Line Illumminator -Week 4 - Giuia D.

Line Illuminator / Giulia / Part 7 and 8

Passage:

1) "How dared you think that your mind help greater wisdom than the minds of your brothers? And if the council had decreed that you should be a Street Sweeper, how dared you think that you could be of greater use to man than in sweeping the streets? " (part 7 towards middle)

Response: 

Here, I see this dialogue as some kind of stereotype. Just because this person is a Scholar, he is offending Equality because of his job as a Street Sweeper. For me this line was interesting because I could feel how these people hate (yes, a strong word) differences. Just because a Street Sweeper came into the Home of the Scholars, they made a huge deal out of it. The Scholars offended him, they put him down, they even tried to arrest him for only stepping in the wrong properties, before he even said something about his discovery. Why do they have to be so selfish. I see that as selfishness because these "higher classed" people see themselves as the only intelligent and perfect people in the world, as if they are the only ones who are supposed to be that. No one else can try to get where they are at because then they would start gradually loosing their power of being intelligent. This quote also shows me that people can't ever change in life. If they get picked to be a Street Sweeper, than that's what he/she will be for the rest of their life. No changes, no differences, no other uses, nothing else, just that. People see themselves as only having one use for the society; to be workers. That's the only contribution they owe to the world. They can never change, think deeper, act different, or even try something new. No, sameness in the key to all their locked doors. That's why Equality is being so much judged by this society.

Passage:

2) "What is not thought by all men cannot be true," said Collective 0-0009. (part 7 towards end)

Response:
I see this quote as something very controversial. Some people may think one thing, while others think completely the opposite. Well, my opinion is that, in other words, this quoting means "if there is something different, then it is wrong". For me this is exactly the same thing as saying that new is bad and untrue. Many people can totally disagree with me about this same sentence, but in my head, there is only one definition for this, and it was the one I just mentioned. In this society people actually believe and support this statement. Now here comes my question: How can they live knowing that innovating in wrong and untrue? How can they live knowing that whatever is different does not matter? How can they live by not having their own freedom and independence? I seriously feel ashamed of reading this book and knowing I can't jump in and show these people what a revolution could do to change all of this. This quote ]says that what is not agreed by all men is false, correct. So how can their society move forward and grow if there is never a single change that is not being done for all? I believe that each and every one of these citizens should be able to have a free life, but how can they, if they don't even know what freedom is? I believe that this is totally wrong, and shouldn't ever be done again in the history of the world. I know that some countries, currently still use communism and/or worship a dictator. All I'm saying, is that, if I could find a simple way to stop this, I definitely would.
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This is how Equality sees himself. He is small to the society, but inside, he thinks he could be the one who made the change. He believes that he can be the lion to a tough situation, whereas the rest of the people, only see him as small, defenseless, innocent, kitten.

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I found this image very meaningful and matching for this text. As you can see, all children are coping exactly the teacher, but only the kid in the corner is not doing it wrong. This is a very weird and, indeed, different angle to look at a situation like the one in this book, but it's still very valid. The girl with the legs opened and flexed, is to represent Equality in the society that he lives in, and the rest of the children are just the rest of the community. The teacher would be the ruler of this place, or dictator, however you choose to call it. The kid would not be accepted in the main team if her coach saw that, just as Equality is not being accepted in his society only because he thinks and acts differently. That's how I related these two situations. I hope you understood it as well as I did too.

link to image 2