Part One- Discursive essay

I remember being hauled along a hellish pit of fire by the money hungry politicians
awaiting the arrival of a society that didn’t care, blinded by the beautiful lie of justice
and values that unquestionably didn’t exist for an immigrant like me. I recall
questioning my existence which led me to the question, is justice even attainable, or
is it a fiction fairy-tale that humanity has been brainwashed to believe in? A quote
stated by Malcom X “I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who
it is for or against. I’m a human being first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever
and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”. Malcolm X believes that it doesn’t
matter who says the truth, what matters is the truth itself. However, in my opinion
justice is in absence during A Beautiful Life by Michael Futcher and Helen Howard.
My opinion was developed amidst the time of the protest where I was labelled as a
terrorist by society for throwing a bottle at the photograph of a black demonic
creature who started it all. 
 
“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against.”
Malcolm X had once aforementioned. Unfortunately, this was not the case for the
media and the legal system in Hamid’s situation. The legal system was unjust to
Hamid and puts pressure on the justice he probably won’t receive. This quote in A
Beautiful Life stated by Brandan states “A bunch of Muslim fanatics wrecking a
building and ranting bloody slogans to Allah. Would you bail them?” (A1 S2 p.7)
displays evidence of a racist remark which in this context is targeted against Hamid
and his family. Due to remarks which discriminate against the Muslim community in
western media and society Hamid’s likelihood of a fair and honest trial which will lead
of the outcome of Hamid’s justice being served is limited. “McCulloch’s project is, at
heart, a corrective: she wants to puncture the belief that the Internet de-civilizes
discourse. She brandishes research that shows that we become more polite as we
get better at typing.” This quote on ‘The internet makes writing better’ article voices
how typing out a statement can result in a better display of communication. The
scene where Hamid was in the press conference, and he didn’t have a statement
prepared, or typed out, and it went poorly for him. It relates to Justice, as the idea of
justice as portrayed by the media shows that it isn’t just who says the truth, it’s how
they say it as well, which unfortunately, Hamid didn’t get the support that he needed
to do that.
 
Malcom X stated that “...I’m a human being first and foremost, and as such I’m for
whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”. In A Beautiful Life Penny
stated “James! don’t shoot! We’re Australian! You can’t do this. We have a small
son.” (A1 S2 p.14) The quote expresses adversity between Penny and the local law
in Iran. Penny is pleading with the officer not to shoot her and her family. It portrays
to the readers the graveness of the Iranian conflict and the social issues surrounding
it – terrorism and racism. In Act 1, scene 17 Brendan states “Hamid, I have to say
that if you’re found guilty, the judge will also be within his rights to order that you be
deported.”. In Hamid's case this situation would be a moment of adversity for him
since his home country Iran had unlivable conditions hence the reason why he fled,
and his family is still all in Australia. It would be an issue for them to be separated for
an extended period and they can’t go live with him because it’s not safe for them
because of the Iranian revolutions that was present at the time.
Malcolm X implied in the quote that he believes it doesn’t matter who says the truth,
but what matters is the truth itself. In the play A Beautiful life Hamid spends three
years in prison that he wasn't at fault for until he got bailed out. Just like Hamid,
another Iranian prisoner named Masoumeh had spent multiple years behind bars
and didn't get a fair trial. The stereotypes held against the two in the play are
influenced by how the media portrays Muslims from an oppressed perspective
instead of portraying it for what it is as a peaceful, forgiving religion. The Islamic
community is being defined by the actions of murder of others who claim to be
Muslim or look like a Muslim, and the innocent Muslims must pay the price.
However, the murder attacks done by the white community aren’t defining the
identity of the whole white community. An example of this would be evident in an
article written by ‘The Guardian’ where the headline was ‘Killer of three elderly
Devon men found not guilty of murder due to insanity’ for a white man while another
article published by ‘9 News’ had the headline ‘Three men jailed over plan to unleash
terror attack on Melbourne's CBD’ for some Muslims. These headlines display a
murderer who took a corrupt system to his advantage, and was found not guilty,
however with a crime like his he could've been charged with a life sentence without
parole but because he was white, he was set free with no charges. The Arabs hadn't
even made the attack yet and were sentenced to prison. The article quoted “...three
offenders had shown "quite low" commitment to carry out the attack, with there being
no evidence they had worked out details to carry out the terror attack.” and with low
commitment to even carry out the attack they were each charged with “...non-parole
period of seven years and six months.” Source 1 shows images of predominantly
white men who were labelled as “mentally ill” and were excused of their crimes
because of social injustices. Source 2, however, displays flags with Arabic scripture,
the 911 bombing, women wearing the hijab being put in cuff, and most images
depicted are interconnected to Islam which teaches people to fear Islam rather than
love. Furthermore, highlighting the overwhelming difference between races and the
presence of white superiority. 

Malcom X’s quote, “I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who
it is for or against. I’m a human being first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever
and whatever benefits humanity as a whole,” seems to have no value within Hamid's
story. The characters that were representing Hamid in the legal system and oversaw
giving him a fair trial and a fair sentencing had allowed him to unjustly be sent to
prison for an extended period regardless of his innocence or mistakes. The flawed
legal system, the corrupt migrant system and the stereotypical assumptions are
exhibited throughout the play. This is supported by the themes, society, social
injustice, and adversity that I have addressed. 

Part 2- Rational

During the process of writing my discursive essay I had organised my time a week
before the due date to gather my ideas and thoughts and write my essay. Once I
finalized my draft, I sent it in to Mrs Burns and she fixed my errors and gave me
feedback to better my essays quality. She told me to include a quote from my
selected prescribed text and to relate it back to justice when I was talking about the
lawyers, Brendan and Stephanie, and how they failed to keep him out of jail,
My discursive essay had incorporated a variety of literary techniques in my
discursive essay, including anecdote, visual imagery, rhetorical question, repetition,
and symbolism. I also attempted to link the discursive prescribed text I selected, Is
the Internet Making Writing Better to A Beautiful Life. My anecdote I came up with
had made the readers think and focus on what I’m saying since it grabbed the
attention of the audience. In the rest of my introduction, I ensured that I hinted at
what was to come in the essay and kept the tone friendly, reflective, and
conversational.
“I remember being hauled along a hellish pit of fire by the money hungry politicians awaiting
the arrival of a society that didn’t care, blinded by the beautiful lie of justice and values that
unquestionably didn’t exist for an immigrant like me” this quote part of my anecdote and is
found in the introduction of my essay, it’s also an example of symbolism and visual imagery.
The anecdote has symbolism in it since the anecdote symbolises the summary of Hamid’s
story and feelings that he would’ve felt going through the series of events that occurred
post-protest. “...is it a fiction fairy-tale that humanity has been brainwashed to believe in” is
an example of a rhetorical question I incorporated with the introduction of my essay, I used
it to get them thinking and focus on what the essay is communicating with them. “...labelled
as a terrorist by society for throwing a bottle at the photograph of a black demonic creature
who started it all” is another example of visual imagery in the introduction of the essay, it
gives the readers a description that enables them to depict the scenario using their
imagination. I used these techniques since it was on ‘The Internet Is Making Wring Better’
article. The repetition of the Malcom X quote during each new paragraph is another literary
technique and it was also a juxtaposition quote because the themes presented in ‘A
Beautiful Life’ contrasted the message of the Malcom X quote.