Malcolm X “You Can’t Hate the Roots of the Tree and not Hate the Tree”1965Why should the Black man in America concern himself since he's been away from the African continent for three or four hundred years? Why should we concern ourselves?What impact does what happens to them have upon us? Number one, you have to realize that up until 1959 Africa was dominated by the colonial powers. Having complete control over Africa, the colonial powers of Europe projected the image of Africa negatively.They always project Africa in a negative light: jungle savages, cannibals, nothing civilized. Why then, naturally it was so negative that it was negative to you and me, and you and I began to hate it. We didn't want anybody telling us anything about Africa, much less calling us Africans.In hating Africa and in hating the Africans, we ended up hating ourselves, without even realizing it. Because you can't hate the roots of a tree, and not hate the tree. You can't hate your origin and not end up hatingghly brainwashed and has a negative attitude toward Africa, and I'll show you one who has a negative attitude toward himself. You can't have a positive attitude toward yourself and a negative attitude toward Africa at the same time. To the same degree that your understanding of and attitude toward Africa become positive, you'll find that your understanding of and your attitude toward yourself will also become positive.And this is what the white man knows. So they very skillfully make you and me hate our African identity, our African characteristics. You know yourself; that we have been a people who hated our African characteristics. We hated our hair, we hated the shape of our nose, we wanted one of those long doglike noses, you know; we hated the color of our skin, hated the blood of Africa that was in our veins. And in hating our features and our skin and our blood, why, we had to end up hating ourselves. And we hated ourselves.Our color became to us a chain--we felt that it was holdor that way. We felt all of these restrictions were based solely upon our color, and the psychological reaction to that would have to be that as long as we felt imprisoned or chained or trapped by Black skin, Black features, and Black blood, that skin and those features and that blood that was holding us back automatically had to become hateful to us. And it became hateful to us.It made us feel inferior; it made us feel inadequate; it made us feel helpless. And when we fell victims to this feeling of inadequacy or inferiority or helplessness, we turned to somebody else to show us the way. We didn't have confidence in another Black man to show us the way, or Black people to show us the way. In those days we didn't. We didn't think a man could do anything except play some horns--you know, make sound and make you happy with some songs and in that way.But in serious things, where our food, clothing, and shelter, and education were concerned, we turned to the man. We never thought in terms use we felt helpless. What made us feel helpless was our hatred for ourselves.One of the things that made the Black Muslim movement grow was its emphasis upon things African. This was the secret to the growth of the Black Muslim movement. African blood, African origin, African culture, African ties.And you'd be surprised--we discovered that deep within the subconscious of the Black man in this country, he is still more African than he is American. He thinks that he's more American than African, because the man is jiving him, the man is brainwashing him every day.He's telling him, "You're an American, you're an American." Man, how could you think you're and American when you haven't ever had any kind of an American tree over here? You have never, never. Ten men can be at a table eating, you know, dining, and I can come and sit down where they're dining. They're dining; I've got a plate in front of me, but nothing is on it.Because all of us are sitting at the same table, are all us are ding doesn't make me a diner, and this is what you've got to get in your head here in this country. Just because you're in this country doesn't make you an American.No, you've got to go farther than that before you can become an American. You've got to enjoy the fruits of Americanism. You haven't enjoyed those fruits. You've enjoyed the thorns. You've enjoyed the thistles. But you have not enjoyed the fruits; no sir.So I point these things out brothers and sister so that you and I will know the importance of in 1965 being in complete unity with one each other, harmony with each another, and not letting the man maneuver us into fighting one another.I say again that I'm not a racist. I don't believe in any form of segregation or anything like that. I'm for the brotherhood for everybody, but I don't believe in forcing brotherhood upon people who don't want it. So long as we practice brotherhood among ourselves, and then others who want to practice brotherhood with us, we practice it with ts.
1. 말라리아 대처의 역사와 과학기술의 철학적 함의--------------------------------------------------------------------현대 사람들은 과학에 대한 신뢰를 바탕으로 삶 속에서 과학으로 인한 현실적 이로움을 느끼며 살아가고 있다. 특히 질병학의 역사를 보면 인간이 과거에 비해 질병에 대하여 효과적으로 대응하고 있다는 것을 알 수 있다. 하지만 질병학의 역사에는 과학이 인류에게 도움을 주는 성공담만이 있는 것은 아니다.과학 활동은 도전과 응전의 단순 도식이 암시하는 것보다 훨씬 역동적으로 전개되며 수 많은 요인의 영향을 받는다. 말라리아 대처의 역사를 통해 과학의 사회 문화, 이데올로기와의 관계를 살펴보자.말라리아는 휘태커의 5계 분류에 따르면, 원생 생물계의 원생동물 중 포자류에 속한다. 말라리아는 모기의 흡혈과정에서 말라리아 원충의 체내 침입에 의해 발생하며, 감염 시 오한과 발열이 반복되고, 원충에 의한 적혈구 파괴로 인해 혈류 장애가 발행하고 뇌사상태에 빠진다.19C 말엽에 이러한 말라리아의 전파에 대하여, 전파 경로를 설명하는 여러 가지 이론이 제시 되었다. 그 중 한 가지는 공기 감염설이다. 말라리아 환자와의 신체 접촉이나 타액, 혈액 접촉이 없어도 말라리아에 걸린다는 것이 알려졌고, 그 당시 말라리아 원충의 복잡한 감염 경로를 파악하기 어려웠기 때문에, 말라리아의 공기감염설은 상식과 잘 부합되었다. 공기 감염설이 만연하던 그 때에, 미생물 이론의 발달로 말라리아 환자의 피에 수많은 미생물을 발견하였지만, 공기 감염설 측면에서 그 이론을 살펴본 결과 증거를 발견하지 못했기 그 미생물은 원충으로 판단하지 않았다.또 다른 감염 경로 이론에는 식수감염설이 있다. 이는 콜레라의 감염 경로가 식수인 것을 보고, 일반적 과학 가설의 제안 방식 중 하나인 유추를 통해 설명하였으나 잘못된 이론이었다. 그 외에 노동 계층의 문란한 성생활로 인해 말라리아가 퍼진다는, 정치적 이데올로기가 개입된 이론도 있었다.말라리아의 복당시 대두되던 병원균 이론을 바탕으로 모기 매개설에 관심을 가지고 말라리아 원충을 관찰하려 하였다. 그러나 관찰에 대한 기초적 지식이 없던 터라 수많은 시행착오를 거친 결과 모기의 내장에서 말라리아 원충을 발견하여, 모기 매개설을 입증하였다.말라리아의 감염 경로가 밝혀진 이후, 사람들이 이에 대한 대처법을 생각하였다. 그 결과 모기 제거, 원충 제거 중에 모기 제거를 선택하였다. 그래서 모기 서식지를 없애려 늪을 매우거나 폭탄을 사용하였다. 하지만 이러한 모기 제거의 활동은 부분적으로 무솔리니의 정치적 이용을 위한 것이었다. 또 다른 모기 제거 방법으로는 값싼 DDT(살충제)를 대량으로 살포하는 방법이 있었다. 그러나 DDT가 발암물질인 것이 밝혀지고 DDT에 저항력을 지닌 모기의 등장으로 새로운 살충제를 개발하였으나 값이 비싼 관계로 범지구적 모기 박멸이 불가능하게 되었다.모기 박멸을 하여 말라리아의 순환을 막는 방법이 점자 원충 퇴치의 길로 전환되었다. 그러나 항생제 개발을 통하여 원충을 제거하려 해도, 오랜 진화 결과 면역계를 피해가는 원충을 제거하기 힘들었다. 그렇기 때문에 말라리아 치료제를 사용하려 하였으나 키니네란 천연약물은 제조비가 비쌌으며, 부작용이 있었다. 키니네를 개선한 클로라퀸은 효과를 보기도 하였으나 곧 내성을 지닌 말라리아 원충이 등장하였다.클로라퀸이 실패로 돌아가자 새로운 약물인 칭하오수를 중국에서 개발하였다. 그러나 중국의 문화혁명(서구의 문화에 대한 비판적 운동)의 결과, 다른 나라에게 신약의 비법이 전수되지 않았다. 세월이 지난 후 미국이 칭하오수 비법을 알아냈고, 약효가 입증되어 세계적으로 이 약물에 대한 기대가 고조되고 있다.위의 말라리아 대처의 역사를 보면, 과학기술의 철학적 함의 3가지를 도출해 낼 수 있다.첫째, 공기 감염설이 만연하던 때에, 원충 감염설이 받아들여지지 않은 점은, 새로운 과학적 가설에 대한 과학자의 평가는 항상 기존 정상과학이 표방하는 패러다임이 옳은 것이라는 믿음 하에 이루어진다는 사실을 잘 보여준다. 것이 아닌 기존 과학에 최대한 맞추어서 새로운 가설을 평가한다는 것이다. 따라서 과학 지식의 성장은 새로운 이론의 대두에 의해 급진적으로 이루어지는 것이 아닌 한 단계씩 점진적으로 진행된다.둘째, 로널드 로스가 말라리아 원충을 관찰하기 위해 수많은 모기 해부를 했지만 원충을 관찰하지 못했고, 관찰이 숙련되고 난 후에 원충을 발견한 사례를 살펴보면, 관찰의 이론 적재성을 알 수 있다. 관찰의 이론 적재성이란 과학 실험은 아무런 선입견, 기존 지식이 없이 순수하고 객관적으로 이루어지기 힘들다는 것이다.셋째, 원충 퇴지 과정을 보면 과학 기술 연구는 과학 분야에만 영향을 받는 것이 아닌, 사회 문화적 상황에 대해서도 영향을 받는 다는 것을 알 수 있다. 말라리아 연구는 곤충학, 약학, 생리학 등 다양한 과학 분야의 연구가 연계되고 정치, 경제 등 사회 문화 분야가 영향을 미치는 종합적 문제이다. 이를 통해 복잡한 현대적 구도를 이해함으로써 보다 적절하고 바람직한 과학 기술 연구가 이루어진다는 것을 알 수 있다.말라리아 사례를 통해 바라본 과학은 상회 정치적 이데올로기와의 밀접한 관계를 지니고 있는 것이다. 과학 기술 연구를 적절하게 수행하기 위해서는 이러한 과학과 사회 문화적 맥락에 대한 결합이 필요하고 생각한다.2. 침대, 해왕성, X-ray, 연주시차 : 과학철학의 첫걸음상식적 과학관의 한계현대사회에서 과학은 큰 비중과 영향력을 차지하고 있다. 또한 우리는 ‘과학적’ 이란 말을 ‘믿음직한’, ‘체계적인’, ‘참된’ 등과 동의어로 사용하고 있다. 이러한 과학에 대한 신뢰성의 근거는 과학이 세련된 연구방법을 통해 물질과 생명의 다양한 영역들을 체계적으로 탐구하고 있기 때문이다. 물론 과학자들 사이에 의견이 엇갈리고 격렬한 논쟁이 수반되기도 하나, 다른 학문보다 더 빠르게 합의된 평가가 이루어지고, 지식의 축적적인 성장이 이루어진다. 이는 객관적 실험에 호소하고 전문가들의 합의 도출을 통해 문제를 해결하기 때문이다.우리는 과학이 관찰이나 실험을 통해 엄밀하게 도출된사적 사례를 보면 이러한 상식적 과학관은 한계를 가지고 있다는 사실에 주목할 필요가 있다.알버트 아인슈타인과 막스 아브라함의 대립을 살펴보자. 실험 물리학자인 발터 카우프만은 여러 차례 실험을 통해 아인슈타인의 상대성 이론이 아닌 아브라함의 이론을 지지하는 실험 결과를 얻었다. 하지만 아인슈타인은 이를 알고도 자신의 이론이 명백하고, 카우프만의 실험에 오류가 있을 것이라는 확신을 가지고 있었다. 결과적으로 아인슈타인이 옳았다. 과학은 명백한 경험적 증거에 반해서 이론을 전개시킴으로써 성공하기도 한다는 사실과 과학 연구는 이론을 제안하고 이를 경험적으로 검증하는 단순한 과정의 반복을 통해 진행되는 것이 아니라는 것을 보여준 사례이다.태양계의 일곱 번째 행성인 천왕성의 궤도는 뉴턴 역학을 연구하는 학자들을 오랫동안 괴롭혀 온 난제였다. 이 관측 결과와 다른 이론에 대해서 대부분의 과학자들은 ‘경험적 사실’을 받아들이려 하지 않고, 해왕성이라는 새로운 가설을 도입하여 이 문제점을 해결하였다. 과학의 성공을 위해서는 경험적 증거에 너무 얽매이지 말고 오랜 시간 성공적이었던 기존의 이론을 계속 지켜나가야 함을 보여준 사례이다.과학자들은 뉴턴 역학의 성공을 근거로 수성의 근일점에서 발생하는 오차를 해왕성 문제와 같은 방식으로 해결하고자 하였다. 그리하여 수성의 안쪽 궤도에 새로운 행성이 존재한다는 보조 가설을 새웠으나, 그런 행성은 관찰되지 않았다. 이는 뉴턴역학의 실패를 인정하고 아인슈타인의 이론을 받아들이는 결과로 이어졌다. 이와 같이 이론이 틀렸음을 보여주는데 경험이 중요한 역학을 하기도 한다. 기존의 이론에 닥친 위기(경험적 증거에 의한 위기)를 모면하기 위해 보조가설을 도입하는 방법과 기존의 이론을 폐기하고 새로운 이론을 찾는 방법 중 어느 것이 항상 타당하다고 말 할 수는 없다. 따라서 과학의 진보는 단순히 경험적 증거를 맹종해서도 혹은 이론적 근거를 절대적으로 생각해서도 보장되지는 않는다. 경험적 증거와 이론적 근거 사이의 긴장과 균형을 창조적 방식으로 유지해 의심의 여지가 없는 것으로 여겨지던 많은 과학 이론이 후대의 연구에 의해 잘못된 것으로 드러난 경우가 많다는 사실과 관련이 있다. 18C 풍미했던 플로지스톤 이론과 에테르 이론을 보면, 그 이론들은 당대에 알려진 많은 경험적 증거에 의해 지지되던 과학이론 이었다. 하지만 플로지스톤은 연소이론에 의해, 에테르 이론은 마이켈슨 실험에 의해 오류가 밝혀졌다. 성공적 과학이론이라 하더라도 반드시 참이라고 보장할 수 없음을 잘 보여준다.과학적의 두 의미우리에게 과학적인 것은 신뢰감을 주고 지적 권위를 높여주는 듯 보이고, 비과학적인 것은 체계적이지 못하고 신뢰감이 떨어지는 듯하게 보인다. 그러나 한편으로는 과학이 원자폭탄, ‘침묵의 봄’으로 상징되는 현대과학기술과 관련된 여러 가지 폐혜들을 지적하는 목소리도 높다. 과학의 긍정적, 부정적 의미와는 별도로 ‘과학적’ 이란 말은 체계적인 연구 방법을 통해 참인 것을 밝혀내는 것으로 여겨진다.과학적 방법에는 4가지 특징이 있다.첫째, 과학적 방법은 과학연구 대상으로 ‘자연적’ 원인만을 인정하고, 초자연적 현상을 인정하지 않는다는 것이다.둘째, 과학적 방법은 원칙적으로 ‘경험적 증거’에 근거하여 모든 주장을 평가 할 것을 요구한다. 즉 새로운 주장에는 항상 경험적 증거를 요구한다.셋째, 과학적 방법은 분석적이다. 복잡한 상황을 단순한 요소로 분해하고 이러한 요소들을 각각 이해한 후 요소들의 합으로 전체를 이해 한다는 것이다.넷째, 과학적 방법은 체계적이다. 과학적 방법을 사용하는 연구자 집단끼리 서로 정보를 공유하고 상대방의 문제점을 비판하는 방식으로, 여러 관련된 주장들 사이의 관계를 정합적으로 밝히려한다.이러한 과학적 방법이 얼마나 유용한지는 논란이 있다. 과학적 방법의 분석적 접근은 요소들의 합에 의한 시너지 효과를 무시한 것이고, 과학사에서 볼 때 과학적 방법을 사용해서 얻은 지식도 나중에 틀린 것으로 판명되는 경우도 있기 때문이다. 하지만 과학 지식은 틀린 이론이 왜 틀렸는지 후대의 과학 지식으로 설명할 수 있으며
Analysis for the presence of Godot in “Waiting for Godot”The plot of Samuel Beckett’s most famous play is very simple that it can be summarized through its title: Waiting for Godot. It is just basically about two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, waiting daily for someone named Godot. In both acts, Pozzo and Lucky come in to break the monotony of their wait. It may sound that there is nothing to read in the play since it lacks any plot and the characters are rather flat. However, Waiting for Godot is a highly intellectual and philosophical play which draws its significance on the seemingly one-sidedness of the characters rather than on a complex, unpredictable plot. The identity of Godot in the play is never fully revealed but it is hinted at through symbols found in the setting and the characters’ description of him.Readers, or the audience, first encounter Godot when Vladimir tells Estragon that they cannot leave that place they are in since they are waiting for Godot. As it appears will be separated, which symbolizes the salvation of the good and damnation of evil.In the second act of the play, Vladimir cheerfully exclaims: “Godot! At last! Gogo! It's Godot! We're saved! Let's go and meet him!” (83). Christianity teaches that salvation comes through Christ and in this statement, Beckett parallels Godot explicitly to the Christian savior. However, the nature of Godot has already been hinted at earlier in the play. Pozzo asks about this Godot “who has your future in his hands” (27). Vladimir affirms that he does play a significant role in their lives through a rhetorical statement: “who told you?” (28). Since Christ is considered to be the judge of all mankind, he, therefore, holds everyone’s future in his hands. Also, at the beginning of the second act, there are two symbolisms Beckett presents which can easily be identified with the Christian savior: bread and tomb (63). The bread is an allusion to the Last Supper and to the mystical body of Christ while the tomorward to everyday. He serves as a justification for their existence. Didi and Gogo feel justified to go on living since they have to be there for someone when he comes.Despite Vladimir’s strong determination to wait for Godot, he gives an enigmatic statement which shows his uncertainty at his coming: “Yes, in this immense confusion one thing alone is clear. We are waiting for Godot to come . . .Or for night to fall” (91). This suggests that even Vladimir who seems to have first-hand knowledge about Godot does not know whether Godot will ever come. “For night to fall” suggests that they have equal chances of being saved and damned. Here, Godot could also represent faith itself. People are, most of the time, certain that they believe in something. However, they are also not sure most of the time of what they believe in or whether the things they believe are true or not. Vladimir hints that they will hang on to their faith until everything around them contradicts it and they end up in fae concept for so long in Waiting for Godot which makes it difficult for readers to interpret his message. In the second Act, Gogo asks about what would happen to them if they do not wait for Godot. Didi answers him then suddenly he goes talking about a tree (107). The dialogues in the play are characterized by sudden shifts in subjects which make it stand up to its designation—the Theatre of the Absurd. However, the act of waiting for Godot holds the play together and gives it a unity which brings Beckett’s message together.The play appears to suggest the futility of faith. Beckett may have just entitled it The Coming of Godot to suggest the certainty of Godot’s existence. However, he chooses the word “waiting” for his title. Such word implies passiveness on the part of those who wait. Such passiveness is shown by Didi and Gogo who are not able to do anything significant other than argue while they wait. The sole purpose of the two characters is to “pass the time.” They are not able topen up themselves into more logical beliefs so they do not remain mad. The playwright is trying to tell the audience that belief is an irrational thing and there is no point in lingering in that irrationality.Beckett’s portrayal of Godot might well be considered an attack against Christianity. In the opening scene, Didi and Gogo wait for him by tree. As said earlier, the tree is symbolic of the cross and the cross, in turn, is symbolic of suffering. Beckett suggests that the lesson of a second coming or judgment day gives people reason to tolerate their sufferings when they can choose to end them if they want to. Furthermore, Beckett depicts Godot as someone who constantly delays his coming, whose message is constantly sent through a boy. Beckett might be suggesting that the church (represented by the boy), keeps believers holding on to the promise that what they are waiting for will someday come. However, such promise is never fulfilled until the end of the play. Vladimir and EstragonT 1
Freudian Point of View on Hedwig and the Angry InchIntroductionMany theories have been made concerning man’s stages of development and the emergence of personality. Sigmund Freud, one of the theorists who contributed much to the ideas that we have today, came up with the Psychosexual Theory of Development and the Structures of Personality, two among the many that he introduced. To better understand these theories in application, this paper will present Hedwig, a character from the movie Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and analyze the character’s behavior as a result of the childhood and early adulthood experiences encountered according to the Freudian point of view.Plot and CharacterHedwig, a later transition of Hansel, is a “slip of a girly boy” from Communist Germany, Berlin. He was exposed to the conflict of war, influenced by American rock music through the radio, and sexually abused by his father when he was six years old. Upon agreement to marry American soldier Luther Robinson and beeud has contributed greatly in the field of psychology in understanding the development of personality. One of his works constantly referred to even up to the present time, is the Psychosexual Theory of Development. In this theory, Freud states that man undergoes five stages of sexual drives, instincts, and repression that contribute to later life (“Modules on Freud”). The first stage, estimated to happen from birth to 18 months, is the oral stage. During this period, there is focus on oral pleasures derived by infants through sucking. Lack of oral gratification during these years may lead to oral fixation, giving individuals higher tendency to smoke, drink alcohol, over eat, bite nails, et cetera as they grow (“Freud’s Stages”). From 18 months to three years of age, the child is in the anal stage, where the focal point is on retention and elimination of feces, making toilet training an integral part of this period. Anal fixation may lead to “obsession with cleanliness, perfection and sculinity, and fixation at this stage could result to “sexual deviances” and sexual identity crisis (“Freud’s Stages”). Sexual repression is experienced by the child from age six years old to puberty, the latency stage, and usually plays with peers of the same sex. After the period of repression, the genital stage takes place from puberty onwards, the final stage “awakening” sexual urges. Sexual feelings and urges are directed towards the opposite sex, with pleasure focused on the genitals (“Freud’s Stages”).Another Freudian theory referred to in this paper is his Structures of Personality. Freud presents that an individual’s personality is composed of three structures: id, ego, and superego. The id is focused on gratifying basic instincts, also called the pleasure principle; the ego being the “mediator” of the id and reality; and the superego is the “moral part” of man, giving him distinctions between right and wrong as taught by our caregivers (“Structural”). In the absence of a “proradio. There was no sign that he experienced trauma in his childhood and early puberty.When Hedwig “sacrificed” his “manhood” by undergoing a surgical procedure to marry Robinson, an implication of phallic fixation is seen. His probable failure to identify with his father, coupled with sexual abuse at the near end of the phallic stage, contributes to sexual identity crisis manifesting in his early adult years, as signified by both sexual surgical change and marriage to Luther, and later to other relationships with men.The fear of castration in the phallic stage prompts a boy to identify himself with his father. In the case of Hedwig, the presence of his mother instead as a model and sense of identification leads to taking the feminine role, especially post-sexual abuse. The consent of his mother in going through surgery--in fact it was her who knew a doctor--intensify the sexual deviance of Hedwig and her mother’s influence.As another example, the continuous “hunting” and stalking” fornces, specifically abuse, in later life. Although the movie concentrated on the search for the man who stole “her” songs, and the questions of the “origin of love,” circumstances said to mold the character into becoming the transsexual punk rock star were displayed, to allow viewers to understand how Hedwig turned out, in connection to the Freudian theory. The role of the different stages is to prove a certain effect on the individual as the case happens at a certain time.The id and the ego conflicts are also shown in the movie as cited above. The persistent “search and hunt” for Tommy symbolize the impulsiveness of Hedwig’s id, and how it struggles to gratify what it wants regardless of hindrances. Hedwig’s ego accomplishes its role to “neutralize” the id according to what is acceptable in society. With the help of his ego, Hedwig is brought to the reality of how the events are turning out, and acceptance of himself as a whole person.Using both of these Freudian principles, there is b
Family as a ShelterAccording to HYPERLINK "http://www.census.gov/" t "_blank"U.S HYPERLINK "http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/" t "_blank"National Center for Health Statistics, the divorce rate for America in 2005 (per 1,000 people) was 3.6. The majority of reasons for divorce are lack of communication between spouses and the inability to manage or resolve conflict. Divorce rates gradually increase these days. Furthermore, it was found that boys who grew up without a married mother and father were more than twice as likely to end up in jail as boys who did. That’s one of the critical reasons why divorce cannot be overlooked.According to Rick Santorum in his essay entitled “It takes a family,” crime is directly related to family structure. I agree with him. Even though I didn’t commit crime, I was one of the boys who had grown up in unhealthy family. My family was not exactly a united family. My mother and father have a slightly different sense of value and personality, so they sometimes quarrel and there were severe dissensions. Furthermore, as like the older oriental generation, who has the old sense of values that man must be stubborn, my father was strict and wasn’t intimate with my brother and me. We didn’t talk to each other, but superficially. In other words, my family had emotional tensions.One day, when all families were taking a meal at a church dining room after Sunday worship was finished, my mom whispered to me. "Do not tell this to anybody. I have a cancer." It was like the sound collapsing the sky. All families knew it, except me. She was worried that I may feel shocked. If someone has a cancer, that person usually lets friends know it, because he wants to be consoled. However, she didn’t. Since she didn’t want to let the truth go to effect the next election (She was a politician), she kept this secret very thoroughly. I felt sorry about such a truth that she had to be careful, even she got sick.After she revealed her condition, my family began to change. The truth that my mom got a cancer acted as a center of our relationship. All of us prayed for mom's health and alternately nursed her. We also took care of each other and talked for a long time. While we were doing that together, we became closer. Thanks to her sickness, we have realized that how precious our families are and how graceful being together is. When she was operated on, my family prayed all together for successful surgery. She has never had any side effect and the cancer didn’t transfer to other parts. On second thought, it was a precious gift given by God. He has helped us be more intimate with each other and enlighten us that the most important thing is family. Ever since that event has happened, we have been united as a healthy family and have been living our daily life with thanks for allowing us to be together.Unhealthy families usually do not have conversations between members. In my family case, talk and being together made my family united. I think it is a matter of paramount importance to have those for being a healthy family. Sincere conversation can prevent home feud. The motivation like watching family traveling or a movie together is needed for that. I quote from ‘It takes a family’, “the best place for kids to grow up is with a happily married mom and dad, and the more of these families there are in a community, the better it is for everyone.” Conversation and being together make not only your family, but also our community happy.Kim PAGE * MERGEFORMAT 1