From the moment they start talking about creatures from the Mariana trench you get the feeling that there is more behind this then what is presented.to some this might be easy to pick up one when you first start reading it but for others it might take you a couple more lines to see where they are going. Talking about moving all the creatures into one tank so that they can have the same habitat as they did in the wild or so they think. They first had the little guys in one by one and they are both peaceful in their transition from isolation to a new community. Each doing what it did in their separate tank whether it was exploring the tank or just relaxing at the bottom uninterested in what was going on. Then the added the seahorse babies who flooded the tank in excitement. All of these creatures as they are used in this metaphor to describe the community around us and the different aspects of it.
Our community loves to explore new things like the octopus and find new things. It is just how people in our community are and in the circle as well. The need to always keep endlessly searching for something new that has not existed before. We are also like the seahorse in a way because we often get bored and not amused with the new things that we create because we have already grown tired of them. Thus when we see something new we get amused for a short while and then get tired of it and that is what the seahorse was like. It got its new habit and enjoyed it for a second or two and then just retreated to the bottom of the tank like it does and stayed there not moving.
Then you put the tuna in this scenario and they stand for the new changes that happen to society and how they often scare the people who have been there the longest. Like the tuna at first changes move at a rapid pace bounce back and forth but over time they start to slow down and you grow use to the changes and they seem to now fit in unlike they did at the beginning.
Then you have this god for saken shark that loves the spotlight and is a lot more deviant then you think. The inhabitants of the tank sensed the shark and took cover in the coral to protect themselves. And the shark was eager to get in the water and play with these tuna aka changes in society. Because like Ty said ” All this, the f**king shark that eats the world”(484). That is what the circle is, the shark because it devours the community and takes the changes and destroys whatever stands in its way of doing what it wants. like the shark which killed all the tuna and the destroyed the coral to kill the octopus and then the little innocent seahorse because it wanted the tank to itself just like the circle wants all the power to itself and doesn’t want to share. The circle has shifted from what is was originally intended to do into a monster that must be stopped.
I have a few thoughts regarding your proposal for the paradigm shift. First, I think that focusing on religious freedom is an excellent idea. Especially as ISIS is become a more prevalent threat world wide, people are becoming increasingly frightened by specific religions. This has caused political figures such as Donald Trump to make comments such as keeping all muslims out of the country. This would bve a very interesting topic to talk about.
If you do, however, want to go the medical route, I think you cannot go wrong. One focus point, in my opinion, should be about antibiotics. They are overused and over prescribed which leads to antibiotic resistance and infections such as MRSA. You might have more to talk about if you choose the religious freedom topic, but you can’t go wrong with either. They both have a lot of potential to be excellent paradigm shifts.
This comment above was meant to apply to the following blog post. I apologize for the confusion.
I would most definitely agree that the the shark represents the Circle and the future to come with Completion. I also thought the seahorses and octopus were peaceful together because they symbolize two nations at peace. They trade with each other, work with each other, and live in harmony. Then you have this group, maybe terrorist in nature, that comes in and destroys the serinity.
Many people also argue that the shark represents the Circle in its recklessness. Not always thinking plants through, and destroying everything in its path. This is clearly what the shark does, it turns the peaceful tank into nothing more than grey sand. The Circle, according to Ty is on the same track. It must be stopped because it will lead in the destruction in society just like it led to the destruction of the small society in the tank.