Reflection: CONVERSION OF THE JEWS

  This was the second short story of the Post War Period literature, a rather confusing and causing one to ponder about its plot. This 'Conversion of the Jews' is dealing with a sensitive issue of Christianity and Jew, and a seemingly ironic fact of how all the protagonists, who are all Jews, convert to Christianity. This story is an idealistic piece that falls perfectly under the category of the Post-war literature as it deals with the social, historical, and religious events following the Second World War(WW II). 

  Oscar Freedman is the main protagonist in 'Conversion of the Jews', and I would say that he appeared to be a more of an unsophisticated teenager without much logic in the very beginning of the story. The most unique characteristic of Ozzie(as called in the story) is his inquisitiveness of what is happening around him, and how he challenges the common beliefs held by the society. At first, Ozzie questions the existence of God and what he can actually do when Rabbi Binder tells him that God can do Anything, and that God can even make a child without a sexual intercourse. Because of his vehement thirst for truth, Ozzie gets involved in many troubles, including a major one when Binder accidentally hits him on the nose and causes him to nosebleed. 

  In this story, Ozzie gets to experience evolving spirituality. Unlike Ltzie who acts more like a thoughtless kid by focusing on the word "intercourse", Ozzie desires to know how he can believe what Binder tells him about God. He is devoted, although not exactly believing what Binder had taught him, to find out more. 

  This story also shows how Rabbi Binder, the other students, and Oscar's mother are all bigoted, and Ozzie is religiously dedicated. Spiritual dogma is discrete from religious devotion; Oscar believes in omnipotent God.

  

COMMUNITY AND IDENTITY

  I was forced to travel, and stay overseas for a prolonged period of time. Still, I believe that it was a great opportunity for me to learn about different cultures, and embrace people from all around the world.

  I cannot really associate myself with the community I live in, and decide my authentic identity. It requires one deep rumination, as a person cannot easily choose who he is, or who he wants to be. For me, it is true that I have not spent much time pondering about who I really am, but I could not get even the faintest idea.

  Until fifth grade, I had remained in Korea attending a local school with my local friends. My community was Korea itself, nothing more, nothing less; all the people I had met were native Koreans whom I shared common interests with. Until then, I had no idea of how I would go overseas and attend school with foreigners with totally different cultures.

  On the very first day of school in Hong Kong, an Indian kid accosted, and spoke in English, a language I only knew ostensibly by then. I sheepishly told him that I do not speak English(it wasn't even 'I can't'), and ran away. I was extremely fortunate to find another Korean in our class, and until I got used to the school system and the new language, I hung out with him. The Korean community there was quite diverse, so it was not really difficult for me to get used to the school. Even in Hong Kong, my identity remained as a Korean as I did not feel much need to interact with people of different nations. Still, this does not mean that I did not interact with them at all; I did try my best to mingle with as many cultures as possible, but I spent the most time with Koreans, whom I was able to share common beliefs with.

  In Singapore, the situation was both similar and different. I made Korean friends much easily than other friends just like how I did back in Hong Kong, but I also became much more easily acquainted with foreign friends such as those from the United States, Brazil, Canada, etc.

  My identity is sometimes defined according to the community, and sometimes with those I hang around with. In Hong Kong, my identity was affected more by my Korean friends. On the other hand, the school environment affected me more in Singapore, forcing me to mingle with not only Koreans but also with others.

THE LOTTERY

  The video was shocking as much as the ending of 'The Lottery'. Both the graphics and the plot of the video were quite disturbing, mainly because it related contemporary issues with the problem of perennial rituals. Although the process of committing murder described in the video was much more humane than that illustrated in the short story, people were no different; without any logical thinking, these people blindly followed what is commonly accepted.

  How can people believe blindly in what is not proved, and has the full potential to be debunked any time? The problem lies in the society. Whether an axiom is correct or incorrect, once everyone starts to accept it as the genuine truth, this belief becomes a incontrovertible fact. The 'lottery ritual' described in 'The Lottery' is an example of how a perhaps inane and unsophisticated belief by the ancestors has withstood the test of time until it became an axiom for the villagers of 'The Lottery'.

  Perhaps both the author Shirley Jackson and the director of that South Park video clip are trying to emphasize how our sense of conformity is flawed, and this can lead to dystopia. Why did the townspeople of 'The Lottery' carry out the ritual every year? Why did the United States people all wish Britney to die? The reason is that these people's thoughts were fixed at the wrong perspective, and they remained inexorable. Although rudimentally wrong, the belief shared by other people had to also be shared by me. This is why conformity is bloodcurdling, how logic which you believed to be true can be rejected any time.

COMMENTS 
Rhee Ji Yoon: You started your essay with the subject, "the video"! I totally agree that the video was shocking, but I think your introductory paragraph would have been much effective if you had included a brief explanation or description about the video. There's not enought time left. I like your essay. I always like your style of writing! Simple but clear! Bye!

Yun Jo: Certainly right! these days some issues are coming up so frequently, and I think we can criticize such trends with your essay. Nicely done.

Chonghyun Ahn: I agree that the ostracism was groundless in the story, but I'd like to see more substantiation of what is the groundless axiom of today, and the way to sort out the axioms into two groups.

Hyejoon Lee: I think overall it was a good analysis of the story. I also had similar ideas you had, like the justification and the "tradition" thingy.

Jane: I agree with the points of "wholeness" and "conforming" that you've mentioned. Most people are basically doing what they are doing solely because all others are doing so. It would have been better if you included the motivations that could have led to the feeling of conforming among people.