Author: mps018

For my “Must Bust” project I selected Nelson Mandela as my muse. I chose Nelson Mandela because I wanted to have a little diversity in my project. By choosing an icon and former leader of another country I hope to accomplish this. Nelson Mandela is a very admirable man whether or not you agree with his political stance. Surviving in such harsh conditions in a total institution for so long and still holding onto your values is a close to impossible feat, just this makes him admirable. Mandela is most well known for being anti-apartheid revolutionary and the former president of South Africa. I was surprised to learn that Nelson Mandela and his wife were divorced, he survived jail so long I thought he would be able to endure marriage. Nelson Mandela’s real name is not “Nelson” he was given this name in preparatory school, as it was customary for each student to receive a Christian name. His real name is Rolihlahla Mandela. His father died when he was a child leaving him to be raised by extended family who would often tell stories of great world leaders and their crusades on injustices. This is where Mandela was first inspired to be a great leader for his people. Finally, I would most like to convey Nelson’s resilience through my bust. This character quality is probably the most defining of Mandela’s and therefore an important aspect to have within my sculpture. He never stopped fighting for what he believed in no matter what was placed in his way and that is why we know his name today.

Within Calvino’s story the re-occurring theme of conflict was extraordinarily prevalent. This theme was not one that I would expect from a story that revolves around animals because the conflict was emotional. Since, Calvino used the literary element of personification the theme of conflict concentrated in emotions became possible. By employing this literary device Calvino makes evident conflicts that we can also face in our daily lives. The most poignant conflict to me was between N’ba N’ga and Qfwfq. Almost everyone could attest to the fact that they too deal with a difficult family member at least once a year as Qfwfq and his family do. Calvino seems to be suggesting a sense of universal pain in dealing with these types of family members. Something else that surprised me as I read this story was the evident development of class among the vertebrae. Lll’s family was clearly a distinguished family as we can tell from Qfwfq’s quote, “Her relatives made me a bit ill at ease; hers was one of those families that had become established on earth in the earliest period…” Once again Clavino encapsulates another human struggle, this time the struggle for class status. And it was then ironic and surprising when Lll decided to leave behind her high-class status and go with N’ba N’ga into the sea. To me this was the most memorable part of the whole story because of the importance placed on being a terrestrial by Qfwfq. And the love of his life decides that she wants to be an aquatic animal. Something Qfwfq had been trying to bury in his past for their whole relationship. However, what resonated most with me throughout this story was the difficult family member because everyone has a supremely difficult family member whether they like it or not.