"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people."
-Martin Luther King Jr.
This book takes so many twists and turns that I find myself trying to shift between the view points with as much objectivity and mindfulness as I can... though I have to say some parts made me struggle. Particularly in Chapter 34 when Ralph Brodie, the student body president of Central recounts his thoughts and beliefs: that Hazel is the "poster child for the hate generation" and she made himself and others look bad, that the acts of cruelty were exaggerated, that "surely the ninety-five percent who had done nothing wrong that year were more important than the five percent who had: they, too, deserved praise." This is all hard for me to digest. I want to see his side of the story, but I am also thinking - how you do think you are so innocent? Even IF 95% of the students didn't directly act cruelly toward the Nine, they didn't help. It is just as bad. The stories of other students that acted as though they weren't there, said nothing to them, kind or unkind, did nothing, witnessing it, allowing it to continue - still fed the hateful fire.
The hard part, for me, is if I imagine myself as a student at Central. If I place my high-school self into the class of 1957 I am afraid that I would have been a silent one as well. It makes me think back to moments as a kid, middle-schooler, and high-schooler that I didn't stand up for others; whether I was too self-conscious, quiet, or wanted to fit in- it is hard to say. Like Hazel, you can't take it back, you simply have to make peace with the past and move on and hope (or know?) you have learned & changed.
Great quote! I had a similar thought--does being in a silence in such situations mean neutral? or unspoken agreement? or disagreement? We all know that people have difference personalities and approaches to certain issues. Some are more active than others. Sometimes, there are no right of wrong. But Moral issues have a clear universal right/wrong answer. However, the play in the book or situation like this, is a hard one. Honestly, I'm not sure what I would have done if I was in that situation neither.
ReplyDeleteI also pondered this same thought when I was reading this book. I tried to place myself at Central High School to try to figure out how I would act and react. I would like to think I would be one of the ones who tried to stick up for the Nine, but who knows, I might also be one of the silent ones. Does looking the other way mean you are an innocent party? I would have to say no. There is power by numbers, and I would think if the other 95% banded together to stick up to the bullies at Central than maybe something would have changed. But then again that is always easier said than done.
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