Fear

Fear is definitely present in all lives of little children. One memory I recall of having fear in my childhood is riding our 4-wheeler in the dark to and from our farm. My siblings and I got our 4-wheeler for Christmas when I was about 8 years old, mainly for the purpose of us to have a way to get to and from our farm. We fed calves every day around five, five- thirty. It was fine and fun in the summer when it was light out but when winter came around the darkness also came earlier. It also wasn’t that bad when we were all riding on it together because there were others around for comfort but if ever I was riding it by myself in the dark I was scared out of my mind. I remember going as fast as I could through the trees and down in the low dark gully until I got into the shed at home where we parked it, from there I would race into the garage and house, not once looking back. I feel this relates well to this novel connecting in with the boys’ fear of walking alone on the island at night. Simon is the only one who can stand up to this fear, volunteering to go alone and sometimes getting caught walking alone at night. I know for sure that I would be right along with the other boys in having to have been in a group at all times.

Technology this Semester

Technology is developing and advancing rapidly in society today. Through out this semester I have become more aware of all the possibilities available on the World Wide Web. I’m not necessarily that interested in blogging or creating wiki pages for fun; however, through out high school and moving into college I believe this technology knowledge may come in handy. In this semester I enjoyed most of all the wiki pages. It was beneficial also with the new Smart Board in the classroom to be able to display our work to the whole class. Particularly with the videos it was definitely an attention grabber for all students. I wasn’t a big fan of this technology of hand but understanding how it may have importance in the near future I have changed my opinion.

"Daggers in Men's Smiles"

Still true in our society today, not necessarily for bad reasons although more often then not it is bad, are Macbeth’s words, “there are daggers in men’s smiles.” A few instances, in which this has been obviously true to me, have been in high school sports. Although to most people, high school sports have no importance soon after they graduate, during their high school years sports can be one of the most important things to them. My freshmen year volleyball season, I experienced at least two times when I saw “dagger’s in men’s smiles.” It was the last day of try outs, in the middle school gym; we were all waiting impatiently to see what team we made. We went individually to talk to the coaches to find out the results. It was my turn, so I went into the room, found out my team and then walked back out to everyone anxiously, waiting to hear what team I made. JV was the team I had made, but knowing that I didn’t want to go out boasting and bragging to everyone I tried to stay calm despite my bursting excitement. I knew that jealousy is common among all human beings, including myself, and although it’s not necessarily a bad thing there probably would be some coming from the other players. Knowing that, I prepared myself for any possible remarks I would receive. Many of the other players were genuine and excited for me but I could see that some were maybe not necessarilly really jealous but they definitely showed “daggers in there smiles.” They told me congratulations but with a slight hesitation, just trying to be nice. I knew I would have probably felt the same way so I was most definitely not mad but instead tried to be humble about it and not draw any attention to the fact. At the end of the season, playoffs came around and the varsity coach was looking for a few more players to fill the varsity spots. We all knew that it would be a couple of us players from our JV team but no one knew for sure who. Some of my teammates said they thought I would be one of them picked but being one of few freshmen on a mostly upper classmen team I didn’t think much of this and hoped the best for others. One day at practice I was called aside and told I was one being pulled up. I couldn’t help but smile but when other upper classmen didn’t get moved up and I did, “daggers in men’s smiles” were once again appearing. The fake smiles and forced congratulations were hard to except but like I said earlier I tried to keep the attention away anyways. I have never boasted about this and still now I’m not trying to bring attention to it but rather calling attention to the fact that “daggers in men’s smiles” are so common and not necessarily for horrible reasons but sometimes for simple, rather realistic reasons instead.