Psycoanalysis Option # 2

When it comes to psyhcoanalysis it all comes down to perception and ethics. We live in a world of good and evil, and where every story has two or more sides. I decide to do an analysis of the cat in The Cat in The Hat and found it a lot harder than I thought it would be. After reading the book the first impression you get of the cat is that he is the antagonist. But if you really pay attention you find that everything he does, even the reason that he is there in the first place is because the children are bored. So while it seems he is the id, the part of you that is selfish, it also seems that he could be the superego, due to his want for the children to be happy.

I found examples of him being both the id and the superego throughout the book. When it comes to the id the fact that he walks into the childrens house without permission is enough. But he then goes on after entering to trash the entire place. When it comes to the superego the fact that he is genuinly unhappy when the children are shows that he cares. He also makes sure to clean up the mess he made showing that he can do things for other people.

Persepolis 2

-Describe the writer's voice. Is it appealing? What aspects of Marji's character do you identify with or like the most, the least? Did your reaction to the little girl affect your reading experience?

The writer's voice is one of truth and yet seems to be juvinile. Is it appealling? Well I can't answer for everyone but to me it is simply like a journal and I never liked journals. I liked Marji's somewhat because of her rebelliousness. However this is over-shadowed by her naivety and her simplemindedness. Yes it did affect my reading experience. Since I didn't like Marji that much I didn't like the book that much.

-Discuss the importance of religion in the book?

In Persepolis is lie everything. In the beginning the first important thing you notice is that the main character wants to be a prophet. It defines her for a long period of time. Also when the leaders of Iran decide to become an Islamic government it changes a lot of people. Marji's parents really don't agree with it. And because of their beliefs makes them argue a lot with other people. Also Marji's interaction with her teachers is also strange because they think she's crazy for wanting to be a prophet. The author isn't exactly making a social commentary on religion or fundamentalism in my view. I believe she is actually trying to express the importance of choice.

-In spite of everything, kids were trying to look hip, even under risk of arrest. How did they do this? What do you think you would have done had you been a child in this environment? What acts of rebellion did you do as a teen? In what ways is Satrapi just a normal kid?

First of all did you say hip. Secondly they tried to look "hip" by simply acting like normal teenagers. No normal teenager really wants to be ordered to do certain things. I would have probably done the exact same thing that she did. Wearing sneakers and other such simple things. Also I am a teenager right now so rebellion is much of what I do in school, really everywhere. She is a normal kid because she is curious, has her own ideals on how the world should work. She has a family and thinks about having a relationship. She is just normal.

Persepolis

-Written as a memoir, is Persepolis more powerful than if Satrapi had fictionalized the story? Why or why not? Compare this book to other memoirs you have read. What are the benefits and drawbacks of memoirs?

First of all I try not to make a habit out of reading about other people's problems. I mean I rarely even listen to the problems of the people around me. Really I don't know if the book is more powerful if it is entirely real, but I do know one thing. If she did fake any details of the story and someone found out all of her credibility would be gone. Really like I said I don't read memoirs. But I'm guessing it is much different from most of them since most memoirs' settings are in the writers early adult years...I think. Anyways the benefits of memoirs is that you can rlate to them. That is also one of their worst traits. Sometimes, people have gone through things that they are trying to forget and reading a memoir explaining another persons experience with the same thing wont quite help. also one of the major drawbacks to memoirs is that they are supposed to be accurate representations or recounts of a person's life. And as we all know a majority of people's lives are incredibly boring.

-How does Satrapi go about challenging the myths of Iran.

A very important rule to remember is that people are generally stupid creatures as well as judgemental annoyances with huge superiority complex. Take 9/11 for example. We were traveling in an airport a few years ago and they purposely pulled my mother out of line to check onto our flight. Why? Simply because her skin is light. Even though she was born and raised in America, just because her skin resembles that of the Iranian people in the slightest they were already judging her as an enemy. I don't want the B.S. about how they were protecting America because simply put they were not. What I mean is that just because something happened once doesn't mean that it will happen again. Satrapi is expressing this through her writing. She is trying to prove to the world that Iranians are people to. It helps me understand what almost every race except for the Europeans have gone through. And just the problems of the world.

-What kinds of captivity and freedom does the authour explore in Persepolis. What stifles or prevents people from being completely free? How do they circumvent and defy the rules imposed on them and attempt to live ordinary lives despite revolution and war? Give some examples of their small acts of rebellion.

The author explores many types of captivity in Persepolis, but I don't see many types of freedoms expressed in it. Wait now that I think of it I guess with every captivity there comes some type of freedom. They can dream, they can still learn about the world or even themselves. What stops people from being completely free? A mixture of government and self... and fear. Or rather the government is using fear to influence them to keep themselves in captivity, to keep themselves under lock and key. Through fear man can accomplish great deeds. They defy the rules by having fun, by being human, by living, by thinking. Every time they threw a party they were rebelling. Simply wearing a smile or sneakers, that was rebelling. By being human, by acting like people and not machines, they were being human.

The Land Of Freedome

-What does your feed contain and why?

My feed would probably contain music applications as well as video. I would also like to have some audio books and if able i would like some actual books that i can read. Also a given, i must have some kind of email or chat app. And finally I would like internet of course.

-What does this say about me and how does this define American culture and identity?

I guess about me it simply says I really hate being bored. But about American societ it is saying how truly technology dependent we are. We are a land of music, of books, of internet (we're not really that into books). 

-What are the social implications of technology use, comsumerism or anti-consumerism?Are these good, bad? Is it okay to resist?

The social implications of technology use is apparent if you just take a look around you. We are in a land ruled by technology. I mean, this assignment itself depends on your accessability to technology. Schools are ranked "the best" if they have the most advanced stuff. And in terms of everday we must rely on technology to live. Hospitals, police officers, for an efficient country in this time technology is essential. In the case of consumerism and anti-consumerism it is one of those "too much of a good thing" deals. There is no real bad thing about consumerism or about anti-consumerism. And of course its okay to resist, we live in the land of freedom *cough cough*.

-How does media, consumerism, reliance on technology, and/or popular culture presonally affect you? Do they mold us or us them?

If you really want to know I am kind of like Violet. I try to resist the media, consumerism, and pop culture. But really I think it is impossible to do. We were born into a world of media, consumerism, and pop culture. This isn't a habit or an addiction. It is brainwash or hardwired into our minds. Simply its inescapable. 

-How does it impact me?

I am defined by my resistance to it and you can guess my life is impacted everyday by this stuff as I try to escape it. It simply says I understand. What it means to be an individual and what it means to be a consumer. And that I have made my choice.

-Is there a moral to the story?

Yes. It is a story of materialism, a story of a country that has fallen so far. It is a fortelling of our futures if things keep going on as they have. A future of manufactured clouds and lesions.

-Are people in the stroy anything but the feed?

In a strange way people are hosts and the feeds are parasites ( Haha, that makes sense) The feeds can't do anything without the people. And the feeds are not taking over the people's minds. It is just constantly nudging them to make life easier for the corporations.

Everything must go is a call to arms. The stupidity, the destruction, the lies, the large companies. They must go. It is a plea for help. To win the war of self against the world.

Endless

There is a battle that has been raging since the dawn of society itself. Why, you may ask? Simply because the war is that of a person against society. Or in simpler terms, a war between individuality and conformity. 

-How  do the images I chose tell a story?

Every single image has a specialty significance, to me any ways. It is a story of an argument. Where some people think that to be a conformist is to be good, others take the other side, believing that being an individual is to be superior. Every single image has some connection to my theme.

-What is my message?

My message is that we are living a war right now. We are living in a battlefield where the opposing factions are right in front of our eyes. When the enemy can be your closest friend. We are fighting against everyone, and sometimes your enemy is even yourself. And the worst thing is that  this war wont stop until society itself comes to its end.

-Why I chose the images I chose?

Each image has significance to me. The first one is a picture about individuality. It is a representation of what it really means to be an individual. Not a person who tries to be different,but a person who is truly outside of society's reaches. The second picture is one expressing the power, both destructive and constructive, of a conformist society. The third is a picture expressing that sometimes even being an individual isn't the greatest thing and the fourth, explains that being a person who conforms to society is to be boring.

-What are the understandings and values of my themes?

I realized over the past year what it truly means to be an conformist and what it truly means to be an individualist. To be a conformist is to be a mindless slave to society.To have no mind, no true values. To be simply an animal that stands upright. However, to be an individualist is to be someone who has massive superiority complex. Who looks down on everyone. 

-How have I developed these?

I developed these through a year of observation of everyone and everything around me.

-How do I feel about them?

I feel it is best for a person to be neither and both.