Journal #10

"Write about the social contract as you see it. What is your responsibility to your community/communities? What is its responsibility to you? Think about the title "Neighbors". What do you associate with that word? Do the characters in the story reflect your understanding of "neighbor"? What about social contracts in IBN?"

I believe that people should always strive to help those around them at all times. Not when it's solely convenient or beneficial either; an act of selfless kindness is what should really be striven for. Unfortunately, not everyone is on the same page at the same time so this process oftentimes becomes tedious and is soon neglected. I believe that a person's responsibility to their community depends on what they have to offer that would enhance the people and surroundings. For me, for instance, I hope to one day become an English teacher and help out my community that way. My way of giving back will be to teach and educate the future leaders of my community, whom someday, may give back to either myself or others around them. In the meantime, my responsibility right now is to be kind to others and to educate myself so that one day I may play a larger role within my community.
The word "neighbors" associates itself with mostly positive meanings that if somewhat tarnished, is only so because of bad experiences with real life next-door neighbors. For the most part, the word "neighbor" means helpful and friendly, as well as someone who I should serve. Perhaps the latter definition connects itself that way, because of the relevance to my religion. A neighbor should be someone whom we love. The characters in the story do not associate themselves with my definition of the word, since they aren't very familiar with one another. They care about taking care of themselves, but not each other. Even though Doña Aura and Don Fierro share close quarters, they still do not share the familiarity that I personally associate with the word "neighbor".
In Into the Beautiful North, the characters, although not neighbors in the modern sense of the word, share a relevance with each other which leads to kindness and care towards one another. The main characters show their support to one another, and help each other through the hard times.