"Do The Right Thing"

     "How Bigger Was Born," can easily be connected to "Do The Right Thing." When writing about how he came up with the character Bigger, Wright claimed to have created Bigger based on many people he had seen during his life. The various "Bigger Thomases" had different qualities that he put into the character in his book. He explains each person he saw that helped create Bigger, and many of them are similar to the characters in the movie. "Bigger No. 1" is a lot like Radio Raheem. He got his way however he could. This is similar to the way Radio Raheem only played one song on his stereo, even when other people wanted him to stop. When this was taken from him in Sal's Famous Pizzeria, he got so angry he attacked Sal. "Bigger No. 2" is more like Buggin' Out, because all of his anger was at the white man. Rather than directing his anger at specific people, he found problems with only white people, and made good people seem racist and prejudiced. Both the movie and the description of how the character Bigger was created did a good job of showing different types of people who were negatively affected by the racial tension in America.

     "Do The Right Thing" is an interesting title for this movie, because the "right thing" was never very straightforward. The time where the "right thing" to do was the most confusing for me was in the entire scene at Sal's Famous Pizzeria. At the beginning, when Radio Raheem and Buggin' Out arrived there, they weren't doing the right thing by disrupting a place for no reason. They were looking for problems and reasons to boycott the restaurant, when really nothing racist or prejudiced was going on there in my opinion. But, on the other hand, Sal should not have shouted out all of the racist comments he did when Radio Raheem attacked him, which Radio Raheem shouldn't have done in the first place. Another situation where it is hard to tell if someone did the right thing was when Mookie threw the garbage can through the window. Was he saving Sal, Vito, and Pino? Was he trying to destroy the shop? Was he trying to make a statement? Any of these things could be true. In a sense, no matter which it was, it was justified. Sal had just screamed racist insults at people, and Mookie was black. He could have been angry enough to want to break the window, which wouldn't be the right thing, but would make sense. He also could have been trying to distract the crowd to get Sal and his two sons away from them, but, he had to decide if he should be angry with Sal or not for all the racist statements. This was the right thing because he tried to save Sal, but he also in a way turned against the black people, and betrayed them by protecting the man who insulted them. Personally, I think he was trying to make a statement. He was trying to show people that the problems there were bigger than they thought. It was the right thing to do, if this was the reason, even though it ended up causing problems. He would have had good intentions, because if this was his purpose, he would have been trying to stop everyone by causing something so extreme that people would stop what they were doing, giving them a chance to think. "Do The Right Thing" is a good name for this movie, because throughout the entire movie, people question which characters are doing the right thing.

Question 2

How did King respond when asked, “Why are you speaking about the war, Dr. King?” On what principles and perceptions did he base his opposition to the war?

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He claimed that the tactics people in America should use to solve thier problems should not be violent, but they all said the government was being violent so it was okay. Dr. King then realized his fellow Americans were witnessing their government take extremely violent measures to get their way; the government was showing them it would work. So, to prevent Americans from using violence to solve problems, he spoke out against the violent efforts by the government.

A Time To Break The Silence

"for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close

around us."-Dr. King
This time period in the United States was a time when people had to speak their minds about things they wanted; it was a time to celebrate everything they already had. Dr. King who wrote this discussed the way Vietnam, and people's opinions about it, relates to his occupation of being a preacher. He wanted the Vietnam War to end, and America to stay out of the conflict. Many people accused him of, by speaking out against the situation in Vietnam, he was going against the cause of civil rights. African American soldiers sent to Vietnam were promised rights they wouldn't easily get at home, they were also shown committing many different acts of violence. But, to Dr. King, this seems to contradict the way America was running at the time, because black and white soldiers could fight together, even die together, but had not been allowed to attend the same schools. He also sees the violence taking place, which goes against his ideas of non-violence. The violence that many black people considered was considered a problem to Dr. King, but many of them claimed that if their country could use violence in Vietnam, they should be able to use violence in America to reach their goals. This drove Dr. King to speak out against the Vietnam War, regardless of people's contraversial opinions of this choice.

Emerson: Self Reliance

In Emerson's essay, "Self Reliance," he talks about how people should decide for and rely on themselves. He believed that people should form their lives, beliefs, and values on what they think. what they know, and what they want. A person should be responsible for their place in the world, because they have to put themselves in the spot that they want to be in. Emerson's opinion of society is that it is "in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members" and it is a "joint-stock company." Emerson viewed society as something to harm the people within it. Society can be used against the people that belonged to it, so Emerson believed that in order for people to be where they want to be, they have to put themselves there on their own terms. The entire concept of "self reliance" is based on people looking to themselves rather than looking to those around them. So, the entire point of Emerson's essay can be used to answer this question. People need to view themselves as what they want to be, and what they believe that they are in society.

Quran-Burning on again, off again

This article really surprises me for many reasons. First of all, it is shocking to me that a church would want to burn copies of the Quran as their way of remembering the events of September 11. . It is disrespectful, and it also seems like they are stereotyping the entire religion of Islam. To me, it seems like they are saying all Muslims can be blamed for what happened at 9-11. It is also horrible to read about the effects this is having on people. There are protests going on in Afghanistan are causing people to be hurt or killed. But, these protests are NOT pointless, because what Terry Jones is trying to do is absolutely awful. As stated in the article, "Muslims consider the book the sacred word of God and insist it be treated with the utmost respect." How would the people who planned to attend this burning feel if the Muslim people planned to spend a day burning Bibles? It is the same situation, if not worse. The fact that this could be happening tomorrow sends the message that all those involved believe that the entire religion of Islam should be blamed for things that extremists did.

The American Crisis- Thomas Paine

"Better have too much force than too little, when so great an object is at stake" (Paine).
Thomas Paine was very passionate about the fight for freedom and independence not because he believed that war was the right thing to do, but because he believed that an entire country allowing the people in it to suffer is a crime. He was right. He related the suffering brought upon America by Great Britain, to his home being burglarized:
"Not all the treasure of the world so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me, or those that are in it... am I to suffer it?" He did not believe that violence was the general solution. He believed in self-defense. Again, he was right. Who was he, or any other American, to allow his country to be abused by Great Britain? Paine did not want to cause violence. The violence had already began with the problems caused by Great Britain. These concepts still exist today, and are very controversial. The question of whether a country is beginning violence and war or simply defending itself causes many problems, regardless of the time period. Thomas Paine understood the idea of not fighting fire with fire, but of not allowing himself or his country to get burned.