Sonam Sherpa, Connector, War of the Worlds, Period 1
Well in this past section of the book we now see that the martians clearly have not visited the Earth for nonviolent reasons. It was mildly noticable before, but now we see a glimpse of some of the real damage that these martians can do. When I was reading this section and the narrator said that he felt a surge of heroism it reminded me of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. If you haven’t read this novel before it was written by Mark Twain and is the sequel to “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”. The reason why this reminded me of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is because in both instances the main character takes up the mantle of someone else. What I mean by this is that in “War of the Worlds” the narrator felt the need to do something heroic to quench his desire for heroism and he didn’t feel this before, and he said that he only felt it because of the situation at hand. The same goes for “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. In this series written by Mark Twain Tom Sawyer is normally the instigator of trouble, but when Tom Sawyer is taken out of the story for a majority of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” we see that Huckleberry takes up the mantle of Tom Sawyer. This brings up an interesting question, are certain people who are more outspoken driven to fufill their certain desires when someone who normally would do so are no longer there? Also, do you think that these more outspoken people only step up to claim the mantle if someone else is not there, or do you think that they would stand up to someone else who already had the mantle? Don’t be afraid to respond.
Category: Per 1 WotW Con 7 comments »
February 21st, 2009 at 8:45 am
Quite honestly Sonam you lost me. I think I get it but i am not completly sure. So here goes nothing. I think you are right about when someone is not there other people will take there place or fullfil there desires. I think that when people are together they are in a sense complete. When someone leaves that group the others in that group are subconsciously feeling the lose of them and an empty space. To fill that space they subconsciously act like that person to fill the space and to maintain a certain peace with themselves. So yes people are driven to fulfil their desires when someone who does so is no longer there. to answer your other question I think that these outspoken people could do both, stand up for the mantle or only take it when the other people are not there. If these people are happy and don’t care if some things are left undone the outspoken person may just take the mantle when the other person is gone. In other words if they are happy they will not change but if they realize that they are not fulfilling their purpose or the other person does something to hurt them they will go after the mantle as a type of revenge. That is my view on this subject.
February 22nd, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I think I understand what you are saying. Outspoken people do have a natural draw to being the leader of a situation, but often times there is a person hidden behind the other. This person usually is not the main character in the book or in real life. They are more the sidekick. When the larger person steps down or is incapable of finishing something this person most likely step up to the plate. It might take them some convincing, but usually they convince themselves to. I think they feel the pressure or they feel the responsibility to fill the person’s place. This pressure is what convinces them to complete whatever it is that needs completed. To stand up to someone with power is a very different situation. It would take a lot more courage to do this, it is possible however.
~Erin C.
February 22nd, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Colin Easter
I think that someone will always try to fill a role that they feel is missing. If there wasn’t a cook on a ship, someone would fill the role of the cook. People will try to make the best of situations which includes filling needed roles. In “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was did Huckleberry just feel the need to cause trouble because no one else was? If he had gotten used to Tom causing trouble, then he may have developed a need to see trouble caused. He would then have caused trouble on his own to fill the void caused by Tom’s absence. Outspoken people usually take up the mantle first because they are the first to volunteer. Whether they stand up to another with the mantle depends on the character to the outspoken person. It also depends on whether the person with the mantle is doing anything wrong or if the outspoken person simply wants power. There is a connection between the two stories based on filling empty roles, but it can become very complicated when too many variable are involved.
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:19 pm
First off I really don’t get your question cause what is a mantle? I looked it up in teh dictionary and it says a loose fitting coat theat is usually sleevless I don’t think that is what you mean. Actually I really don’t get anything you said maybe if I would if I would have actually read Huckleberry Finn.but uhh I will try to answer the question.
I think outspoken people are already there they don’t wait untill someone is not there.
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Im sorry i just really don’t get what your talking about.
February 23rd, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Amber, all Sonam is saying is that when one person with power drops down from that position for some reason, will a person of lower status take over? No reason to try to figure out Sonam’s big words. Ha ha.
~Erin
March 1st, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Amber: The word mantle can be used figuratively, to be a symbol of a cause or an authority.
Use paragraphs people!