—Hugo Rodriguez
This semester the text that made me feel uncomfortable was the text called “Ghosts” by Edwidge Danticat. This text challenged me intellectually, as I did not understand why the author of the story, named it “Ghosts”. “Ghosts” despite it’s name was not a short horror story. The short story was about a boy living in the slums of “Haiti”. We learn about the gangsters that roam the slum streets and the corruption of the Haitian police. The first reading of the short story had me confused, because “ghosts” haunt things and I was unsure of what was being “haunted” in the slums. It challenged me intellectually as I couldn’t understand it right away. I started to brainstorm about the different aspects of a ghost. A ghost could be considered as a soul without a body was one of the thoughts that ran across my mind. I also realized is that ghosts are ghosts because the person died with a lot of regret. In general ghosts are filled with negative energy. I read through the story multiple times and eventually concluded that ghosts must represent poverty. Poverty is the lack of money, and in this life you need money in order to truly live. The slums could be the haunted land the “ghosts” hang around the slums, and the actual “ghosts” can be the gangs that roam the slum street. It was a hard and intellectually challenging to understand the title of this short story. Despite it’s difficulty it was a very fun and rewarding experience. It took me after my comfort zone, it made me to really use my friend. This assignment didn’t feel like work instead it felt more like solving a riddle or a puzzle. There are many benefits from being intellectually challenged, as they make you smarter. The brain is a muscle and just like biceps its needs to work out in order to grow and get stronger. As a reader being uncomfortable is also a very beneficial experience. By being uncomfortable with a text and then continuing to read until the very end, makes you more open minded and brave. It is by pushing beyond your comfort zone, that a person truly grows and improves. If you stay in your safe space, you’ll never grow as a person. If you continue to stay in your comfort zone , then your weaknesses will stay the same throughout your life. The bad periods in your life will all be caused by reasons obvious to you. In this day and age, I feel like there is a lot of talk about safe spaces. The internet has allowed people to really surround themselves with same minded people, who all see the world through their safe space. Instead of toughen up and deal with feeling uncomfortable and attack it head on, rules are being placed that limit the freedoms all should have. That is why I believe that reading a text that makes you uncomfortable is a very beneficial experience that truly helps you grow as a person.
