'I left Auschwitz, but Auschwitz never left me.' Alberto Israel, originally from the island of Rhodes visited the school last week to talk to S6 students and staff about his life before, during and after the Holocaust. The settlement of Jews in Rhodes is mentioned for the first time in the Book of Maccabees and it dates back to the 2nd century B.C. Proof of the Jewish presence in Rhodes has remained immutable for many centuries. In 1941 there were approximately 1800 Jews living in Rhodes. Alberto, along with his family and the rest of the Jewish community of Rhodes were deported to Auschwitz on August 3rd, 1944. Their journey took approximately thirteen. On arrival at Auschwitz, the vast majority, approximately 1200, were killed immediately. Following liberation, only one hundred and fifty of the original community of 1800 survived. It was an extremely moving and powerful learning experience for all who had the honour of meeting Mr. Israel. Sho...
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ReplyDeleteFriends are people that care about you and like you a lot. But there are some people that you think that they're your friends but in reality they don't really like you. They just use you as their dog to play around when they're bored, just like Assef said in Hosseini's novel "The Kite Runner"
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ReplyDeleteAs a kid, your goal is always to have as many friends as possible, even if you don't really like them or if you don't speak a lot to them, you want to be "friends" with them, like for example on Facebook. But as we grow up, our personality sharpens itself and gets defined, with new interests and the goal isn't to have as many friends as possible anymore, but because we can differentiate "real" and "virtual" friends, the goal is to have true friends, maybe just a few of them, but true friends that you really like.
ReplyDeleteI believe everyone in their life, at one point or another, will be deceived by a friend. Sometimes, we think we know someone perfectly. We trust them, we share our soul, our time and fight for them. Sometimes, we realize that this person doesn't fight back and doesn't seem to care about us as much as we care about her/him. He/she can also end up showing another aspect of themselves, like Amir has shown Hassan, or as the lopsided friendships the article talks about. Friendship can hurt, causing us to withdraw into our shell and reject others in order to avoid suffering again. However, with experience, we learn how to recognize genuine friends. We are morally stronger and able to overcome this pain. As Bob Marley said, “The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.”
ReplyDeleteIt is true and absolutely believable that friendship circles shrink because there is no point in being friends with someone if you cannot trust them enough to share what you care about the most with them. The article talks about friendship circles shrinking as you get older and I must agree because the more you go through life, the more you learn about people and that will then help you to pick out the friends you really trust and the ones you do not.
ReplyDeleteIt is in my belief that friendship can be lopsided in many cases. We cannot know if someone really likes us unless we know this person really well so I strongly support the author's opinion about having a hand full of 'real friends' instead of having a huge amount of people who you think are friends,which you don't even know if they like you at all. We also find ego-boosting friends that, in order to make themselves feel better they underestimate their friends, that of course causes conflict between them. But that is not the only phenomenon that can cause conflict between two friends. There are friends that seem to care less about a friendship than the other person that is in that relationship that person seems to control the friendship as he doesn't care about the consequences or if he will loose his 'friend's' trust or love for example Hassan's and Amir's friendship from the book 'The kite runner' . I agree with the author on his conclusion too, I also believe that life filters your friends and social circles shrink and you are finally left with the people that care and love you. So my opinion is that you should filter your friends and be left with the ones that are your real friends those people should be treated with respect,love and care.
ReplyDeleteIn our daily life we get caught up with all our obligations and often forget to remember what is really true and important. In my opinion this is how friendships work too. We know a lot of people and we consider them our friends but the relationship we have with them is shallow. We are self-centered and this causes friendships to become fake and one sided. I agree with the article as it says we find it ego-boosting to underestimate our "friends", but gladly social circles shrink as we get older. We can find true friends at some point if we filter our relationships and if we are truly honest enough with them and ourselves too.
ReplyDeleteAs well as friends make us happy, they can hurt our feelings, too. Being in a lopsided relationship is an example; person A gives a lot of attention and love to person B, but the affection is not given back to person A, so this might form an insecurity in person A. Using Amir-Hassan's relationship is a bit of an exception because even though Amir does not treat Hassan as Hassan treats him, Hassan still loves his friend and trusts him the same way. I also think that sometimes we just need somebody to stay by our side when life gets hard, even if the other person does not like us the same way we like them. Lastly, why do our friends have to like all about us? In my opinion friendship is not about liking someone the most, meaning that he/she automatically becomes someone's bestfriend, for me frienship is about having things in common with a person, laugh together and support each other. But that does not mean that my friends have to like me or not.
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ReplyDeleteI think that the fact that we haver fewer lopsided friendships as we grow older stems from how important it is to us what others think of us. When we mature we see it as less important to have everyone like us. We can deal with having people we disagree with around us better. When you've settled down you have probably formed a permanent and comfortable social circle for yourself which false friends are not compatible with.
ReplyDeleteFriendship is an important part of life, as friends, as said in the article, help us get through problems and difficult situations, being physical or mental. This article shows us in what situation friends could be a bad thing. I have had an experience like this and it is not pleasant. Lop-sided friendships exist and persist during the years. Your social circle becomes smaller as you grow older and the little number friends you are left with are the ones the care the most about you.
ReplyDeleteI think it is normal that our social circles shrink as we get older, because when we are young we want a lot of friend, no matter if they are real or not, but when we get older we only want real friends. But how can we know if those friends are real, we cannot read their mind so we can never be 100% sure they are real friends.
ReplyDeleteFriends are an important part of our life. From emotional stability to choice-making it is a recurring topic. This article brings an interesting point of view to this debate. Are our friends really our friends? The article supports a research that claims around half of our friends don't have that mutual feeling that is essential to any friendship. It does also, however make an excellent remark in stating that this research was done over too small of a range of the population, students. Although at first sight this article might seem like quite a depressing one, it takes an interesting turn and truly grips the reader's attention.
ReplyDeleteAs a teenager, I know that we used to give way too much importance to friendships. We think that the most friends we have, the coolest and famous we are. However, we consider virtual friends as real friends. Because you are friends with someone on social networks doesn't mean that your "friend" wants your best or will be there for you in hard moments. By having many virtual friends, we let unknowns see and comment our private life. This is why sometimes teenagers are harassed and insulted by people they thought they were friends with. Therefore, it is really important for your mental health and well-being to protect your privacy and to not let anyone you barely know break it. On the other hand, it's always good to have great work or neighborly relationships and to get along well with others.
ReplyDeleteAs you might have already experienced it, some friendship are sometimes lopsided, it means that your frindship is not sincere and that one of the two "friend" is faking the friendsip. Normally, friends are people that cares about you and that you can trust but in some cases your "friend" is in fact someone who just uses you to get waht tey want or staying with you when there is Nothing else to do.
ReplyDeleteI would say that one of the most important things to remember about this article is that it focuses on university students, and so possibly offers a somewhat distorted view. When we are young, there are some people that we spend time with, not because we have lots of things in common, but simply because we see them every day, and it’s easier to be friendly with them. These people aren’t real friends. However, as we get older and more mature, we are able to make friends that are not so conditional, and it’s these real friends that we stay in touch with.
ReplyDeleteAs they say, having a friend is a treasure. I consider that it is really important because some people may feel alone and need some emotional support. So, having a friend in these cases, is like having a person on which they can trust and who will always be there for them, even when in some cases, the reciprocity is not equally respected.
ReplyDeleteWe can identify this in the novel "The Kite Runner " because Amir is the only friend of Hassan, even though Amir let us know that it isn't a real lopsided friendship from his side.
Friends are essential in our lives and its with them and our family that we have the best memories. A good friend will always be here to pick you up if you were having a difficult time, but he will also be with you when you are happy. At the beginning, you have many friends and you like all of them, even if its at a different degree. However, little by little, you will realise that some people you considered being your friend are, in fact no really yours, because you have evolved differently. Once you realized this, it is important that you will be able to let go this "friend" , because there is no point wasting your time with this person who may not really like you as much as others do.
ReplyDeleteI think that friendships are very influential in our life, as the article define it, friendships can be lopsided. It means that the feelings are not shared from both people and that one of the two person fakes the friendship. Often, real friends are people who are going to be with you during your life, people who take of you, make you laugh, etc.. but certainly people that you can trust. But sometimes some of your friends is in fact someone who just don't care about you.
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To my mind, friendship is one of the most important relationships of the human beings. We may meet several people in our life who might care about us, we could get in touch with them, but the real frienship is a stronger form of interpersonal relationship than a simple association with people. Furthermore, with your real friends you can tell your secrets, you can rely on them and when you face certain problems you can discuss them , with your friends. Sometimes you may learn new things from your friends, they can point out your mistakes and they can help you rectify them. The real friends can cheer you up when you need it and they love, care and support you. It is therefore important whom to choose as your friend as this decision has to be wise enough, since your friends reflect who you are, in other words your personality.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, friendship is fundamental and as necessary to our wellbeing as eating and sleeping, it keeps us physically and mentally strong. Friends help us deal with life in general and can create a sense of purpose to it. However, if a friendship is lopsided, it can affect us in the long run because it is generally recognised that not receiving the love you give is really bad for your mental health. Hopefully, as the article mentions it, lopsided frienships might disappear or at least shrink when we grow older, because our social circle becomes smaller and we become more mature. This maturity helps us decide who really counts for us, and who isn't worth our attention.
ReplyDeleteFriendships are one of the most important aspects in a person's life. At a younger age it is obviously easier to make new ones as there aren't many things that differentiate us from the people surrounding us, leading to friendships being realer in a way, as one-sided ones are harder to come by. That being said, I agree with the author who says that it's better how as we grow older our circles grow smaller since it is now easier for us to tell when a relationship really is lopsided or even fake in any way.
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