Winters have the ability to drastically change moods globally, as it’s a time of celebration, holiday cheer, and hot chocolate. People are usually a lot happier in this season, because of the prospect of vacation and coziness. This is also one of the best seasons to spend with a significant other, because of the parties and winter activities.
In Let it Snow, a charming compilation of three short holiday romance stories, by bestselling authors John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle, the epitome of holiday relationships is depicted in the three interconnected plots. Three unexpected couples manage to find love at a mundane Waffle House in the middle of a snowstorm in the small town of Gracetown. The first story, “Jubilee Express”, by Maureen Johnson, begins with the main character, Jubilee, whose parents got arrested with innocent intentions. Of course this would happen on Christmas Eve, her and her boyfriend’s anniversary, but her boyfriend seems to be more worried about his family’s Christmas party. Jubilee is forced to take a train to her grandparents, which is momentarily stopped by a huge snowstorm, where she takes refuge in a nearby Waffle House. The second story, “A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle”, by John Green, starts out with three friends, Tobin, JP, and the Duke. It traces their journey to the Waffle House, struggling through a snowstorm, to bring cheerleaders a game of Twister to play, with hopes f winning their hearts. Despite hard external obstacles they need to overcome, Tobin and JP throughout their adventure struggle internally with emerging feelings for each other. The last story, “The Patron Saint of Pigs”, by Lauren Myracle, follows Addie with regrets of cheating on her boyfriend, Jeb. In an attempt to obtain and keep a pig for her friend, she meets with the other main characters from the previous two stories who lead her to Jeb and recount the tales of the Waffle House. All three of the authors use the symbolism of the Waffle House to show the connections between all of the three stories. It is the only place within miles that has a working heater in the massive snowstorm. Since this is where the couples discovered love, it represents the loving warmth and happiness of a relationship within the coldness of winter and their previous conflicts with love. Also, the same settings help convey that everyone has their own story. If we, as readers, had only read the first book, we would have only focused on the main character finding love, and generally disregarded the characters that were mentioned less. However, with all three plots based in the same Waffle House, we are forced to realize the importance and complexity of everybody’s lives. Everyone is a main character in their own story, even though they may be less significant in others.
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Technology created a new era of humanity, where free time is spent watching Netflix, scrolling through Instagram, texting, or online shopping. Basically any task can be completed through the use of technology, where we can have instant gratification, such as getting homework answers, communicating, and even dating. New inventions and innovations are made every day, making life easier to live without even leaving the bed. But people who experienced life before such efficient technology was readily available carry memories of libraries instead of google, written cards instead of texts and evites, hanging out with friends instead of staying in to watch Stranger Things, and being able to eat dinner without everyone checking their phones every 5 seconds.
Fahrenheit 451, a provocative novel written by Ray Bradbury in 1953, transcends social relevance of the 20th century, emphasizing the destructiveness of technology’s elevated role. It centers around a futuristic world where it is a crime to act in any way that isn’t quick and efficient, such as reading or going for a walk. The menacing dystopian tale is a terrifying prediction for the potential impact of technology on society. The story begins with middle-aged Guy Montag, a “firefighter” whose job is to burn books, which are considered evil. The fire department uses the Mechanical Hound to locate criminals with stashes of books. In this society, people are dependent on speed, television, and radio. They find nature, books, and independent thinking to be useless and inefficient. Interacting with a peculiar teenage girl, Clarisse McClellan, whom endlessly questions Montag and society, helps him realize the discontent he has with this life. His discontent grows, as does the concern of people around him, such as his distant, robotic wife, Mildred. Captain Beatty, of the fire department, also senses his unhappiness and lectures Guy about the history of book offending people and how they are better off with instant pleasure and uniformity. Montag confides in an English professor, Faber. He encourages reading, and together, they come up with an elaborate plan to reintroduce books into their society. The rest of the book follows Montag and climaxes as he undergoes a series of betrayals. The rest of the book is addictively exciting, which would be a crime in itself to spoil. However, Bradbury successfully develops Montag’s character dynamically in a race to help the future of mankind. He also mastered the skillful integration of fire throughout the novel as an evolving symbol for Guy Montag. Initially, he viewed it positively, as necessary to the control of their society’s evilness. Firefighters were motivated to use fire when “A problem gets too burdensome, then into the furnace with it… clean, quick, sure; nothing to rot later" (109). Then, once he becomes more literary, he realizes its destruction and censorship of uniqueness and a more authentic way of life. Towards, the end, he realizes that the fire can be used as warmth, and resembles rebirth after war, for the reconstruction of society. When he gets out of the river he tiredly experiences “A strange fire, because it meant a different thing to him. It was not burning it was warming” (188). The evolution of fire shows that certain objects can be used positively or negatively, and the knowledge and wisdom of literature helped Montag find a positive way to hone fire. This compares to Beatty who uses his limited knowledge to destroy, because he is too ignorant and stubborn to understand the true benefit of books. Bradbury has made social ignorance a central theme throughout many of his works, such as “The Pedestrian”, “The Fireman”, and this novel, Fahrenheit 451. The most powerful parts of the book are the ones where he eerily showcases the majority of society as ignorant, robotic, and self-destructive, with very few aware characters. “Stuff your eyes with wonder, he said, live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” This novel may be decades old, but its message is still incredibly eye-opening, and contributes to Ray Bradbury’s domination in Sci-Fi dystopian literature. |
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