William Goldberg 813
The book "The Returned" features an organization called "The International Bureau of the Returned" who try to keep the world orderly when people start to "return" from the dead. Many people are a part of this organization making it so that many people that deal with returned people have differing points of view.
There are some people in the organization who decide to deal with the supposed zombies as if they're terrible creatures that need to be dealt so appropriately. One of these people is Colonel Willis. He talks to them only to get the information he needs, not to help them in a time of great need. He also patrols the town of Arcadia for the Returned specifically to be the one that puts them in jail. In this case, jail would be a school in Arcadia that was taken over by the army to be used as a prison for the Returned. He takes his job too seriously and doesn't take in the matter of specific circumstances. For example, when Jacob (a returned kid) and his father, Harold, are sitting by the lake and not doing anything, Willis captures them and after a trial takes place, puts them into the prison. Willis is one of the top men in the Bureau, proving that others think like him.
Then there is the other, more preferable side (in my opinion) to the situation. Some in the organization actually treat the Returned like human beings. One person who does this is Agent Martin Bellamy. Bellamy tries to help the people he interviews about their death or the death of their loved one. This includes when he talks to Jacob's family, he doesn't just interview them and then leave their lives forever, he still talks to them and still tries to help them with their struggles. He understands normal people and their problems. He doesn't go out and try to find Returned to imprison. He's one of the few people like this in the Bureau. At least, it seems this way.
In conclusion, I believe that people in the International Bureau of the Returned have opposing views on how to handle the Returned. If people just always acted like Martin Bellamy in the book, and in real life (no prejudice towards a group of people), then somethings in the world today would just evaporate, some for the good, and some for the bad.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Samuel Cohen-Eckstein
William Goldberg 813
Recently, in the small well-off neighborhood of Park Slope, a tragedy almost too saddening to describe occurred. At roughly 5:15pm on October 8th 2013, 12 year old Samuel Cohen-Eckstein was struck by a van at the intersection of Prospect Park West and 3rd street. Needless to say, many in the area are grieving for this unlucky child. Sam was running into the street in order to get a ball that had rolled away from him. Supposedly, when he got to the ball he tripped and fell on his back right when the dreaded van decided to come along and drive over his body. It was not a hit and run, the driver stayed there and didn't drive off. It's depressing to think that if Sam hadn't tripped he'd most likely still be here with us today. But death found its way, and it always will. Sammy was bouncing the ball against a Prospect Park monument near the entrance. He was only a month away from having his bar mitzva for which he had been preparing for months. He was pronounced dead at Methodist Hospital on arrival from excessive torso damage. As a once close friend of Sammy, I too am one of the grievers.
It's hard to believe how quickly a bar mitzva can turn into a funeral. How one second life is there and is under your grasp, and then another it slips away and leaves you in the darkness. What were his final words? His last thoughts? Did he think that he was going to die? If so, what did he think the effects would be on his friends and family as well as the community he was a big part of? These are all questions that are left in the mind of people who knew him and need to know these things for closure. He was kind, intelligent, and funny. Qualities you'd love to see in every person you see. The unfairness of a 12 year old leaving this world too early is still lingering in the air and will always stay there. Why him? Why so young? "God works in mysterious ways." I hope that he's where I believe he belongs up in Heaven. I've shared many cherished moments with him and I'm sure that many others have as well. I would just like to say to his family...sorry, his friends...sorry, to everyone who has ever known or seen Sammy...sorry. Unfair things happen in this world way too often and sadly, it seems there is no way to prevent those kinds of tragedies. So all I have to say for now is I hope he's happy where he is right now.
I will leave you with this...
Recently, in the small well-off neighborhood of Park Slope, a tragedy almost too saddening to describe occurred. At roughly 5:15pm on October 8th 2013, 12 year old Samuel Cohen-Eckstein was struck by a van at the intersection of Prospect Park West and 3rd street. Needless to say, many in the area are grieving for this unlucky child. Sam was running into the street in order to get a ball that had rolled away from him. Supposedly, when he got to the ball he tripped and fell on his back right when the dreaded van decided to come along and drive over his body. It was not a hit and run, the driver stayed there and didn't drive off. It's depressing to think that if Sam hadn't tripped he'd most likely still be here with us today. But death found its way, and it always will. Sammy was bouncing the ball against a Prospect Park monument near the entrance. He was only a month away from having his bar mitzva for which he had been preparing for months. He was pronounced dead at Methodist Hospital on arrival from excessive torso damage. As a once close friend of Sammy, I too am one of the grievers.
It's hard to believe how quickly a bar mitzva can turn into a funeral. How one second life is there and is under your grasp, and then another it slips away and leaves you in the darkness. What were his final words? His last thoughts? Did he think that he was going to die? If so, what did he think the effects would be on his friends and family as well as the community he was a big part of? These are all questions that are left in the mind of people who knew him and need to know these things for closure. He was kind, intelligent, and funny. Qualities you'd love to see in every person you see. The unfairness of a 12 year old leaving this world too early is still lingering in the air and will always stay there. Why him? Why so young? "God works in mysterious ways." I hope that he's where I believe he belongs up in Heaven. I've shared many cherished moments with him and I'm sure that many others have as well. I would just like to say to his family...sorry, his friends...sorry, to everyone who has ever known or seen Sammy...sorry. Unfair things happen in this world way too often and sadly, it seems there is no way to prevent those kinds of tragedies. So all I have to say for now is I hope he's happy where he is right now.
I will leave you with this...
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Returned Inquiry Question
William Goldberg 813
In the book "The Returned" by Jason Mott, the main issue is how the dead are mysteriously coming back to life in different places from where they died. People are silent when it comes down to answering the question of what are they going to do with these "Returned". Many people decide to just kill them, while others try to act as if the Returned never died. The International Bureau of the Returned decide to place them in prisons around the world. This has made me believe that the many different people in this book view these issues very differently.
There are many people in the book who'd prefer that the dead remained dead. One of these characters is Fred Green who decides to stand up in church and argue with Pastor Peters over how the Returned should be treated. He thinks that the Returned "...are devils..." should be dealt with appropriately. There are also other people in Dallas who actually did murder all of the Returned that popped up there and left their corpses in the streets. These people aren't the only ones who wanted to deal with the Returned in such a violent manner. The Returned were signs of the end of the world for some people.
The International Bureau of the Returned later on in the book decide to keep all of the Returned they can find locked up in prisons until they can find out what to do with them. They have these prisons everywhere showing that they are prepared for any amount of Returned returning to our world. The Bureau eventually treated them like criminals, herding them into prisons and interrogating them to find out more about the creepy reappearances of human beings. The Bureau treated the issue as if they were dealing with a world wide epidemic. This is a drastic view on how to deal with this issue, but at least it wasn't violent...most of the time. Even people in the town of Arcadia with a prison can see Returned being lined up into the school-prison. The Bureau was just trying to do what they thought was right, sadly, it involved creating prisoners.
Then there are the others who try to act as if the Returned are miracles brought by God to help relinquish the pain felt by loved ones and friends of the Returned. Some of them try to even act as if the Returned never left. Out of all of these three, I believe that this is the most reasonable of these choices. A woman named Lucille (mother of one of the main Returned) first thinks of the Returned as devils just like in the 2nd paragraph, but once her son Jacob returns she truly becomes a believer in this miracle and starts treating Jacob as if he never died. This is proof of some people enjoying the returning of these dead beings. Harold, her husband, acts the same when Jacob arrives at their doorstep. These are people who decided to treat the situation in a warm and mature manner. These are the people who thought of the Returned as a gift, rather than a bad omen.
In conclusion, the book "The Returned" by Jason Mott, has a very serious and unrealistic issue treated in many different ways. The ways are violent, cold and formal, and accepting and loving. Sadly, it has come to my attention, that in the real world when the U.S is faced with something they don't understand or know, they act in the only way they know how to, violence.
In the book "The Returned" by Jason Mott, the main issue is how the dead are mysteriously coming back to life in different places from where they died. People are silent when it comes down to answering the question of what are they going to do with these "Returned". Many people decide to just kill them, while others try to act as if the Returned never died. The International Bureau of the Returned decide to place them in prisons around the world. This has made me believe that the many different people in this book view these issues very differently.
There are many people in the book who'd prefer that the dead remained dead. One of these characters is Fred Green who decides to stand up in church and argue with Pastor Peters over how the Returned should be treated. He thinks that the Returned "...are devils..." should be dealt with appropriately. There are also other people in Dallas who actually did murder all of the Returned that popped up there and left their corpses in the streets. These people aren't the only ones who wanted to deal with the Returned in such a violent manner. The Returned were signs of the end of the world for some people.
The International Bureau of the Returned later on in the book decide to keep all of the Returned they can find locked up in prisons until they can find out what to do with them. They have these prisons everywhere showing that they are prepared for any amount of Returned returning to our world. The Bureau eventually treated them like criminals, herding them into prisons and interrogating them to find out more about the creepy reappearances of human beings. The Bureau treated the issue as if they were dealing with a world wide epidemic. This is a drastic view on how to deal with this issue, but at least it wasn't violent...most of the time. Even people in the town of Arcadia with a prison can see Returned being lined up into the school-prison. The Bureau was just trying to do what they thought was right, sadly, it involved creating prisoners.
Then there are the others who try to act as if the Returned are miracles brought by God to help relinquish the pain felt by loved ones and friends of the Returned. Some of them try to even act as if the Returned never left. Out of all of these three, I believe that this is the most reasonable of these choices. A woman named Lucille (mother of one of the main Returned) first thinks of the Returned as devils just like in the 2nd paragraph, but once her son Jacob returns she truly becomes a believer in this miracle and starts treating Jacob as if he never died. This is proof of some people enjoying the returning of these dead beings. Harold, her husband, acts the same when Jacob arrives at their doorstep. These are people who decided to treat the situation in a warm and mature manner. These are the people who thought of the Returned as a gift, rather than a bad omen.
In conclusion, the book "The Returned" by Jason Mott, has a very serious and unrealistic issue treated in many different ways. The ways are violent, cold and formal, and accepting and loving. Sadly, it has come to my attention, that in the real world when the U.S is faced with something they don't understand or know, they act in the only way they know how to, violence.
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