Christopher Fulco, 3/22/21 Pd. 5, Day B

Christopher Fulco

4/14/21

Period 5

What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

When it comes to issues of oppression, there hasn’t been a point in the last 40 years where oppression has been as obvious and structuralized as it is currently. Aside from the fact that the “progress” talked about so often usually ends with the unwarranted death of a member of the marginalized community so often claimed to be protected, society as a whole hasn’t moved very far when it comes to the distribution of power towards the top of the government, and there are still many groups who simply cannot and will not have a say in matters affecting their communities due to voter oppression or simply being unable to organize. Seeing how those at the top refuse to take action to specifically go against this sort of behavior and institutionalized oppression, whether it be those in Congress or the Mayors and cabinet members at a much more local level, it’s quite clear that these behaviors are patterns, and that unless something very significant changes, in the end, nothing will.

When looking at this from a holistic perspective, I was able to tie in some similarities with the world we inhabit today and Grendel’s world, as well as the world it is referencing, the 1960’s and 70’s. Starting off with the Novel itself, Grendel himself is someone who was born into poor circumstances, and spends ages trying to find a way to crawl out of those horrible birth circumstances. He is the oppressed figure in the world of Beowulf, abused and mistreated through limited fault of his own, and simply viewed differently due to the way he looks. He believes that this mistreatment can only be fixed via direct action, and has many opinions against governmental figures or those in power. Considering the time period the book was made in, this generally makes sense. The author, John Gardner, was relatively active within American political life, and had a general disdain for the political elite in the 60’s, being part of the counterculture movement that propagated during that period. Looking more so at the modern day, that same counterculture movement of the 1960’s is beginning to rise again, as many younger individuals are taking a closer look at the flaws and misgivings of society as a whole and attempting to find varied and useful solutions to not just improve the quality of life, but prevent societal diseases, such as racism and sexism, from dominating the society as a whole. Currently, I feel lucky to be born at a time when such changes are rapidly occurring, and to lend my hand as an ally. These societal shifts are bound to be beneficial for basically everyone involved, and will lead to a fairer distribution of power across the board.

How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

When looking at my beliefs, they have wildly changed over the past few years. Growing up, I was always taught that Christian values and by extension, Conservatism, were the ways that “good individuals” ought to be. Reflecting back, that’s a fallacy and one that I definitely bought into pretty heavily. Over the pandemic, I’ve had a lot of time to question my faiths and loyalty to certain political organizations and individuals, and I’m happy to say that I’ve found what I currently believe in to be much more correct from a moral and logical standpoint than what I used to. This greatly affects how I perceive others, specifically, as I am not quick to judge someone based on their political opinions or faith, as their upbringing can cause them, specifically with regards to politics, to hold beliefs that they may not actually agree with or believe in. Sometimes, the forcing of someone to hold beliefs is a subconscious process, and only through branching out and interacting with those on the other side can they truly understand and find what they believe in. This is particularly the reason why I believe it's good to engage with people across the aisle, as you never know if the person you’re debating actually believes in what they are saying.