A Simple Heart

Flaubert's A Simple Heart is not your typical fairy tale story, yet on the other hand its also not your typical tragedy. It is a tale of a servent girl, Felicite, who lives a mediocre life. She ends up working for Madame Aubaine and becomes a part of their family. Felicite cares for the children as her own, and even saves their lives from a bull. She gives entirely to others, and although many take advantage of her she is unaffected. She is the epitome of a selfless character, and Flaubert shows how true altruism is the reward in itself. Whatever comes her way she is able to deal with it. A parrot is given to the family and it immediately becomes one of Felicites best friends. She relates the bird to the holy ghost and even sees it on her death bead. Overall, her life is seemingly pointless but Flaubert reveals how a true selfless heart can go a long way in life.

Ghalib

Ghalib was a Persian poet from India that took a more personal approach towards his poetry. He believed that the search for God within liberated the seeker from the narrowly Orthodox Islam, encouraging the devotee to look beyond the letter of the law to its narrow essence. His Sufi views and mysticism is greatly reflected in his poems and Ghazals.I am not the best person at interpreting poetry, but my favorite poem of his would have to be "Why Didn't I Shrink in the Blaze of that Face." The "Face" is a referral to when God revealed himself to Moses. Ghalib portrays that when the lightening from God struck the mountain for Moses, the vision was meant for us. Even years after this event we can still learn a lesson that God is an all powerful Being. This poem also talks about "Him who posses the Goblet" which can possibly relate to the meaning that good things come to those who wait. One cannot wish to obtain something until he or she is officially ready. This illusion reminds me of the movie Karate Kid.The boy had to first begin his training by doing simple everyday tasks because he was not physically or mentally ready to begin fighting. Once the boys master saw that he was fit to begin learning, he began to develop his karate skills. Ghalib has a way with words and I personally admire anyone who can write poetry because it is a lot harder than it looks, and even harder to interpret.

Frederick Douglass

 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is another slave biography. Unlike Equino, Douglass was born a slave. He has no recollection of his age, birthday, or even family members. He was also born as a mulatto, which implies that his father was a white man, and its even rumored that his master was his dad. Douglass was lucky enough to be born further north where slavery was not as harsh as it was down south, yet he still witnessed many horrific whippings that have scared him for life. At a young age, Frederick was sold to a man that wanted him to watch over his own son of around the same age. I do not have any kids of my own. but I cannot imagine leaving my child in the care of another child. Yet, this household is where Douglass got his first taste of education. It is a common saying that "If you give someone an inch, they will take a mile," and this is the case with Douglass. Once he dipped his foot in the water of knowledge, he wanted to go swimming. He just couldn't get enough of learning. His longing to become free motivated him to keep learning. He would trick other kids into teaching him letters, and would chose to read on his own time when no one else was home. His perseverance paid off, because eventually Frederick Douglass escaped and became a free man. Without his education, Douglass would have been another ignorant slave that would have been a "slave for life." Douglass realized that becoming educated would remove the chains of ignorance that slavery provided. His education also served him well after he became a free man, because many slaves that escaped became indentured servants, which is equivalent to debtors prison. This in itself is a form of slavery because once in prison it is impossible to make money, which makes it impossible to ever pay back the debt.
 http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/the-return-of-debtors-prisons/ 

This blog demonstrates how debtors prison is like a never ending slavery. Moral of the story...don't buy something if you can't pay for it, because a lifetime of debt is not worth any object.