Topic: ‘Seeing’ Culture
Source: Shakespeare Hamlet in relation to how it is applied
in 1st world countries vs 2nd and 3rd world
countries.
Relation: This weeks “lesson” was on Shakespeare, while coincidently
one of my friends was writing a major paper on Hamlet.
Description: Hamlet is by far one of the most discussed
books in history, and ironically it is often misinterpreted as a story filled
with teenage angst. So my mind was blown for the first time when I found out
that Hamlet would have been in his mid-thirties. Then after reading Conformity
and conflict I had my mind blown again by the following line.
“The poison Hamlet’s mother drank was obviously meant for
the survivor of the fight, whichever it was. If Laertes had won, the great
chief would have poisoned him, for no one would know that he arranged Hamlet’s
death. Then, too, he need not fear Laertes’s witchcraft; it takes a strong
heart to kill one’s only sister by witchcraft.” (pg.31)
Analysis: Culture is often considered to be not only local, but
generational. Meaning that the localized culture of a single generation will
often be different from the next generation in the same area; this often messes
with the mind, but one also has to consider items that are not generational,
but everlasting. Hamlet is one of those works, It can be continually updated
and modified to help express itself. But having other ages, and other cultures
look at the same work we come up with vastly different answers for why something
was put into the play, or its purpose in the play. With the above quote out of
Conformity and Conflict I had my mind blown. In my life I would have never been
shrewd enough to remove all obstacles to my power. But the tribe from which
that quote comes from shows us that being shrewd to not only protect oneself
but ones family was of higher priority than what many of us view as an attempt
to kill a stepson. Having a mind that isn’t as focused on self-preservation is
a unique gift. I will freely admit that under normal circumstances I will
always look to finish a problem with the least amount of hassle possible (eg. I’d
stab hamlet myself forget making someone else do it for me). But with the view
presented in the book; I was given a view of how someone besides myself would
have solved the problem had they been in the position of wanting to kill
Hamlet.
Now that I’m done discussing Hamlet I’m going to return to
reading books that don’t make my head hurt.
