Benjamin Lewis - IB English Learner Portfolio
2020 - 2022
Category: Uncategorized
When discussing ‘murky morals’, I think one has to clarify what qualities that phrase is actually signifying. In my analysis, it will refer to behaviour presented by the characters of Süskind’s ‘Perfume’ that is dishonest, questionable or morally dubious, and I will be exploring the text through a comparison of, debatably, the protagonist and the antagonist of the novel, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille and Antoine Richis respectively. Both characters, at least to some extent, see others as means to achieve their own goals, but have a vital difference of conscience; Richis is capable of empathy, whereas Grenouille is not.
Süskind portrays Grenouille as exploitative throughout the novel, to the extent of the character’s extended metaphor actually being a parasite. Upon his decision to study the art of perfuming under Giuseppe Baldini, Süskind writes that “the tick has scented blood”, likening Grenouille to an insect that feeds off of the blood of others to sustain itself. The verb “scented”, while also tying into Süskind’s continued semantic field of olfaction, is in the past tense, implying that Grenouille has actively sought out a perfumer to pray on the skills of for his own benefit, and, additionally, that now he has found suitable prey, nothing can stop him from commencing with his plan. The noun “blood” connotes: pain and death, perhaps hinting at the moral extremity of the actions he later commits; as well as the notion of his plan, the metaphorical “blood” he senses, being essential to his being. Without any way forward to achieve his goal, Grenouille would die, as if the blood had been drained from his veins. This presentation of his character infers a sense of animalism, and a primal nature that is driving him to commit any morally dubious act that he needs to further his own ends and, thus, to survive. Therefore, it can be concluded that Grenouille views the other characters of the novel as means to achieve his own ends so strongly, more so than any other character, that his ability to have murky morals becomes questionable; if Grenouille is truly an animal motivated purely by survival instinct, his actions cannot be morally wrong, or even murky, as morality is intrinsically linked with intent, and even his most ‘evil’ actions are committed with purely transactional intentions.
However, a character that is expected to be moral due to his nature as a father, is Antoine Richis. Although, despite his presumed empathetic ability, the character is presented as another who sees those close to him as means to achieve his own ends when his relationship with Baron de Bouyon is described, a man “with whom Richis had already concluded a contract concerning the future marriage of their children”. The noun “contract” connotes business, and a lack of emotion, as well as painting his daughter as property that, not only does Richis possess entirely, but that he can use as a bargaining tool for societal gain. However, Richis is not only morally dubious enough to reduce his own daughter to inanimate leverage in his own pursuit of power, but he envisions his own daughter as property so extremely that it supersedes their familial connection, recalling an occasion when he “choked on this dreadful lust” that he felt for his own daughter. The noun “lust” implies that her body, Richis’ bargaining tool, was so far removed from being an actual human ,with her own thoughts, feelings, and family, that he was able to sexually desire it. But, the adjective “dreadful” signifies that he was able to reflect on this experience, and appreciate its truly immoral, vile nature, reminding the reader that he is capable of morality, and consciously chooses to ignore it until after the fact, which is perhaps more evil than being unaware of morality entirely.
I would conclude that, while both men clearly see the other characters of the novel as means to achieve their own ends, Richis is the only character that I have analysed capable of possessing “murky morals”. Moreover, I would suggest that because of this, the ability to possess any kind of morality, Richis could be perceived as more villainous than Grenouille, a man of instinct, as the former cannot be held morally accountable for his misdeeds.
Chapter 3
Choose one quotation to describe Baba.
‘I can never tell Baba from the bear.’
Is Amir’s father a religious man? A moral man? Is there a difference between these two things?
Amir’s father clearly is a moral man, as he pours his wealth and being into building an orphanage for the local community. However, he doesn’t strictly follow Islam, evidenced by his drinking, and looks down upon those who do so blindly. I believe there is a difference between morality and religion, as believing in a god doesn’t necessarily make you a good person, shown by history repeatedly, nor does it make you a bad person, also shown by history repeatedly. Religion can either be used as an excuse for avoiding morality or as a teaching device to gain moral principles from, however, the two are not one in the same.
In what ways does Hosseini encourage the audience to be critical of Baba during this chapter?
Hosseini highlights Baba’s neglect and ignorance surrounding his son, and we see views that are moral wrongly start to develop in Amir’s mind in the form of thoughts towards Hassan. Hosseini encourages the audience to attribute these views to how Baba raised his son through Amir’s asides, so blame is placed upon him for Amir’s troubling thoughts.
Rahim and Baba each view Amir in a different light. How do each of them see him, based on what you have read so far, who do you agree with?
Rahim sees, encourages and nurtures the positive aspects of Amir, such as his writing, while Baba only sees and punishes what he sees as negative aspects of his son, such as his lack of athleticism. Therefore, I agree with Rahim’s treatment of Amir, as we can see that, while Amir blindly idealises his father, Rahim has had a much more profound affect on the boy, acting as lifeline both in the modern day and in Amir’s childhood.
Chapter 4
What does the story about the death of Ali’s parents tell us about Afghan society?
It could suggest the carelessness of the Pashtun’s when it comes to their conflict with the Hazara people, with the alcohol and drugs obscuring the senses of the two brothers serving as a metaphor for the power and sense of superiority that seems to blind the majority of the Pashtun people. Also, the fact that one year in the military was seen as a harsh punishment for the killing of both a husband and wife shows how much more highly the Pashtun people were regarded than the Hazara people.
How does Baba’s relationship with Ali mirror Amir’s with Hassan? What does Hosseini want us to think about this?
Baba also never saw Ali as his friend. Like Amir, he could have either seem him as a brother, or instead as a lesser being to ridicule, it is unclear.
Amir says ‘I never thought of me and Hassan as friends.’ Does this mean they’ll never be friends, or does it suggest something else about their relationship?
Like I mentioned in the last question, this quote could imply that Amir thinks of Hassan as a brother, someone who has always been there, with their bond running deeper than just friendship. However, it could also show that he genuinely doesn’t hold any love for Hassan, but I think this is unlikely, as he stands up for him in the next chapter.
Which denomination of Islam is Amir? Does Hassan belong to the same one.
Amir is a Sunni Muslim, whereas Amir is Shi’a.
What do we find out about Amir and Hassan on pages 26 and 27?
We learn that Amir feels threatened by Hassan, as he feels the need to only read him unchallenging texts so that he still has intellectual superiority over him. However, Hassan in his faithful ignorance doesn’t realise Amir’s intentions and loves the stories regardless. He views him as a true friend. However, we can see that Amir is not completely immoral, as he is racked with guilt after he plays the cruel prank of feeding his friend misinformation, which he counteracts by giving Hassan gifts in an attempt to ease his own conscience.
Hassan praises Amir’s first story as ‘the best story you’ve ever read me in a long time.’ What type of adjective is ‘best’? Is this hyperbolic or exaggerated praise?
‘Best’ is a superlative adjective, suggesting that the story really is the greatest he’s ever felt. Thanks to his truly genuine nature, I believe that he means this, and Amir probably does as well, which is why it means so much to him. However, for those more cynical, it could imply that Amir is being hyperbolic and over-exaggerating in an attempt to lift the spirits of his friend, which could also be true as Hassan is a kind person who might realise it would mean a lot to Amir.
How does Hosseini leave us in no doubt about the conflict Amir struggles with in regards to his relationship with his father?
The conflict is made obvious to the reader through Amir’s true passion, writing, and how his two father figures react to it. Much to his dismay, Baba doesn’t engage which Amir’s short story at all, whereas Rahim reads it and even writes his first review, telling Amir that he will read any story he writes. This encapsulates the conflict, as, if his father doesn’t care about the think Amir cares about the most, does he care about him at all?
The Age of Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, in which the three central concepts of reason, the scientific method, and progress were all radically reoriented. Enlightenment thinkers believed they could help create better societies and, therefore, better people.
Key enlightenment philosophers included the likes of John Locke, Charles Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. As well as reason and science, these thinkers valued religious tolerance, and what they called ‘natural rights’ – life, liberty, and property. Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau all developed theories of government in which some or even all the people would govern.
Other key thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment were America’s Thomas Jefferson, Germany’s Immanuel Kant, France’s Voltaire and England’s Jeremy Bentham, as well as Scottish philosophers and economists David Hume and Adam Smith.
As a result of the enlightenment, ideas centred on the sovereignty of reason and the evidence of the senses as the primary sources of knowledge advanced, as well as ideals like liberty, progress, toleration, fraternity, constitutional government and separation of church and state.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment
https://quizlet.com/3936432/world-history-10-the-enlightenment-flash-cards/
https://www.britannica.com/event/Enlightenment-European-history
https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-20-2-c-hobbes-locke-montesquieu-and-rousseau-on-government.html
Guiding Questions:
- What do you learn about the narrator and the young girl?
- What is the importance of the carnival?
This extract from the novel ‘Chocolat’ by Joanne Harris follows a mother and her daughter’s first time in the french town of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes. It is a modern text, and as they arrive, a carnival is in full swing.
Harris clearly establishes, and emphasises the importance of, the relationship between mother and daughter within the first paragraph when she has the narrator describe her child’s eyes as ‘the blue-green of the Earth’. This metaphor could suggest that she sees the world in her daughter’s eyes, perhaps indicating that the narrator’s driving purpose is to give her child a good life, the main responsibility of a parent. The compound adjective ‘blue-green’ connotes life, nature and purity, as green is often the colour associated with life, and blue is the colour of the water that nurtures it, possibly reflecting the maternal, nurturing relationship of the pair. Furthermore, Harris might be implying that they cannot flourish, or even live, without each other, as life cannot thrive without water, and water is meaningless without life to support.
As well as this, we also learn that the narrator and her daughter feel like outsiders in the town. When describing the people around them, the narrator, in a sense, steps out of her own body to describe herself and her daughter, saying that ‘Their colouring marks them.’ The fact that the text briefly switches from third to first person narration could indicate that the narrator feels so uncomfortable being watched by the townsfolk of Lansquenet that she feels like an outsider even in her own body, and the short sentence employed by Harris further emphasises this point. The verb ‘marks’ implies that the narrator and her daughter are targets, an idea that connotes fear and the threat of violence.
Additionally, Harris builds on this feeling of being viewed as an outsider by having the extract take place at a carnival. This choice of setting could be extremely significant because a carnival is a place where people view strange and exciting oddities for entertainment, and could perhaps mirror the way that the townsfolk view the narrator and her daughter. In the same way that they watch the floats, they watch the foreigners, for amusement. However, Harris also chooses to have Anouk and her mother partake in enjoying the carnival, which could be a commentary on the idea that all people, even those who know what it is like to be on the other side of it, are guilty of viewing foreigners as a spectacle to be observed.
To explore and understand the context of The Kite Runner, we divided our class into groups and created presentations on different aspects of the novel’s context, ranging from history to religion to conflict and even the life of the author.
My Group’s Presentation:
Below are the notes I took while watching the presentations of the other groups.
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan:
In late December, 1979, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. This was severely unpopular, as Muslims held a high disregard for communists.
After the invasion, a new government was set up. The reformed Afghanistan government had very little public support due to their close ties with the Soviet Union. They launched ruthless purges and also began extensive land and social reforms.
The Soviets withdrew their forces in 1989, causing the outbreak of a civil war within the country. The Afghan’s hated the Soviet occupiers and more than one million Afghans were killed, as well as five million being displaced.
The civil war continued until the Taliban seized power.
The Taliban:
An organisation founded by Mohammed Omar during the Afghan civil war in the early 1990s. They are made up of Islamic guerilla fighters who resisted the Soviet occupation.
The Taliban are highly oppressive, and do not believe that women should get an education, nor should they make direct contact with men other than blood relatives, They also must be accompanied by a man at all times in public and wear a full burqa. Healthcare is practically impossible for women to receive. Finally, they also cannot voice their opinions or hold any political views.
Afghanistan is an Islamic State, and there is no freedom to proselyte or convert. This is punishable by death or deportation in case of foreigners.
From 1996 – 2001, the Taliban held power over roughly three quarters of the nation, and enforced their strict interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. Since its fall from power, they have maintained a long running insurgency and are still in control of 14 districts of Afghanistan, or roughly 4% of the country. They still pose a huge threat to Afghan society with violent attacks.
The U.S. has been at war with the Taliban for about 18 years. It has completely destroyed infrastructure and has threatened the health, security, employment and education of the local citizens. About 26,000 Afghan citizens have lost their life during the war.
Khaled Hosseini – The Author
Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1965. In 1976, his family was relocated to Paris by the Foreign Ministry. Their return to Kabul in 1980 was interrupted by the invading Soviet army.
In 2001, while practising medicine, Hosseini began to write the Kite Runner. The narrator’s life parallels Hosseini’s.
In 2006, Khaled was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. He founded a non-profit that provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. Today he lives in Northern California with his wife and two children.
Context Mind Map:
Oral Analysis: