Thursday, September 20, 2007

power and human nature

Many normal and religious people feel that society in itself is good by nature. This however is not always the case when you put power in the hands of someone. When you give people power they will work to keep and maintain the power that they have and to even get more or higher power. So it is only right that what I am about to tell you is what most would call human nature because it is the power that we have or are subjected to that we use to knock out the weaker.

In the beginning of the “Prime Directive” you get the sense of where the story might be leading you with foreshadow. He mentions how it is the night before Halloween, the light post hums and then it suddenly goes out, and that omens are in the air. All of these key things are foreshadowing on a negative situation. Some of you may be wondering why Halloween would be a negative thing but it deals with the fact that on Halloween you do major partying and did not go to church because he didn’t want the priest to ruin it. Another interesting thing is you can see at the very beginning of it division of power because he thinks that the priest looks like a poor person but on the other hand he heads towards the couple that looks like they are rich and well groomed. So he is more willing to follow after the couple with the money than the one with the good virtue.

In the story he also talks about Star Track and starts off comparing it to the United Nation. While talking about this he goes into greater depth with the characters and how they each represent a country. He is Captain Kirk which should be obvious specially since Star Track is a common show for people in that age category to watch but for some reason everyone gets it wrong which has a major factor on this which is that he thinks he is perfect and that human nature does not play a role in his life and that he is so divine but with the fact that everyone mistakes him it is sending out the message that in reality it is not that way and that human nature is in everyone and no one is as perfect as they might think. I also feel that that choosing Captain Kirk had a factor in things with the fact that he is the one with the most power which might also be in reference to Abu Ghraid and having power over others.

David Griffith on the other hand feels that he is trapped in the role of human nature and that he stands away from it as though he is too good for it. When he finally realizes I think is when he took the picture with the guy dressed in that horrifying costume of the guy that he took. When actually by human nature he is really part of it all and that human nature runs in him.

Griffith also relates the Star Track to the Abu Ghraid by saying “no Star Fleet personnel may interfere with the healthy development of alien life and culture.” This is a reference to the U.S. military and the aliens as if other societies living. He also uses Star Track to mention human morals in the best indirect way with a direct twist possible. The Abu Ghraib is not just bad people doing bad things it is a form of human nature. It was once best said greatly by Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde, “In each of us two natures are at war –the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, and one of them must conquer. But in our own hands lies the power to choose- what we want most to be we are”. We are all like this we have the capability of choosing and we must make the choices do we want to give up our power so we might be good or do we want to rule and take over with it. Even if we do give up some of our power we still have it in us and by this we still might kill a little bug or something as simple as that.

Act of terror can and are committed on every level of society. It is almost always to the weaker. Like Adolph Hitler, Abu Gnraib, or just a school boy killing a bug it is all the depths of human nature. This is not humanist society it is the opposite we must all try to be good because we were born with both sides the sympathetic heart and mind and the drive of power.

1 comment:

Wendy said...

This is looking good. Make certain to keep your tenses in line throughout the paper. You also need to more directly engage with Griffith's text. Interact with actual quotes to beef up your argument. I need to see a bit more of Griffith's words in your essay. Good luck.