Toni Bambara 's The Salt Eaters

Humanity is constantly searching for this idea of inner peace. In a modern world of sometimes seemingly endless suffering, how can one interpret this idea of peace into their daily life? The ancient Taoist text, the Daodejing of Laozi, makes many lofty and vague sentiments about how to find piece and rise above inner struggle in order to find an abstract “Way” which will guide one to inner piece. However, this text leaves much to be desired in how one is supposed to find this way amidst a world that is often very painful and bleak. Shane Koyczan’s spoken word poem “Instructions for a Bad Day” focuses less on the idea of finding you way, and more about overcoming current struggles. Life, however, is neither just overcoming struggle, nor just finding your way. It is a constant struggle between rising over pain, and finding inner happiness. These two texts together, though, examine the ways in which one can rise above their struggles into this greater “way” of living. Together, these pieces argue that one can make their own inner peace by accepting that pain is as much a part of living as happiness is, and by allowing these two things to cycle in and out of their lives naturally without fighting against either.

I believe that one of the ultimate questions that all members of the human species asks is ‘How can I find happiness?’ and reflected in this question is a desire to find a happy, fulfilling, quality life. Many people try to find such happiness through their careers, material possessions, and all manner of other pursuits. What a large portion of these people do not realize is that happiness and the elements necessary to achieve a quality life may not come from place, position, or possession but from attitude. In both Gilgamesh by Stephen Mitchell and Sunny Chernobyl by Andrew Blackwell, the reader can see these ideas explored in great detail.

The short story “Greasy Lake” by Tom Boyle is about a young man and his friends who thought they were some real bad characters. The main character and his two friends got into a series of events that started with almost killing a young man for no reason, to almost raping a young woman which made them reconsider how they wanted to live the rest of their adolescent life. During that night, the narrator underwent a series of events that caused the destruction of his mom’s car and the shattering his self-image. Throughout the short story “Greasy Lake”, you can find points that Boyle’s use of the first person colors the story in some situations while causing bias views to show though in others.

In the book, The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, the unusual formatting it used intrigued me. The book goes around in different yet related points of view. As you go from point of view to point of view you find out more information about the situation going on. The book is about Earth in the midst of being taken over by aliens. It’s all very secretive and it’s brilliant how Yancy lets us in on the secret through dramatic irony. The points of view all revolve around the main character, Cassie, and you see the world through the eyes of the enemy and the people around her. This format also creates more suspense because it shows the reasoning for everything and helps sympathize with the antagonist. The separate points of view of everyone’s lives were

Frank Romero depicts the life of Los Angeles by including symbols such as automobiles, hearts, post stamp, blimp, horse, two men wrestling and an iron to his mural " Going to the Olympics" 1984. Each symbol represents Los Angeles, for example the automobiles represents how essential automobiles are to the citizens of LA. To strengthen this depiction Romero includes hearts above the automobile to represent the love LA has towards cars. The post stamp represents the communication within LA. The blimp represents a known object within LA. The horse and the two men wrestling represent Olympic games at that time period. Romero also includes homage to an Olympian by adding the iron.

Women have often played an important role in advocating social justice. However, they have rarely been credited for their efforts and actions. Indeed, the research or narratives on social movements too often focus on male experiences. Yet, a gendered approach to social movements is crucial, because women’s experiences differ from men’s, as do their reasons for becoming involved with any type of activism, be it political or social. The movie Salt of the Earth by Michael Wilson (1954) illustrates those differences and emphasizes the importance of understanding the role played by individual and collective identity in political action. How does one’s social identity shape one’s involvement in political action? In this movie, women get involved in a strike; they become visible activists and no longer just the shadows of their husbands. Yet, their depiction in the movie presents them as essentially mothers and wives, inscribing their actions in the realm of domesticity. Thus, their actual agency remains in question.

I believe that yes, art can make a difference. Artists create arts to bring people together, raise an awareness or t make a statement regarding an issue. For instance, people would create artistic posters and such to help raise awareness to issues like rape, or texting and driving. In the movie Waste Land, Muniz along with the workers of the garbage landfill used recycled materials from the garbage to create amazing portrait-like artwork that represents each of the main characters in the documentary.

Suffering. All of us have encountered suffering and many of us wish we never would have to again; however, what many people do not see is that since we have suffering, we have happiness. One can not exist without the other. Without this feeling of suffering or unhappiness, we would not be able to understand happiness or even know it as a pleasant feeling, since we would never have experienced a life of unhappiness. Journalist David Brooks in “What Suffering Does” and Buddhist Monk Matthieu Ricard in “The Alchemy of Suffering” gave their own input upon the relationship between suffering and happiness. They seem to mention how every person endures suffering, but what is important is not the suffering itself, but the way a person changes or reacts to the suffering. While one may hate suffering, we have to understand that one can not be happy without having suffered. The characterization of emotional suffering as “rewarding” to people fails to account for individuals who have undergone the death of their spouse and have come out of it a changed person. In fact, in the 21st century, pervasive media advertising through television advances western cultural expectations of “perfection”, that in part advance suffering.

Warriors Don’t Cry is a compelling memoir that chronicles the events Melba Pattillo faced during the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was a pioneer during the civil right years. In 1957, Little Rock, Arkansas, much like other parts of the country, was not a safe place for a black teenage girl to live. Pattillo had a rough start in life. She was born on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, December 7, 1941. A few weeks after her birth she almost died of an illness because a white nurse refused to care for her. Pattillo states that the hardship surrounding her birth was proof that she had a special purpose in life that had to be completed.

In the memoir "Warriors Don’t Cry", its all about Melba Pattillo and her story. Melba Pattillo is a black student who has been integrated ,along with the LR9, to little Rock High School. At this time, this school was segregated, but black people are trying to integrate into this school.

Salt: A World History written by Mark Kurlansky in 2002 is his fifth work of nonfiction. This novel explains the importance of salt, a mineral our bodies need, but cannot create; more than just an ordinary condiment, a substance of life. The book jacket identifies the book with the tagline:

In my opinion, the author, Ruta Sepetys, moves the novel in an interesting fashion. I liked how there are many characters and how there is a lot of things happening. The author kept the reader interested at all times throughout the novel. The author, Ruta Sepetys, who writes historical non fiction books just as this novel, was born the daughter of a Lithuanian Refugee which may have influenced her to write this very novel. It is geared in a positive way due to Joana, a main character in the novel, helping to portray this with her nursing skills. Seeing the book in the Character of Joana’s eyes affects the overall novel in many different ways. Some may be on Joana’s good side and others may be on her bad side.

Every day she faces new frustrations. She sees friends jailed, beaten, and even killed daily. On top of this people don’t seem to be responding to the movement because they are afraid for their safety. She becomes so frustrated at times that it seems as though she will die. At time the stress is literally killing her, but it doesn’t keep her from her goals. She takes only the most necessary breaks to stay alive and returns to the movement as soon as possible to once again start to achieve her goals of equality. She believes that anything including her own health is worth achieving her

Teju Cole’s phenomenally written original novel majorly takes place in New York City. Cole character was easy to relate to because of his Nigerian American decent being that I am a Ghanaian American. Cole is a Nigerian American. He was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria and came to the United States in 1992 at the age of seventeen. Cole is also well educated and is a graduate student at Columbia University. I found it insightful how in the novel Cole met several various types of people, including other immigrants. He met and shared stories with a Haitian shoe shiner, at work in Penn Station; a Liberian, imprisoned for over two years in a dentition center in Queens; and a Moroccan student working at an Internet café. I enjoyed the fact that the narrator was well stocked minded. He touched on the topics of art, music, and interesting books. He had a very eclectic set of interest.

In the poem, “Happiness Is Not Comforts” by Dr. John Celes, it states “Happiness is in making and seeing the less fortunate ones, smile.” This can tell us that happiness isn’t just about personal desire but also about others around you. Happiness is nothing when everyone is sad around you. This poem also shows how sharing with others gives the feeling. The same characteristic are explained in all three pieces described. This poem answers the question by explaining that happiness is caused not by what you surround yourself by who you surround yourself with. It attempts to tell us that comforts are just empty feelings that fade quickly. But things like giving to others, showing love and compassion towards other, and going out of your way to do little things for someone is what gives a full happiness.