tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882610517765002247.post1483615053074249345..comments2024-03-28T09:11:49.881-05:00Comments on Warren Peace Sings the Blues: Drifting Classroom: The insanity does not cease, and neither does the screamingAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867868039166531163noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882610517765002247.post-76611493457442084182007-08-31T08:40:00.000-05:002007-08-31T08:40:00.000-05:00Well, crap. And here I thought I was being so sma...Well, crap. And here I thought I was being so smart. But I suppose even my specific examples that I was reading into the story can be generalized into what you speak of, especially "whose existence is valuable and whose isn't". Thanks for continuing to stop by and set me straight!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13867868039166531163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882610517765002247.post-10154686493420467282007-08-30T23:04:00.000-05:002007-08-30T23:04:00.000-05:00I'm afraid I may have given you the impression tha...I'm afraid I may have given you the impression that everything in the story is metaphorical; it isn't. The basic premise and setting--a classroom, with pupils, teachers, etc.--are certainly intended as bitter social criticism and allegory, but at its core I think it's basically like <EM>The Lord of the Flies</EM>, in showing how ordinary people--even (or perhaps most particularly) "innocent" children--can be turned into monsters by desperate circumstances. Still, the theme of intense competition, and how it defines whose existence is valuable and whose isn't it, is constant throughout the book, and while that theme is universal in the modern world, it was particularly salient in Japan in the 1970s, when classrooms were overflowing with Baby Boomers, all competing for opportunity.Rachel Thornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07286006998529797370noreply@blogger.com