Friar Lawrence - His Decision

There are many complex themes and emotions in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet that lead to certain events.  There are also characters that aren’t exactly two-dimensional and don’t have just one constant emotion, showing that they change as the story moves on.  This play has a storyline that changes dramatically and shows how life back then could have been.  Many actions that were considered alright back then can be considered terrible and even unethical these days, though, which brings up Friar Lawrence’s decisions in the play to marry Romeo and Juliet.  As said before, times have changed, so young people marrying was common, but now is not considered normal.  Friar Lawrence’s actions, however, are still ethical in my opinion, as he does not force Romeo and Juliet to marry each other.

Whether or not it’s right or moral to marry two kids, one of them not yet 14, is a debate that has changed over the course of time, as things that used to be normal centuries ago are not anymore.  Friar Lawrence, however, did not rush to marry them, and did not force Romeo nor Juliet to go along with the marriage.  All he wanted to do was have the rivalry end between the Montagues and the Capulets.  For example, he says, “Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here! Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear so soon forgotten?” (2.3.69-70)  Friar Lawrence did mention that Romeo’s love is being paced too fast, and even tries to restrain him from going into things too fast.  He does not force Romeo to marry as quickly as Romeo wanted to, and reminded him constantly of his unrequited love with Rosaline.  Friar Lawrence did marry Romeo and Juliet, but they both agreed to it and asked him for it.  This would help him with ending the rivalry as well, but it was still ethical as he did remind Romeo many times of how he was rushing into this situation.  He also told Romeo, “Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast.” (2.3.101)  He is once again trying to remind Romeo to take his whole marriage business slowly as it will not end well later on, and it seems like this is foreshadowing.  Friar Lawrence married them, however, under their pressing requests.  He did not force them at all and him agreeing to marry them was ethical.

His actions were ethical in that time.  Today, marrying two young kids would be immoral and completely wrong, but, back then, that was an extremely common occurrence.  However, he did not do anything that Romeo nor Juliet didn’t want to, and was actually reluctant and hesitant to marry these two as they were rushing into their marriage.  He only thought of the impact that their marriage would have on the rivalry between the Montague’s and the Capulet’s, hoping that the union concerning their love for one another would end the fighting and let Verona be in peace.  He just wanted everything to have a positive end and did not want anything to go wrong.

In conclusion, Friar Lawrence’s decision to marry Romeo and Juliet was ethical in my opinion.  He did it upon request from Romeo and Juliet, even hesitant to marry them at first, and realized that this marriage would help end the rivalry between the two households.  Times have also changed, so marrying children today is immoral, but back then, it would have been normal.  Other than the age, the marriage was ethical and was only meant to do good for everyone.

Reading Response - It's Kind of a Funny Story

        School and stress both mix really well together.  These days, students are getting stressed left and right, and they worry about tests or due assignments.  This applies to Craig Gilner,  an ambitious teen from New York from the novel It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini who worked his way to get into the high school of his dreams, studying nonstop for exams and having no other priority than getting accepted into the school.  It all goes downhill from there, though, when he realized that this school really worked him day and night, never letting him have a break.  This leads to him getting into a severe depression which makes him think of killing himself, which causes him to check himself in to a hospital.  The changes that he undergoes in this hospital caused a real shift in his head.

From the beginning, Craig is shown to not be totally stable.  The first lines that he narrates are, "It's so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself.  That's above and beyond everything else, and it's not a mental complaint-it's a physical thing, like it's physically hard to open your mouth and make the words come out."  Those are the first lines of the book.  It's obvious that he is not okay.  He hangs out with people that he believes are friends and goes to school, stressing out even more.  His emotions change when he decides to finally kill himself.  He thinks to himself, "Yes, I'm okay.  I'm okay because I have a plan and a solution: I'm going to kill myself.  I'm going to do it tonight.  This is such a farce, tho whole thing."  He really feels worthless.  Before he was just having thoughts and now he had a full plan, which is a scary thought.  "It's going to be tough on my parents.  So tough.  And my little sister.  Such a beautiful, smart girl.  Not a dud like me, that's for sure."  He honestly wants to go along with his plan.  He fortunately changes his mind, though, saying to himself, " It's such a silly little thing, the heart.  Badoom.  It feels good, the way it cleans me.  Badoom.  Screw it.  I want my heart."  This shows that he wants to live, but he also wants to die.  He calls a suicide hotline and gets ordered to go to the nearest hospital, where he realized and was in shock to be put in a mental ward.  In that hospital he undergoes many changes.  He meets people that inspire him and make him wonder, he breaks ties with his supposed friends, meets someone that he really likes and decides that he will transfer schools.  He does what he deserves.  He tries to make his life better, and as he leaves the hospital on the final day of his stay there, he realizes that there is so much that he can do.  He really becomes a new person.  His brain goes through the Shift that Craig always wondered when it would come.

This book represented and showed the internal struggle of someone with immense pressure put upon them, showing how they broke and needed to heal.  The author themselves stayed in adult psychiatric in Methodist Hospital in Park Slope, Brooklyn for five days.  This book shows Craig's unexpected road to his happiness, to the Shift he was waiting for.  It shows how someone can fight and look at life through the same eyes as before, but see something completely new, different, and better.  "So now live for real, Craig.  Live. Live. Live. Live. Live."

Nonfiction Response

Vladimir Putin is described as a, "ruthless dictator trampling on democracy," by other people around the world while being the current president of Russia.  He became president in 1999 and his, "increasingly authoritarian rule has some calling him Czar Putin."  In, "Czar Putin?", written by Patricia Smith, it says that most Russians, (87%), support and remain on Putin's side, seeing him as a man who brought Russia to, "its former glory as a world power."  There have been rising problems with the U.S.A. and Russia though, since relations have dropped extremely low and it is now difficult for both countries to cooperate.  Citizens and others around in other nations also want to see how Putin deals with the economic crisis in Russia, and his supporters still stand by his side.

The author is trying to show that the president might be a bit power-hungry, as she explained how long he might be in office for and how he set up some more years in office for himself.  She also explains how much power Putin really has, and how he might even start another war similar to the Cold War.  She explains what the Cold War was and how Putin might have the power to cause even bigger problems.  She also explains, however, how the citizens look up to Putin, "…relieved to have a strong leader."  There are some economic issues right now in Russia because, "…Putin has become more aggressive on the world stage, bringing to mind Soviet tactics during the Cold War."  Everybody would want to know how he handles these issues, and the author adds in Vladimir Ryzhkov's prediction, an opposition politician in Russia, that, "If [Putin] prolongs the policy of greatness, of expansion, of confrontation with the West, he will be popular and supported by the people despite any economic crisis."

This article makes me wonder about the people living in the neighboring countries, and how they will act if Russia attacks and/or threatens them.  These countries all have long histories with each other, so it's interesting to think about what Putin finally decides to do with his never-ending power.  How many people are affected by his actions, negatively and positively?  I would also like to know how he will act upon the economic crisis in his country right now.  He has too much power, and he has had it for too long, and nothing is known when he is involved.