The Book: The Activist by Renee Goldman - Research Paper Example

"The Activist" by Renee Galdman The book is a well scripted book that is written when a revolution is taking centre stage. There is a group of people who are protesting due to lack of leadership. Apparently they are protesting due to lack of leadership within their circle. The book’s setup is mainly in an era whereby there is extreme paranoia (Harris 56). The book is also mainly about perceptions and not solely about evidence. The book can also be spun around so that it is able to suit a particular cause. The book’s narrator is a well re known journalist. The journalist is drawn in tales that is pitted against activists and politicians. The journalist of the book discovers that being an activist is quite a risky affair. The reason is that it involves a lot of courage that is required to fight for a particular cause. There are questions that can be asked when one is reading the book. One reading the book would ask what the cause of the book is all about. The challenge that one would find is that it would be quite difficult to discern the cause. An example of a challenge is whether a bridge has been destroyed and bombed or not. These are some of the questions that would for sure confuse readers. The book has got both hilarious and haunting mixes of news reports, confessions, dreams and internal monologues. The author has got a lot of poetic considerations and political satire. There also exist a certain contract between the society and the people, cities and the people and finally between someone’s sense of one self and the sense of the other person. At the centre stage of the book is the controversial bridge. The bridge is known as the J. Gifford Bridge. According to the governments account about the bridge in the book, The Activist, it claims that it was blown up by activists. In another account, scientist claim that the bridge was not blown up but it did not actually exist. The group of scientists contented that the bridge was actually blown up and that it did not exist but it was it was only a crossing point. The activists refused to talk in normal terms but in codified terms. One of the government’s agents complained that, “In response to the activists’ refusal to communicate in codified terms, one government agent complains,” From the book, language acts as a barrier that people are ready to cross. What it does is that it fails to connect people in many aspects. The reason why language acts as a barrier is that people never know what to say and that it does not connect people in one way or another. People fail in expression because they find that they tend to talk a lot of talk to each non-sense when they are speaking to each other. In the book, the maps went blank, and in addition to it, we also find that infrastructure was also attacked or it never existed before. When these circumstances present themselves, we find that people really fear for their lives. It also evident from the book that people is that they cling onto political movements. The reason is that they feel safe within these outfits and that they also craft slogans when they are within these outfits. There are primary fears that people have within the book (Krupskaya 89). The fears could be physical, psychological and political. This is the reason as to why people cling onto political outfits so that they can be able to avert these fears. One thing that one realises when reading the book is that he or she becomes engrossed when reading the book. The reason is that the book is written a particular style and structure. The author’s mode of writing is one that is quite precise and is strangely optimistic. These are some of the few things that people will pick when they go about reading the book. In the book, there were three men who were questioned about their political affiliations. There were men or demonstrators who were at the bridge and there was ringleader. The name of the ringleader was called Alonso Mendoza. He was being looked for and they could not find him at any point in time. From the book, there was a police report that read in part, “three men, Al Mendoza, Alejandro Mendoza, and Alpine Mencini, were questioned at police headquarters about their political affiliations”. Later in the day, the police force desperation increased and the report went further to demonstrate that, “this morning, forces stormed the homes of Altar Mendleshon, Alvin Mendocci, Alsana Mendoza, and Mitchell in search of the spurious leader of the Commuters, now accused of three felony counts of conspiratorial behaviour”. From the above statements, we find that the administration was very thorough in whatever it was they were doing. The book, The Activist is not just a polemic against the police force’s actions. When one looks at the actions of the activists, we find that there are many activities that they are involved in. Form the book it says, “This last declaration calls each member’s wandering mind to attention. While the pitch of the utterance can be quickly characterized as Stefani's pitch, its authenticity is entirely suspect for most of the group. Alonso recognizes her, but the rest do not. Stefani, at once, registers the discomfort and obvious fluster of concern that infects them. However, her struggle to recall the precise words of her speech, to then correct them, yields no reward”. The activists had a problem of keeping track of all they were doing. The reason is that we find that there was a mutation of maps that had taken place therefore it was quite difficult. One thing that was outstanding about the activists was that they were extremely united. They did everything as a unit and stood by each other during the difficult moments (Glover 78). As time went by, we find that they began to disintegrate into groups that were quite incoherent. This was quite difficult for the activist to carry out their duties that they were supposed to carry out. The reason why they disintegrate is that the police force is the reason that they begin to disintegrate. The force that the police use plenty of force and it is quite forceful. War is an art that is explored in the book that the administration uses explicitly. We find that the administration uses it so as to disintegrate the entire group. They turn against each other and this actually works for the administration. The narrator being a journalist is also drawn into the battle between the activist and the police and is unable to remain an observer who is independent. The narrator experiences a certain kind of torture. This kind of torture that he was suffering from was known as psychological torture. There are people who are purported to be responsible for all problems that the author’s state of the author’s state of mind. The problem is that independence is all gone and that the truth is all gone through the window. These important aspects of journalism are all gone and that are very necessary for one to be a good journalist. In this book extremism is viewed as the thing that contributes greatly in all aspects of the work. In conclusion, we find that the book is an epic book that is quite interesting to read. War is a clear theory that is well explored in the book (Krupskaya 99). Perception theory is also explored in the book and this book and in many instances it may appear to be quite ridiculous. The author of the book writes his work in a way that people may easily understand. It investigates how people move in and out of the cities. The book brings out some basic fiction that readers will try to identify with. We also realize that it will be quite interesting had the author tried not to be drawn into the wars that were existent at that time. The book meets the relevant threshold of being one of the best written or done by the author. We also learn that activists are people who can in one way or another influence the perception of a society. Works Cited Glover, D. Dalkey Archive Press. Friday November 2003. Monday December 2011 \.Print Harris, D. The Activist by Renee Gladman. Tuesday November 2003. Monday December 2011 .Print Krupskaya, G. The Free Library. Monday April 2003. Monday December 2011 .Print Read More