Nian Liu

Borges Reading Number 2
Monk Eastman and Hakim, the Masked Dyer of Merv

In the Monk Eastman, he was perceived by society as this dangerous man who was, back in the days, the most dangerous gangster along with Kelly. Around that time period, America was in a premature state where technology wasn't fully advanced yet and certain laws were not in effect compared to the present time. This allowed Monk Eastman and the gangs of New York to prosper. As the numbers of gang members grow, so does the illicit activities and killings. The last massive fight as Rivington street caught the attention of the politicians and they started to take action on gang activity. The politicians who had been avoiding the gang problems for years are now changing their motives and this only makes me feel that the politicians of that time only wanted national stability and cared nothing for violence. If they cared about the bloodshed that was spilled through the exisitence of these New York Gangs, then they wouldn't have gone to war.
For Hakim, the Masked Dyer of Merv, I thought Hakim was a very powerful man because he was able to persuade so many people that he was the prophet of god and was able to abuse the ideaology of being a prophet. I found this reading kind of weird but interesting at the same time because I learned a little about the Middle East religions and about the 999 layers of fire empires and all these other layers within the layers of endless fire.