The Reservation

            It is not fair to not be able to pursue our dreams and futures in the place we call home. It is a daily struggle when our fears and talents are tossed into a mixture of discrimination and segregation that never ends. These statements are fairly similar to the ideals Junior, from "The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian," had to say about his Indian reservation home. In this reservation, the people were very well known to each other, no one ever left and it was common to have many people die from a form of alcoholism.
            And yet, after finishing reading the book, there seems to be a parallel between my community and Junior's rez. The parallel would be the closeness in my community. Having very talkative parents myself, they are the ones always have the greeting welcome to anyone who walks by. I have lived in my neighborhood since I was two years old and I find  it fascinating how familiar I am with the neighbors. Sometimes, in the summer, my mom even gives some of her lovely plants to the neighbors just so they can start and grow some flowers in their garden.
            In the end, I guess an Indian reservation is such an extreme from the place I live today since the parallel that joins these two worlds could easily be seen around the globe. It feels nice to have a common element to share with everyone despite all of the cultural and regional differences going on in today's society.

Native Sons

     The segregation and racial discrimination that is currently going on in the American society is overwhelming, especially due to the dark times that were suffered in our nation's past during the Civil War. All of these feelings and emotions are well encompassed in the book Native Son, even though it was written during the 1930s. 

      One of the most special and touching moments in which the reader truly gets a sense of an African American's life during these times was during Max's speech in Bigger's trial. Max is a Communist who is in charge of shedding light and spreading the truth about Bigger's decisions and actions. Ultimately, Max wants the white community to see the injustice and criticism Bigger has had to live with since his very birth. Max calls Bigger a test symbol since Bigger is representing the African American community and everything in correlation to it. The poverty and unreliable leaders these people have had to live and grow up with are all caused by the over-protected white community. Max in its totality is trying to make the white people feel guilty and ashamed since they were the ones who caused the under-privileged to have this mentality and stereotype as a murder. 

The Principle to Live By

Considering all of the diversity that exists in society today, it seems quite hard to pick a single principle to live by. Yet, I have chosen to pick the principle of treat others as you would treat yourself. Although, at first it might seem as a bit of a cliche, most of the most efficient and reasonable principles are found to be cliches since they can be part of our everyday life. And so, the reason why I have decided to choose the following way of life is because it can easily cover every aspect of living. What I mean by this idea is that it can mean to love each other, respect each other, take care of each other, and so on as we would for ourselves. If together, as a society, can learn to treat each other with dignity and respect, much of the tensions and struggles that are faced could be dissolved. To also contribute with this principle, showing compassion and patience with others could lessen the stress and tensions among family, friends, a community and even a nation.