The Picture of Dorian Gray: Reading Journal - Chapter 1

Lee Changhun 121097

The Picture of Dorian Gray – Reading Journal

            Although chapter one doesn’t include vigorous actions that stir up excitement, it aptly invites the readers into the perspectives of Lord Henry and Basil Hallward. The two engage in a discourse on why Basil would not exhibit his fine painting, which Lord Henry finds surprising, as he believes that men do anything in a world to gain reputation. He also extols the painting, by saying “A portrait like this would set you far above all the men in England, and make the old men quite jealous, if old men are ever capable of any emotion.” Such a comment has various implications, including the fact that Lord Henry’s perspective puts artistic value over anything else.

            The reason that Basil refuses to exhibit his painting is certainly intriguing; he finds too much of himself in the painting. He argues that ‘every painting with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter’. Although I myself am not a painter, I totally agree; in fact, this statement holds for all creations that humans make. There are infinite ways a single man can be painted, a character be described by letters, or an invention be molded. The creator’s personality and experience together decide which specific way is chosen. But Basil goes further than this common understanding, as he describes his feeling as a curious instinct of terror, fearing that Dorian Gray’s personality would absorb his whole nature and soul. That a man can feel all this by simply looking at another man(yes, a man) is unrealistic, which plays an important role in making the novel absorbing and sensational.

            Another thing to note is that while the novel makes the readers increasingly curious about Dorian Gray, the least of details are provided. His looks or personality are not depicted except for some abstract characterization as fascinating or ‘simple and beautiful nature’; readers are left imagining. I found this characteristic both damaging and beneficial. It may be damaging, because the readers don’t get a limpid understanding of why the characters are acting in a certain way; but it can also be beneficial as it is probably best that certain characters are left unexplained.

            While the plot of the novel itself is intriguing, the dialogue between Lord Henry and Basil also include several ideas worth thinking about. In chapter one, Lord Henry says, ‘conscience and cowardice are really the same things. Conscience is the trade-name of the firm. That is all.’ He seems to be talking about the true nature of human’s conscience. Afterwards, as he persuades Basil that Basil will grow indifferent to Dorian Gray eventually, he says ‘The worst of having a romance is that it leaves one so unromantic.’ I personally approve of this paradox. A person is most romantic when the subject of his or her love remains abstract and untouched. But when the person familiarizes with the subject of his love, he or she, in many cases, is more inclined to grow indifferent as the dreams and fantasies about the subject dissipate.

              So far, the novel is developing its plot. Although somewhat abstract, the characters are engaging, and I look forward to what the rest of the novel will unfold.

TED: A Tale of Two Political Systems

           Eric X Li, a venture capitalist in Shanghai, challenged the dominant Western perspective towards political systems in his TED lecture. The Western world has given a theory about a society’s political development. It claims that for any society, electoral democracy is the ultimate stage of a linear progression of political reform. This theory has been utilized countless times to justify interventions in developing countries; whenever there was a problem regarding politics, it was because there was no electoral democracy yet. The theory furthermore degrades other political systems like communism, saying that there is no legitimacy behind the society’s leaders. It goes on to say that political corruption will be inevitable in the one-party system and the people’s wants will not be addressed. And most importantly, because of all these problems, communism will inevitably collapse in a period of time.

            When I heard all these arguments, I couldn’t agree more. I was also taught so and I found myself considering this a ‘common sense’. Of course electoral democracy is the best of what we have, like capitalism is the best of economic systems. After the Cold War, communist nations have collapsed one by one like a domino. The richest and most influential nations are all electoral democracies.

            But Eric shattered this with one gigantic example that I was deeply forgetting about: China. China is such a huge exception to every part of this theory. It has maintained communism for decades without any election. Not only has it maintained communism, it has succeeded in actualizing an unprecedented economic growth that has made it the 2^nd economic power. But what was most surprising in Eric’s presentation was that the Chinese people were satisfied with the government, more so than most developed countries with electoral democracy. How can this be true, with all the corruption and tyranny by the big government? Well, the truth is that the Chinese system is meritocratic and highly adaptable, and pragmatic. He says that ‘The Chinese political system ... comes close to the best formula for governing a large country: meritocracy at the top, democracy at the bottom, with room for experimentation in between.”

            The secret to this shocking success was the Organization Department of China. While giving up election, the Chinese chose competency as their driving engine towards political reform. The department is a gigantic structure of government officials in which officials have to endlessly compete with each other to strive to the top, where they could be influential. Surprisingly, the current Chinese president and most of the top officials are from an ordinary background, not from an elite background. It takes an average of 20~30 years for an ordinary official to reach the top in the system, which makes the top officials more competent than those of any other political system. 

            Eric acknowledges the fact that China has a lot of problems, corruption being one. But he maintains that what we should learn from China is that there is no final stage of political progression, like the Western theory claims. We have to admit that different political systems can work.

            I was strongly moved by the speech, not only because of his effective attack towards the Western theory, but also because of the beautiful conclusion he drew. There should be no forcing of political reforms by other countries; the definition of political reform itself is different in terms of what system you are talking about. Instead, we should embrace the diversity of the methods a society is run by, like we should embrace the diversity of the methods an individual lives.

Basketball Diplomacy

           Basketball Diplomacy - Hope in North Korea

            Sports are more than excitement. The pure surge of exhilaration when a NBA player slams a basketball exists everywhere, not only in the court but also across oceans.  This illustrates the power of sports: the power to unify strangers. Dennis Rodman just proved this point when he visited North Korea and had fun time with the lunatic dictator Kim Jeong Eun. Now, there are a lot of suprising elements in this one trip. Let’s put aside who he met for a second. The fact that he entered one of the most censored, secretive, and dangerous places on Earth and came back alive is unusual. But the fact that Kim Jeong Eun was the one who invited Rodman is outright shocking. It turned out that he was an avid fan of basketball.

            Rodman, in his interviews, talked about how Kim Jeong Eun is a ‘good guy’. When asked about how he has sent 20000 people to prisoner camps, he responded that that was politics, and U.S. is no different in essence. He furthermore trivialized the atrocities of the lunatic. Now Rodman’s interview stroke many people as a blasphemous, and a lot of the public opinion seemed to lose interest in the event.

            However, Rodman’s meeting with the dictator holds vast meanings and possibilities that might even be the key to the futile attempts the world had made towards North Korea. Many NBA stars are not just sports celebrities anymore, they have become exemplars of role models, contributing to community problems, traveling around the globe, and representing the sports of basketball of U.S. which far dominates that of any other country. In this sense, basketball has a tremendous potential to reopen communication with North Korea, through methods of trading culture. Inviting North Korean basketball players to the U.S. to teach them play will also be possible. One noticeable fact is that Obama is also an avid fan of basketball, as the visit of Miami Heat players to the White House illustrates.

            Sports have already succeeded in stopping a war for a day in WW1. Why can’t it work in North Korea?

Metafiction: a bottle

I opened the door. Fourteen white faces in the small office instantly turned toward me. Not one of them had the slightest mark of welcome or even warmth. One of them expressed exceptional disgust towards my appearance. He let out a huge sigh.

           “Late again, huh? What you doing there? You can’t even move now?”

           “Boss, it was my…”

 I started explaining.

           “Not interested. Take. Your. Seat.”

I ground my teeth. I held my rage inside.

           ‘Not now, Malcolm. Not now.’

I sat down and opened my laptop. I opened a file named ‘Project X’.

The day my life of beauty began when I encountered the following on Facebook: Try the "Wonderful Face Cream" for FREE!!!

'For Free? Then, why not?' I thought. I clicked on the advertisement for more specific details. The "Wonderful Face Cream" was a new product made by the famous cosmetics company "Amorae Oceanic." The advertisement poster had some fancy pictures and major scientific effects of the product. I was satisfied and excited to get that product. 

My boss spoke.

           “So, did everyone come up with a plot of the advertisement?”

Luke, a guy who was always late on things, spoke in a flurry.

           “What? What plot? What advertisement?”

           “Luke? Do you have another job in mind? I told you yesterday. Our crew has to submit a plot of the advertisement of our company’s new project. Stupid black cream.”
           ‘He would have screamed at me if I had not known that.” I thought.

“A black cream? Who would buy a black cream?” Luke questioned.

           “That’s the whole point. The advertisement has to persuade people that this black cream is somehow going to make them beautiful.”
           “Damn. That’s stupid.”
I spoke up.

           “Boss, I actually submitted the plot for crew.”
           “What?”

The boss looked at me as if I were drunken or drugged. I told him.

           “I wrote the plot and sent the file to the head office already.”
           “Are you out of mind? Who are you to do that? Can you even grasp what this project means to our crew?”

He picked up a water bottle and threw it to me with full strength. I watched it spinning towards me. I flung out my arm and grabbed it midair. My boss panicked and looked for another object in rage. Luke rushed to him and held his arm. .

           “Boss, let’s hear it first. It might be good.”

“He writes like a kindergarten kid”

           “Absolutely.”

 I answered calmly.

           “Read it.”

Below that sentence, the advertisement said, "We will send you the product by email if you give us your privacy."

"What exactly was that supposed to mean?' I wondered. However, as I badly wanted the product, I just ignored the sentence. I sent an email to the developers of the product. A week later, to my surprise, I became one of the hundred people to receive the product! I was eagerly anticipating the results. Who knew what else could come along with the cream?

I stopped reading here. I raised my head and looked at my boss. He looked like I’d thrown up on him.

           “What?”

I challenged him.

           “Read on.”

           ‘Oh this is going to get fun. He hasn’t heard anything yet.’

I let out a black, mocking laughter silently.

I opened the "Wonderful Face Cream" container. Inside the container, there was a cream tube like any other I had bought. I was disappointed. I opened the white tube to find some black cream. What??? I recalled my sister using green cream, saying that colorful creams are the new trend. So, I put some black cream on my cheeks. It was smooth and I soon covered my whole face with the cream. I went to the bathroom to wash off the cream, yet I could not. I had become black.

I screamed, moaned, and shouted in terror. This was the worst experience of my life! My skin color had changed, and there was nothing I could do. A few days later, an agent with silver sunglasses broke into my house and kidnapped me to a secret island. I was joined by a few other "blacks", put on a fishing boat. A strong looking man forced us to work as fishermen of their boats. Instinctively, I realized the sale of the "Wonderful Face Cream" was a great scheme related to racism and world domination.

I stopped once again. My boss was holding his neck, just like old men do in TV shows when they want are just about to explode.

The other guys also looked surprised. But they didn’t matter. Only my boss, the man who had tortured me from our first encounter, mattered.

I drank a cup of water. My boss was speechless.

The "Wonderful Face Cream" was intended to create a new world order that whites rule blacks again. Temporarily, racial freedom between whites and blacks were guaranteed, at least by law. However, the "new blacks", created by using the "Wonderful Face Cream", possessed lower intelligence than the average human being because the cream not only changed the face to black but also degraded the mind. The new blacks were similar to animals that look like black humans. Blacks and whites were discriminated again. The blacks who had the average human intelligence were forced to use the "Wonderful Face Cream". Soon, all blacks had low intelligence.

“This is the end, boss.”

His face was all red, ready to explode at any moment. Normally, he would throw things at me when he was mad. But this time, he seemed to mad to do anything physically, as if he would cross the safety line if he started letting out his condensed rage.

           “Get the fuck out of here.”
           “Why are mad about, boss?”

           “I don’t want to see your face anymore, pack your things and leave.”

           “I don’t understand, boss. Isn’t this exactly what you would like the world to believe? That a darker face means less intelligence? That a negro is inferior to a white man? Isn’t that strong looking man who exploits negroes you? Huh? ”

I could see him panicking. He had lost his words.

            “Don’t look at me like that, boss? Throw a bottle at me! Call me a negro and holler at me.”

He had never seen me in such courage and rage before.

           “You told me to leave, right? Here’s my resignation letter.”

I crippled the letter into a ball and threw it into his nose. He was too dumbfounded to react now.

“Don’t be too sad. I’ll see you in court. Let the law speak for the thousands of bottles you threw at my head”

I coolly walked towards the door. Yeah! This was exactly what I’d planned. What a drama! As I turned the door knob, something hit me hard. It was a familiar feeling. The world shattered. I opened my eyes. I faintly recognized a water bottle. It was still spinning; it must have been thrown real hard.

           “Get up Malcolm!”

Out of my instinct that lingered from my dream, I grabbed the bottle and got ready to smash it into his face. I sighed, and put it down.

           “Yeah boss.”

Should we send propaganda balloons to North Korea?

Should we send propaganda balloons to North Korea?

           It’s just another day of arduous labor in the factory. He lays down his tools, takes off his gloves and stands up to drags his heavy body back home. Just before exiting the factory, he pauses. The gigantic picture of Kim Jung Il looms before him, like any other in any other factory. He salutes, for all the marvelous deeds he had done for him, his family, and his country. Walking back home, he stops before the huge statue of Kim Jung Il. He salutes, and moves on. Back home, his wife and children greet him. Dinner is ready. But before dinner, he walks to the portrait of Kim Jung Il. He salute. His children burst open their doors and enter the living room. They show him some balloons, which they had found while playing outside. Oddly, there seems to be objects inside. He pops the balloons, instantly making his children burst tears. News articles, letters, and several photos fall to his laps. He reads them. Over and over and over again. He stands up. He slowly walks towards the portrait he had saluted to half an hour ago. He stares at the man inside. And he rips it apart.

           A likely story? Maybe, maybe not. But it gives a glimpse of what I want to talk about in this paper. But before anything else, let’s go over what is going on.

           North Korea, once again, has successfully dominated the cover of innumerable word newspapers with its usual threat of nuclear tests. Whether it is an empty threat or a real danger is yet to be undiscovered, but North Korea has shown for sure that its change in leadership does not mean softening its barricade against the word. For decades, the world has tried to communicate with the rogue state. But attempts of peace talks, aid, and treaties have proven to be futile; we received more assaults and threats in return.

           Yet the inner side of this seemingly strong and vigorous nation is more tender and vulnerable than that of any other. Its majority of the citizens suffer under abject poverty and fear of the state. The part of North Korea that is revealed to the rest of the world is the brightest side of the dark cave.

           I’ve actually been there when I was a little kid in elementary school. I was participating in a camp to North Korea, supposedly to learn about the country and ponder over unification. Unfortunately, we only visited the restricted area that the government had taken care of beforehand. So we had no actual opportunity to see the life of an average North Korean. During the camp, I never succeeded in seriously musing on unification; I mostly enjoyed playing with my new friends. But I do remember one thing that didn’t involve silly pranks with my friends.

           It was the last day, and I and my friends entered a noodle restaurant after climbing the KeumKang Mountains. We waited, and a waitress approached us to ask what we would like to have. My first impression was that her accent was really funny. We all held out laughter until she left. I even recorded her voice to share the experience back in South Korea with my family. But after talking to her two or three times, something other than amusement caught me. I began to form sympathy for her in the corner of my mind. She was always smiling so brightly when she talked to us with an friendly tone. But I couldn’t erase the thought that her smile and tone were somewhat artificial. Them seemed like parts of a big system, already set and planned. Of course, I might have been wrong. Now to think about it, even South Korean waitresses are told to smile by their employers. But the smile just seemed different at that time. It lingered inside my head for several days.

           This experience taught me something. The reason why we should unify not only lies in the safety of South Korea or its economic development, but also in the North Korean citizens themselves. I genuinely care for them and wish they lead decent lives. But is it any useful that I, a normal high school boy, care about unification and North Koreans? I say yes, because to the surprise of many people, the answer to unification may not be all about President Obama, Park Geun Hye, or even Kim Jeong Eun.

           Instead,it might be about balloons.

           Yes, balloons, as in the colorful round things that float and pop. South Korean citizens as well as the army have sent balloons that contain messages or articles over North Korean border in the past decades. The messages and articles mainly criticize North Korea and communism. The uniqueness of this method is that it tries to instigate the citizens, not the leaders. Regardless of the strong dictator regime in North Korea, no nation can avert collapse forever when the citizens turn their backs against the government. This is why North Korean government has virtually brainwashed every citizen into believing that democracy is evil and the Kim family members are godlike beings, like the man in my introduction illustrates. To solve this problem is simple: let the citizens know that they have been worshipping charlatans who have ripped off everything from their lives. No matter how hard we try to talk with the government, we will be simply wasting time and money. Propaganda balloon does this job best, thus being the most efficient method to take us one step closer to unification. Once turmoil rises among the citizens, the North Korean government will have to come up with a solution.

           Another reason to allow the sending of propaganda balloons is that North Korean citizens have the right to know. The innocent citizens are suffering under famine and preposterously oppressive policies. The international community, especially South Korea, has the obligation to rescue the North Korean citizens from this abyss of lies. Under the Korean constitution, North Korea is not a proper government. In other words, the people who live in the territory of North Korea are technically still our citizens. To neglect them is abandoning the right over our citizens.

           North Korea has responded to propaganda balloons with bellicosity and hostility. Ithas threatened to shoot missiles if we continue. Kim Jung Il has also stated that the balloons are “an unpardonable challenge to the army and people of the DPRK and a deliberate act to push north-south ties to the lowest ebb”. This has caused many people to stop down with fear. But there can be no unification without sacrifice. We can wait several decades until North Korea yields to democracy. But this seemingly innocuous plan also belies the sacrifice of innumerable North Korean citizens who will be oppressed for years. Furthermore, the threat that North Korea make is usually a simple rhetoric. Therefore, liking propaganda balloons directly to physical assaults is a rash conclusion.

           Right now, the Korean government is prohibiting the sending of propaganda balloons after a hostile threat from North Korea early this year. A group called ‘Fightersfor Free North Korea’ had planned to send 200000 balloons over the border lastyear in October, but South Korean troops banned the act.

           We must not forget that change will only come when North Korean citizens start to throw a suspicious glance towards Kim Jung Il’s portrait in their homes, one by one. The few ones, who rip apart the man inside, like the man in my story, will certainly arouse more actions. And hopefully they will be freed. 

A Holiday For You - My Name

A Holiday for You

           I disagree with the idea that names can influence our fates. Not simply because a guy named Success actually ended up with a more miserable life than his brother named Failure, but because names are just labels that tells nothing about who we truly are. But I know myself that I will be grappling with the exact problem when I have a daughter or a son. Why? Because I do think that different names can give different first impressions to others. Especially when it comes to English names, names are worthy thinking about. Until recently, I’ve never known that are ‘black’ names and ‘white’ names. It seems specific names slightly indicate your ethnicity, region, or even income level.

           However, I don’t want my name to be an expression of my personal information. I think that choosing names based on information like specific race underlies an implicit discrimination. Rather, I just want others to be filled with mild happiness and relaxation when they call out my name.

           Holiday. That’s how I want to be called. The only person that I know with this name is Jrue Holiday, a fabulous NBA star. But besides him, I’ve never encountered a man with this name. Typing in a name like “Roger” gives you a lot of people as well as various meanings and origins. But typing in “Holiday” barely gives you any information other than the facts that it has British origin and a famous American jazz singer and songwriter was named Billie Holiday. It also says that Holiday is actually a female name, but I disagree, especially since Jrue Holiday is a man, making the ratio 50-50 as far as I know, with Billie Holiday on the female side. Besides, what

           So instead of copying origins and meanings about my name from the internet, I want to talk about what this name means for me. Holiday brings delight by the name itself. It is a time of celebration, unity, and most importantly, relaxation. A break is what humans most need in the 21^st century. The phenomenal concept of ‘healing’ illustrates how much humans suffer from stress and mental breakdowns. Especially for students in KMLA, our daily lives are crammed with so many assignments, tests, and official school events that we sometimes forget to look for joy. In this sense, I want to give a small reminder that happiness and rest matter a lot, to both myself and others who call out my name.

           I also chose this name as a promise to myself that I will become a holiday for people around me. Everytime someone calls out my name, I will remind myself that I will give warmth, rest, and festivity. A Holiday for you~

Debunking Myth - Happiness and Looks!!

Most people tend to think that good looks lead to happiness. Is this really true??