Final Task on Educating Rita

While browsing through different links and discussions about Educating Rita I found one that I really loved:

'After What you Gave me I Had a choice And I Chose Me' Educating Rita.

I found it really interesting to analyse it so as to see what these words exactly mean. First of all, and almost obviously, I have to say that these words could have been said by Rita to let Frank know how she has experienced the tutorials with him. Although it is true that at the very beginning of the story Rita wanted to change herself so as to achieve the life she wanted, as time goes by and she lives different experiences in her life, she ends up realising that the best she could do to succeed in life was to be herself. While taking a look at these words of hers, there are plenty of things to be said. Firstly, as regards the word choice, it is exactly that what Rita wanted from the very first moment: she wanted to get an education so as to be able to have a voice, to have the possibility of choosing the way in which she would live her life. We always have choices. Yes, it's totally true! Rita, as well as others who lived in the same conditions as she did, had different possibilities and different choices. However, it is necessary for us to grow brave and courageous so as to be able to face what life presents us with and to be able to decide whether to accept it or to challenge it by means of trying to change it. Rita did it. From the very beginning of the story we are presented with a courageous and determined Rita who will fight for what she wants: a new life. So Rita had a Choice. However, what this choice represents will change throughout the story to finally become this 'and I Chose Me.' When the story begins, it is clearly shown what Rita wants: she wants to become one of 'them,' she wants to be like 'the proper students' (and like the members of Frank's social group: upper-middle class). When Rita comes back from summer school, she seems to have changed completely. She speaks and talks like 'the proper students' and tries to imitate their manners. However, no matter how hard she tried, she would find it really difficult to forget her own self: Rita White is Rita White and changing her life does not mean that she has to change her self. And Rita will learn it. By the end of the story she will realise that for her to achieve the better life she was struggling for it wouldn't be necessary for her to become someone else. In fact, she will realise that what allows her to achieve her new life is not being able to analyse Macbeth but her own knowledge of what life is about. She will learn that changing her own self is not worth it for her new life has already started since the very first moment in which she realised she was not happy with it. I don't really know if I'm allowed to but I would love to include in this final post one idea I have discussed in a previous entry since I find it really interesting for me to link it with Rita's story. Although she has learned a lot during the play, I think that the most important thing she learned was that 'to change for others is to lie to yourself.' By means of her attitude during the last scene we learned that Rita has realised that for her to be happy she needed to be honest with herself and not to pretend to be someone she is not (as she did at the beginning of Act 2). She learned that changing her essence in order to be able to become a member of a group (the 'formally educated people') was not worth it since her person, her self, her values, ideas and thoughts are by far more important than 'being a member of...' Finally, as we have talked a lot about decisions, I would like to say that, after getting a lot of knowledge and information about what 'her better' life was about, Rita has taken a good decision in the end. Her deciding to go on being herself was the best she could do since, apart from it being good in itself and not going against anyone by deciding so, she didn't go against the most important person in all this issue: herself.

Do not let yourself change who you are. Others will love the person you are and not who you can be...

Programme of Study (About Educating Rita) - Part 2

Now, it is the moment for analysing one excerpt taken from this beautiful story (Act 1 - Scene 4; pages 47-8). This excerpt is a speech made by Rita which referred to her views upon her family and all the people in the working class.
Rita said: "Cos there's not meanin'(...) But the thing is that now, I mean now that most of them have got some sort of house an' there's food an' money around, they know they are better off but, honest, they know they've nothin' as well. There is like this sort of desease, but no one mentions it; everyone behaves as though it's normal... There's something wrong. An' like the worst thing is that y' know the people who are supposed to represent the people on our state, y' know the Daily Mirror an' the Sun, an' ITV an' the Unions, what are they tellin' people to do? They just tell them to go out an' get more money. But they don't want more money; it's like me, isn't it? Y' know, buyin' new dresses all the time (...) so that the desease is always covered up."
Now the question is about what all this reveals and tells us about Rita's character, ideas and motivation... First of all, since we know that she is from the working class, we almost immediately learn from these lines that she is not like the ones she describes here as belonging to this class...We know that Rita is different because of her realising about what is going on in their lives and her wanting to change it...she wants to cure the desease, at least in her own self, for she wants to get an education since she know it is the only way in which she would attain that life she wants...Being aware of the fact that buying things and consuming new products all the time is not all about life is what makes Rita unique and so eager to fight for her wish of changing her life; all these thoughts, beliefs and ideas are her motivation to go on working hard and against all odds in order to achieve her goal...By the power of her words in this speech, we realise that Rita will not surrender easily and would give her best for preventing her falling in such an empty and aimless way of living, which reminds me of something she said earlier in Scene 2: 'Is this the absolute maximum I can expect from this livin' lark?'
Finally, regarding Frank's reaction to her words, I think that it helped Rita's becoming aware of the power of her words and her thoughts as well as the power she has to change her world! By asking her 'why didn't you take a course in politics?' I think that Frank encouraged her to go on talking, thinkg and reflecting upon her reality and the fact that, as politics are supposed to be of help in changing and improving our lives, she can improve her own life by means of reflecting upon what she feels is going wrong and doing her best to find the way of changing it...And she has already started! Her interest, desire to know, curiosity, dedication, hard work and eagerness to change her life have encourage her to ask, reflect, learn and criticise...
She is on the way to a wonderful education, isn't she?

Programme of Study (About Educating Rita) - Part 1

The question to answer now is if Educating Rita is a play about the clash of class and culture. Well, let me tell you that it is so. For us to realise that there are culture and social differences between Frank and Rita it is not necessary to go any further than just a couple of pages. By the way in which both speak (Rita showing in her speech her coming from the working class and Frank's one showing that he is well-read and formally educated), we almost immediately learn that they are both from different backgrounds. And here is where the clash appears! Although at the end of the story the both learn how to 'co-exist' without having to discuss every single aspect of life in order to agree on something, it took them really quite a lot of time to understand each other, to learn from their differences and to be able to negotiate ideas, values and thoughts. Since they come from different backgrounds, they have different ideas and concepts about the same things. For instance, when Rita came back from Summer School acting in the way she did, pretending to be someone she was not, she showed us that she really believed that for her to be educated she had to be like the former students and like the people at the party in Frank's house (do you remember the party to which Rita didn't go because of not feeling properly dressed and because of not knowing which wine to take?). Rita believed that being educated meant to be able to get in touch with well-educated people to discuss about Blake (all this clearly shows how the working class sees education: as something just meant for wealthy people and, if you were to try to get your own education -as Rita did-, you would have to become one of them -as Rita thought-).
On the other hand, according to Frank's belief, education has nothing to do with dressing up, going to parties, being wealthy and choosing a proper wine. When Rita comes back from Summer School and he sees her acting like that, he shows her that he does not agree with her doing so for in order to get an education she does not need to leave out her essence, but on the contrary, learn by means of it...
Both Frank and Rita, as I said, learned a lot from each other and managed to cope with their being from different classes and cultures. Educating Rita is a play about the clash of class and culture which, fortunately, has a good and positive and encouraging outcome since, after a long process of exchanging and negotiation, both cultures (both Rita and Frank) could find the way out...

Educating Rita: the play about intercultural discovery and learning

Act 2 - Scenes 6 & 7

We have finally reached the end of this incredible story! Have you enjoyed the trip? I have! :)
As we read these last scenes we come to know (or at least we are trying to do so) about both Rita's and Frank's learning experience. During the course of the play, Rita has learned many things but the most important one, for me, is the fact that she became aware of the fact that she was the only one that could do something to change her life. She learned that, although some decisions might make us feel prouder than others, our possibility of fighting for the life we want is in our hands. And, since in the last scene she realised that pretending to be someone she is not was not something that would really help her, we can see that Rita has succeeded in achieving what she said she was looking for at the very beginning of the play 'I want to get an education.' It is wonderful to have lived and walked with her all the steps she had gone throught and to finally see her thanking Frank for all he had done for her. Rita is an educated woman for now she knows that it is by her own will, hard work and commitment that she will attain any goal she might seek...Isn't it exactly what we, as teachers, want to transmit to our students? I definitely think so! And, if you agree with me, you will also believe as I do that Rita has learned a lot more than just what she needed for taking the exam...Now she is a completely different person from the one we saw entering Frank's room in the very first scene for now she is the new Rita who has built herself by means of both studying and reading and, at the same time, learning that the only thing she needed to construct the new Rita was not forgetting about her essence. Education improves us, makes us grow.Education won't ever dismiss our own self since we learn through who we are...
By now you must be asking yourself 'and what about Frank?' Yes, you are right, I also have to talk about Frank and his own learning. By the and of the play, we are shown how much Frank has learned and how important has been Rita in his learning. Rita taught Frank that, in the same way as she did with her life, the only person that could help him to change and improve his life was no one but himself. By some reason, not explicitly stated in the play, Frank seemed, throughout the story, to have lost his faith in his teaching. If a teacher comes to a classroom to deliver a lesson drunk, it is by far clear that his most important concern in life is by no means teaching that lesson...However, while teaching Rita (or learning with her), Frank learns that the teacher has sometimes to be the student and learn from the 'teaching' of his students, which was something that, for me, happened to him. He learns from Rita that living is something that goes beyond getting drunk, reading a book and having a cigarrette. As Frank sees Rita's fight against the difficulties that arose in her life in order to go on with her education, he slowly becomes aware of the fact that he can also do something with his own life and, although we are not told what he does (if he does something), I would personally like to infer that he will, at least, try to change his life.
Could "Educating Frank" have been an alternative title for this play? It could have but, however, I would use another one. I believe that 'Educating Us' could be an appropiete title since it would imply not only the education of both Frank and Rita (Us standing for both Rita and Frank since both of them have learned a lot throughout the play) but also our own education and learning as readers because, after having read it and analysed it so deeply, we cannot deny that we have learned a lot from both Frank and Rita.

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Finally, regarding the very end of scene 7, I think that Willy Russell chose to end the play with Rita cutting Frank's hair for different reasons: first, as a way of showing that she wanted to acknowledge somehow all he has done for her; secondly, because she wants to help Frank to built his new self (although it is just a visual change, it is one of the most common ways of starting a change in our lives) and finally, because this is a very good way of showing us that the new educated Rita still keeps her essence and doesn't forget about her past: she has changed immensely but, at the same time, her cutting Frank's hair shows that she is still the hairdresser who was eager to learn and who is still eager to learn. Both Rita and Frank are still ready and waiting for learning since the more we learn, the more we get to know; the more we want to go on learning...

Act 2 - Scenes 4 & 5

After reading these two scenes, we come to know how disappointed Frank feels towards Rita's attitudes. I say disappointed because he feels that Rita has completely forgotten about all they have done together and all they have shared. He feels that Rita doesn't care anymore about attending Frank's lessons as she hasn't gone to the previous one and she is late to the one in Scene 4. He even feels terrible when he realises that Rita is not working anymore as a hairdresser and she hasn't told him about it. He says 'it struck me that there was a time when you told me everything.'
When she says 'who cares that I've left hairdressin' to work in a bistro?' Frank answers 'I care.' With this we are shown how sad and helpless Frank feels about Rita's changes and her leaving behind what has made Frank care about her: her simplicity, naturalness and humility. Frank feels that Rita does not take in into account his feelings upon her and his care. Furthermore, not only does she arrive late but she also tells him that she has to go earlier to meet Trish. I have to say that at his moment of the story I complete empathise with Frank since I understand and can feel what he is feeling at this moment: he feels that Rita is disposing of him in a way since now that she is educated and well-read she feels that she does not need him anymore for now she is able to read and analyse any book on her own...
Haven't you ever felt like Frank? Haven't you ever felt that after having got what someone needed from you he then disappeared without saying even 'thank you'? Maybe I'm being too extremist in a way by saying this but I think that in a certain way this is what Frank feels now: he feels that after having learnt how to read and analyse a book on her own, Rita is giving an end to this 'period' of improvement and change in her life, and by doing so she seems to have decided that after this period of maturity there is no room left for Frank in her new life (as is many times the case with father-daughter relationships just as Rita makes the comparison between her relationship with Frank and that of a father with his suddenly grown-up daughter).
However, though I agree with Rita's comparison, what Rita believes is that Frank does not want to see her growing up and that is not true! Of course that Frank wants to see her improving, learning and growing up (as we as teachers want for our students)! The problem with all this situation is that Frank is afraid of Rita's changing what makes her being the excellent woman he got to know during this story. That is why, after Rita's saying that now that she knows what clothes to wear, what wine to buy, what plays to see, what papers and books to read she can do without Frank, he says 'is that all you wanted? Have you come all this way for so very, very little?'
Finally, regarding Rita's changing her name, I have to say that she decides to do so because of her wanting to show that she is not the same woman that she has changed and that now she is not the ignorant and innocent Rita... Now she is another person, now she has grown up and changed into a well-read and educated woman who cannot be called anymore Rita because now Rita and her essence does no longer exists... She wants to show that the essence of Rita is gone and which could be the most telling way of showing that Rita does not exist anymore? Acting as if she weren’t here... Now she is Virginia or Charlotte, or Jane or Emily (as Frank says). She can have any of those names or even any name but Rita because who she is now is not important. Who she has turned into is not as important as the fact that she isn't Rita anymore and that's why, for me, we are not told what her name is now... Her new name is not important. She is no longer Rita. And that's it.

Act 2 - Scenes 2 & 3

It is incredible how much has Rita changed (or, in my opinion, pretends to have changed) during the last scenes! I've just said that, for me, she pretends to have changed because she seems to be acting this new self and not really be living or experiencing it. For example, this can be easily seen in her change of voice and in the way she speaks. She tells Frank that now she has to speak like that because Trish says that there is not a lot of point in discussing beautiful literature in an ugly voice. Como on! What is Rita making say so? Deffinitely Rita is trying to show that she has changed and that she is not the same ignorant Rita that she thinks she used to be. And we can perfectly see how Frank feels about her trying to change: he says 'you haven't got an ugly voice; at least you didn't have. Talk properly.' Here we can see how Frank tells Rita that he does not agree with her 'new' self: he says that 'at least you didn't have (an ugly voice)' because he wants to show her that her voice now is not nice simply because she is pretending and it is not her real voice. Frank shows throughout these two scenes that he feels uncomfortable with this new Rita and that he just want her to be the same person that he has met in the first tutorial. He says 'Rita! Just be yourself!' He wants to show her that in order to get the better life that she wants it not necessary for her to change her essence but, on the contrary, she has to keep on being the person she have always been! With all her pretending to be someone she is not is will end up being one of those she used to criticise before. What she wanted to do from the first time we met her in this play was to improve her knowledge for her to be able to face life differently and I trully believe that what Frank feels is that, by acting in this way, she is not trying to improve herself but trying to change her self: when Frank tells Rita that for him her essay on 'The Blossom' is not well done he wants to show her that, although he cannot say that her essay is not wrong, he wants to make her aware of the fact that what she has written is not based on her own views. He says: 'What I'm saying is that it's up to the minute, quite acceptable, trendy stuuf about Blake; but there's nothing of you in there!' When Frank says this, Rita answers him saying that when she started coming to Frank's he asked her to find her own views and, according to her, what she has written in her essay are her views. She says that he has asked her to consult recognised authorities and, according to her, that's what she did. The only answer that she would get from Frank after saying that is: 'It means - it means be careful.' But, what did he mean by saying that? Well, for sure, it's not an easy question to answer, don't you think? But well, I'll try to do my best ;) I think that what he meant was that he really wants to have Rita think (critically) on what she is doing with her essays (and, for me, what she isn doing not only with her essay but also with her life). He does not want her to change her views and her way of expressing them because of wanting to be seen as something she is not: a 'recognised' woman as someone literate and from a social group that will spend most of her time 'talking' and 'discussing' about literature because now she has changed and has been taken as another member of the 'students' she has, some scenes before, seen as very far from her reality. Frank warned Rita to be careful because he does not want her to leave her own views (not only about essays but also about her life and her own self) behind as she did, for example, while wanting to change her vioce because of being told that that wasn't the proper voice for discussing beautiful literature. Frank cannot believe how has Rita come to believe that her voice was ugly and not proper for talking about literature! He says 'Be Careful!' because he thinks that Rita is changing. He thinks that Rita is leaving her self aside for getting into a world that, in my opinion, Frank believes not to deserve Rita's changing her essence...

Act 2 - Scene 1

From what we are shown in this scene, we learn that, during the time Rita spent at Summer School, she has been going through some changes and they are shown not only in the way she dresses but also in her attitude towards Frank and the lesson. Her having being at Summer School makes her acting differently and also answering Frank in a different way. I would say that now she feels really more confident: she really believes that being there has improved a lot her knowledge in poetry and (why not?) her knowledge about 'the world' (that world that she was trying to reach no more than one or two scenes before). Though she admits that at first she was 'dead scared,' she shows and tells Frank how she gained confidence and knowledge from the moment she met a tutor with whom she spent a lot of time talking about American poetry and when she stood up and, in front of two thousand people, she asked a question to a professor...
Yes, it's true... Rita has changed! And, in my opinion, she has changed a lot... I mean, of course that being able to live such an experience will probably make anyone feel like her but there are different ways of showing so... I think that, because of being the first time in her life that she lives such an experience, she is not able to 'measure' the way in which she shows her 'new' feelings... I feel that she is acting 'boastfully' (for example, when she starts reciting the poem from memory) and, although I don't know yet how this goes on in the next scenes, Frank may not feel really pleased or happy after finding this new Rita...
Finally, and regarding Rita's words 'you don't do Blake without doing innocence and experience, do y'?' I would say that, judging by what has just happened with her reciting Blake's poem from memory, her attitude is, again, boastful because when Frank asks her if she has done innocence and experience at Summer School her answering in this way, at least for me, shows that now she feels that she has more knowledge and confidence so as to tell Frank 'yes, we did' but in a different way (in such a way to show him that the Rita that has come back from Summer School is by no means the 'ignorant' and 'not educated' that she feels she has been before). However, and despite her 'new' attitude, I think that we just have to wait a bit more for Rita to get used to having all these new feelings...She still needs to learn from this Summer School experience but, at the same time, she needs to learn how to cope with her new self but without leaving behind her essence: her humility, selfconciousness, naturalness and simplicity...

Act 1 - Scenes 7 & 8

In these two scenes, in my opinion, we are clearly presented with a 'growing' Rita since she really shows how her feelings, values and ideas are changing. She is awaking to the fact that, although her husband is totally against her changing into a new life, she is perfectly able to get and achieve that education at which she is aiming. She knows that no matter her age she has already given the first steps into changing her life: she has decided to leave her husband so as to go on with her lessons. She was determined to fight for her dream: 'it was an ultimatum. I explained to him. I didin't get narked or anythin'. I just explained him (Dennis) how I HAD to do this.' However, during scene 7, Rita and Frank have a sort of discussion because of her not going to his dinner party. Trying to make Rita feel better, Frank tells her that he wanted her to be there. He says that people at the party would have seen her as someone funny, delighful and charming... When Rita listens to what Frank tells her, she feels really awful and bad, she feels like an outcast... What she wants is not to be funny, she wants to be taken seriously and be able to take part in their seriuos conversations as if she were one of them. She says: 'I don't wanna spend the night takin' the piss, comin' on with the funnies because that's the only way I can get into the conversation...' She didn't go to Frank's party because of being afraid of being treated as someone who does not fit in, as someone who, no matter how many essays might write, would always go on being from the uneducated part of the society...Rita shows us how she feels about this idea of 'making herself believe that she won't ever be part of the educated people' (mind you! I don't agree with this thought she is showing us in this part of the play because I know that she is much more than a member of the working class; however, I just want to let you know how she feels at this moment) when she says 'But I don't want to be myself. Me? What's me? Some stupid woman who gives us all a laugh because she thinks she can learn, because she thinks that one day she'll be like the rest of them, talking seriously, confidently, with knowledge, livin' a civilized life.' When she finishes saying so, Frank feels terrible and he reminds her why he has invited her: 'You were invited because I wished to have your company...' When I come to think about Rita's reaction and all she says about that dinner, I have to say that I understand her perfectly. She is afraid of facing all those people because of their possible reaction... When she saw them through the window she had the feeling that she couldn't get in because she still sees herself as a member of the working class and not as a member of the well-educated people, i.e. she still feels that there is a very long trace between her and her aim and that's why she couldn't let herself in the house, she still has all those 'prejudices' that all of us have (in the case of Rita she feels that as well as her husband as a member of the working class does not approve of her trying to get a better life she believes that the one that are already members of the well-educated might not be willing to welcome her...) I think that she didn't go to Frank's dinner party because of being afraid of facing those people, being rejected and of not being able to make herself fit in...

Then, regarding Rita's essay on Macbeth, I have to say that, first of all, I loved how Frank decided to change what he was about to do in this lesson. When Rita comes in, Frank closes her essay and starts asking her about the suitcase she's brought. As a teacher he could have act as if nothing unusual has happened and go on with his lesson. However, he completly forgets about Rita's essay and starts talking with her about what has happened and tries to help her. I wanted to remark this attitude of Frank because, as teachers, we are daily faced with different situations in which our students tell us (without uttering a word) that something has happened and that they would love to have someone to talk about it... In this case, Rita's bringing the suitcase shows Frank that something is going on and that Rita might want to talk about it (if she hadn't wanted Frank to know about her moving to her mother's, she wouldn't have brought the case to the lesson) and, after seeing this, the decision of asking her or not is in Frank's hands...And, of course, he decides to go on being the good teacher he is (in my opinion), so he asks her about what's going on...
We don't have to forget how many and how important our decision are and how they will influence our students lives! :)

Finally, and going back to Rita's essay, I wanted to explain why (I think) Frank uses both the adjectives 'worthless' and 'wonderful.' The main reason why he uses this two different words has to do with the 'lens' through which he is evaluating it. On the one hand, when he says that it is worthless it has to do with the 'lens' of the teacher who is correcting an essay in terms of the use of Standard English. On the other hand, when he uses the word wonderful, he refers to his own 'lens' as Frank: the person who is living and watching Rita's improvement and process of becoming the woman she wants to. He says that it is wonderful in 'it's own terms.' He really likes her reaction upon Macbeth, what she feels about it and the fact that she is able to understand it and build her own opinion about it...It is wonderful because it is a clear proof that learning is taking place in her and that she has already started her process of achieving the better life she wants. Although her essay is not still ready to be given a passing mark in a test (a formal one, with teachers following the established standards), it is wonderful for Frank...
After having analised these two scenes, I would say that, throughout them, there is one idea that is always present in some way or another: when Rita didn't go to Frank's dinner party, when she shows that she feels different from the people that went there, when she says that she is a stupid woman, when Frank tells her that he wished to have her company, when he says that the essay is worthless but at the same time wonderful... we are shown that...

'Everything depends on the lens through which each person sees the world.'

Act 1 - Scene 6

First of all, and regarding Rita's enthusiasm about Macbeth, she seems to be really excited and joyful about this tragedy (Frank has to explain her and show the difference between something tragic -i.e. something bad or unpleasant that happens to someone- and a tragedy -i.e. the genre in drama which is represented by something inevitable and pre-ordained when something is meant to happen). However, and regardless all her excitement, she will find it very difficult to express her opinion according to the 'standards' by which the quality of an essay is measured (simply because she does not know how yet, or at least she is still learning it). For her to be able to express her opinion in an essay, she should do so using Standard English. Although what she feels and thinks about Macbeth is completly O.K. and important, it is necessary for her to learn how to express and show her feelings in an 'academically expected' way (mainly because she is attending Frank's lessons to improve her 'knowledge' of literature, the language and the world). If she wants to get that better life she is fighting for, she will have to learn many things that are going to be the tools that she will have in the future for her to defend herself and her ideas.
Finally, and regarding their sharing the apple and the can, I think that Willy Russell is trying to show us how the idea of reciprocity works in a teacher-student relationship. By means of this exchange, we are shown how the teacher and the student act/react while giving and receiving something. When Frank throws Rita the apple, she immediately offers him the can of soft drink. I think that whenever someone gives us something, no matter if it is big, small, for eating, for writing, for drinking and so on, we tend to almost automatically start thinking about what we can give them in acknowledgment of their being kind with us...And, in my opinion, this is even strongly felt when we are teachers or students, don't you think?

Act 1 - Scene 5

First of all, I think that Rita won't go to the pub with Frank simply because he asks her to go in order to talk about her husband and as Rita doesn't want to talk about him she wants to stay in his office for Frank to explain her why Chekhov is a comic genius. Then, when Rita asks him to go with her to the theatre he first says no because he excuses himself by saying that he doesn't like theatres and that the production is played by amateurs. However, we come to know that the true reason has nothing to do with him liking theatres or not because he says that he can't go with her for Julia would be jealous if he does so. When Rita says 'what's she got to be jealous of me for? I'm not gonna try and rape you' and he answers 'what an awful pity. You could have made theatre exciting for me again' we come to learn that Frank feels some sort of attraction for Rita. 'If she knew (Julia) I was at the theatre with an irresistible thing like you.' If this is not obvious enough for me to say that he finds her attractive, I don't know what else do you want him to say! :P

Act 1 - Scenes 3 & 4

First of all, regarding Rita's view upon working-class culture I have to say that, although I agree with her on most of her ideas, I don't think that the working class has no culture at all. Of course that for deciding whether they have or not one I should first of all provide a definition for culture, so let's say that in this context, for me, culture entails everything that may result from the relationship and the exchanging obtained through the co-existence of people (language, behaviour, customs, habits, likes, dislikes, conflicts...). Considering this definition of culture, working class people do have their own culture. However, I do agree with Rita when she says that she sees 'everyone trying to ger from one day to the next,' she finds no meaning in this sort of life as they find themselves not living but surviving. She finds a very good way of explaining herself and showing what she means when she says that they have no culture. She gives the example of the Daily Mirror, The Sun and ITV bombarding people with ads for having them wanting more and more money to buy more and more things that they don't actually need but with which they try to convince themselves that they are happy when they are not...I found it really interesting when she says 'and the papers tell them what to spend the money on so the desease is always covered up.' (These absence of meaning, thoughts, beliefs, ideas and values in their lives is what Rita calls the desease)
Secondly, as regards what Rita learns by the end of these two scenes, I think that she learns to make connections. In fact, what she learns is the fact that she is perfectly able to make connections between many different things (her dresses, ITV, the Daily Mirror, addicts, her and her husband), and, as result of becoming aware of this, she will be able to start making connections for writing her essays.
Thridly, in my opinion, what is wrong with her essays is the fact that not only they are too short but they are also written quoting authors/writers that are not exactly writers of literature (here is when Rita learns that not every book is literature). However, I think that there is something more important that the mere fact that she's written them in this way: she hasn't taken enough time to prepare them, and here in when Frank learns more about Rita's life and her husband. He seems to be rather concerned about Rita's having to write her essays at home because of her husband's not allowing her to do it at home. This situation shows us more about Rita and her convictions: 'art and literature feed me inside... and Denny hates me comin' here. It's like drug addicts, they hate it when one of them tries to break away.' She knows that she is trying to break away, she is trying to break away from the meaningless and empty life that her husband is (and she was) living...
Finally, I think that Rita says that 'it makes me stronger coming here' simply because by doing so she is trying and fighting to get the life she wants for her...'I don't see any culture, I just see everyone pissed, or on Valium, trying to get from one day to the next. There's no meaning...' She is perfectly aware of what is going on with them and that's why she wants to do something. She wants to give herself the chance of breaking away and being different from those people (like her husband) that pretend to ignore what's going on, to ignore the desease.

'I just see everyone pissed, trying to get from one day to the next...Cos there's no meaning!'

Act 1 - Scene 2

As the story develops, we come to know more about both Rita and Frank. She finds it very difficult to leave behind her previous experiences in life in order to be able to be 'educated' by Frank. That's why she has problems with her first essay. She (as many of us most of the times) cannot 'criticise' Howards End without feeling discouraged by the author's opinion ('We are not concerned with the poor'). However, Frank finds the way to show (teach) Rita that we may not always agree with what we read (or with what we are faced in life) and, all the same, we will be always able to take something good from it (there are people with whom we agree and people who does not agree with us). I really believe that Frank is trying to show her that we have to be respectful upon others, their views and values...However, it is true that Rita may not be ready to accept this diversity yet, but I do believe that she will learn it sooner or later. We just have to give her more time! Because we can be sure that she'll be able to do it!

'Is this the absolute maximum I
can expect from this livin' lark?'
Rita

Regarding what Rita thinks about the proper students I would say that she thinks so simply because they are the ones that 'come here all time', she seems to have the 'typical' and 'ordinary' view of what a student is, i.e. students are the one that go to school. Consequently, Rita does not see herself as a proper student simply because she does not go to school. So, it doesn't matter if she is studying or learning she won't be a proper student as she does not go to school.
Finally, regarding Rita's opinion about Frank's room, I think that she just likes it. She said that although it's a mess, it's a perfect one. I think that Frank's description is great 'I just moved in. The rest sort of happened.' What Rita likes is the fact that he has not even taken a moment for arranging it. 'It's like wherever you've put something down it's grown to fit there.'

Educating Rita (Act 1 - Scene 1)

Rita seems to have a very 'Socratic' way of being intelligent since she is perfectly aware of her own ignorance and that gives her the possibility of being able to ask for more 'knowledge' in order to achieve what she wants: to succeed in life. She knows that the only way of doing so is by means of fighting against ignorance (the most powerful weapon to kill and destroy humanity)
Rita is a very clever and strong woman since, as far as this scene is concerned, she shows a clear awareness of what life is about when she tells Frank that she has tried to make her husband realise that she wants a better life for them but, she explains, he does not understand a word of what she is trying to tell him. And that's why she wants to study, that's what she does not want her to be... she does not want to live in a world of 'happy ignorance' (as her husband does) because she knows that a good life is not something exclusive for wealthy people but for everyone... and she knows that being from the working class, she will have to work very hard to achieve it, and I'm sure she will do it because she has already given the first step into her new life...

'In order to be able to change something, we will first have to realise that it needs a change...'

'Mona Lisa Smile' Katherine's Decision

What I will try to do in this post is to analyse a decision taken by a teacher in a movie to see if it was a 'Human Act' and a 'Good Decision' and to see if other options were available... The decision taken by Katherine Watson, who takes a job in the art history department at Wellesley College in the fall of 1953, takes place when she is told that in order for her to go on being a teacher in the College she will have to avoid showing her own ideas and telling anything 'off-subject' to her students... This College was too strict and traditional to let Katherine show her students that life is more than 'being the wife of...'
When the moment comes for Katherine to decide whether to go on giving lessons at this College with the condition of forgetting about all of her beliefs and convinctions or to quit, she decides that it is better to leave the place than to stay there simply because she wouldn't let herself go against her beliefs and her ideas... She does not agree with the ideologies of the College and going on teaching there will force her to lie to herself and pretend being someone she is not...
Having seen this movie and taking what I've just written into account I will start by explaining why is it that this decision was a Human Act.
First of all, she is perfectly aware of what she is choosing and the other options available and what their consequences might have been. She is conscious while taking the decision and, therefore, capable of reasoning and thinking out all the different options and paths she might have followed.
Secondly, her decision is not conditioned or limited by any kind of mental desease or problem so she is perfectly conscious and aware of her acts and, as a consequence, it can be analysed from a moral point of view.
And finally, she has the possibility and the intention of choosing among other options; i.e. freedom (if there had been just one option available, then the 'act' of deciding could not have taken place and, therefore, she would not have been free to choose but forced to follow the only path available)

Going on with the analysis, I would say that this decision is Morally Good since it is something good in itself (she isn't going against anyone by doing so and, what is more, she avoids going against herself by following her beliefs); it has a good intention since she has always done her best to help her students open their eyes and see beyond what they are taught at College or by their families and when Katherine is forced to leave her beliefs behind and act against them she decides to leave the College since in that way she can show her students that the most important thing is to defend your ideas and not to lie to yourself... so her purpose is this... her purpose is to show the girls that defending what you believe in is the best way of living your life; and finally, her decision was taken in good circumstances because, although she takes her decision a few months before the end of the year (before her students' graduation), she decides to stay at the College and go on teaching until the end of the year for her students not to feel at a loss and helpless during the very last weeks before their graduation (Katherine shows us here that her decision was made in the right moment and place since she bears in mind all the consequences of her decision and their implications.)

Furthermore, and this is my personal opinion, I would say that, it was a very good decision because sometimes it is very difficult to defend your thoughts and ideas at any moment and place but she has chosen the best way to teach something: through your own example... Katherine has always tried to show her students that there was a lot more about life beyond what college may taught them or what traditions may require them to do...By deciding not to go on teaching there, she showed them that what she has taught them was true and valid for her...If she had chosen to stay there following the conditions imposed on her, Katherine would have lied to herself and, consequently, would have killed her beliefs and thoughts. Her decision was, for me, good and perfectly coherent with herself.

Finally, and for me to finish with the analysis, we don't have to forget that when we decide (something) it means that we are choosing one from two or more options, and, in this case, there was just one more option available: to go on teaching in this College accepting the conditions imposed on her (no interaction with her students, no advices to them, no 'subversive' ideas, no 'modern' or 'progressive' ideas...) but, as you can imagine, this was not an option for Katherine...


'To change for others is to lie to yourself'

I've prepared a short video with this scene I'm describing for you to take a look at it if you happen to be interested. However, there is a problem with it, the movie is in Spanish since it was the version I had available at home... I'm sorry!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDNPsCrkj_A

Appendix: "Diez Años Después: Ante El Nuevo Milenio"

Well, here I am, and after such a long time of being 'absent' here, trying to give a kind of closure to this trip throughout this incredible book! There is only one thing that I wanted to comment on... I really loved it when Savater said that the division of time into hours, days, weeks, months and years is just as the division of a book in pages: it is not the number of the page that tells us what happens but it serves just to the purpose of giving it an order and the possibility of going back to see what has happened before in order for us to remember it or to reflec upon it or to learn from it... I have to say that that is exactly what happens with our lives, the more numbers of pages we turn over throughout the time, the more experiences we have lived for us to go back and learn from them... the fact that years pass by does not mean that things change... the only way in which things do change is not because we grow older but because as we grow older we become more and more able to look back critically and ready to learn from the mistakes and the good choices that we have personally written in the pages of the book we will keep on writing during all our lives... Well, it seems that I'm about to finish this trip... but... I'm starting another one! One page of my book is turned over today... and another one is here right now waiting for being written... So... Let's go on with our lives! Let's go on with our books! But never forget to smile! Never! Because this blog, as many other things in our lives, is a clear sing that we are alive and that we are alive because we have a reason! We will always have a reason for going on! Always! Remember your past (and learn from it), enjoy your present and smile proudly because we are invited to live our future! Thank you very much for 'blogging' with me!



Keep On Laughing! :)

Epilogue: "Tendrás Que Pensártelo"

It has been a long and an enriching trip, don't you think?
And what a nice way of ending a book of ethics has Savater chosen: "After all, it is probable that it may not be a real book of ethics..."!
And I have to say that I do love it simply because by doing this he wanted to show us that there is no "User's Guide" in terms of Ethics and this means that it is only inside of us that we will find our own Ethics...
We may perfectly listen to many different people, opinions, advices, experiences but, all the same, the only way is "to think it over", to reflect... to analyse and, what I think is the most important thing, to be coherent and honest with ourselves. It is our duty from now on to keep on thinking and although it is only through (and with) others that we will be able to achieve a Human Life, we don't have to forget that we are the ones that can take our own choices. No one will come and tell us which path to follow or what to believe in...
Difficult? Yes! Impossible? NO WAY!
Everything will sooner or later be possible if it is something that pursues HAPPINESS, JOY and LOVE...

And finally, as Savater wrote: "Good Bye, my friendly reader, and try to avoid wasting your life hating (no matter whom) or being afraid"

Chapter IX: "Elecciones Generales"

In this chapter Savater talks about plenty of ideas and conflics between Ethics, Politics, politicians... but I would like to concentrate in some few ideas that I find really interesting... There is one thing that he says that for is crucial: Ethics cannot wait Politics. We have to know that we can not wait until politics solve all our problems in order to start solving our own ones... It's the other way about: since Politics has to do with the harmonious coexistence of all the human beings, we cannot expect Politics to function perfectly if every single individual within the society do not care about living their lives ethically... We have to start the change from the most simple thing and not the other way about... We know that our every day situation, especially in Argentina, is not the most desirable or the best one, but we have to be aware of the fact that we still can do something to improve our lives and our society... the fact is that sometimes many people tend to say that as our country's situation is not good, how can they possibly be good if within a society so unfair and violent? Well that's exactly where the answer is: the only way in which out country can start becoming a better place to live in is by giving our best as indiviuals who at the same time form part of something else (the society) and try to keep on believing in our own capacity of choosing, deciding, sharing, helping, guiding and living our lives in the best we can: living a Human Life (with all the ideas we have been discussing so far while reading this beatiful book)... We, as teachers or teachers to be, have to be aware of the fact that we can be one of those who have that incredible and challenging mission of showing others that the change (in our country, society, school, and so on) is something that will only we achieved if we first start the change from our own every day lives... Ww don't have to forget that it won't be something easy to do, at all... but we are the ones that can show our students that the best way of living your life "humanly" is by means of assistance... i.e. being willing and ready to help, guide and accompany others when they need it... Help, guide, accompany... doesn't it sound familiar to you? Yes, we know them... these three words are the most important roles of the teacher... So, don't you think that being an English teacher, or a teacher of any subject, is more than that? Well, I do... We are more than teachers... we are Educators, Guiders, Helpers... So when someone come and ask you "What is your profession?" or "what do you do?" just answer "I am a Teacher"... and be sure that that is something you'll be always proud of...

Chapter VIII: "Tanto Gusto"

"Nothing is Bad JUST because you feel well doing it"... I really find this quote very telling of what is discussed in this chapter, and I think it is like that... I mean, many times we find people saying that something is bad or that we cannot do this or that just because it's "badly" seen by other people...Now, the question is: Is something bad just because someone else says so? What a question! With all this we are going an step further since we are talking about what is Good or Bad (ethically speaking)... Well, I think that the only way to answer this question is to see if what we want to do is something that will help us to live the Human Life we want to live or if is goes against ourselves or someone else... and if it does go against one of the keys of a human life we can say that it is something bad... There is nothing bad in doing something for pleasure... the only problem or the only reason why we tend to reject anything that gives us pleasure is because of what Savater calls the oldest fear of the human being: Our Fear of Pleasure...the fact is that we don't have to be afraid of it but to be aware that as well as it happens with everything else we have to be very careful in order to avoid going into extremes...As long as it doesn't go against ourselves, our lives or someone else's life any pleasure will be (ethically) bad...The idea is that if you are hurting someone else or making him/her feeling like they are not humans your pleasure will automatically stop being something good (at least from the ethical point of view). We don't have to forget that the only thing we can get from any pleasure is joy...and if we happen to lose it as a consequence of some pleasure we have we may be doing wrong and not acting according to what we really want... Do you remember? Yes, the difference between what I think I want and what I really want... So, don't lie to ourselves! If we stop being happy by doing something we believe gives us pleasure, we will have to realise that that is not actually a pleasure simply because for it to be so it has to make us feel well, happy, joyful...
So, now, our job will be to be able to put pleasure to the service of joy and happiness, something that won't be an easy task at all but it is not impossible either...

Chapter VII "Ponte En Su Lugar"

There are two ideas that I like most from this chapter...
The first one has to do with the comparison that Savater does between the ones that are born rats and the ones that are born lions... I do live the idea of the rat asking itself "what is going to happen to me?" and the lion asking itself "what am I going to do?"... I really feel identified with such a comparison since it sometimes happens to me that at some moment I ask myself if what I'm doing is because I want to do it or if it has some external reason...
It's true that there are meny things that I simply do because I want to and I'm willing to do them at that moment, but it's also true that sometimes I found myself suffering what I'm doing instead of enjoying it... The fact is that it is very difficult for to draw a line between what I do for pleasure and what I have to do, e.g. the fact that I have to get up too early in the morning to travel every day to the place in which I'm studying is a direct consequence of my choosing to study in that place and not in some other one nearer my home... So, if I decide to live my life as a lion I'll have to say that it doesn't matter because it's a consequence of my own decision, but if decide to be like the rat I'll claim that it's unfair and that I do not deserve it because it has just happened to me and I have nothing to do with it...
Now, if I decide to live like a rat I would have a terrible problem since I wouldn't be living my life but suffering it... however, if I decide to live like a lion I'm going to be proud of what I'm doing and feel satisfied since in spite of the fact that all that I'm doing is not something easy I'm doing it because I want to, because it's the life I want to live...
What a difficult issue! Well, at least it is so for me as I'm in a period of my life in which I don't know where I'm standing, if I'm the lion or the rat... I think that at least most of the time I'm like the lion but, as I'm not perfect and I'm just learning how to cope with everything, I have to say that sometimes I found myself thinking like a rat...
And finally I want to say that I do believe that the best way to live our lives (if we want to be loved and have a good human life) is to be able to empathise with the others, the main idea entailed in this concept is to be able to feel what someone else feels. So if we feel sad when someone feels sad and we feel happy when someone feels happy we won't make them feel sad or bad but, on the contrary, we will try to make them feel well, happy, joyful... As we are all humans, we are the only ones that can understand and feel what someone else (another human being) is feeling, so don't miss this incredible oportunity to live the human life we are aiming to... don't forget that the only way of living a good human life is to share it with another person, with another human being!

"I think there's something more, life's worth living for
Who knows what could happen
Do what you do, just keep on laughing
One thing's true, there's always a brand new day
I'm gonna live today like it's my last day"
(Avril Lavigne, "Who knows". Album: Let Go)

I love this song and I think it expresses clearly what I'm trying to say...
("I'm gonna live today like it's my last day", I believe in this line she wants to say that she will live her everyday life cheerfully and enthusiastically... and I think it also related to the fact that if we want to do something why don't we do it today instead of posponing it...)
I know that it's very difficult sometimes, but... just keep on laughing!!!

Chapter VI: "Aparece Pepito Grillo"

Our obligation, according to Savater, is not to be "imbéciles" (I write it in Spanish since I believe that in this way the meaning is clearer)... What calls my attention is the true meaning of this word and where it comes from... I really love the connection between being "imbécil" and a walking stick... I really believe that not being able to decide by yourself, or not being able to realise what you really want and, as a consequence, not being able to go for what you want mean that you need a walking stick for your soul since you cannot go on without the help of someone else, without relying on someone else's decision, behaviour or will... I have to say that unfortunately there are times in my life when I need (or maybe I make myself believe that I need) a walking stick to go on... those moment in which I would like not to be able to decide... and it is in those moment in which I behave as an "imbécil"... So we need to find a cure for this... we need to find a solution for this... and the secret is in accepting our duty as human beings: taking decisions... we have to take our decisions, we cannot ask someone else to decide for us (well, at least that wouldn't be the best thing to do if we want to live a good human life)... Your decision, You decide... After taking the decision we have to be sure if what we are going to do has to do with what we really want; and then, finally, we will have to develop what Savater calls "good moral taste" in order to be able to reject anything bad (such as telling a lie) almost automatically... But, what happened if we don't follow this advice and we do something "stupid" (something done by someone who is "imbécil")? Well, we feel remorse... we feel guilty for not having done what we know we had to...And here it is when "Pepito Grillo" appears... when our conscience tells us that we have done something wrong, when our freedom makes us feel guilty simple because if we weren't free we wouldn't be able to feel remorse and guilty... that's why when we know we have done something wrong or shameful we tend to excuse ourselves by saying that we have done it because there wasn't any way out, because it hasn't been our decision... All that we have to do is to be honest with ourselves and with the others... and no matter how hard we may try to convince the others and ourselves about something that is not as we want it to be, our "Pepito Grillo" will let us know that even though we might lie to the others we won't ever be able to lie to ourselves...

Chapter V: "¡Despierta, Baby!"

We have already talked about what is it to give ourselves a good life... But, of course, there is even more to say about this, and it has to do with the decisions we make and their aim... When we take a decision regarding what we really want to do, are we thinking about the implications of that decision? Is it really going to give us the good life we want? The question is: can we say that everything we do because we really want is going to give us a good life? Savater's talks about something very interesting and concrete: treating people as if they were objects, and unfortunately we have to, or at least I have to admit that this is something that heppens quite often simply because we tend to concentrate so much in what we want that we tend to forget two important things: First of all, we usually forget to see if what we want is something good in itself (i.e. not only good for me but also good -or not bad- for someone else so that we can have a good human life) and secondly, we forget the most important thing about giving ourselves a good life: we are so commited to do anything to get what we want that we end up going against someone else (or against ourselves) or treating someone else as an object... In order not to treat people as objects we will have to take into account not only what they can give to us but also what they want, what they need and who they are... We don't have to forget that only human beings can give us those human "things" (such as love, friendship, advices and so on) that we need to have a good life... There is one condition that is a must if we want to live our lives as human beings... we have to be sure that we do not to want to live in anyway, we have to know that not everything is valid for giving us a good life...and that we will only be able to live a good human life if we let others (and help them to) live their lives "humanly"... "There are many ways in which we can live our lives, but some of those ways will not let us live"

Chapter IV "Date La Buena Vida"

As I've written in my previous post, we don't have to forget that orders, habits and whims are just one aspect of the complicated art of taking decisions...
In fact if we decide to make all our decisions giving too much importance to these influences, I would say that we are not going in the right direction, at least if we want to live a good life...
The question here is to being able to distinguish between what someone else wants me to do (orders, customs and so on) and what I actually want... and the only way of knowing what we actually want is to take some time to think about it within ourselves... The only one that can tell you what you really want to do is yourself...
However, we don't have to get confused with "what I actually want" and "the first thing that come into my mind" since we tend to find ourselves giving too much importance to something that does not really deserve it and we end up realising that what we really wanted was not what we have chosen...
So, going back to what Savater says about "giving yourself a Good Life" (Date La Buena Vida) I have to say that he points out something that I find really interesting; he says that the secret of giving yourself a Good Life is to give yourself a Good Human Life... What does it mean? Well I believe that a Good Human Life is one in which we are not alone and we can easily find us exchanging, interacting, sharing and enjoying what we are... Human Beings... And all this can be realised only if we are aware of what we really want and not only if it is good for us but also if it is good for others too, or at least if it does not go against another human being and against the Good Human Life that we want to live...
Finally, there is one thing that I want to add... I really love what Savater says about our Cultural reality and the huge importance that it has in all this issue of having a Good Human Life... There is no humanity without a cultural learning, and there is no cultural learning without the Language... How Nice!!! And at the same time how shocking it is to realise that we are such an important link in this chain! We are Teachers of English (or at least we are doing our best to become teachers)... we are Teachers of a Language! So we don't have to forget that we are a key part in the act of building the cultural learning... and from now on... we will always remember and bare in mind that all the decisions that we take are crucial not only for being a Good Human Being or for building our Good Human Life but also for showing our students that we are all part of this cultural world and as a part of it we all have something to do and something to give...

Chapter III "Haz Lo Que Quieras"

What an interesting title for this chapter! "Do Whatever You Want"...
What does he mean by writing this? From the very first impression it sounds a bit liberal, doesn't it?
What does this idea mean to us? That's the question, I would say...
It is important to remember that when he talks about doing whatever we want, he means that we are free to choose and, as a consequence, we can choose to do whatever we want...
But, what does "freedom" mean then? Well, we don't have to forget that freedom is not only being able to decide but also being aware of what you are deciding, which is, by the way, not an easy task at all...
When we talk about decisions, we don't have to avoid thinking about the orders, habits and whims that make us act in a certain way at a certain situation... But we have to remember that these "influences" are just one aspect of the complicated art of taking decisions...
As time goes by, we grow older and we do not have to do what our parents want us to do... or we may move to another place, completely different from ours, and suddenly we find us having to face a radical change in our habits... so, are orders, habits and whims valid for taking all our decisions? How are we going to take such decisions without being told what to do or without having our typical habits?
What a question! "How are we going to take our decisions if we are not told what is expected from us in order to be able to live our lives in the best way possible (i.e. being a good person)?"
At this point we may have no answers for this question, but at least we have the question "What is it to be a good person, a good human being?" (Let me tell you that this is a perfect beginning! We have found us asking a key question in Ethics!)
Of course that each of us will find many different answers for this huge question... but we have to be patient... Finding this answer is a long-life process...

Chapter II "Órdenes, Costumbres y Caprichos"

Choices, Choices and Choices...
Isn't life about making decisions?
Now the question will be not only to be aware of the fact that we are free to make choices (of course with some limitations as there are certain things that we do not choose)... but also we may came up with this question: Which is our motivation to make such decisions?
Why do I get up in the morning and go to the teachers' training collage? Why do I choose to get up and not to stay in bed and sleep all the hours I would like to? Why do I brush my teeth instead of going out without doing it?
Well, by answering all these questions we will be finding out why we do certain things and not others...
Furthermore, do we do them because we have to do them? because we are used to doing them? or because we want to? Is our motivation an order? a habit? or just a whim?
However, all this issue is not the most important thing to pay attention to while reading Savater's beautiful chapter II because when we come to think about this kind of decisions (motivated by an order, a habit or a whim) we find that they are not enough for us to make those important and difficult decisions that take us to Ethics...
If we know that someone is used to stealing and he/she does it frequently, will that be right (ethically speaking) just because it is a habit?
If someone is obliged to kill another person just because a person over him tells him to do it, will that be right (ethically speaking) just because it is an order?
Are you sure now that everything you do is a consequence of your own decision? Or you just act because you are "programmed" to do so (programmed by yourself: a whim or programmed by some else: an order or a habit)?
Why have you done that and not something else?
Not only the decision but also the REASON WHY WE MAKE SUCH DECISION IS OURS...