Blogging Around

Anna: Connections between Assef and Harry Potter's Bellatrix Lestrange

I think that you are most certainly correct, Anna. However, in your last paragraph you alluded to the childhood's of Assef and Bellatrix, which slightly confused me. As an avid Harry Potter fan, I have read all the books thoroughly, yet only perhaps once or twice is Bellatrix's childhood very briefly mentioned. Therefore, I was wondering what you thought this "pureblood"-supremest's childhood was like.

I do agree that nature and nurture impact each other, and thus should not be counted separately. And I think that the conclusions you drew about Bellatrix from blurbs about the Black family are consistent.

But when comparing their childhoods, you know that Assef dominated over his parents and used their fear of him to control them, whereas Bellatrix (from what we can tell) had the racist remarks and attitude ingrained into her head since day one. So in my opinion, while the two of them grew up to be extremely similar in their love for killing those "below" them, that in this instance, the ways in which they were raised ultimately affected them the same way, but were not at all similar.


Darrell: How Facebook is causing an Identity Crisis

I think that all of these observations are very astute, and quite philosophic. Seeing as how we had not started Sophie's World by the time this blog was due, I feel like this idea of Facebook as a social glitch can fit easily into the heart of the book: trying to figure out who we are, and our purpose in life, which are things philosophers have debated about over the years time and again.

I think that this argument also adds to the one made about cell phones; how modern technology has made us lose our complete focus and make every possible attempt to divert our attention. I admit that as I write this, I have my Facebook page open in another window.

I definitely agree with Darrell's final point; eventually almost everything will be come so technologically advanced that we will rarely see our friends outside the online world. And ironically, this supports an idea I had about school via Internet; if everyone got video cameras and turned in homework online (as half of it already is), class could be conducted from the comfort of everyone's homes and beds (no need to get up in the morning, just grab your computer).