Born a Crime Chapters 6&7

 Born a Crime Chapters 6-7

Quote 1:

“Catholic school is similar to apartheid in that it’s ruthlessly authoritarian, and its authority rests on a bunch of rules that don’t make sense. My mother grew up with these rules and she questioned them. When they didn’t hold up, she simply went around them” (Noah, 137). 

This quote stuck out to me because I found it interesting how Noah’s mother never abided by rules that she didn’t agree with. She would always find a way to change them, or get away with disobeying the rules. I think that’s interesting because she was pretty strict to Noah when it came to parenting. She would punish him for not following her rules. She did that because she knew the rules she had for him are only what’s best for him. She even allowed Noah to disobey rules that she also didn’t agree with. I like how she raised him to only do what you know is right. She took Noah’s side when he would get in trouble at school if the school was being unfair. I really respected that because a lot of parents always take the school's side, and they don’t even hear out their kid. She was a mother who only wanted what’s best for her child. 

Quote 2:

“I started crying. ‘Why are you stealing my dog?!’ I turned to Fufi and begged her. ‘Fufi, why are you doing this to me?! Why, Fufi?! Why?!’ I called her. I begged her to come. Fufi was deaf to my pleas. And everything else” (Noah, 151).

I chose this quote because I found it very odd that the kid just claimed Fufi to be his dog. He probably had never seen that dog before, but he still said it was his. It left Noah feeling very upset because he had an attachment to the dog. He took care of her and practically raised her. I definitely understand why he was so upset, especially since he thought he was going to lose his dog. I also found it interesting that Noah never found out that Fufi was deaf until the end of her life. If a dog is not coming to you when you call them, then I think that’s a pretty good reason to get them checked out at the vet. I also think it would get pretty exhausting to call the dog and her never come answer you. That’s why they were lucky to have Panther who would tell Fufi what to do all of the time. 

1. Trevor Noah argues that cellphones have changed us as human beings by taking away from our intelligence. He compares emojis to the old drawing of cavemen. He says that people only communicate with emojis, and that it is just as simple as how the cavemen used to communicate. When people text, they don’t communicate properly. They mostly use emojis which can be seen as simple and unintelligent. He also explains how we use cell phones so much that we start having poor posture. This is an example he used to explain why he thinks cellphones are taking us back to before humans evolved. We crouch down daily to look at our phones just like the apes used to walk around. I somewhat agree with Noah because I do think that humans are much more intelligent and capable of having intellectual conversations. I do think that texting and emojis “dumb down” our abilities to communicate properly. But, I also think that texting is just used as a fast and easy way to talk to people. It can be used for fun, and not to be serious. Overall, I do think that cellphones can take away from our intelligence as a whole. 

2. An event that illustrates Noah and his mother’s relationship is that when Noah was a kid, he loved to be chased. He thought it was fun, and that it was a game. He said that if no one was holding his arm tight in public, he would run off into traffic. He was a very naughty kid, and his mom had to think of creative ways to contain him. Another example is that his mom had them communicate through writing letters. She did not want to be interrupted during an argument, so she would write him letters. If Noah ever had anything he wanted to say back, he would have to write a letter to her. This was a way she could communicate with him and get her point across without any back talk or arguing. Lastly, Noah would always find loopholes and ways to bend the rules.  If he didn’t agree with something, he would find a way to get around it. This could be a reason why he thinks of his relationship with his mother as a cop and criminal. Criminals have to be smart about how they go about their crimes. Noah would be determined to get what he wanted even if it broke the rules. His mother would discipline him for it, but only if she thought he did something wrong. If she agreed that a rule wasn’t logical, she wouldn’t punish him. That’s why their relationship was like a criminal mastermind and a detective desperately trying to stop him. 

3. Trevor Noah learned from Fufi that “you do not own the things you love”. He thought of Fufi as his dog and no one else’s. That’s why he felt so betrayed when Fufi went out into another boy’s yard. He realized that Fufi was just trying to live her life. She wasn’t doing anything wrong. This experience helped Noah deal with feelings of betrayal and anger. He can now deal with it better because he knows people are free to do whatever they want. It can hurt people sometimes, but ultimately you have to move on. This taught him to not be possessive in relationships, which helps him not get too hurt if people betray him. I personally have never had a pet in my whole life so there isn’t any lesson I can learn from them. I would assume that I could most likely learn responsibility from them because I would have to take care of them. The pet would rely on me to feed them and keep them healthy. That would teach me a great deal of responsibility.