Blog #14: May 12, 2009: Unlikely Immigrant

As I was reading A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, I came across a statement from one of the main characters, Stanley Kowalski, who is from Poland. Another main character, Blanche DuBois, who is a women who came from a refined, luxurious family, calls him derogatory names such as "Polack." When being called a "Polack," Stanley finally snapped and the following quote shows clearly his pride of being what he truly is.

"I am not a Polack. People from Poland are Poles, not Polacks. But what I am is
a one hundred percent American, born and raised in the greatest country on earth
and proud as hell of it, so don't ever call me a Polack." Stanley

Not very often do you see old immigrant quotes such as these from a character like Stanley. Stanley does many disturbing things, clearly going to great lengths to get what he wants, sometimes going overboard. Stanley even seems to be primitive at nature. Yet Stanley shows that he is proud to be an American, and of course he is now part of this new American society since immigrants are stepping up in society. He implies that this refined-thinking women no longer is superior to him. She can no longer see him as subordinate to her. Stanley may not be the refined, luxurious, polite kind of person, but he certainly represents an American. Stanley realized, unlike Blanche, that society was not based on elegant tastes, but rather that American society was now equality based. American society was, and still is, a large mixing pot of cultures. I am sure Stanley, like all other immigrants, came to the American society not to be treated and seen as subordinates, but rather to find opportunity.

I beleive that Stanley is a character representing a new American society. This new American society has been greatly shaped from the new immigrant identities. He seems to be more sturdy when dealing with specific situations. Those like Blanche who base their whole life off of luxuries and cuisines will eventually break down when those things are stripped away from them. Like all immigrants, Stanley had to start off with a mediocre job, but he also felt that that every person who makes a contribution to society should be treated equally. He thought that he should be socially equal to those who thought were more superior to him. Although aggressive and seemingly primitive, Stanley clearly exhibits the American dream.

Here is a link to a google book previewer that shows a particular section of how Stanley Kowalshi represents the desire of the American dream.

Blog #13: May 5, 2009: Wooden Paddle = Order!

I never thought violence was the answer, but once I got a better view of the possible situations someone might be under or the circumstances, I became more understandable of violence being used under certain situations. In this article of Newsweek, "The Principle and the Paddle," violence was used and made a huge turnaround with the success of the school. The principle David Nixon uses corporal punishment in order to restore order to a struggling elementary school. As punishment for a major offense such as fighting, stealing, etc., students are first questioned about their offense, first trying to find a deeper issue or problem that is the cause of all of this. If the child is truly sorry, Nixon will send him or her back to class, but if he feels that the child has not learned his lesson, a slight but stinging whipping is initiated. Even though Nixon dislikes doing this, a lot of the parents approve of this, which shocks me!

The reasons for doing these "whippings" also shocked me, but also made me somewhat understand. One reason was that the school was there for educational means, so a "whipping" would only take a good 10 minutes to knock some sense into the student and continue your day instead of the many days of expulsion. I thought this was pretty clever, and a lot of schools would want to do this, but would never resort to violence to do so. But they have to consider that a lot of the kids come from difficult homes and backgrounds, and are just raised the way they are. But the parents DO have the option to paddle the child themselves or actually refuse the "whipping" of their child. This makes me a little bit more comfortable about Nixon's system. And ever since those "whippings" have occured, I would think that the amount of whippings would decrease as years go by from the constant rumors of THE PADDLE.

Those who disagree with corporal violence, I agree with.

"An atmosphere of fear is not going to increase learning. Maybe temporarily. But
over time, it does not work." -Nadine Block.

I just hope that Nixon and other schools that use corporal punishment realize that children these days do unpredictable stuff, not to be mean or on purpose, but rather just because they are youthful, excited, or don't know any better. Many times in my elementary school I made bad mistakes and did bad things, and I was called to the principle's office sometimes. Just a good talk and discussion would make me learn my lesson. Im sure that if my principle used violence as a means of helping me learn my lessons, I wouldn't have gone there as much, but at the same time, in my opinion, I wouldnt be as calm or against corporal punishment as I am today. I just believe that violence is not what is always needed to teach a child a lesson or make them recieve better studying habits.