Review

Pozzo took me to a new restaurant last night, the Snuggly Duckling. After we left the men at the tree who were waiting for a man names "Godot", Pozzo needed to eat. Those men were very strange. Pozzo seemed to think the same. I carry his purse and luggage because it was an overnight journey. He sat at a lavish table and I stood beside him. Slaves do not sit unless they are told. Pozzo orders the house special, and has to wait a very long time before he can eat. Once the food arrived, it was cold because the waiter forgot about it. Pozzo was not very happy. The chicken he ordered was also disgusting. I nodded and retrieved the waiter in question. Pozzo proceeded to chide the young man. I realized he was a slave as well. Suddenly, Pozzo explodes from his seat and leads me out. He vowed to never return to the Snuggly Duckling again, and would condemn the name for forever.

Playlist

Here are a few of my favorite songs:

With Or Without You- U2
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/u/u2/with+or+without+you_20141437.html
This song describes the relationship between myself and my master, Pozzo. I have spent 60 years with him, serving him, living to obey his commands. Many times he has told me that I could not live without him, but I know that he would not live without me. "He's got me with nothing to win and nothing left to lose" is my favorite line. I have no life outside of Pozzo. There is nothing I could gain from continuing my frail existence as a servant, but Pozzo needs me. I wait for the day when I am free from the leash that tethers my life to Pozzo's.

Time- Billy Porter
http://www.sweetslyrics.com/522064.Billy%20Porter%20-%20Time%20.html
Time is how we measure the days, the years of our lives. But time is not just the seconds that tick away our lives- it is the air we breathe and the beat of our hearts. Pozzo, my master, holds tightly to his perception of time. His watch is his greatest crutch, and that kind of time will die someday. I have no care to know what "time" it is. As long as there is air in my lungs, I have time for change, time to care. I have time to change and grow, the hope for an eternity. I do not view death as an end of time, just a moment where our souls are free from the prison of our bodies.

Straightjacket Feeling- All American Rejects
http://www.metrolyrics.com/straightjacket-feeling-lyrics-all-american-rejects.html
I ask myself often if I chose to be caught in my own net of slavery.  Pozzo has been in control of my life for... well, all of my life.  My mouth is permanently shut because I am not allowed to speak. I wonder if I can speak.  "You're the problem and you can't feel" speaks to me because Pozzo does not understand what a burden he is to me.

Drive- Incubus
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/incubus/drive.html
Throughout my life, I have found myself tied to my master. I have nothing, and know nothing except that he is my master. Thoughts cross my mind occasionally about taking my own life into my own hands. This song reminds me that I should be the one behind the wheel and that I can welcome the unknown with open arms. However, I do not think I would have the courage to ever step away from Pozzo.

Name- Goo Goo Dolls
http://www.lyrics007.com/Goo%20Goo%20Dolls%20Lyrics/Name%20Lyrics.html
I have seen Pozzo through his best and worst times. While he was a younger man, he was ambitious and never let a moment pass him by. He comments that he wanted to be much more than he is now. His reputation is very important to him, and he boasts about his few great accomplishments. I think of how the past is never far, but sometimes we lose ourselves in our memories and forget to live in the moment. I was forced to grow up too fast, all alone inside my head. I would not betray Pozzo by ruining the image he has of himself.

White Shadows- Coldplay
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/coldplay/whiteshadows.html
Sometimes I am angry with my plight. I try to listen, and I do the best to act as directed, but I used to think I was just as human as Pozzo. Learning that I was permanently shackled to Pozzo was surprisingly easy. It is my calling in life to be a slave, to serve my master and please him. This realization destroyed my determination to leave. Perhaps, if I am loyal, I will be rewarded someday.

Narrative Gap

Today I am walking with my master, Pozzo. He does not know how to pack lightly. I feel as though my arms are going to fall of due to the immense weight of his bags. My neck is raw from Pozzo tugging on my leash. I must put these bags down. I collapse. Pozzo stops and turns only to sneer at me. "Get up, Lucky. I will not ask you again." The hair on my neck stands on end and immediately I am bitten by the ice in Pozzo's voice. With clenched teeth, I pick myself up, and carefully position Pozzo's bags on my body so that my arms will not get so tired. Pozzo humphs impatiently. I nod, and we walk again.

Pozzo walks very quickly. I ache to know when we are going to stop, so that I may rest. Pozzo does not speak, only walks forward through the field. We have been walking for almost six hours, and my aged bones groan under the weight of his luggage. The dried wheat around us cracks under my weight, crunching with each step. Pozzo never seems to tire.

The watch in Pozzo's hand ticks mechanically. His grip on the tiny time-teller is so tight his knuckles lose their color.
"Lucky, I am feeling tired. I am going to stop at that tree in the next field over. Come now."
At last, we are going to rest. Or rather, he is going to rest and I will get to catch my breath. I am content as I walk, walking exactly in my master's footsteps. I recall of the the places I have followed Pozzo, and I am dumbfounded. The memories to not come to my mind. I must be old.

A great tree enters into my view, but Pozzo does not seem to notice. Does he see the tree? Did he mean to stop at this tree or the next? I must speak. We must stop. Overwhelmed, I freeze. Pozzo yanks on the leash. "Come, we are almost there." I begin to smile, but stop myself. Pozzo prefers that I do not smile.

The wheat ends and the tree is in full view. Two men sit at the base, one unlacing his boots and the other saying puzzling things. They do not seem to be friends, but why else would they be together?

Pozzo drags me to them, and he demands to know why they are on his land. The conversation does not last long, and ends abruptly.

Background

Hello, my name is Lucky. I am a slave to my master Pozzo, who does not like for me to speak. Even though I love to think and would very much like to share my ideas, Pozzo prefers that I dance. I write this blog in secret from him so that I can tell you about my life, why I am a slave, what my master does, and the other strange people that I have met.

My life has been very fulfilling, and I have become accustomed to being Pozzo's slave. I do not remember a time before my days of servitude, but I know that I was not always a slave. Have I chosen to be shackled to Pozzo for the rest of my life? How was I convinced to allow myself to wear shackles? I often wonder what would happen if I disobeyed. The leash around my neck is not hard to take off, and I have thought about taking it off many times. Maybe someday Pozzo will give me my freedom.

Final Post

I have a love-hate relationship with blogging. Being able to share my personal views in such a public way without having to be personally involved with the reader is very appealing. Although sometimes it is hard to think of the right way to organize my thoughts, it is really interesting to think about the people that blog professionally.  Their job is to have their finger on trends and to know what people want to read about. They are entertainers, writers, and celebrities all at once. My experience writing this blog in particular has opened my eyes how the internet can be used as a public journal, and that other people had the same thoughts I did pertaining to certain topics. On the downside, I didn't feel knowledgable enough to blog on a regular basis. With all of the research that I'm sure goes in to each blog, having a popular blog takes a lot of effort. I enjoyed being a "blogger" for a month, and I will certainly start following blogs that interest me.

The bloggers I chose to follow were all concerned with civil rights and equality. In casual, everyday life, our society believes that certain types of inequality are acceptable. "The Inequality Map" by David Brooks is the list of what types of social inequality are acceptable and which ones are not. His humorous approach to the subject conveys an unattachment to the subject, although the use of sarcasm makes the reader not feel guilty if they practice a certain type of social inequality. This is similar to my last post asking "Is social inequality addictive?" This post by Daniel Dorling talks about the ironic want for utopia while we, as Americans, live in a constant state of inequality. We are desensitized to the inequality around us. Paul Krugman, author of "We are the 99.9%", also writes about not taking steps toward equality. The rich 0.1% seem to be exempt from the current recession because the government seems to think that their jobs are too important to have their salaries cut. All of these posts relate to each other. The authors all felt the need to announce to the public that inequality of any kind is not acceptable, but the issue is ignored. The truth we face is that total social equality is not possible, but there are many steps that we are able to take in that direction. Think twice before you judge, because we're all just people trying to make it through the day. Everyone deserves that much respect.

Fourth Post

Inequality is all around us; in our schools and workplaces, on television and covers of magazines. If we are not careful, we may wake up to find that inequality is in our homes as well. But is true equality even possible? Communism and Socialism have proven to be unsuccessful, the United State's capitalist government has made a point to make sure that no one is on the same level. The human race is slowly falling into a black hole of unhappiness. So much time and energy is wasted on climbing the social ladder, that there is not any left to spend on the things that really matter. Divorce and suicide rates have sky rocketed in the last ten years. How can we expect to fix the economy if our home lives are broken beyond repair? There is balance in everything, and if we can remember to take the time to spend with our loved ones, work will fall into place because your priorities are in their proper order. Distractions from the media will only hinder us more, and cause more unhappiness than we can bear. Let us not squander the precious time that we have be given and spend time with our families.

Is social inequality addictive? ... by Daniel Dorling

http://policypress.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/is-social-inequality-addictive/

Daniel Dorling asserts that we, as humans, crave inequality- that it is, in fact, addictive. Explaining that the most unequal countries may be among the most rich, but that other countries are set up much differently. Those other countries are home to people who live longer, consume and pollute less, experience less crime, trust each other more, stay with families more often, invent more things, eat less meat, take less drugs, drink less and so on.  His portrayal of these "rich, equitable" countries make the United States sounds like a sort of villain compared to these utopias. An anecdote is placed at the introduction of the blog in order to give the reader something to connect the author's point to. How is inequality as addictive as smoking? Dorling's use of humor such as "Even the trains run on time more often!" is an example of those utopias again. The concluding paragraph asks several rhetorical questions mostly having to do with America's intelligence level. Each rhetorical device persuades the reader to think about how desensitized to inequality they are personally.

The author's tone throughout is somewhat degrading on one's own country. The tone gets lighter as the author describes places that are not the United States or the United Kingdom (the countries with the most inequality). His purpose in writing this blog is to make his readers aware that social inequality is not normal, we are just so used to it that we don't bat an eyelash when we see these inequalities not being stood up for. The audience is meant to be for a young reader, teen-aged to mid-20's. The author's syntax and word choice is slightly more conversational, which reads well to younger non-professionals. Dorley wants to help his readers stop overlooking inequality.