Propaganda

Propaganda: information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view

My immediate reaction to the word "propaganda" is not a good one. Anyone who has ever read 1984 cringes at the sound of the word. The definition itself is not exactly a wonderful thing - "especially of a biased or misleading nature". The Oxford American Dictionary even starts the definition with the words "chiefly derogatory". I suppose some propaganda must be good, although it's also a matter of opinion. Obviously the people putting out the propaganda think it's a good idea.

The picture I chose as an example of propaganda might not really seem like the best representation of the thing. It is just the picture of some sort of army guy's jacket. It shows his pins and flags and stuff, and is seemingly harmless. But I feel like, if I was a young man, sixteen or seventeen years old, getting ready to go to college, and I saw this picture, along with subtle hinting about "Do what's right for your country" and "Support your troops" and all that stuff, I might feel obligated or moved to join the army. It's so subtle, sometimes not even recognizable. But even though you might think of propaganda as the old, comumunist, crazy thing that used to happen, it's still around today. It's very subtle.

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Black Boy

     This is one of the saddest books I've ever read. It's not even really what happens or what you physically read that make me sad, it's what everything means. I still can't get over how terrible it is that Richard's mom beats him all the time, especially when he asks questions. That has to be so damaging to that poor little boy. Any little boy or girl I've ever met has that beautiful, wondering curiosity, and no matter how annoying it is for them to ask question after question, I always want to answer them. I have this need, almost an urgency, to satisfy their curiosity. It's so wonderful to see a little kid asking questions, it's the mark of a smart human. So for Richard's mom to deny him that curiosity, to deny him the answers to the many questions he asks, is just so sad. I don't know, because I haven't finished the book yet, but I feel like that's going to hurt him as  a man later on in life. Already, from the burning curtains and the alcoholism and the swearing, you can tell he has this need for attention, and everything he does gets him into trouble. He can't get the answers he needs at home, so he has to seek elsewhere.
     Another thing that really makes my heart ache is growing awareness he has of racism, and the way he feeds into it. I totally, one hundred percent understand why he does. He hears terrible stories of things that white people are doing to black people, and it's no wonder he grows to hate them. But it makes me so sad that it had to be that way. Earlier in the book, he writes how he was for the most part unaware of the difference between white and black people, besides the color of their skins. As he grows older, he starts to notice other things, and with the help of his community and every person around him, he builds a barrier between him and other races. He writes of his treatment of the Jewish man who owns the store, and of the treatment of blacks by whites that he hears every day. It is such an unfortunate thing to read about, hearing him as a young, innocent little boy who becomes more socially aware and has almost no choice but to contribute to the racism of the country. It is a terrible, unfortunate, unavoidable thing.
     Even though this book is heartbreaking, I like it so far. It's a little weird at times, like when he kills the cat, or when he lives with his uncle. While it's hard to read, it's very interesting. I'm excited to continue.

Hungry For Attention

     Is Richard alone in his craving? Absolutely not. Half of the reason people do things in this life is because they are hungry for attention. I'm pretty sure every naughty thing kids do when they're little is because of a need for attention. And not even only naughty things. I remember when I was little, my friend and I used to clean our bathrooms together. One of the reasons we did it was because we liked to pretend to be Cinderella, but the most exciting part was to finish cleaning and run, pulling our exasperated parents' hands behind us, to the newly clean (and probably not even very dirty in the first place) bathroom, only to hear them say, "Wow Alaina and Rory, this looks so great! You guys are naturals!"
     But even besides children, everyone is hungry for attention. If someone says, "Oh I don't care at all what people think of me, I don't need attention, I don't care what I look like" etc. etc. etc...... Maybe in some ways it's true, but the truth of the matter is, everyone needs a little attention. Everyone wants to know that they are loved or wanted or even noticed by someone. Especially someone special :)
     When Richard sets the house on fire, maybe this is going a little too far. But if you put yourself in his shoes, it doesn't actually sound like that extravagent of a plan. His parents weren't paying any attention to him (and let's face it, when you're little, all you really want is for your parents to love you and pay attention to you) and he wanted to pull the attention toward himself. He didn't know that setting the curtains on fire was going to burn the house down. He was four years old. He was just a little boy who thought it would look magnificent for those leaping orange flames to mix with the forbidden white curtains. He was curious, and smart enough to know that he probably shouldn't be doing what he was doing, and that it might give him some attention. It's hard to be a little kid when your parents aren't paying attention to you. All kids do stupid things to get attention. It's unavoidable.