Saturday Night Jail Cell

The guard slips Antoine’s lunch through the small slit at the bottom of the vault-like door.  Without hesitation, he began devouring the relatively edible potatoes, and bread.  He then forces down what he believes to be meat loaf before washing it down with water.  The guard then remembers to close the slit, shutting away the outside world for the third time today.

Hit with the urge to curl up in the corner of the room, he lies down and begins to cry.  He may have even heard the slit in the door open once or twice as he did so.  Antoine then sits up, wipes his face and begins to pray.  “I don’t mean to interrupt.” said the guard through a speaker.  “It’s time.”

Antoine finishes his prayer by thanking God for the guard outside his cell.  Whenever the guard spoke, he felt a sense of mutual respect.  Whenever Antoine cried out to him, assuring that it was a set-up, he imagined the guard constantly pondering the idea.  That would be much more than anyone else had done for him.  Regardless of what the guard knew, Antoine believed wholeheartedly that their connection was part of God’s plan.

The guard interrupts his train of thought by raising his voice. “Now, Mr. Clinton.”  The side door was unlocked, so he proceeded into the sanitary room and washed his face. The feeling of leaving that six foot by six foot area was something he longed for every day. He ponders the demeanor of the guard’s voice as he washes his face with cold water.  Antoine starts to doubt his attachment to the guard.  After all, it was a bit silly to believe in such an ironic relationship based off of little to no evidence.

An image of being held at gun-point enters his mind again.  He remembers vividly of being forced to take possession of a pistol.  Frozen there, without knowledge of what to do, he stares fearfully at the body of the store clerk. The police burst in yelling when the guard once again interrupts. “You’re done Mr. Clinton.”  Antoine leaves the sanitary room and looks up at the single camera as the door shuts and locks automatically. “I didn’t do it.” He continues to stare in silence for a minute before sitting back down.  

A few more minutes pass before the guard responds. “Do you have family, Mr. Clinton?” Antoine is startled. “Yes. But they’re not with me. They haven’t been for years.” The silence continues, and so does Antoine. “My parents were shot and killed by stray bullets fired during a drive-by.  For a long time, I only had my brother. He left years ago.  It’s because I was getting into trouble.  While he worked a day job to support us, I would spend my time with criminals.” He started to think about giving the guard the wrong idea. “I may have made plenty of wrong decisions, but I would never kill a man.

Antoine sits down, feeling calm and collected. “Only my brother would believe me.  He would know the truth. I may not be the best man but he knows I’m no killer.” He continues to wait for any comments from the guard, but get’s no response.  Antoine expected as much.  Laying back down, he falls asleep quickly.

“I believe you.” says his brother through the intercom. “And I’ll get you out.”

Thankful

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my dear pal, Leonardo.  His face is an inspiration sight.  Just when I think that life is too much for me to handle, I see his Hispanic head and realize that I'm not alone in this world. Sometimes I start losing focus during English class, but when he says, "Alex, what page are we on?" I snap back into reality and go full throttle.  As much as I already enjoyed English class, I would never have enjoyed as much without Leonardo and his head.  I am also thankful for my family, because they feed me all the time, and even love me.

Macbeth

In scene I of Macbeth, he has encountered the three witches that tell him he has different titles.  Because one of them calls him the King, it is assumed that he will take that role in the future.  This future, however, contradicts with Macbeth's character, as he is loyal and trustworthy.  Lady Macbeth soon realizes that in order for him to become king, he must overthrow the current one, proving the contradiction that must be made.  Regardless, she realized that doing so would be an evil deed that could change Macbeth's traits entirely, but she was willing to see him succeed.  She would then be responsible for supporting Macbeth's evil deed.  Unfortunately, this shows that Lady Macbeth is much more easily tempted to sin than her husband, showing that mayhem that could unfold.  This could cause problems between the husband, wife, and king.  The story can only get more chaotic as it progresses, considering the thoughts going through their minds, tempting them to commit heinous acts.

Modern Day Greed

Throughout history, human beings have spread knowledge and understanding down through the generations. We have slowly improved our ability to go through our life in an effective way over time.  However, we haven't made as much of a leap as we could go.  Greed is largely the reason for this. Radix Malorium Est Cupiditas. If we weren't so concerned about our self-gain and material value, then we would be much more advanced. Due to greed, thieves steal, envious people murder, and so on.  The slower rate that human generations work together is all due to the self-concerned actions. These actions wouldn't exist if greed wasn't so convincing.

Priorities.

Truth

In the book "Grendel," the alternate perspective can change the way people view the story and it's characters.  Contrary to the classic story, "Beowulf," humans can be considered the wrongdoers rather than the murderous Grendel, in the John Gardner version.  The "truth" of this story is difficult to determine.  If the truth is based off of whether or not Grendel is in the wrong, then I believe he is not.  The simple nature of human beings was responsible for his unfortunate childhood, causing him to become the way he is.  If the truth is based off of what happened in the story, then this is the truth. Human existence is always ridden with things like ignorance and false judgement of others. Because of it, Grendel decided to take a path that he thought was righteous, ridding the world of humans in order to save everyone else.  Beowulf however, came with the notion that Grendel was murdering for simply no reason at all. Therefore he slayed him for a reason he believed was righteous.
In conclusion, I believe neither Grendel, nor Beowulf was in the wrong. Regardless, things can simply happen in the world. Sometimes, bad things happen to good people, and a lot of times, it is no ones fault.

Me

My name is Alex, and people tell me about how handsome and funny I am. But enough of what my mom thinks.  I love cheesy jokes, so don't get mad when I laugh at a knock knock joke for 10 minutes. I like gardening and long walks on the beach, but I just lied so honestly, I'd rather not do either of those things.  My favorite type of music is good music, I have a loving dog named Wrigley, and I LOVE to list things I enjoy.  Ok, sometimes I can get carried away with jokes, but I do have the ability to get serious when something is important, or when I really care about the topic.  If you've read this far, you're either Mr. McCarthy, (who's like, super cool) or someone who actually enjoyed what I wrote. So my mom.
My favorite quote is "It's nice to be important, but it's important to be nice.  Though it's a very simple quote, I feel like it shaped me as a person.  Many people's top priority is self-betterment, but it's always important to remember that everyone is in this life together.  In my perfect world, all of us could respect each other as individuals, and realize that giving everyone else in the world your love is really the top-priority. However, we don't live in a perfect world.  Regardless, peace, tolerance, and unconditional acceptance for one another can fix so many of the things that plague us. This is my opinion, and I consider it a big part of me, so I'm sharing it.

Word Count: 262

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a patient's perspective of life in a New York mental ward. This patient, named Bromden, is perceived to be deaf. However, this is proved false at the very beginning, as he narrates the story while listening to everything that goes on. When Randal McMurphy arrives, he makes his presence known as a insubordinate patient, not afraid to challenge the previously powerful Nurse Ratched's authority.  Over time, the patients in the ward go through a transformation from being completely dependent on the Nurse, to becoming a capable group of self-reliant men.  

So far, I'm enjoying reading this book.  Bromden's first-person perspective really helps me feel like I'm inside the story. At the same time, Bromden acts simply as an observer for much of the story due to the ward believing he's deaf.  This allows for an unbiased description of the events throughout the first half of the book.  I enjoy the unique way that the  book was written, capturing the way Bromden may have spoke.  However, it was easy at times to forget that he was a mental patient that had intermittent hallucinations.  This made it confusing for me to read, as I was never sure what was real and what wasn't. Regardless, Bromden's perspective made the story strange and mysterious, which I found enjoyable.