How Can Peace Be Ensured In A Diverse Society?

Posted on December 5, 2021 by Ayati M.

Around the world, different cultures have struggled with maintaining an equilibrium between their ideas and beliefs. Many have broken apart, but some exceptional countries have managed to maintain a state of tranquility among their people. The United States is known as a country of immigrants, and it is a place where people of all backgrounds and cultures coexist in a way that has never been seen before. So, how can peace be ensured in a diverse society?

With the acceptance of surrounding differences, there can be harmony between distinct people. Patriotism is the pride in one’s country, and American patriotism is largely perceived as taking pride in being able to coexist with people who have different backgrounds. This means that the United States itself is a nation that is built on embracing the differences and unique qualities of others. It also means that accepting others allows Americans to acquire connections with each other, and in turn maintain tranquility in society.

Trust and communications are essentials for a unified nation; therefore, common goals are an essential factor for ensuring peace. In his Gettysburg Address, Lincoln declares, “It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.” Referring to the Union’s fallen soldiers in the Battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln calls the Americans to action and implores them to continue their fight for the cause. This cause, equality for all, was the common goal which held Americans together during that difficult time. Their unity allowed them to have peace among themselves.

A more recent example is depicted in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001: one of the most devastating events in America’s history, but there was an abundance of help and support available for those who needed it. In other words, America was united with its common goals, establishing trust in each other and making it easier to communicate with each other despite any differences. A society with common goals, but not necessarily common beliefs and customs is a society which provides its community with a safe and peaceful environment.

From the Civil War to today, history is filled with conflicts between groups of people who have struggled to reconcile their differences. It is important to understand that peace can only be achieved through collective efforts, not by the pleas of a single person. However, the pleas of a single person can certainly spark a collective movement. In fact, it is up to courageous individuals to speak up and speak out for their dream (dream: sound familiar?) and inspire others to take a stand.

-Ayati M.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Posted on June 16, 2021 by Mahak M.

Renowned for its masterful portrayal of a Hobbes-inspired misanthropic view of human nature, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies serves as one of the greatest novels to come out of World War II, despite being published nearly a decade after it. It chronicles the tale of a group of young boys stranded on a remote island, and depicts their struggle to maintain peace and civility without any authority, which eventually culminates in the creation of two radically different tribes – one for violence, one for rationality.

Lord of the Flies opens with the crash of an airplane containing a class full of British schoolboys. Ralph and Piggy, two of these unfortunates, use a conch to summon the rest of the boys who have crashed on the island, who have ranging ages and needs. Initially, Ralph and Jack, the power-hungry leader of the school choir boys, get along with each other in order to be rescued, but as the time drags on with no sign of civilization, the boys begin to crack, and turn to the darkness for salvation.

Over the course of the novel, the bright light of civilization begins to flicker and die in the face of the overwhelming darkness brought about by the boys’ belief that there is a “Beastie” watching over them, waiting to kill them all. Using the fear to his advantage, Jack turns the group against Ralph, Piggy, and those allied with them, and the majority of the boys become savage hunters, and violence becomes their only means of communication.

Overall, Lord of the Flies is a classic read, and definitely raises some interesting points. It reveals that despite humanity appearing to be a civilized group, beneath that mask lies violence and savagery, which is only uncovered when people are distanced from established civilization. In a way, even in a civilized environment, the beast in man continues to rear its ugly head, and unless humans are able to control their violent urges, humanity will end up exactly as Hobbes predicted in Leviathan, living lives that are “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

-Mahak M.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available for download from Overdrive.

Sadie by Courtney Summers

Posted on March 9, 2020 by Asli B.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It contains very graphic and mature scenes and themes, but nonetheless, it’s a beautiful book.

Sadie tells the heart-wrenching story of a girl trying to get revenge for her sister’s death. It’s told through her own narration, and through a podcast following her trace.

As a non-avid reader of mysteries/thrillers, this book was nothing like what I had expected. Although it could be a bit slow at times, what is lacked is made up of impact. This book hits so hard, and it’s important to recognize these types of actions as something that sadly is a part of society today.

As you learn more about Sadie and what she’s been through, and the stories of the people she meets, you find everything that happens is the absolute worst things imaginable. Society is a gruesome and horrible place, and reading this book gave me biggest reality check I ever could’ve gotten.

The most horrible thing is, that these predicaments are what some people live in, it’s all they know, and that thought repulses me. The idea that people can relate to this piece of work is truly a reflection of the worst parts of society today.

But all that aside, I highly recommend reading this book. Again, it gave me every sort of feeling imaginable and left me wondering about each and every one of the characters we had the honor of meeting. The podcast format for some chapters is such an ingenious idea and executed so well, I regret that I read the physical copy and not the audiobook.

Our main character is the strongest and most resilient person I’ve ever read about. She has been through so much in her life, and as the book goes on and on, the situation gets worse and worse. Sadie is such a broken and mistreated character that everything she does, and everything she goes through is remarkable to me.

In short, if you want an impactful read, this is it.

If you’re struggling with anything that Sadie encounters or is going through in this book please reach out for help. You are not alone.

National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233

National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357

-Asli B.

Sadie by Courtney Summers is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Josh N.

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a novel about a group of young boys who have been stranded on an island, without any connection to civilization. They struggle to maintain order and peace on the island, as the group becomes split between two “tribes:” a violent, uncivilized tribe, and a more rational tribe dedicated to becoming rescued.

The novel begins with the boys recovering from an airplane crash. The boys discover that they are stranded on the island alone, without any grownups or methods of communication with the outside world. Ralph, a boy approximately twelve years old, befriends an intelligent, but physically weak boy nicknamed Piggy. Together they find a conch at the beach, which they blow into to rally all the other boys scattered about the island. The boys all decide to vote Ralph as “chief” since he possess the conch, infuriating Jack, who leads a group of choir boys and wants to lead all of the boys on the island.

Despite their struggle for power, Jack and Ralph initially get along, and they focus the group’s efforts on building a signal fire to contact ships for rescue and shelters for survival. However, the two being to drift apart as Jack begins hunting. Hunting causes Jack to reveal his more savage and violent nature, causing him to become less focused on the group’s priorities, which is mainly getting rescued. Furthermore, the group begins to collapse even further as they discover that there is a “Beast” who watches over their signal fire, panicking all the boys.

Ultimately, the Lord of the Flies is a classic novel, and I would highly recommend it. It is relevant today because of its themes on human nature. It reveals that despite what people appear like, beneath that civilized mask is violence and savagery, uncovered when people are forced away from civilization. The novel focuses on the boys struggle to remain order and peace as they drift apart.

-Josh N.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available for download from Overdrive.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Posted on December 29, 2019 by Katie A.

Lord of the Flies is a dystopian, survival novel written by William Golding in 1953. Living through the bloodiest war in human history, Golding had witnessed humanity’s great capacity for inflicting cruelty and brutality on one another. This greatly influenced his pessimistic view of human nature; he believed that the natural human propensity is violent unless restrained by societal influence. The book opens on an island, now inhabited by a group of unsupervised British schoolboys that survived a violent plane crash. Some of the main characters are Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and Simon. Ralph and Piggy find a conch shell and call for an assembly of all the survivors on the island. The assembly results in the appointment of Ralph as chief. Ralph believes that maintaining fire on the island is the most important task, as it will signal to the outside world that they need rescue.

Meanwhile, Jack is focused on hunting. During this conflict, the boys find a mysterious creature called “the beast,” which they believe is following them, and planning to harm them. Simon tells the group that “the beast” may be them; that the human is the most dangerous animal on the island. As the debate on the existence of “the beast” continues, Jack and Ralph split into two separate tribes. Simon finds the head of a pig, left behind as a sacrifice to “the beast.” This head is the Lord of the Flies and gives Simon a vision. Simon is soon killed by Jack’s tribe, and as the conflict escalates, so is Piggy. Ralph is now targeted by Jack’s tribe and tries to fight them off as best he can. Just before Ralph is killed, a naval officer on a nearby ship reaches the island, alerted by their smoke signals, and rescues them.

This book demonstrates a zeitgeist held by many authors and philosophers during this time period. Golding’s use of British schoolboys as his characters shows that anyone, regardless of age or perceived innocence and civility, can surrender to the brutal proclivity living within all human beings. The boys are a mirror image of the warring adults surrounding them, and the island becomes a microcosm of World War II itself.

-Katie A.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available for download from Overdrive.

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser

Posted on September 20, 2019 by Coreen Catenburg

Carrie Meeber is from a small city who seeks to go to her sister in Chicago to have a better life. However, when she gets there she realizes the fact that her sister and her brother in law are in a very wretched condition together with their daughter. Unable to endure their apathy when she fails to secure herself a job, Carrie decided to leave. Before she even arrived in Chicago, she met Druet, a wealthy young man on the train who really likes her due to her beauty. So right after quitting her job at the factory, Carrie accidentally met Drouet around the street corners. He treats her a meal and often buys her beautiful clothing and jewelry which made her think in his favor. And thus, soon they were living together in a comfortable flat.

But it wasn’t soon when Drouet introduced Carrie to his manager friend Hurstwood. Lured by his gentleness and suave manner, Carrie fell in love with him and he with her. However, since Hurstwood was not in a relationship with his wife and his children, he lied to Carrie and said that he was unmarried. One day, Hurstwood under the influence of alcohol accidentally took ten thousand dollars from the cashier’s unlocked box and decided to flee to New York. He wheedled Carrie into escaping with him as well and so the two left for New York. However, life was not as easy there because everything was more expensive. After several unsuccessful attempts at finding a satisfactory job, Hurstwood depended on Carrie to earn and they again fell into the state of poverty.

Just then, due to her looks, passion, and aptitude for singing and acting, Carrie made a career in the theatre. She was well-liked by a lot of rich people and thus deserted Hurstwood. Although she regularly supported him somewhat, she severed the relationship at last when Hurstwood, due to his pride, stopped asking money from Carrie and suicided at last.

-Coreen C.

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

Of Human Bondage by William Somerset Maugham

Posted on August 14, 2019 by Coreen Catenburg

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham: Very Good Hardcover (1942) | Randall's Books

“Of Human Bondage” aims to show the reader that once one is born, one has to go through all kinds of hardships — especially in youth — and is bound by all kinds of constraints of life, such as family, religion, school, society, love (including sex), money and so on. The novel shows the dark side of a terrifying real world. All kinds of characters in the picture, driven by the god of fate, drift in the endless dark abyss. The tone of the novel is low and the conclusion is that life has no meaning and death has no significance. Nevertheless, “Of Human Bondage” is positive in its objective effect, for Philip’s personal experience has a considerable degree of social typification.

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, western capitalist society fell into a comprehensive crisis in politics, economy, culture and other aspects; market depression, social unrest and war are all at hand. Traditional religion, morality, culture and philosophy are showing the tendency of disintegration. In Britain, the false optimism of the Victorian era is long gone, and this novel presents a bleak picture of the real world full of horror. It is a scene in which many characters drift in the endless dark abyss, at the mercy of the gods of fate, neither knowing why nor whither they are to be cast.

The difference between Philip and these characters was that he still wanted to fight against fate, that he tried to throw off his chains. Here, in addition to the shackles he fought against, he also represented a large number of young people who were unwilling to go along with the tide and unable to join in the social reform movement. Although the result of his struggle is only a personal enlightenment, the enlightenment itself is also an indictment and a denial of the society, or at least an expression of a yearning for real humanity and a perfect life. In this sense, “Of Human Bondage” is not only realistic, but also makes a profound criticism of society and life from a special angle.

Philip Galli was a thoughtful, personable young man, crippled by congenital disabilities, solitary, sensitive, and obstinate. His parents died and he spent his childhood in a cold and strange environment. After going to boarding school, he was blighted by an unreasonable educational system. But when he stepped into the society, he was brutally beaten in love. The rough road of his life was full of thorns, and every step he took was tormented by pain and left a wound in his body and heart that could not be healed. All the sufferings in the world are caused by this broken-hearted society. In the novel, the protagonist Philip finally realized the truth of life, in fact, is the author’s own view of life and society after the conclusion: life is meaningless, and can not be changed into another.

It is obvious that this is why Maugham chose “Of Human Bondage” as the title of his novel. Artistically, “Of Human Bondage” fully embodies Maugham’s writing style. First of all, there is a very moving story in the novel. Although the protagonist’s experience has many twists and turns, it is written in a concentrated way without too many clues. Secondly, there is no abstract psychological description in the novel, but all descriptions are very specific. The motivations of the characters are expressed through specific behaviors, thus having a strong sensory effect. Finally, the novel’s style is lucid and unpretentious. The language of his novels aims at fluency, clarity, conciseness and harmony, so he uses colloquial language in both narrative and dialogue, which is refreshing and pleasing to the eye.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Posted on January 15, 2019 by Phoebe L.

I recently read this book for my English class, and it was surprisingly good to read. Normally reading books for English feels like a chore, but for this book, it was entertaining to read.

The book is about young boys from England who crash land onto a deserted island. It is never specified where they crash land but we predicted it was somewhere in the Pacific. The main boys in the book are Ralph, Piggy, Jack, Simon, and Roger. The boys have to learn how to survive in this harsh society they have made.

They first start off by appointing a leader and making up rules that are essential to follow. Throughout the book, however, we can see a natural progression of rules being broken and people fighting for power, doing whatever it takes to achieve that–even killing. The book Lord of the Flies is mainly about the innate evil in the boys and if they are affected by the environment around them, or if they naturally had the evil inside of them.

During the book, there are sometimes where we are going to have to say goodbye to some characters (no spoilers), but overall it is an amazing book. It is probably the best book I’ve read in English ever!

-Phoebe L.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available for download from Overdrive.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Jessica T.

This book may not be the happiest or the prettiest but I must say it is one of the deepest and most profound books I’ve ever read. Assigned to me in my English class at school, I at first did not know what to expect because how can one be the lord of a bunch of flies? Disgusting, annoying little creatures they are . . . However, as our class annotated page after page and read article after article about the human psyche and the never ending violence occurring in the world, I realized how vital this fictional allegory is to our understanding of our society.

Based off of his experiences of World War II, Golding writes this futuristic novel during a fictional World War III where a group of English schoolboys crash on an island after their escape plane is shot down. Ironically, these stereotypical private school pupils slowly turn savage, revealing the gross truth about the evil within every man and what dangers can be unleashed when man turns cruel.

Taking advantage of being stranded on an island and lacking any parental guidance, these young boys lounge in the lagoon, eat tropical fruit, and attempt to create their own government. They elect Ralph, one of the older, more attractive boys who has possession of a seemingly-magical conch. This democratic government only lasted a few chapters before their separation from civilization is clearly visualized. They become hungry for bloodshed and one of the boys in particular, Jack, desires ruthlessly killing a pig over being rescued. Death and disputes steadily increase, leaving the audience wanting to know what happens next, even if what is to come is not pleasant. Simply put, the plot can be summarized as a fight for power and survival. However, that is to say the least about this thrilling novel.

I definitely had mixed emotions while reading. In some instances, I was upset at the character’s decisions and in one chapter, tears were spilling. Golding has a beautiful writing style that touches both beauty and pain and reflects upon the world. This novel invokes one to think about what Golding is trying to reveal about human society and puts the world’s violence, hatred and connate evil into perspective.

-Jessica T.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available for download from Overdrive.

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Tag Archives: society

How Can Peace Be Ensured In A Diverse Society?

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Sadie by Courtney Summers

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser

Of Human Bondage by William Somerset Maugham

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Lord of the Flies by William Golding