. Jack, then, idols the beast and claims that he isn’t dead, because this morality of “protection against the beast” is really what his authority is all about. Jack again puts out sacrifices for this idol and abuses power by violence and cruelty. The choir is again addressed as savages, not longer by name, but as a uniform entity. This, in my mind, brings up an image of a tribal setting – of collective sanity and mindset. Golding is very subtle in this Chapter with the whole “beast” issue, but actually leads us to enforce the idea of the beast onto the cruel tribe itself, as this “fear” manifests into a thirst for blood. The way Sam and Eric react to the murder mirrors reality, as when we are confronted with one of our misgivings we lead ourselves to believe that it was an accident or that “we were never there”. It is common to try to block oneself out of a collective crime – “It was not me, officer! I arrived late / left early!”

It is common and it is hopeless.

Chapters 11 and 12 are the concluding Chapters of the novel and the climaxing ones to be sure. It seems that the choir boys have lost all their morality as they steal and kill without regret. The beast shows itself as the remaining “order” of the island advance upon the tribe and as Roger, who now is violence himself, consciously now kills Piggy - the last hope of society on the island. He and the conch were basically the last shreds of order in the wilderness and now they were both destroyed and it seems as though the beast in the hearts of men is fully free. There is the hunt for Ralph in the last Chapter, who is now an outcast even out of this psychotic society and is the solitary “warrior of peace” on this island. Though by looks, he is more of a pariah or outsider that is wildly hunted. The Chief, who is Jack, and his savages set fire to the island once again, burning out all life of the island and leaving it bare and weak. The “world” is destroyed on a minor scale of the island by humans, who being afraid turned into a thing much worse than their fear. It is something that, one may suppose, occurred to Golding and that he represented in this passage. It may happen and sanity may become a sin, but one must hope that not, for if it does in the real world, there will be no adults to arrive on the island just in time. There will be no happy ending like in a novel, because it would be for real.

In my opinion, Golding’s use of metaphors and language in this novel is skillful beyond belief as he touches many themes and subject of interest all along, manifesting it into one substance, e.g. The beast, that changes and adapts over the course of the story. This deep insight into fear and wilderness in general realized in the real world is inspiring, for much can be learned from this piece of writing. Golding merges the idea of both a micro- and a macrocosm, that while reflecting the real world on a smaller scale also dissects the human mind and personality into defined characters that can be seen in trace in all of us. It is an admirable piece of literature and the idea of the beast in each of us as a philosophical aspect makes the writing even richer, although I surely hope that the destruction of the world, so skillfully crafted in pen and paper, will not impend itself in reality for the many years to come.

By Valentina C.