Jealousy: Books and Real Life

In a perfect world, people would all get along in harmony. Everyone would be happy with what they have, and everyone all gets along. But in this world that we live in, some people are jealous of what other people have. Everyone is jealous of someone else. That boy living in the better house. That co-worker who makes more money than you. That leader which everyone listens to, but not you. Jealously resides in everyone. In “Lord of the Flies”, a group of boys are stuck on an island, but a boy named Jack is jealous that he doesn’t have the power he was always used to getting. Similarly, in “All Summer in a Day”, the group of children are jealous that they haven’t seen the sun, yet a child called Margot has. In both “Lord of the Flies” and “All Summer in a Day”, they show the contrast of jealously, and its varying results.

In both stories, the children and Jack start to become jealous. Even both of these books explore this idea of jealousy, the way they are portrayed and how it escalated to the state that it is are different.

In “Lord of the Flies”, when the boys are on the island, a chief was to be picked between Jack and Ralph. Other than Jack’s choirboys, the unanimous vote for Ralph as leader was the start of the problem. When deciding on who should be the chief, Jack immediately says with “simple arrogance, ‘because [he was the] chapter chorister and head boy.” (Golding, 22) Since Jack was what seems like to be born into a leadership role, he doesn’t seem to understand the importance of a chief during survival situations. All of Jack’s leadership roles before were merely for the point of having a leader. Ralph is a sympathetic ruler who understands the group of boys, and has the compassionate personality to help the boys when they are in need, while Jack, on the other hand, is the opposite.

In “All Summer in a Day”, the jealously from the other children started when Margot, as she often does, talks about the sun. Margot was the only child that remembered what the sun looked like, as she only came to Venus five years ago from Earth. The other children are jealous of the luxury Margot had to see the sun, and often mistreat her because of this. Margot is staring at the rain behind the window when she was shoved by William. But “she did not move; rather she let herself be moved only by him.” (Bradbury, 2). This shows that this has happened to Margot before and she has accepted the abuse that the kids give her. This could all stop if Margot stopped talking about the sun, but she believes so strongly in the sun that she was willing to take the abuse, just so she could prove them wrong about the sun and its feeling. But how jealously came to Margot was different from Jack’s, as Margot’s was self-inflicted, as she constantly talked about the sun, which probably led to the gradual build up of jealousy from the other children.

As both texts progress, the after effects of the jealousy is shown. In “Lord of the Flies”, Jack starts to manipulate the boys to join him out of jealousy. He uses tactics such as fear, violence, fun and threats to make the boys on the island follow him. Almost immediately after Ralph sets a task for the boys, Jack immediately goes off with his choirboys to go and hunt. After Jack comes back from hunting, he exclaims that “[he’s] killed a pig - [and he] stole up on them - [and they] got in a circle” (Golding, 69). This shows how jealousy has lead to a rebellious attitude from Jack, and decides to go against the grain. His jealousy eventually leads to the overthrow of Ralph, and he takes over the mountain top. The tribe that he has created now from the fear of the beast that the boys had. As it escalates even more, it leads to the death of Simon and Piggy.

While on the other hand, in “All Summer in a Day”, the jealousy of the children lead to the torturous scene of them pushing Margot into the closet. The children “surged about her, caught her and bore her, protesting, and then pleading, and then crying.” (Bradbury, 3) The jealousy of the children led to the imprisonment of Margot, where she is trapped and unable to see the sun. Even though Margot is trapped and it seems like it is the children who do it, the book sway to the fact that Margot is the reason why this happens. As stated earlier, this self inflicted jealousy from the children is because of Margot, as she always talks about the sun. This makes it believe that the author is trying to show that it wasn’t the children’s fault that Margot was thrown into the closet, but her own fault.

In real life, everyone is jealous of someone else. As seen in these texts,, everyone has different ways of coping with this jealousy. Other than hurting and abusing those who caused the jealousy, other solutions could be made. Often voicing your anger is a good first step for people. Both Jack and the children, they internalized this jealousy, therefore it built up to the disastrous events caused by them. The large concept of jealousy can often be overcome with the help of others, but without consultation it creates an extremely large problem.

Racial Profiling: Reasons and Solutions

He walked down the street, looking at the surroundings of the beautiful city that he was in. On this cold day in Chicago, he wore some baggy pants and a hoodie to cover up from blistering cold winds that made his body shiver. As he walked down the street, he caught a few glimpses of people looking at him. A white lady, maybe around her 20s, walked passed him, and he could see her hands squeeze tightly onto the Channel bag that she was holding. Suddenly, as if a pretty girl walked into a room, everyone who he walked passed started acting different. The car door locking, the sudden motion of a man keeping his phone in their pocket, and the occasional police officer precariously putting their coffee down after making eye contact with him. Everything in the city now seemed dull and pessimistic to, like the rancorous emotions he felt towards everyone in the city who just discriminated him.

When you meet a person, you immediately to start to form an impression of them in your mind. This first impression lasts for a long time, and it does not usually easily succumb to change. It just so happens that the first impression of someone that you make is based off appearance. This frothy way of forming impressions based on looks can be deceiving and beguiling. A big part of what in influences these thoughts, positive or negative, is the media. The impressions that is posted on the news, and on social platforms change how we might feel about certain types of people. As a community, we are all in the movement to stop racial profiling, and to stop certain stereotypes about other people, but how can we actually do that?

Racial profiling is a sad yet common phenomenon that happens in daily life. This unfortunate event happens on a daily basis. A former black NFL wide receiver Nate Burleson, mentioned in his podcast that he has had experience with racial profiling, and how he was treated for being a black person. “You are very well spoken” was one of the comments that he was told when he met with a member of the public during an event. Now, many might take this for a compliment, but not Nate. Nate, being black football player, felt offended by these comments. He felt that this person created a stereotype for him, supposing that he was a ‘common black person’, and felt surprised by his formal manner that Nate presented.

Another example of racial profiling is the amount of times that black people have been pulled over. Based on a report by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, 46% of drivers and bikers in Chicago who were stopped were black, even though black people only make up 32% of Chicago’s population. This might suggest that the black people from Chicago might be targeted more, intentionally or unintentionally, by the mainly white police force that can be found in Chicago. In the same report, it is said that 3 out of 4 searches on the drivers or bikers, white people who were pulled over were more likely to be carrying a contraband item compared to black people. So why has the Chicago Police Force have numbers as high as 46% for the pull over rate for black people, even though white people have been proven to have a higher chance of having illicit items in their car? This issue about racial profiling when driving has become such a large issue, even the President of the United States, Barack Obama has addressed this. He said that he himself has been pulled over for no particular reason in Chicago, before he became the president.

But why do people profile black people? Some people feel threatened by black people they see, sometimes locking their car doors, or people holding onto their bags tighter. Based on a survey done by David L Goetsch, a retired college Vice President and professor of business and political science, most white people, both male and female, do not feel threatened by all black people, but only certain black people. A black man with baggy pants, a hoodie, tattoos and a strong attitude seemed to be factors that made these people feel threatened or uneasy. Therefore, it wasn’t their skin colour that made them feel threatened, it was their attire.

So why do people still associate badly with black people? This due to the media, and its effects on us. Mainstream media that says racial profiling is a branch of racism is complicit in that people of a certain demeanor are criminals. It is unfortunately true that the media, either intentionally or unintentionally, portray and report stereotypes about black people. With the average American using the television for about 5 hours daily and 75% of Americans believing what they see on the television, these numbers might be the reason why racial profiling has escalated into such a large problem.

But how can we stop this behaviour of racial profiling? The first step should be addressing the issue, and letting the people who are being discriminated against that actions will be taken. The next step that could be taken is reducing the publicity of black people doing wrong things, but increasing publicity of black people doing good things. In a paper written by Professor Jonah Berger from the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania, he explains about bad publicity and its impacts. “When a rumor circulated that McDonald’s used worm meat in its hamburgers, sales decreased by more than 25%.” This offers evidence of how all the negative publicity can harm how people view black people. Reducing the amount of coverage on these events could reduce the stereotypes about black people, and how people view them. We should also have a positive and open mindset towards black people, or anyone who is being discriminated. Instead of picking on the wrongs they did, and saying something like,“Watch where you’re going!”, you could highlight what they did well, and pay them a compliment, like, “Thanks for using your turn signals when you changed lanes”. Simple words like this can make a whole world of difference, and will help to break down the walls of racial profiling.




Sources:

"Analysis: Major Racial Disparities In Chicago, Illinois Police Traffic Stops."Analysis: Major Racial Disparities In Chicago, Illinois Police Traffic Stops. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.

Lafraniere, Sharon, and Andrew W. Lehren. "The Disproportionate Risks of Driving While Black." The New York Times. The New York Times, 24 Oct. 2015. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.

Lavender, Paige. "Obama Talks About His Own Experience With Racial Profiling." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015

"Mr. President Could There Be Other Reasons for Racial Profiling? - Patriot Update." Patriot Update. N.p., 31 July 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2015..

Ashkenas, Jeremy, and Haeyoun Park. "The Race Gap in America’s Police Departments." The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 Sept. 2014. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.

Dr. Mirko Janc (Tech Typeset) 427 1999 Feb 15 15:33:29. Positive Effects of Negative Publicity (n.d.): n. pag. Jonahberger. Jonah Berger. Web.

Sentosa Beach Destroyed

Sentosa Beach is to be a place of pleasure, a place to savor the view of the ocean. Well, that’s what it was. On the 16th of October 2015, Christian Foo and his parents arrived at Sentosa Beach, to find that it was trashed and dirty, due to the frequent littering issue that is occurring in Singapore. All members of Christian’s family were surprised by the abolished beach they looked at.

Camille Foo, Christian’s mother was quoted saying, “This beach is so dirty, with all the plastic and metal cans on the ground.” She was disgusted by the heap of trash found in both the water and that washed up on the shore.

People at the beach were seen avoiding the garbage like tightrope walkers crossing a frayed rope. Christian was noticed to have cut his toe on a piece of debris while walking along the shore.

The problem of littering in Singapore has been accelerated as people in Singapore have been now littering out of convenience.

Based on a survey done by the National Environment Agency, 4 out of 10 people will litter out of convenience or if they were able to get away with it.

The littering problem, that has been leniently disciplined, has intensified in Singapore. Mr Liak, the Chairman of the Public Hygiene Council stated, “Over the year, we have become more forgiving, with more emphasis now placed on education.”

Mr Liak and his organisation plans to inform people of the hazards and how they are putting the public’s and the environment’s safety in jeopardy.

Moving forward, it was suggested that for future generations to come, informing our progeniture about the dangerous risks of littering. It was mentioned by Mr Tham, a teacher, that the anti-littering enforcement at big events should also be stepped up.

Littering has been a growing problem not only in Singapore, but also in the rest of the world. Even though efforts are being made right now, it will not be enough. Future generations will learn and know about the horrible effects of littering once it reaches to an unstoppable amount.

By Christian