11-8 for 11-12

1.       

“My husband’s rifle was kept loaded (I learnt to load and fire it), as we were determined not to die without a struggle…” (page 906)

I admire any character who is like this; even movie characters are admired for their courage and their bravery. How many times have we heard the classic line that sounds something like “I ain’t going down without a fight.” Now, that being said, this behavior can be a blinding behavior, and some foreigners (like my relatives) can say that this kind of attitude is a weakness in Americans.

2.       

“Soon afterwards the guns fired –instantly the alarm bugle rang out its shrill on the still night … I felt that our death knell had sounded …” (page 906)

This entire passage felt like an intense historical thriller to me. I could imagine the location, the dead silence, and the torturous suspense of that scene when the husband goes out and none of us are sure if he lives.

3.       

“[…] I am obliged to infer that something deeper and more powerful than the use of greased cartridges has been resorted to…” (page 919)

This is exactly what I brought up in the previous blog post regarding the greased cartridges. I mentioned that it has to be more than just the cartridges that made the people so upset. To quote my own words, “I can imagine a civilization of Indian people spending years of putting up with the British Empire, and this animal-gun thing to them is sort of like a ‘That’s the last straw’ kind of deal.” After doing some research about the Indian Rebellion, I found out that civilian practices and systems were interfered by the British Empire. Land was lost because of a different culture and privileges to Indian citizens were not given either. Now this sounds like a real social issue and cause to form rebellion. Honestly, the greased cartridge issue sounds really small in terms of problem-scope.

"Rebellion" by Linkin Park: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCy5461BtTg

4.       

“They challenged the superiority of the rulers to whom, for a century, they and their fathers had submitted…” (page 925)

For some reason, this just moved me tremendously. It sounds very inspirational, like something historic and revolutionary is occurring, which it was. I can just picture those rebellious historical drama movies in my head about this, and for dramatic effect, they will include the fathers so they can argue with the sons and daughters who do the challenging.