100 Years in Review

100 Years of Solitude Breakdown:

• Themes
• Time
• Memory
• Magical realism (not really a theme but you know what I mean)
• Language
• Influence of Western culture 
• Names
• Symbols
• Banana company
• Gold fishes
• Pianola
• Railroad
• Amaranta's shroud
• Parchments
• Quotes
• Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. (p. 1).
• … the city of mirrors (or mirages) would be wiped out by the wind and exiled from the memory of men at the precise moment when Aureliano Babilonia would finish deciphering the parchments, and that everything written on them was unrepeatable since time immemorial and forever more, because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth.

Chances are that if you don't remember what these points mean, then you should probably review them. There are really good plot and theme summaries on Youtube. The quotes I have provided are the first and last lines of the book. Both contain multiple themes and symbols that might be useful in an AP essay.

Poioumenon (Plural: Poioumena)

Poioumenon is a term coined by Alastair Fowler to refer to a specific type of metafiction in which the story deals with the process of creation. Fowler says, "the poioumenon is calculated to offer opportunities, to explore the boundaries of fiction and reality - the limits of narrative truth."Many metafictional novels that delve into poioumenon are either about the process of creating the book or contain metaphors for this process.

In Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie parallels the creation of his book to the creation of chutney and the creation of an independent India.

Other examples include: Laurence Stern's Tristam Shandy, Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire, Dorris Lessing's The Golden Notebook, and William Golding's Paper Men.

Pronunciation: poy-ow-men-on OR po-io-men-en

 In class, we talked about the possibility of a post post modernism. Apparently, there is such thing. (I looked it up.) I thought that it might be  interesting to have people define what they think post post modernism would be.

 For example, I think that post postmodernism would have characteristics of immediacy and fragmentation. Immediacy because  in our current age of technology everything is immediately at our fingertips. We are not used to waiting. We are not used to being bored. Fragmentation  because like our predecessors of modernism and postmodernism we live in an increasingly fragmented world.

Bryan Lewis Saunders

I just thought this was really cool and I was thinking about this some time ago when we had gone over our most recent art unit. Joey's presentation contained a self portrait that kind of reminded of this  guy's work.
http://bryanlewissaunders.org/drugs/

Aziz signifiance

We discussed in class that Aadam's is equivalent to English name Adam, corresponding to Adam and Eve. Aadam Aziz is considered the patriarch of his family, symbolized by his long nose. However, I decided to research the significance of his last name, Aziz. Aziz means "strong and powerful", "The mighty one" or "all powerful". It's of Arabic origin and in Islam its one of the 99 ways attribute names of Allah. I thought it was interesting that Aadam's name correlates to the patriarch Adam and means might. I think this really personifies his importance in the novel, and makes his name even more significant and powerful.

Midnight's Children Trailer

I think that watching the movie Midnight's Children will be really interesting to see after the reading the book, so I looked up the trailer and copied the link below. From the parts that are incorporated in the trailer that we've read about, it seems like it would be really good to watch. I'm interested to see what parts of the books are highlighted in the movie in order to depict the  identity crisis that Rushdi explains comes from the connection and struggle between the east and the west.  Check out the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6T35sFH_as

Should Kashmir go to India or to Pakistan

Obviously I'm a little biased, so I'll try as much as possible to stick to the facts.

Violence against Hindus in Pakistan increases due to the rise of Taliban insurgency. While the Quran says that people of the book should be treated with respect, that same respect is not given to Hindus. Also these Hindus would be forced to obey Islamic laws.

If Kashmir were to go to India (which technically it's never left), Muslims would not have to be put under Hindu law because of the much more secular government, and if they wanted to, the state of Kashmiri could instill its own laws based off of Islam.

What is a State? The idea of a nationhood is a very European concept. India has been divided on so many different levels, such as language and household deities. Europeans created India as a completely unified nation and now Europeans have also given it up. Hindu philosophy has never given much emphasis on large nationhood. India, before European intervention, was comprised of many different kingdoms. In my opinion, the world is moving towards Unions, and I think India more or less has been a successful attempt as a democratic union. So while Tamil Nadu belongs to Tamils (basically as if Louisiana belonged to us instead of the U.S. to a greater extent that it does now), it is a part of the Indian Union as well. I think Kashmir too can belong to Kashmiri people first, and to the Indian union later. Again, as Kashmir is already a part of the Indian state, the very question of Kashmir belonging to Pakistan is pointless.

The Blood

The Old Blood

Aadam Aziz falls while praying towards Mecca and injuries his nose. Three drops of blood, like rubies, fall onto his prayer mat. He rejects the Islamic faith. He rejects the Old Blood.

The Itching Blood

Aadam Aziz’s nose itches. H has sex with Naseem and three drops of her virginal blood falls onto the Perforated Sheet. He ignores the itch and creates the blood.

The National Blood

Aadam Aziz acts as a doctor for the injured Indian people. He tries to save as many lives as possible. He is covered in blood. Covered in the Blood of India.

Blood acts as a mechanism for change in Midnight’s Children. It turns Aadam from his religion and the Old, causing him to turn to the new and the west. It appears when his life connects with another’s, and signifies a conformation of union and a shift. Finally, it materializes to drench Aadam in a time of great strife and change, to cover him in all that is India.

The Blood, the type that flows through Aadam and Saleem, the progenitor and avatar of India, is incredibly unique. It dictates a shift westward and a denunciation of the old ways. It ushers in a different idea of life and how one should go through it in India. And it invites an intrusion of the west it shifted towards, which causes India to loose its Blood. The Blood is India’s blood. It marks historically significant times in India, times of change, of union, and of destruction.

Do not underestimate the powerful presence of The Blood.

Nicki Minaj: The Story of Roman

This post is just going to break down Nicki's character Roman Zolanski in the songs "Roman's Revenge," "Roman Holiday," "Roman in Moscow," and "Moment 4 Life."
There is a continuing story arch throughout these songs:

Roman's Revenge:
Roman comes out as homosexual and all his friends turn on him. His mother, Martha, is frightened and thinks the devil possessed him.

Roman Holiday:
Martha tries to change Roman. She tries having him exorcized, but that didn't work. This song has a lot of Christian and church themes, such as a bridge covering "Come All Ye Faithful." After Martha realizes Roman is still gay, she sends him off on a "Roman Holiday."

Moment 4 Life:
In the video, Martha tells Nicki Minaj that Roman has been sent to boarding school is Moscow. This school is a rehabilitation center for homosexuality.

Roman in Moscow:
Roman is pissed. He goes on a rampage after Nicki Minaj saves him from the school. He yells at Martha that he is who he is. He also yells at his friends who abandoned him because they treated him like he was less than a man. He fights back that for coming out and having that courage, he is the strongest man of them all.

Roman then died soon after. It is unclear as to whether Minaj will resurrect him.

Roman isn't this angry, malevolent character. In other songs such as "Raining Men" and "Give Me All Your Luvin'" he is lighter and fun-loving.

Joseph Anton

Here is an interview with Salman Rushdir about living under Iranian fatwa: http://m.spiegel.de/international/world/a-857034.html#spRedirectedFrom=www&referrrer=https://www.google.com/ . Much more than a simple death threat, he has had to create an alias, get bodyguards, open fake bank accounts, the whole nine-yards. Of the innumerable amount of aliases he could have picked, he picked Joseph Anton, which he said was created from the names of his two favorite writers, Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekov. I find it interesting that Rushdie enjoys Conrad, considering writers such as Chinua Achebe decried Conrad's racism toward the West Africans. For a writer that wrote as influential an opus about Indian culture and heritage, placing so much importance on a writer that vastly simplified another culture's values intrigues me.

Mercurochrome

In the second chapter of Midnight's Children, as well as throughout the novel, Rushdie concentrates on the motif and conflict of changing identities, primarily the Western versus Eastern identities. He signifies this once through Aadam being covered in the blood of Indians, and another through Aadam being covered in the Western mercurochrome. While the two may make Aadam look the same, in the former he is covered in something native (though horrible), and in the latter he is soaked with something artificial and foreign. Coming home to Naseem, once covered in one substance and then the other, confuses and irritates Naseem, showing a subtle way in which Rushdie identifies the conflict between the East--tradition--and the West--progress (on at least a hygienic, medicinal scale).
     Also interesting is Rushdie's choice of medicine. Mercurochrome contains mercury compounds, and mercury is one of the few metals to be a liquid at room temperature. Because of its changeable, intriguing nature, the word "mercurial" in English indicates something or someone that is inconstant or changing. Just like the people; just like the nation.

Padma - The Person and the Lotus

I sort of brought this up in class but stopped midway because my brain decided it was done working for the day.

I have explained, with Hari's help, that a Hindu creation story revolves around the Padma, lotus, from which everything in the universe came. Padma, the person, sort of has a similar role in Midnight's Children, because Saleem is telling the story to Padma partly to impress her. And, if we all agree that Saleem himself represents all of India, then we could also say that Padma acts as the instigator his creation, although indirectly. If not for Padma, Salem would not have told the story concerning his family, and thus his own creation, as well as important historical events in India. So Padma kind of starts, what is to the reader, his beginnings and, since Salem is India, India's beginnings. However (this is the part my brain did not want me saying in class), Padma also serves another role in the novel.

I mentioned, while telling you all about the god Vishnu, that the "Preserver" holds the Lotus, perhaps the one which spawned everything, in one of his hands, as if to keep it from flying off in the wind and into the sky or falling on the ground below. This is a very artistic way of saying that Vishnu keeps the universe, represented in the Lotus which created it, in a balance, where neither good nor evil can prevail over one another. Parma, the person, actually has a similar role in Midnight's Children in that she preserves the story via her interruptions. Her interjections sometimes prompt Saleem to provide more information on particular part of the story. She also, and this is just my opinion her so feel free to disagree, keeps a sort of balance to the story by distracting Saleem from continuing or explaining more on a particular topic.

Shesha's Avatar

I forgot to mention this in class when we were talking about the Ramayana.

You may have recalled me talking about Shesha, the companion naga (snake) of Vishnu. What I forgot to mention was that when Vishnu decides to send an avatar to earth, there is always an avatar of Shesha sent to assist the Vishnu avatar in whatever task needs to be done to maintain balance. In the Ramayana, Rama is told by the Gods that he is an avatar of Vishnu. This means that there is also an avatar of Shesha around. That avatar is Laksmana, the brother who decided to leave his home and his family to stay with Rama in his exile, who fought along with Rama against demons, and who aided Rama in his rescue of Sita.

I apologize that I forgot to mention this in class, as I feel it is an important point.

The Narrator Falls Apart

We've been talking a lot about how Midnight's Children reminds us of One Hundred Years of Solitude, but it also reminds me a lot of Things Fall Apart. In this novel, the narrator is literally falling apart. His skin is cracking, and he foreshadows him busting into pieces.

It also reminds me of Things Fall Apart because both are about the invasion of the West into areas that are not the West's to invade. When the West gets involved, the society begins to split. You see this in Things Fall Apart when some of the Igbo people join the side of the Christians and others remain in their traditional culture. The split in Midnight's Children occurs between the Hindus and the Muslims.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Offstage

When we were discussing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, we talked about how the novel follows what happens when, in Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are "offstage". Ms. Quinet commented that you would expect Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to be doing something more interesting when they're offstage than flipping a coin like fifty times.

I thought that this observation was interesting because it implies that characters have a life outside of the lines that have been written about them. This idea brought to my mind a scene in The Fault in our Stars when Hazel Grace, the main character, meets the author of her favorite book. She asks him about what happens to the characters when the book ends, and he responds that they are just characters and that they do, in fact, not exist outside of the book. It's a bit of a disheartening scene because as readers we like to imagine that our favorite characters really do exist and that they live just like us.

Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude

I wrote a blog post last week about how I saw many similarities between Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude, but it wasn't until I finished Love in the Time of Cholera and reflected on both novels when I realized how Marquez intertwines the themes in his novel very closely. I think this is what makes Marquez' novels so dense and complex, but by doing this, he makes a statement of how the real world actually is. If you think back on One Hundred Years of Solitude, memory, forgetfulness, the idea of what reality is, and the relationship between he past, present, and future, you can tell how all of these themes are extremely connected to one another. Similarly, in Love in the Time of Cholera, the themes of death, the past's influence on the present and future, the fear of aging, and how time affects and changes love are all very interwoven and relate to each other. I thought that how Marquez connects everything in his novels is really interesting, and although I though it can be difficult to read and understand, this is one of the main reasons why I love and have so much respect for Marquez.

Guildenstern and Pangloss

When we were reading Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, I began to notice similarities between Guildenstern and Pangloss. At first, I though Guildenstern's endless philosophizing reminded me of Pangloss and his incessant, unhelpful philisophy. But, as we kept reading, I began to see Guildenstern's as more of an attempt to understand the situation, and Pangloss' as attempting to fix the situation. His seemed more of an attempt to show his wit than to understand the circumstances.   Any thoughts?

Slaughterhouse-Five Review

Itching to find a book where the protagonist simultaneously travels through time, meets aliens and fights in World War II? Well, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut is the perfect book for you. Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist, becomes "unstuck" in time and travels to his past, present, and future. He's visited Tralfamadore, a distant planet with Aliens. He has revisited his life before the war, and even seen his life after. Most importantly, however, the book circulates around his time as a POW traveling to Dresden, Germany just in time for the Bombing of Dresden in 1945. The book was funny, fascinating, and at times hard to follow. One paragraph he'll be drudging through fields with hundreds of other war torn Americans, the next he'll be swimming in a pool as a 12 year old boy. Overall, the book covers over topics like free will, time and death (though it's discussed in ways of frivolous time travel and alien discussions.) It's overall super fun to read, and I enjoyed every second of it. It's witty stories and overall themes captivated me, and I enjoyed Vonnegut's writing style. I certainly enjoyed it, and I think y'all will too!

Don't Worry, This Is Not Another Nicki Post

Salman Rushdie man

In 1988 he published Satanic Verses and caused immediate controversy in the Islamic world. My aunt told me he was banned by the muslims, so I looked it up. In this book, he depicts Muhammad in a bad light. Basically, he writes that Muhammad added three goddesses in some last chapters to the Qur'an, but later states that the devil possessed him to write these. He retracts the last chapters, but Rushdie writes that the archangel Gibreel (Gabriel) was the one who told them.

The muslims were not happy. The spiritual leader of Iran ordered a fatwa, or legal Islamic opinion, for his execution. He had a bounty over his head, and he had to live under the police for seven years. Bookstores were firebombed, muslims all over the world burned copies of the book.

Rushdie came from a Muslim family, but now he's an atheist.

Benedict Cumberbatch in "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead"

Speaking of television (sorry to get sidetracked on such a tangent), I love Benedict Cumberbatch. As I think Ms. King has agreed with, he is a brilliant poetry-reciter, actor, etc. Anyway, I have found a Godsend in this Easter season: Mr. Cumberbatch in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. As always, it's absolutely marvelous. His inflections really get across the same dry humor for which Ms. King and Mrs. Quinet commended Ross a few days ago (so, Ross, something to consider). Here's Cumberbatch in the play. Enjoy!

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/national-theatre-50-years-on-stage-benedict-cumberbatch-in-rosencrantz-and-guildenstern-are-dead/2015/

Sup, Player!

Did you like the title of this post?

Yes? Good, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

No? Well, I tried my best. Oh, I know! I'll try some others! How about: The Mysterious Circumstances Surrounding the Superfluous Encounter Between Ros, Guil, and the Players; or Thunder! Bang! Excitement!; Heads, Tails, Teads, Hails, and Whatnot; or Can You Find The Word Banana Hidden In This Post?

Still no? Well then what about.....

This could go on forever but that would be a waste of time; plus I was running out of titles. Anyway think of this gobbledegook you just read in the same way that you think of the Ros and Guil coin toss situation. Not only is it a supreme waste of time (hint, hint, this is important), but it is also very strange. "Very strange?" you say, "Please go on". Well I think I will, thanks for the encouragement! The coin always lands on heads and has been landing on heads for as long as the Ros and Guil remember.

However, there is one point when the coin does NOT land on heads and I think it's very important. There is a sound, described as thunder, that Ros and Guil hear right before the arrival of the players, the source of the bang. Now when I read this I immediately thought back to when we looked at Macbeth, and how whenever the universe would go out of whack there would be some sort of thunder or supernatural thing. *Cue Spooky Ghost Noises*. Now you may be saying, "Ha! One small detail does not a conclusion make! This guy is a dumb," and I would agree with your calling me a dumb if I did not have another detail. Our friend Guil speaks of a most peculiar thing while this is happening.

A Unicorn. Yes, the all mighty Unicorn, scourge of the animal kingdom and the ruler of everything unholy! Not really, I'm sure Unicorns are cool. Not like "I wear a leather jacket and ride a motorcycle" cool but more of a "Let me be your weird horse mentor" kind of cool. Plus magic *Throws Confetti*. Anyway, I am sure that the incident of thunder and a reference to the supernatural mean SOMETHING here, right? It is also interesting that the strange happenings surrounding Ros and Guil end only after the players leave.

What could this mean? Are the players some trigger for something larger? Are they perhaps a part of the Illuminati? To be honest I have no clue. In fact I want to know what y'all think about the matter. All I can say for sure is that they players do something to change the situation via their existence, and that it seems that the crash of thunder and the supernatural work opposite than in Shakespeare's plays. They seem to end the unbalance instead of accompany it.

Well, that's about as much as I have got to say. I hope you enjoyed this post because, as I'm sure you can tell (you're clever after all), I enjoyed typing it. I hope everyone has an awesome spring break, stays safe, and has fun.

Oh, I almost forgot! Banana

American Horror Story

While I know some are soaking it up on the beach, I have decided to spend my spring break in my house in Houston curled up in my bed watching American Horror Story. Jordan told me I would love it and yes I did. This post isn't really about anything in particular. I just thought I would share my new found love of this show. High five for Netflix addictions. Also this is a good time to ask what everyone else's spring break plans are. As you can tell mine are well on their way to being fantastic. Side note EVAN PETERS for the win!

The Bluest Eye (PSA)

I know there are a couple of you all that did not like Beloved that much, but I seriously recommend The Bluest Eye. In my opinion it is amazing. You do not see the connection to Beloved at all. You wouldn't even believe that they were written by the same author. It still obviously focuses on African American culture, however it is not about the Middle Passage or slavery bur more about the idea of stereotypical beauty in America. It really provoked my thoughts on the subject. I just wanted y'all to know this.

Brave New World Review

For my IS, I read Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. In the book, Huxley gives us a view of a dystopian society so far different from our own society that it serves to shock the reader into discomfort (or at least for me, splitting one embryo into 96 identical siblings made me queazy). The society uses a form of brainwash via repetition of phrases to guide each person into a specific caste of society. The result is that each member of the socially engineered populace is entirely content with what they are doing. After giving much more detail that serves to further separate current society from his fictional one, he introduces Christian symbols to make the point that any massive social movement isn't so different from the one he's invented. At Church, we repeat a predetermined list of praises to God, we cycle throught the same practices every year, etc. he goes as far as to say that "religion arises from adversity" (paraphrase). As a relatively devout Catholic (don't bring up the coffee incident, MUNers/Mrs. Quinet), this claim made me feel uncomfortable, but I've always found that I think best when I'm out of my comfort zone. I know a few of you have read the book, any thoughts?

Catch 22

Catch 22

A world where bureaucracy is all we know.

A world where the stupid are in charge.

A world where the rules don't make sense.

A world where the people are exploited.

A world where questions are never answered.

A world where the fighting never stops.

A world where we are distracted from the real problems by problems we create.

A world where power is abused.

A world where hypocrisy is normal.

A world where the rules are absurd.

A world where lies are expected.

A world where deceit is common.

A world where we are all isolated from one another.

A world where we are plagued by a wave of passiveness.

A world where we are lulled into a comfort by repetition.

A world in which we live.

Wake up sheeple.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are ALIVE

So, I found this cool link on an AU in which they wake up in the next life in Paris and it makes some cool references to the book, check it out:

http://archiveofourown.org/works/141756

Rosenstern

This is an interesting take on the two, but I feel like all of society is like Rosenstern in a sense. Are we anything but society's reflections of what we are. We are nothing but what others choose us to be at the time when the "author" creates us. When we are born, we are instantly morphed into what society expects us. Even as we choose to "rebel" against society and be our own person, we are trained to do that. Society at this point expects you to rebel - if you can even call it that. We are all Rosenstern, we are all dead, god is dead. You are expected to rebel against this post. Keep scrolling sheeple.

Rosenstern

In class we were talking about how Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are very similar and are not really referred to separately. When I was looking up pictures from the play/movie, I found it interesting that they looked very much alike, even down to their clothes and facial expressions.

Who ARE Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

The names Rosencrantz and Guildenstern apparently originated from two Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish noble families.

Rosencrantz:

• From the Family Rosenkrantz
• Members of the family were estate owners and high-up officials
• The name means Wreath of Roses or Rosary
• This is their Family Crest:

Guildenstern:

• From the Family Gyldenstierne
• Belonged to the nobility
• This is their family's coat of arms:

The Handmaid's Tale: Fiction That's More Real Than We'd Like To Think

I read The Handmaid's Tale for my independent study. Here's a quick synopsis:

The Handmaid's Tale is the story of a dystopian society, The Republic of Gilead. The Republic of Gilead replaced America when a group of religious extremists took over. In the Republic of Gilead, those in charge (all men) use the Bible/Christianity to justify situations that are blatantly wrong. Those in charge often twist Bible verses to be able to use them for their own purposes; this works because the women, who are the ones being controlled, are not allowed to read, so they have no way of interpreting the Bible for themselves. In Gilead, everyone is divided into categories of people.

Male categories:

Commanders = The highest rank of men. The rule Gilead. They're really powerful, so they are allowed to have a Wife, a Handmaid (if their Wife is incapable of bearing children), Marthas, and Guardians. They are in charge of all of these people.

Eyes = Spies that watch for heretics or people who commit treason. They report anyone who doesn't follow Gilead's rules.

Angels = They fight Gilead's wars against people of different religions.

Guardians = They are the police men in Gilead. They aren't as high up as Angels.

Female categories:

Wives = The highest rank a female can be. They are inferior to their husbands. If they are infertile, their husband is assigned a Handmaid.

Aunts = The women who are assigned with educating the Handmaids about being Handmaids. They preach Gilead's party line.

Handmaids = A woman who is of fertile age. They are assigned to commanders with infertile wives. The Handmaids are forced to have sex with the Commander they are assigned to while the Wife is present, bear the child, and then immediately give up the child to the wife when it is born. Handmaids are dressed in red dresses that completely cover their shape and white hat-things that keep them from seeing very well. They are not allowed to read or really even talk.

Marthas = Female servants.

Econowives = The wives of the lower class men.

Unwomen = Women who cannot bear children or who defy Gilead's strict gender divisions. (Ex: feminists, lesbians.) They are sent to a place called the colonies. The colonies is basically a place that is filled with radiation and has no food. Everyone in the colonies dies.

Jezebels = Prostitutes.


A satire is a work of literature that is defined by Google as a work that "uses humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues." A satire that we are very familiar with is Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal, in which Swift suggests the Irish eat their own children because they are a burden to an already failing economy. Obviously, Swift is suggesting a ridiculous solution in order to critique Ireland and it's problems.

The Handmaid's Tale could be, and in fact, often is, considered a satire. It seems to use exaggeration to develop a hypothetical society in which men hold all of the power and women are only valued for their ability to bear children. Unfortunately, the seemingly impossible world of the Handmaid's Tale may be closer to coming true in real life than we think.

http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/03/30/purvi-patel-sentenced-41-years-feticide-neglect-dependent/

This link is to an article that was recently published about Purvi Patel, a woman who was sentenced to 41 years in jail for "feticide" and "neglect of a dependent.

Patel went to the hospital in July 2013 because she was suffering from "heavy vaginal bleeding". She originally denied being pregnant, but then told the doctors that she had miscarried her baby, put the fetus in a bag, and put it in the dumpster. The police questioned Patel while she was still in the hospital without a lawyer present, and also searched through her phone. They claimed they found messages in which she told a friend that she had purchased pills that would terminate her pregnancy.

Throughout her trial, the prosecution failed to introduce any evidence that Patel actually took the drugs that they claimed she ordered. They also failed to introduce evidence to support the felony neglect charge. Despite the prosecution's failure to actually prove the claims, Patel was sentenced to 41 years in jail. So basically, since the prosecution did not prove that she had lost her baby due to taking abortion pills or to felony neglect of a dependent, she was put into jail FOR 41 YEARS for having a miscarriage. (Innocent until proven guilty.) (Personally, I do not feel that she should be put in jail for having an abortion because I'm obviously a right-to-choose-er, but no one could disagree that she should not be put in jail for having a miscarriage.)


I couldn't put this better myself, so here's a direct quote from the article:

"Lynn Paltrow, founder and executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, told RH Reality Check that Patel’s conviction does not bode well for pregnant people in the United States.

'Since states tend to copy one another, we can expect that attempts to punish pregnant women will increase in other states, and that women in Indiana who take steps to end their own pregnancies, experience pregnancy losses, or are unable to guarantee a healthy birth outcome will rightly fear that a criminal investigation and arrest will follow,' Paltrow said.

'The prosecution, conviction, and cruel length of the sentence confirms that feticide and other measures promoted by anti-abortion organizations are intended to punish, not protect, women,' she added."

This is where our country is headed. Our country has just sentenced a woman to 41 years in jail for having a miscarriage. This IS The Handmaid's Tale.