Night by Elie Wiesel
In the book, Night by Elie Wiesel, the theme of “the individual and the state” resonates throughout the book. In every chapter, the struggle between the individual and the state is brought out by the narrator. The German occupation of Hungary, including Eliezer’s own, brings with it a horrifying experience. The narrator, once captured together with his family, is taken to holding camp where he is separated from his mother and sisters. The narrator and his father undergo a series of ordeals as they are forced to watch and experience death. All along, Eliezer and his father stay alive through mutual support for survival. The state is clearly brought out through the manner and choice of rule that the German army imposes a dictatorial and inhumane manner of rule. This however, made the narrator and his father learn how to support each other to survive.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
In the movie, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the state, the Republic of Gilead replaces the United States of America. The Republic of Gilead is a theocratic and totalitarian state. The main character of the book, Offred is a handmaid who finds herself at crossroads when the state institutes and order that all handmaids be subject to surrogate motherhood. This is because there are dangerously low reproduction rates in the state. All handmaids are to become surrogate mothers for elite couples who are having trouble with conception and birth. Offred is stripped of her freedom and is only allowed to go out on shopping trips. She is fundamentally turned into a slave and is forced to undergo several ordeals. The state in its totalitarian rule is brought out to cause pain and subject the narrator to sexual harassment and torture.
The Individual and the Society
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud was an individual who was interested in the field of medicine. During his life as a teenager and his 20s, Sigmund studied vigorously and was involved in numerous research. He eventually settled down and began research and together with Josef Breuer published the book “Studies on Hysteria”. Sigmund was however obsessed with his approach to hysteria by emphasizing on the sexual causes of hysteria. This was not readily accepted in the society of scholars, even by Breuer. This made him unpopular together with his theories and he experienced a considerable amount of time in isolation from fellow professionals. The society here is clearly depicted to have certain set perceptions of what is right and wrong. Sigmund’s approach to the causes of hysteria was not readily accepted by the society which then cast him aside.
Annie Leonard, The Story of Stuff and The Story of Change
In the Story of Stuff and the theory of change, Annie talks with some of the leading change makers in the world and the manner in which they did it. She brings out the idea of change beginning in the smallest of forms from the level of the household. This forms the foundation for the sharpening one’s citizen skills and then ready to apply the change to the society.
The Individual and World
- Environment/ Natural World
Vegan - A Life Connected
This video depicts how the choices we make have a ripple effect and shape the kind of world we live in. it advocates for choosing to spend wisely and opt for the vegan lifestyle where one chooses to create a world with no killing or death, even of animals.
- Interconnectedness of Life & Consciousness
The Science of Interconnectedness (TED Talk)
It is usually said that everything in life is interconnected and once one realizes that fact, they can be conscious about events and occurrences and even anticipate such events from reading the movements and patterns of ideas and occurrences. This video shows how everyone and everything on the planet earth, even the universe is interconnected and no event is independent of all other facets of existence.
References
A Life Connected. January 2013. 17 June 2013. <http://veganfoodforlife.wordpress.com/2013/01/01/a-life-connected/>.
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. Boston: The Handmaid's Tale, 1986. Print.
Graham, Danielle. The Science of Interconnectedness. 2011. 17 June 2013. <http://www.superconsciousness.com/topics/science/science-interconnectedness>.
Wiesel, Elie and Wiesel Marion. Nigth. New York: Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006. Print.
