The Eye of The Beholder

The concept of beauty is ultimately decided by each individual...


With this is mind, I think it's fascinating how the perception of beauty has changed over time. Here are some examples:


In the 15th century, women would pluck their hairlines to make their foreheads seem higher. Also, men and women would die their hair blonde because it was a symbol of high class.


In the 18th century, men wore white-powdered wigs and women wore elaborate coiffures. Pasty skin was viewed as very attractive.


The turn of the 20th century brought about a new sense of freedom for women. They fashioned a bobbed hairstyle and wore a great deal of makeup. Men wore suits and parted their hair in the center.

And finally, the 1980's! From jheri curls to mullets to big hair, anything in excess was hip.


Just with these few eras mentioned, most of you will agree with me that the perception of beauty will never be stagnant. Styles and fashions that we think are cool now will certainly be laughable will looked back upon years from now.


So I kind of want this blog to be an open forum for all of us to share our views on what we think beauty is or is not.




Is this what beauty is?





Is Kate Moss beautiful?



I think this could lead to a rather interesting discussion.


Source: www.ukhairdressers.com

Don't Worry, Be Happy

The more and more I think about We, the more I seem to think about something that I've yet to talk about in class. Happiness is portrayed as the ultimate goal of the One State's quest throughout the novel. However, whenever I think about the way the inhabitants are treated I can't help but believe that there are ulterior motives that underly the entire operation. It is known that the Integral is being built so that the One State can venture into the unknown depths of space in hopes of spreading their ideals to others but I think that a sense of megalomania might exist within the Benefactor.

The fact that the Benefactor has controlled a 'utopia' with such great precision might have caused him to lose sight of the original goal of the One State. Also, the uncertainty of who the Great Operation was performed on really makes me ponder this theory. Why did we never know if the Guardians had the procedure performed on them? What about the Benefactor? It really seems like the citizens in the One State are merely pawns in a much larger scale operation than they are aware of.

Does power equate to happiness for the Benefactor? Is there some greater cause that the One State is trying to achieve? You decide!

Order, reason, knowledge: underlying conflicts

During our group discussion, these were a few of the underlying conflicts that we discovered in the book:

1. freedom v. order

• page 28, paragraph 1: "I felt trapped, imprisoned in that primitive cage, caught by the savage whirlwind of the ancient life."
• page 28, paragraph 7: "To be original is to be in some way distinct from others. Hence, to be original is to violate equality."
• page 35, paragraph 4: "Freedom and crime are linked as indivisibl as...well, as the motion of the aero and its speed: when its speed equals zero, it does not move; when man's freedom equals zero, he commits no crimes...The only means of ridding man of crime is ridding him of freedom."

2. emotion v. reason

• page 87, paragraphs 2 and 3: Instead of D joining the rest of the numbers during their march, he is looking for I, wandering the streets alone. He wants to tell her he can't live without her even though he knows he's breaking the rules, his emotions are taking over his reason.

3. unknowable v. knowledge

• page 39, paragraph 1: "This irrational number had grown into me like something foreign, alien, terrifying. It devoured me-it was impossible to conceive, to render harmless, because it was outside ration."