“O, be some other name! What’s in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet;” -Romeo and Juliet Quote (Act II. Scene II).

 A name is a label presented to every person, in order to create their identity. However, in my perspective if someone is called something different, it does not entirely affect their personality but sometimes they are manipulated into believing what they are being called. Many people in the world change their names, because they do not like their name that was given to them by fate, nevertheless they do not change who they were before, but rather only what they are called. Some people change their last names after marriage, others prefer to keep their own name, because they have developed an attachment to their name, and being called that is part of their identity.

 In this Shakespeare play, Juliet mentions “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet;” I agree with this statement, because if I was called any other name, I would not behave in a different way than I do. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo was fated to become a Montague (enemy of Capulets), therefore symbolizing that last names reflect your past identity and can impact your life in many forms. In my point of view, Juliet only desires love and in order to gain this, she is asking Romeo to change his last name as it is not going to have an impact on his personality, which I completely agree with.  However, I also believe that fate has provided you with a name, and it is your choice to keep it, or change it.

My name Ishmeet means “Gods Friend” and this is the name that I was born with, now further on in my life it is my choice to keep it or abandon it. Although some people change their name, they do this because they feel like they are in control of their own lives rather than keeping the name their parents give them, which they feel reflects what their parents or society want. I believe that a name is only a label which holds nothing, but some people believe that it has an impact on how they see themselves. For example society can nickname some people as “stupid” “fat” or “short” which impacts the person being called these names into believing what they are being called. Fate is a powerful thing, and everyone is given a name according to fate. I personally love my name and have no desire to change it, but if my name does change or society labels me as something else, my personality and uniqueness will not change at all.

I  Carry your Heart with Me

By E.E Cummings
i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

In a lifetime every single person faces the loss of someone they love and someone who is remarkably close to them, may it be a relative, a dear friend, or even a pet. Although this poem usually gives the first impression of lovers, to me this poem relates to my grandma’s loss a few years ago.

In this poem the speaker uses a lot of parenthesis, to provide the reader with clear interpretation and enhance more thoughts that indicate the strong bond between the two individuals. The poets tone reflects the idea of love and attachment that is present between me and my grandma, which will always stay despite her loss.  

Since you cannot literally “carry ones heart” in my perspective this poem describes that life will move on but a person will always remember the loss of a loved-one and will carry their remembrance in their heart. The loss of someone will always hurt, as its part of the human nature, but grieving over someone’s death is something that’s going to remind you how important their presence was.

 I have never been to a funeral, and I prefer not to either. When my grandma had passed away due to cancer, I was left in such shock, and disbelief, that I continued my daily lifestyle without being unhappy because I was not able to digest the information. Additionally, I was only a child in grade 5, not accepting the unbearable fact that was presented to me. After a few weeks later I realized that there was an empty absence of her presence, and all of the sudden a wave of emotions enveloped me. This poem enlightens the fact that the journey of life continues regardless of the coming and leaving of people, but some teach you the importance of love, and leave that impact on you forever.  As the first few lines in the poem state “i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart) i am never without it (anywhere i go you go…)” This indicates how I will never forget how caring and loving my grandma was, and in spite of where I am or how successful I become, she is going to be here with me in every step, and every joy I encounter.

Although the last stanza is a bit confusing, the deep meaning hidden behind it symbolizes that the love between me and grandma, or love in general cannot be described, as it is a powerful wonder that unites all things and this is the true beauty of it. The speaker continually emphasizes the importance of the other individual and the significance of love.

Death is something that can come to anyone any second, and it leaves you in complete astonishment, melancholy, and disbelief. I have only had my grandma pass away, and I do not want to have the experience of a loved one dying again. However, as for my grandma “I carry her heart (i carry it in my heart)” forever and always.

We accept the reality of the world we are presented with. It’s as simple as that.”-Christof. Since the ignorance of an individual often increases their possibility of being manipulated, naive individuals are targeted because they are unaware of society taking advantage of their innocence. This can lead to one being faced with restraints, constraining them to a contrived reality. Individuals that are ignorant are taken advantage of by self-centred individuals that use the naivety of others to accomplish their own objectives and desires. Society is often self-centred and can instantly recognize the individuals that are capable of easily being manipulated, and take that into their full advantage.  Although manipulation can be emotional or physical, they both intervene with one’s freedom to discover reality and can construct false hopes and dreams. The ignorance of an individual can build up a series of facades, guiding them to an ideal world. The Truman Show is a film in which Truman is an innocent individual, living in a flawless world with sequence of counterfeit events that prevent him from discovering the reality. The director, Christof is known as the creator of Truman’s ideal world, in which he believes he is constructing a perception that is better than reality, for Truman. Truman is presented with an ideal world that he attempts to escape, however manipulation and control is enforced on him in order to prevent him from leaving. In the film The Truman Show, the director Peter Weir explores the idea of Truman being manipulated into an ideal world, but slowly realizing the flawed perception of idealism. He performs this through the naivety of individuals being targeted at first, the ignorance of naive individuals beginning to fade, and the choice to continue to being manipulated or to face the unknown reality.

Initially, naive individuals are often targeted toward manipulation in which they can be deceived into an ideal world that is counterfeit. They are oblivious and cannot recognize the control forced on them through other individuals. Christof manages to manipulate Truman through the use of Merlyn and Marlon, whenever Truman encounters the idea of leaving. In this scene Marlon and Truman are seated near the shore, and Christof uses this to emphasize the exquisiteness and perfection of Seahaven to make Truman stay; as Marlon states “Look at that sunset, Truman. It’s perfect.” Although Truman’s only desire is to go to Fiji, it is evident that Christof uses Marlon as a form of manipulation to control Truman’s paranoia by reminding him the beauty of life at Seahaven. Since Truman is completely unaware of the manipulation being forced on him, he merely accepts the world he is presented, making Christof’s job tremendously simple. It is ironic how Truman is an adult but continues to be treated like a child by both his wife and Marlon. Since Truman’s innocent eye indicates his naivety, sending Marlon to comfort and manipulate Truman displays Truman’s innocence, and the trust he has built up for Marlon. Since Truman’s ignorance can be easily controlled; the concealment of realism will not be complicated unless Truman’s ignorance is overpowered by his curiosity.

After the ignorance of an individual starts to fade, they become aware of the predictability of events, and recognize the artificiality of the environment surrounding them. During the film, Truman is slowly beginning to form a change in his perception towards reality, however for moment he is emotionally manipulated by the placement of a new character named Vivian. For instance, Truman is sitting in his office, when Vivian appears, and Truman pauses on the phone to look at Vivian with deep affection shown in his eyes.  Since Truman had been discovering many synchronized events in his life, he created chaos on purpose realizing that chaos led to the discovery of realism. Because Christof recognizes how Truman is starting to question the things around him, Christof makes the effort to divert Truman’s attention by emotionally engaging him. Christof makes numerous attempts to create fear in Truman and erase the uncertainties in Truman’s mind, such as inserting fearful posters in travel agencies and creating sudden traffic jams, when Truman encounters the idea of leaving, however Christof fails to keep Truman under his control. Truman recognizes the manipulation surrounding him and he develops understanding of this synchronized environment. Since Truman’s innocence was fading away, it became difficult to control situations of chaos and manipulate him. Although Truman has developed suspicions toward the people and events around him, he is not yet free from control unless he discovers the entire reality and makes the choice to stay or not.

Eventually, the remaining facades fade away, enlightening the reality of the real world, and the realization of the flawed perception of the ideal world. The individual is left with the choice to continue to be manipulated or face the concealed reality, knowing the consequences within it.  At the end of the film, Truman has overcome his fear of water that had been purposely created, but Christof continues to make efforts to manipulate him. Christof states, “You can leave if you want. I won’t try to stop you. But you won’t survive out there. You don’t know what to do, where to go.” Since the loss of ignorance in Truman resulted in him being paranoid about everything around him, he used this to create a state of chaos. Furthermore, during the chaos of Truman’s disappearing, Christof had asked to “cue the sun” in order to find Truman, however, this demonstrates how ironically Truman has left the production and the director “in the dark.” This symbolizes how the innocence in Truman is now completely gone, and he is responsible for himself and free from the control of others. At the end of the film he had the choice to stay or leave but eventually Truman realized the counterfeit society of Seahaven making efforts to keep him trapped in the ideal world; therefore his desire to escape had increased, and he made the choice to leave.

The idea of Truman’s ignorance increasing the possibility of being manipulated into a counterfeit society is slowly fading as Truman becomes aware and conscious of the synchronized ideal world.  Truman’s ignorance supports the idea of a naive individual targeted toward manipulation.  Although Christof’s will was only to provide Truman with a world that was better than reality, he controlled Truman’s freedom, ignoring Truman’s own desires. After an individual has been manipulated, their perception of the true world has completely demolished, especially if they have been brought up with contrived lies their entire life. The naivety of individuals can lead to them being manipulated, however if ones innocence fades away, it becomes extremely hard to overpower that individual by control.

             The fierce sun shone brightly through the crystal clear blue sky, scaring away any clouds coming its way. The scorching sun rays seeped in through the classroom window, colliding with my skin, forming little sweat buds on the outer surface. The air in our classroom was thick and moist, making it extremely punishing to take a breath; despite the open window, through which not even a breeze of air flowed inside.  I watched Mr. Mactol steadily raise arm to scribble a few notes on the chalk board, as he revealed an unappealing horrific sweat stain at the inner part of his armpit. I expeditiously turned my head to face the window, and clear my mind of the disgusting scene I had just witnessed. No one else had seen it because half the people were asleep, and the other half were most likely day-dreaming.

Suddenly, the old cracked wooden door in the front of the room creaked open and a petite boy stepped in, with his scrawny arms burdened by the tower of books. His ocean blue eyes desperately searched for an empty desk, and he clumsily sat in the front desk where the piece of gum glued under the desk dripped slimy saliva on his knee. Mr. Mactol casually introduced this new student named “Fred,” and gave a lecture on how he should feel welcomed, which clearly embarrassed Fred even more as you could tell from the astonishing rosy color of his cheeks. Finally, the deafening screech of the school bell dismissed all the students, and everyone scurried outside like a  busy swarm of ants to catch their bus.

As I reached my bus, I quickly sat in the back, and put my headphones on, blurring all the yells and gossip around me. The squeal of the wheels signaled that the bus had started to move forward, when all of the sudden a freckled-face blonde boy with a load of books hurried toward my bus. My bus driver slammed on the brakes and swung open the two doors of the bus with great force, “What in the world do you think you’re doing? You ignorant ratty teenagers are so irresponsible; this was your lucky day and your last warning!” She roared. The boy confusedly shuffled into the first seat. It was Fred. He became the laughing stock of not just the whole bus ride but the entire month.

A few months later, Fred got off at my stop, with the usual tower of books in his hand; he stumbled over the last step and fell face forward onto the gravel. The bus driver gave him a look of disgust and drove off. “Uh, do you want me to help you with those?” I said. The rosy color returned to his cheeks as he accepted my offer. I walked Fred home with half of his heavy books in my hand. We talked, it took time as it was extremely awkward at first, but then I thought Fred was actually a really nice and outgoing person.

As time passed by me and Fred become the best of friends, we hung out daily, and not just in school but even outside of school. The years passed by and we got to know each other really well. No one bullied him anymore, and if they did, I would stand up for him. It was time for us to prepare our grad speeches, and Fred always kept his a secret from me. I asked him why at first, but then slowly became busy preparing my own.

It was graduation day, the day we start new lives and face “the real world.” I had given my speech, although mine had been really cheesy. There was one last speech left which was Fred’s. I waved him good luck as he walked to the podium. “First, I would like to thank the whole school for helping me throughout all these years. But the only true friend I made during my time here was Jake.” He smiled at me and continued, “The day Jake offered  to pick up my books and walk to my house, is the day my life got saved,” He saw the look of confusion on my face and smiled again. “If Jake hadn’t offered to pick up my books and if we hadn’t talked that afternoon, I would be dead, hanging lifelessly from a rope in my closet. Depressed and mad at myself; I was sure to kill myself no matter what, when I got home after that bus ride. I was done with all the bullying and being pushed around. I was going to commit suicide. Jake saved me that day by extending the hand of friendship. I’m happy I made the right choice.” He finished off, and a tear rolled down his left eye.

The whole room went dead silent. It all hit me. My heart shrunk, my throat was dry, I was filled with shock, loud roar of cheers and claps aroused. That day I knew, You can be kind. You can help someone. You can make a difference.

DISCLAIMER:

This was inspired by a story Mr. Parkin read to us in class.