Speaking Up For Yourself

Silence Means No

In Rene Steinke's novel, Friendswood, freshman, protagonist Willa goes out to lunch with Cully, the popular senior jock, to the Lawbourne's house, where Willa gets drunk for the first time. Dex, who is also at the Lawbourne's, leaves the party early, when he finds our the girl Cully took upstairs may have been Willa. Willa is tired due to her intoxication and decides she wants to lay down. It is not until she wakes up alone with the word SLUT written on her body, that she realizes she was raped (Steinke 111).  

Who should take action and speak up for Willa?

No one knows what happened to Willa behind close doors, only Cully. Willa had figured it out after the fact. Dex has an inclination of what is about to happen, but because he has a crush on Willa, he leaves the party early because he does not want the thought of Cully and Willa together, to become a reality. Both Willa and Dex should speak out about what happened that afternoon at the Lawbourne's house. 

Willa should tell someone what Cully did to her for a multitude of reasons. First of all, Willa is the only one who was there and has first hand experience of what happened. She is a victim of rape and she deserves justice. Instead, she is letting adults such as Mrs Thompson make assumptions, stating "Bet you're pretty mad at your boyfriend" and threatening to "tell [her] mother how [she] found [her] (Steinke 112). Mrs Thompson is assuming that Willa is dating Cully, which is why she was in the house all alone. In addition, Mrs Thompson also assumes that consent was given by Willa, and threatens to tell her mother how she was found in the house. 

Willa's parents also fall under the same category as Mrs Thompson. They had grounded her for one week because she had skipped class, and was found all alone in a house that she was abandoned at by a boy who she thought cared about her. If Willa would have told her parents the truth, there is a large possibility that she would not have gotten grounded. Her parents may be understanding and help her get the justice she deserves. 

On the other hand, as great as it would be if Willa would speak out about what happened, there is a slim chance that anyone would believe her, due to the simple fact that she is a girl, and Cully is a popular boy. The tables would be turned on Willa, where she would be interrogated with questions about what she was wearing, if she was drinking, doing drugs, did she kiss him, etc. Anything for the blame and shame to be put on Willa rather than Cully. 

That is where Dex comes into play. Dex should speak up for Willa since he is a witness to what took place that afternoon during lunch. Dex is indifferent because though he was not at the house during the time of the assault, he knows that Willa was the girl upstairs with Cully but did not do anything to prevent the event from taking place. Dex could easily put two and two together, having the knowledge that Willa has never been drunk and is a virgin, that she was being taken advantage of. If Dex were to tell authorities that Willa was raped, there is a greater chance that someone would believe him over Willa. This is because Dex is a male and is a witness. 

Having the support of Dex to back up Willa speaking out about Cully raping her will add more evidence that it actually happened. As horrible as it is, many people would be dismissive of Willa because she is a female and isn't as popular or athletic as Cully. Therefore, having both Willa and Dex speak out will draw more attention to the issue.

At the end of the day, it is important to realize that saying yes to a kiss is not the same as saying yes to sex. No means no. There is no excuse for anyone to take advantage of an individual sexually, no matter what the circumstance is. What a person is wearing does not give anyone the right to rape someone. 

 To put it in simpler terms since many men AND women do not understand the concept of consent, I leave you with this...

Is Lying the Right Thing to Do?

Is Lying the Right Thing to Do?

In Marjorie Laurie's The Necklace, the protagnoist Mathidle Loisel faces a situation that leaves readers with the question, was that the right thing to do?  Mathidle is a beautiful woman who believes she deserves fame and fortune, but by "a mistake of destiny" was born into a family of poor clerks (Laurie 48). When invited to the palace of the Ministry, Martile was angered, she "threw the invitation on the table with disdain (Lauire 48). Martile was very upset about the invite to the ball because she had nothing to wear, nothing to make her feel 'pretty'.  As a result, her husband gave her four hundred francs to buy a dress for the party, but that was still not enough. When Martile realizes she does not have a necklace to wear, she turns to her wealthy friend Mme. Forestier for a beautiful diamond necklace. 

Once the ball was over, Mathilde had realized she lost the necklace. Rather than being honest, Mathidle lied to her friend saying that the necklace was being repaired. Then, she ended up working extremely hard and for a long time that she became ugly and old; unrecognizable. This brings up the major question of the short story, is lying the right thing to do? And when is it okay to lie? 

In a situation like the one Mathilde was faced with, it is difficult to decide what is the correct thing to do. On one hand, you do not want to upset anyone, get in trouble, or put a friendship at risk, but on the other hand, lying can end up hurting you in the end. So what is the 'right' thing to do?

Since Mathilde and Mme Forestier are friends, it is clear that Mathilde lied to protect their friendship. But if they were that great of friends, Mme Forestier would have been understanding of the situation, realizing it was an accident. Therefore, I believe Mathilde did not do the right thing. After losing the diamond necklace, Mathilde worked extremely hard for ten years to earn enough money to buy a replica necklace, meanwhile, original necklace that was worth "paste" (Laurie 53). After ten years of hard work, Mathilde ended up turning old and ugly, due to exhaustion. In addition, Matheidle spent more money on the new necklace than the original one. Therefore, lying was not the right thing because it ended up hurting her in the end.

Kaepernick 'Standing Up' for His Beliefs

Kaepernick Creates Controversey

America, the home of the free, because of the brave.

The Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem are two salutes to America as a country, as well as those who serve our country, putting their lives at risk, so those at home can live without fear. When Colin Kaepernick, previous San Francisco 49ers quarterback, sat during the National Anthem in 2016, it sparked controversey in America. Should Kaepernick keep politics away from family oriented football? Should he stand up for what he believes in? The questions can go on and on, but only you can decided, based on personal opinions, did Colin Kaepernick do the right thing?

Living in a country that has been fighting a war on terror since I can remember, it pains me to see Americans not taking pride in their country and those who protect our freedom. Many individuals, including some of my friends and family, have/are putting their life at risk to protect those who are living in the states, such as Kaepernick, you, and I. 

Without hearing Collin Kaepernicks side of the story, just seeing a football player disrespecting the country is irritating because he lives in the United States, plays football for a living, makes $11.9 million dollars a season, but cannot stand for a few minutes while the National Anthem plays. Meanwhile, there are millions of troops, men and women in service fighting against terror, putting their lives at risk, waking up each day unaware if it will be their last, making not nearly half as much as Kaepernick. 

To those who have immediate family deployed, stationed, or even retired, it is extremely disrespectful to sit during the few minutes before each game where those who are defending the United States are honored. Families go to sleep each night worried about their family in the Middle East, praying when they wake up, that they are still alive. It hits home when privileged Americans, such as Kaepernick do not stand for a few minutes for those who allow him to live the life he does. 

On the other hand, it is wrong to assume Colin Kaepernick is sitting for the sole purpose of disrespect for those who defend our country. Heres what Kaepernick has to say about his kneeling during the National Anthem: 

In this interview, a new interruption of the story is being told. It is no longer just a privileged football player sitting out of disrespect, he is taking a stand for those in America who are too small to do it themselves. It is not out of disrespect to the troops, in fact, Kaepernick states, that he has family and friends in the military, "they fight for freedom, they fight for the people, liberty, and justice for everyone, and thats not happening". Kaepernick states that he will continue to sit until the country represents people of America, the way they deserve to be. He is taking a 'stand' against the police brutality and the injustice that takes place in this country. 

Kaepernick continues his interview by stating that "I am seeing things happen to people who don't have a voice, who don't have a platform to talk and have their voices heard, and effect change".

Using this platform of celebrity status brings attention to a horrible epidemic happening in America. 

After watching the interview, learning how Kaepernick feels about those defending our country, and why he decided to take a stand, I feel like he did the correct thing. Attention is needed to be brought to this subject. It is 2017, in the United States, and still, equality and freedom for all is not present.

The violence of police brutality, riots, white supremacy groups, terror attacks, it is as if the nation as jumped in a time machine and is going back years, to when each individual was not treated with the same respect and dignity as the next. It is up to us as Americans to come together and overcome the hate and segregation. 

In the wise words of Ronald Regan, we must remember we are one nation as a whole, and if we forget that, then we will fail as a whole, leaving the United States of America in the same condition it was in during the Civil War in 1861.

I leave you with this...

How Ending Quote in "Do the Right Thing" Speaks About Doing The "Right" Thing

Every human is held to a certain standard to do the "right" thing in all situations, but what is the so called, "right" thing to do? In the film, Do the Right Thing, written by Spike Lee, the characters are faced with controversial situations that leave the audience questioning if they are doing the "right" thing. 

The film ends with two controversial quotes, one about love, by Martin Luther King, Jr. and the other about hate, by Malcolm X, love and hate being a binary motifs throughout the script.

In the script, Radio Raheem explains to Mookie what his four finger rings stand for. Radio Raheem says, "one hand is always fighting the other" (p. 45). There is never going to be a time where one individual or group of people are at peace and have nothing to complain about. Radio Raheem continues his explanation with the statement "..if I love you I love you, if I hate you..." (p. 46). Radio Raheem basically  is stating he does not tolerate people, he either is all for someone, or all against them. But when is it acceptable to show different levels of love and hate? The characters in Do The Right Thing experience these situations within each encounter they have with another individual.

"...I have to preserve the right to do what is necessary to bring an end to that situation, and it doesn't mean that I advocate violence, but at the same time I am not against using violence in self-defense. I don't even call it violence when it is self-defense, I call it intelligence" - Malcolm X 

The quote by Malcolm X is displayed at the end of the film, after the violence and riot acts of the citizens of Brooklyn. The citizens of a majority black community, Brownstone, were raging with anger when Radio Raheem was killed in police custody. The community felt that the only way to get back and get their point across was by violence. The only way to protect themselves, defend themselves was with violence. The people of color living in this Brooklyn  community wanted to end the situation, they are sick of seeing their own community being singled out, targeted, and murdered.

Though this was not necessarily the "right" way to react to the death of a well known neighborhood friend, it is what the characters in Do the Right Thing believed was the correct thing to do. 

Each person has a different idea of the "right" way to act, or what to do in a situation based on their individual beliefs and morals. Though one may believe what they are doing is the proper way to respond to a situation, the next person may think differently. To Malcom X, he believed violence as self-defense was the correct way to approach a situation that he wanted to put to an end, to Martin Luther King Jr, it was not the "right" thing to do since he believed "violence is immoral".