Dear 2g phone

Dear 2g Phone

            How cold you must be. In this freezing weather, when everyone is armed with multiple layers of clothing, not only do you not have a glossy case like other phones, your back is bare. I remember: it was about three days ago. I dropped you in my dorm room from the desk. It must have been about a meter from the ground, 20 times your height. The impact of the fall ruthlessly tore you apart into three pieces: body, battery, and back cover.

            Had it been a normal person, he would have instantaneously screamed, picked up his phone, and meticulously checked for any scratches. He would have been shocked that his phone was disintegrated. He would have felt pity. Oh, but my dear 2g phone, not me. I merely cast a glance and left you there, for I was busy typing on my lab top. You lay there, like that lame potato in Toy Story. While leaving the room after a while, I quickly swooped up your body and battery, leaving your back cover on the ground. I carelessly plugged the battery into your body and plunged you into the darkness of my Nubi’s pocket.

Why I have become so accustomed to dropping you and watching you fall apart is simple. First, I have done it too many times. Not only have I dropped you out of mistake, I have thrown you high in the air to see what happens. Out of sympathy still left inside me, I have thrown you on grass and snow only. The result has been fascinating; you endured every fall, no matter how high. I wonder why you are so sturdy when your worthless body has no function to preserve. My intellectual curiosity tempts me to shatter you on concrete, but we will see. Watching you fall apart has been my joy. But don’t get too upset, my friends have laughed as well. My advice: befriend loneliness.

Second, I’m not fond of you. I’m not desperate for a smart phone, but I do think that a smart phone would better serve my life. Playing your tedious games inevitably makes me curse the day when I lost my iphone three years ago in a noraebang. The moment I’m typing these words, a friend of mine is playing with a Galaxy S3 a racing game with fantastic graphics that would probably make you explode if you were to run it.

Dear phone, you are probably shivering in cold. I can barely imagine how I would feel when the skin of my back is sliced off in this weather. But what can I do? When I was cleaning my room today, I saw no trace of your back cover. Will I search again when I go back? No, I’ve got more important business, such as doing Facebook.

But don’t get discouraged by this letter, because I do have a plan for you. I’m not just going to hurl you into the trash. I have learned that as time passes and smart phones dominate the world, you become somewhat ‘special’. Of course, nobody wants you now. But after decades, when you transcend the concept of obsolescence and define the adjective ‘primitive’, I shall sell you off to some museum and earn big money. You don’t need to do much. Just endure two or more decades hopelessly wishing that someone would find your back cover. Good luck buddy.

Tales of the Unexpected - Exploring Human Weakness

            The stories in ‘Tales of the Unexpected’ are bizarre. Not surprising, because most short stories are. Roald Dahl’s short stories end with an abrupt twist of the plot, leaving the reader bewildered and dazzled, wondering whether the story was meant for anything at all. For example, in ‘Dip in the Pool’, a man named Mr. Botibol attempts to win a bet by jumping off a ship, expecting to be saved by the woman standing next to him when he jumps down. But after some hesitation, she turns back and walks away, leaving poor Mr. Botibol floundering in the sea. At this point, when the reader expects some kind of miracle, the story ends. But definitely, the stories aren’t just meant for amusement; they are too short to develop plots intricate enough to weave thrill and suspense. Instead, every story has its own, subtle message that combine into a single theme – human’s weakness to his impulse.

            The characters in ‘Tales of the Unexpected’ seem more evil, cold, and egocentric than normal humans. But the darkness of their nature is not exaggerated; the characters are not exceptional. Most of us, if put in extreme situations, are triggered to unethical and insane thoughts. Thus, rather than underlining how evil humans are, Roald Dahl shows that humans are weak to such sudden impulse.  

            One of the most famous short stories, ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ is a murder story. Mary, after learning from her husband that he will leave her, bangs his head with a lamb’s leg from behind. He immediately dies. Whether she meant to kill him is unknown. But her murder isn’t as surprising as how she murders and her reactions afterwards. How she conveys this blow is shocking, as she does it without any hesitation. Even after checking his death, all she says is ‘All right, so I’ve killed him’. This contrasts to herself just a few minutes from then, when she loved her husband so dearly. She shows no sign of remorse or panic, as she coldly and intelligently creates a false scene to escape blame, at which she succeeds. Mary illustrates how humans can turn cold so suddenly; how we are so easily dominated by our sudden impulse and whim; how your lover can be your murderer the next minute. Joker illustrates this concept in the movie ‘Dark Knight’, when he says that the mere difference between a hero and a villain is a sheet of paper. ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ should not be interpreted as an isolated case of a crazy woman. Most of us totally depend on the people around us, and no one knows what evil we will turn into when something happens to our beloved ones.

            Mr. Botibol in the short story mentioned above, ‘Dip in the Pool’, also demonstrates human weakness. His logic and reasoning are completely obscured by his desire the win the bet. Greed dominates his mind and renders him myopic. Risking his life to win a bet may seem simply crazy and amusing at first glance. But one only needs to think for a while to see that so many people, like Mr. Botibol, risk everything for money. The most respected members of our society are often found in TV, covering their face shamefully under conviction of bribery.

            Roald Dahl, in his brilliant short plots, create entertaining characters that seem unrealistic at first glance but who represent the essence of human nature. By exposing this nature without moderation, he teaches a stark lesson that we may be crazier and weaker than who we think we are.

Short Paragraph on Dorian Gray - How Women Are Portrayed

     At first glance, Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, encompassing themes of masculinity and homoeroticism between men, might appear as a novel only centered on males. After all, all the main characters, except Sibyl (if one considers her a main character), are males and each represents a Victorian masculine character - an artist, an aristocrat, and a hedonist. Even romance, a theme through which women normally take important roles in novels, is short-lived in the novel, as Sibyl commits suicide. However, whether deliberate or not, “The Picture of Dorian Gray” does portray women in a specific way - as submissive objects who are weak and naive. This is most clearly illustrated through Henry’s reference to women as “a decorative sex” and “never having anything to say, but say it charmingly”. Though in a different manner, Dorian reinforces this portrayal, as he loves Sibyl not for her character and substance, but only for her aesthetic talent. It is not only the males who view women submissively. Females take part as well. Lady Henry, in her conversation with Dorian, says that she “always hear Henry’s views from his friends”, which portrays her as a submissive and naive wife. Similarly, Sibyl is characterized as a woman who is willing to give up her career and talent just
 for her infatuation with Dorian. Her role in the book reinforces this idea, as Sibyl is more of a vehicle that Wilde uses through which Dorian’s corruption and decay manifest, rather than an independent character with a message of her own. Therefore, following this train of thought, it is perhaps more accurate to assume that the lack of substantive depiction of women is a message of its own. In this sense, the novel effectively sends a notable, although not overt or resounding, message about women.