Julius Caeser Blog- Brutus

Brutus was by far the most noble character in the play "Julius Caesar." He was the only character who didn't kill Caesar out of jealousy. He was actually a friend to Caesar. Although he did murder somebody, his level of morality was still a lot higher than those of characters like Cassius or Casca. His reasoning for contributing to the murder of Caesar was out of fear that Caesar was becoming too powerful and because he thought it was the right thing to do, unlike all the other conspirators who just wanted Caesar's power. In act 2 scene 1 Brutus said, "Crown him that, and then I grant we put a sting in him that at his will he may do danger with." This quote displays how Brutus was scared that if Caesar became king he would cause a lot of damage, so he only killed him because he was trying to protect his country. The most obvious example of Brutus changing is how at the beginning of the play he was such a great friend of Caesar's and then later in the play he ended up killing Caesar which was obviously something a great friend wouldn't do. I find Brutus very interesting because his biggest flaw was how easily he was persuaded. I sometimes find myself being easily persuaded as well so I can kind of relate to him. I also find myself relating Brutus to a U.S. soldier. Our country has soldiers over in Iraq killing tons of innocent people everyday, not because the soldiers are jealous of the people, but because they think it's the right thing to do. They think it's for the good of our country. This is exactly what Brutus did. He killed Caesar because he thought it would protect his fellow Romans. Another tie between Brutus and an American soldier is that they are both considered to be very noble people. http://thefuntimesguide.com/2005/09/soldierpackages.php is a website that provides ideas of gift ideas for soldiers in Iraq. This displays our country's love for our soldiers and how highly we think of him, just like how Brutus was looked up to by his country.

The Allegory of the Cave

1. The "shadows" that Plato talked about were really just illusions that represent how the truth is often hidden. We are often "blinded" by these illusions which enable us from seeing the whole truth. Magazines, movie stars, and the news are just a few of the "shadows" we deal with in our everyday lives. All of them have been edited and exaggerated in order to change the perception of the people who encounter them. They are not complete truths, but we are often tricked into believing that are.

2. http://www.eharmony.com/ portrays a "shadow." On this website people can lie about their age, hair color, hometown, and anything else that they feel like. The people who look at it are often tricked into believing what they think is the truth, when in reality it's a lie.

3. "Shadows" impact society greatly in both good and bad ways. Sometimes they're inspiring and can give people a determined attitude. But a lot of the time they are degrading. For example, when a teenage girl looks at a magazine, she sees a bunch of perfect girls without any flaws whatsoever. What she does not see is that the girls in that magazine DO have flaws. They have just been eliminated in order to portray the "perfect" girl. The girl looking at the magazine will then compare herself to the girls in the magazine which will make her think that there is something wrong with her because she doesn't look like that. This will then lower her self-esteem which can lead to some pretty severe things, such as anerexia. When it comes down to it, "shadows" lie to us by messing with our sense of judgement and "blinding" us from the truth.