The Desensitization of a Generation
There has been breaking news in the last few hours of a mass shooting at a Washington, DC Navy Yard. Now, you can find the details elsewhere and I don’t believe in reporting what I personally don’t know. I am not aware of the details and I don’t believe most news agencies are either, to be honest. Therefore I will not feed the flames of conspiracy theorists with misinformation. No, the reason for my post today was a personal realization that I had this morning.
Over the course of my lifetime, I cannot even count the times that there has been a mass shooting somewhere. High schools, middle schools, colleges, elementary schools, malls, movies, and military bases. Over and over and over again the headlines are the same. Sure the location may change and the shooters’ names change but otherwise they are the same thing. Lone gunman walks into a crowded space and for reasons unknown starts killing everyone in sight. It is always the same and the pictures are always the same. Scared crowds, frightened pedestrians, hard nosed cops. Basically, what I am attempting to say is that I have become numb from it.
I have been desensitized by violence and it sickens me to my very core. This should effect me. I should be upset that someone dared to dishonor our military personnel. I should be upset that right now families are getting word that a loved one isn’t coming home. But I am not. I honestly and sincerely am not upset. I have gone about my morning as if nothing has changed and that our nation’s capital was rocked this morning. This is full on sincerity and honesty here.
What terrifies me is that we are now raising an entire generation under these headlines. If I am desensitized now, what will the future look like? What sort of world will my son being raising his children in? At some point in time, the desensitization and self preservation will kick in and these headlines will cease to upset anyone. It will just be another day another shooting. The very thought chills me to my marrow.
There’s no possible way that I am alone in this and I don’t even know who to blame for it. Is it the media’s fault for putting it out there all the time? Is it the self preservation? Is it possible that I am able to ignore the headline in order to allow myself to feel even a tiny bit safe when I enter a crowd? I don’t know what the answer is and I don’t know how to change it. I just hope that I am not alone.
Marilla Realizes How Much Life Has Changed
The anniversary of Anne’s arrival at Green Gables corresponds with signs of Anne’s development as a young woman and a full member of Avonlea society. Anne digests her old experiences and uses them to improve herself, a process central to a child’s development into adolescence and adulthood. In an instance of Anne’s increasing maturity, she manages for the first time to make a heartfelt, effective apology. In contrast to her overblown apologies to Mrs. Rachel and Marilla in past chapters, Anne’s apology to Aunt Josephine, in Chapter 19, is delicate, sincere, and immediately successful. She has learned to curb her temper and put her eloquence to good use.
Anne applies old lessons to new situations not only when making apologies but also when saving Minnie May. Although Anne disliked caring for Mrs. Hammond’s twins, she is able to use the knowledge she gained in the Hammond household to save Minnie May’s life. Previously, Anne’s unorthodox background and unusual behavior have made her the town laughingstock, but in these chapters respectable people like the doctor compliment her for learning from the unusual experiences of her past.
Anne and Gilbert’s rivalry grows increasingly heated. Anne is “as intense in her hatreds as in her loves,” an intensity apparent in her enduring hatred for Gilbert. She will not even speak Gilbert’s name, as if trying to deny his existence altogether. When Mr. Phillips writes their names on the board in Chapter 17, the image of Anne’s name underneath that of her enemy suggests both a flirtation between the two of them and her failure to best him in school, and Anne cringes at the sight. However, just as Anne’s unorthodox manner of speaking wins her the approval of Aunt Josephine, her unusual talent for holding a grudge works in her favor in some respects. Because she loathes Gilbert and wants to triumph over him, she works harder in school than she otherwise might, even given her natural love of learning.
Anne displays her fanciful and unshakable imagination yet again in pretending with Diana that the woods between their houses are haunted. There is nothing scary about these woods, but Anne simply decides that she wants them to evoke a particular emotional reaction. Because she believes so strongly in this fantasy, she actually alters her perception of reality. Though she herself has created the idea that the woods are scary, she nevertheless comes home nervous with fright. This ability to get lost in fantasy and think creatively about the world differentiates Anne from Marilla, who initially cannot even fathom that Anne could be useful at Green Gables.
Chapter Challenge: 21-24
Famous Fictional Female Red Heads
While reading Anne of Green Gables last night, I got to thinking about other fictional female red heads. Some of them are the most endearing characters ever written. Here are 10 more of my favorite fictional red heads. If you can think of any that I missed, please feel free to post them on this thread!

Ariel from Disney’s The Little Mermaid. She’s spunky, innocent, and has moxy. Everything a Disney Princess should be.

Little Orphan Annie. I was completely obsessed with this movie as a child. Even to this day I sing “The Sun Will Come Out” whenever my day is going badly.

Not only was Brave the best Disney movie released in recent years (let’s face it, it all went downhill after Beauty and the Beast) but Merida is just a fantastic princess. She’s absolutely what I would want a daughter of mine to be!

While I still hold to the belief that Pippi Longstocking is just a knock off of Anne Shirley, I do love her!

In Kindergarten I was Raggedy Ann for Halloween. My aunt had bought me a HUGE doll and I was able to wear her clothes as my costume. From that point on, I’ve loved Raggedy Ann!

I cannot even begin to explain to you how much I adore Strawberry Shortcake. She was a HUGE part of my childhood!
Happy Birthday James Alan McPherson
James Alan McPherson, the first black man to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction, is born in Savannah, Georgia.
McPherson overcame the crushing poverty of his childhood and ultimately attended Harvard Law School. At age 25, he entered a short story contest sponsored by The Atlantic and won. The following year, he became a contributing editor to the magazine. In 1969, his first collection of short fiction, Hue and Cry, appeared. McPherson became a writing teacher, working at Morgan State University in Washington, D.C., and later at University of Virginia. His second story collection, Elbow Room, was published in 1977 and won the Pulitzer Prize the following year. McPherson was the first black man to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. He also won a $192,000 MacArthur “genius” grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Despite his success, McPherson’s life began to unravel. His interracial marriage collapsed, and a bitter custody battle over his daughter followed. A favorite student killed himself. McPherson spent a year teaching at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop but stopped publishing his work. More than 20 years passed before he published his next book, Crabcakes, a memoir about his journey to Japan to escape the burden of racism.
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