Friday, June 11, 2010
Post 2: Released Elsewhere
Poem
Death was near me,
But I could not see it.
It was hidden behind a kind mask.
The man behind the mask had no feelings.
How could this man have the heart to
Release an innocent baby who lay helpless?
Perhaps the reason why was because the man
Behind the mask had no feelings.
He felt no pain nor did he feel joy.
He felt no sadness nor did he feel happiness.
And the innocent child had no choice; no one did.
No one felt pain nor did anyone feel joy.
No one felt sadness nor did anyone feel happiness.
No one had choices in the community; it was a cycle.
Just maybe the baby was better off
Being released from this cycle
Rather than having to grow up
Like the man behind the mask
And feel no pain or joy--no sadness or happiness.
Sadly, the man behind the mask was my father.
This poem describes Jonas's feelings towards the release of a baby which was done by his father. The realization of what a release was is a key event which evokes feelings of anger and sadness inside of Jonas. This is what sparks off the idea and thought of escaping and running away from the community. Jonas finally starts to understand what really happens when a baby is released in order to allow the community to remain perfect and flawless. As he watches the video, he realizes that his father had killed the baby. The worst thing is that his father was unable to feel any emotion of sadness as he pushed the plunger to inject the liquid into the baby’s scalp vein. Unlike Jonas, his father could not feel any kind of emotion even when he did a cruel and painful thing to the newborn baby.
The fact that his own father had no emotions at all made Jonas angry because it meant everyone in the community was also unfeeling and cruel despite looking perfect on the surface. Jonas simply could not bare living in such a community where innocent newborn babies were cruelly killed without anybody doing anything to stop or protest to this cruel act. Thus, Jonas chose to run away and because he understood what being released really meant, he chose to take Gabriel along with him so Gabriel would not have to undergo such a cruel procedure.
