Conflicting Perspectives

Guterson’s engaging novel Snow Falling on Cedars, thrilling murder mystery, explores and comments on the relevant ideas of the world he is depicting whilst simultaneously presenting an enduring puzzle to solve. Straying from the convention of a murdered victim, David explores a society that has been influenced by the tragic nature of the embedded prejudice created from the ramifications of the war, altering their decision and perspective on certain issues. Whilst that it presents the idea of truth and knowledge by declaring that truth can be viewed as subjective, being controlled by a persons perception, feeling and opinions hence triumphing over justice or reason.

Powerlessness of the Numbats (Aboriginals) against the Rabbits (Europeans) in The Rabbits is shown through the use of words within the mise en scene. Within this picture book, Marsden contributes to the meaning of the story to the readers through very short, but powerful sentences such as: “Sometimes we had fights/But there were too many rabbits/We lost the fights.” The way these sentences are structured so that it places emphasise the appropriate scenario that is occurring in each panel. With Shaun Tan, he conveys the powerless nature of the Indigenous by placing the

David Ives’ “The Blizzard” does a good job of making people analyze their selves and their everyday life. His drama has the capabilities of making people ask many questions about themselves. Why do I follow a routine? Why do I settle for the same things over and over again? How do I break this cycle? What could I be doing differently with my life? It makes many people realize just how routine oriented they are. It also brings to light the fear and unwillingness to change that some people have.

Mr. Jones, the farmer, goes to sleep drunk one night when the most respected animal calls a meeting. Major, as the pig is called, waits until everyone is settled to begin describing the gist of the dream he had had the night before. He tells them that their lives are much harder than they need be. The only reason why they aren’t happy is that they must deal with humans. He says humans are useless and profit off everyone else’s hard work. Unless they rebel, their lives and those of their children will never get better. The group decides that all four-legged or winged animals are friends and will not be harmed when they eventually rebel. Then, Major sings a lively old song that everyone immediately loves, Beasts of England, but they all

The page has quite a bright, mystical styled colouring that may emphasise the fact that the rabbits are new to the land and the numbats have never seen anything like them before. The bright off-white ground is quite a good example of a good use of colour as it symbolises the purity of the land and how the indigenous people worked with it. The dark, almost black, shadows of the rabbits would symbolise their take over of the land and how it is being changed and harmed by the rabbit’s arrival. There is also the difference in the sky colouring behind the boat and in front of it; that may signify the rabbit’s darker past, and the lighter more cheerful presents of the numbat’s

Everyone has experienced prejudice sometime in their life. It has been an undeniable force in society ever since history was recorded. Even the most open-minded people and enlightened organizations can be blamed as being prejudice sometime or another. However, prejudice always takes its toll from these people who form opinions beforehand or without any facts. The novel, Snow Falling On Cedars, take place during a time in which Americans are prejudice towards Japanese people. David Guterson’s novel takes place several years after World War II when hatred towards the Japanese filled Americans’ hearts from the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. During the time period from 1940 to 1955 there was evidence of

John Marsden’s and Shaun Tan’s epic picture book, “The Rabbits”, is an allegorical fable about colonisation, told from the perspective of the natives. An unseen narrator describes the coming of ‘rabbits’ in the most minimal detail, an encounter that is at first friendly and curious, but later darkens as it becomes apparent that the visitors are actually invaders. My chosen image (above), embodies the overall style of the book which is deliberately sparse and strange. Both text and image conveys an overall sense of bewilderment and anxiety as native numbat-like creatures witness the environmental devastation under the wheels of a strange new culture, represented by the rabbits.

His survival is heavily influenced by every choice he makes, from ignoring the exhortations to escape impending danger to choosing to stay with his father in spite of difficulties. His experience with the Holocaust directly shapes his role as a frontline fighter for recognition of Holocaust victims. In moving to Canada, I also shaped my role in society. My skills, such as playing sports; hobbies, such as reading; and characteristics, such as persistence and studious attitude have all developed due to my moving to Canada. My exposure to a life so plentiful in opportunities has also caused me to take many things for granted. Events in people’s lives shape who they become. Some of these circumstances are brought about by the decisions of others, while the majority of occurrences are caused by deliberate choices. These decisions can shape destiny in a life-or-death situation or a can be like a small, yet equally profound, choice to smile at a stranger. While some decisions are out of one’s hands, a conscious effort to have a positive outlook on life can still influence destiny. Like a rudder, daily decisions made with a positive mentality can steer people to a prosperous life. It does not do well to dwell on what may have happened, but rather on how the life one creates can be consequential in further extending the development of

Conflicting perspectives, What are they? Conflicting perspectives are a clash of ideologies and belief systems. When studying conflicting perspectives we are able to generate diverse and provocative insights, like the idea that is appealing to an audiences logic and reason is less effective in persuading them as opposed to appealing to their emotions which is more effective. This can be seen through the texts Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, the article 'Arguments Against Abortion' by Kerby Anderson and the essay ‘Abortion and the Alternatives' by Voula Papas.

According to Marian Erickson, “Most of life is choices, and the rest is pure dumb luck.” Real people’s lives depend on this quote everyday, which leads to the outcome of each problem individuals face. In the passages, characterization of the main personas helps one understand the theme. Conflict and symbolism also help lead to the overall idea that life is not always guaranteed to be full of success. The book The Other Wes Moore, the poem “If,” and the informational text “The Art of Resilience” all share a common theme of how choices and luck contribute to the success of life.

The graphic description of cruelty to animals as a symbol for the suffering of humans evokes the reader’s sympathy for the treatment of his fellow human and sharpens the authors critique of treatment of the American immigrant and working man.

Adams uses simple storytelling to discuss modern issues concerning leadership, politics and religion and as such, Watership Down would be a very strong addition to high school world literature classes. While it is a simple story of rabbits, it can prompt far deeper thinking and show modern issues in a way that many students would be able to grasp easily. Due to its relation to existentialism as well as its prompting of a deeper thinking of a book to find its true meaning it would relate to many other topics, novels and stories already included in a world literature curriculum. Existentialism is prevalent in Watership Down as the journey of the rabbits is all in a quest to create a life free from oppression and a militaristic community and discusses "tradition of liberal humanism [which] spreads outwards, covering with its moral, social, and linguistic orthodoxies a world of bears, foxes, wolves, rabbits, ducks, hens, and hobbits".(Pennington). Watership Down is a book that should be read in World Literature as well as many other general literature classes due to its seeming simple but realistically complex story of animals that relate to many modern

Hatsue had grown up to marry Kabuo, the man on trial, and Ishmael had lost an arm in the war against the Japanese. Ishmael was also one of the reporters covering Kabuo's trial, and found himself tempted to ignore the ethics of journalism taught to him by his father in order to satiate his bitterness toward Hatsue for ending their childhood romance. In delving deeper into the issues that deal with Kabuo's trial, the effects of war, and the romance between young Ishmael and Hatsue, Snow Falling on Cedars explores human emotion and behavior with astonishing accuracy.

But Hans learns to hate the rabbit and feel no compassion about it. The professor tells Hans the rabbit is weak and bad and deserves to be treated terribly because he is not Natzy. In other words, the Rabbit represents the symbols of submission and obedience and the represents the hatred, and power of the system. This is the correct Natzy way of thinking about other races against

Perhaps the most outspoken theme in Richard Adams’ Watership Down is the conflict found within Man versus the Natural World. Throughout the entire story, humans remain a constant enemy to Hazel and the group of rabbits that follow his direction. They have been shown to continuously kill rabbits by either trapping or hunting them, or by planning to destroy their warrens with poison. These actions cause a great deal of fear and anguish within the main characters, as they are unable to actively do anything to prevent this hostile takeover from happening. These rabbits have no possible way of communicating with humans, and they know that humans will continue to do as they please, with no regard for the natural world around them.