As I continue down the dimly lit, carpeted hallway of the
high school, I pull out the community education pamphlet. I cannot believe that
I have to run this session. At least only about two people signed up for the
class, so I plan to leave by eight.
I flip to the page that I had earmarked, which displays the
advertisement for Controllers Anonymous: Help overcome your addiction to
controlling others in a safe, welcoming atmosphere. Since, obviously, a room
full of controlling people just seems so inviting. I continue to the end of the
hallway to the door of the AP English classroom. I quickly flip on the lights and
throw my bag down on a desk, briefly glancing out of the window to observe the
falling snow. It had begun to let up a bit since earlier this morning, and now
dances across the grey sky.
Suddenly, I hear a knock on the door and I stand up to greet
the two individuals, a blonde-haired girl, and a regal man wearing a purple
cape. Narrowing my eyes, I invite them to sit down with me and introduce
themselves.
“Hi. My name is Adrian Veidt, more commonly, Ozymandias. I brought
along trial-sized action figures of myself as well as those of my friends since
I do not mind profiting off of the few people that care about me.”
“Thank you for joining us, Adrian,” I sigh as I take the
gift. I quickly peer over to see a blonde girl sitting next to him, scribbling
notes down onto a notepad.
“And you?” I ask expectantly. The girl sits up a bit more
and smiles.
“I’m Lauren, Ms. Serensky’s AP English aid. She does not have
time for this meeting because she needs to annotate another book and grade
fifty projects to continue her goal of indoctrinating students’ minds and
making her class control their lives. And she wants me to make sure no one
touches anything in her classroom.”
Just wonderful, she sent a spy. I invite her to share more
about her teacher, sympathizing with her and offering sub-par advice. Once she
finishes, I turn toward Adrian and invite him to share his story, glancing up
at the clock, hoping that he will finish his story quickly.
“Well, back in the 1980’s, I conspired to kill half of New York
City to end all wars. But, ever since, I have wondered if I did the right
thing. Peace necessitates collateral damage, right? And if my morals benefit
people in the end, I surely did the right thing?”
Great. I suppose this may last past eight.
The idea of a therapy group for controlling personalities seems like a very extreme support group. However, I feel as though the Adrian Veidts of the world should realize the error of their ways and realize the wrongness in dominating other people's lives. Your blog creates an interesting conflict in regards to correctness of the controller group as well as the necessity of changing the behavior of those that control others.
ReplyDeleteI think you took a really creative angle on the prompt and you wrote one of my favorite blogs for it. I liked this post because I often wondered what would happen to Veidt, as he seems to question his actions but I doubted he would publicly admit his plot. I find the part about the action figure particularly funny and also the fact that despite his arrogant, controlling behavior in the novel, thirty years later he ends up needing to seek help from a community support group. I liked your take on his life because it humanizes him, making him just another person who, in the end, realizes that he cannot handle all his problems on his own and needs others.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the irony of having someone caught up in their own thoughts among a group of controlling people. I felt this really credited them and made me sympathize with them even more. Also, it contributed to my hate for Veidt, which I also liked.
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