One Story A Thousand Perspectives

    The world is plagued by stereotypes, each culture affected by these global opinions and views. World views Americans as fat, Asians as smart, and South Americans as people who live in trees. As people of the world we have all been judged, yet just as well we're all guilty of instigating and believing some of these stereotypes.

    All of my life I've lived in different places around the world, learning about cultures that weren't my own. Truthfully I've never had a specific culture, while living a western life style never have I come to say that a certain culture was my own. Also living around the world opened my eyes from a very early age helping me see through these stereotypes. A couple of years ago I spent my winter break in Andorra with some friends of the family and one of whom had spent an easter break with us even some time ago. He started to tell us about how his friends started asking for him to bring them cocaine, and the FARC's autographs. Upon hearing this I felt a tad concerned but at the same time I laughed about it.  Relief came when he told me that he knew that things weren't really like that here in Colombia and that he told his friends as much.

      It's quite complicated for far of places around the world to truly see what is going on in a certain country. When the only thing that reaches their television set is the news of explosions, guerillas, and overall danger. As educated people of the world we should strive to get informed about a certain place, instead of jumping to conclusions. One story may develop a thousand perspectives.

Change of Heart

As I finished reading the third and final part of Heart of Darkness, I paused to think about the characters and their development. What I found most impressive is Kurtz's radical change in the novel. He went from being the one in power, to the one who became that which he was trying to control. A savage. It seems as if the jungle had this power over him and it took over making him mad. Yet I believe he is pegged as such for fraternizing with the "swine"which was insane in that particular time period.

Kurtz defies the laws of society within the time period, robbing him of the chance of going back to europe. Had he returned he'd be a pariah within his own society for taking a native lover. Such a thing was outrageous when all these people thought of was taking as much as they could from the natives, regardless for their safety or welfare.

Change of Heart

I believe that what made Kurtz snap was that he realized that these savages were not so different from himself. After a lifetime of colonizing, brutalizing and subjugating others the realization turned him into a basket case. Kurtz's change of heart came as an unexpected shock.