The Odyssey - Homer
The Odyssey by Homer is an account of Odysseus' journey back to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Even though Athena tries to help him get home as fast as possible, there are other gods, like Poseidon who try to slow down his return. The reason Poseidon had a grudge against Odysseus is because he blinded his son, Polyphemus the cyclops. When Odysseus and his men visited Polyphemus' island, he trapped them in his cave. A large boulder rolled in front of the cave opening prevented them from getting out. The monster forced Odysseus and his men to watch while he plucked a few of their crew members in his mouth and ate them. It was a gruesome sight and one that Odysseus would never forget. Odysseus was eager to continue his voyage home, so he devised a plan to escape.
The clever Odysseus got Polyphemus drunk on wine. He then blinded the cyclops by thrusting a burning piece of wood into his eye. When he asks Odysseus what his name is, Odysseus tells him that he is named Nobody. When the cyclops' neighbors ask him why he is screaming in pain, Polyphemus replies that "Nobody is killing me". In the morning, the men escape when Polyphemus removes the boulder to let his sheep graze by clinging to their bellies. They leave the cave unseen by the blind cyclops.
This episode of Homer's great epic describes a very clever kind of trickery. By lying about his identity, Odysseus was able to successfully save his men from being eaten by Polyphemus. Odysseus pulled a fast on on the cyclops and outsmarted him, just like what would happen in a game. (To view a video of this scene, go to our Film page.)
The clever Odysseus got Polyphemus drunk on wine. He then blinded the cyclops by thrusting a burning piece of wood into his eye. When he asks Odysseus what his name is, Odysseus tells him that he is named Nobody. When the cyclops' neighbors ask him why he is screaming in pain, Polyphemus replies that "Nobody is killing me". In the morning, the men escape when Polyphemus removes the boulder to let his sheep graze by clinging to their bellies. They leave the cave unseen by the blind cyclops.
This episode of Homer's great epic describes a very clever kind of trickery. By lying about his identity, Odysseus was able to successfully save his men from being eaten by Polyphemus. Odysseus pulled a fast on on the cyclops and outsmarted him, just like what would happen in a game. (To view a video of this scene, go to our Film page.)
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Grapes of Wrath is an excellent example of the effects that false advertising can have. When the families were kicked off their land, they had no where to go. Then, a handbill was distributed all throughout Oklahoma claiming that there was plenty of work out west. It wasn't until the "Okies" got to California that they realized just how many of those handbills had been spread around the country. The big farm owners in California purposely did this to draw out much more workers than they actually needed. They knew this would work to their advantage because they could lower wages as much as they wanted but no one could complain because there would always be another guy waiting in line behind him for that wage, no matter how low.
Another example of a game in this book is the conversation between Tom Joad and the truck driver in chapter 2. Tom needs a ride, but truck drivers aren't supposed to take hitch hikers. To persuade him, Tom says "Somtimes a guy'll be a good guy even if some rich bastard makes him carry a sticker". The driver feels obligated to give Tom a ride because he doesn't want to be seen as a bad guy. Tom manipulated the driver into helping him out.
Another example of a game in this book is the conversation between Tom Joad and the truck driver in chapter 2. Tom needs a ride, but truck drivers aren't supposed to take hitch hikers. To persuade him, Tom says "Somtimes a guy'll be a good guy even if some rich bastard makes him carry a sticker". The driver feels obligated to give Tom a ride because he doesn't want to be seen as a bad guy. Tom manipulated the driver into helping him out.
Before I Die - Jenny Downhom
Before I Die is the story of a young girl named Tessa living with leukemia. Everyone handle's this type of situation differently. Tessa has some trouble accepting the fact that she is going to die. On some days she's okay with it and other days she is terrified, which of course is perfectly understandable. After she found out that she stopped responding to treatment, she moped around the house for weeks. Eventually she decided that instead of getting on with dying, she was going to get on with living. To make the best of the little time she had left, she made a list of things she wanted to accomplish. This list included sex, drugs, being famous, saying yes to everything for a day, and falling in love, among other things.
On a particularly difficult day, Tessa finds herself on a bus playing a sick little game in her head. She looks at all the people on the bus and comes up with a bad, fatal thing that will happen to each of them. She has a point system; the more terrible the circumstance the more points she is awarded. When she tells the nurse at the hospital, she says it's very common among sick people. It is easier for them to deal with their sickness if they pretend that other people are suffering too. They don't want to feel like they're suffering alone.
On a particularly difficult day, Tessa finds herself on a bus playing a sick little game in her head. She looks at all the people on the bus and comes up with a bad, fatal thing that will happen to each of them. She has a point system; the more terrible the circumstance the more points she is awarded. When she tells the nurse at the hospital, she says it's very common among sick people. It is easier for them to deal with their sickness if they pretend that other people are suffering too. They don't want to feel like they're suffering alone.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
In the story The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck embarks on an adventure with his friend Jim, who happens to be a slave. Both runaways, this journey together was bound to be an audacious one from the start. Towards the end of the book, two con-men sell Jim to a family. Huck goes to this family in an attempt to free Jim, and coincidentally, the family is a relative of Huck's best friend, Tom Sawyer. When Huck finds Tom, who just happened to be coming to visit his relatives, he tells him of his plan to free Jim. Tom agrees to help Jim and Huck accomplish their goal. Jim is in a shed on the property. His escape could have been quick and easy, but instead Tom wanted to make a game out of it. He made the escape much more difficult than it should have been. Everything was more interesting to Tom if it had a story line. He felt the need to make everything a game, which is justifiable since life is in fact a game. Games make everything seem more fun. Tom, having always been the adventurous one, wanted to make an interesting storyline to the escape and "robbery" of Jim. It would have been simpler and safer if the plan hadn't been complicated, but those aren't the ways of Tom. Like most kids, tasks seem much easier to overcome if there is a storyline or it is made into a game. Though Jim had already been set free, Tom wanted to complicate this plan and make it more fun. Huck, having been away from home for so long, had no idea that Jim had already been set free. Had he known, it is difficult to determine if Tom would have made Jim's escape so much like a game.
In addition, throughout the novel, Huck had to keep lying to save himself. In this case, his lying was justifiable. He lied so that no one would discover who he really was. He had run away from his abusive father, who after consistently abandoning him, returned and kidnapped him because he needed money. If anyone discovered that he was truly Huckleberry Finn, it might have gotten back to his dad that he was still alive. Also, it could have gotten back to the Widow that he was still alive. Huck was not happy there either. In order to protect himself, he needed to lie to everyone about his identity.
In addition, throughout the novel, Huck had to keep lying to save himself. In this case, his lying was justifiable. He lied so that no one would discover who he really was. He had run away from his abusive father, who after consistently abandoning him, returned and kidnapped him because he needed money. If anyone discovered that he was truly Huckleberry Finn, it might have gotten back to his dad that he was still alive. Also, it could have gotten back to the Widow that he was still alive. Huck was not happy there either. In order to protect himself, he needed to lie to everyone about his identity.
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games is the first book of a 3 part series. The main character, Katniss Everdeen lives in a post apocalyptic society in the country of Panem. Geographically, it is located where North America used to be. Panem is made up of 12 Districts with a Capitol in the center that runs them. The government is oppressive and harsh to many of the districts, which mostly live in poverty. Every year, the government hosts the Hunger Games, a contest where one boy and girl from each district are chosen to fight to the death. There is only one winner; the last one surviving. The entire event is televised for all of Panem to watch. It is a way for the Capitol to retain power over the districts. The Games originated as a punishment for a previous rebellion by the Districts. The Games let all of Panem that the Capitol is all powerful; that not even children can stop them from exerting this power. In this way, the Capitol is psychologically oppressive towards its civilians. The Capitol plays this mind game to scare the Districts from rebelling again. It works, too, until Katniss gets involved.
The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks
Like many of Nicholas Sparks' books, this is a love story. Again, like many of his love stories, this one has a peculiar twist. Ronnie, the main character is a rebellious teenage girl living in New York City. Her parents are divorced; her dad left them and went to live in his southern hometown. Ronnie hasn't forgiven her father for leaving them and hasn't talked to him since. To her dismay, her mother suddenly decides to send Ronnie and her little brother down to live with their dad. No matter how hard she tries to fight it, the decision has been made and she is forced to go. She starts off the summer angry and dismissive towards her father. Then she meets Will and they start to fall in love.
Just when everything starts to seem perfect and Ronnie starts to forgive her father, he collapses and ends up in the hospital. It turns out he had cancer for the past year but didn't want his kids to know. He wanted to protect them from the truth and have them forgive him on their own terms, without the knowledge that he was sick. He didn't want them to feel pressured to forgive him just because they felt they had to. In this case, he lied for a selfless reason, not a selfish one.
Just when everything starts to seem perfect and Ronnie starts to forgive her father, he collapses and ends up in the hospital. It turns out he had cancer for the past year but didn't want his kids to know. He wanted to protect them from the truth and have them forgive him on their own terms, without the knowledge that he was sick. He didn't want them to feel pressured to forgive him just because they felt they had to. In this case, he lied for a selfless reason, not a selfish one.
The Giver - Lois Lowry
The Giver depicts a futuristic, utopian society in which the government lies and deceives to the people. They control what they experience, what job they get, how they live, and every aspect of their life. The only thing the citizens know is what the government feeds them. This use of censorship is to the advantage of the government, because in this book there is no love, or any type of emotions for that matter, color, or anything that we enjoy in our life regularly. The government is manipulating them to live in the way that they would approve of. The only person that is not lied to is "The Giver", who has all of the memories of what the world is like outside of those walls. No one has ever been able to escape out of the community because the government stops them. The government blocks the citizens from any outside information, because they only want them to live in this way. The people are being manipulated to follow a certain way of living that only the government would approve of. The people who set up this government must have originally wanted to manipulate and deceive the people into living this way. The people have no other knowledge of anything outside of their community. The manipulation of the government caused the quality of the life of the people living there to be decreased.
