Journal 65: You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby

Women have come a long way since when women had no right. They didn't have voting right, they had little to no power in the society in terms of ownership and basic human rights and respects, they had no place in society except staying home and look pretty and care for the kids, and even after slaves, what was viewed as being possessions and tools, were freed, women still had not improved their rights. The black rights movement gave blacks a lot more right then when there were discriminated upon and segregated against based on their race. The women civil rights movement even came after black rights which came as a shock to many people, that women gain rights later than black people did. Women had no rights until very recent history. However, I believe women are gaining too much right now. We used to open doors, walk after, pull out the chair, lend our jackets to them when it's cold, but it's because we believe that we are superior and with great power (in this case, more rights) comes great responsibility. However, women now are gaining almost equivalent rights and it's time for traditional gentleman to end and when chivalry start working both ways.

Journal 63: On Impulse

The impulse is the uninhibited thoughts that drive one to do something that might or might not be socially appropriate. As Freud called it, there is an unconscious in every men's heart. They are not aware of their unconscious but all their decisions are a fraction of their unconscious and they act out of the balance of the two forces in their unconscious. The id is the part of the unconscious that desires lust, raw satisfaction, and primal instincts for optimal arousal. Another part of the unconscious is called the superego. The superego did not come from the person's own creation. The superego is injected by society, community, of rules and laws that govern one's social acceptable behavior. If the id is the child, then the superego would be the parent monitoring and regulating behavior and thoughts of the kid. The id is the true person and the superego is what the person comes in contact with. After the superego regulates and rid of all the unrealistic or unacceptable desires then it presents to the ego, the conscious part of a person and that's what the person acts on. The impulses that come out to play might be more superego than the id or it might be the opposite way around. Usually, the more it is leaning toward the superego, the more morally upright and socially acceptable it is, and the more it is leaning toward the id is the more ruthless carefree personality.

Journal 62: Romantics v Realists

Romantics and Realists differ in many many ways. In their thinking, in their literature, and in their lifestyle. Romantics like to embrace nature and see people as flawlessly bold, adventurous, strong, and invincible. However, the Realists portray human in a more negative way, highlighting not only virtue as the Romantics often do, but also vice. Realists doesn't believe in the altruism, saintlike, flawless characteristics of a perfect hero. They believe everyone has flaws, and why be afraid to show them. Every ordinary men has flaws, and to better connect the hero to the daily people, writers of the Realist period includes flaws that the hero must deal with in order to become a truly admirable hero. In the start the hero is usually faced with a dilemma caused by a heroic trait against a vice, greed, lust, etc. The hero then overcomes the vice through enlightenment after a spiritual or a physical journey, which is the main part of the storyline, and then became a true hero that defeated the dark side of his personality.

Journal 61: Mystery of Heroism

Some people argue that to be a hero one must achieve heroic deeds; Others, however, argue that to be a hero, achieving heroic deeds isn't the only thing, it might not even be the most important thing. The most important thing about a hero is that the hero is has innate heroic qualities, lots of virtues and little vice. Some people would go all the way to the extreme that a hero is all good and no vice at all. However, that would limit heroes to fictional characters because no one is all good and no all is all full of virtue and no vice. A realistic hero is one with both virtues and vice; the virtuous part of the hero does not have to be overwhelmingly characterizing of the hero but the hero must, according to his virtues, do the heroic deed in spite of his personal dilemma. To be a hero, vice is necessary, I would say. This is because only through vice and conquering one's own flaw can heroic qualities truly show. I don't think a person that is 100% selfless that sacrificed for others is the best hero and the most heroic. I think the ones that are tormented by his vice and evil thoughts that later overcome his own moral compass and dilemma that in the end does heroic deed despite his own interest is a real hero. He not only did heroic deeds for the good for other, but he also conquered the bad in himself.

Journal 60: Think About…

Civil War was the first photographed war. This really brings all the gory, bloody, violent sides of war to people for the first time realistically and graphically. People used to believe, like Henry Fleming in Red Badge of Courage, Henry fantasized battle as being a hard labor that involves glory and honor and no risk. That is because before wars are photographed and later filmed, people have no idea how horrific wars are. Wars are told by the people who returned, and although battered, the people that returned will want to tell a story that portrays them as heroes. Naturally, the stories told about war, though hard and tragic, are glorious and exciting. This motivates people like Henry to have silly fantasies. After Civil War became photographed and ordinary people began to be exposed to the horrific and terrible scenes of war, it's the first time that people truly realize why and to what extend the saying, "War is hell" is true. The realists began to portray the ugly side of war and the ugly side of people because everyone, no matter how good and how virtuous they are, they all have some kind of vice. The basics of realism is that a hero can not be all good because no one is perfect and being the hero simply means that this ordinary person performed unordinary deeds that combated his vice and eventually did good.

Journal 59: A Change of Heart

The Romanticist is different from the realist because from the words themselves, we see that the romanticists romanticize situations and heroes so that the heroes seems like invulnerable, strong, brave, and without flaw, and can achieve all possibilities. The realist however, tends to show both the good sides and the bad sides about human. Human are obviously flawed and realists tend to, with a hint of virtue, highlight the vice in human being, whether it is cowardliness or deceptiveness. In a romanticist work of art or literature, the hero, or main character portrayed is usually one of glowing light with a halo and all virtues one can possibly think of. Courage, strength, will to sacrifice for the greater good. However, in a realist work, the main character or hero might still do heroic deed or have heroic qualities like the ones in the work of a romanticist, but the hero would also be presented with human vice. This would allow different readers to interpret the hero in different ways so as to characterize the hero as a hero because of heroic qualities or heroic deeds or one can also characterize the hero in a way that he is nothing but a character that experience normal human dilemma and is troubled by human vice.