Reflective Journal No.3: The Folded Earth

                               

             Love, LOVE, Love

                  Love is the most powerful emotion an individual has. It can make you do some crazy things that you never knew you could. It could make ypu defied values, you never imagined you can let go of. And it can make you whole again after a tragic past.

                                                                                        The novel "The Folded Earth" by Anuradha Roy conveys how love, sacrifice and survival can make someone's life meaningful and worth living for.

Who is the Author behind "The Folded Earth"?

               Anuradha Roy

             Roy’s first book, An Atlas of Impossible Longing, was released in 2008 and was translated in 15 languages across the world. It was also named by World Literature Today as one of the 60 essential English language works of modern Indian literature.

            Her 2nd novel, The Folded Earth, won the Economist Crossword Prize for Fiction in 2012 and was long-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize.

            And now, her third novel, Sleeping on Jupiter, has been long-listed for Man Booker Prize, 2015.

The Folded Earthby: Anuradha Roy

SUMMARY:

                Maya is a daughter of a rich owner of pickle factory and she fell in love with a man named Michael. Their relationship was hindered by their families because of their different religions, Maya is a Hindu while Michael is a Christian. However, the couple defied their families and chose to be with each other.

               Their marriage life started so well and happy. But Michael's work and passion for mountain trecking test their relationship. On the other hand, Maya tried to understand everything but she didn't able to keep quiet when Michael's next mountaineering expedition is on Himalayas, a very dangerous track for trecking. She tried to make Michael's mind change but she failed. And Michael still continued the trecking leaving a promise to Maya that he will come back safe. But Michael's promise was not made because he died on the expedition. And Maya was left broken and alone.

What did I learned after reading "The Folded Earth"?

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL # 3: THE FOLDED EARTH

                          

                              POWER OF LOVE

                   The novel "The Folded Earth" is an inspiring book of moving on and recreating yourself. It perfectly conveyed how loosing someone whose dear to you can really alter everything in your life.

After reading the novel, I realized how death can come unexpectedly. No one will ever be ready from it. Therefore, there is no harm on being sorrowful.

                  Even though, I haven't yet experienced loosing someone whose really dear to me, the novel made me feel how tragic it is to be on Maya's position. I also realized how complex moving on is.

                  Another thing that I learned from the novel is how complicated it is to recreate yourself after a tragic past. I also realized that, even though, you've been able to surpass moving on, when you've already hurt, you will never be the same person again. It is either you will completely lost yourself or you will be a better version of you.

                 However, the best learning I got from the novel is how powerful love could be. Love can make you decide without using your logic or reasoning. Love can hurt you in the worst way you will never imagined. And love can mend and complete you as an individual after a tragic and painful past

Reflective Journal No.2: A Low Art

             LITERATURE; HISTORY AND NARRATION

               

            Literary works from Greece mainly focused on the epics or myths about Gods and heroes. One of the greek authors that was known by the world is Homer because of his work "The Odyssey". This epic poem is all about the fancy adventures of Odysseus.

                 However, Homer's "The Odyssey" was criticized because of its obvious gender stereotyping.

The retelling of "The Odyssey" from Penelope's perspective was written by Margaret Atwood titled "A Low Art" proved how Homer focused on Odysseus' character only.

Who is the author behind "A Low Art" ?

         MARGARET ATWOOD

         Margaret Eleanor Atwood, CC OOnt FRSC is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. 

BORN: November 18, 1939 (age 76), Ottawa, Canada

INFLUENCED BY: William Shakespear

AWARDS: Man Booker Prize 

          Margaret Atwood is one of today's leading fiction writers. She studied at the University of Toronto and Radcliffe College, becoming a lecturer in English literature. Her first published work was a collection of poems entitled The Circle Game (1966), which won the Governor-General's Award.

A Low Art by Margaret Atwood

SUMMARY:

                Majority of the Greece's population knows the mythical narration of Odysseus' fancy and heroic adventures through Homer's "The Odyssey" ---- the version that made everyone believes that Penelope was the bad guy.

               However, "A Low Art", through Penelope's perspective discussed how Odysseus, her husband, made a fool out of her by the versions of narrations about their relationship. Penelope narrates how great Odysseus in making fools for making people believe with his versions of events. Penelope's agony and pain was shown by "A Low Art" with her version of story--- keeping a blind eye to achieve her happy ending. And her little story making is somehow to clear her side.

WHAT HAVE I LEARNED AFTER READING THE STORY?

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL # 2: A LOW ART

                                       "THE ART OF STORY TELLING"

                In telling a story, if the majority believed you, therefore your statement is true while, if minority is on your side, you are telling lies. However, "A Low Art" proved that a story can either be true or not based on how the majority will acknowledge it.

                "A Low Art" is a tale that made me see how a story can be altered through the change of point of view. Majority of the people that read Homer's Odyssey believed that Penelope betrayed her husband. In contrary with that, these people will change their mind if they will read "A Low Art". Just like what happened with me, I once thought that Odysseus was the victim but because of " A Low Art", I figured out that Penelope is the true victim of betrayal.

               Somehow, I admired Penelope's sacrifice just to keep their marriage work. She doesn't entertain other's opinion about her being a fool for still staying with her husband. That chpice is something not all can bear to do.

              In conclusion, "A Low Art" teaches me as a female, to take a stand for something I know right. I have to tell my own version of story because silence can sometimes worsens the situation.

Reflective Journal: Malinche

We are Powerful!

         As humans, we are the best creation of God for we are gifted with intellect, free will and most of all, the ability of speaking to express ourselves. We can say what we think, we can tell what we prefer and we can utter words if we are happy or sad. But do we really know how powerful we are just by the mere fact that we can speak?

One of the famous woman in the world's history, Malinche or Doña Marina proved how words can change our lives and how our ability to speak can make us survived the obstacles of life.

A Traitor (Doña Marina) or A Victim (Mallinali)?

Who is Malinche?

           Mallinali was once a slave of a Maya Lord, Postecarro, before she was offered to the Spanish Conquistador together with 19 other slaves. Mallinali was named Malinche which means "The Tounge" by her new master, Hernan Cortes, for being an interpreter of Spanish language to Nahuatl and vice versa. She was soon baptized as Doña Marina, her christian name. Mallinali became the translator, negotiation, and cultural mediator between the Spaniards and the Aztecs. She also became Cortes' lover and she gave birth to the first latin american, Martin Cortes.

           The life of Mallinali is not chronologically documented but it was believed that she received formal education when she was a child and experienced abandonment and slavery. She endured difficult days in her life; the massacre of indigenous people in Cholula, conquest of Spaniards and witnessed the deaths of hundreds.

          Amidst the power of being "The Tounge",Mallinali died young--- probably not more than 25 years old.

          And now, she was being considered either a traitor, fir helping the Spaniards in conquering Mexico and being the lover pf Cortes, or a victim of culture and tradition, for she was just forced to be the interpreter of Cortes because she was just a slave and she was trap in a situation when she was left with no choice.

Who is the author behind Malinche?

      Malinche is a mexican literature written by Laura Esquivel who is an award winning author and writer for her novel Like Water for Chocolate.

   Mexican writer and author. Born on September 30, 1950, in Mexico City, Mexico. Esquivel began writing while working as a kindergarten teacher. She wrote plays for her students and then went on to write children's television programs during the 1970s and 1980s.

      Esquivel often explores the relationship between men and women in Mexico in her work. She is best known for Like Water for Chocolate (1990), an imaginative and compelling combination of novel and cookbook. It had been released in Mexico a year earlier. After the release of the film version in 1992,Like Water for Chocolate became internationally known and loved. The book has sold more than 4.5 million copies.

        Esquivel has continued to show her creative flair and lyrical style in her later work. Accompanied by a collection of music, her second novel The Law of Love (1996) combined romance and science fiction. Between the Fires (2000) featured essays on life, love, and food. Her novel, Malinche (2006), explores the life of a near mythic figure in Mexican history-the woman who served as Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés's interpreter and mistress.

MALINCHE by Laura Esquivel

SUMMARY:

              It was believed by the Aztecs that someday their God, Quetzalcoatl, could come back to their land in the form of white man and they thought it was Hernan Cortes. So, when the group of Cortes found the land of Mexico, they easily conquered the land. During the conquest, Hernan Cortes only understand Spanish and not the native language of the Aztecs, Nahuatl. So, Cortes trusted the translation and counsel of a woman named Mallinali. Amidst the big difference between their societal stand and culture, Cortes and Mallinali learned to love each other. Due to that, majority of Mexicans considered Mallinali or Malinche to be both a traitor and temptress.

What did I learn after reading Malinche?

Reflective Journal # 1 

Words: Finest Weapon of Survival

         Malinche is a mexican piece of literature written by Laura Esquivel that proves how powerful our words can be. This written work conveys that words could be the finest of weapon of an individual to survive in this world. Malinche also known as Mallinali leave a legacy in world's history that whoever controls the information will acquire the greatest power.

        After reading the story, "Malinche", I realized how words can give such an individual the dominancy over a certain situation. Just like how Mallinali, being considered as "The Tounge" or interpreter of a rich Spanish merchant, Hernan Cortez, being able to surpass and rise above te issue of slavery of their culture during their time. Malinche's character also proved that being in charged or being powerful will not always come from the high class society, because if an individual got the capacity and abilities to lead, he/she can always take the prestige of being dominant and powerful. Malinche also serves as an eye opener for its readers on how religion of a certain group of people differs from the religion of another group of people. As a catholic, Hernan Cortes' belief about God differs on the religious belief of Mallinali as an Aztec. Therefore, there's a big boundary on their culture but Mallinali and Cortes still became lovers amidst that boundary. This turn of events between Mallinali and Cortes proved that at the end of the day, we will still want what we want, we will still believe what we want to believe and we can't change other's perspective towards religion, so mind as well, just respect with others's faith and opinion. Lastly, I can not see why Mallinali was considered by some Mexicans as a traitor when in fact she was just bounded by the situation and culture of slavery during her time, that was why she became the translator of Cortes. So, my question, why did all the blame regarding the Spaniard's colonization in Mexico was pointed to Mallinali?

           As a human, we got the finest weapon of survival among all God's creation, and that is the ability to speak and utter words to express ourselves. Therefore, we should learn how to use this capability in the best way we can. We should learn to use the right words, the ones that were necessary. Because our words can either make a positive outcome or an unexpected disaster.