"The Twelve"

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Stephen Kumalo, A Real Hero

        “The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity,” quoted from Lucius Annaeus Seneca. So far during my lifetime I have not witnessed a man to struggle with something like this until I read Cry, The Beloved Country, which was written by Alan Paton. In Paton’s book he successfully portrays the struggle of adversity by using one of his main characters, Stephen Kumalo. During the story Stephen Kumalo is faced with many unacquainted complications that he must overcome to safe him and his broken family. By having challenges, hardships, and failures to overcome Stephen Kumalo is seen as a real character and a real hero.

            Kumalo is a very simple man that is from the simple lands of South Africa. The lands where Kumalo lives are the lands that still go by the original customs of the people. He is a priest of a very simple church, where his simple brothers and sisters come to pray their simple prayers, and in this church is where he teaches the simple philosophies of god. Kumalo is a very simple man living in a very complex world that he has yet to expose his mind too. But with revolution coming fast Stephen Kumalo is suddenly challenged with the difficulties of the new world.

            Your world can change in an instance with out any warning or preparation. This is exactly what happened to Stephen, ”[Stephen Kumalo] was reluctant to open [the letter], for once such a thing is opened, it cannot be shut again,” on what seemed like a normal day Kumalo receives a letter that changes his whole world. The letter is from a Therophilus Msimangu that lives in Johannesburg. The letter holds bad news that Kumalo’s sister is very ill and must be taken cared of immediately. This is the news that forces Kumalo to visit Johannesburg where he learns of the corruption of his sister, his brother, and of his son’s faith. He learns that his sister is a prostitute, his brother is a sinner, and that his son is a murderer.  Without being able to forget about this information or live his life as it was before the letter, Stephen Kumalo is changed. He is now a complex man living in a very complex world.       

            Kumalo was once a man of great faith, ”There is no prayer left in [Stephen]. [He] is dumb [on the] inside. [He] has no words at all,” he has been weakened by the awful sins that are practiced in Johannesburg. The thoughts of his son, Absolam, killing someone has Stephen turned away from God. It has made him questioned God’s plan. He now believes that God will no longer help him. He thinks that the only thing that can help him is himself. But Kumalo is strong because even in his greatest time of darkness he overcomes his struggles, “I hear you, my brother,” Kumalo says, “There is no word I do not hear.” Then later on after the sermon Kumalo says to Mismangu, “Brother, I am recovered.” This shows us just how strong Kumalo really is. He has been severely faced with doubts in his religion, but even though he does stray away he comes back with the help of a very insightful lecture from his friend at the sanctuary for the blinded.

            Stephen Kumalo; he is a great man that others can look up to and relate to. He is a humble man. He is not perfect just like every one of us are not perfect, but he learns from his mistakes and does not let his sins over power him. Even though he has had times of doubts and times of temptations he has over came them. Stephen Kumalo is imperfect, he makes mistakes, and he is a sinner. Stephen Kumalo is human and by being human and making mistakes, Stephen Kumalo is made a great man. Stephen Kumalo is not only a great man, but also a hero that is real.

Everyone is Equal

       I believe that all people are equal and should be treated with the same respect. Ever since I was a toddler in preschool my parents would lecture me each day about how I should treat others the way I would want to be treated. On the first day of second grade I remember my teacher explaining to us that everyone is the same on the inside, therefore we shouldn't judge them on the way they dress, the way they talk, or the way they look. During middle school there were several times where our principal would have long lectures about being nice to others and treating everyone with the same respect because we are all equal. We are all equal... This is what I have believed in for so many years.
          For many years now I have been trying to my best ability to treat people equally. I do this because I have always been told to treat people equally, but lately I have been finding it harder to do so. I have noticed that the main people, my "role models", that have been telling me to treat people equally since I was little are the ones that do not go by that. My parents are a prime example of this. They tell me to treat people equally, but yet I'm onlt allowed to date certain people. For example, I'm not allowed to date out of my race. Now how is that treating people equally? It's not, its  considering them below me or different from me just because of race.
           Another example of people that say to treat people equally but do not, is our government. For years we have been trying, as a country, to get the world where everyone is equal. Where there is no person that is below another. For example, the whole reason why the United States is what it is now is because we the people were tired of having to follow the orders of a king. We wanted to be free. we wanted to be treated equal.
           Now think back to the civil war. What was the cause of it? The cause of the civil war was the freeing of slaves. Our presidet at the time, Abraham Lincoln, wanted slaves to have the same oppurtunities as white men and women. He wanted our country to become one, he wanted everyone to have equal oppurtunities.
            Let's think to when the women of America fought for ther right to vote and to have more rights. The women back then were not offered the same oppurtunities as men . They were not allowed to vote, they were not allowed the same jobs as men, and they were not given the same respect that men got. Women fought for many years before they finally succeded and began to get the same respect as men. Men and women were finally equal.
             So as for as I can remember we have been trying to get the world where everyone is treated the same. It has taken many years to get where we are right now, but we're still not quite at the point where everyone is equal. But I believe, just like many others have in the past, that one day we will get there. One day there will be no looking down on others, no treating others like they're nothing, and no excluding people because they are not like you. One day... everyone will be equal.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

   Ingredients:

• peanut butter cookie dough
• Reeses
• muffin tins

   Preparation:
        The first step into making the Peanut Butter Cup Cookies is to cut the peant butter cookie dough into perfect one inch slices. Then to cut those slices into fourths. In order to get the perfect size cookies you must take great measure into slicing the cookie dough.
       
         I never could cut the cookie dough evenly enough. Therefore, we would always end up with extra cookie dough that my sisters would fight over.
         You could hear them whisper, "Oh! That piece is mine," as they tried quietly to retrieve the extra pieces of cookie dough.
         As me and my mom went on with the cutting we would slowly hear an arguement brewing as one of them would get more cookie dough than the other.
         We would hear, "That piece is too big for you!" or "You can't eat all of that!"
         This bickering would last a little while longer before my mom was fed up with the arguing and would yell, "If you are not going to help, but only argue, yal can get out!"

         After putting the evenly sliced cookie dough into the muffin tins, the cookies are ready to go into the oven that has been pre-heated to 350 degrees. While the cookies are baking you must get the Reeses ready to put into each individual cookie once they come out of the oven.
        
         This has to be my favorite step in the recipe. It's my favorite step because if one of the Reeses are not fit to be used (meaning they are not whole), then I get to eat it. Another reason why I love this part is because the chance to eat a Reeses brings my sisters crawling back into the kitchen. You would think it would anger me to have competition to get the Reeses, but being the competitive person that I am, I find it quite entertaining. It makes it more like a game. Whoever gets the most Reeses wins.

           After about 9 minutes in the oven the cookies are ready to come out. Once the cookie filled muffin tins are placed on the counter you must quickly put the Reeses into the cookies.You do this so that the Reeses will melt a little and stay secure in the cookies. Once all the Reeses are placed in the cookie, you let them cool for 15 minutes. Then when the cookies have been cooled and the smells from them have attracted a crowd, you use a small spoon to carefully remove them one at a time. Then once all the cookies are out, you can finally serve them to your anxious, mouth watering guests. Now you just sit and watch as the enjoyment slowly appers on their faces.

The Meaningful Dead

            Is it weird how when you are alive you might not have many friends, but once you die everyone has something nice to say about you? For example, you are the person in school that no one really pays attention to you, but when you die you are suddenly the topic everyone in school talks about. This is exactly what happened to the character, Esteban, in “The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World”. The character Esteban was forgotten and not liked by his village, but once they found out he was dead everyone in the village showed him respect.

            In the passage there are many examples of how the character, Esteban, was forgotten and how he was respected. For example, in the passage it says, “Esteban, at least wait till the coffee’s ready, were the ones who later on would whisper the big boob finally left, how nice the handsome fool has gone.” This shows us that his village did not treat him nicely.  After Esteban died  the villagers realized his beauty and strength. For example, in the passage it states, “But only when they had finished cleaning him off did they become aware of the kind of man he was and it left them breathless.”

            After reading this passage I realized this type of thing doesn’t just happen in stories it also happens in the real world. For example, everyday at school there are people that nobody talks to, but once they get hurt everyone goes up to them and says nice things to them. Another example is when someone in your town dies. It doesn’t matter if anybody knew them or not, people are still going to send the dead's family members casseroles and flowers, telling them how sorry they are.

           After reading the passage, “The handsomest Drowned Man In The World”, I have realized that it doesn’t matter if everyone hated you or not because once you die everyone will have something nice to say. This kind of thing is not new to the world it has been happening for ages. It has happened way back when my great grandparents were alive and it will continue to happen way in the future. The thing is there is no way to prevent it. Once people die everyone just thinks you have to be really nice to the dead even if you weren’t nice to them when they were alive.

            

Is Gay Marriage Really our Decision?

Have you ever wondered if same sex marriages and relationships are considered right?  I believe same sex relationships have been coming a very popular trend in our society over the past few years. I don’t quite believe people are actually really considering the situation rationally. Instead, I think they are just agreeing with what the media wants. For example, Britain has followed the trend by legalizing gay marriage in their country.

When I came across this article in Time magazine it slowly dawned on me that our country is about to follow down the same path that Britain has. Stated in the article, Britain legalized gay marriage on a Wednesday, the day after the bill to legalize same sex marriage in England and wales cleared Parliament. Seeing this article made me wonder what our country was going to do about the situation of same sex marriage. After further reading, I came across this sentence, “The bill enables gay couples to get married in both civil and religious ceremonies in England and Wales.” This sentenced made me wonder how could gay couples get married in religious ceremonies when being gay is not religious and when it’s considered a sin to be gay.

After reading this article and thoroughly thinking about the situation I came to the conclusion that I disagree with Britain’s decision. I think Britain is just one of the many people that are just agreeing with the media. Just think about it, all we see on TV now is gay people. For example, most of the TV shows we watch, now include gay characters like the TV shows: Modern Family, Glee, and in many reality TV shows. I also realized that gay people have always been around because I’ve seen it in later years and it was also mentioned in the bible. Ever since our society has opened up to the idea it seems like there has been a lot more gays showing up and I think it’s because the media has made being gay popular.

Due to the media same sex relationships have been known as a popular trend in our society.  I believe that the only reason why people are agreeing with same sex marriage is because of the persuasion of the media. After reading through times magazine I realized Britain is among one of the victims being persuaded by the media. After seeing that Britain legalized gay marriage made me think will America be next? It also makes me wonder, instead of the government making the rules, is the media actually the ones that are in charge?

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