Simon's Point of View

        After being on this island for a while, I’ve started to notice things that mirror our old society even though we are just a bunch of boarding school kids stranded on an island. For one there are cliques which had already started to form at the first meeting. First there is Jack and his hunters. Back at school they had been the choir, everyone obeyed them out of fear. This is still true on the island except that everyone fears them for another reason, their attraction to violence. They are constantly hurting the little ‘uns. whenever they see them on the beach they kick at them and make them cry. And when they killed their first pig they had painted their faces with mud and were cheering “kill the pig! Cut her throat! Bash her in!” and while they had been hunting they left their task of keeping the fire, letting it burn out and a ship had passed offering a chance to be rescued. However the hunters would rather kill and see blood then return to their normal lives. I am supposed to be one of them, and I was in the beginning but I didn’t enjoy harming the little ‘uns or killing animals. Now I am kind of a loner and prefer to spend my days back in the woods observing the island. Then there is Ralph and Piggy who tend to hang around each other. Piggy seems like the obvious brains of the group but no one can get past his appearance, making it so the other boys don’t listen to him. There are a few boys who follow them like Sam and Eric and me but most people follow Jack. The little ‘uns are kind of their own clique. They always play together on the beach and sit together at meetings. Playing on the twister and not caring about what was being discussed.

Grendel's Mother's Point of View

Being a monster you probably assume that I am purely evil. With my heart filled with blackness and hatred, containing not a single ray of light and kindness. However you are wrong. Everyone always sees my actions and mistakes them for evildoing. Like the time with Unferth.  Grendel had come home one morning as I was just getting ready to go to sleep and as the sun was creeping over the horizon. Light was streaming down from above making the lake around us look spectacular. The light turned the whole lake a beautiful shade of blue, how I love the beauty of nature. So anyway, he had come home covered in more blood then usual and because of my motherly instincts, I was worried. Had he been injured? Was someone strong enough to fight back? I started to question him about what had happened and why he was home so late. “I’m perfectly fine mom.” He growled, “There’s nothing to worry about, the guy just bled a lot.” However, another instinct I have is that kids usually lie when they don’t want you to know things.  Especially at this age he tries to be so independent. I knew someone had harmed him no matter what he said.

A few days later l was asleep when I heard a horribly loud noise. At first I thought it was Grendel coming home again but remembered I had grounded him for being late that and if one night. I woke up and looked around to see what was happening. Grendel must have noticed because he awoke suddenly. Then at the mouth of our cave, stood a human covered in blood. As I strode over to great the stranger at the entrance it occurred to me that this was probably the same person who had fought Grendel and hurt him. I started to growl and thought He has to be the one; why else would he have followed Grendel home. Why he is here what does he want with my son? Suddenly, Grendel rose and ran ahead of me, trying to tell me that this man did not hurt him and that the man was the injured one. I knew that this man was here for revenge. I could tell by his attitude and the way he glared at me and my son.  Yet my son continued to protect him. Grendel had restrained me from hurting the wretched man. I was growling impatiently and pacing, waiting for Grendel to just kill the man, but Grendel continued to stand there as the man, Unferth, speak of his hardships caused by Grendel. He said that he had been embarrassed by Grendel beating him in a fight and how his fellow thanes had all laughed at his defeat. Now I was sure he wanted revenge. He seemed especially upset about how Grendel had said “Heroes only exist in poetry.”

Their argument continued for quite some time. Later as night fell and I had stopped worrying, Unferth fell asleep. Grendel asked if he would be permitted to leave and return the man to Hrothgar. I, having no idea where this city he was talking about was, explained that it was where the man had come from and that it wasn’t very far from here. I permitted him to do so and as he left, I couldn’t help but think how my son was growing up into such a fine monster. He was strong and fearsome but still was kind at times.

See, I told you I’m not totally evil. My motherly instincts just tend to kick in when my son Grendel is being threatened. And as you saw, Grendel also has a kind heart sometimes. We monsters are always just misunderstood. If people would only realize that we actually just want to be friends with people.  So, the next time you meet me, Grendel or another monster, just be nice to us and we won’t harm you.

Choice Book Blog

            For my choice book I read the book Radiance by Alyson Noel. It is the sequel to another series she wrote called the Immortals. In this book the main character Riley has tragically died at the age of twelve. The book never really says how she died. She has started get used to life in the Here and Now, which is where people go when they die. She gets to live with her parents who also died and her dog Buttercup. After adjusting to her new life, she is told she must go to school. On her first day she is taken to have her life judged to decide what her job should be. She is decided to be a soul catcher and is sent back to the Earth Plane with her guide Bodhi or as she liked to call him “Dorky Guy”. They must find the spirit that is haunting a castle in England. Several things are different in the Here and Now from Earth. For example because thoughts are energy and so are the spirits of people so you can hear others thoughts. Also you can create things simply by thinking of them.

            I think that this is a very interesting book if you enjoy fantasy novels. Some of the things in this book really make you think twice about the things you’ve done in life like when she is judged the judgment council shows her a video of everything she has done in her life.  It also makes you wonder what really happens after people pass away. Also it made me wonder more about what dogs and other animals are thinking because she can here other people’s thoughts and therefore her dog’s thoughts but she can’t really understand them. This reminded of a book I read in 6^th grade called The Good Dog by Avi. The whole book is written through a dog’s point of view.

The Cyclops, The Lotus Eaters and Circe the Witch

            The situation that Odysseus and his men are in, in The Cyclops reminds me of how to end the Trojan War the Spartans built a wooden horse and hid inside it and waited until the horse had been taken inside the city of Troy. There the soldiers waited again until night when they snuck out and destroyed the city of Troy. This reminds me of the patience Odysseus and his men had. Instead of immediately attacking the Cyclops Polyphemus, they waited until he opened the entrance to the cave. Then they disguised as sheep and ran away. Odysseus told Polyphemus that his name was Nobody so that he would shout, “Nobody is attacking me!” and the other Cyclops would think anything of it.

            As I read The Lotus Eaters I wondered what the lotus is supposed to represent and I think it is similar to illegal drugs or alcohol.  It also reminded me of an episode of Star Trek where some of the ship members are sent to a planet to investigate it. The planet and the things on its surface appear to be real but are really holographs. The holographic people try to make visitors stay and forget their original mission.

            In The Witch Circe both Odysseus’s men and Circe violate the laws of hospitality. Odysseus’s men do so by barging into Circe’s house and eating her food. Circe does so by harming them and turning them into pigs. I think she chose to turn them into pigs because they were rude. In the movie clip of this passage that we watched in class Circe tells Odysseus that he would make a good lion. Presumably, this is because he is considered strong and brave. It made me wonder what the other people there were like before they were turned into animals. This passage reminds me of the anime Fullmetal Alchemist. An antagonist in the story turns people and animals into animal-looking chimera using alchemy. The main character however knows what the antagonist is doing but nobody believes him. The main character reminds me of Eurylochus.

                Reflections on the Odyssey ^_^

The Odyssey by Homer is a Greek epic poem that was used to teach important Greek virtues. The Iliad tells the story of the Trojan War. The war was fought because a woman named Helen left her husband, a Greek king to be with the prince of Troy. This story is the background for the Odyssey. The Odyssey is about a great solider named Odysseus attempting to return home from the war. At the beginning of the story it has been ten years since he left Ithaca. His journey home takes ten more years.

The beginning shows the Homer’s devotion to the Greek gods.  He gives a prayer to a Muse. The nine Muses were believed to be daughters of Zeus and they inspired people to produce art, poetry and music. Homer calls on them to help him with the writing of The Odyssey. 

Throughout the book, Greek culture and d religion are found.  He Greek gods play a very important role in the story. For example, being stubborn and full of themselves, Odysseus and his men don’t offer anything to the god of the sea, Poseidon. In return Poseidon and Zeus cause misery to Odysseus and his men and prevent them from ever returning home. Also some gods are in favor of Odysseus, like Athena, who is Zeus’s favorite daughter. She tries to help him.

In Calypso the Sweet Nymph Odysseus is trapped on an island with calypso. He is somewhat willing to be there but longs to return to Ithaca. It describes how he sits on the shore and cries looking longingly out towards the sea. This reminded me of a girl I shared a tent with at camp one year. She really missed her family and would sometimes just sit on the edge of the tent platform looking longingly at the woods as if her family would appear there at any moment. The way Homer describes the scenery of the island reminds me of a place my family often went camping called Kelly’s Island. The beach there is sort of like the one in the story was described.

Some allusions to the Odyssey in modern culture are:

§  The Honda Odyssey

§  Trident brand gum because Poseidon is symbolized by the trident

§  Star Wars, was loosely based off of the Odyssey

§  On The Simpsons there was an episode that depicted the Odyssey using characters from the show

§  Another reference to The Simpsons is the character Homer’s name because the poet who wrote the Odyssey was named Homer

§  The movie called 2001 Space Odyssey has the same theme and a similar plot to the Odyssey

§  In both the Star Trek movies and TV shows there are many allusions to the Odyssey for example, in one episode a group of people are stuck on a planet with holographic people who are trying to persuade them to forget their mission and stay. This is similar to The Lotus Eaters.