The Thursday Group Writing Blog

The island story, as it is fondly called by everyone, tells the story of star crossed lovers. How in love they were, and how this love would be thwarted by outside forces. The main characters in this story seemed to have everything going in their favour, but distance and the gripping need to see each other; two powerful agents indeed united them again, and subsequently put a tragic end to their love story. This story sheds light on the concepts of choice and desperation, pinpointing that the decisions we make in desperate situations never yield perfect results. While Mark told the story, I automatically put myself in the girl's position. Being female and the hopeless romantic that I am, I was forced to see a girl who earnestly longed to see her partner again. A girl who would risk crossing seven sees, just to meet "the one." Despite the purity of her intentions, her desperation was a recipe for disaster, and an unwise decision was made. The compassionate female in me woul...

 What have we learned about ourselves and each other from discussing "The Island Story"? I learnt today that my views are influenced by my outlook to life, cultural and possibly past experiences. It would seem that if one has made "seemingly" silly choices at some point in their lives, they would be more flexible and sympathetic towards the girl in the Island story. Also, Mark's recount of the Japanese's student point of view and Darina's ranking of the characters in the story solidifies this point for me.  I also learnt that gender plays a role in our perception of events. We would naturally relate more/sympathise with someone of same gender as us. It creates a certain bias without us knowing and we could even become blind to the view points of others. It could not have been a coincidence that Mark and Semone chose to sympathise more with the boy in the story than with the girl.  To be continued...