Gibran Sheikh
Professor Mandy Macklin
English 115
12 September 2012
Hey
Kiran,
How are you today Cheeks? University
at CSUN has been great so far, it’s the third week here and I’m already
enhancing my knowledge from subjects like English all the way to psychology.
Speaking of English, I have just finished reading a play entitled The Elephant Man, by Bernard Pomerance,
and I thought I might let you know how this play in particular relates to you
and me as siblings. As I write this letter to you, Kiran, I want you to
understand that I care for you and all I want to do is to let you be aware of
certain things like prejudice. As your brother I want to help you understand
something a little more clearly in relation to how I understand it, and that
doesn’t mean I want you to simply remember what I’m saying. I want you to see
the light of the situation in a different perspective other than yours only to
help you. I don’t want to enforce anything or be bias as to your opinion, I’m
just here to let you know. I will try my best to let you understand my
perspective of how this play has a key point that can be seen in our everyday
lives.
The play deals with something you
and I have learned to be quite uncivil and immoral; I am talking about prejudice.
You might understand prejudice as simply “judging a book by its cover”, but in
society this word has implications far more than that of a mere novel. In
regards to this play, prejudice is many things, such as: hate, judgment, bias,
and cruelty. Kiran, you and I both know that Mom and Abujee have taught us well
to never show such behavior towards each other and even towards strangers, but
do you know why that is? It is so that you and I can grow up to be people in
life who are likely to succeed. You might ask how does success relate to
prejudice in a play, and I will tell you that in life people are much better
off giving what they would like to receive. Things such as help, gratitude, and
confidence can go a long way in a person’s heart because it shows your empathy
for them, and in this play empathy is a key factor that allows prejudice to be
overcome.
Kiran, do you remember when you told
me that you were not sure of inviting one of your classmates to your birthday
party? As you might recall you said that this person was a little strange and
that you were not so sure of inviting that person, but you said it passively.
As your brother, I understood your side of the situation, but then I told you
to step into your peer’s point of view and see how you would feel. You then immediately
understood the point that I was trying to make, and why do you think that is
so? It is because you and I were raised in such a way that taught us to be the
better person. This is exactly one of the plot’s points in the play that I have
just read. To give you a brief insight on the play, it is about a man in
nineteenth century London who has a severe deformity and is treated as an
incompetent and idiotic “freak”, both of which he is not. This man, who goes by
the label “Elephant Man”, is actually one of the intelligent characters in the
play with an interest in religion. As the story progresses, it is
understandable that this man has changed the lives of others’ prejudice by his
knowledge and what’s inside his heart. I know that by now you realize that this
key point is applicable to not only a play, but to life.
As you might understand, Kiran, this
play took place about 200 years ago and society wasn’t all that great, especially
in the rural areas of London. Today, you see that society has improved a whole
lot; however, the word prejudice still exists and it is still around today in
parts of the world that have not come to common sense and decency. Today we
still see how some people still judge others on appearance or certain skills,
but as we both know, these people who judge others are only trying to make
themselves feel better or superior, which they are not. Everyone in the world
has their own individualistic views upon society, and when these views are
looked at as a whole you and I can see that society isn’t where it should be. I’m
thankful that you and I are much more educated in the fact that not a single
person in this world is perfect, and if they are, then everyone in the world
just is. Hope you learned a little through this letter and I hope it helps you
out in your success.
Love,
Gibran
Sheikh
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