Friday, September 27, 2013
Feeding a Pokemon some Berries
A few days ago, our class read a story called Gooseberries by Anton Chekov. It wasn't really that interesting to be honest, but the message kind of made up for it. In the short story, the speaker is talking about his brother Nikolai. His brother basically becomes obsessed with getting a farm and he treats the others around him poorly and almost kills a women in order to get money for it. In the end, he gets his farm but it's described as being an awful piece of land. The river was polluted and the gooseberries were unripe and sour. I figured that the brother was in denial and lying to himself that everything was perfect...the farm was perfect and that the gooseberries were delicious. I wasn't really sure how to relate any part of this story to a game, so I thought of characters that were like Nikolai, and no one fits his description better than Gary Oak from the Original Pokemon Games. Gary was first seen in Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow for the Gameboy Color as well as in the cartoon. Gary didn't treat his Pokemon fairly and he was blinded by his goal to become the best Pokemon trainer ever. He had an aggressive nature and did whatever he could to get what he wanted. Although Gary does indeed become the Pokemon master, he later got destroyed by Ash Ketchum. It's implied that his journey wasn't worth it and that he later realized the mistakes he made after being defeated at the Pokemon League. I feel like Gary and the brother represent parts of our conscience...that they're the thoughts and emotions that take over us when are overly observed with our goals. It's as if Gary and the brother symbolize how we shouldn't let our goals take over us and it's the journey reaching that goal that matters. Although it may not have been the original intent of the game developer, I thought that Gary was a lesson about how the affects of our desires harmed the people around us and that we should just take it slowly and appreciate the present and not obsess too much about the future and our goals. I feel like both of these pieces of work showed this lesson and that we should apply it to our life.
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You suck!!! This is supposed to be what I talk about <:{ . How dare you? Okay, few things here: first of all Gary Oak is not in the games and cartoon, he's only in the cartoon. They are alternate universes, if you will, as Gary Oak on the show becomes a Scientist and BLUE becomes the gym leader of Viridian city. Second, Gary from the show never became a master. He never came close, getting knocked out before the final round in both conference tournaments he entered in. He was also very kind to his Pokemon, just arrogant and self-centered. He only teased Ash, because they were friends. You can only use Blue for this comparison, and in my opinion, I don't see hoe Blue treated his Pokemon unfairly. He didn't treat them like the player, supposedly, but he obviously cared enough for them to become champions together. He didn't care about anything directly affecting him, though, and that's what led to his downfall.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say this is the best symbol of the brother. The ideas are somewhat similar, but I would say there are better examples out in video games. Heck, I'd say there are better examples in Pokemon. Such as Silver from gen 2 or Colress in BW2. Even team rocket Giovanni wouldn't be a bad replacement.
I just discovered your blog, and I think your theme is great! As a kid, I loved playing Pokemon so this is very nostalgic for me. Remember, we all read Gooseberries so you don't need to summarize it. Also remember that on the AP test. Analysis and explanation are the most important so you don't need to spend time summarize the story because you can assume the reader already knows what happens. -Lilly
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