The Intercultural Conflict Between Walt and His Neighbors in Gran Torino

Walt Kowalski, a disgruntled, grumpy, and prejudiced widower holds contempt for his

children as well as for his neighbors. After Thao tries to steal Walt’s mint-condition 1972 Gran Torino as a way of being initiated into his cousin’s gang, Walt finds himself on the path to cleaning up the neighborhood as well as its youth. Gran Torino exemplifies intercultural conflict, the development of empathy between Walt and his neighbors, as well as great differences in the sociorelational context of Walt and his family versus his neighbors’ relationships.

According to Neuliep, intercultural conflict is defined as the implicit or explicit emotional struggle between persons of different cultural communities over perceived or actual incompatibility of cultural ideologies and values, situational norms, goals, face-orientations, scarce resources, styles/processes, and/or outcomes in a face-to-face (or mediated) context within a sociohistorical embedded system. Gran Torino would be a prime example of intercultural conflict exhibited by one cultural group to another. Since Walt despises his neighbors only due to their race, it shows how intercultural conflict is still relevant today. I believe the type of conflict would be the intermediary level of intercultural conflict because there are observable differences between Walt’s family culture and the Hmong culture. One major difference is the language barrier between the older Hmong members and Walt. Sue and Thao have to act as a translator between Walt and their older relatives. Walt also doesn’t understand the Hmong tradition of bringing food and gifts as a thank you for protection of their friends and family members. Although Walt does finally accept the gifts and friendship of his neighbors, the relationship we see between them in the beginning of the movie is a prime example of intermediary intercultural

conflict.

When we first see Walt in Gran Torino, there is no way we would every associate him

with a term like empathy. Quite frankly, the amount of racial slurs and derogatory language he

uses in the beginning of the movie made me loathe his character. However, this changed once he finally saw the light, no pun intended. During the exposition of the movie we see Walt as being a very unhappy elderly man. He is not close with his kids or their families and he hates the way the neighborhood is falling to shambles. His family seems to cause him much more pain than any sort of satisfaction, and they seem to be waiting on him to die so they can have his things. When Thao tries to steal his car, to Walt this is a prime example of how his neighborhood has turned upside down. Once Walt sees how kind and accepting his Hmong neighbors are, he finally realizes that they are more of a family than his own. Once Sue is beaten, Walt gives his life so that Thao and Sue can grow up without the fear of the lurking gang members. Walt also gives Thao the tools and the opportunity to learn the construction ins and outs so that he has a skill set he can grow to get a job. These means will provide Thao a way to support himself as well as his family so that he can make a better life for them in the future. From Walt hating everything about his neighbors, to giving his life for them truly shows the progression of empathy that he has in his heart.

With the Hmong people being a collectivist culture and Walt’s family being more individualistic, we see a great difference in sociorelational context. Since the Hmong people live in close proximity to one another and are close with each other, they are much more supportive and caring. This is shown with the gifts and food that collectively show up at someone’s doorstep. They also have large family gatherings with lots of food and conversation. This is the antithesis of the Kowalski family. Walt avoids his family and finally musters up courage to tell his son he’s sick, but then is told by his son that he is very busy. This forces Walt to just say goodbye and not tell him of his illness. The American family, in this case it is Walt’s, just look for material things instead of emotional support. Walt has kept his 1972 Gran Torino is prime

the

condition, exhibiting the fact that he cares more for his car than for mending the strained

relationships he has with his family. Walt’s granddaughter wants the car when Walt passes away, but doesn’t care about spending time with him while he still is alive. It pains me to see their relationships the way they are. I love my grandparents dearly and cannot wait to see them this summer. I love hearing the family stories and history of my ancestors. Never would I think of them for their material items, that just sickens me.

All in all, I thought Gran Torino was a very interesting movie that shows how people can change over time. When we first meet Walt, he is such a bitter and cynical man that I honestly have no sympathy for. After he starts helping Thao and Sue, we start to see that Mr. Kowalski can actually be a decent human being. Then at the end of the movie when Walt gives his life to try and give them a better future, we conclude Walt’s empathetic journey. Over the course of the movie, Gran Torino, we see Walt complete a 180 degree turn from miserable, crotchety old man to compassionate and understanding human being. I believe this movie showed a lot of intercultural communication examples but my favorites that it exhibited were intercultural conflict, empathy, and sociorelational context.

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The Importance of a Healthy Lifestyle

Healthy Lifestyle

A healthy lifestyle is important because you don’t want to become crazy. A healthy

lifestyle allows you to function at 100%. In order to live a healthy lifestyle you need to have a healthy mind. You also need to have a healthy body. One last thing you need to have is a healthy work style. If you don’t think you have time for a healthy lifestyle think again. A healthy lifestyle will be hard in the beginning but if you don’t start now it will hurt you in the long run.

A healthy mind set allows a person to be calm in all situations. A healthy mind will relieve stress and allow you to concentrate. I believe that meditating will help you get a healthy mind. I also suggest eating antioxidant products. They improve focus. According to psychology today they say you should explore something new every day to expand your current knowledge. More than ever a healthy mind set doesn’t only mean relaxing it also depends on your mood. A positive mood will also allow you to have a healthy mind set. With a healthy mind you can overcome any challenge in your path to healthiness. This is one thing you should do to live a healthy lifestyle.

Having a healthy body is important. It allows you and your body to feel amazing. In a healthy lifestyle you don’t want to be just like a potato. To have a healthy body you need to eat healthy. Eating a salad wrap from McDonald’s is not healthy. You actually need to diet yourself to more greens on your plate, no soda or junk food, and more meats for protein. Another main factor of having a healthy body is exercise. Going to the gym helps with that exercise part. Playing sports or any outdoor activity works as well. Without a healthy body you have a major chance of getting diabetes type 2. These will get you one step closer to having a healthy lifestyle.

The last thing you need to obtain a healthy lifestyle is to have a healthy work style. What I mean by this is that when you work you can’t overpressure yourself. You should only limit yourself to an amount of work that you know you can complete. A healthy workstyle doesn’t mean only “working” it also means something like better posture. Slouching is not healthy for you. If slouching is your thing than you should stop before you look like The Hunchback of Notre Dame. You shouldn’t over think and overwork. “Work smarter not harder”, is a great quote relating to having a healthy workstyle by Allan F. Mogensen.

These are what you need to do to have a healthy lifestyle. “If you’re not willing to change don’t expect your life to either. You need a healthy mind by relaxing more and learning more. You need to have a healthy body by eating good and exercising. You need to have a healthy workstyle by not pressuring yourself way too much. These will all help you obtain a healthy lifestyle.

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Film Analisys of Gran Torino

Table of contents

Learning a New Perspective

The film I chose to watch and analyze for this reflection paper is titled Gran Torino. This movie is one of my all time favorite movies when I watched it ten years ago for the first time it came out. I picked this movie because I like Clint Eastwood for doing a good job of displaying his tough ego and classic humor as a character named Walt, but I also feel like I can relate to Walt’s stressful friendship with Thao. Thao, who is apart of the Hmong community who recently moved to the neighborhood faces conflict with his relatives who are gang members and other people of other races in his neighborhood. I had a best friend named peter in middle school who was chinese and he faced racist acts by people in his predominantly white neighborhood. Some young adults would throw toilet paper at his house and call his parents chinkers which is a derogatory term for asians. Gran Torino is about an old racist white guy named Walt who has just lost his wife to death and he tries to overcome his racist behavior as he becomes a mentor to Peter.

This movie displays an old white male named Walt, who is a korean war veteran and long time employee of Ford build a relationship with a young male neighbor of asian descent named Thao. Thao doesn’t have a vehicle to drive, a job, a girlfriend, and no close friends. Thao’s cousin who is in a gang nearby offers him a spot on the team if he can successfully steal Walt’s Gran Torino. Walt stops Thao from stealing the Gran Torino and Thao is a disappointment to his cousin’s gang. Thao’s cousin causes harm to his family and Walt feels compassion to his new neighbors whom he connects to throughout the movie. Walt is sick and dying from poor health, so he tries to perform a great deed by sticking up for Thao and his family from the gang before he passes away. This film is in the poor neighborhoods of detroit where shootings are common and people of different color stay together.

This film is filled with conflict scenes and it’s ends with a very powerful scene of conflict. Before I analyze my scene of conflict, I need to define what interpersonal conflict is. The term interpersonal conflict, is defined in the textbook we were given for class as a disagreement between two interdependent people who perceive that they have incompatible goals. “Conflict may be neither good nor bad, but it is inevitable”(318). Conflict may cause harm to a relationship, but it can expose issues that need to be resolved and develop stronger character, learning, creativity, openness, and trust. There are many scenes of interpersonal conflict in this movie due to the loneliness and depression of Walt along with the danger surrounding Thao. I wasn’t surprised to see the number of conflict scenes because there are many differences between Walt and Thao, Thao and his cousin, and Walt with his pastor.

Walt’s style of conflict management varies because of the vast differences between his relationship with the priest versus his conflict with Thao and the gang. Walt and his priest are more driven towards a collaborative conflict approach. Walt wants to make his dead wife’s wish happy of meeting with the priest and the priest understands that Walt is struggling and he wants to help him by making Walt go to confession at church. Walt struggles to admit his sins and mistakes because he went to war and relives the stubborn attitude of admitting fault or weakness, while believing that the pastor is uneducated and too young to confess too. Walt and the pastor both lose their conflict multiple times throughout the film because Walt doesn’t want to confess and please the pastor, while he still doesn’t forgive himself for committing horrible atrocities in the vietnam war. Walt and his priest both will eventually win when he asks for forgiveness, while the priest thankfully forgives him, even in shocks of his small sins.

Thao deals with conflict a lot more different than the rest of the characters in the film. When there is a value conflict in the yard of Thao’s house between him and his cousin or sister, Thao will immediately withdraw by removing himself physically from the situation. Thao’s cousin will try and get Thao to join the gang before he tries to steal the gran torino and after he fails to steal the gran torino. Thao’s cousin will use the family effect of stating their relation and Thao’s sister named Ahney will be arguing that their cousin is an idiot, so there is lots of cross complaining and arguing for their reasons for Thao to join the gang. Nothing will be resolved as Thao will not stand up for himself and his sister can’t manage to steer her cousin’s gang from bothering him. Walt knows how to handle conflict by competing and trying to win, like when he saved Ahney from a few African American men who wanted to seduce her. Walt stated how he is the person that people come across and don’t want to mess with while pulling a gun on them to free Ahney. It was a ego conflict, because there were many legal ways to protect her, but he wanted to show the men how macho and dangerous he was.

Walt’s stubbornness and hostility in his conflicts toward people in this film stems from the loss of his wife and horrors he went through in the Korean war. Many people don’t approach conflicts the way Walt does and some people believe it is best avoid conflict. If walt withdraws his conflict to his neighbor’s situation, his neighbors will likely die. Withdrawing from a conflict provides a temporary escape from a potentially uncomfortable situation, but in an ongoing relationship, the issue will come up again(323). When Thao doesn’t manage to get rid of his cousin and the gang, the gang hurts Ahney and they perform a drive by shooting on their house.

Walt is again competing in the end scene of the movie when he tries to eliminate the gang from hurting Thao and his family ever again. Walt has had enough with the trouble going on his Thao’s household when Ahney is brutally hurt from her cousin’s gang attacking her and Thao getting shot in the neck when the gang performs a drive by shooting on the house. Thao’s cousin didn’t need to harm thao and his family, but their ego was offended when Walt intruded their property to try and handle business himself. Walt wanted to prove that his ego was stronger by taking out the gang himself instead of calling police. Walt decides to drive to the household of the gang and he devises a plan to win and have gang lose by going to prison for life. Walt and the gang start mutual hostility by yelling at each other. Walt calls them racist names the gang calls Thao weak and asks Walt where he is at. Walt then pretends to pull out a gun to shoot the gang members, while many witnesses and neighbors see the gang shoot hundreds of bullets onto Walt. Walt confessed his sins before he got shot and he constructed a strong self image by standing up for Thao as he got killed by the gang. Walt was ready to die as he purposely attracted the gun fire by pretending to pull out a gun and the gang went to jail. Walt was still competing in this conflict as he won and the gang lost.

Due to the conflict between Walt and the gang, Thao was safe and his family was repaired from the damage with the gang going to jail. Walt made sure that Thao wouldn’t try to put himself in danger by protecting Walt or trying to attack the gang in the final scene, so he locked him in the basement. Walt made a bold move by giving his life up for Thao and his family, while surely putting the gang members behind bars for life. I would have done the same thing if I was Walt. Walt wasn’t in the best physical shape to try and kill the gang members by himself and he was playing it safe by setting them up to for sure go to jail, while he was innocent for being unarmed. When he pretended to pull out a gun, he was for sure going to die and the only way the gang members would get in trouble was if they shot him, so he needed to make them shoot him. My role models like my dad and football coach would want me to put my life on the line for many other lives and be as assertive as possible by pretending to pull out a gun to get the job done. You didn’t ruin my experience of watching movies because I wouldn’t pay attention in a sports or horror film, while a comedy would be too distracting to notice the communication and conflict process.

Citations:

  1. Verderber, Kathleen. Interact. Oxford University Press, 2016.

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Why Athletes Become Children’s Role Models

Sports Illustrated for Kids conducted a survey for children ages 7 to 12 asking about who their role models are. The majority of kids, 12%, stated Michael Jordan, more than the 4% surveyed who stated their parents as their role models. Is it true that children today look up to athletes more than their parents? If so, should athletes accept the responsibility of being a role model?

Athletes are constantly in the public eye. Their every move is either photographed or is written about in the morning paper. Isn’t it only fair that we give them some privacy? Athletes constantly struggle to balance their private life in their homes and their public life outside of their homes. It seems like they need to change their behavior just because they play good ball. Asking someone to act differently in public because of a talent they possess is ridiculous. Athletes are doing what they do for entertainment, not to serve as a child’s role model. Charles Barkley stated “I am not a role model! Just because I can dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids” (Ponti 1). Children need to see that athletes were chosen because they possess an athletic talent, not because they could give money to the poor. A role model should not be chosen by children because of fame and fortune. They do not have a section in their contract that states they have to be a role model. Why should they alter their life for someone they have never met?

A role model is a person who serves as a model in a particular behavioral or social role for another person to emulate. Do we want our children to copy the actions of athletes today? Latrell Sprewell became upset during a basketball game and strangled his coach. Mike Tyson has been jailed for biting off an opponent’s ear and for battering his wife. O.J. Simpson was accused of killing his wife. If children look up to these athletes, what are they gaining from them? Last year, Kevin Johnson and some Knicks got into a fight and the next day, kids were pushing each other in games. When asked, the kids said that K.J. did it, so why couldn’t they? (Attner 1) Wouldn’t a parent feel better if a child was looking up to a doctor, teacher, or some other profession whose goal is to help other people?

The fact is because these athletes are in the public eye, they do become role models. Children everywhere recognize what they do on and off the court. Karl Malone explains that “athletes don’t choose to be role models. We are chosen. Our choice is whether to be a good role model or not” (Ponti 2). An athlete knows that there are kids out there looking to be just like them. Athletes endorse a shoe brand, a certain drink, and pose for a poster that will soon hang in rooms everywhere. Because kids look up to these people, they will go out and buy the shoes, drink the drink, and buy the posters. Setting a good example for kids, off and on the court, is crucial to children today. If a child idealizes a person, he or she will watch his every move and try to imitate him. If athletes know that they are someone’s role model, don’t you think they should act as a positive role model?

Athletes work hard to become what they do. You do not become a pro football player or an Olympic skater because you posses a lot of money. Athletes earn success. In making the team, one earns the right to become a role model (3). Being a pro athlete shows children what hard work and dedication can result in. Athletes have made their dream come true. They need to realize that there are children looking at what they have accomplished and looking to do the same. Although athletes do not ask to be a role model, the label is put on them because so many children look up to them. Knowing that you are someone’s hero should make you realize that everything you do will effect someone. Everybody needs to set a good example for kids, athlete or not. You never know if you are someone’s role model or not.

Works Cited

  1. Attner, Paul and Deenise Becenti. “A culture of responsibilities.” The Sporting News 28

    March 1994.12.

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Gran Torino and A Better Life

Table of contents

Introduction

This paper covers a lot of information and mostly issues that the young generation is going through currently in society. The movies Crips and Bloods, Gran Torino and A Better Life will be used to make a summary, comparison and contrast of youth experiences in their different lives and backgrounds in the society. Criminology theories will be used to dig deeper into the issues they went through in society as individuals. These theories are utilized to have a better understanding of criminal activities and the causes of each of the issues. Lastly, the theories are going to be used to solve the problems the youths were involved in adequately, and workable ways can be used to make the problems come to an end correctly. Finding a solution to issues and most problems is the best remedy in society, this because you are able to work out ways to eliminate them. This helps to control the sources of the sufferings in the society. By knowing what issues the minorities are going through, it is easy to deal with them individually or rather as a group. It is a good idea for society to start molding the youths as early as now to save the future generations.

Movies Summary

Crips and Bloods: Its origin is America and the activities took place in the southern sides of Los Angeles. The movie mainly emphasized gang violence among to very fierce African American group of gangs. Mainly depicts the social backgrounds of Black Americans which is extraneous. Slaves were freed completely after the end of civil war in America, and they settled in the south part of the country. The blacks faced a lot of issues for example racism, lack of jobs and ridicule and this led to a tough way of living. In Los Angeles, the African Americans youths were not given any access to any programs organized for the whites’ youths for example Boys Scouts. These led to Africans doubting if they had wholly gained their freedom. Law enforcement that contributed to racism led to the blacks need and urge to create their own sense of identity in the society for instance through the creation of their own clubs and gatherings. These gave them a sense of belonging and self-worth in the community. This encourages youths to enhances and better themselves.

Gran Torino: This was produced in the United States by Clint Eastwood who also acted it. This storyline revolves around a soldier rather a veteran who was separated from his family to fight the war and is now too annoyed with the world. Michigan which had a high population of employed whites, has a lot of poor Asians living there. A lot of gangs involved in violence is widely recorded in the area. The veteran is so deeply engaged in racism and has no interest in his children and other people too. Ran Torino depicts the victory that is found in muscularity and how racism is so widely practiced in society. The creation of the movie, genuinely shows how the white muscularity has helped them in society. The Kowalski personality effectively depicts how the whites’ masculinity puts a lot of racism in society and makes African Americans the minority in the society. Even you do not agree to this, and it is so obvious and commonly seen in the society today. Blacks are being oppressed and treated badly by the whites; we do not need to elaborate that because it is seen almost daily. The African Africans will fight to gain self-worth in society.

A Better Life: This movie revolves around immigration and family issues, and it is directed by Chris Weitz. The movie clearly brings out the political issues facing the country without contradicting anything. It clearly shows what people are facing in the United States especially the minorities of the countries, for example, Latinos struggling not to be involved in gangs and violence. Many of the minorities have been struck by poverty and it is quite evident. It depicts how people are faced by problems they can’t save themselves from and these make them go through tough times. The immigrants are not being treated well and these have influenced racism in the greater parts of the country.

Similarities and Differences in the Movies

It should be noted that the juvenile delinquents have been there since time immemorial but in the recent past, the matter has been taken seriously. And this is to ensure things do not go out of hand. After watching the three movies, you are able to comprehend how factors like income level, ethnic backgrounds, and cultural activities affect the community at large. Even if the three movies have been plotted differently, everybody is able to see how they are showing the issues being affected by minorities in society due to different races and ethnicity. The minorities have to struggle to fit in Americans practices. If we look at the criminological theories; the movies are giving us a better understanding of why the individuals go through hardships. If you understand well, you are able to help the young youths to stay safe to avoid getting involved in violent activities. The three films majorly get involved with families that belong to different races in the world, different identities and the issues they few. You will clearly notice that the three have some issues that are common with each other.

Apart from the similarities the three have, the differences among them are also noticeable. First of all, the plot of the three is very different, it depicts families from different backgrounds that are going through issues. The storyline of the three movies is different though the message is almost the same. The gangs involved either did not tuck their shirts or did it too tightly and preferred a certain dressing code to be recognized in the society. It should be noted that the African-American and Hipic gangs still dominate. The endings of the films are not the same for instance in Gran Torino there is guilty of the life the individual lived but the milk is split!.

Similarities and differences of issues among the three different minority groups.

The issues the communities go through are mainly racism involved and oppression of the minority in the society. These issues made them try to attract attention and mainly indulged in violent activities because they are filled with anger and thirst for revenge towards society. Gangs are also a common thing because the minorities wanted to have a sense of belonging and had to stay together with people who understood what they are going through in the hands of superiors. The gangs would riot and at times fight against others and this was a cause of insecurity. The youths felt insecure in the hands of whites because they were being mistreated and they wanted to be as free as the rest in the States. Juvenile delinquency is one of the social problems facing America currently. Throughout the years, there has been an increasing number of arrests which involve minors between the ages of 10-18 years. This social problem is as a result of the high crime rates in America in addition to high arrest rates in the country.

The social issue has affected the youth population since most of the juveniles who have been incarcerated have been influenced hence the rise of recidivism. Functionalist perspective focuses on the stability of the society and the social structure of a country. When it comes to juvenile delinquency, a proponent who believes in the functionalist perspective will view crime as an endemic which will affect the stability of the society. A proponent of this approach believes that juvenile delinquency will be due to the failure of one part of the system. Theoretical implications

Criminology theories mostly those that mainly deal with social perceptions always explain crime as bonds that are done socially, influence and relationships individuals indulge in. The Social Bonds theory will explain how the juveniles get involved in criminal activities and end up indulging in wrongdoings in the society.

According to the research carried out in criminology since the beginning of criminology as a study, there is a relationship between a person’s age and the propensity of the person to commit a crime. Citing relevant living examples, the age of most criminals range between age fifteen years to forty. This can be referred to as a youthful age when a person is vibrant and very energetic. However, there is a distinction between what drives the people below the age of twenty to crime and what drives the people beyond age twenty-five into crime (Munice, 2006). A person in his or her early twenties or his teenage will most likely indulge in criminal activities because of peer pressure or by other environmental factors like poor upbringing. But the person at the age of above twenty-five will indulge in criminal activities to make ends meet. Therefore, it can be hypothesized that criminal activities increase with age from teenage to middle age, after then, age will no longer be a factor of causing crime (Munice, 2006).

`Various other factors affect a person’s propensity to commit a crime. One of the factors is level of income. Poor people are most likely to be involved in committing felonies because they will indulge in criminal activities like a burglary to make both ends meet (Kenshall, 2013). Furthermore, the social environment is also another contributing factor. People raised in societies characterized by rampant crime activities like slums will affect a person to be involved in criminal activities. Such societies offer peer pressure to the person, and in the end, a person will unsuspectingly indulge in criminal offenses (Kenshall, 2013). According to national crime survey, by 2007, 23 percent of high school students were involved in gang activities. Through subsequent analytical research, the number of students involved in criminal activities nationally has been increasing exponentially. It has been prevalent in all the reports that gang groups usually practice their illegal activities within the school compound in several setups such as classroom, lunchrooms and during assemblies.

Crime is an issue that has been in existence for a long while, and people practice it in different ways and forms. There is a need to realize that some causes of crime connected some of the things that people wish to get in life. The perpetrators of crime find themselves in compromising situations, and the only thing that they do is engage in illegal activities so that they satisfy their desires. The social strain theory is on the notion that people take part in crime out of the pressure that they face in the society. Currently, criminology has become very prominent in the society because it is helping society mold on the character needed for a better young generation. The causes of social changes may be through marriages, employment and maybe joining the military in service.

These may contribute to the change of character and personality maybe if the juveniles are trying to fit in their current places and positions in life. If the social bonds have to work, we have to try to curb the impacts they bring to the society at large and these help children not to live in a lot of wrath towards a certain group of people may it be the parents. Young ones get offended very fast and over a long period. And this may make them get involved in criminal activities and breaking the law. They also want to feel a sense of belonging and being associated with a specific group of individuals when they form gangs. The society, in general, should join hands to help children grow when they are morally upright. The criminal justice theory states that a person commits crime out of the pressures they obtain from their social, structural and cultural contexts. These experiences mold them to indulge in criminal activities. In this case, most juveniles go through a lot of family and social pressures.

References

  1. Hester, S., & Eglin, P. (2017). A sociology of crime. Routledge.
  2. Howell, J. C., & Griffiths, E. (2018). Gangs in America’s communities. Sage Publications.
  3. Kemshall, H. (2013). Crime and social policy.Chichester, West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
  4. Muncie, J. (2006). Criminology: The causes of crime. London: SAGE
  5. Roberts, P., & McMillan, N. (2017). For criminology in international criminal justice. In The Criminology of War (pp. 3-26). Routledge.
  6. Rothman, D. J. (2017). Conscience and convenience: The asylum and its alternatives in progressive America. Routledge.
  7. Van Hellemont, E., & Densley, J. A. (2018). Gang glocalization: How the global mediascape creates and shapes local gang realities. Crime, Media, Culture, 1741659018760107.

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The Use and Abuse of Power in 1984, a Dystopian Novel by George Orwell

Power, Used and Abused

Control can easily be depicted as a thirst for power. Once that power is abused, chaos

ensues, corrupting people all around or belittling them. In the novel 1984, George Orwell shows

the

power of a dystopian society by creating a totalitarian government that removes the three qualities that make us human: freedom, love, and knowledge.

In order for mankind to be dehumanized in 1984, the government, the Party, manipulated the citizens in a physical and mental manner. Big Brother is able to control the minds of the working class citizens, also known as the Party, by purposefully overwhelming their heads so people are incapable of thinking for themselves. The government feeds the Party negative thoughts about their neighboring countries in order to keep their own citizens from rebelling from within. On the surface, the main character Winston Smith is portrayed as a brainwashed Party member, but on the inside he loathes the Party and the absurd content they deliver to the people. He is unable to conform to their falsification and believes that “freedom is freedom to say that two plus two make four” (Orwell 87). Winston disagrees immensely with the statement that says “freedom is slavery” because he believes that independent thought is what makes people free, and the government restrains them from reaching that level of intellectuality. Not only does the government perform a type of brainwashing, but they also utilize their power to physically exhaust the people and refrain them from any free time to themselves for rebellious or immoral actions.

The people’s duties to the party are enforced to keep everyone so mentally and physically exhausted they will not break any rules. However, Winston abandons his job and begins to revolt against the Party. Once he was caught, he was placed in the Ministry of Love where the government implements all sorts of torture techniques to force the strays to realign with the Party’s standards. Despite people’s stubbornness or resistance, the Party always gets

through to the rebels and turns them back because “Nothing in the world was so bad as physical pain” (Orwell 239). This statement has true validity to it considering Winston after all the abuse he goes through, he eventually caves in to the Party. The government tries all techniques including mental and physical fatigue in order to humiliate someone’s persona.

Humans are the only organism on Earth that develop feelings of love towards a companion. If that ability is taken away, then people become deprived of a basic human instinct. The government enforces a busy schedule on the people so they don’t have extra time on their hands to disrespect the Party’s ordinances. Winston begins to create time out of his daily routines in order to spend quality time with his love interest, Julia. Both Julia and Winston demonstrate a strong hate for the Party by sneaking around and disobeying government rules by conversing and having sex. The idea of love is frowned upon by the Party because it is understood to cause angry and frustration, so the act of “making love” is really the people’s duty to the Party. Winston describes his sexual relationship with his wife as a job rather than for pleasure because “No emotion was pure, because everything was mixed up with fear and hatred” (Orwell 138). Although, his affair with Julia exhibits true emotion between two human beings which was a rarity in this novel. Love is nothing but meaningless. Besides Julia and Winston’s bond, Winston and O’Brien, Winston’s tormentor in the Ministry of Love, shows a parallel of the two characters and can be seen as an appeal between one another. From the start of the novel, Winston has been fascinated with O’Brien and displays a sort of love for him. Even though O’Brien tortures Winston, Winston reads through his rugged skin and sees a man just like him, one who questions the Party’s authority. Orwell implies that O’Brien use to contemplate the government’s instructions just like Winston because “it resembles my own mind except that you happen to be insane” (Orwell 126). Without any actual words, Winston and O’Brien acknowledge they were

both at some point rebels, but sooner or later they realize the Party is too powerful to overthrow,

so they just join them. Love is misconstrued in all types of relationships throughout the book, but it can never be eliminated out of the equation because it is a quality that is inevitable.

When people lose the ability to think on their own, they ultimately surrender their humanity to the authority figure. Part of the government’s ploy to control the people was through language and historical facts. The Party decided that there are far too many words in the English language so the government made up a new type of language known as Newspeak. This newly developed language’s “whole aim…is to narrow the range of thought” (Orwell 58). The Party members are instructed to reinvent this new language and eliminate words in order to make it impossible to describe any feelings of an uprising. Along with the deletion of present day diction, “every record had been falsified…History has been stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the party is always right” (Orwell 169). The government believes that if they can control the present, they can control the past, and if they control the past, they can control the present. The Party wants to get rid of all proof of past conflict whether domestic or foreign to keep the members of the Party from interpreting their actions as corrupt and harmful towards the society. Intelligence is seen as a threat to the government, therefore the language and historical documents must be destroyed.

Power in the novel 1984 is misused and results in humility of all humanity. The Party takes full advantage of the supremacy they have over all members. Through lack of freedom, love and knowledge, people become mistreated and tossed around.

 

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The Plausibility of the World Depicted in Fahrenheit 451, a Dystopian Novel by Ray Bradbury

How Plausible Is the World of F451°?

In the novel F451° by Ray Bradbury, people live in a society where books are banned. I feel that a world like the one in the book is completely impossible when you look at society today. With the technology crazed generation that we have now, my opinion is that it is very unlikely for such a restriction to be placed, especially in America. Books and technology are a method of self expression, and there would be too many protests if we had the world of F451°. Overall, such censorship of things like the media, social networking sites, etc, could never be possible.

In certain places, such as China, and smaller countries, there have been situations where you see similarities to Bradbury’s novel. People are restricted from sites such as Facebook, and speaking out against the government. However people organize, and together they rebel. There are situations similar to this in the Middle East. This goes to show that you can’t force people to do whatever you want them too. When people feel the law is unjust, they take necessary actions to make things right.

The ban of books in F451° seems unlawful. It is as if the government is taking away what the Constitution guaranteed all citizens in the First Amendment. People, especially in America, don’t want the government to have so much power. That is exactly why we have the Checks and Balances system. This is what makes America a democracy. The same principles on which America was founded, is the complete opposite of the world of F451°. Not only would Bradbury’s world be impossible in the U.S., but also I don’t see how it would be possible for the whole world.

When so many people turn to books and the media for careers and entertainment,

no matter how hard the government tries, they just can’t rid the world of these things. At

the time Ray Bradbury wrote F451°, books and technology weren’t such a big part of our lives as they are now. If you look at the political history of the U.S., there have always been people that stood up for what they believe in and fought for different causes. With the way society is today, there is no possibility for the world of F451° to happen. There are too many educated people compared to the time when Bradbury wrote this book. The world of F451° also borders on the lines of communism, because when Captain Beatty talks to Montag, he says everyone should be made equal. Those are usually the goals of communism. However, communism never lasted in history, and never even happened in many countries. If that is the case, how can it be possible for the whole world? The world and society of F451°is very implausible considering the way our world is today. You can’t miss what you never had, but to have something taken from you makes you want to fight even harder for it.

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