Each time throughout the book when the gang is brought up planning something malevolent I think how is a person capable of doing something like this. People aren't raised to kill, they go out of there way to learn and eventually act. Even today, you hear so many stories of school shootings or someone getting shot on the street. There are some people that are born with some sort of mental handicap that you here shoot someone. But what about the one's who are born with a stable brain. So my question... what outside influences, or innate traits that people are born with interest them in going down such a dark path?
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Sour Sweet Post
For the past two weeks in English class we've been reading Sour Sweet by Timothy Mo. This novel tells the story of Chinese immigrants living in Britain. We encounter many characters/civilians such as Chen, Lily, and Mui who all work hard to make money and create a live for themselves. On the other hand, we also see characters such as Red Cudgel, White Paper Fan, and Grass-Sandal who are in a ruthless gang that deal drugs, raid stores, and even take the lives of others. We see this really come to life within chapter 18 when the Triad raids a rival gang and kill everyone in there way.
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That is a deep question... I'd say that evil notions are bred in people. It seems that bad intentions come from horrible back stories of childhood abuse and extreme portions of jealousy, anger, and regret. These feelings seem to make people eager to get revenge on whoever or whatever caused them to feel these emotions. People can be driven my anger or money; both extremely dangerous motivators that make them impulsive and risky. Those in the triad are driven by money, most of them are impulsive and violent.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. Throughout the book there's a ton of violence, in the triad's actions between the gangs. In our daily lives we usually don't encounter this violence, so it seems puzzling at first why these people might turn to lives of violence instead of living peacefully. I think one thing that motivates people to do these things is necessity. If you are really poor and don't have many things, and you live in a bad neighborhood, gangs might seem like the only option to survive or get money. People don't choose to live this way, but they have to do it anyway. I think this is why a lot of gang problems happen, because people don't see that they have another option. Another thing that can lead people to commit violent acts is that they might be mentally ill, and because of this their emotions react to normal situations in odd ways which lead them to act violently when there is really no need to. But because of their mental handicap, they see the world differently and act differently. I'm curious to know if you agree with this. What's your personal opinion?
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