Domestic violence in “The Secrets life of bees” and “George and the pink house”

The theme of the domestic violence is presented in both “The Secrets life of bees” and “George and the pink house”.
In “The Secret life of bees” it is presented in Lily’s family. T-Ray abused from Deborah first, and after she died, he abused from Lily. He used to beat, insult and punish them, so he did physical and emotional abuse. The abuse was reflected in the actions of the characters; Lily was sad and hurt every time, and her mother was in a severe depression when she left her house. Those symptoms are manifestation of domestic violence. Also this movie has scenes of domestic violence in which we could see T-Ray submitting Lily to a painful punishment. What is sure is that the abuse is evident in the familiar nucleus and it is the base of the drama in the movie. The family is supposed to be that place in which we should receive the major samples of love but in its place Lily received blows. Abuse make from life sad and miserably.
In “George and the pink house” also, is presented the theme of domestic violence. George was the man of the house, the “macho”. He abused from all his family, his wife and his children, beating and submitting them to a lot of works. Some people in the town told he killed his wife with blows. I believe he did it. He was a severe man and he was not conscious of what he was doing. His son, who was intelligent and educated, excused his father because he was not educated and had a very difficult life. I understand it demonstrate that people who abuse from other are the most who need help.
Domestic violence is a serious problem in many societies. Sometimes it is not easy to detect but the keys are there. The overcome is possible and none human should pass through a life like that.

Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence is a serious problem is our society. It is a type of abuse that occurs in the family or between family members. Domestic violence can be against its partner or ex-partner, child or parent. It also can have a lot of forms: physical, emotional, sexual, verbal, social, and others.

Some examples of this abuse are:
· intimidation
· physical assault or harm
· Sexual assault
· stalking
· forbid the partner from study or get a job
· name-calling or putdowns
· keeping a partner from contacting their family, friends or other people
· withholding money
It is very hard to detect domestic violence because most of cases are not reported. It does not have specific victims, but it passes to people of different ages, social classes, sexes and types of relations.

Reflection: The Storm

The short story “The Storm”, written by Kate Chopin, has two different aspects or two different central themes. Both are related, or better thinking, one theme is the metaphoric reflection of the other.

The first theme is the presentation of an atmospheric event, in this case a storm. It describes how the storm develops, its coming, its consequences, how all is during it, and how all is after it. The first traits of the storm, the preview silence, the mystery, the violence, and the disaster.
The other part of the story is like a different story that occurs inside the storm. The situation presented also share some traits with the situation of the storm. The main character of the story is Calixta, who is married with Bobinot and has a four years child named Bibi. Bobinot went out with Bibi to a store, but a storm develops and they have to remain in the store until the storm goes out. At home, Calixta did not notice the approaching. Then a friend named Alcee Laballiere, arrives to her house and asks her if he could be there until de storm passes and she said yes. They were old friends but she did not see him after she get married. Calixta was worried about her child and her husband, and her friend starts to counsel her. Then in a sensual moment, they started to remember one time they were together and they did it again during the storm. After the storm passes Alcee Laballiere get out of the house and Bobinot and Bibi came back and everything continue its course.

The Storm is not a moral or immoral story. It is just a story that narrates a peculiar situation that can be consider immoral. Calixta was unfaithful to her husband Bobinot with Alcee Laballiere, an old friend. It is a sensible theme; there are no excuses for unfaithfulness but a lot of reasons why it can occur. In Calixta’s case maybe in that moment she felt scared and alone and maybe that was the reason why she was with Alcee. The act of Calixta to be unfaithful in the story can be compared with the storm. As the storm it has its silent and mysterious part, the violent part or the action, and after it, the disaster that it left. All this is represented in the story, the same process for two different themes.

My opinion about unfaithfulness is very different from how the story presents. It presents unfaithfulness as normal, something like a storm, that is unpredictable, it just passes and that’s it, without consequences. I think that everything you do, each movement, thought, word or decision have consequences. I think faithful and loyalty are the most important traits that a person could have, especially for be a friend or a couple.
The things that you hide, soon or later get out and everybody know it. So be loyal and be sincere can avoid a lot of problems.

"The Secret Life of Bees"

The movie The Secret Life of Bees is a new movie released on October 17, 2008 based on Sue Monk Kidd novel. With Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah and Jennifer Hudson develop a very emotional drama movie. The film has many diverse themes as racism, abuse, death, love, help, freedom, mental problems, friendship, and the searching of the truth.

Lily is the main character, a 14 years old young who accidentally killed her mother at her 4 years. Lily had a complicated, unhappy life, without a mother, with a crazy father that abused her, and their Negro employer, Rosaleen seemed to be the only one who cared or loved her. When the civil rights act was signed by the president Johnson, Lily went out to town with Rosaleen to register Rosaleen’s vote, but they were intercepted by three white racist men whom humiliated and beat Rosaleen. T-Ray, Lily’s father took her to home and commented that Rosaleen was going to the hospital and that probably those men would kill her. Then Lily decided to escape her father, who told her that her mother didn’t love her and she didn’t come back to look for her, help Rosaleen to escape and save her life, and discover if her mother truly loved her to fill that empty space she has in her life. So Lily and Rosaleen escaped to South Caroline to Tiburon town, because this place was written on her mother’s picture. When they arrived to Tiburon Lily saw a honey container with the same pictures that her mother possessions and that was how they finish in August house, a place with apparently relation to Deborah, Lily’s mother. After a lot of lies Lily and Rosaleen achieved to be received in August house to remain there working for a time to collect money to visit their imaginary sick aunt. There Rosaleen, but specially Lily stared a new life, meting new special people August, May, June, Neil, Zach whom helped her to learn many new things, to discover many things about herself and what she want of her life, and to have another perspective of the people, details and life.

August taught Lily ‘the secret life of the bees’, and the rules and the clues to do work with bees. In the movie, the work with the bees represents the necessity of love that every human has; that necessity that everybody has of comprehension, patience, respect, and affection, those traits of humanity and community. The bees’ life is an example for us as humans. If somebody treats you with violence, you respond with violence, but if that person treats you with love, you respond at the same manner, it is a basic rule in bees’ life, and it is also in human’s life. Lily tried to send bees love, and at the same time she discovered the love was around.

None character in this movie escape for the pain. Pain for the injustice, the death, the abuse, the rejection, and other. May is the character who represents the pain. She was affected by everybody’s problems. Lily and May had a conversation about feelings and about how May feels everything with a great intensity, and how exist, some people that don’t feel anything. Lily said she want to be like May, that she want to feel, but May recommend that sometimes the only way to survive was do not feel, and she was all right cause in her case, she didn’t could resist the pain.

My favorite parts of the movie are when Lily was with August in the place of bees and she told that she could not imagine something better that someone who could love her, and when June decided to marry with Neil; because these two parts demonstrate the strength of love in humans’ life.

This is a movie with a lot of teachings about life, necessities, unity, strength, sacrifice, compassion, equality, and love.

I enjoy the movie and I believe I learn something from it:
1. Love is important, if you want to receive love, you have to gift love.
2. We all are equally, no matter color, place, name, culture, ideas, we are all humans; racism is the most despicable act over the Earth.
3. To win you have to take a chance.
4. Sometimes you have to sacrifice some things for other, that things are details, and if the other person is happy, the sacrifice has a lot of worth. (I saw in the act of pain the house of Caribbean pink just because May liked that color)
5. Love is think in what the other wants, be equally, and be fair.

It is a good movie to enjoy in family or just to see and reflection about. I recommend it!

Don’t be afraid to say “I love you”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reflection: A Worn Path By: Eudora Welty

“A Worn Path” is the story of all the vicissitudes, difficulties and problems that an old black woman had in her path. In the story, this woman, named Phoenix had to pass a hard path to arrive to the town to get a medicine for her grandson who is sick. During the woman path, the story presents some themes as: necessity, prejudices, difficulties in life, and acceptance and recognition of something (can be the destiny or the chances).
The necessities are expressed in the old woman appearance. When the narrator describes her and told that she used an umbrella as her cane, that she took the hunters dime, that she lived too far of the town and had to pass a terrible path to arrive to the town, and when the nurse give her the medicine and another dime.
The prejudices and the rejection are presented in the situation with the hunter and when the woman was in the town for how some people there treat her. She was prejudiced for how she looks, for her age, and for her personality. She was prejudices by the hunter for her race, her skin color, for many reasons she was prejudiced and treated bad.
During the story, in many events, the narrator shows us Phoenix thinking and recognizing her life conditions. It shows us her as poor. Also she (the character) declared she was very old and uneducated, and that she live far away of the town and she had to take a hard path. I believe that the animals, trees and branches and she found in her path represent those things that we find in our paths, in our life.
I believe the title of the story is both, literal and symbolic. Literal, by the way, the path, that the woman had to cross to arrive to her wished destiny, and symbolic because it mean the path of our life, the things, the difficulties that we pass through our life.

Reflection: A Worn Path