Passage "How can we live without our lives? How will we know it's us without our past? No. Leave it. Burn it ."
This passage is contradictory because the people are wondering how they can live without their past, yet they come to the conclusion of burning the past. They cannot hold on to their old lives, by burning or destroying their memories from the past. I found this passage interesting because if someone lets go of their past by trying to destroying or burning all memories from it, they will not be completely free from the past. I feel that we must accept the past and acknowledge it before moving on. If someone wants to flip the chapter in their lives, they should reflect and learn from past before letting it go.If you have any thoughts on this passage, feel free to comment.
I think the reason they were so angry to the point of burning their belongings was because they weren't ready to move on. If they had willingly moved, they could've reflected like you said, but they were forced to move. Their past--their lives--were stripped from them without their consent, so they didn't want any reminders of their past selves being abducted. They didn't want the constant reminders of their belongings whispering to them, telling them what they used to be--what they wanted to be.
ReplyDeleteSo I think that was the reason they burned it. To try and forget the pain they endured from having to leave it all behind--from leaving themselves behind.
Yeah they were not ready to move on. They had to move on because of their unfortunate circumstances. I think they should not have burned their belongings. If they do not want to be reminded about the past, they must come to peace with it. It is okay to look back at the past, even if it was painful. That is a way people can heal from past wounds.Even if they were forced to move on from their lives, no one forced them to let go of their great memories. Burning or destroying the past would not have helped them either way. To let go of pain, you have accept it.
DeleteThat's true, but I think since these memories were so great, they didn't want to be constantly reminded of, "Oh, we had it so good, why did we move." I think I would've only been telling them that they made a mistake if California treated them poorly. So maybe they accepted the fact that they might not have a good of a life in the West as they had in their states of origin.
DeleteYeah, I agree that they did not want to be reminded of the great lives they had in the in the past. I feel the farmers did not completely leave the past behind by burning or destroying it though. I also think the bitterness they had in their hearts after being forced to move, caused them to choose to destroy the past. I think when they are at their saddest moments, they might look back at the good old days.
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