Menuka Dissanayake, Period 7, 12/1/23

Menuka Dissanayake

Period 7 

12/01/2023 

Modern Mythology 2024 

Danger of one story - Medusa/Stone Blind

    As George R.R. Martin said, "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one." Ever since I was little, I have been interested in reading fiction. The main reason is that when I read, I try to create the world of the story in my head. Places in the setting are not just imaginary; I build virtual representations of them. And characters are people. When they die or disappear, I would have a hard time accepting that. Throughout these experiences, I have come to develop my character by emulating the traits of my most endearing characters from the books. Without the aid of books written in English, I would not have been able to adapt to the United States culture as early as I did.

    As you could expect, I did try to recreate the world of Stone Blind, and even though I knew her ending, I grew to like Medusa as a person. While reading the book, I noticed that while the author maintained a consistent tone throughout, she unexpectedly gave her monologues about how much of a disappointment Perseus is. In the beginning, the story was likable and made me invested in the characters' growth. The story was historically accurate and gave a very clear story of what Haynes wanted to convey through her words. But after her monologues, the book lost all its novelty. Even before her open display of dislike for Perseus, I understood how she wanted the reader to view Perseus. However, after reading through her monologue, the book became another fan fiction I happened to read.

    Despite my growing dislike for this book, I learned many valuable lessons. Before this, I had read many books while only focusing on the journey and growth of the main character. While I paid some attention to the supporting characters, I did not invest time to understanding their motivations. Even though in this story, Medusa IS the main character, I understood that I should focus solely on the hero, but the people around him, maybe also his enemies. I plan to apply my knowledge to everyday life and be mindful of the people around me because they might be having the worst day of their lives in that instant.