Parental Spies

Parents always wonder about what their kids are doing when they're not around. When we go out with friends, or even off to college, they never really know exactly what we are up to. When Laertes wants to leave for college, Polonius tries to make sure that he keeps a n eye on him. Polonius is like any parent who worries about their kids. He loves them, and just does what he thinks is best for them, like telling Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet, and sending spies to watch Laertes at college. In Act II, Scene I of Hamlet Polonius sends Reynaldo to watch over Laertes: "Look you, sir,/ Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris/ And how, and who, what means, and where they keep,/ What company, at what expense; and finding/ By this encompassment and drift of question/ That they do know my son, come you more nearer/ Than your particular demands will touch it./ Take you, as 'twere, some distant knowledge of him,/As thus, 'I know his father and his friends,/ And in part him'" (Act 2.1, lns. 8-16). Here, Polonius is telling Reynaldo to ask around about what Danes are in Paris that Laertes might be hanging out with to see what kind of things they are doing, who they are with, where they live, and how much money they spend to see if Laertes is doing any or all of the things that Polonius is telling him not to do.

Today, paretns have the benefit of technology on their side. Parents can get apps to trck their kid's iPhones or whatever regular phone they might have. They can check their kid's Facebook page to see that they are posting. I think that some spying that parents may or may not do is justifiable especially if they know that their kid has had a past of bad behavior. Like if they know that their kid likes to sneak out and party all the time, then i think that it is justifiable for parents to check in on their kids every now and then, However, I do think that when parents send their kids to college they should gve them some amount of room to grow on their own without their parent's influence. After all, that is one of the entire purposes of college to go away from home and be able to learn and grow in a new environment away from your parents. I think that the way that Polonius' way of spying on Laertes is okay for now, but he should make sure that he gives Laertes a chance to make his own decisions.

Hamlet Pre-reading Question

Have I ever claimed to see or anyone I've ever known claimed to have seen a supernatural being?

Sometimes I think I might have seen a ghost once. We were on our 5th grade AT trip, and we went to Springfield, IL because we had been learning about Abraham Lincoln. We went to his house, and the museum dedicated to him and all of the other historical places around the city. When we were touring his house, we went into the back yard to see all the cool things out there, and i turned around to take a picture of the house. As I took the picture, something caught my eye in one of the upstairs windows. In the window that I guessed was Mrs. Lincoln's room, I saw a person standing in the window. I thought this was strange because no one was allowed to actually go into the rooms past a certain point, and none of them were even close to the window. When i looked back at the picture after it had been developed, i saw the same thing again. A shape in the window that looked like a woman looking out at us in the courtyard. At that time I was convinced that I had seen the ghost of Abraham Lincoln's wife in her old home. Now I'm not so sure.
Do I believe in the supernatural?
I used to, but lots of kids do. Now, however, i want to believe in it because I like all kinds of fantasy and magic, but i don't think it really does exist. Now that I have been in school, and learned more about the "real world" I realize that those kinds of supernatural things are probably impossible. Although, I wish they were.

Shakespeare Pictures

"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves."

"There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so."