【102-1 第一名】應外四 張〇誠：Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

參賽者：張〇誠（應外四）
名次：第一名
書名：Never Let Me Go
得獎作品：

     Thirty-one-year-old Kathy H. unfolds this story with her monologue-like narration. She grew up with her friends, Ruth and Tommy as her closest ones, in a school named Hailsham, then moved to the Cottages during their teenage years, and after the days in the Cottages, they are required to be either a “donor,” a person who donates his/her organs to the “normals” until the end of life, or a “carer,” a person who takes care of donors. Even if they choose to be a carer, they still doomed to, sooner or later, donate their vital organs to normal people, and then they will all “complete,” or die because that’s why they are created. This genre of this novel arguably belongs to Quasi-Sci-Fi and the time of this story sets in late 1990s. Ishiguro depicts a world developing clone technology in order to prolong human lifespan and to achieve longevity since World War II. Therefore, clones are made for donations, and Miss Emily founded Hailsham so as to prove the world that clones have souls at all.

        The depiction of emotional struggles in this novel is so remarkable that readers are pulled in to ponder over and gain spiritual growth. Along with this story line, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy demonstrate a strong emotional bound to one another. Moreover, during their dealing with the ordeals they have encountered throughout their lives, an enormous sense of loss is shown. On the one hand, they exhibit a very human-like way of interacting with others, while on the other hand, they also illustrate an almost wholeness as a human but something is missing. The biggest reason dividing humans and clones in this story is the way they’re reared. Accordingly, two themes are selected: one is regarding their being deprived of deeper education and the other is about their loss of identity. After brief discussion of the selected themes, the focus will be on Ishiguro’s message to this real world.

        The first theme chosen is about their being deprived of further education. Though they grew up in a school and created artwork and poetry, they were never enlightened. They sense something weird and sometimes question, but they never think further, or they are blocked to do so. They were told enough to know that they are one day to donate, but they were never told enough to understand the true meanings of donation and why they have to donate. Therefore, since their childhood, they know their only mission is donation. However, some might get the answer at the very end of their lives, while others remain completely innocent when they die. Without enlightenment, they can think on the surface instead of think critically. When encountered with predicaments, like young children, they passively accept it, remain gloomy for a while, or sometimes shout desperately simply trying to drain their powerlessness out. They are not aware to change not because they are really that impotent, but because, with every clone fulfilling their mission, none of them think about escaping and being abnormal as their life mission as a donor has been internalized into their mind. As a result, education itself is a double-edged sword. It enables educated people to think critically if they receive enough nurture of quality education. However, it also paralyzes one’s thinking system if it only teaches talent-oriented subjects, such as creating artwork and poetry.
Another theme is their loss of identity. An important clue is their desire to find their own “possible,” the one who donate genes so that they can be made. A scene describing Ruth’s outrage after they know that the fine lady in the office is not Ruth’s possible best exemplifies their subordinate attitude and inferiority complex.

          ‘I didn’t want to say when you first told me about this. But look, it
          was never on. They don’t ever, ever, use people like that woman.
          Think about it. Why would she want to? We all know it, so why don’t
          we all face it. We’re not modeled from that sort… We all know it.
          We’re from trash. Junkies, prostitutes, winos, tramps. Convicts, maybe
          just so long as they aren’t psychos. … If you want to look for possibles,
          if you want to do it properly, then you look in the gutter. You look in the
          rubbish bins. Look down the toilet, that’s where you will find where we
          all came from.’

        This scene can be regarded as their epiphany, a moment when they realize that they will never be a decent person as they once dreamed of. Since their childhood, they dreamed their own dreams. Some dreamed to become a Hollywood actor, while others dreamed to become their ideal profession. The fantasy that they had clung to suddenly collapsed. Their desires are never to be fulfilled; even their eagerness to find their own identity and the position in the world failed. They are rootless. Moreover, at all time, they view themselves as subordinates of human beings; therefore, it drives them to seek their identity from their possibles, even though the two parties do not have any strings attached except for genes. In addition, when Kathy worked as a carer, Hailsham was closed. Upon knowing this, Kathy thought about the students who she had grown up together, now all over the country as carers or donors. They were all separated but somehow still linked by the place they were from. Hailsham, a place where their common memories took place, was shut down, and nothing they’re related to will remain. All of them will complete. All of them will leave the world without any traces. They are born and dead without identity.

        Ishiguro depicted Never Let Me Go in a slightly gloomy fashion; all the miseries leak through the lines and shroud your heart with a thin layer of sadness instead of striking you directly with a powerful sentimental bomb. It is remarkably written and enchanting. Not only does it provide immense pleasure for a reader, but, with the first person narration, it leads readers to be the one whom Kathy talks to. In this way, the real world and the fictional world seem to merge, and it makes readers to ponder whether in this real world exist this group of minorities who suffer to make life of the majority more pleasant.

     Based on my knowledge of this novel, Ishiguro indeed tried to make the world think, to think what can be done and what can’t. Throughout the whole novel, Ishiguro’s detailed depiction of clones’ misery triggers readers’ sympathy. It is certainly not humane to treat a life like that. Even if some argue that clones are not humans, people don’t do that on animals. Accordingly, there must be a distinction between the forbidden and the debatable. Some issues welcome all parties to present their arguments, while others should remain undone because morality should never fade and always be the priority.

     In one of Ishiguro’s interview, he pointed out that one of the most important themes in this novel is limited lifespan. No matter clones or humans, they all live through the periods as a child, as a teenager, and as an old man. Though the life of clones is limited in around 30 years, they experienced discomfort as a suffering patient as well. Ishiguro himself also assisted in shooting the adapted film and at the very end of the movie, unlike the original novel, Kathy has a new line: “What I’m not sure about is whether our lives have been so different from the lives of the people we save. We all complete. And none of us really understand what we’ve lived through. Or feel we’ve had enough time.” By reading this novel, readers gain catharsis through the haunting predicaments of the characters, thereby understanding that life is never long enough, not even when we try various means to prolong our lifespan. We all spend our lifetime exploring the true meaning of life. With the dandelion of this well-knotted plot landing in readers’ brain and mind, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy provide inspirations and encouragements whenever one feel defeated. What’s more, it also invites readers to thoroughly ponder over the true meanings of life and the distinction between what should do and what shouldn’t.

【101-2 第三名】應外三 王〇喬：Cultural Theory and Popular Culture and introduction 4th by by John Storey

Cultural Theory and Popular Culture and introduction 4th by by John Storey

參賽者：王〇喬（應外三）
名次：第三名
書名：Cultural Theory and Popular Culture and introduction
得獎作品：

     After reading Cultural Theory and Popular Culture and introduction 4th Edition by John Storey, I found it particular deep but interesting to discuss about his hegemony theory. The cultural concept of the hegemony theory is introduced by the Italian Marxist, Antonio Gramsci. Gramsci defined “hegemony” as a process of negotiation when two parties or cultural groups collide. In other words, hegemony is the result of resistance and incorporation between dominant and subordinate groups. Therefore, the hegemony theory pictures a society in which subordinate groups actively subscribe the values that incorporate them to the prevailing structures of the dominant group, and the people that appear as “dominant groups” are those who function as intellectuals in the society. Moreover, the dominant group does not “rule” the rest of the society, but rather, these intellectuals have reached a high degree of consensus with the subordinate groups. Therefore, the dominant group “leads” the society through moral and intellectual leadership. To make a further and deeper discussion of the concept of hegemony, I can think of three typical examples related to hegemony.

     The first example is the dominance and widespread of American culture and the popularity of McDonalds’ can be seen as a typical example of hegemony. To begin with, though McDonalds appears as an international corporation founded in different countries, in each country, there exists a variety of differences when it comes to the food served in the menus. For example, McRice burger, a ground beef burger, or chicken fillet, served with special sauce in fried rice cakes, can be ordered in the Taiwanese McDonalds’ menu.  Beer is offered in McDonalds’ in Germany, France, and a few other locations across Europe. Another example is the McTurco sold in Turkey, which is 2 burger patties covered in cayenne pepper sauce, and vegetables, and served on a fried pita. From all of these examples, one can see the widespread of McDonalds’ as a symbol of dominant American culture and the different “local specialties” that appear in the menus as subculture groups. It is a process of struggle and negotiation that brings the two together, and such equilibrium creates a variety of “localized food” served in the menus of McDonalds’ in different countries.

     The second example associated with the hegemony theory is another evidence of the successful dominance of American culture, that is, when mentioning about the American film industry. It is evident that American values are diffused worldwide through the film industry, and there are several main reasons that the American film industry has the ability to become a “hegemon”.  In terms of ability, one cannot deny that “the Hollywood system” has become a standard for the global motion picture industry because the United States has a solid global network, abundant production resources, such as prominent producers, actors and studios.  Furthermore, ever since the early 20th century, the United States has had a great interest in exporting films overseas. This results in attaining the advantage of monopolizing the global film distribution with nearly a market share of over 50 percent.  Moreover, the biggest advantage is, through such “filmic hegemony”, the U.S. is able to use “soft power” to maintain global hegemony. Unlike the earlier times when people used weapons (hard power) as a violent force to maintain power and dominance, the notion of “soft power” has flourished in the U.S. through different ways, via culture and ideology.  That is to say, the U.S. uses “filmic hegemony” as a soft power to diffuse its values worldwide and make the American influence more continuous and solid. The “filmic hegemony” mentioned above is one aspect of cultural hegemony, for often times, these films tell audiences what the world is or what the world is supposed to be.  Therefore, soft power deliberately enables the dominant ideology or culture, in this case, the U.S., to control one’s thinking and helps maintain its own the status quo.

     However, some people may be skeptical about the relationship between the spread of films and the control of politics because these people may argue that many Hollywood movies simply function as mass entertainment and do not always reflect American hegemony. Despite such claim, films and politics do have a correlation with each other, whether one is aware of it or not. That is why the American government has always been aware of the political function of Hollywood and maintained close ties with the film industry. Such awareness strengthens the power of “American filmic hegemony” because these films have the potential to represent the political, economic and military aspects of the U.S.

     One of the suitable examples of U.S. “filmic hegemony” would a further analysis of the James Bond 007 movie series, which is a masterpiece controlled by U.S. funding and in many ways reflects American perspectives.  Over a forty-five year period, the 007 series has achieved tremendous worldwide box-office record and has successfully showed the prevailing American values and cultures. To analyze the 007 series, one can first discuss about the general setting of the series, which is the Cold War, and this holds a premise of “America controlling in the West. Next, one of the series’ specific traits is that the international society is usually divided into “good and evil”, and the nationality of the villains is the key to know who the main enemy of the U.S. is. For example, the Soviet Union plays the villainous role with which the U.S. needs to confront. Furthermore, the American perspective on international politics became more evident after the release of Die another Day (2002). In this film, there was a reestablishment of the villainous role, which was substituted by North Korea. Such switch could not be just a coincidence, but rather an obvious proof of the spread of American political values.  Next, understanding the selection of actors in the 007 series is another evidence of American hegemony. The main character, James Bond, appeared to be as a more “Americanized Anglo-Saxon”.  Albert Broccoli, the producer of the series, chose Scottish-born Sean Connery to play James Bond instead of choosing the British actor David Niven, and this was a critical act of transforming “British” Bond into an “American” Bond”.  Moving to the themes in the series, the core values of the United States are threatened, and the villains’ plans usually include stealing the space shuttle and microchips, which are both advanced technologies of the United States.

     In addition, institutions and infrastructure which are important symbols of the U.S, such as the Federal Reserve Bank, are attacked by “the villains”. One might question why do these villains target strongly on attacking the United States, and the answer would  be that attacking the U.S. is the most effective tactic to disrupt international order. This shows that to threaten the value of the United States equals threating world peace. Therefore, James Bond holds the responsibility to settle down such chaos and restore international peace. Simultaneously, the high-tech equipment and the U.S military are keys to maintain world peace because James Bond is only able to complete his missions through these facilities. This fact can be explained as the superiority of the U.S. over Britain when it comes to science, technology and national defense.  The last interesting point to mention about American hegemony inserted in the 007 series is that the U.S. is seen as “good” in a rather unspoken manner, with which terms such as “safe”, “world” and “best” the U.S. would be associated. Such purpose is to reassure the positive values of the United States.  Therefore, the 007 series is a typical example of American “filmic hegemony”.

     The last example of the hegemony theory is adopted through the historical case of British hegemony in the Caribbean. In order to avoid conflicts and maintain control over the indigenous people, the British rulers instituted a “transformed English” as the official language. The so-called “transformed English” was a combination with new stresses and new rhythms introduced by the indigenous tribes, such as introduced from the African languages.  Therefore, this combination is another example of hegemony, which shows through the process of resistance and incorporation comes negotiation and the result of a combination of the dominant language culture and the subordinate language culture.  
 
     In conclusion, Gramsci’s hegemony theory allows one to view “popular culture” as a negotiated mix made from both “above” and from “below”, both “commercial” and “authentic”, which shows that it is a compromise equilibrium of  forces between resistance and incorporation.

【101-2 第二名】應外三 張〇文：Nineteen Minutes by by Jodi Picoult

Nineteen Minutes by by Jodi Picoult

參賽者：張〇文（應外三）
名次：第二名
書名：Nineteen Minutes
得獎作品：

What leads a tender-hearted juvenile to the road of slaughter? Desperation.

     Peter and Josie were once close friends. As time went by, they separated apart. Peter suffers severe bullying in school while Josie tries hard to merge into those bullies to make herself popular in school. Mourning over Peter’s dead brother who was a straight A student and athlete, Peter’s parents spend little time on their remaining son, which makes Peter isolated not from school, but also from family. One ordinary day, the accumulated burden caused by bullying, humiliation and violence disables Peter from enduring. Peter pulls the trigger, taking his revenge on everyone in campus with nineteen minutes.

     The first time I heard about the story of nineteen minutes, I was strongly convinced that the shooter must have possessed a cold-blooded heart. The death penalty would be the only appropriate solution to his murder. However, I turned out to be sympathetic over his life after reading. I even inwardly imagined he could be acquitted of all the charges and moved on with his new life in the end of the story. Jodi Picoult is an undoubtedly inspiring story-teller. She knows what the readers look for from her story and she meets their expectations. She also casts out questions about moral issues and humanity flaws, which allows people to reflect on themselves and also the society.

     The first disputable issue that hits me is how to define “evil.” When people commit a crime, we consider them villains. When good people commit a crime, doubts arise. Deliberately shooting people to death seems to be an evil deed, but after knowing how much Peter has suffered, can we conclude that Peter is evil? Those smart and athletic cool kids win honor for school but embarrass other slow students for fun. Can we judge they are evil? Josie, once peter’s best friend, humiliates Peter in order to merge into the cool kids. She traumatizes Peter the most, but she keeps feeling guilty for what she has done. How can we define her and the parents, teachers, and anyone who neglect the victims’ crying for help and unintentionally assist with bullying? Evil is never born, but made. Goodness exists in people’s nature. Once attacked by extreme force, it gets twisted, then producing evilness. Evil could not only be an instant thought, but also be expanded to devour the man’s original nature. Peter was previously a gentle kid, who would never be the ingredient for a murderer. “Everyone’s saying I ruined their lives but no one seemed to care when my life was being ruined.” The explosive desperation toward life ultimately twists Peter into a monster with eyes glued to revenge. The pursuit of peel acceptance devours the original nature Josie used to have and twists her into a traitor to real friends. Overdosed vanity and pride twists kids into devils without empathy. Selfishness and reluctance to face the reality creates the indifferent world.

     The society encourages people to bravely express their uniqueness, but once refused, people put on camouflage to hide who they truly are, and to better fit into the world. Peter’s softness does not cater to worldly expectation of being a man, and therefore he chooses not to reveal himself, laying low, being invisible in order to escape away from peel’s denial. Josie’s kindness does not qualify her for being a member of the cool kids, so she veils herself with abandoning Peter when he seeks help. The society has been so deformed that one’s merit turns out to be a demerit. Fearing for being excluded, people have to coat themselves with camouflage to survive this cruel and merciless world. Sarcastically, the education has been preaching people to retain the true colors of themselves but forgot to light directions to the outsiders who are constantly told “NO” by others in their environments, by bullies on campus, by parents at home. How to strike a balance between staying in the nature and fitting in the society still leaves uncertainty

     Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. － Confucius

     When the desperation drags Peter down to the bottom, he drowns himself in the attempts at revenge. Serving as a hypnotizer, revenge entitles Peter strength and confidence to overthrow the current society. The power revenge gives off is so devastating that Peter can transform himself into an aggressive, cynical bomber, that the bullies who used to tease on Peter taste the horror of desperation for the first time, and that all the people who always ignored Peter eventually pay attention to him. The effects revenge brings are simultaneously enormous that it rings the warning bell to the world, that Peter ultimately proves his self-existence to the world, and that Peter becomes the person that everyone wants to be, a person who cannot be judged by the world. However, the Author, Jodi Picoult, does not advocate revenge but tries to hold back this attempt. Retaliation serves as a two-sided sword. It stabs the enemy deeply, and cuts the holder back even deeper. Peter wins temporary satisfaction in nineteen minutes, but the vacancy remains forever. He never has a chance to breathe the air of freedom ever again. He will never see whether there would be a turning point in his life where outsiders are welcome, or a place like Utopia where loneliness can be erased with acceptance. He can never discover all the potential possibilities in life, either.

     All hatred leads to dead ends; all revenge ends in tragedy. If Peter had not sowed the seed of spite in his heart, he might have still encountered the same difficulties but faced them with positive attitudes. If Peter did not pull the trigger, he may still suffer depressing challenges, but life would be worth anticipating.
 
     I have been enlightened throughout savoring every written word in Nineteen Minutes. People and the society are inseparable. The society molds personality; personality creates the society. Contrariwise, the society suppresses personality; personality explodes it. Jodi Picoult never sets a standardized answer to the above issues. She leaves space for us to reflect on ourselves, refit the society and renew the world.

【101-2 第一名】應外三 江〇涵：The Song of Achilles

The Song of Achilles Written by Madeline Miller

參賽者：江〇涵（應外三）
名次：第一名
書名：The Song of Achilles
得獎作品：

In the movie, Troy, directed by Wolfgang Petersen, the story focuses on the beauty of Helen and the invincibility of Achilles. However, the novel The Song of Achilles, written by Madeline Miller, emphasizes on a plain character: Patroclus. The story line centers on the love between Achilles and Patroclus and the struggle between fate and nemesis. Miller not only successfully re-represents the legendary war from an exiled prince’s point of view, but also leads readers to discover the answer, which did not lie in Iliad, why Achilles finally went to war.

Achilles withdrew from the Greek coalition because he felt being insulted by the commander in chief, Agamemnon. His anger came from their disrespect which disgraced his title of demigod and diminished his importance of engaging in the war. No matter how his fellows including Patroclus pleaded him for changing his mind and bringing back victory, he never approved. However, after Patroclus died, heart-broken Achilles went to war to take revenge from Hector, the greatest fighter in Troy.

In the movie version, the director merely concluded Achilles’s wrath as kinship. However, on a second thought, this kind of interpretation might not be convincing enough to explain why Achilles gave up his prestige and life to fight again. If Achilles valued kinship, he would never cruelly abandon Deidameia, the princess who bear his own child. Also, he would never leave his men in the lurch. From this stand point, we can infer that the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is beyond family love, and that is the point that Miller tries to deal with.

When it comes to the characteristics of a historical hero like Achilles, we may unconsciously think of masculine, bravery, and intelligence. However, Patroclus has none of these features, instead, he is weak, powerless, and even pissed off by his own father. Since they are so different from each other, why a great warrior like Achilles chooses a man like Patroclus to be his companion and lover? Miller herself explained that she left this ambiguous in the novel quite deliberately. In my understanding of this novel, I especially mention three aspects to answer this question. First, it is Achilles’s admiration for Patroclus that draws them closer and closer. Second, Patroclus’ life experience as well as his value toward life and human heart has a great influence on Achilles. Third, Patroclus’ unflinching love for Achilles connects them together. With these detailed description and strong argumentation, Patroclus, instead of Achilles, is shaped as a hero by Miller, and that is part of the reason why Achilles is so deeply in love with Patroclus.

Achilles admires Patroclus because of his courage to fight against fate. In other people’s eyes, Patroclus is nobody but a loser who is destined to fail and die. However, Achilles discovers the other side of Patroclus and keeps him accompanied. For example, Patroclus was not the most outstanding candidate of being Achilles’s companion, but he won the position without efforts. Achilles’ decision made people wonder, even Achilles’ father, Peleus, was once curious about why he chose Patroclus to be his companion. He asked Achilles, “For many years now, I have urged companions on you and you have turned away. Why this boy? ”Achilles simply answered, “He is surprising.” To a man who is so close to perfection, how could there be something that surprises him? I think, for a half-god like Achilles who is “the best warrior of his generation”, he cannot imagine how he survives in this cruel and unjust world if he has been so weak and powerless. As a result, he is surprised by Patroclus’ perseverance and courage. For example, what caused Patroclus to be exiled was that he accidentally killed a nobleman’s son who snatched a toy from him. The only time he dared to fight back, he was banished from his own country. Even though his life was so tragic, he never gave in to destiny. Instead, he gradually developed his expertise in medication and surgery in order to save those injured warriors. Patroclus’ persistence and goodness not only attract Achilles but also make him look the part of a hero.

Moreover, Patroclus teaches him how to be a real man. Even though Achilles is able to fight, to slay, but he know little about compassion, empathy, and good will. What he pursues is reputation and fame. Therefore, Patroclus shows him something more valuable than slaughtering. We can see this from the conversation, which took place after Patroclus was killed by Hector, between Briseis and Achilles. Briseis agitatedly and mournfully accused Achilles of letting Patroclus to fight in disguise. She said, “He (Patroclus) was worth ten of you. Ten! And you sent him to his death. You care only for yourself! ”
Patroclus showed him a man should care for the minority, for example, refugees and women who were treated as war prize. A man should not blindly slaughter and take someone’s life without compassion. This is the right reason why Patroclus replaced Achilles to fight and further caused his death because he could not bear to see both innocent Greeks and Trojan die for Helen. Therefore, he dived into danger and tried to capture Helen, the cause of the Trojan War, but finally was killed by Hector.

 What is more noticeably is Patroclus’s unconditional love for Achilles which builds up the foundation of their affection. Although the love between human and divine is only possible beyond the limits of humanity, that is, in death. Despite that he has to give in his life, Patroclus always considers Achilles’s need, feeling and reputation as the priority. For example, at first, Patroclus did not want Achilles to take part in the war because Thetis, the sea goddess as well as Achilles’s mother, predicted that it would cause Achilles’s death, which is equal to Patroclus’ death. However, he let him go and promised to go with him. On the one hand, he could not bear to see Achilles suffer from being underestimated by others. On the other hand, he knew by heart that Achilles was born to make a legend in the history. That kind of compromise cannot be made without great love. After all, love is a condition in which the happiness of another person is equally important to yours.

Just as the comment from New York Times “Miller has taken on a heroic task: to fashion a modern work of literature out of very ancient story.” At the same time, the individual roles formed by Miller differentiate from the original ones, especially Achilles and Patroclus. Achilles is more like a victim of destiny who lives under the shadow of her mother’s will and prophecy. On the contrary, Patroclus who believes in human goodness and his compassionate toward people make him more like a hero in this novel. Besides the characters with brand- new features, Miller’s subtly writing approach which starts from creating the dispute about the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, and then setting the mood for readers to discover the secret by themselves both contributes to the success of The Song of Achilles.

【101-1 第三名】應外三 張〇誠：Before I Go to Sleep

Before I Go to Sleep

參賽者：張〇誠（應外三）
名次：第三名
書名：Before I Go to Sleep
得獎作品：

     The author divided the whole novel into 3 parts: Today, Journal, and Today. At the beginning of this fiction, Christine woke up and knows nothing, including her name, identity, and all her own memory. The only thing she could pick up was that she was 20 or so, but actually she was almost 50 already. Then, she realized she was now sleeping with an unknown guy, who then claimed that he was Ben and her husband as well. Later, he told her about how they first met and their wedding. After handing Christine a scrapbook containing some so-called memory between him and her, he went out for work. With uncertainty, she browsed through the book. Later, a ringing sound filled the room. A man whose name was Dr. Nash called, claiming that he and Christine had been meeting about the disease for a couple of weeks. The most important thing he told her was that under the shoebox in the closet lay a journal that Christine had been keeping for weeks. The first part of this novel ended with an appalling sentence: Don’t trust Ben! Then part two of the novel began; in other words, the journal that Christine Lucas had been keeping will lead readers, and the memory-lost protagonist, onto the path to gradually discover the thrilling trauma of herself. In the last two parts of the novel, Christine gradually found out some inconsistencies between what Ben told her and what she discovered herself. Therefore, she decided to trust only herself, started a journal, and relied on her own way to discover the hidden world.

     There are two main reasons for me to admire this book. First, I assumed the use of first person point of view was remarkable. As mentioned above, the second part of the novel is Christine’s daily journal. Just like reading our own journal, I read Christine’s and the images of the setting emerged as if I was experiencing the story written in words by myself. Simply because of this, when I was skimming through the journal, it seemed that I were Christine herself. It felt like that I was with Christine to feel happiness and sadness, to doubt what she heard, to explore the unknown past. Second, the novel also provided a penetrating insight to the anxiety and struggle of a sufferer from memory loss. For Christine, her own world was not managed by herself. However, it was built based on others’ statements. However, for everyday new Christine, those who claimed themselves as secret doctor, intimate friend, or even lovers are no more than strangers. It is undeniably difficult for her to trust all they said. She was like a drowning swimmer, while those who were still in touch with her are her only reliance. She thought of running away; tragically, she could not even do this because tomorrow she would wake up and remember nothing. The depiction of the frightened mood was not only outstanding but remarkable.

     This novel began with a line from Parviz Owsia, “I was born tomorrow/ today I live/yesterday killed me.” This line, or poem, perfectly described the hardship that Christine suffered. For her, tomorrow was a brand-new life, for she could not remember anything. The life she could really handle was only today. The yesterday her was already killed as long as yesterday passed. This novel, as far as I am concerned, is a total success because its plot was well-organized and aroused readers impulse to keep turning the pages. In my opinion, the author simply figured out a brilliant theme of a novel. Christine, a mid-aged woman, still thought of herself as a young lady. The huge memory void successfully created conflict, which made this novel thrilling and exciting. Certainly, memory loss is one of the most cliché plots in soap operas. Yet, the use of first person point of view was brilliant enough to support the whole book. The depiction of fear and helplessness in this book was beyond description. A book of detailed depiction of humanity will be marvelous. This book is the one.

【101-1 第二名】應外三 江〇涵：The Reader

The Reader

參賽者：江〇涵（應外三）
名次：第二名
書名：The Reader
得獎作品：

     A short but breathtaking story with inspiring and meaningful subjects: The Reader. Michael, a little boy haunted by illness, madly fell in love with Hanna, who was almost twice of his age. Not until Michael found out that Hanna loved him reading to her did their relationship deepened. Their love, passion, and desire bonded the secret affair. Reading, showering, and making love had become their meeting ritual. However, one day, Hanna left without any clues.

     Next time when Michael saw Hanna, who was accused of murder, was in a court. The reunion was hard for both of them. For Hanna, she was about to be discovered a long-hidden truth: she was illiteracy. For Michael, he was pulled himself into a dilemma between different views of justice which determined whether he could save Hanna or not.

     The book gave me the feeling that the relationship between one and the other was so volatile and vulnerable, but the opportunity to shorten and tense each relationship was in our hand. In the first glance, Michael and Hanna seemed to build up enough trust and dependence so that they never tried to intervene in or intended to gain the power to control each other’s private life. To a certain level, they were perfect match and the love was transcendent and impeccable. However, Hanna’s leaving changed everything. Originally, Hanna was a misanthropic woman because she was illiteracy, which caused a sense of inferiority to her. This negative self-image isolated her from the world, and finally made her an outsider in the society. Neither did she easily believe in people nor did she get enough security. As a result, she seldom told Michael her past, her family, even what she thought in mind because she was not familiar with trusting people. Once she gave people recognition, she would be so anxious that the person would betray her. That was the reason why she got so angry when she woke up but could not find Michael in the morning. The same thing can also be seen in Michael himself who experienced a difficult time to accept Hanna’s leaving. That healing process turned Michael into a defensive and sensitive person. He neither trusted Hanna nor himself anymore. When Hanna backed to his life, he supposed to be happy but it turned out to be retreated. On the one hand, he had not forgiven Hanna’s unsolicited leave and he was not sure whether Hanna still loved him or not. On the other hand, he was afraid of not being able to make Hanna happy so that Hanna would unhesitatingly leave him like the previous time. The confusion and uncertainty finally led Michael to the path of escaping form Hanna. Actually, the main reason that caused the tragedy was Hanna’s sense of inferiority. Because of illiteracy, she cannot receive higher education. Because of illiteracy, she can only find a job requiring no reading and writing skills. Because of illiteracy, she was unwilling to be labeled as lower class and be discriminated by the society. Therefore, with strong sense of inferiority, she regarded illiteracy as a shame. To protect her dignity, she would rather commit to a crime she was not supposed to be responsible for than tell the truth. Honestly, I admired Hanna’s courage to protect what she valued the most, dignity, but I did not agree the way she saw herself. I believed that discrimination is formed by both sides: Hanna and others. In other words, although other people probably despise Hanna, if she did not see herself that way, discrimination did not exist at all. We cannot control how people judge us, but we can decide the way we see ourselves.

     The story also raised another issue: justice. Hanna worked as a guard in the concentration camp, when WW ǁ finally came to an end, she was charged with murdering the Jews. Germans who did not join Nazi’s massacre blamed those who worked for Nazi of cruelty, lack of humanity, and even deserving imprisonment. Hanna, unfortunately, was the pathetic sacrifice after the war. Actually, the Jews, the victims, probably had the right to fight for justice from Nazi, but others did not. Ironically, the post-war German society was the opposite way. The minority could not speak out for themselves; instead, the main accusers of Nazi’s crime just were those Germans who were not the members of Nazi. However, did they entitle to blame others? In the critical time, how many of them had tried to stop the slaughter, how many of them had tried to save the Jews regardless of their own safety? If they acted like bystanders and did not try to offer help, what was the difference between them and the Nazi? What they both did was looking people dying without offering help. In other words, people who should be responsible for the tragedy were not only the Nazi, but also those who had the opportunities to do something yet chose not to. Justice is hard to define or strike a balance satisfying both sides. Be aware that when we criticize others, do we do the same thing as theirs?

     I learned two lessons from the book: First, the importance of learning to believe, to love, and to forgive. Instead of tormented by the past, we have to learn how to let go at the right time. Second, do not criticize people until you make sure that you are not responsible for the outcome. With the tangled but appealing plot, The Reader undoubtedly depicts human nature directly and realistically. The nature shared by all human beings when it comes to love and separation. It will be the book I would like to read all over again.

【101-1 第一名】財法四 施〇輝：The Pearl

The Pearl

參賽者：施〇輝（財法四）
名次：第一名
書名：The Pearl
得獎作品：

        ‘The Pearl’ is a heartfelt story written by John Ernest Steinbeck who wrote it soon after his overnight success with ‘The Grapes of Wrath’. The Pearl reveals how people in poverty struggled to stay alive, especially after the discrimination that Steinbeck witnessed against the Mexican people in the 1940s. This is a story that portrayed how greed can devour a man.

        Kino was a young pearl diver who led a simple life with his wife Juana and son Coyotito in La Paz. He loved his family and remained faithful to the traditions of his village and his people. One day, Coyotito was stung by a scorpion while sleeping on his bed. However, the mercenary town doctor refused to treat the baby because Kino could not pay the exorbitant treatment fees.  That day, Kino went diving and obtained a great pearl. Both Kino and Juana thought that their prayers were answered as they would be able pay the doctor to treat their son. News travelled quickly about the pearl and many people in the town plotted to steal the pearl from Kino. While the townspeople plotted against Kino, he dreamt of marrying Juana in a church, buying a rifle, and sending Coyotito to school so that he could learn to read. Kino believed that an education will free his son from the poverty and ignorance that have oppressed their people for more than four hundred years.

        The doctor came to treat Coyotito when he learnt of Kino's pearl, and even though Coyotito was already healed by Juana's remedy, the doctor took advantage of Kino's ignorance and convinced him that Coyotito would die without the care of a doctor. The doctor tried to con Kino into revealing the place he hid pearl. The doctor is an important character in The Pearl because he represents the colonial attitudes that oppressed Kino’s people for years. The doctor symbolizes the colonists’ greed and arrogance towards the natives. Like the other colonists, the doctor displayed no interest in Kino’s people. His warped values made him there simply only to make money out Kino. As a physician, the doctor is duty-bound to save lives, but when faced with someone whom he considered as status that is beneath him, the doctor felt no obligation at all. His unsympathetic refusal to treat Coyotito for the scorpion sting simply because Kino did not have the money to pay him exhibit the human costs of political conquest embedded in the desire for financial profit.

        Greed contaminates their once simple way of life. When Kino tried to sell the pearl in town for fifty thousand pesos the dealers only wished to pay one thousand for, the pearl buyers tried means to convince Kino that the great pearl he found was worthless because it was too large. Kino made the decision not to sell the pearl and intended to travel to another city to sell the pearl at a fair price. His brother, Tom Juan, felt Kino was foolish because it defied his usual way of life and placed his family in great danger.

        Juana warned Kino that the pearl was evil and would destroy the family, but he refused to throw it away because it was an opportunity to provide a different life for his family. That night, Juana tried to throw the pearl into the sea, but Kino managed to stop her in time and gave her a beating. From a simple and contented man, Kino became aggressive against people who showed interest in the pearl and the tragic break from the family he longed to support. The pearl finally led Kino into corruption, and he slit a man's throat who attempted to steal the pearl from him.

        Eventually, the price of the pearl was higher than anyone could imagine. It was paid in the price with the cold blood of Coyotito. While they were travelling to another town, Kino discovered trackers following them. He knew that they would steal the pearl and kill his family. Kino and Juana took the baby and hid in a cave at nightfall. Kino sneaked down in the night to kill the trackers but before he could attack them, Coyotito gave a loud cry. The trackers thought that it was a coyote and shot at the dark cave where Juana and Coyotito hid. As the shot was fired, Kino attacked the trackers and killed them all. Unfortunately, Coyotito was already killed by the first gunshot and Kino's journey with the pearl ended in a tragedy. Filled with redemption and sorrow, Kino and Juana decided to return home and get rid of the trouble source. They returned to La Paz and threw the pearl back to the ocean.

        Steinbeck has written a parable about how wealth and greed may deplete innocence and bring evil into our lives. With his expressive and beautiful writing style, he brought the story to life.

        In the beginning of the story, Kino is a simple man who is essentially contented with his lot in life. However, Coyotito’s scorpion sting and discovery of the great pearl opened Kino’s eyes to a larger world. The portrayal of Kino’s character is a gradual decline from a state of innocence to a state of corruption and delusion. The forces propelling this decline are desires and greed in human. In the story, Juana symbolizes wisdom and common sense. She supports Kino’s dreams and idealism but was vigilant and guarded against the pearl’s temptations. Juana was at first seduced by the luxury that the pearl will bring for them, but she recognized the pearl was a potential threat as Kino’s character changed and their family might be broken up because of it. Contrary to Kino, Juana believed that their lives would be better if they maintained things as they were. Kino could only see what they can gain from the pearl, but Juana understood they were on the losing end. Juana’s presence in the story capped Kino’s enthusiasm and serves as a warning to the readers that Kino’s desire to make money was dangerous. Kino’s brother represents the voice of reason and caution. He recognized the fact that they must not show too much ambition or else everything good will be torn from them.

        In a story that is less than a hundred pages, Steinbeck managed to captivate the readers and empathized deeply with the characters. Readers are lured into turning the pages knowing that an impending disaster awaits Kino and his family as the pearl starts to devour Kino’s soul. The story is considered as a classic because it portrays ideas that are common to all people. In this world, everyone has greed and the desire to become wealthy. Steinbeck made use of simple music like the song of family, the song of evil, the song of the pearl to create a surreal story. The Pearl displayed an exploration of how good motives can bring a person to a bad end.