Lily's First Encounter with the Bees

The main character, Lily, is fascinated by bees. Late one night she is lying in her bed when a hive of bees start to swarm in her corner. Most kids would be frightened by this, but Lily is simply mesmerized. She sits and listens to them, entranced by their presence. She wants to tell her father about what is happening, so she quickly leaps out of bed to alert him. Not very happy with his daughter, he reluctantly awakes and stumbles, half asleep, to her room, only to find that there are no bees. They had disappeared. I found many things surprising in this scene. First, I don't know of any children who would sit quietly and watch the bees. All the children that I know would freak out and run screaming from the room. In fact, I know many grown ups who would do the same. Generally speaking, people aren't that fascinated with bees. They tend to be scared of them more than anything. I think especially in a circumstance like this one. If I were sitting in my bed and all of a sudden bees started swarming in the corner of my room I would be freaked out. I would not just sit there and watch them. Second, I found it very odd that they had all disappeared by the time Lily's father arrived. Where did they go? Why would the bees be so intent on swarming in one place, but abandon it in the matter of only a few seconds? I just thought that was fishy. The entire situation just seemed odd to me. To me this event seems like a big deal, but it is written very calmly. Kidd writes as if this is just another daily occurrence. She's very laid back about the whole ordeal. It seems like a big deal to Lily, but not in the way that one would expect.

Amir's Atonement

Amir should seek atonement for not saying anything about witnessing Hassan's rape. The key word there is "should." By not doing anything, Amir is currently not seeking atonement. He needs to actively do something in order to try and attain atonement. He needs to admit what he saw that day. By being silent, he has caused Hassan's life to spiral out of control. By remaining silent he set a series of events into place that he cannot undo. Besides the obvious need of atonement for his silence, he also needs to seek atonement for the events that followed. He acted selfishly, hiding some birthday gifts under Hassan's bed, an act which caused Hassan and Ali to move out. "The next morning...I took a couple of the envelopes of cash from the pile of gifts and my watch...lifted Hassan's mattress and planted my new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it...Then I knocked on Baba's door and told what I hoped would be the last in a long line of shameful lies (104)." This quote states that Amir feels shameful, he knows that he is doing something wrong. I think for Amir to "be good again," he needs to speak up. He needs to admit to himself and the world that he can't hold it all inside. Even then, I don't know that it will be enough. He needs to really believe that he is sorry. He needs to genuinely show remorse in order to even hope to gain atonement. He really needs to face the consequences, however difficult they may be, of his actions. He needs to accept the punishment for being silent.

The Secret Life of Bees Preview

The Secret Life of Bees takes place in South Carolina in 1964. It is the story of a young girl, Lily, whose mother was killed. She is raised by her black "Stand-in mother," Rosaleen. They are forced to leave their hometown once Rosaleen offends three racists. They are taken in by three beekeeping sisters in Tiburon, South Caroline. Through the process of learning about bee keeping, Lily discovers a lot about herself and her search for the mother she lost. The story is about female power and the search for identity.
This novel has many acclaims. It's a New York Times Bestseller. It was also selected by Good Morning America's "Read This!" Book club. The quotations on the back cover had nothing but wonderful things to say about this novel. When you first open the book there are pages of praise from various critics and publications.
My overall impression is that this book will be a very enjoyable read. It seems to have an interesting plot and many thought provoking central themes. This seems to be the kind of book that raises many questions, not necessarily answering them in a straight forward manner. I think that it's one of those books that provides you with a basis on which you are free to form your own opinion about universal topics. I always find those books more interesting. After reading a few sample passages, I seem to like the writer's style. She's not too wordy, but she provides the detail that we as readers need. I think it will be easy to read through.
Each chapter is preceded by a quote. I always think that is a cool way to catch the reader's attention. The quotes often get me thinking before I even start reading the chapter. They provide a sort of prelude to what the next few pages will reveal.

Triumph of Evil

I think this philosophy makes sense because the lack of action is presenting no obstacles for evil. If people doing evil don't have anything to overcome, they have an easier task. When presented with some kind of inhibitor, people are less likely to carry out their actions. If no one is stepping in to challenge evil, there isn't anything for the evil to fight. Therefore, it can prevail. Unchallenged in a fight, evil will always arise victorious.
On the other hand, I think that sometimes evil forces prevail even when good people stand up and fight against them. Sometimes evil overpowers good. Sometimes no matter how hard the forces of good fight, they cannot win.
To summarize, I agree mostly with this quote. I don't think that there is only one thing needed to allow evil to succeed. Generally there is more than one factor that allows evil to triumph. It's multifaceted. You can't say that there is only one reason behind something, nothing is truly that simple. Good people that do nothing play a large role in allowing evil occurrences to happen. The situation in Darfur currently is an excellent example of this philosophy. By not declaring it a genocide and kind of turning a blind eye to it, we're allowing it to continue. If someone were to step in and do something, the evil could be reduced significantly. In this instance, the lack of action on the side of good is allowing evil to prevail. But can we say definitively that if good stepped in it could be stopped entirely? I don't think there's an answer that simple. Perhaps multiple aspects have to change in order to stop evil in the world. While the lack of good actions allows evil to spread, it is not the sole reason for evil flourishes.

Decisions

There's a lot of factors that go into my decision making process. It really depends on what type of a decision I'm making and how important it is. I think that one of the most important factors in many of the decisions I make is money. That was a huge deciding factor in my selection of a college. Money is a limiting factor in most situations. Our society is so monetarily based nowadays that practically every decision we make somehow revolves around money. It's virtually impossible to make a decision without taking money into account in some way. We want to get the most value out of our decisions.
I think one factor that most people consider is what others will think of their decision. I try to not get caught in this trap. I want to make my decisions for me, not for anybody else. As long as I will be happy with my decision, I don't care about what others think. But, I think that sometimes other people get too caught up in the opinions of others. That can lead to bad decision making happens. And if you continually do everything for everybody else, you're not doing what you want. This will make your life much less enjoyable. I think that my future will be much more beneficial and enjoyable if I stick to what I want to do and not allow others to sway me. The most important factor for me is gut instinct. I decide based on what I want. I think this will provide me with a fulfilling and exciting future.
The process of picking a college was and is still a huge decision for me. As of now, I have not made an official decision. Each school I am looking at provides something totally different. Each school has different factors that I like and factors that I don't like. It's a big game of pro cons. And I still haven't found the winner yet.

Recipe for Afghanistan

• 50,000 years of history

• 262 years since establishment

• 32,000,000 inhabitant

• 5 major languages

• 30 minor languages and dialects

• 5 religions, all in constant conflict

• $2-3 Billion in annual international assistance

• Several years of civil war

• 5 years of Taliban rule

• 8 ongoing years of war

Mix all ingredients with hostility until they reach a very dry consistency. Poor into a 251,772 square miles pan. Bake at 500 degrees Fahrenheit for many hours. Let sit in the sun. Divide into 34 provinces, all landlocked.

Spring Break

Over spring break, I set to the task of organizing all of the songs that I have ever written. All of my songs were sitting in my dresser drawer, hand written in a couple of notebooks. A few of them are scribbled on assorted forms of paper. For instance, there's a few written on napkins and one written on a receipt. I've always been afraid that something would happen and they would get destroyed. I really wanted to have them backed up somewhere. I thought that typing them all would take an hour or two maximum, but it ended up taking much longer than I had originally planned. Rereading everything was a very interesting experience. It was as if I were reading about the past two years of my life, reliving it through my songs. It really made me realize a lot of things about myself. Most of what I wrote over the past year is so much easier to identify with now. I honestly learned a lot about myself through this process. I can say that my spring break was extremely beneficial.
I think that this song best sums up my past year. I wrote it over the break and it is entitled Better.
This didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted it to be/I’ve learned to find my strength in moments of vulnerability/And yeah I might get battered and my heart might take a beating/But it’s not worth not knowing where something might be leading//And every dead end road that I have come to meet/Will take me one step closer to a life on easy street/And all these scars I have I wouldn’t trade for anything/Love and loss is better than not feeling anything//You promised me the moon, the stars, the sky/Being innocent and naïve I embraced every lie/And yeah it may have taken all of me to pull on through/Just believe me when I say I don’t regret loving you//’Cause every dead end road that I have come to meet/Will take me one step closer to a life on easy street/And all these scars I have I wouldn’t trade for anything/Love and loss is better than not feeling anything/Through every heartbreak and forfeit of love/I’ve learned to find the courage to show all that I’m make of/And all these scars I have I wouldn’t trade for anything/Love and loss is better than not feeling anything//I don’t know where you are right now or if you’re thinking of me/But I have finally admitted we weren’t meant to be/I used to cry but now the tears have left my eyes/And I want to thank you for making me realize//That every dead end road that I have come to meet/Will take me one step closer to a life on easy street/And all these scars I have I wouldn’t trade for anything/Love and loss has taught me everything/You have helped me find everything//