Post 9

I think that the shoeshine man reveals a darker side about Hesslers identity.  I don’t think that this means he is a mean person, but I think that this situation was just an example of the culture just finally getting to him.  It was a very human thing for Hessler to be fed up with someone finally.  It was a situation where the culture shock had finally crossed a line in Hessler’s eyes.  That being said, I still think that the shoeshine man was rude and was crossing a social boundary that shouldn’t be ok to cross anywhere in the world.  I think that I would have reacted similarly to Hessler in the same situation.  I don’t enjoy being mistreated or treated without respect.  I have been in similar situations where I have reacted in several different ways.  Some of which I think was immature for me to react the way I did, but it feels great to stand up for yourself.  This is a situation where it seems as though Hessler knew that he just has to pick his battles.  

Post 8

Women in Filung seem to be at a disadvantage.  From my understanding, they are more susceptible to isolation, for they don’t bring money into the house (typically), which I feel would make them feel useless.  It seems very unfair to me, for men are pictured as the hardworking and classy gender in society.  I think I women would feel left out, and hurt because of this.  It’s something that I don’t think many women would say themselves, because it’s so deeply rooted in their culture that this is the way it goes for men and women in Fuling.  Men have more opportunities when it comes to anything, which I feel would be more than enough for the women in Fuling to feel left out from and hurt by society.   Not only are there societal pressures placed on the women, but economic and social as well.  Because of their natural place in society, they are at a loss, at a disadvantage, and I think it’s unfair to everyone, because women are just as capable to contribute to society as men are.  

Post 7

In Fuling, it seems that Hessler wants to jab at the idea that Money does not mean a whole lot.  It’s nearly 8 yuan to the American dollar, and people in Fuling are only making somewhere around 400-500 yuan a month.  It’s obviously no USA, where money is everything, but it is strange to think that there is so little emphasis on money in this part of the world.  There are many things who’s way of obtaining them are through money, so I found this section quite surprising.  It has allowed me to see passed a very serious culture barrier.  Living in the US, I noticed that all I think about is money; when I want to go have fun, I need money to pay for it, when I want anything…I need to pay for it.  Of course there are always things that people need to pay for, but it just seems like people in Fuling simply don’t think the same way that I do.  Culturally, and objectively, I find it fascinating that something as crucial as money or even to broaden the spectrum, economy, has little effect to what goes on in Fuling.  

Post 6

The priest of Fuling survived very unforgiving circumstances during the Great Cutltural Revolution.  He is in his 80’s, a short man, and has a very raspy voice.  During his mass, he speaks in Chinese unless he has high levels of pain, in which case he says his mass in Latin.   He is a very significant character because of his religious background, as well as his life’s background.  Because he survived the revolution, he symbolizes the power of faith as it draws people to want to attend his services.  Because he had the will power to survive poverty and hunger, as well as the overall danger of being alive during the revolution, he is very important to the religious people in the area.  People look up to him as a symbol, and I think that Hessler wanted us to do the same.  

Blog Post #11

Choose one "example" that Peter Hessler develops from his experience, in this section of the book.  Explain what the example is and describe the way in which Hessler develops analysis and thought about that example.  How is his method similar to and different from your own way of developing your own essay? 

Starting on page 367, they begin talking about relationships and life goals with relationships and eventually they get into talking about divorce. When they began talking about divorce, Hessler said, "The problem is that women aren't the same as men--they still aren't equal. So a divorce affects them very much. A divorced woman has no face." (370). This line bothered me immensely because it hit me hard thinking that just because a woman is divorced means that she becomes somewhat irrelevant, but a man divorced is absolutely no big deal because man is at a higher stake than the woman. I think that his emotion towards it is pretty flat and not too invested because later on he says,  "The only honest advice I could ever think of was: Don't get married" (371). Clearly Hessler has no big input on the matter of divorce since he has no need to worry about divorce if he is admitting that he never even wants to be married. 

Mackenzie Ogden

Blog 11

On page 383 Hessler describes his experience with going back and watching the footage he took with Adam. He describes his fascination with going back and watching the video of a man who kept hitting his camera and telling him he wasn’t allowed to film there. He then described his thoughts on all the days he had spent in the city with all the different crowds of people and yet he had never had encounters like he had with that man. He then expresses his emotions as he goes back and watches that incident, he states, “I did not enjoy watching the video. Every time I saw it, something tensed in my stomach and I could feel my pulse race.” This quote gave me some good ideas as to how I should address my own essay. I don’t usually describe my own opinions and feelings as much as I think I should. After Hessler talks about his own emotions and feelings towards the video he goes off to talk about his analysis of the incident and states, “There was much that the video showed. Most painfully, it showed the mistakes that we had made, starting with drawing a crowd in a part of town that we didn’t know well. It also showed that Adam had been too nonchalant, milking the attention, and it showed that he had been disrespectful in tossing the bun across the street. It showed that I was far too quick to anger and use strong language; from the tape it seemed that man might have left me alone if I hadn’t insulted him.” This long quote inspires me so much to write my essay with the same kind of analysis. Hessler’s analysis is very thorough and seems to state everything  Adam and him could have done to prevent the incident from happening. 

375-400 in Hessler

Choose one of these topics and respond in 250-350 words:

In this last section of River Town, there are quite a few feelings/emotions that Peter Hessler describes, both his own and those of other people.  Choose some of these and describe them in your own words, and then describe how reading about them makes you feel yourself. 

or

Choose one "example" that Peter Hessler develops from his experience, in this section of the book.  Explain what the example is and describe the way in which Hessler develops analysis and thought about that example.  How is his method similar to and different from your own way of developing your own essay?