Hawaii
I stepped out of the flight gate at the Honolulu airport, and into another world. This world was strange, yet somehow familiar. There was the Starbucks, and the frazzled travelers, but to my left were huge open-air panorama windows. These did not look out onto grey pavement, and unruly Colorado skies, but into a lush forest of palm trees and tropical scents. The moisture of the air clung to my cheeks, and made my already thick hair seem much thicker. But the awe slipped away, as I struggled to find the baggage claim. My beloved boyfriend was still looking about him with admiration and the joy of a child, but I felt hot and was scurrying away to find my luggage.
Down the escalator we went, and into the more familiar world of spinning luggage and unpleasant sounds of machinery. I frowned wondering where our famous lei greeting was. After all, we had requested it, they should have been at the gate. My head was full of visions of grass-skirted Polynesian women smiling and hanging fragrant necklaces around our shoulders. We waited patiently on a bench, thinking perhaps they would come find us there. Finally, David went in search of the traveling agency, and I soon followed. After a few minutes of waiting, a tanned teenage boy came out of the back and examined us with bored annoyance. After explaining that we had not received our leis, he yawned and tossed two of the flower garlands at us.
Here ya go, he said, and disappeared into the door from which he came. David and I exchanged glances, and wondered if this was an omen. I decided firmly not to let this minor setback get in the way of my enjoyment of this trip.
We now had to find the rental car, which involved more waiting, this time in the hot sun with other disg...
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...re soon full of jade and coral, fans and sarongs. David was in search of a black and white hibiscus shirt, which turned out to be quite hard to find. We finally found one, after looking through about twenty clothing shops. Contented, we returned to the room, and floated away on the soft cries of merchants and drums.
Our final day, we simply went to see a movie. Here we finally saw true locals, dressed in shabby t-shirts and shorts, complaining cheerfully about the heat. I wondered what it would be like to live here, in this peaceful place, where even the grocery workers are laid back, and calm. I imagined myself living in a beach front house, being able to simply walk to that azure water. When our plane took off that night, I pressed my nose to the glass, and sighed. Despite my poor bum, and the vertical driveway, I knew I'd left part of my heart there in Hawaii.
In conclusion, I found myself captivated by this new and unusual Hilo I had been reading about in Yamanaka’s fictional novel Heads by Harry. It is the Hilo that I have yet to see and witness for myself, yet it is also the Hilo that many locals believe was brought to real life in Yamanaka’s novel. Although the whole culture, pidgin language, and vibrant personalities were a breath of fresh air to me as a newcomer to Hawaii, I was still able to build a connection to the characters’ experiences within the novel. Yamanaka definitely brought the Hilo of the 70’s and 80’s to life by capturing the geography, culture, and obstacles of what real people experience.
Most people experience dramatic events that demonstrate to them just how fragile life is. Whether these events are acts of gruesome violence, or deaths of a loved ones, the frailty of life is evident. However, for me, this was a different story. As a southern white-boy, my realization came in the most unexpected of places – the Hawaiian Islands. When I learned of a snorkeling trip mid-vacation, I was overcome with anticipation and couldn’t wait to embark on my “Pacific Pilgrimage.” This vacation would prove to be a dramatic turning point in my life.
“It’s difficult to recall the first time I went to Switzerland. The actual experience of flying across the ocean at a young age felt like journeying to a different world. That eleven-hour flight was such a tedious part of the very exciting journey ahead. I remember once looking out the window of the plane as we touched down and feeling such a deep comfort and contentment. I felt as though I was home. What awaited me were days of family and friends, hiking and exploring, and delicious food. It was always such a beautiful experience being i...
Hawaii is a top vacation destination by many tourists all over the world. When Hawaii comes to mind many people and different cultures imagine sandy beaches, warm, blue waters, lush green backdrops, Hula dancers in grass skirts with flowers in their hair and leis around their necks. These visual representations are iconic symbols of Hawaii and of what many have come to define as Hawaiian. These images and ideas painted by the visitor industry most often take place at the expense of the Hawaiians historic culture. These stereotypes conjured up by the tourist indus...
Rivers flow freely, and smoothly, and people usually go to the river to escape from society and civilization. They feel free with the nature surrounding them, which allows them to rest, and relax in peace. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Twain uses symbolic importance of the Mississippi River. Throughout the story, the Mississippi River plays an important symbolic figure, and significance to the story's plot. For Huck and Jim, the river is a place for freedom and adventure. Mark Twain uses the Mississippi River to symbolize freedom, adventure, and comfort.
...by Mark Twain. The Mississippi River symbolizes freedom for Huck and Jim, as well as being their place of comfort. Nature is also a big part of Huck’s life because he is most comfortable living outside of civilization, in nature. Comparing Huckleberry and Tom, as well as showing how Huck has become affected by civilization, is important in supporting the human nature side of the human nature versus civilization conflict. In this novel, human nature has become more important than civilization because nature has taught Huck far more than living in society ever would. There are many themes in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Although many of them are important in the book, the theme of nature and its significance is the most important in developing the plot, as well as showing the growth of the characters, namely the protagonist Huckleberry Finn.
During his abandonment, he wanders in the forest and learns social aspects from the DeLacey family. His request to Frankenstein is inspired by the relationship between Felix and Safie. When he saw the passion between them, the monster said that their love, “...expressed joy”(Shelley 83). Therefore, the monster learns that humans, essentially men, need women to eliminate such depressed feelings. When the monster demands a female creature, Frankenstein agrees to his request as he was threatened about the death of Elizabeth Lavenza. However, as he is working on his creation, he considers the possible consequences that this might bring because the monster, “had sworn to quit the neighbourhood…; but the female monster had not; and the female monster, who in all probability to become a thinking and reasoning animal” (Shelley 120). Frankenstein decides to discontinue the female creation which delivers a message that women can have a mind of their own. He believes that the female creature can decide whether or not to be a companion for the monster. If she were to choose not to, she would have the power to do so despite having destruction as a possible outcome.. Therefore, signifying that women have the potential to have agency and make decisions of their
As a native Hawaiian, Kristiana Kahakauwila has extensive knowledge on Hawaiian customs and culture. Though she was not raised in Hawaii, Kristiana is still connected to the culture. Her upbringing in California did not separate her from the customs of Hawaii. Kristiana has a master’s in fine arts and a degree in comparative literature. Her degrees and background with Hawaiian culture led her to write the book “This is Paradise,” which is composed of multiple short stories. Each short story unveils a new layer of Hawaiian culture that many people tend to overlook. Before the first short story begins, Kristiana sets the tone for the novel with the cover of the book.
It was believed from the beginning that Hawai’i is a place for paradise; where rest and relaxation can be found more than most places. It is ranked as the most peaceful place in the world. Hawai’i is alive now because of tourism and almost, if not all the residents of Hawai’i know about how the US illegally annexed Hawai’i by overthrowing their Queen. Many still stand with their belief that Hawaii should never be a part of the US because as people come to Hawaii, it is no longer the place that they would imagine it to be. Hawai’i is no longer a place to find solace but it is now a playground for the military.
Since 1840 the Hawaiian Islands have been an escape to a tropical paradise for millions of tourists. People all over the world encounter alluring, romanticized pictures of Hawai'i's lush, tropical vegetation, exotic animals, beautiful beaches, crystal clear water, and fantastical women. This is the Hawai'i tourists know. This is the Hawai’i they visit. However, this Hawai'i is a state of mind, a corporate-produced image existing on the surface. More precisely, it is an aftermath of relentless colonization of the islands' native inhabitants by the United States. These native Hawaiians experience a completely different Hawai'i from the paradise tourists enjoy. No one makes this as clear as Haunani-Kay Trask, a native Hawaiian author. In her book, From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai'i and through her poetry in Light in the Crevice Never Seen, Trask provides an intimate account of the tourist industry's impact on native Hawaiian culture. She presents a negative perspective of the violence, pollution, commercial development, and cultural exploitation produced by the tourist industry. Trask unveils the cruel reality of suffering and struggling through a native Hawaiian discourse. Most of the world is unaware of this.
Kristiana Kahakauwila's, a local Hawaiian brought up in California, perspective view of Hawaii is not the one we visually outwardly recognize and perceive in a tourist brochure, but paints a vivid picture of a modern, cutting edge Hawai`i. The short story "This Is Paradise", the ironically titled debut story accumulation, by Kahakauwila, tell the story of a group narrative that enacts a bit like a Greek ensemble of voices: the local working class women of Waikiki, who proximately observe and verbally meddle and confront a careless, puerile youthful tourist, named Susan, who is attracted to the more foreboding side of the city's nightlife. In this designation story, Susan is quieted into innocent separated by her paradisiacal circumventions, lulled into poor, unsafe naïve culls. Kahakauwila closes her story on a dismal somber note, where the chorus, do to little too late of what would have been ideal, to the impairment of all. Stereotype, territorial, acceptance, and unity, delineates and depicts the circadian lives of Hawaiian native locals, and the relationships with the neglectful, candid tourists, all while investigating and exploring the pressure tension intrinsically in racial and class division, and the wide hole in recognition between the battle between the traditional Hawaiian societal culture and the cutting edge modern world infringing on its shores.
Many critics have argued how much Mary Shelley’s personal life and background should be considered in the reading and interpretation of Frankenstein which contains many autobiographical references and experiences of her own. Analyzing the combination of a complex novel and biographical information readers find evidence that circumscribes her life produces a possible feeling and intentions that the author may have possessed. During the time period of writing Frankenstein, f...
In “Frankenstein” penned by Mary Shelley, one cannot help but notice the role of women in the novel compared to men. Even though Mary Shelley is the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, a mother advocating for women’s rights in society, she displays the roles of Caroline, Elizabeth, and Justine as passive women. This may be the time period when women were considered inferior to men. Caroline, Elizabeth, and Justine are depicted as possessions by men, admired for their superficial beauty, and do not take action without the permission of men. On the other hand, Shelley illustrates Safie as a woman who speaks up for her own rights when her father forbids her to find Felix. The three points that contribute greatly to the passive role of women are the lower of rank women in society compared to men, women being seen as possessions for men to protect, and women admired for their superficial beauty.
The heart begins racing the moment the car pulls into the airport parking lot. The smell of jet fuel, automobile exhaust, and hot tarmac combine to assault the senses with images of exotic escapes and the kind of freedom that can only come from airports. I feel the thrum of the engines at takeoff and the vibration of the plane during the flight in my skin. I see people listening to MP3s and playing video games. I hear the couple behind me chatting about the weather in Florida and the possibility of rain. I recognize the smell of fading perfume that women are wearing. Chanel, Windsong and White Diamonds clash with the smell of popcorn and Quizno sandwiches.