The Symbolism of Nature

Nature is a common thread of symbolism in both movies and books alike. For instance, the seasons of nature often help to give the reader deeper understanding about the significance of a scene or the meaning behind someone's actions. For instance, winter is often used to represent a time of death or sorrow. Spring, on the other hand, often indicates rebirth, life, or purity. 

   

For example, Frankenstein by Mary Shelly incorporates a lot of references to season in the fifth chapter of the novel. At first, it's easy to miss these quick mentions, but upon deeper inspection, the number of references and the time of the references indicates their significance. Many of the references to nature come at a turning point in the narrator, Frankenstein's, life. When Frankenstein finally recovers from his month-long illness, springtime is just blooming.

“I remember the first time I became capable of observing outward objects with any kind of pleasure, I perceived that the fallen leaves had disappeared, and that the young buds were shooting forth… It was a divine spring, and the season contributed greatly to my convalescence.” In this passage, the narrator’s health and risen spirits are directly linked to the feelings of hope and peace that naturally come with spring.

But symbolism in nature isn't just used in literature… It’s also often uses in movies (of course)! One of the best animated movies of all time, Mulan, also utilizes the seasons to represent turning points in the character’s lives. Mulan has never been like other girls, but when she disappoints her family because of her horrendous meeting with the match-maker, she’s completely distraught. She runs away to find solace underneath the cherry tree in her garden, where her father comes to comfort her. Spring has already arrived, and the cherry tree is completely covered in blossoms. However, Mulan’s father immediately spots a blossom that hasn’t opened yet.

 “Look!” he exclaimed. “This flower is late. But I bet that when it blooms, it will be the most beautiful flower of all.” Little does Mulan know that this flower represents the metamorphosis that she’s about to go through. This moment with her father is an important turning point in her life. She’s about to undertake a journey that will mature her into the woman she truly is—even if she’s later than others.

Freedom Writers and Our Education System

In class this week we watched the movie Freedom Writers, featuring Hilary Swank. This movie illustrates the struggles of kids in Long Beach, California as they are entangled in the gang and drug related activities in their community. Swank’s character tries to teach these kids to the best of her ability, but isn't always able to succeed due to an obviously flawed school system. Although these flaws are readily apparent in the underprivileged school system pictured, the school system at Paul Laurence Dunbar, in Fayette County, and across the nation is far from perfect.

Our schools currently teach to a standard curriculum and base success off of standardized testing scores. Kids are forced to take certain subjects with the illusion of freedom given in the form of electives; however, this system harms the education of all students in its current state, not just the struggling ones. The brightest students are limited by those struggling because the school cannot afford new materials for the accelerated classes, which is in turn due to the low population in these classes. Students who are struggling may be intelligent, but not passionate about the subjects that they were forced to learn. If they were allowed to study subjects closer to their interests, then their success and grades would skyrocket. In addition, students who plan on becoming tradesman should be able to start honing their skill during high school, instead of waiting until they have graduated. The current system prevents the gifted kids from moving on, keeps the bottom bracket where they are, and limits the opportunities presented to those with already decided interests.

Having a basic understanding of most subjects is necessary for success, but too much stress is placed on it. The school system needs to start designing a more malleable and personalized education system, or success rates will continue to be sub-par. As Swank taught the kids, motivation and interest are the two biggest steps in an education. If these kids from high risk backgrounds can receive an education tailored to them, then we in Fayette County should expect no less.

Catherine's Ghost is Coming to Haunt Me

 

Lilly Xie

Yesterday was Halloween, and on that particularly dark and stormy night, I looked out the window to see how badly my street had flooded.  But when I looked out, I couldn’t really see anything because the branches of my tree kept blowing in the wind and blocking my view. The branches were also scratching against the glass and making a terrible, ominous sound. I suddenly recalled one of the first scenes of Wuthering Heights, when Lockwood saw the ghost of Catherine outside his window.  Not even joking, I actually let out a scream and alarmed everyone in my family.  It was pretty terrifying, considering if there was one day of the year that ghosts would be out and about, it would definitely be on Halloween.

But this experience made me realize something that movies have over books. In the last blog post, Christine discussed how books are better for characterization, giving thoughts and feelings and creating a fuller understanding of the characters. Although there are many details that are lost when converting a 200+ page book into a movie, there are also many things gained. One of the things that movies do better than books is exercise the senses of the audience. You can see movies. You can hear movies. You can even sometimes feel movies if you go to one of those “4D” theaters. When I was reading the passage in chapter three about Lockwood seeing Catherine’s ghost, I wasn’t really frightened at all. Nice try, Emily Bronte, but you didn’t scare me. However, if I had been watching the scene in the movie, if I actually heard the sound of tapping tree branches, if I had actually seen the pale, ghostly face of Catherine, I would be huddled up inside my jacket shaking like a leaf in the wind.

Although we try to be all high and mighty thinking that reading books is far superior to watching movies, we must also consider the positive aspects of watching movies too.