I just finished Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gillman and was so inspired by its strong, clear message. It is very clear that starting out, no matter what they have or aspire to accomplish, women are looked at as the lesser sex. They are deemed less capable then the men, when in fact this is far from the truth. Women are bogged down by their domestic responsibilities and the men’s attitudes of superiority making it difficult to work to their full potential. This near utopian society is filled with reason and understanding. Crime, hate, and poverty are unknown to this society and they function more as a family then as a country. All things are done for the greater good of the community, not for individuals. The women are raised this way, to have unselfish values so that everyone profits from ones hard work. This novel shows that women can function extremely well, if not better then a society with men. Feminists have been fighting this point for years. Women can function at a completely equal level as men when given equal opportunities. Feminism is an idea that is broad, as explained by Rachel Wiesel in her blog ”The Happy Feminist” . Rachel explains that the only thing you need to believe to call yourself a feminist is that “ensuring women’s freedom and equality of opportunity in all spheres of life is a crucial priority”. There are organizations all over the world such as the Women for Women International Foundation . Which helps women with no chance, rebuild their lives after ravished by war or poverty. Anti-Feminism is an ever present problem, as are all forms of prejiduce, but if enough people want change, it will come.

Something that has always interested me was the possibility that Howard Roark from Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead was based off real life architect Frank Lloyd Wright. There are the obvious connections; Wright was a well known, arrogant architect who had an affair with a client’s wife. But then there are the more subtle ones, like the fact that he left college without a degree siting that that the “paper didn’t matter, it was the knowledge gained that will continue to be useful through my professional career” (New York Times, 1912). In the Fountainhead it is implied that Roark left college months before his graduation for the same reason. Wright started his school of architecture, as did Roark with his modern works. The Usonian home was possibly Wright’s most notable work, and it was a complex of low income housing that was very cheap to build, and also inexpensive to keep and maintain. In The Fountainhead Roark takes on an identical task, building low income housing. Others have had this same opinion, an entire article was even written about it in the magazine The New Individualist. I think this parallel is very interesting and could serve for an excellent senior paper

In snow falling on cedars, the cedar tree is a symbol of safety and security. Many uncontrollable storms rip through this small community, but the cedar tree stays safe. harboring Ishmael from the destruction. A storm very similar to the one shown during the trial was the reason for Carl’s death. If the storm hadn’t been there, he would have never gone on the wrong track, leaving him in a dangerous lagoon prone to boats wakes much bigger then his own. A rainstorm is what originally drove Ishmael and Hatsue to the cedar tree. This tree later becomes a refuge for Ishmael to express his love to Hatsue (a love that breaks all racial and ethical boundaries because she is married and Japanese). It is a dead, hollowed out place isolated from the rest of society. Because it is so isolated, it allows him to be his full self and express his true feelings. The fact that this isolation is the only place where their relationship can exist peacefully also shows that it is not strong enough to be in the real world. This tree exists in a world unaffected by the pressures that society places, the misfortune constantly befalling, and the racism all to common in the community. It becomes a mark of false hope for Ishmael who has no real life outside of this dream world he has created.This story is riveting in everyway, as shown in the motion picturet. which really takes to screen the themes and symbols that were so prevelant in the novel

For the past week and a half I have been reading Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. The whole book has a strong plot and defined themes, but one paticular aspect of the novel that sticks out at me is the protagonist Ishmael. Ishmael has had a rough past and now, although it is far over and done with, seems to be stuck in it. He is still not over the fact that his childhood love Hatsue left him (for reasons not at all personal) and is not over the killings he was forced to pursue in the war. Because he is living in his past, it is very hard for Ishmael to have a life in the present. Although he may not be diagnosed Ishmael is showing all symptoms of a disease called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress often relive memories of their time in war, and distance themselves from people and places that remind them of those times. In the case of Ishmael he is constantly thinking about and reliving his time in World War II and it continually effects his day to day life. Ishmael witnessed a lot in that war, including his best friend bleed to death. "Fifty yards away he lay in the surf pleading in a soft voice for help...He sat there and watched Eric roll over in the surf and face the sun. The boy bled to death and then his lef floated a few feet away." (p. 245) If this kind of stress does not cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder I'm not sure what could. As a defense mechanism Ishmael currently writes about other people's problems instead of havng a life himself. Unless he can get treatment and learn to move past his hardships, Ishmael will be stuck in this rut forever.

Racism is a huge theme through out the novel "Snow Falling on Cedars". It effects the entire story and seems to be the driving force behind every acusation in the book. Unfortunately, no matter how hard we try to get a fair trial unconcious prejudices will always play a role, especially in times of war. Prejudices are many times formed because of the goverment. During World War II 120,000 Japanese Americans (of which 62% were full US citizens) were placed in "Internment Camps ". These camps were very close to prison, giving people no freedoms and treating them as if they had commited horrible crimes. Because they were put in these situations, it lead Americans to beleive that these citizens had done something wrong. If the goverment was afraid enough to lock them up, then should they be also? This lead, for many, to a lifetime of hatred towards Japanese Americans. A more extreme case of this was the Jews being held in concentration camps. Although the motives were different (extermination vs. containment) it gave the public the same impression: that these people had done something wrong. The fact is, they did nothing wrong and these people were just caught in the middle of a war between countries. A war that they had no control over.