Category: Reading Log

“The Hate U Give” directed by George Tillman Jr, is a heartbreaking yet empowering story of a young girl named Starr and her experiences as she becomes the witness to her friend’s death (Khalil). From these traumatic experiences sprout the decisive task of how Starr goes about to obtain justice or not.

What I thought from this film is that Starr was surprisingly hesitant to be a voice to gain justice and speak up for Khalil. Personally, if it were me and one of my friends I would immediately stand for what is right without hesitating. It made me think a lot about how lucky I am to feel able to do this. How different a place and life I live in compared to Khali.  How so many things that I take for granted, simply do not exist in Khali’s life. 

I see the struggles of her split identities between schools, and from that, I can see how the power of judgement can really affect someone’s view of themselves. Seeing Starr break through this barrier presents to me how empowering the need for justice is. For something to be left unfair will sit in the back your mind until you can’t hold it in any more and you explode with the need for justice. This can be seen in the film when Starr lets go of her fear and reveals herself as the witness by yelling out to the public. She states, “We will not stop until the world sees it too.” This empowerment can be seen through the increase in low angles showing Starr’s strength of her voice in this scene where she speaks up to the crowd. The story inspires me to be brave and stand up for I believe in, for things that are important to me and not to be silent when things are unfair. “What’s the point of having a voice if you are going to be silent in those moments you shouldn’t be?” Starr says. 

Starr is brave and her character inspires others to speak out and stand up for the truth. No one should ever be restricted from speaking the truth. Seeing a girl such as Starr after many years of learning to stay quiet and not speak up for her own safety to stand up in the end against all fear and shout her truth is empowering. It is empowering to anyone, of any race, of any skin colour, of any gender, that equality and justice can be found when you speak up. I find the words her father gives her are the most impacting, “When you are ready to talk you talk. Don’t ever let nobody make you be quiet.” Teaching us that your voice is your own and you should never step down from your beliefs. An example of this in today’s current media is a 16-year-old girl Greta Thunberg. She has stood up for her beliefs of climate change to make a difference in this world. She has advocated her beliefs through the power of her voice and she has impacted our society in doing so. I find these representations of the power of using your voice encouraging to speak up and stand out in this world. Even though as teenagers we are young, our opinions still deserve the right to be heard because I believe a younger, fresh perspective and voice is what the world needs. 

This film deals with important racial issues that America and other countries continue to struggle with every day. Even the point where we learn that the cop has never struck out like this before and how it impacts on his life. The fact that he has been influenced by racial prejudice that he has brought up around. The reason for his actions stereotypes of black people causing him fear that caused him to shoot a young black man. I can’t imagine what it must be like living like Khali does in her life. I consider myself lucky to not have to deal with the racial issues that she lives with as part of her daily life. She says “When I was 12, my parents had two talks with me. One was the usual birds and bees, the other was about what to do if a cop stopped me” in the movie this refers to how her dad teaches her to put her hands on the dashboard of the car and not move if pulled over by a policeman. In America, African Americans are 2.5 times more likely to be shot than white people (study by Frank Edwards). The study showed that 1 in 1000 black boys will be killed by police in their lifetime. For white boys and men, the rate is 39 out of 100,000. This has also raised the question, is this because more black people commit crimes or do we just assume that based on taught racial bias? 

This is supported in the film when Starrs uncle, who is a cop, shares how he reacts in a situation. “As a cop, there are so many dangers going through your head”, and he outlines to us how if someone reaches into a car to grab something after you have asked them not to move, how easy it is to let yourself jump to conclusions. He states, “A lot goes through a cop’s mind when they pull someone over. … We run their licence and instruct them not to move. But if they open a door, or reach through an open window, they’re probably going for a weapon. So if I think I see a gun, I don’t hesitate. I shoot.” 

He then contradicts himself when she questions him about if they were white and he says “I’d say put your hands up,” rather than shoot. Coming from another cop we see that the police system is not the problem, it is not the odd person, it is the racial stereotypes that may have once occurred so now is believed forever. This is what truly must be fixed. The way people are taught to think and the way we are brought up living of the past history far too much.

So in regards to the cop who shot the boy, is it that his racist thought is what he may have grown up with and that he is not the real problem? It is the beliefs that are still being projected onto people from birth? This isn’t me believing he isn’t guilty, but what I think the film portrayed is that the true injustice in the world is the racial prejudice based on skin colour.

 This shows how unjust the world is when it comes to the racial outlooks and from this movie I have truly seen this as a real problem. The unfairness based on simply your skin colour makes such little sense for if you were to look a little deeper every person is the same no matter their race or the colour of their skin. The true message I think comes from this film is that no one should be told where they stand in this world based on the colour of their skin. 

The film ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, directed by Kenneth Branagh is based on Agatha Criste’s novel ‘Murder on the Orient Express.’ It is an enticing murder mystery story in which the overall theme of justice is tightly intertwined into the solving of one man’s death. The story depicts a detective known as “Hercule Poirot” and his hunger for justice as he solves one of the most unusual cases of murder. Only to discover that sometimes serving justice does not always come in the form of uncovering the truth, rather it is through what is truly fair.

Throughout ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ I believe that the idea of justice is tainted in the eyes of the law. Rather than being something the law wants to serve in order to balance all rights and wrongs, instead, it is a job that has been developed into something to just tick off with the answer seems most likely. The film states, “if we leave this to the police, they will choose a culprit, right or wrong, and they will hang him. Most probably Mr Marquez for no other reason than his name is Marquez. Or Dr Arbuthnot for the colour of his skin. You are the only one who can bring justice.” This quote in itself shows that justice has become morphed by opinion, prejudice and stereotypes which is why justice is rarely served by the law. For especially in the era this film was set there was huge racial discrimination and immediate blame went to anyone of another race. In history, we have seen how people were condemned for things just based on preconceived judgements. Killed because of their religion. Accused because of their colour. Witches burnt at the stake, often just woman who had learnt about natural healing methods. 

This is still seen today in society, so from this, I learn that with any opportunity in which I can stop a person being unrightfully accused of something I must not just brush off this chance to make a difference. We must not let the stereotypical ideas determine the conviction, instead, we must focus on facts presented to us and only facts. Hercules focuses on solving a crime based off facts rather than opinion his judgements do not sprout from his prior beliefs in the world and he is set out to solve a crime to prevent injustice for others who could be wrongly convinced. This crime-solving mindset that Hercules presents is inspiring and it teaches me the value of the truth. To not help reveal the truth is to equally commit the crime of wrongly convicting.

The characters in the film who all commit the crime of killing Lenfranco Cassetti, also known as Mr Ratchett in the film, portray a different perspective to the concept of justice and the idea of right and wrong. In a black and white case, we see a murderer as a murderer, they are evil and corrupt, therefore guilty and the bad guy. Yet colour is added to this black and white image as a deeper understanding and knowledge of motive and the past is developed. Justice can not be dictated by the basic act seen, which in this case would be that a man was murdered, it involves an understanding, and truly stepping into the person in question’s shoes. For if we were to accuse anyone who kills another person to be a crazed murderer deserving of punishment, what would happen to all the people classified under manslaughter? 

This is again bringing it back to how we look at something, whether we look at it black and white with little knowledge or whether you investigate to why. For example should a pure accident, which could’ve happened to anyone, with no direct intent be labelled off as an inhumane killer? Poirot in the film, for the first time in his career, we learn, must lie about the truth in order to balance the scales of justice as he learns of each person’s individuals grief and damage in which they have all experienced because of one man. This enforces the concept that true justice is in letting a person free to live the shackles of pain and grief unlocked through the death to a soul who did not deserve to live. Poirot describes the motive as “the benefit is, perhaps to the spirit, an ease of suffering.” Through close-ups of the characters faces, for example, Daisy’s aunt, we can see the first-hand emotional torture expressed in her face. This makes me truly feel for her, and their story and it changes my opinion on the victim (the man murdered) to think that even though he was killed is he really the victim. We understand that these people have suffered more than they deserved, they are not killers and the conviction of them as killers would not be universally fair. By understanding their hurt, guilt and torture we see that the person who should be guilty of any crime is the man who was murdered. The death of the bad guy (Cassetti) in itself was an act of justice for it gave balance to the world and to their lives, for now, they have hope of living again without fear. What I like about this film is that it is not just the typical one person murders another person.

 I find the fact that the murder was a group revenge murder interesting, as with each persons’ story connected to the death of the little girl Dasiy I can see how one action can have such chain reactions in this world. It is intriguing to see just how easily one thing can tear many peoples lives apart and even more fascinating how revenge and one death can build their lives back up again. I believe that this murder although will give the characters a sense of relief and revenge I do not believe much of the grieving trauma will actually leave and that they murdered Rachett in the hope it would end their grief. Poiret says “ there are no killers here, only people who deserve a chance to heal”

Overall the concept of justice is repeatedly enforced throughout this film to help us see that we must not let the sexist, racist or any form of prejudice dictate what justice is and only the facts of a crime should determine that. Along with the idea that no crime can be solved by staring at it blankly and only going surface deep for true meaning and answers comes from what caused the crime from within which will be the only way to dictate what is just or not. 

The story was partly inspired by the real-life case ‘The Lindberg Case”. A young boy was kidnapped and held to ransom. The ransom was paid but the child was never returned and eventually his body was found. 

The story also makes people think about their own child’s safety. How they would feel if this were to happen to them. It provokes them to think about how they would like to get revenge. In most cultures, the law prevents them from taking justice into their own hands. Or for most people, they just wouldn’t be able to commit a murder. We are taught two wrongs don’t make a right. I am glad that I don’t live in a society where revenge killings are commonplace or legal. As we can see from this story it would also be very easy to get it wrong and make a mistake. 

“A Study in Scarlet” written by A. Conan Doyle 

The book itself was captivating like many murder mystery books and definitely presented clear imagery throughout the text. Along with finding the text easy to follow, the investigation had intriguing cliff hangers and twists that made you want to read more. The book followed a layout in which Sherlocks story was told first and then the reasons behind the crime were told second in part 2. At first, I was confused by this and it took me a while to understand how part 2 was related but once I understood the connection I really enjoyed this layout. It made me fully change my opinion on the killer and it opened my eyes up to the concept about how important the whole story is and not to judge anyone before knowing their past. 

The first half of the text built the idea of revenge to serve justice to those who have done wrong. From the presentation of the word “rache” in the text, meaning revenge in german. We learn how justice is incorporated because the victims, in the eyes of the murderer, had committed an unjust action making them guilty and deserving of death in the killer’s eyes. 

Through many stories, this idea of revenge can come hand in hand with the idea of justice because many people believe that getting revenge is getting justice. I personally would not consider this to be true because revenge is much like fighting fire with fire or similar to the phrase, “two wrongs do not make a right.” Yet peoples connection to the unjust act, in this case, Jefferson Hope losing his loved one, dictates how he sees justice. I learn this from the text because in part one I viewed Jefferson Hope as the bad guy, the guy who had committed the crime of murder and I only saw him in the wrong and not the two victims, but when we are fed background information and are told things from the other side, in part 2 of the book, I find my whole perspective-changing. I felt bad for the character of Jefferson Hope, I developed hate towards the men killed, Dribbler and Strangerson, and I even started to see it much like Jefferson did, that they deserved to die. Therefore showing the power of perspective of justice in such a situation. The book states “what he knew to be justice” showing that one man’s justice varies from the next. If we had lived through these events that Jefferson Hope did then our opinion of what justice is can be easily changed or dictated by hate, anger and grief, which is what all of part 2 develops within the reader through understanding Jefferson’s perspective. This further shows how exposure to these emotions of hate, anger and grief can take over your mind, fuel your revenge for something and completely change your view on the world and the actions you take. Like they did for Jefferson, his life did not continue from that point onwards for his hate was so overpowering that even though he was living he was not moving on, as his head was only focused on getting justice and revenge. For the rest of his life, he thought of nothing else other than killing the two men because in his eyes the world would never be fair until they were dead.

This caused me to reflect on how you must be careful with these emotions and how much you let them take over your mind because if you allow them to they will consume your thoughts like an addiction as it did for Jefferson. “There is no satisfaction in vengeance unless the offender has time to realize who it is that strikes him, and why retribution has come upon him.” – Jefferson Hope. 

It makes me question the system of crime, for did Jefferson Hope really deserve to be made out as a bad guy? When the two men were far worse than him and all he was doing was solving a crime much like a detective would just in his own way. To me, it shows that the system of law is not the only force of justice in this world. Justice is always made out to be something obtained by a judge or given by police officers or detectives but what I learnt from this text is that the law only takes credit for justice and uses it as a way of making the law seem like the good guys. 

Jefferson Hope states in the final pages of the book, “You may consider me to be a murderer, but I hold that I am just as much of an officer of justice as you are.”  After this and looking back into the book I see how in some sense he is correct in saying he is no different. All Jefferson Hope has done is work to gain the justice that was never served. He trusts the universal power that he believes to be justice in many ways, such as giving himself the equal chance of death with the 50/50 chance of taking the wrong pill to prove that his doings of gaining justice were really correct. How would  I feel if I thought justice would never be served unless I took matters into my own hands. If I had no faith in the justice system that we have or so no hope of anything ever being done. Would I be tempted to take matters into my own hands? Luckily I live in a country with a robust legal system and a police force to call when needed. So I feel secure that I have a place to go to if needed, rather than take the law into my own hands. Unfortunately, not all parts of the world are the same in this area. Or within gangs in many parts of the world, it is considered the norm to deal with things themselves and take the law into their own hands. In 2006 58% of deaths in L.A, (newsweek Jan 2007) were gang-related. 

Jefferson accepts his own death as his punishment in order to balance justice in the world. It saddens me because through reading this book you know the whole story and you don’t see Jefferson as a bad guy but in the end, but for him to be made out like that by the law seems unfair because all he was doing was making the world a more fair place again when the law could not. I admit that I  was led to see him as the criminal in part 1. I saw him as the murderer and that any murderer is evil. But like I previously said after reading part 2 it made me realise how important the whole story is. In a modern-day courtroom we have the lawyers for the defendant and the prosecutor. Each is tasked with presenting each side of the story to help with the decision making of the jury. To give the full picture so they can ideally make a decision based on information from both points of view. Holmes would call this ‘the science of deduction”

My perspective was changed and I then felt sorry for Jefferson Hope and in some sense, I too, believed that Dribbler and Stragerson deserved death more than he did. Yet this was not shown to the public eye and Hope was made out to be the bad guy. I believe this can be seen in the real world, how often does the news only tell us what they want us to hear? They don’t want us to know that in any way that murder can be an act of true justice, for that could spread the wrong image. So instead in our world the everyday people who read or watch the news can be fed what the people of higher authority want us to hear or what is perceived as the right message. We see people on TV who are being convicted as drug addicts for example, and we frown because that is the acceptable reaction to hearing such things. We are told they made the wrong decisions in life. But sometimes you look into that person’s background and you find that the reason for their drug usage is they had no other choice, they were born into that and that was all they were taught with little opportunity to know any better. Then with that knowledge, we feel bad, we feel like they shouldn’t be in the wrong because when you know the whole story you see that maybe it isn’t true or they had no choice and were forced to do something. It has made me think about that if we/I want to own an individual opinion it’s important to not always go off what we have been told to believe or what we see on the surface of a situation but we must make our opinions based on what we know for a fact and find out the real background story because it the whole story that shows the real truth and the whole story. As Holmes puts it “There’s the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it.”

STATEMENT OF INTENT – I have written a piece of creative writing that describes a winter evening at a specific section of Lake Wanaka called Penrith Bay. I am going to develop a description of this scene using language techniques to convey an image in the readers’ mind. Through these descriptive language techniques using sight, sound and structure, I will develop the idea of time passing on a Sunday evening at the lake with the dogs yet winters beauty makes time seems frozen. Along with how a world surrounded by mountains can make you feel trapped but darkness opens all your surroundings. I want to convey the final idea of how beautiful moments are often easily forgotten about when we switch back to the reality of social media and our weekly routine work.

It is winter, evening sets into play over the lake. A painted reflection, icy and motionless, enclosed by snow-blanketed mountains channelling a gentle breeze against speckled rocky shores. Protruding rocks, ageless, weather-beaten and washed, decorate the lake like freckles on a face. A snowglobe for a world, in which time stands still. Nature stripped down to the bone, resting so silently you could assume it was dead. 

Listen. It is the gossiping whispers of naked branches, shivering roots like veins beneath the frozen earth. It is the wind humming to the chorus of the birds, harmonious and homebound the diurnal dance of notes that drift into a mere echo with the breeze. Soft splashing polishes the circumference of the lake, rocking small pebbles back and forth in a rhythmic pattern. 

It is Sunday evening. The beginning to the end of a week that always seems so long, signified by a setting sun. Over in the far corner huddles a family, at their feet glows flickering flames shouting out sparks, lighting up screams of joy. Vibrant giggles of children bounce off the lake like skipping stones of laughter, skimming along a stream of sunlight, from the base of the pointy giant’s silhouettes to the dogs splashing paws and claws. The glassy lake shattering instantly into thousands of concentric circles rippling from beneath furry bellies. Buzzing with excitement. Running. Rushing. Faster. Faster. Crunching pebbles beneath their paws, smoking like dragons with every breath.  From the second of the rumbling truck coughing to a start, they knew where they were going. Cantering like horses along the bays parabolic curve, carved out by the eternal erosion of history. Creepy crawlies scatter as sweaty noses snuffle into the frore grounds, away they run, chased by a slobbering pink wall licking up anything tasty in its path. Ancient eyes tower above the lake, peering over the energetic blur which the dogs present, a mere flicker in the eyes of a mountains life. A bark. A blur. A blink. An instant immediately lost to the forever preserved memory of the prehistoric landscapes. Beyond the borders of the snowglobe sneaks the sun, hiding behind snowy peaks, saying goodnight with one last rush of colour. Acrylic hues of blue, fluorescent purples and pinks drip from clouds, for a moment seeming almost touchable. Within seconds the clouds become faint. Colour drains from their rosy cheeks, washing away like water in a sink with no plug.

Look. It is the last light of day greeting the moon’s beaming smile to the sky. Rigid peaks traced by a silver glow, line the horizon and with the fall of night dissipates the enclosing blue dome to an expanse of darkness. Natures clock sets in over the wildlife, once energetic dogs fall to a routine like an alarm signifying the end to playtime. Their soaked, shaggy coats frost over as temperatures plummet rapidly with the passing day. Slowly the shadows melt away, consumed by creeping darkness chasing the light away. Children of starlight come out to play, flickering with laughter and joy, slowly one by one they take their place in the playground of the gloaming sky. It is the abandoned burning embers left to die, the final glow mirroring glittering eyes of stardust.  

Soon you will find yourself in a place unrecognisable. A whole new world, yet you are looking into the same space as before. Surroundings that continue endlessly like a desert of darkness, letting you only see a few feet ahead. Eventually finding yourself back where you began. Panting labradors in the boot, the chuffing warm heaters blowing in your face, defrosting your body chasing away the shivers and goosebumps. The frozen world is suddenly disregarded into the night as your glowing face becomes defined by a hypnotising blue light between your hands that consumes your every thought. A once in a lifetime experience, never to occur again, only recorded down in history with a simple text answer of, “Yes mum, I have walked the dogs!” And with that, the moment passes and the world seems to press play. Reality has kicked in as Monday morning planning creeps back into your mind. 

Agatha Christies novel “Murder is Easy” awakened me to the different perspectives of justice, in which I find most intriguing in the book. Honoria Waynflete was so insane in the head she led herself to believe she was being just. In comparing this to Luke, who is a detective, he is literally down there to solve the crime and figure out the murder as his sense of justice. What I find interesting about this is why he chose to do that. He had no connection to anyone in this small town other than meeting a little old lady from the town, yet he decided to go there to solve a crime that could be all tales. This makes me wonder why he would do that. Does gaining justice give him a sense of good doing or was he just bored and found a task like this entertaining? Because then if you look at it, Luke began his trip using the misfortune of a small town to fuel his fun so why is he the good guy? Lord Whitfield, on the other hand, believes God is the conductor of justice and that he is eternally good so whenever anyone does wrong by him they are bad. “ God kills people that do him harm, dispensing diving justice upon wrongdoers” 

As the death’s start occurring in the town they follow this theme of having offended Lord Whitfield so he believes that their deaths are justice and it is their fault for offending him, so they have brought their deaths upon themselves. “The righteous men’s enemies are struck down! Look yesterday. That fellow abuses me … And what happens? Where is he today? … Dead!” Lord Whitfield explains how justice is a force of life and if you are good and almighty God will make sure your enemies fall. All their three different beliefs come under justice, and they each hold their own opinion on what it is. 

Luke initially thinks Mr Ellsworthy is the killer because of his mental instability. In life people often make assumptions about people based on their look, colour, background, upbringing, odd behaviour. Surely he must be crazy to do something like that is the thinking. Assumptions which are not always correct. If a person is badly dressed we often assume they are poor. If they are black, more likely to commit a crime? As males are statistically more likely to commit murder than a woman it is also natural to suspect a male before a woman So it is not surprising that Luke thinks this of Mr Elsworthy, However after listening to Lord Whitfield talking about God’s divine retribution, he changes his mind and suspects him instead. 

Eventually, he discovers that in fact Honoria Waynflete is the real murderer and it was retribution for Lord Whitfield abandoning her and jilting her. In fact, she has encouraged the beliefs that Whitfield has about people dying by gods hand and at the same time trying to frame him for murder. A clever ploy and something that we see in real life, where one person prey’s on others weaknesses, messing with their mind. 

I found this novel intriguing as you never hear anyone admit to murder is an easy thing to do. This concept shocks me as murder is hardly portrayed in this way, as such a simple deed, because it shouldn’t ever be and the fact that Ms Waynflete found it so easy is frightening to me. It shows she’s mentally corrupt and that people can be deranged to the point where they can kill lots of people without feeling anything and to me this is a whole new level of inhumanity that scares me knowing anyone could hold these traits.  

The novel did not give any of this away till the very last chapters and much of the story was a suspenseful investigation that kept me intrigued trying to guess the murder along with Luke the detective. But what I learnt is that even though Ms Waynflete was old, batty and downright crazy, she was doing this as a revenge to send him to jail or get him sentenced to death. She felt she was doing the right thing and was serving justice by making Lord Whitfield suffer because he made her suffer. This is understood when Ms Waynflete explains her plans to Bridget, “He should suffer for committing a lot of crimes of which he was quite innocent.  He should be a murderer! He should be hanged for my crimes.” Ms Waynflete revenge for Lord Whitfield jilting her, in her mind was her getting justice because she believed he was evil and patronised her so must get back at him. This is interesting to see as I learn that justice is a belief and if you were to look into her perspective it would seem like she is doing the right thing. 

What I learnt from the characters is that the answer to what defines justice comes from only what you think. Someone who is mentally messed up is going to have a very messed up version of justice just like Ms Waynflete. What you chose to believe is just or fair is up to you even though justice is this supposed to be overruling concept of right or wrong, what murder is easy teaches us is that depending on the person their definition of justice is different. 

I find this adaptability of justice frightening because the characters in this novel are so set on what they are doing is right and that stubbornness is what always causes problems in the real world. In the real world, we hear of mass shootings and the characteristics that most frequently occur in the person doing them are males who are often hopeless and harbouring grievances that are frequently related to work, school, finances or interpersonal relationships, feeling victimized and sympathising with others who they perceive to be similarly mistreated. They have an indifference to life and they believe that what they are doing is right or needs to be done. Revenge, justice, they don’t see that what they are doing is wrong. 

If you actually think about it makes you question what is a right or a wrong or is there only an opinion and what you believe. It makes me doubt my own idea of justice, the things that I find acceptable, are they actually just? Or is it just the way that I have been brought up creating my opinion because that is all I have known? At the same time I am really glad that I do have beliefs about what is justice and right and wrong that I do have. I wouldn’t want to be the sort of person who was consumed with plotting revenge. The values that have been instilled in my family are what I believe to be good ones. 

This story does suggest to the reader how easily the concept of justice could be reshaped and formed to suit an individual and without the presence of the law which creates the overall perception of what is just, then this term justice could mean anything and murder can even become justifiable – easy in fact.