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The following essay is the example of a personality profile of a teenager. A chosen person for the essay is Brad, a young man in his late teens. The genuine and thoughtful young man. Brad can be an extremely dedicated worker if it sparks his interest; he believes nothing is ever handed to you and that you have to go out and get it. Brad worked hard to get to this point in his life and working even harder to get to the successful and graduate part of his life. Brad cares more for others than he does himself, paired with a huge nonchalant attitude; I believe that is a variable in his choice to serve his country. Brad seldom shows anger or sadness; you always see him with a smile because of his optimistic view of life. Brad looks at life as if, when something bad comes along, no need to dwell on it; you can’t take it back so just move-on and improve what you did wrong if it’s possible; but unfortunately for him his actions do not show it. Brad tends to get really down in the dumps when his self-image has been trashed, especially if genuinely cares about the current situation. Dwelling is the first stage before he sucks it up and takes immediate action to resolve the issue or come back from it.
Get original essayBrad was taught to be caring and thoughtful; he wasn’t taught anything else from anyone other than not to trust people right off the bat. Brad is very self-motivated and believes in himself hence his “I can accomplish anything” mindset. This mindset is shown through his determination and hard work in sports and academics. Humanistic approach sums up Brad’s personality a little more than psychodynamic, because it involves nature vs. nurture and that kind of sums it up just saying that. Environment and Heredity are some of the main reasons for his attitudes and actions.
Brad is easily manipulated by women; especially the attractive females. Brad constantly recites the phrase “disregard females, acquire currency,” but folds when he comes in contact with an attractive dame; Brad’s self-control has a major weakness here. Another undesirable trait is his introvert attitude. Brad would much prefer to stay in and be to himself rather than go out and party on a weekend.
What can be both a weakness and a strength is his sense of organization. Brad shows symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder: his fastidious attitude towards cleaning and keeping his living space neatly organized. The weakness however is his perfectionist attitude towards his assignments and how he carries out his daily routine. Brad constantly insist on maintaining the integrity of his dorm room, folds his clothes, and starts his day off with motivational podcast.
All these traits describe Brad’s Personality Profile. Brad’s actions are not uncommon, but they are unique to him and that is what makes him special and stands out from his fellow peers.
During the time of slavery and the decades after, social class struggles were obvious and predominant. In a white world, African Americans struggled under great oppression and even after they were given freedom from slavery they were still held by the bondage of social status. Eudora Welty’s short story “A Worn Path” gives a clear view of this bondage and shows the reader the hardships endured by African Americans even after they were made legally free. The lack of racial harmony is easily seen throughout the entirety of “A Worn Path,” especially as the old woman nears town, and Welty makes it a point to show how social status influences and effects Phoenix, the main character and subject of the short story, and the people that she encounters on her trip into town.
Get original essayOne of the largest social ranking points brought up within the story is that of white people, notably males, considering themselves better than the blacks. Knowledge of the time period allows us to understand that many whites thought of themselves as higher and mightier than black simply because they were white and had held control for such a long time. The white hunter that helps old Phoenix out of the ditch gives plenty of examples of this attitude held by the whites. One of the first things that he does upon helping her out and discovering where she is heading it put down her journey. He calls her out on it saying, “Why, that’s too far! That’s as far as I walk when I come out myself, and I get something for my trouble.” In this we see him being full of himself as a young white male and attempting to say that since he only goes that far that there is no way an old black woman could make the journey. This idea of whites being better than blacks simply because of their social status is seen again a few paragraphs later in Phoenix’s response to the white man after having a gun pointed at her. When he asks if she is afraid she simply replies, “No, sir, I seen plenty go off closer by, in my day, and for less than what I done.” Here we see that she has experienced similar things before, which shows the reader that it is not just this one hunter that holds himself as better than the blacks. His willingness, and the willingness of the others Phoenix hints at, to point a gun at a black woman without fear of the consequences does nothing but drive home the fact that white men truly did not fear the blacks because they considered themselves to be better than them.
Social status, along with causing whites to put themselves above blacks, also caused most of the white Americans to interact with African Americans in condescending ways. The first example of this comes when the young white hunter scoffs at the old woman’s insistence on heading into town. “I know you old colored people! Wouldn’t miss going to town to see Santa Claus!” he tells her with a laugh. He has no knowledge of her reasons for heading into town, but he stereotypes her and attempts to tear her spirits down with his tone and attitude. Since he believes himself to be better than her, he has no problem talking to her in such a rude tone. This same tone is seen again once Phoenix reaches the town when she first enters the “big building” and the attendant sees her. Without even asking what she is there for or who she is, the attendant comments, “A
charity case, I suppose.” This comment exemplifies the attitude that whites held towards African Americans. Since Welty has already shown the reader that whites believe themselves to be better than blacks, the comment of the attendant allows one to see just how much of a condescending tone whites used with their ‘inferiors.’ To them, an old black woman entering the building must certainly be nothing more than a poor elderly person coming looking for a handout or something similar. There is no sign that the attendant gave any real thought to the true needs of Phoenix.
Social class clearly plays a large role in this story, and one can understand its influence as one begins to understand the depth of the old woman’s poverty. When the attendant gives her a second nickel her exuberance is seen when she says that she is going to buy her grandson a present and that, “He going to find it hard to believe there such a thing in the world.” She is excited to bring her grandson a small present along with the medicine, and the fact that he will be amazed to see something so small helps one understand the poverty that the two of them live in. This poverty comes largely from their social standing as African Americans. Knowing a little bit of history it is easy to understand this poverty, as many African Americans still lived in excessive poverty even after “The Surrender” and their freedom from slavery. However, even without this knowledge, we can understand the poverty of Phoenix when she explains to the nurse that, “I never did go to school; I was too old at the Surrender.” This Surrender refers to the time when the last of the slaves became free, legal people living in America, and since she was too old to be allowed to go to school after the slaves had all been freed, she was never able to learn things necessary to getting a job or making a living for her and her grandson. Along with this, the two of them live alone off in the woods, and this alone stands to show their separation from the world of the white man and his riches.
The struggles of the old woman herself are clear throughout “A Worn Path,” and social structure clearly plays a massive role in her hardships, but Welty used more than just Phoenix and her encounters to give examples of the differences seen between where the whites and blacks sat on the social ladder. In fact, when one looks at the short story as a whole, it is clear that Welty intended for the entire journey to be a symbol in and of itself of the struggle blacks had with the social classes of the time period. The journey of Phoenix from her house to the town is a symbol of the long and hard path that African Americans had even after “The Surrender.” When Phoenix first begins her journey she comes to a hill where she says “Something always take a hold of me on this hill – pleads I should stay.” This hill is an example along Phoenix’s journey that symbolizes one of the many obstacles African Americans had to conquer on their path to racial freedom and social equality. Then, on her way down the other side, “a bush caught her dress.” She talks to the thorns saying, “You doing your appointed work. Never want to let folks pass, no sir.” The thorns are yet another example of people and social classes holding back Phoenix and other blacks from their full potential. As she continues her journey this idea of the story itself being on large symbol becomes more and more clear as Welty piles on more and more examples, such as the log across the creek and the dog knocking her into the ditch where she meets the white hunter.
Through knowledge of the history of the time period and reading through Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” a few times, it is easy to see the underlying themes of social differentiation and class ties and how they affected the African American population. Welty does a splendid job of weaving these themes into the short story, and this is done in such a way that one can clearly see how social classes affect the characters, their interactions, and the tale as a whole. Through the white hunter, the attendant in the “big building,” the immense poverty of Phoenix, and her journey as a whole, one can easily pick out social interactions of the time period. This piece was written in perfect harmony with the time period of discord it is associated with.
In Alfred Hitchcock's classic film Vertigo of erotic obsession, released in 1958, the film was an adaptation from the 1954 French novel D'entre Les Morts by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. Vertigo is a psychological mystery, romance, and thriller about love, desire, loss, obsession, quilt, debit, memory, and madness. This is Vertigo film analysis - an essay where we are introduced to our hero John Ferguson as 'Scottie’ who’s retired from the San Francisco police force as a detective, after almost falling to his death during a chase on a rooftop and watching the officer with his fall to his death trying to help him.
Get original essayEarlier in the film Scottie's friend Gavin Elster asks Scottie to follow his wife, Madeleine from the start of their relationship, Scottie is observing Madeleine from afar, rather than interacting with her. In the beginning, Alfred Hitchcock sets up in the film the idea that Scottie will be the one that does the looking for us, and that the camera is male and it is so to say that the majority of the film comes to as with the gaze of Scottie or the male gaze. True to its name, Alfred Hitchcock's vertigo leaves us feeling a little dizzy, by the end retired detective Scottie discovers that the Madeleine he was madly in love with never existed, yet a woman by the name Judy Barton was just pretending to be her, to help pull the murder plan of the real Madeleine Elster, whom we never get to meet in the film. Going to the scene in the graveyard where Scottie is following Madeleine. The bright colors and soft focus as Scottie watches Madeleine throughout the scene, in this scene, Hitchcock gives it a dreamlike quality as if there is something unreal about how he's seeing her, like how one would look at a painting. Another scene that shows this depiction is where Madeleine goes to see the portrait of her great grandmother Carlotta, and we see her looking at that painting as she often does while Scottie looks at her. So the parallel, the way Scottie gazes at her as if she is a painting, shows to us that this Madeleine herself is an artistic creation just like the painting she is gazing at, and for Scottie is blinded by that, to him this Madeleine is seen to be a woman to be desired. We after find out, in fact, the Madeleine we came to know with Scottie is a fake persona created by the alliance between Judy and Scottie's friend Gavin, and this whole fictional personality is built around him to draw him in.
'Lovers shape each other in terms of desires and concerns.' Which they are invested to one another and therefore the investment to each other is historical. Even though Scottie and Judy start having this development of a historical account of the relationship both are aiming to what they desire and in Scotties case is the fictional persona he fell in love through the image played by Judy. Both Midge and Madeleine are portrayed as beautiful blondes and Midge as a slim attractive blonde, the audience is invited to compare both women, and only to discover that both are opposites of each other.
The mask-like madness qualities of appearance are proposed during the opening credits, which shows a woman's expressing face and a close-up shot of her lips and at her nervously moving eyes. The strong expressions, emotions, and experience of this woman are unknown to us. Right from the beginning scene in Midge's apartment, Scottie appears to be a man of balance on the mend from traumatizing experiences but it doesn't take long at all to realize his health exterior masks an exponentially increasing madness and unstableness. It surely seems Scottie is a man whose masculinity is under threat, the scene in Midge's apartment shows this in a few ways. Scottie is suffering from vertigo, he has had to quit his 'masculine' Job as a detective and is reliant on a cane, which would show that Scottie perhaps does not have a clear sense of purpose now has lost what makes him a man.
Climate change refers to the disruption of weather patterns due to the change in chemical balance of the ecosystem. It is mainly caused by greenhouse gases and other land and air pollutants that are present predominantly due to the industrialisation of mankind. These substances cause an imbalance in the environmental equilibrium and cause extreme weather, which is nature’s way of correcting the in disequilibrium.
Get original essayRanked 6th in the world for contributing to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs), India released 1843 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere in the year 2000, about 4.5% of global GHG emissions. Various studies also suggest that these numbers will rise in the near future if India does not divert itself away from its current path. 18% of the nation's GDP comes from the agricultural sector that employs more than 50% of the population in 2018, making India one of the most vulnerable to climate change as the agricultural sector would be significantly affected by climate change and pollution.
4.5 % of global emissions does not look like much and is in fact dwarfed by emissions from countries like the US and China. However, according to numerous studies, Indian cities are the most polluted in the world and the urban population is the most at risk due to their close proximity to industries and larger vehicle density. Thus, the question we ask ourselves is, to what extent have the actions taken by India been successful in tackling climate change and pollution? The essay will analyse and evaluate the actions taken by the Indian government and officials, the Indian people and the Industrial/private sector in the 21st century, and establish that India has actually been rather unsuccessful and that more cooperation and cohesion is required for India to succeed in its pursuit.
Climate change, catalysed by pollution, is a grave problem for developing countries such as India that encounter volatile weathers. It is especially jeopardising in the Indian context as majority the population rely on the environmentally-sensitive agrarian economy for their income. Having become one of the major concerns for the Indian government, it has been striving with its best foot forward to draw an end to this problem.
Manmohan Singh's Term (2004 - 2014)
Manmohan Singh kickstarted the nation's quest for a clean and green India when he joined 16 other countries around the globe to pledge India's involvement in working towards a cleaner environment at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF) on July 2009. However, there was no emphasis on working towards a cleaner environment. Soon after raising the problem of water pollution in the Ganges River, the river is regarded by the Hindus to be the most sacred river in the world.
The river, which was once crystal clear, had become one the most polluted rivers in India. Manmohan Singh saw the need to clean up the Ganges River (aka Ganga). He introduced the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) campaign on August 2011 to reestablish the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) which was launched much earlier in April 1986. The NMCG's aims were to abate the pollution in Ganga and to ensure the continuous flow of water to rejuvenate Ganga. The campaign which initially seemed active did not change how polluted Ganga was because of the large influx of pilgrims. On 17 April 2012, seeing as no improvement was made in the Ganga, Manmohan Singh requested the state governments to take actions against the industries polluting Ganga.
Narendra Modi's Term (2014 - present)
Just about two year later, Narendra Modi, who succeeded Manmohan Singh approached the issue of pollution with a new vigour. Observing that energy was a key resource for production and growth, he focused on delivering clean energy. Today, one of the world’s biggest renewable capacity expansion programs is being run in India.
Lesser diesel, which is very polluting, was also used in 2016. The portion of renewable grid capacity has grown from 2% in 2002 to 13% in 2015. Furthermore, energy contributions of solar power which was only 3.9MW in 2005 increased to 4060MW in 2015. Biomass energy which only contributes to about 18% of the total energy output contributes to over 70% of the pollution.
The Environmental Defence Fund (EDF), together with the Indian government, has been helping rural communities in five states namely, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha transition to biomass that have lower carbon emissions. In rural communities, most of the households burn firewood for domestic activities such as cooking.
During the monsoon seasons, the mud stoves become unreliable and wet firewood used release toxic amounts of smoke into the atmosphere. Modi is also trying to shut down the Badarpur power plant, which is producing more than 80% of Delhi's particulate matter pollution while only providing 8% of Delhi's electric power. The plant was initially set to close on October 2017, but was delayed because it was supplying electricity to a nearby stadium hosting the Fifa under-17 World Cup matches.
Modi also took advantage of the digital era and launched the Digital India campaign to make government services available to citizens online. It saves on manpower as well as energy needed to operate various government offices. Modi also launched the Swachh Bharat Mission which aims to provide proper sanitation to residents of India. To date, over 78 million toilets have been built in the rural parts of India. This mission, while providing proper sanitation, reduces water pollution by eradicating the need for open defecation due to the lack of toilets. This mission also encourages the conversion of waste to energy, in the form of compost fertilisers, which are more eco-friendly than the fertilisers that are produced by chemical industries.
Government actions would prove to be futile if the public does not comply to the policies and laws put forth by the governing body. Besides, governments cannot put forth laws that would affect a group of people in particular as it would result in backlash and chaos. In a country where Hindus form 80.9% of the population, Diwali, the festival of light that is celebrated by the Hindus involves the burning of fire crackers which releases massive amounts of GHGs.
18 March 2018 saw the commencement of a nine-day Mahayagna (a Hindu ritual) in Meerut, India that burned 50,000 kilograms of mango wood to curb air pollution. Burning 50,000 kilograms of Mango wood is said to release 20,150 kilograms of CO2 and over 1,900 kilograms of other GHGs and particulate matter. In this case, actions taken by the government would be deemed to be anti-Hindu and would upset 80.9% of the Indian population.
People and Vehicular Pollution
A mere government is powerless without its people. Thus its crucial to take a look at what the Indian population has done to contribute to the pollution and climate change efforts. One of the root causes of pollution is the rapid urbanisation of India, which was followed by the massive expansion of private transport.
Increase In Vehicles
The number of vehicles has almost doubled from 73 million vehicles in 2004 to 142 million vehicles in 2011. This has noticeably increased the number of cars on the road in India, causing increasing traffic congestion and deaths caused by vehicular accidents. Before the discussion on how much pollution driving creates, lets look at how much CO2 is released from just manufacturing a car.
An average sized family car in India has a carbon footprint of about 24 tonnes of CO2 gas in its lifetime, and about 25 % of this emission arises from just producing it. That’s 6,000 kg CO2 released into the air to produce just one car. That multiplied by the number of vehicles produced in India for local use and foreign export (3.95 million cars) gives us an astonishing 24 million tonnes of CO2 emitted just from car manufacturing. The root cause of this can easily be attributed to the Indians’ need for a personal vehicle, as can be seen from the drastic increase in the number of vehicles registered by the people.
Vehicle Quality
Apart from the huge numbers of vehicles being a factor, other factors of vehicular pollution are old automotive technologies such as 2-stroke engines, poor fuel quality, inadequate maintenance, old vehicles and poor transport sector development such as congested traffic, poor road condition and overall poor traffic management system that drivers flaunt easily and ignorantly. The former issue, however, has been addressed in the figure below.
The table above shows the restriction that the several Bharat Stage (BS) actions has set, which decides the limit of Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) levels in the air. Though the restrictions have become tighter and tighter every year, the increase in the amount of pollution in the air does not seem to subside. According to a study, the number of old cars with poor fuel efficiency is expected to be around 15 million and rising. These cars contribute greatly to the release of particulate matter, CO2 and hydrocarbons due to their inability to completely utilise diesel fuel.
The two examples above show us that the Indian people just cant be bothered to help fight against pollution. They turn a deaf-ear to the plea of the government to reduce their carbon footprint. The people often complain about how pollution is affecting them heavily but do not give up their need for a vehicle as a social status. Their show-off mentality is not the only reason they buy cars. There are other reasons such as apathy to their external environment, poor public transport services and poor connectivity in public transport.
Fighting Vehicle Problems
But it can’t be said that not a single soul in India cares for the environment. Two visionaries in particular, Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, made a huge impact on the transport sector in India. They're the founders India’s online transportation network company OLA Cabs. Although the concept might have been similar to that of Uber, these men made the service more adapted to the Indian environment and provide a wider range of transport vehicles to choose from.
This concept is really commendable and finds a use for already available cars that are not used and put them to use for the benefit of the common people. The Indians also seem to like the concept and have utilised this service for their own benefit and also contribute less to pollution. About 0.9 million vehicles have have been kept off the roads of Delhi according to studies conducted by Ola. Consequently, this has helped in decreasing CO2 emission by 1291 tons and saved about 0.5 million litres of fuel.
Industries/ Private sector
Private sector refers to the portion of the national economy that is not directly under state-control. Industries in the private sector were contributing to about 27% of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as of 2011. However, these aforementioned industries contribute significantly to pollution. As such, it has become a game of balancing between revenue and pollution for the government. Besides, certain laws and policies passes by the government involves monetary fine, which the industries pay with no second thoughts as paying the fine and continuing their pollution activities brings in more avenues to them.
Industries in the private sector hence remain as a very large polluter after vehicles. On 17 August, eleven blue dogs were seen roaming around the streets of Navi Mumbai. Officials were initially puzzled by the blue dogs, but later found that the cause of the colourful canines was the release of dye and waste products into the nearby Kasardi River by a factory producing detergent. The factory was later shut down for violating certain acts involving water pollution.
March 2018 saw a series of protests from the locals of Thoothukudi, a city that is located in the south-east region of Tamil Nadu, India. They were protesting against a copper smelting factory that was realising carcinogenic particulate matter into the atmosphere. It is said 3% of the population residing near the factory had cancer. Besides causing a lethal disease, the factory also polluted the air and water surrounding it. Waters surroundings the factory contained up to 55 times the safe limit of neurotoxins. Despite actions taken by the government and the police, the factory carried out its smelting activities until May, when it was shut down by the government officials. However, industries concerned about pollution and climate change do exist.
An entrepreneur in the name of Narayana Peesapaty, who established Bakeys Foods, saw the need to find an alternative to disposable plastic spoons. Plastic spoons are widely used out of convenience, but plastic takes over four-hundred years to decompose, polluting the environment. Bakeys Foods, hence invented edible spoons made of millets. These spoons can either be thrown or eaten after use. If discarded, the spoon would decompose within a week and serve as compost fertiliser. Such is an example of industries in the private sector helping to combat pollution and climate change.
The Government has introduced various measures to reduce overall pollution of water bodies and the atmosphere. The government has done its best in creating policies to reduce the country’s pollutant levels. However, it is essential to understand that no policy or law passed by the governing body of a nation would be effective unless the public abide by the laws and regulations posed upon them. In the Indian context, it is also difficult for the government to draft laws against a certain groups of people, especially a certain religion, even if they are the major sources of pollution as it will result in severe backlash.
The government has tried to harness various methods to keep pollution and climate change in control. Although campaigns launched to clean up Ganga seemed active, the end results spoke the truth on how ineffective the campaign was, with Ganga even more polluted than before. Vehicles which remain as the top source of pollution in India are seen as essential by the people because of the poor transport infrastructure the government offers. Furthermore, industries in the private sector, which are revenue-driven, do not spare a second thought for the environment before choosing to carry out polluting activities.
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Get custom essayHowever, there have been successful measures taken against pollution and climate change. Modi's Swachh Bharat is an excellent example for the government's success in combatting climate change. The campaign concurrently tackled poor sanitation and water pollution. Despite being revenue driven, Narayana Peesapaty launched Bakeys Foods to help mitigate pollution by plastic disposables.
The assertion of the first epistle of Pope's “An Essay on Man” is that man has too narrow a perspective to truly understand God's plan, and his goal is to “vindicate the ways of God to man” (Pope 16). The ignorance of man befits his place in the order of creation, and his confusion conceals the harmony of that order. The individual lines of this epistle appear to present a fatalistic universe, devoid of free will, where all things are fated to happen. Although if the work is viewed as a whole, Pope's optimism shows through.
Get original essayPope begins by explaining that he can only comment on what can be known by man. “Through worlds unnumbered though the God be known,/'Tis ours to trace him only in our own” (1.21-22). Even though the universe my hold many worlds, only Earth can be known to man. It is the only frame of reference that Pope could write about, and his audience be made to understand. He advises his readers to put aside their hubris and consider “Is the great chain, that draws all to agree,/And drawn supports, upheld by God or thee?” (1.33-34). Only after man puts aside his ego and contemplates “the great chain,” will he be able to understand his place in God's plan.
By saying, “Then say not man's imperfect, Heaven in fault;/Say rather, man's as perfect as he ought” (2.69-70), Pope is trying to illustrate that even perceived imperfection is part of the plan. Human imperfection should not be seen as a slight by God, but as a necessity. The epistle also states, “What future bliss, he gives not thee to know,/But gives that hope to be thy blessing now” (3.93-94), showing that human happiness is dependent on both hope and ignorance of the future. Mankind should not spend all its time trying to guess what God has planned, but merely have faith that life shall work out the way it should.
Pope shows his contempt for man's pride by stating, “Snatch from his hand the balance and the rod,/Redjudge his justice, be the God of God!/In pride, in reasoning pride, our error lies” (4.121-123). Man is unwise to think that his ability to reason puts him on the same level as God, “And who but wishes to invert the laws/Of order, sins against the Eternal Cause” (4.129-130). This hubris is what leads to man's unhappiness, because “to reason right is to submit” (5.164). If God is a perfect being, then man should accept that perfection and not question the direction the universe takes.
By stating, “the first Almighty Cause/Acts not by partial, but by general laws” (5.145-146), Pope is trying to make his readers understand that humans are not the whole of creation, and creation was not created wholly for them. There is an order to creation, where each position is filled by the correct life form. Man is where he should be in “the great chain” and should not envy the beasts below him or question God above. “The bliss of man […]/Is not to act or think beyond mankind'/No powers of body or of soul to share,/But what his nature and his state can bear” (6.189-192). This acceptance of creation is the key to man's happiness, and that happiness is threatened by man's ability to think and reason.
“Where, one step broken, the great scale's destroyed:/From Nature's chain whatever link you strike,/Ten or ten thousandth, breaks the chain alike” (8.244-246). So if one rises above or falls below their position in God's order, it will destroy the whole of the plan. It then becomes clear that wanting to subvert God's plan, even to the benefit of mankind, is madness. Instead man should come to understand “All are but parts one stupendous whole,/Whose body Nature is, and God the soul” (9.265-266). So, one should not fear or doubt, but admit they are powerless and accept their place in creation.
Although Pope's language is harsh and seemingly fatalistic, a critical reading of the first epistle to “An Essay on Man” shows his optimism in God's plan. Pope appears to believe that not only does God have a plan, but that plan serves the best interest of the whole of creation. Just because man has difficulties accepting his place in the plan, does not mean the plan is flawed, merely that man must accept that he is not the sole beneficiary. After all, “One truth is clear: Whatever is, is right” (10.292).
Works Cited
Pope, Alexander. “An Essay on Man.” Eds. Paul Davis, et al. The Bedford Anthology of World Literature. Book 4. Boston: Edford/St. Martin's, 2003. 260-267. Print.
Vivid imaginings make sense when someone is about to die and is not ready for it. They would be thinking about loved ones and the memories, emotions and further plans they had with them. They could be thinking about what they love about their life, and what they would do if they could continue living it. When someone is about to die, and is standing there waiting for it without any doubt, it would make perfect sense to have a large amount of stress and anxiety, as well as thoughts of how to get out of the situation and what they would do afterwards. The short film named “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Robert Enrico shows an extremely fascinating interpretation of such an event using a combination of sounds and cinematography. The man in the film who is about to die is having all of the experiences mentioned above, and Enrico shows how it is only a dream or an imagining; that it is not really happening.
Get original essayAlmost immediately it seems obvious that the condemned man is already feeling very anxious and is more alert and imaginative than normal. When the soldiers move the man to the loose plank on the bridge, and while they are binding him up to prevent escape, their footsteps, the creaking of the old bridge, and all the surrounding birds that are chirping and twittering away seen louder and more menacing than usual. As he waits for them to commence killing him, he looks around, and everything seems to be slowed down…like he is controlling time and using that advantage to have a decent look at his surroundings. He notices all the guards standing all around, and right after looking at his barely-stable footing, he takes note of a log floating along in the stream. All of this seems like it is happening in a strange amount of time.
After the condemned man is finished surveying his surroundings, he closes his eyes and the scene cuts to a vision of a house and a family of mother and daughter. The scene is really fuzzy, and really sluggish, just like a dream. The woman is walking slowly towards the camera, or the man, and the daughter is swinging in slow motion. As the scene progresses, a sound is slowly coming in. The sound is like a ticking, getting louder at first, then also getting faster and faster. The ticking is similar to a heartbeat speeding up, and as it gets louder at the same time, it seems to make both the dreamer and the viewer more and more anxious.
After the guards take away his pocket watch, he is standing there crying, like as if his demise is finally sinking in. But yet it might not have completely sunk in, because he is still pressing against his bonds. Then the sergeant makes the move to drop him, and as he is falling, all you see is his feet and legs. Once he is in the water, it looks like the rope had broken, and he is already struggling against his bonds once more. But now suddenly he can get free of them. If he could not get out of them before, it could be considered strange that he can now all of a sudden. At the same time, the water sounds different than usual, as if to subtly hint that this is not really happening.
Once the man is above water, a song fades in and talks about how the singer, or presumably, the man in the water, can “see each tree” and all of the veins in their leaves, “hear the birds, the buzzing flies, the splashing fish….” The scene shows a curious look on the man’s face, and shots of leaves up really close, a caterpillar, a spider… all things that would be blurry and even not noticeable to a human who almost died and is treading water next to the enemy. This all seems to take a long time, too. The soldiers would normally have already reacted to the man surviving and would have shot him; the situation all over and done with.
As the scene shows the soldiers all scrambling, they seem slow and sluggish; all warped by a slower passage of time than usual. As the sergeant slowly starts to shout out orders, his voice sounds deeper, too deep and slow; like a monstrous, menacing speech. The slowing of time seems to come in handy for the man as the soldiers shoot at and miss him, the bullets sounding different then they would normally at the same time. As one soldier is aiming for the man, it shows a close up of the soldiers eye, as if the prisoner could see that well that far away while at the same time in the water trying to swim away.
After he regains consciousness and finds himself on a beach at the edge of the river, he happens to take the time to look at all the scenery in sharper detail than humans can usually perceive. The shots heard from far away make him get up and run into the forest. The trees in the forest are unnaturally straight and perfect, and there are no animals, nothing but short trimmed grass surrounding them.
Once he gets to his house, the music seems heavenly, and as the couple is moving toward each other, they seem to get nowhere. Those shots are actually the same ones repeated over and over a few times to give the illusion that they are far away from each other. Once the man finally gets to his perfect-looking wife and perfect house, and just as he is about to embrace her, his head snaps back and he screams in pain.
The last bit of the film cuts to show him hanging there, his neck snapped; the rope unbroken. The narrator sums up what happened to the man in one precise sentence: “This story is shown in two forms: as it was dreamed, and as it was lived and died.” Those few precious seconds are where the man imagined what he desperately wished to have, but could not.
The issue of global poverty appears to be getting worse with no clear end in sight. The rich are getting richer and those who need help aren’t getting enough support. It’s clear that most people believe that everyone, no matter where they live and who they are, should not have to live in extreme poverty conditions but don’t know how to help. One utilitarian philosopher, Peter Singer, has proposed a generous yet controversial solution to poverty. However, Singer’s argument that we need to give up our luxuries to help out those in poverty around the world was criticized by Andrew Kuper who believed this sort of philanthropy stands in the way of more effective long-term strategies and ultimately harms the poor. I will build on Kuper’s argument and suggest that our moral obligation is not to financially provide for the poor but rather to use our voice to demand political change.
Get original essayIn an article published in The New York Times, Singer suggests that North Americans with a disposable income ought to give away their excess wealth to needy children overseas rather than spend it on luxurious goods for themselves. Singer discusses to fictitious cases, one involving a lady named Dora saving the life of a homeless child whom she gave to organ dealers for money to buy a new TV and the second involving a man named Bob who lets a child get run over by a train rather than flip a switch to have the train smash his Bugatti instead. Through the analysis of these two cases, Singer suggests that we all face similar dilemmas and it is our moral obligation to sacrifice our luxuries to save the lives of children.
While Kuper believes that Singer’s argument is deeply flawed, he, just like Singer, agrees that “the interests of all persons (Singer would say animals) must count equally in moral deliberation, and that geographical location and citizenship make no intrinsic difference to the rights and obligations of those individuals” (Kuper, 2002b). Kuper suggests that donating to the poor is a simple way to appease our consciences but would ultimately hurt those in need because their problems are rooted in a complex interaction of political and economic relations. He argues that most of the luxuries Singer tells readers to stop buying are manufactured in developing countries which would hurt their economies. In order to make real change, we need to create and reform political institutions and economies through activities such as lobbying and tourism.
It is important to note that Singer did in fact respond to Kuper’s criticism in his article “Poverty, Facts and Political Philosophies” in which he claims that while powerful political figures may interfere with some of the money being given to charity, that does not mean it would have been better if the donation had never been. Singer discusses how charitable organizations such as Oxfam are aware of the corrupt political rulers and have made extensive procedures to overcome these barriers and pull out of a country when necessary. He also mentions that these organizations help with Kuper’s ideas by providing better tools and equipment that allow people to participate in the global economy but that isn’t always helpful to people, especially those in rural areas that can’t transport goods to international markets.
In response, Kuper emphasizes no amount of money will solve the global poverty epidemic and that more needs to be done. He discusses how those in rural areas excluded from the economy, as Singer mentioned, should be helped by providing transportation rather than looking for other solutions outside of trade. In his final rejoinder, Singer states that Kuper’s argument does not contradict his central claim that it is morally wrong to not sacrifice one’s luxuries to help to extremely poor. He states that he would support those who follow Kuper’s solution however he believes that it is challenging to make changes to established political systems and that donating money would not be harmful in the meantime.
While Singer raises some strong disputes to Kuper’s argument that does not mean his argument should be thrown out or invalidated. I believe that Kuper’s argument can be strengthened by providing more in-depth explanations as to how poverty is a result of a lack of political rather than monetary support. It is clear that by providing billions of dollars in aid relief to the poorest countries in the world will not solve the poverty pandemic, this is evident by the amount of money that has been donated throughout history with no clear end to poverty still in sight. Kuper claims that by providing charitable donations we are doing more harm than good but rather than explain how this happens, he goes on a tangent about how money sent to prevent the AIDs epidemic in South Africa from continuing is being overridden by President Mbeki’s fabricated views that HIV does not cause AIDs. This argument has been heavily criticized by Singer who deems it irrelevant because some funds will still help those in need and charitable organizations have ways to provide the proper medication. I agree with Singer in the sense that even if all the money doesn’t go towards helping those in need that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t still give what we can, granted there are no other ways to help. However, simply prolonging someone’s life does not mean we are helping them.
Let’s think back to the two examples Singer highlighted in The Singer Solution to World Poverty. The hypothetical case in which Bob allows a child to die rather than destroy his Bugatti lacks the ability to accurately portray the life of a needy child in a developing country because in this case, we assume that the child Bob let die would have led a life similar to those of an average North American. Singer’s first case, involving a homeless child, portrays a more accurate representation of the future of those in impoverished countries but he does not address it. While Dora saves the homeless child from having his organs harvested, she is not increasing his quality of life. What if the audience saw Dora save the child only to drop him back off at a street corner where he continued to be without a home and food, would viewers still be happy with Dora’s actions? By providing clean drinking water to a small village in Africa or mosquito nets to children to avoid malaria we are providing recipients with tools to prolong their life but this will not pull them out of their pre-existing poverty.
There is no doubt that many charitable organizations including Oxfam work hard in assisting those who need it. However, they have to operate within the regulations set in place by the government of the country they are assisting. While it is nice to provide more sanitary conditions and healthcare to those in need, true aid comes from national governments funding and legislature that leads to things like better transportation routes and accessible education to citizens. While Singer briefly mentions the obligation of governments to increase their foreign aid, he fails to recognize that governments receiving aid need to be using the aid appropriately. In North America, political figures are pressured to maintain and enhance the lives of those living within their country by developing strategies to help social and economic growth while also implementing social safety nets to those who need it. This includes welfare programs, unemployment insurance, universal healthcare, free education, homeless shelters, and public transport to make sure residents have the tools to not only survive but live a meaningful, positive life. Without such services, those receiving help from foreign aid and charitable organizations will lack to ability to support themselves and live the enriching lives we all deserve.
While I believe that Kuper is on the right track, I believe his approach lacks the accountability to make real change. To strengthen his argument, I believe that he needs to embrace rather than refute the public’s desire to help the globally impoverished. While Singers attempt to dissolve poverty is extremely idealistic, he places the onus of responsibility on the reader, those in the general public. The large-scale solution proposed by Kuper will not be effective without clear obligations set in place surrounding individual morality.
While it is clear that politicians are often the ones in a position of power and authority, they rely on others to keep them in this place. In North America, politicians need to campaign to citizens and develop ideas that help better the lives of citizens in order to get elected. If people feel as though an elected official is not following through on their promises or implementing harmful legislatures than the politician is at risk of getting kicked out of office. We often take an active role in deciding what governments do and pressuring them to make decisions that help society. Take for example LGBTQ rights, if it weren’t for the constant lobbying and protests held within the United States, politicians who do not directly feel impacted by such laws would likely avoid legalizing gay marriage for another ten, twenty, even thirty years. However, in North America, politicians are seen are public servants and it is not acceptable for those in power to put their own personal needs above those of the general public. The sort of pressure sent through lobbying and protests should be done to politicians around the world.
Often times people and governments hand over foreign aid to nations in need and expect that those in power will equally and fairly distribute the money to those who need it. However, politicians can often be corrupt and succumb to greed. In addition, in some places around the world, political leaders rig or even eliminate elections to stay in power. Of course, in these cases they are not worried about appeasing citizens in order to earn their vote however that does not mean we stop holding them accountable. To truly solve poverty, we need to address the deep-rooted corruption of political structures that allow politicians to withhold help to those who need it. By raising awareness and demanding change political figures may take this issue seriously and address it with more realistic and long-lasting solutions.
While it is hard to assess the outcome of such large-scale lobbying, there is no reason they should not work based on the success of previous small-scale attempts. By placing restrictions on the politics that we choose to engage with, we wrongly prioritize group identities such as nationality over individual moral obligations which both Kuper and Singer would believe is incorrect. We should actively participate in elections over the world, by spreading awareness of the plans politicians would like to implement and pressure them into making the right choices.
Similar to Singer’s response to Kuper’s argument, I can assume that he would have a similar disagreement to the argument I have presented which is, why not do both? He may suggest that there is nothing wrong with lobbying for equal rights around the world and holding politicians accountable but that does not mean you should not donate your money to help those who need it more. However, I believe that donating money will make it impossible to have governments change the ways in which they fund and take care of their citizens. Think about it this way, why would a government spend time and money setting up a form of universal healthcare within their country when they know that organizations like Oxfam will provide citizens in critical condition the medication they need? By providing aid we are encouraging politicians to continue to act recklessly and narcissistically with their money and power because we will take care of their citizens. Governments will not sense any urgency or need to fix their social and economic problems. In fact, they may become dependent on foreign aid to run their economy and fund their own greedy spending.
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Get custom essayFor decades now people have been using philanthropy as a way to help the less fortunate, however, major issues like global poverty still persist. Singer’s attempt to solve poverty is insightful and good-natured but it is clear that the work done by charitable organizations has not stopped the systemic oppression of those in extreme poverty. Like Singer, I believe we all have a moral obligation to help those in these unfair circumstances, however, I believe that obligation lies in the motivation to speak and demand change from those in positions of political power. In this way, we don’t allow people to simply survive in suboptimal conditions but thrive and live enriching lives. It is clear that Singer’s argument is not directly against political change, in fact he would probably support it. However, my argument is a clear objection to Singer’s solution because trying to help the poor simply survives stands in the way of long-lasting changes. It’s growing more and more apparent that global poverty is a problem that can be fixed, and it is time we use our voices and fight for what is right.
Bradstreet’s poem addressed to her “dear and loving husband” portrays the intimacies of their relationship as well as the never ending feelings of true love shared between their idealistic and perfect romance. The poem consists of six rhyming couplets that serve to emphasize the speaker’s relentless attitude towards her lovingly perfect marriage. The time period in which this poem was written (1641-1643) and Bradstreet’s Puritan background provides some insight into what a Puritan outlook on love and marriage was during the mid 1600s. Throughout this poem, addressed to her husband, Bradstreet explores the depths of her adoring relationship, which stems from a bond so priceless that no materialistic possession can break it as well as the promise of a timeless romance that awaits those who love each other indefinitely through rough circumstances, and above all the complexity and undefinable nature behind such a seemingly simple emotion.
Get original essayFirstly, Bradstreet justifies the value of their love by comparing it to rare and expensive possessions that pose no threat to the priceless bond between Bradstreet and her husband. Bradstreet claims to “prize” her husband’s love “more than whole mines of gold.” Gold is a ridiculously valuable element in part due to the rarity of the substance. Therefore, by claiming that her love is greater than her desire for a rare and valuable substance conveys that Bradstreet has found an even rarer and invaluable possession through the bond she shares with her husband. Additionally, gold is a temporary, materialistic possession that will soon vanish over time along with almost all valuable objects. However Bradstreet compares gold to her love to portray that the love she has for her husband will last on indefinitely unlike even the most valuable elements on the planet. Bradford’s heartfelt sentiment towards her husband brings to light the powerful and never ceasing feeling of love that plays a role in people’s lives far longer than any materialistic possessions. While these possessions come and go, love will always remain present throughout one’s life: either from one’s parents through childhood to eventually, a spouse. Bradstreet emphasizes her belief in love over any form of wealth by conveying that “the riches that the East doth hold” don’t compare to her priceless marriage. When Bradstreet mentions the “East,” she is referring to the southeast Asia. During this time period of the mid 1600s, regions of southeast Asia, particularly the British East India Company were generating a lot of revenue through their production of valuable goods such as tea, cotton, indigo, and spices. Considering the time period of this poem, these goods that the East provided were extremely glamorous and in high demand. Given the demand for these goods all around the world and Bradstreet’s preference over such valuable necessities brings to light how nothing the world had to offer her compared to the love her husband offered her. Nothing in this world compared to the value of their love. The enormity with which they loved each other surpass the bounds of any earthly substance, revealing that love is an indefinite feeling that is so complex and intricate that it cannot be simply compared to in terms of worldly objects. Bradstreet once again describes the inability to quantify such a powerful sentiment by describing that her “love is such that rivers cannot quench.” To “quench” is to satisfy one’s immediate desire for water. The fact that even a river’s large expanse of water is not sufficient enough to encompass Bradstreet’s emotions brings to light the complexity behind true love. While the beginning of the poem simply seemed to express Bradstreet’s love for her husband, the fifth through seventh lines emphasize the difficulty with which Bradstreet attempts to wholly depict her love. This reveals that love cannot be expressed with even an astounding vocabulary: it is much more complex emotion that surpasses any earthly or mundane understanding.
Secondly, Bradstreet conveys the promise of an eternity of life and love if a couple can overcome adverse circumstances. Throughout the beginning of the poem, Bradstreet focuses on her overwhelming and indescribable feelings of love and adoration towards her husband. As she nears the end, she conveys that a marriage is not always idealistic by claiming “while we live, in love let’s so persever.” The author uses to “persever” instead of persevere in order to maintain the rhyme scheme so that persever rhymes with the following line, which ends in ever. Persevere, on the other hand, is used to describe a quality necessary to overcome difficult situations. Bradstreet encourages her and her husband to overcome whatever rough circumstances they may face in order to strengthen their love. “Sever,” from “persever,” however, has much more severe and final connotations, conveying that a couple’s ability to overcome difficult circumstances either ensures the success of their relationship or guarantees its downfall. This line conveys a subtle change from the rest of the poem as she had previously been describing the perfect romance she shared with her husband. However, the double meaning behind “persever” brings to light that no relationship flourishes without struggles, it is how people cope with that struggle that determines the success and outcome of that relationship. While Bradstreet had initially been describing the effects of finding a perfect romance, she introduces the importance of working through unideal situations so that “when we live no more, we may live ever.” Bradstreet essentially promises immortality to those who manage to maintain their relationships for better or for worse. Whether they live on through the memories of others who knew them or they meet in heaven which “reward thee manifold,” remains up to interpretation. However, the author’s previously stated mention of the heavens indicates she believes in an afterlife which rewards those who wholly love. Her promise of an eternal life suggests that true love lives on through the hearts and memories of people in the relationship or those that knew them and that the parted souls may reunite in heaven once again for eternity.
Anne Bradstreet’s astounding and overwhelming portrayal of the loving relationship between her husband brings to light the complexity behind what is deemed to be a common emotion. The power of love has the capability to transcend any human or earthly boundaries and last forever in heaven and in the hearts of others.
Annie John is a fictional novel that is inspired by true events written by Jamaica Kincaid. The novel follows the life of a girl named Annie John as she grows up in Antigua. Throughout the book, Annie struggles with conforming to the cultural standards of her community. She also struggles with her relationship with her mother, because as she grows up they become more and more distant. She forms relationships with different characters to compensate for the loss of her relationship with her mother. Throughout the book, Annie rejects almost everything that is standard in Antiguan culture and begins to form her own identity. She begins to evolve in the world and struggles with the concept that she might not belong in Antigua. Kincaid uses Annie’s rebellion as a way to show personal growth.
Get original essayIn Jamaica Kincaid’s Annie John, Kincaid uses Annie’s rejection of her mother, her relationship with Gwen, the Antiguan culture, and heteronormative standards to illustrate that rejection can lead to learning, growth, and independence. Annie learns a sense of independence through the rejection of her mother’s relationship. Bloom’s Literature “Glossing Over Annie John’s Rebellion”, Annie, “deliberately shunning and depriving herself of a female model, fixating on her mother as treacherous, she molds herself into an exciting, desirable subject who obeys and disobeys at will”. Annie forms an image for her mother as an evil figure to distance herself from the relationship, so she can become her own independent woman, who creates her own rules. Thomas Cassidy writes about Annie’s reaction to her mother’s rejection writing, “This realization leads Annie to “act up” more, and in ways that her mother frequently cannot abide. To an extent, Annie at first wants to be able to misbehave, but she also wants to receive the maternal approval that she needs. As her mother increasingly withdraws her approval, however, Annie asserts her own personality, though the lack she feels at her mother’s missing support remains painful, and she and her mother become more careful and guarded toward one another”.
Annie’s relationship with her mother becomes more strained as the book progresses. Annie uses misbehavior as a way to push her mother away and gain her sense of identity. Verna Ena George writes, “Her propensity to behave totally counter to her mother’s expectations, her dreams of loss and revenge, of destroying or being destroyed by her mother, leads to a period of illness. In this period of hibernation, Annie reconstructs herself”. Throughout the book, Annie does everything she can to defy her mother’s expectations of her. Because of this, she succumbs to an illness that leaves her bedridden for months. During this time, Annie realizes what she wants and realizes that a life that her mother leads is not what she wants. Bloom’s Literature writes about Kincaid’s message of familial rejection writing, “Kincaid indicates that the formation of the individual begins with a necessary severance of a child from mother, a post-birth trauma that replicates the cutting of the cord. The parting from an adoring family leaves Annie feeling ‘that someone was tearing me up into little pieces’. Kincaid’s writing shows us that she believes that independence stems from the rejection of familial expectations to create a person’s way of thinking. This can help build a person’s identity that differs from their parents. As the novel progresses, Annie’s mother begins to push her away and transitions from a loving mother to a stern, bitter parent. Annie sees this and begins to reject her mother’s expectations of her and begins to set her own. She tries to do almost everything opposite of what her mother tells her to do. The strain in their relationship also allows Annie to grow and create a new identity. Kincaid uses Annie’s relationship with her mother to suggest that children need to become independent of the parents to create their own identity.
Annie’s rejection of her relationship with Gwen after she begins to behave in the typical Antiguan woman way, represents that she will continue to push away any sense of cultural conformity. Keith E Byerman from the John Hopkins University Press writes, “She gives up her friendship with Gwen, a girl who represents all that is acceptable to the society, to pursue a relationship with the Red Girl, who is dirty, ragged, uneducated, and tomboyish. She does this in part because she finds such a difference from her own life fascinating. She is intrigued by the smell and feel and behavior of such a rebellious child”. Towards the end of the book, Annie realizes that Gwen will go along with the cultural expectations of the island. When she realizes this, she begins to distance herself from Gwen and pursue a relationship with the Red Girl, who represents deviance from expectations. Annie’s rejection of her relationship with Gwen is another example of her rejecting cultural standards. Byerman writes about Gwen’s development throughout the book writing, “Gwen has become the successfully integrated Antiguan woman, but for [Annie John] this is not a virtue”. Although Gwen and Annie had a relationship that defied the standards of the culture, in the end, Gwen decides to conform to the cultural expectations. Since Annie has refused to accept these, she begins to push Gwen away. Kincaid writes about Gwen at the end of the book writing, “She had now degenerated into complete silliness, hardly able to complete a sentence without putting in a few giggles. Along with the giggles, she had developed some other schoolgirl traits that she did not have when she was actually a schoolgirl”. Kincaid explains that Gwen had become like every other girl in the culture. Annie had gone to various measures to distance herself from the culture as much as possible, which leads to the rejection of Gwen. Kincaid writes about the beginning of the end of Annie’s relationship with Gwen writing, “Gwen and I had vowed to love each other always but the words had a hollow ring. And when we looked at each other we couldn’t sustain the gaze”. This is where Annie and Gwen knew that they were growing apart. Gwen had begun to behave the way a typical Antiguan girl behaves, which alarms Annie, and she begins to pull away.
The fact that Gwen behaves this way causes Annie to begin to resent her. Gwen’s development throughout the book represents the typical developmental journey of an Antiguan girl. At the beginning of the relationship, Annie believes that Gwen will defy standards like Annie, but as the book progresses, she learns that this is false. When Annie sees that Gwen is conforming to cultural standards, she begins to push her away. Even though she was still technically in a relationship with Gwen, she begins one with the Red Girl who symbolizes rebellion. Kincaid wrote this to symbolize that Annie will always try to pull away from cultural norms. Annie’s rejection of the Antiguan culture represents that she refuses to blindly accept any cultural standards, and begins to grow and create her own. Keith E Byerman writes about the Antiguan standards for a girl saying, “This is the model of the true Antiguan girl: obedient, self-effacing, hardworking, and loyal, the very opposite of Annie John, the marble playing liar”. Byerman is saying that Annie John is the exact opposite of the typical Antiguan girl, which shows her rejection of Antiguan culture. Brook Bouson explains how Annie’s behavior relates to the Antiguan culture writing, “Annie’s misbehavior and inattention is also a form of rebellion against coercion and enforced colonial mind control”. Bouson suggests that Annie’s rejects the culture of a colonial land by misbehaving. Annie uses this misbehavior to form her standards of herself. Jan Hall explains how Annie’s parents represent the culture and a colonized society writing, “In a larger context, Annie rebels against her parents, and especially her mother because they represent the status quo of a stable, colonized society. Annie resists her mother’s training and preparation for marriage and adulthood, for continuing the same, predictable life under British domination in Antigua”. The author is suggesting that Kincaid uses Annie’s resistance to the “status quo”, especially with her parents, to pave her way to adulthood. Annie’s rejection of the culture allows her to branch out and form her own identity.
The entire book’s plot is wrapped around the idea that Annie rejects almost all Antiguan standards. She does this to form her own identity because she desires to be different from everyone else. As she rejects the culture, she learns how to create her standards for herself. As she grows, she realizes that Antigua is not where she feels that she belongs, which causes her to leave by the end of the book. Through this point, Kincaid suggests to truly find oneself, one must reject the status-quo and set their expectations and standards. The rejection of heteronormative standards by Annie John suggests that to gain a sense of identity, one must look past the “status quo”. Bloom’s Literature “Glossing Over Annie John’s Rebellion”, explains how Annie rejects the social norms of a woman’s role in the household writing, “Declining to be a gracious object a lady for the community to admire, or even mother’s helped around the house, she constructs herself against the cultural gain through subterfuge. She will not and cannot renounce desire and self-determination”. Since Annie is a woman, she is expected to take care of the household, and be the typical Antiguan woman for the island to admire. Annie sees that this is not the way that she wants to live the rest of her life, so she rejects this, forming a new way of thinking that is opposite of the typical standards. Bloom’s Literature writes about how Annie continues to reject heteronormative standards through the end of the book writing, “Upon parting, Annie’s mother proudly tells her, Of course, you are a young lady now, and we won’t be surprised if in due time you write to say that one day soon you are to be married. Annie curtly responds, “How absurd!”. Through the end of the book, Annie continues to reject the standard that she is to be married. She learns that she likes to be independent and still refuses to conform to the heteronormative standards that she has been taught throughout her life. “Glossing Over Annie John’s Rebellion” also writes about how Annie rejects the expectations of her as a woman saying, “she buttons up her developing person to hide the mismatch of her physical, cultural, and psychic subject-positions. With this self-imposed outsider status, Annie John rejects maternal definition or rather refashions a sense of pride in her own terms”. Annie tries to hide her rebellion when she can. She still rejects most standards of women during that time and creates her standards which she can take pride in.
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Get custom essayAnnie’s failure to conform to the heteronormative standards set by her parents and culture forms her sense of independence from everything that people deem ordinary. This rejection caused her to create her standards when referring to her relationships and lifestyle as a woman. Annie continues to reject these standards until the very last page of the book. Through Annie’s defiance, Kincaid is suggesting that to fully know one’s full identity, one must reject heteronormative standards if they believe that that does not fit their identity. Annie John’s rebellion against people’s expectations caused her to form her own identity, counter to the cultural norm. Kincaid uses Annie to symbolize that the rejection of the status quo can lead to the growth of one’s identity. Kincaid writes about Annie’s rejection of her relationship with her mother to suggest that adolescents can form a sense of independence if they do not conform to the expectations of their parents. She also suggests through Annie’s rejection of her relationship with Gwen, that one must not conform to societal standards just because everyone else is. Kincaid also writes that Annie rejects Antiguan culture to fully form her identity and learn that she does not belong in Antigua. Kincaid also uses Annie rejection of heteronormative standards to symbolize that one must sometimes defy what others think is normal to grow their identity. Jamaica Kincaid uses the rebellion as a way to symbolize learning, growth, and independence.
Abortion is such a contriversal topic in today’s society and everyone has a different opinion and view on it which causes many issues to rise. Society in general has a really negative approach on abortion and essentially are pro-life, meaning they oppose it causing some women to look down upon themselves if they even consider abortion. Another way some view abortion is pro-choice, meaning they support abortion and that believe it should be legal. Some look at it as it is a woman’s right because it is her body, while others view it as every life matters even an unborn child. Double consciousness is a theory formed by W.E.B Du Bois believing an identity crisis is happening, and there are several views on a specific matter. Double consciousness is occurring in this matter of abortion because it is a life or death situation for an unborn fetus and society may view abortion one way, while a woman going through it, or just other people in general may view it a completly different way and even feeling degraded for thinking that way.
Get original essayAbortion is a hard decision any woman would have to decide on. Imagine a young girl was raped, ends up pregnant and abortion is illegal. She has no choice on something so huge that will impact the rest of her life. With such a negative point of view on the matter from society, females are scared to go to Planned Parenthood or even the doctors office to talk about abortion because of what society may think. There are even protesters outside of facilities shaming women who do have an abortion, “..it’s like really annoying when those people stand outside the clinic all the time. At the clinic there was the people that are really against abortion. And I just don’t think – like obviously they’re Christian or religious?-?but I don’t think they really have the right to be there because obviously at the end of the day it’s your choice” (Beynon-Jones). Imagine going to a hospital or clinic and trying to look into the option of abortion and are bomarded by protesters attacking you and your right, it is your right till it is illegal to have an abortion. Nobody should be criticized by strangers who decided to wake up and protest outside a clinic because of their own personal beliefs and opinions. Research was done in England, women who have gone through an abortion avoid discussing about it to avoid trouble or uncomfort in a conversation, “...many (although not all) constructed speaking as a “woman who has had an abortion” as difficult” (Beynon-Jones). In my opinion, it should not be normalized for a woman to have to fear what society may think or say for making a choice dealing with her own body.
So why does some of society view abortion so negatively? The main argument pro-life advocates state is that the unborn fetus is still a human and that all lives matter. So since it is living they believe consequences are necessary, “A new human life begins when a zygote is created. A zygote contains its own unique DNA; it is undeniably human. If given the proper nutrients, it will grow and develop just like any living person outside the womb” (Irvine). Many in society call abortion a form of murder, which is taking it to far in my opinion. I think society is not truly taking a step into a woman’s shoes to understand and consider her feelings on abortion and all the factors that go into it. Another argument society will make is involving religion into the issue, the catholic church is against the idea because every life is significant and the idea of abortion should just be eliminated (Lopez 513). Obviously, everyone practices a different religion or is not religious at all so of course it will differ on how they may see abortion and affect their opinions tremendously. Treating everyone fairly with kindness is something practiced in a lot of religions, so ripping people apart for their abortion may not be morally correct either. Since it such a major topic, I feel like society should not impose this idea that women are “baby killers” and guilt them for their decision that is hard enough to make.
There are many factors that may trigger any female to believe abortion is the best move for them. Some women face the risk of not making it through childbirth, so esentially abortion would save their life. Like I had mentioned previously, women being raped, I could not imagine how hard it would be for any female to become pregnant after non-consensual sex and not having the option of abortion. More reasons are low income situations so not having the means to support a baby, and having a child end up in the foster care system can be a mess, “In 2017, the rate of children in foster care rose in 39 states” (Sepulveda and Williams). The number of children in the system in 2017 was 443,000 (Sepulveda and Williams). That high number is just heartbreaking, these children could potentially be just bouncing from house to house, which could lead to emotional or mental issues later on as they get older. Society seems to not take all this into consideration, a woman should be able to decide what is best for her and society should agree to disagree.
Many interviews have been conducted to get insight on woman who had abortions and their feelings throughout it all. Many things the interviewees said sounded like it was a cry of frustration maybe dealing with everyone else’s opinion, “’I’m getting so infuriated with how people react to abortion. It’s just like, it was my personal choice. It’s not anything that you had to do. I didn’t force you to have an abortion of your child or anything like that so there’s no reason I should get people’s hate” (Beynon-Jones). This woman is completely right in my eyes, it is her personal choice that is not affecting anyone in society. For some reason everybody has an opinion on abortion that is completely unnecessary to be heard or shared at all times. Women feel like they cannot discuss what they went through, which is unfair, and society honestly is to blame for their insecurity. Their voices should be able to be heard without the degrading and hatred that many who are against abortion put out there. Agree to disagree could be a resolution for this conflict on the abortion debate. Society does not know the backstory on why a woman even went through with abortion yet they feel like it is their place to judge. Another woman who was interviewed also believed that nobody had the right to say abortion is wrong, “ It’s not like I got pregnant and then just decided, “Oh yeah, I’ll just have an abortion for fun sort of thing.” That kind of annoyed me which is why I also think I took part because I don’t think that you should give people who have terminations a bad name. I don’t think that’s really fair because you don’t understand other people’s circumstances. I think the worst thing is that obviously it’s going to be a hard decision for some people anyway” (Beynon-Jones). Could not have said it better myself, if you don’t truly understand or even try to understand why a woman may choose abortion, you have no reason to devaule them and the decisions they make. Abortion is such an important and contriversal topic so I get why some people have such strong opinions for or against it but it does not make it okay to judge someone for what they decide on. I could not imagine the amount of stress that comes along with choosing to abort a fetus, so people putting their two cents in definitely will not help the situation. At the end of the day, you cannot please everyone so I do hope woman stop fearing over the thought of abortion because of what society thinks or might say.
Making abortion illegal is something that has made the whole situtation even more publicized, it has blown up on social media, the news, protests, etc. The illegalization of abortion plays a big role into double consciousness. Personally, I believe it should be legal in all fifty states while so many people I follow on Twitter or see on television believe it should be illegal as soon as possible. Some history on abortion according to Planned Parenthood is that it became fully legal in 1973. A woman named Jane Roe took it upon herself to go to the Supreme Court to be able to legally terminate her pregnancy (Roe v. Wade). This huge debate was known as Roe v. Wade, and Roe ended up winning and allowing abortion to be considered a human right, “To reach its decision in Roe, the Supreme Court drew on decades of case law that established that the government cannot interfere with certain personal decisions about procreation, marriage, and other aspects of family life” (Roe v. Wade). Jane Roe going and fighting for her right has tremendously helped so many women who are in the same position she was. Your personal life decisions that involve your body should absolutely not be able to be taken away from you, kind of similar to the idea that divorce if was illegal that would be wrong Although, I know that not everyone has the same opinion as I do. More recently, the heartbeat bill is trying to be passed to not allow women to terminate their pregnancies when a heartbeat from the fetus is detected, which would restrict women from their rights that have been legal for over forty years now. The legalization of abortion is something not everyone views the same way, many are fighting against the bill while others are fighting for it to be passed in all fifty states.
I completely see both sides on this debate of abortion which I feel like everyone should but sadly that is not the case. Obviously, I am more leaning on the pro-choice side of the argument. I can see why someone would consider it a crime to abort a fetus because it does have a heartbeat, although the baby would not even be close to being fully developed when an abortion should be done. If a women wanted to get an abortion a month before her due date, I believe that is one hundred percent wrong and should not be allowed. Another way I could see it is wrong is if the father of the baby one hundred percent disagrees with the idea, I feel like the man should have a little bit of say into it but again it is solely the woman’s choice because it is her body. If abortion did become illegal, I think there should be a certain time stamp like twelve weeks or earlier it should be allowed to be done. When the baby develops a heartbeat, it could be too early on to tell a woman is pregnant or have any symptoms at all to have the chance to get to a clinic and explore the idea of abortion. Abortion is not an easy thing, you have to think there are medical expenses and a mental drain on some woman to make this decision for themselves. Although, I see where some are coming from because it is essentially a life that is living inside the woman that some believe should not be ignored.
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Get custom essayThe topic of abortion is something very hard to talk about these days because some may get offended and people simply do not believe in the same things which is completely understandable. A woman may feel lost on what to do because of the judgement and backlash that those who do go through with abortion get. A woman thinking about abortion can have the right intentions to terminate her pregnancy due to multiple reasons that are important to her, like health or finacial reasons for example but may end up feeling as if she is wrong because of what society says. It makes it extremely difficult to feel this way because you are constantly thinking of how society will perceive you if you go through with this decision that is already hard enough to make. Double consciousness is in full effect when it comes to abortion. Sadly, you perceive yourself one way for going through with an abortion while society perceives it a completely different way, making it more difficult for a woman to think clearly on her actions and reasoning. Society alters the way you think and feel on so many topics, making it seem like you are a bad person for decisions you make which are essentially your human rights.