City of God/Liberating God of Life Critical Analysis Essay:
The Decision You Make Determines Your Fate
For some, life comes easy either you’re born into a rich, comfortable living or some cases growing up poor is what most kids deal with. In every situation, there comes a time when choosing where to turn can be a life or death decision- physically and spiritually. Comparing the film “City of God” and the reading “Liberating God of Life,” is an insight on the how a right or wrong choice can make or break you.
The film “City of God,” cinematography was impressive and magnificent. Although, it’s fast paced the story doesn’t lose its meaning. Shocking and uplifting the movie shows the decision of two kids that take them on two different paths.
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Even though Rocket and Lil Ze weren’t brothers, they grow up in the same neighborhood. To please God, Abel brought he’s best first fruit as a sacrifice while Cain brought God a less pleasing sacrifice. Angry and jealous Cain choose to kill his brother and didn’t think it was a big deal. Like Cain’s attitude, Lil Ze didn’t care about how he got ahead, he cared about power and his ego. Compared with Johnson’s “Liberating God of Life,” the film is the story of the poor, mainly the young men, before they hit the age of 20, start a life of crime to get out of being poor. Thinking its survival the Tender Trio is like the Robin Hood of Rio, where they rob businesses and share with the poor. Poverty gives them a reason to commit crimes it’s not taking them far, their fate catches up with them. Not all of the characters are bad in some ways. For example, Benny is part of a gang, he embraces a benevolent personality, and he protects some people from Lil Ze’s rage acting as his conscience. In the reading “Liberating God of Life,” reflects the freedom the poor will have if they embrace God’s love. Establish a relationship with God and work toward change in society, socially, and politically and work honestly. The focus of the reading is helping the poor, God is always with the poor and suffering. In the film, the poor are suffering because of crime and drugs, God works with those who look into doing good and not …show more content…
The decisions we make can lead to a life of distraction or a life of success. Born with the same advantages and disadvantages, Rocket and Lil Ze chose what’s more important to them; a life of crime or a life towards success. Though challenges come and go we have to choose to resist temptation or give into it. Morality is also an issue in the film, the drug dealers and the next generation gain respect and power by killing each other off. They want respect but don’t give respect. In order for Rocket to do his job as a Photographer, he needs to rely on the violence of the slum. In contrast, while his intent is to do good Rocket needs evil to get out also. In some way Rocket endangers his morality to do good- for his job. In Joshua chapter 4 of the bible, God leads the Israelites out of slavery and as promised they were free from bondage. The Israelites came from many challenges as they finally made their way walking into the Promised Land. God doesn’t let go of His promises He performs miracles farther than we can see, but we must hold on and be patient. Also in the bible 1 Peter 5, says that the God of grace, after a little suffering, has already put in all of us what we need to survive. God gives us all strength and security to overcome all obstacles that is put in front of us. There is an eternal reward for those who endure and stay faithful. In Psalm 91, shows that God is faithful no matter what you’re going through
While reading Amazing Grace, one is unable to escape the seemingly endless tales of hardship and pain. The setting behind this gripping story is the South Bronx of New York City, with the main focus on the Mott Haven housing project and its surrounding neighborhood. Here black and Hispanic families try to cope with the disparity that surrounds them. Mott Haven is a place where children must place in the hallways of the building, because playing outside is to much of a risk. The building is filled with rats and cockroaches in the summer, and lacks heat and decent water in the winter. This picture of the "ghetto" is not one of hope, but one of fear. Even the hospitals servicing the neighborhoods are dirty and lack the staff that is needed for quality basic care. If clean bed sheets are needed the patients must put them on themselves. This book is filled with stories of real people and their struggles. Each story, though different in content, has the same basic point, survival.
When modern thinking is discovered and developed in one’s traditional mind set, one starts to accept what the future has to offer. This is my thesis for this paper. The bases of ‘The Chosen’ demonstrates throughout the book how people with traditional practices look at the world in their own way than those with modern practices. One side is more willing to be open minded in the beginning while the other wants to stay rooted in tradition and block out what the world has to offer. However as the story goes on, characters, especially Danny come to find a broader way of thinking outside of the traditions that he was taught.
The story develops in Ciudade de Deus, one of the most dangerous favelas in Rio di Janeiro. Young Rocket narrates the events from his point of view due to the fact that he grew along the increment of violence and as many other kids of his generation became strongly involved in the organized crime gangs. By developing the story from Rocket’s point of view, the director is trying to give the viewers a primary view of someone who grew directly involved with the dangers of living in the favelas. By beginning the film in the scene when the main characters Rocket, Lil Z, and Benny as children witness how the Dynamic Duo begin to commit crimes allows the viewers to first witness the influences of violence that these kids have had since children. The way in which the Dynamic Duo talks with the small children after committing a robbery, truly demonstrates that these children were encouraged to become criminals. For example, after the Dynamic Duo robs the gas truck during the first scene from minute 6 to minute 9 they tell the three kids “This is how you will make money and survive, so watch and learn, and one day you guys will be the ones in charge of this business.”(City of God) The context of this first scene plays an important factor in the violent development of the children. The fact that we are taught all these events by Rocky permits the viewer to experience all kinds of influences these kids received as children. It is important that Rocky narrates the story because we are able to see first-hand the effects that violence had upon these children. It would have been a total difference, if the story would have been told from a foreign person point of view because we would not totally understand how the children get affected by violence. Seeing all the events from Rocky’s eyes allows the director to successfully demonstrate the way in which children
Throughout history most religions have been based around putting their God above all others, and showing love and acceptance, however in today’s society religion appears to be the fuel to a fire of hate. Religion as a whole has become the most controversial and the most violent cause behind some of the most world breaking news, from wars in the Middle East, to death threats to doctors in my home town. This mentality of religion first is demonstrated in the short story A Father by Bharati Mukherjee. In this short story the main character, Mr Bhowmick, creates a miserable life for himself based on what his religion says is acceptable. His family, however, lived life and cherished the freedoms of living in America by creating happiness and accomplishment in their lives. The jealousy of Mr. Bhowmick for a more joyful existence is demonstrated when his religion drives him to an act of violence out of anger and hate.
Obstacles are opportunities in disguise. If a person is starving with only one sunflower seed, he/she has a choice to either plant the sun flower seed or to eat it. His obstacle is only having one sunflower, but his opportunity is to plant it. Women and men from urban areas are faced with these decisions everyday of choosing starvation v. assurance, mind v. matter, now v. forever. They are hit with harsh reality in some of the most severe ways, that the bad options can outweigh the good. Alternatively, there those who are hit, though they fight back. The obstacles of living in an urban environment, being faced with controversial experiences, and their relationships during their childhood are what shaped their character and possibly dictate
Never did Chris McCandless feel so alive than when he abandon his wealthy lifestyle to live the life of a vagabond. Wealth has been associated with happiness, even though this is not always the case. Money may make the world go round, as well as have the power to manipulate and control situations towards one’s favor, yet as much as people crave it they despise it as well. People, such as Chris McCandless, have proved that while riches may give one a comfortable lifestyle, it will not always be a fulfilling one. Life is not going to revolve around one’s paycheck. Society has marked those who do not accept the accumulation of either money or power as the purpose of life to be exiles. Throughout Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, the depths of Chris
Catholicism glorifies and represents mothers as the main foundation of the family through the example of the passive and unconditional loving Mary, the mother of Jesus Crist. This idea of the mother as unconditional lover beings has been passed on and reproduced in the Chicana/o community. Gil Cuadros and Reyna Grande through their autobiographical work testify against this predominate idea of the mothers being caring and loving persons. Even though most mothers fall into the norm of a normal mother, normality is subjective, therefore Cuadros and Grande’s work represent the complexities of reality. Grande’s The Distance Between Us and Cuadro’s City of God are autobiographical narratives that incorporate reality as a form of testimonial of existence, an act of healing and resilience. Given that these author’s life experiences can be
Some of us can be slaves to society, but still there are some others that will see beyond it to reach for what they want. People will do anything to fulfill their dreams. They will travel great distances or change their whole lifestyles to succeed. But not everyone prevails. In the end, it's the people that guide themselves and are not controlled by others. The best days may be the first to flee, but dreams live on forever (174).
God. That one word has a lot of weight to it, doesn't it? It had even more
The concept of good against evil is relevant in today’s society because our actions define and reflect our morals. People constantly face the battle between making good and bad choices, and culture greatly influences our decision making. We are raised to establish right from wrong, good from evil. Our ability to recognize acts of evil and corruption is developed from our experiences in life and from the environment in which we are raised. In The Road, the boy and the man struggle to survive as they embark on a treacherous journey to the south, where they believe they will find warmth and safety. Their will to keep living in a dark, post-apocalyptic world symbolizes perseverance and determination, along with the idea of good through destruction.
The decision of Adam and Cal Trask to overcome their struggles and Cathy’s decision to succumb to evil prove that the choice of what to do with one’s life is completely up to the individual. John Steinbeck’s use of the biblical story of Cain and Abel builds on the idea that a person is completely responsible for choosing what becomes of them in result of a word, an action and a memory. Undoubtedly everyone has the choice whether or not they wish to triumph over the pain and the sins they are struggling with. After all, look at Ghandi he witnessed children burdened with evil inheritance walk away surmounted because of their strength to rein over evil.
City of God is set in the sprawling slums of Rio de Janeiro, in a poor urban neighborhood built in the 1960s to host the city’s poor inhabitants. Lins Paulo, the author of the book of the same title on which the movie is based, describes a grim picture of the slum in its early years. He writes, “the new residents brought garbage, bins, mongrel dogs”… (Paulo 6), depicting the poverty of those who moved into the slum. The favela (the slum) is located far away from central Rio, in what can be interpreted as an attempt to create a as comfortable as possible distance between the rich who frequent and live with the main city, and the poor residents who present a security threat to businesses and Rio’s upper class society. This design of urban planning in which authorities go to great lengths
Amongst all divisions between religious beliefs throughout various cultures, one of the more obvious disagreements comes between polytheistic (many gods) and monotheistic (one God) religions. St. Augustine, in his City of God, Book IV, argues that Christian belief is more rational than Roman polytheism.
In The Road you are exposed to a post apocalyptic setting, in which you are shown how strong you must be to survive and the willingness to do so. The son and father represent souls trying to find the spark in the darkness. By not being in this setting you gain knowledge of what to do and how to do it to stay alive. People are different in different circumstances and will change with their surroundings. But some will continue to fight for what they know to be right, even if it means going against the crowd, just like the father and son had done. All you need is a spark, no matter how small, to keep you going.
In the “City of God”, Christian theologian Augustine presents the four key elements of his philosophy; the church, the state, the City of Heaven, and the City of the World. Relating the church and the state, he has conveyed the idea that they are two independent societies on an equal platform. Both are good, yet their natures are different. This supports the opinion of Christian philosopher Robert Markus, who believes that Augustine’s political theology is based upon the idea of “a positive valuation of the secular realm and its independence from religion”.