Everything is Illuminated vs. Toga Party

I think that the grandfather killed himself in the end because he felt that his life quest was over. He had achieved his dream of moving to Odessa to find a wife. He found the love of his life and stared a family that was successful and grew with time. He was also able to finish his mission of going back to his hometown and make peace with leaving. I think that he felt serious guilt for surviving the Nazi massacre and by seeing another survivor he was able to come to terms with making it out alive. I also think that he was able to come to peace with leaving his past identity, for example being Jewish.  To me, the grandfather killed himself because both of his lives were over, his life with his wife and their family in Odessa but also his life in Trachtenberg.

            This is very different from the reason the couple in Toga Party decided to kill themselves. This to me was more about having nothing to look forward to and decided to end life early as a way to escape the boring future ahead of them. They killed themselves because they did not want to suffer in old age and were content with their past. It was not about being finished with life but more about escaping it. They had already described how their children don’t visit often and they didn’t really even want to go to the toga party. This to me shows that they look back on their more exciting past as they best that is going to happen so they saw no point to just fade into the last years of their life. simply, they killed themselves because they wanted life to be over not because it was like with the grandfather. 

It just keeps getting more disturbing for me!

  I had no idea why The Kite Runner was so controversial until we watched it yesterday. During the scene when Hassan is sexually assaulted, initially I was shocked but not as disturbed as I became through out the day. Don’t get me wrong the scene made my stomach turn but thinking back on the movie in my next classes and into the night it made me sick.

            I actually expected the scene to be much more graphic and violent. I thought that if the child actor is now in hiding there had to be something that crossed a major line, something even beyond the act itself. What this could be is unthinkable to me but I think what makes it so bad is the emotions that each character had before, during and after.

            Hassan is so devoted to Amir. He took physical pain over a kite for him. Being raped will ruin him emotional for a very long time and he is so good to Amir he didn’t even flight back. Also the look on his face after he is defeated, lying on his stomach, is what stayed with me. He looks so helpless and subservient. Assef seems to be getting pleasure out of this “punishment” which is extremely disturbing and his henchmen watch and help hold Hassan down, which is beyond unsettling. Also, the fact that Amir sees the whole act and, even after Hassan has defended him, doesn’t do anything. Then he starts to resent him and shy away from their friendship.

            Overall, I totally get it now. Any unthinkable act, especially with children, is something that makes your stomach spin but putting faces, voices and gut wrenching visuals like dripping blood on the big screen is something I would have rather not scene. I can see how this would be bad enough in the book. 

Everything Is Illuminated Reaction

            When we first began watching Everything Is Illuminated I was simply confused. Jonathan seemed so complex and round I didn’t know how to relate to him or even what this movie was going to be about. I didn’t understand his collecting or why he was watching his family member die but like everyone else this movie was making me laugh so I was getting into the plot. I thought this movie was definitely going to be a comedy. I was laughing at Alex, the collecting, the soundtrack and especially the gag jokes like the “seeing eye bitch”. It wasn’t until the mystery and real plot of the movie was exposed that I really started to enjoy the film. When Jonathan started on his quest for answers about his family I got really into the movie and wanted to know about the picture, insect charm and the history of his family as well.

            I was very impress by the foreshadowing of this movie. I liked how after something was brought to light you, as a viewer, would actually have an out loud reaction because you had seen that river before or you knew what that line really meant. But, to me, what made this movie so good were the other searches for answers. As viewers, we were all searching for answers about the Grandfather. We were looking for answers about what his role in the town was, if he was a Nazi or resident, if he killed or was shot at and what actually happened to him before he came to Odessa. Alex was wondering what was wrong with his Grandfather and the Grandfather, I thought, was looking for closure.

            Overall, it was the overlapping of themes and searches that make this movie so interesting to me. I thought this movie was so entertaining because you got to go along and find the answers to each search but also watched the characters transform from odd, complex and easy to dislike to people you cared about because you knew something secret about them the other characters didn’t.