It Matters

Authors Note- For the Veteran's Essay this year the prompt was "Does Patriotism Still Matter?" I was going for the idea of, all of the privileges we have from it, and that even if we can't repay someone their life, we can honor the others that are still here. This is my essay response to it.


The flag waving hello back to you. Flying high in the sky, snapping loudly sometimes, to remind us again it’s still there. Looking up at it before a sporting event, always in the spot light, never in the dark, knowing we are safe to fight through our game, while someone else fights in theirs. Seeing through the white stars of purity, to the blue sometimes said to stand for patriotism. The national anthem is played before every game, what if one game it wasn’t? It wouldn’t be right. The game might still go on, but everyone would know that something was wrong.

Before every sporting event, we play the national anthem, look up to the flag waving in the sky and put our hand over our heart in honor. This honor is patriotism. At the beginning of every school day, we say the pledge of allegiance in respect. This respect is patriotism. While we are at school, or at a game, there are people off fighting for us. We need to appreciate this more, our freedoms. The least we can do is honor them, and show respect for them.

Patriotism, can come in different ways. The way we honor it, can also come in different ways. Everyone always wants to be thanked for what they did. When something is sacrificed, it shouldn’t go unnoticed. If someone does you a favor, you thank them or repay them. We can’t repay the people that have lost their lives for us, or what they have gone through, but we can help, by at least thanking them.

Imagine a world without love for our country. Imagine a world without heroes saving our country. Imagine a world without loyalty towards our country. Now imagine where we would live if this was true. Without, we would all be separate, there would be no united in The United States of America. It is one of the most important principles of a country. If patriotism didn’t matter, what would?

"What doesn't kill, me makes me stronger." Nietzche

 Author's Note: Our class today, we had to write a response to the book Fahrenheit 451. The ideas that we responded to were:  

"What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger." Nietzche How would you say that this quote could be applicable to the actors from the most recent part of the novel for Montag? or

Discuss the death of Beatty. Explain how it was undertaken, and the significance of the event including the connection to any of the subthemes of the novel. I combined the two ideas, because they were really connected ideas to me. I think that this book, has some sub themes, of goodness can turn bad and end up burning you, like fire, and that you are, and become different people that, you really aren't. This is my response to these prompts.

A fire burning on the surface, burning away your skin, watching the flame grow, spreading across you. Underneath, blood now boiling below. Hot blood traveling through your veins, connecting, your body, as one. Its burnt. Now dead, although still traveling through your body, making you stronger, making your veins tougher, to tolerate this dead blood. Its still yours, expired, but a necessity for you to live.

"His throat tasted of bloody iron and there was rusted steel in his feet." Page 126. It travels through your body. Reaching your head, reaching your fingertips, reaching your feet. "Montag did not hear, he was far away, he was running with his mind, he was gone, leaving this dead soot-covered body to sway in front of another raving fool." page 118 Your head, with your hands and feet get all mixed up, you cant control your hands with your feet. Your feet keep you walking, walking away from Beatty to leave for someone else. Just like at any other fire, turning your back, as you walk away, the wind might pick up those ashes and drop them back on you, unknown to you that your carrying that extra weight, because you didn’t take the time to look back at the sun rising.

When you are little, you are always afraid of the dark, that it would hurt you somehow. As you keep going into it, a little bit further, and further, you get used to it. Now the dark doesn’t seem as bad, it just seems silly that you used to be afraid of it, but you still are a little bit. Everything is better in the light, except fire. It is a light of its own, but it burns so it turns to darkness. We all start out as a flame and we grow older, we find new space to expand into. The books gave Montag new space, and his flame was huge, hot and hard to control. He couldn’t control it so he burnt down everything in his path, including Beatty. After you burn something, it doesn’t grow back, it dies into darkness, also where you are when your flame goes out.

"God, thought Montag, how true! Always at night the alarm comes. Never by day! Is it because fire is prettier by night? More spectacle, a better show?" page 39

When you make something, it is easier to see what you are doing under the sunlight. In the darkness, you can't see what it actually looks like, you can just imagine, searching into the shadows but not finding an answer. We always have to put different faces on, and enjoy the show. At first Montag cant feel and doesn’t know what is real. He gets burnt down throughout his life, but he doesn’t feel the pain, it just keeps burning his skin away. Now a tough black layer, protecting him. His blood is still burnt, and traveling through him, but he learned to use this blood, and be as strong as he can. When that blood got to his head though, it was dead, so death was inside of him, and becomes Beatty. "That's the good part of dying; when you've nothing to lose, you run any risk you want." page 85. His body is already dead, so there is a whole new darkness for him to explore.