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Resistance Women


An enthralling saga, inspired by real events, that recreates the danger and ...
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Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

Created: 02/27/20

Replies: 19

Posted Feb. 27, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

In response to Mildred saying that she is no longer surprised by the fighting between the Communist Reds and the Nazi Browns, Arvid responds, "Darling, you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything."

Do you agree? In what ways does Mildred take his advice to heart? What examples of this accepting of the outrageous have you seen in your own life?


Posted Feb. 28, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
PinkLady

Join Date: 01/22/18

Posts: 187

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

Yes, I do and that's what scares me about how we have come to accept the outrageous in our country. I certainly don't mean that we all have but more and more people seem to encourage the outrageous behavior of our president. Demeaning women, making fun of those who are crippled. It might seem like little things to some but they should be challenged.


Posted Feb. 28, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
judithc

Join Date: 02/28/20

Posts: 31

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

I absolutely agree with this statement. It is truly sad that it seems this country is doing just that; however, I think we have our own resistance going on as well. There are people speaking out against issues all the time. The high school children in Florida about gun control is an example.


Posted Feb. 28, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
dianeh

Join Date: 08/01/16

Posts: 70

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

I very much agree with this statement and it is something I do think of often. It is so easy to become accustomed to a situation especially if a change is gradual and persistent. It starts to feel like the norm. Personally, I find it very scary and, as others have said, we see many situations in our own country where this is applicable.


Posted Feb. 28, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
renem

Join Date: 12/01/16

Posts: 292

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

Like the others, I also agree. Dianeh stated it well when she said that gradual and persistent eventually becomes the norm. It happens with every generation and the older you are the more you will witness that happening. One example that comes to mind for me is the fact that Socialism is even up for discussion in America. Just take a good, close look at other Socialist countries to see what it's really like.


Posted Feb. 28, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
carolynd

Join Date: 05/16/11

Posts: 35

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

Definitely! As we currently see daily in the U.S.


Posted Feb. 28, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Marcia S

Join Date: 02/08/16

Posts: 505

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

The perceptions of what is "extraordinary and outrageous" changes with time. When our media continually streams only one side of an issue, and is totally biased in it's reporting, people get sucked into believing without questioning or looking at both sides of an issue. I agree with renem on the evil of Socialism. Our education system and media have been taken over with the purpose indoctrinating our people, especially our youth. It's very sad.


Posted Feb. 29, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
LadyM

Join Date: 02/29/20

Posts: 3

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

Absolutely I agree. A non-political example. Remember old movies where married couples slept in separate twin beds and there was no explicit sex? And later came sex in non-prime time hours, once the kiddies went to bed. And today, there is explicit sex 24/7 for all who choose to see. America has become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. The same has happened in politics and the media. The more often extraordinary and outrageous lies are told, the more the uninformed accept it as truth. It is hard to believe that anyone who really understands the real world realities of Socialism as it exists in Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia would ever want to have it as our form of government. I will NEVER become accustomed to the outrageous notion of any form of socialism in our country.


Posted Feb. 29, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Maggie

Join Date: 01/01/16

Posts: 434

RE: Arvid says,

Yes I certainly agree. I am shocked with what is going on in our country. Never will I become accustomed to what has been going on the last few years. Thank you for your response PinkLady.


Posted Feb. 29, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
elisabethc

Join Date: 07/16/19

Posts: 42

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

I agree with PinkLady, judithc and others about conditions in the U.S. under the current presidential administration.

I do not at all see a parallel between current (democratic) socialist movements in the U.S. and the extraordinary and outrageous events leading up to WWII. A large part of the discussion around "socialism" in the U.S. right now simply has to do with the implementation of the same kind of universal health care that many other democratic nations already have, including Canada, Germany, Australia, France, Switzerland, the U.K., etc.

I also think that Americans have already been normalizing extraordinary and outrageous events for a long time in the form of U.S. imperialism and involvement in other countries. Dangerous nationalist ideologies have long devalued the lives of non-Americans, immigrants and those in marginalized communities. A book like Resistance Women is important and useful for showing how political sentiments like these are built over time, and I believe that this is more or less the type of thing that Arvid is referring to.


Posted Feb. 29, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
janeto

Join Date: 06/05/18

Posts: 41

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

Yes, I agree. This was one of the most important themes of the book and I found it to be chilling in how it relates to our lives today; e.g. family separation at the border, mass shootings in churches and schools, homeless people on our streets, etc. The list could go on. Where is our sense of outrage? It seems that we are all too eager to rally behind the rhetoric of leaders and cable news to accept a new normal that when viewed objectively would be unacceptable. How easy it is to rationalize behavior and policies when to oppose them involves taking risks. The author did an excellent job of helping the reader understand and admire the courage of the resistance in Germany while challenging us to adopt some of their principles for our own lives.


Posted Mar. 01, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
MarieA

Join Date: 10/12/11

Posts: 256

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

Yes, I agree. When the extraordinary and the outrageous become acceptable as the "new normal," we are ignoring what history and the past have taught us. When this happens, we are headed on a path that could be devastating. This is so aptly shown in this novel. Let us learn from mistakes and not fall into the pit of misinformation and promises. We cannot afford to be lulled into the extraordinary and outrageous. A jolt of reality must play a part in our lives.


Posted Mar. 01, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
terriej

Join Date: 07/28/11

Posts: 422

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

I agree with the statement. Getting used to something (no matter how wrong it is) can lead to acceptance. It becomes a very sad situation which is hard to turn around because a large of outspoken people make it seem like it is okay.


Posted Mar. 01, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
flute4u

Join Date: 08/14/13

Posts: 50

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

I think part of what Arvid was referring to is that when we are exposed to the same outrageous behavior almost daily we become numb to its unacceptability. We have gun deaths every day in this country, some criminal, some by law enforcement and many in mass shootings. We have become accustomed to it, but I have traveled all over the world including Africa and feel safer away from home . Mildred must have longed for the calm, rational world of Wisconsin when confronted by the random violence, hatred and cruelty of the Nazi regime.


Posted Mar. 01, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
charleneds

Join Date: 03/21/17

Posts: 68

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

I do agree - because I think we are experiencing the extraordinary and outrageous every day now in politics and what is happening globally. I still find myself horrified beyond belief by what I read or hear on the news but it seems to be an every day occurrence now and I've come to expect it. When I was reading this book it almost seemed like the author was drawing parallels to what is currently happening in our government. I wondered if it was coincidence or deliberate.


Posted Mar. 01, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
love2read

Join Date: 02/26/20

Posts: 5

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

I believe this kind of acceptance happens at several levels, from the “big picture” at the level of countries and societies down to the day-to-day lives of individuals. The “extraordinary and outrageous” been happening all over the world since humans came into existence to all kinds of people. This book describes the world’s acceptance of the Nazis’ outrageous, inhumane treatment of Jews in the middle of the last century. There is also the acceptance by individual victims of abuse, whether verbal, emotional, physical and financial. The victims haven’t the power or means to fight back. Those not experiencing the abuse may look the other way because of the terror that they might be next or because of pure ignorance. To me it all seems to boil down to individual choices, which then accumulate to a larger impact. So, we’re all faced daily via today’s 24/7 media with deciding what we’ll become aware of and what, if anything, we’ll do about it. Books like this help because of the discussions they generate.


Posted Mar. 02, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Sunflowersky1982

Join Date: 10/09/19

Posts: 22

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

I loved this quote and I think that more than ever this is something here in America we should understand.I think it is human nature to overlook things we are uncomfortable with because we naturally want to accept the "Status quo", really it is only when as a society a big event happens that real change seems to take place. Mass media today does not report on events going on around the world or seem to address real societal issues, because if you keep the masses in the dark people become easier to control.


Posted Mar. 12, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
cathyoc

Join Date: 04/26/17

Posts: 247

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

This is a great discussion question, one that my book club would enjoy. It has been answered so well by the readers above. Learning to accept actions that are morally wrong and impact the rights of others is a dangerous precedent.


Posted Mar. 17, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
dianaps

Join Date: 05/29/15

Posts: 460

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

We must all remain vigilant and never let down our guard.


Posted Mar. 28, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
vickic

Join Date: 09/15/14

Posts: 84

RE: Arvid says, "...you must never become accustomed to the extraordinary and outrageous. If you do, little by little, you'll learn to accept anything." Do you agree?

Sadly, I do. I think it is an obvious truth that is painfully apparent in our society today on multiple levels. Certainly on a political level we now see statements from our leaders which are disrespectful and unnecessary and that we would never have seen a few years ago. People seem to be willing to shrug off these things which, I think, is an acceptance of lower standards.


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