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.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
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.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
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
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