Week 6

9/24:

The idea of a caste system in America that uses a certain system to dehumanize people is disgusting. Some people do not even believe that America has this system set in place all around America but the truth is we do and we have to learn to combat that. Today we talked about those ways to combat dehumanization through leadership. While my group did education I believe the most effective way to combat dehumanization through leadership are through legal channels. Because I am a prime believer in the fact that the system our laws and prison systems are built on are flawed we must use the power of leadership to destroy this part of the system. Eliminating harsh laws from our past that are targeted based on your status in life or how you look would be a great start to this. (Ex. Reagan’s Drug Laws) In our current environment we even see the dangers of having an overfunded police as it gives those with this power the ability to dehumanize those they deem lesser. The system has never worked for minorities and especially African Americans as the system was not built for them because this country was instead built by them. While I do believe the legal route is the best way to go my group chose education because we felt that it was also someway to combat dehumanization. In Psychology there’s a study called Nature Vs. Nurture we are naturally born into this world with a clean slate and the world nurtures our decisions and lifestyles. I believe the world created the idea of dehumanizing someone and if you teach at a young age to treat everyone with with respect we can stop the source there. Being a leader does not just have to be some random person because parents and teachers can be leaders as well. There is an elitist problem not just in education but everywhere people who have a higher status in life are taught that they are better than those beneath them. This is why we have billionaires who have no regard for their workers or they never feel a need to give others the ability to reach their status. As we spoke about in class someone suggested we have a wider variety of teachers with many diverse backgrounds and that will give students a wider understanding of what others feel and go through. In conclusion, today I realized that dehumanization can come in many forms and that we have to be leaders and combat it every way we can because the fight against dehumanization must be led by those who are willing to be leaders.

9/27:

This week I feel as if Borges will be a different type of leader than what we previously have met. For starters he is located in the 20th century the first leader we have observed from this era. He is also the first person from Latin America. He seems to be very knowledgeable and respected seeing as Umberto Eco had tried to find something he had not written about yet. Otalara seems to want to impress Bandeira but Bandeira just wants Otalara for his skill set. You start to see the toxicity in their relationship as Otalara is willing to go to extreme lengths to prove in his own words “May Azevedo Bandeira (Benjamin Otálara thinks) wind up understanding that I’m worth more than all of these Uruguayans put together.” This is the blueprint for a bad mentorship as only one person is benefiting and it is not the mentee. There is no leadership really it is just having someone do your bidding to prove themselves to you. When he finally sees the man who they call a leader and that they have looked up to for years there are rumors he is sick. When Otalara finally sees him he is in a frail, pathetic state that he even states that a single punch could probably end him. This is where I am starting to see the flaws in this leadership relationship as the Otalara now saw the man he tried to prove his worth to in the sad sorry state he is in. This is a true representation of “how the mighty have fallen”. The part that interested me the most is when he starts to create a coup in the organization. In the type of business they were involved in (a gang) when the leader is not capable of being a leader or shows any signs of weakness an insurgency is bound to occur. This shows a horrible relationship between the two as Otalara took the first sign of weakness to become the leader himself. This all being apart of Bandeira’s plan to let him feel like he was in charge and had the power just to be betrayed by the very man he thought was his friend. To have the woman he loved kiss him before the man he trusted grab his revolver and kill him all by the order of his leader that he tried to overthrow. It is truly ironic because he refused to kill Bandeira out of pity but at the first chance he got Bandeira murdered him.

9/28:

I personally do not think that I would lead or follow someone the way that either of the characters in the story do. This is a very toxic way of leading and following as it leaves both parties with no learning and no takeaway. Bandeira was not being a leader to help someone bring out the best version of themselves but instead he used someone and manipulated them to hurt them and bring himself up.

“During journeys that were dangerous to them all, he earns Suárez’s friendship. He confides his plan to him; Suárez promises him his help. Lots of stuff happens, some of which I know very little about. Benjamin Otálara stops obeying Azevedo Bandeira; he allows himself to forget instructions, to correct Bandeira, to reverse his orders. The universe appears to conspire with him and speeds up the steps of his plan.”

This passage shows me how Otalara kind of tried to be a leader here because he wants to try to overthrow the boss. He believes that this person is trustworthy and he starts to “forget” the bosses orders. The universe only appears to agree with him because the boss was playing the long game and he was tricked into thinking he had control over the situation.

“He adds a brutal command to his order which I will not repeat here. The woman doesn’t want to do it, but two men have grabbed her by the arm and throw her on top of Benjamin Otálara. Devastated by her tears, she kisses his face and his chest. Ulpiano Suárez has grabbed his revolver. Benjamin Otálara understands, before dying, that he has been betrayed since the very beginning, that he has been condemned to death, that they have allowed him to love, to be in charge, to triumph, all because they already considered him a dead man, because to Azevedo Bandeira, he was already dead.”

This is the second passage I felt was significant in this story. I fought between this and passage 29 because of their significance to all the characters. Learning that this was all part of a plan to kill him changed the story. Personally I believe this whole mentality was toxic because it shows no regard for human life and that is coming from all parties involved. The fact that this plan was just to give Otalara the assumption that he could win for it all to be calculated to show him in his last moment he was a dead man all along.

9/29:

In class today we spoke about the comparisons between the characters in “El Muerto” to the characters. I personally believe that Benjamin and Odysseus have the strongest correlation in respect to their development. Odysseus is willing to use people and is very narcissistic about life. We see how cruel both characters can be as Odysseus treats Philoctetes and Neoptolemus as less than him when they defy him. Benjamin tries to become friends with Azevedo Banderia’s bodyguard in order to take control of his empire. Athena is comparable to Bandiera as they both are feared and have a secret plan unaware to the audience and the mentee at the time it is conceived. As a leader one cannot just wildly show aggression and not have a tough skin for criticism and ridicule. As we saw today in our own climates leadership is indeed not for everyone and can be very toxic across the board when they let the idea of power get to their heads.