Why we ended with Haroun

There are many reasons for why I feel we ended off the semester by reading this book. Throughout the semester we have discussed many different types of heroes and there different types of roles that they have. In Haroun there are all sorts of different roles and heroes that are being played that relate to what we have discussed over the whole semester. For example, there are mystical heroes throughout the book just like in other novels that we have read and talked about. Also the relation to the anti-hero goes with Haroun and Mudra, which also relates to all of the anti-hero we have talked about. Lastly this novel also relates to the hero cycle, which is the biggest focus in the class this semester. In almost every movie or book there is a hero cycle, which appears in this novel. The way Haroun travels and goes through all the steps of the hero cycle is a perfect way to end the semester because everything we have learned throughout the whole semester is put together all in one novel, which I think is a great way to end off the year.

Women super heroes

In todays society we have very few well known women superheroes. The few women superheroes that I am most familiar with would be Cat Woman and completely different from Cat Woman, Uma Thurman who plays the killer in the movie Kill Bill. WHen thinking about both of these women superheroes they both have very different ways of going about what they do to make them a superhero. The way we value our female superheroes I believe is very different from how we value male superheroes. For male superheroes we see them as the best of the best and can defeat any monsters or villains that are in our way. But when we think about women superheroes we typically don't picture them as the big crime fighters when in reality they can do just as much as a male superhero. I don't believe women superheroes are given as much credit as they should because in the movies or comics that have female superheroes they do everything that a male superhero can do and can even do it better in some situations. Even though in todays society women superheroes are not given the credit and attention they deserve they should have it because they can do everything that a male superhero can do.

The Underground Man

The Underground Man's actions are all from his thoughts and acute consciousness. The Underground man always thinks way to hard into certain things that happen to him. Whenever something happens to him he always thinks very hard into it on what he should do. The thing is that you would think he would make good decisions from thinking hard and long, but in reality he always makes horrible decisions from thinking to much into things that happen to him. For example, when he runs into the officer and the officer moves him out of the way it devastates him. This causes him to think very hard about what he should do to get back at him. Ultimately he decides to bump into the officer while walking by him with his shoulders. When he does this he thinks he is so bad for doing it and feels better. Another example of the Underground Man's acute consciousness actions are when he went out to diner and he showed up an hour early. Because of this he thought the people were not going to show up so he thought about what he was going to do for an hour until they actually showed up. This shows that he never makes decisions on the spot and always has to think about them because he is not a man of action, but a man of acute consciousness, which is said in part 1.

Rooster

Rooster is an old man that a girl named Matti hired. The girls father died and she becomes very upset. She wants to go out and find her fathers killer and by doing so she hires the man named Rooster. Rooster is an old man and also a marshal. He goes into Indian country to find fugitives that are wanted for cash. Rooster is an alcoholic who does whatever he wants, whenever he wants. He will do almost anything if he is offered enough money to do so. My first impression of Rooster is that he is just an ass and doesn't care about much except for getting money and buying alcohol. Everyday he is usually getting drunk and searching for fugitives. My first impression I thought when Matti hired him he was just going to do a half ass job and not really care that much about finding her fathers killer. My impression changed towards the end of the movie when Matti is captured by the fugitives and Rooster has to head back or they will kill her. At first I though Rooster actually left Matti alone, but when the fugitives saw he had headed back he came back to save her. This shows his dedication and actual feelings towards Matti. Rooster can definitely be a drunk who loves money, but he can also be caring.

Underground Man

The Underground man is both the narrator and the protagonist in the story. The Underground man lives underground away from all society. He has completely shut himself off from the world and doesn't want to have any contact with the society. He doesn't want to be with the outside world but rather isolated because he believes that he is more intelligent than anyone else. Even though he believes to be more intelligent he stills feels scared or inferior from the rest of the world. He finds himself to be made fun of by the rest of society so all he wants is to be isolated from everyone else. My first impressions of the Underground man are that he is a sheltered person and doesn't like a lot of interaction. He is one of those people who doesn't like to be apart or noticed in a group of people. He also seems kind of mean with the ways he says some things in the beginning. I feel as if he actually needs attention to be happy, but he believes what he really wants is to be alone and by himself.

The End of Othello

At the end of the play my feelings have definitely changed towards the characters from the beginning. I have always felt sorry and bad for Othello because right from the beginning of the play he was being accused of making Desdemona loving him instead of actually getting her to fall in love with him. He expresses his true feeling in court in front of everyone, but it still doesn't do him justice. My feelings for Iago have changed throughout the movie. At the beginning I didn't feel a certain way towards him. I just thought of him as another character in the play until the middle of the play came. Towards the middle of the play I started to really dislike Iago for the plan he was trying to create. By the end of the play when his plan is finally finished and complete I am very enraged. The reason that my feelings have changed so much is because he caused Othello to kill Desdemona, when really they were meant to be together. For Desdemona I have always felt sorry for. I have always felt sorry for her because throughout the whole play she is used as an object. For Iago she is his puppet that he uses to control Othello's feelings towards her. In my life I haven't had anything near what has happened in this play, but I have had similar situations where I have been tricked and fallen for it , but have never done anything drastic like killing someone.

Iago's Plan

In the end of Act 1 Iago creates a plan to win Desdemona. Iago is furious that Desdemona is not with him, but with Othello. The beginning of Iago's plan is to trick Rodrigo into being on his side. With Rodrigo being on his side he then can make sure that Desdemona and Othello will split up. Once he tricks Rodrigo to be on his side he then thinks of a devious plan to make Othello believe that Desdemona has been cheating on him with another man. That other man happens to be Cassio who is known to be a good looking gentlemen, which will make the suspicion seem more believable. Another reason that Iago believes this plan will work is because he is known around for being a trustworthy man so when he informs Othello of the cheating, he will then break up with her and give Rodrigo the opportunity to move on in. I don't believe that this plan will work because I feel like everyone will eventually realize what Iago is doing and then Othello and Desdemona will get back together. Right now I think that the plan will start to work and that Iago will be able to talk Othello into not wanting to be with Desdemona, but then they will find out and get back together.

Beowulf and Luke

Both Beowulf and Luke Skywalker have very similar and different traits. Both of these heros show they have what it takes to be a hero throughout their journeys. Beowulf enjoys showing off his skills more than Luke does. Luke doesn't like to have the spotlight on him, but rather being a hero for himself and the people he is saving. When Luke is first asked to help Obi-Wan in an adventure to stop the dark side he refuses because he feels accountable to help his uncle on his droid farm. When he finds out that the dark side has killed his aunt and uncle he becomes angry and wants revenge against them. Luke is doing this for himself and to help the princess, when Beowulf is usually trying to keep people save, but also doing it for the fame. Both characters are heroic because they both follow the heros path and also win at the end. For example both characters were born in unusual births and also had a spiritual guide. While Beowulf's spiritual guide is faith and fate, Luke's is both the force and Obi-Wan. Also at the end of Beowulf, he has defeated all of the monsters he is meant to face and in the end he gets the death or a hero. The death of a hero is when he dies during battle while trying to protect his people. By this happening Beowulf looks like a true hero. Luke does not die in the end, but he saves the princess and destroys the dark ship. This starts Luke's journey of being a hero.

Wiglaf

In the end of the book I would say Wiglaf is heroic like Beowulf. I would say he is heroic like Beowulf because he helps defeat the dragon with Beowulf, which makes them both heroic. This is heroic because it is saving people from the dangerous dragon. Wiglaf is also honorable because he goes in to help fight the dragon with Beowulf once he sees thats Beowulf needs his assistance. He doesn't go into the fight for fame or glory, he just goes in wanting to help Beowulf defeat the dragon. Even though both are honorable, I think that Wiglaf's honorability is different from Beowulf's. Their honorability is different because Wiglaf is honorable for going in to help Beowulf fight the dragon out of friendship and feeling. He doesn't think about what people will think if he helps defeat the dragon, all he is thinking about is helping beowulf. This is what makes Wiglaf honorable. What makes Beowulf honorable is the fact that he never stops fighting for his people. Yes, he loves the fame that he gets from being a hero, but he also cares about protecting his people. For example instead of winning the swimming race he defeats the sea creatures to help protect his people. This is why I think Wiglaf is honorable, but just different from Beowulf's honorability.

Unferth and Beowulf

At the beginning of this excerpt Unferth has a discussion about how Beowulf is not the best hero out there. By trying to prove this point he brings up the swimming match against Breca, in which he lost. By bringing up this swimming match Breca was trying to ruin Beowulf's reputation of being the best out there. Unferth thought that by bringing up this he could both hurt Beowulf's reputation and make himself look better. Unferth is doing this due to jealously because around his area he is known as one of the greats and by Beowulf stepping in he feels threatened and the only way to cope with this is by trying to hurt Beowulf's reputation. After Unferth says all of these accusations he responds in a heroic manner by not wanting to kick Unferth ass for saying all those things, but by explaining that Breca simply just swam straight to shore while he took detours to fight sea monsters to help keep the seas safe. He states that this is the only reason Breca won because all he cared about was winning and not helping keep the seas safe. By Beowulf doing this it helps show and prove how much of a heroic person he really is.