Is Hamlet Overrated?

If people have heard of Shakespeare, then they have probably heard of Hamlet. Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most well known plays, but I honestly feel as though the play is just like any other tragedy that Shakespeare has written. In Romeo and Juliet, two lovers at the top of the social ladder fall to their demise at the end of the play (in a rather disappointing manner, in my opinion). In Othello, the affluent hero dies once again with plenty of blood spilled at the end. This is the structure for all of Shakespeare’s tragedies, so I didn’t really find Hamlet unique in its plot.

I didn’t know the “skull scene” was a well known part of the play until after I watched it in class. However, I didn’t realize its significance on the first read. After a second look, there is symbolism that I didn’t notice before. Shakespeare plays require a lot of analytical reading, especially with the archaic words. Even so, I do acknowledge the literary value his work contains. When I first read The Winter’s Tale, classified as one of Shakespeare’s comedies, I had a sudden realization of Shakespeare’s genius. The way he had planned every little detail from the beginning of the play to create an unexpected ending (Hermione’s statue coming to life) really made me appreciate his writing. So, although I did not enjoy the plot of Hamlet, I won’t deny the literary value that came from the symbolism and meaningful soliloquies.   

What Happens in Tokyo After Midnight?

After Dark, by Haruki Murakami, was an overall easy read with the relatively simplistic sentence structure. However, I didn’t really enjoy the content of the book. The story took place in the exciting city of Tokyo, but chose to focus on the lonely hours between midnight and dawn. The point of view seems omniscient, but readers do not gain insight to the thoughts of the characters- only through their actions. The nighttime seemed to create a balance between reality and fantasy. Mari’s interactions with other characters are perfectly normal, while her sister Eri’s transport into a room of another dimension within her TV is completely surreal.

I think the only gripping scene for me was when Mari helped the injured Chinese prostitute at a love hotel. Maybe it was through the violence of it all, but the story seemed to progress much faster during that part of the plot. After that scene, the story just kept on getting more eerie. The man who abused the prostitute also turns out to be the man who stares at Eri Asai through a TV screen/weird transport portal. There also seemed to be random scenes interspersed throughout the story- characters buying milk, or a creepy man working alone in a dimly lit office, or shots of a soundly sleeping Eri and a flickering TV screen. Perhaps the scenes were symbolic, but in my opinion, these parts detracted from the underlying meaning of the story. I felt like I was reading about observations that had been made from surveillance cameras placed in very personal locations.

Banning "The Most Dangerous Game"

I’ve never really understood why people would want to ban books. Sure, some graphic or violent books may instill fear in young children, but they have to first be old enough to understand them. Banning books goes into the controversial area of censorship. Sarah Timme is a Colorado mom who wishes to remove “The Most Dangerous Game” from her son’s reading list. She believes that the concepts in the story results in more violence in those that read it. However, banning books or stories such as “The Most Dangerous Game” does not solve the issue of violence. The solution to violence is for people to be educated about the consequences of their actions, not to be censored from those ideas.

In high school, I really don’t see the point of banning books at all. I feel like by then, most people would have matured enough to understand the controversial topics that are often banned. Besides, I’m sure the internet contains much more debatable content than the words in a book. Also, many of the banned books actually teach morals- the more repulsive the content, the more people are repelled by the concepts in the book (especially in books with more violent themes).

A Review of "Salem"

I’ll admit that a play containing puppets did not sound very appealing at first. However, I’m glad puppets were included because I now appreciate the entertainment that came with the expressive hand movements. I thoroughly enjoyed all the well-placed comedic elements. I don’t know if this was intentional, but I liked how the shadows of the puppets created a show of their own when people went on the podium.

After the play ended, the Q&A session made me realize just how challenging acting with puppets can be. Puppets can only have one facial expression, so the movement of the head and body has to be exaggerated for the audience to understand the emotions. The top of the hand also has to stay still and only the thumb can move the mouth. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have to act expressively vocally and physically while constantly matching the words with the puppet’s mouth.

There were some parts that I found confusing or random. For one, the janitor (I forget his name) just suddenly decides he wants to commit suicide. I thought that was thrown in rather abruptly. Also, the vortex seemed like a weak idea to resolve all the conflicts and tie up all loose ends. However, the humor made up for these slight flaws.