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Dowry is the payment in cash or/and kind by the bride's family to the bridegroom' s family along with the giving away of the bride in Indian marriage. "Kanyadanam" is an important part of Hindu marital rites. Kanya means daughter, and dana means gift. Dowry originated in upper caste families as the wedding gift to the bride from her family. The dowry was later given to help with marriage expenses and became a form of insurance in the case that her in-laws mistreated her. It continues to be highly institutionalized. The groom often demands a dowry consisting of a large sum of money, farm animals, furniture, and electronics. The main purpose of a dowry was to provide "seed money" or property for the establishment of a new household as the beginning of the new life, to help a husband feed and protect his wife, and to give the wife and children some support if he were to die. This property was "beyond the dowry" and was known as paraphernalia property or extra-dotal property. One of the basic functions of a dowry has been to serve as a form of defense for the wife against the possibility of ill-treatment by her husband and his family. In other words, the dowry provides an incentive to the husband not to harm his wife. A husband thus had certain property rights in his wife's dowry. In addition, the wife might bring to the marriage property of her own, which was not included in the dowry and which was, as a result, she is alone responsible.
Get original essayThe practice of dowry abuse is rising in day by day. The most severe in "bride burning", the burning of women whose dowry was not considered sufficient by their husband or in-laws. Most of these incidents are reported as accidental burns in the kitchen or are disguised as suicide. It is evident that there exist deep-rooted prejudices alongside women. Cultural practices such as the payment of dowry tend to subordinate women in Indian society. "Reasonable dowry for a reasonable match" was advocated in our male-dominated society in the name of religion and culture, in some cases to deny a girl her share in the inheritance, They said dowry was a form of social security for the girl and more of a burden on the father to the extent that it sometimes made him commit suicide.
When the dowry amount is not considered sufficient or is not forthcoming, the bride is often harassed, abused and made miserable. This abuse can escalate to the point where the husband or his family does burn the bride, often by hammering kerosene on her and lighting it, usually killing her. A woman is burned to death almost every twelve hours. The number of dowry murders is increasing. In 1988-2209 women were killed in dowry-related incidents and in 1990, 4,835 were killed. It is important to repeat that these are official records, which are hugely under-reported. According to the figures, there were a total of 5,377 dowry deaths in 1993, an increase of 12% from 1992. Despite the existence of rigorous laws convictions are rare, and judges are often uninterested and susceptible to bribery. An accurate picture is difficult to obtain, as statistics are varied and contradictory. In 1995, there were about 6,000 dowry deaths. Many of the victims are burnt to death-they are doused in kerosene and set light to. Routinely the in-laws claim that what happened was simply an accident. The kerosene stoves used in many poorer households are dangerous. When evidence of foul play is too obvious to ignore, the story changes to suicide-the wife, it is said, could not adjust to new family life and subsequently killed herself. Dowry is given as a gift but it becomes violence when it is demanded. Although the practice of dowry exists in many of the countries, it has been assumed that the quantity of a challenge to the forces of modernity and modify only in sub-continent and the complex in the running of the high class of the society.
Dowry system was introduced in many civilizations after the passage of time in history, this was introduced to share the burden in terms of expenses for settling a new household. In Athens, the absence of dowry would call into question the legitimacy of the marriage. Guardian was required to provide a dowry to the bride.
European History of Dowry: Dowry was widely practiced in Europe before the European revolution. In Homeric times, the usual Greek practice was to pay an amount as bride price. Ancient Romans also practiced dowry, though Tacitus notes that the Germanic tribes practiced the reverse custom of the dower. Dowries were exchanged in the later classical time (5th century BC). One common penalty for the kidnapping of an unmarried woman was that the abductor or rapist had to provide the woman's dowry. Until the late 20th century this was sometimes called wreath money or the breach of promise, the Domostroy, a Russian advice book of the sixteenth century, includes advice to set aside property for purposes of a dowry so that a women can also get equal rights in property, and use it accumulate linens, clothing’s, and other things for it, rather than have to suddenly buy it all for the wedding. if the daughter should happen to die, the dowry should be used to give alms and for prayers for her soul, although some might be set aside for other daughters. In some areas of Europe, most recallable Eastern Europe, land dowries were very common. It was commonly given with the condition that he will take the surname of his bride, in order to continue the family name .
Asian History of Dowry: Dowry is a common practice in many Asian countries, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and many others. In India, where incidents of bride burning and dowry death acquired notoriety, the payment of a dowry has been prohibited under. Then 1961 Dowry Prohibition Act in Indian civil law and subsequently by Sections 304B and 498a of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Electronic items like refrigerators, television and washing machines are given by the bride's parents as part of a ceremony along with clothes, jewelry, shoes, and many other accessories. In recent years there supposedly has been a rise in dowry deaths even when law enforcing organizations claim that the situation is under control whereas situation shows vice versa .
One of the reasons for these social evils is lack of knowledge and refusal with Islamic teachings and practices are not being implemented. Hundreds and thousands of educated and well mannered Muslim girls are leading unmarried lives or believe in late marriages. In a society where this is the case with unmarried girls, who will bother about the marriage of widows and divorcees? The Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) and his companions have set many practical examples for their followers by marrying widows and divorcees. Young Muslim girls have to lead unmarried life because of financial difficulties of their parents or because of the non-availability of appropriate matches and if matches are available then demands are very much high. Why don't we get an example of simplicity from the role modal of all the Muslims throughout the world Holy Prophet P.B.U.H that how he spent his life, how did he arrange marriage ceremony of his beloved daughter Hazrat Fatima R.A..
Young married women are particularly vulnerable. By custom, they go to live in the house of their husband's family following the wedding. Dowry is just not the end in terms of the transaction because the greedy parents of the groom do not end their curse. The wife is often seen as a servant of husband's family, or if she is working outside, as a source of income, but has no extraordinary relationship with the members of her new household and therefore no base of support the family. Some 40% of women are married before the legal age of 18 years. Illiteracy amongst women is very high, in some rural areas up to 63 %. As a result, they are isolated and often in no position to assert themselves. Demands for dowry can go on for years. Religious ceremonies and the birth of children often become the occasions for further requests for money or goods. The inability of the bride's family to comply with these demands often leads to the daughter-in-law being treated as a pariah and subject to abuse. In the worst cases, wives are simply killed to make way for a new financial transaction, i.e. threat of second marriage.
"The will to obtain large dowries from the family of daughters-in-law, to demand more in cash, gold, and other liquid assets, becomes vivid after leafing through pages of official reports that dutifully record the effects of gratitude, foreclosures, barren plots and cattle dying for lack of fodder. Dowry becomes dreaded payments on demand that go together with and follow the marriage of a daughter. A "successful" marriage is often seen by the wife's family as a means to advance up the social ladder. But the catch is that there is a price to be paid in the make a truck of dowry including the furnishing of the room, split AC, complete furniture of a home, kitchen use things and electronic home appliances etc. If for any reason that dowry preparations cannot be met then it is the young woman who suffers in terms of violence and threats. The price of the groom astronomically enlarged and was based on his qualifications, occupation, and earnings. Doctors, charted accountants, lawyers and engineers even prior to graduation widen the marvelous right to expect a 'fat' dowry as they make the most hunted after the cream of the graduating and educated dowry association.
Originally, the purpose of a dowry was to provide "seed money" or property for the establishment of a new household as the beginning of the new life, to help a husband feed and protect his wife, and to give the wife and children some support if he were to die. This property was "beyond the dowry" (the root of paraphernalia) and was known as paraphernalia property or extra-dotal property. One of the basic functions of a dowry has been to serve as a form of defense for the wife against the possibility of ill-treatment by her husband and his family. In other words, the dowry provides an incentive to the husband not to harm his wife. A husband thus had certain property rights in his wife's dowry. In addition, the wife might bring to the marriage property of her own, which was not included in the dowry and which was, as a result, she is alone responsible.
Allah has informed us about the just rights of each other on us:... the wife's rights (with regard to their husbands) are equal to the (husband's) rights with regard to them, although men are a degree above them; and Allah is Almighty, Wise. Qur'an [2: 228]. The statement that men are a degree above than women means that authority within the household has been given to the husband in preference to the wife because a heavier burden has been placed on his shoulders by another verse of the Quran which says, Men, shall take full care of women, because Allah has given the one more strength than the other and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient and guard in (the husband's) absence what Allah would have them, guard. Qur'an [4: 34]
Most of the marriages are arranged in the South Asian countries like Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. There are lots of rules and regulations before and after marriages. As for the arranged marriages, the initial step is arranging a broker to find out appropriate bride or groom. After the completion of this procedure, the broker would play as an intermediary between the two parties. Next step is a prenuptial investigation. Both parties would investigate each other (via relatives or neighbors) about the family background, lineage, and financial status. If both parties are satisfied with the investigation, the next step would take place. If the boy and girl liked each other, the final step prior to the confirmation would take place.
Let's take a look upon the common people. How they manage to make a large amount (as for them) for dowry? They take severe struggles to give their daughters to appropriate grooms. Many poor families even tend to suicide due to this compulsory system if they have more than one girls to be married. Most of the divorces in India take place on account of dowry. After marriage, some sisters would encounter severe harassments from a husband or his family in terms of dowry. In this case, the wife can complain against everyone whoever participated in this torture. As per the Indian Penal Code 498 A, the accused would be prosecuted with fine. Although the dowry makes many problems, the political parties and feminist organizations are keeping silence. Actually, they don't raise their voice sincerely against the dowry system. They would only try to solve the individual problems. Plenty of dowry based marriages is going on with Malabar Muslims. Actually, I don't know in which era this system crept into Indian Muslims. One who knows Islam and Quran will never support this kind of system which is contrary to Islamic law and culture. "Allah" apparently explained about dowry via "Quran". Dowry is the privilege of women (not men). She deserves it out of her husband on marriage. "And give to the women (whom you marry) their "Mahr" (Obligatory bridal money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) with a good heart" [Quran, Al Nisaa 4:4] "But if you replace a wife by another and you have given one of them a cantar (of gold i.e. a great amount) as "Mahr", take not the least bit of it back; would you take it wrongfully without a right and (with) a manifest sin? And how could you take it (back) when you have gone in unto each other, and they have taken from you a firm and strong covenant?" [Al Nisaa 4:20-21].[2].
Explanation: If anyone of you wants to divorce his wife and replace her with another, you should not take anything from what you have already given the first wife, even it was a huge amount of wealth. The "Mahr" is given in exchange for the right to enjoy marital relations. It's obviously out of the above verses that women hold a prominent status in Islam. Dowry should be given to her on marriage. It's her right. But people follow just opposite irrespective to these verses. Islam lets men accept any gifts from the bride or her family. But this gift should not be dowry or upon any persuasions. He can only accept this gift if they are providing it based on their own will. But people misinterpret it (deliberately) and consider it as a compulsory dowry system. In fact, men undervalue the right of women. After receiving a huge amount as dowry from the girl's family, he gives a bit from it to her as "Mahr".
Along with cash and gold, the dowry includes cars, televisions, refrigerators and a house - no matters whether or not the groom's family already having them is immaterial. And if the groom has a Government job, the dowry would include the bribe for a "good posting" at the desirable station. In 1999, their number was 3886, 3739 in 2000 and 3191 in 2001. Some cases ended in "suicide'' and "accidental death" in police parlance but not at all. Taking into account 1,774 "suicide" cases in 1999, which "came down" to 1,632 in 2001, and 3,378 "accidental deaths" in 1999, which declined to 2,750 in 2001[4], it is clear that the problem of dowry continues to trouble women. And it is certainly no coincidence that nearly 80 percent of the suicide cases and accidental deaths occurred in kitchens and the daughters-in-law were the only victims[4]. Education and prosperity have only increased the practice of dowry. And prosperity has given rise to demands for costlier things. In fact, affluence is responsible for the system, she argues. All rich land-lords started the practice of giving riches to their daughters during marriage which slowly became a tradition among all of the society. Dowry system seems to be common amongst a section of Muslims too, though in the Shariah it is prohibited. The better the groom's educational qualifications, the higher the demand is the dowry to make up for the "expense" incurred in his education. They prefer to call it "voluntary" aid from the bride's family though. They name it the happiness of the bride's parents. Though, among tribes, the dowry system works in the overturn direction - the groom's family pays out money. Young housewife burnt alive for dowry by his husband, Woman ends a life due to dowry harassment, Woman killed for seeking dowry.
Dowry refers to a marriage practice in our society where gifts of cash or other valuable items are exchanged between the families of the bride & groom. Dowry is paid in the form of cash, furniture, jewelry, property etc and it is paid before or during the marriage ceremony, sometime after marriage. The custom of giving Dory has changed it is now more essential part of a good marriage and has taken a harmful form. This is a social practice carried out both in urban and rural areas in a different manner according to the expectation.
Violence's related to Dowry:
According to researchers, that dowry is the common cause to raise the domestic violence. Laws & Implementation Strategies against Dowry Violence.
The best education is the best dowry. Parents are advised to educate daughters the best as the time has changed and it is the time that education has more value in the employment market and fields have been opened for women entrepreneurs. Amount of dowry may be invested for her secured future. Girls parents should help to report government or related authorities about the dowry demand by groom parents. Marriage with such boys should be discouraged as the demand for excessive dowry means they do not want a girl but money this would result to extortion after marriage by torture. Beside are arresting blacklisting in communities of dowry extorters most basics. Will help not only to deject, will also help other girl parents to keep away from such people.
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Get custom essayOur younger generation should come forward to rectify this trend and reform the society. They should set an example by neither demanding nor offering a dowry. Those who demand dowry should be persuaded by explaining to then religious and Quranic commands. If they still persist in their evil demands, they should be socially boycotted and the matter reported to the police. Demanding dowry is a legal offense also anti-dowry comities should be set up. This will bring positive results for the unmarried daughters of the poor.
Dowry is considered as an illegal act and giving and taking dowry are penalized. The government should pass dowry prohibition rule violence against women and children. government and NGOs should work together to fight dowry problem and steps they should take against dowry are:
Dr. Carter G. Woodson was father of Black History Month, he was born in1875 near New Canton, VA. He was the son of former slaves. In 1907, he obtained his BA degree from the University of Chicago. In 1912, he received his PhD from Harvard University. Carter G. Woodson (born 1875), convinced that the history of African-Americans was being ignored and misrepresented, took steps to put things right. In 1915 Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). The association was created to promote and preserve African-American history and culture. He founded the Journal of Negro History in 1916.
Get original essayThe implementation of his ideas – during these thirty-five years, has not been an easy task. The road has been very rugged. The awakening of the darker peoples of America and the world, to the importance of an historic knowledge of their backgrounds, has called for unshakable faith and persistence and unflinching sacrifice. The results of Carter Woodson’s efforts and of those who have journeyed with him over this rugged road, have vindicated the soundness of his thinking. These results are established in the factual findings of this Association, as they come into increasing use in institutions of learning, and among scholars and students of social progress all over the world. These results demonstrate the necessity for the vigorous and continued growth of this organization, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, which stands, today, as the Master Key to the background of the world of color. Woodson believed the study of black history, using the tools of scholarly research and writing, could serve a dual purpose. It could be used to counter white racial chauvinism, which was used to rationalize the oppression of black people in America. The distortions and deletions in the American historical record as it pertains to race matters, Woodson believed, was detrimental to the health of a nation whose inherent promise is life, liberty and justice for all.
His was a great, humanitarian task, nobly and unselfishly undertaken; sturdily and effectively performed. But it was a continuing task. It was the kind of task initiated by great minds which they, themselves, may never hope to see completed – a task which must be left for fulfillment to succeeding generations of workers, lighted on their way by brightly burning fires, kindles from the torch of the leader. the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History – will not fail to take up the challenge of that flaming torch. The great fraternity of its membership and friends will not fail. I know that all who are of it stand ready, today, to step forward in support of the cause to which Carter Woodson dedicated and gave his life.
Mission of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum is two-fold:
Today, members and followers of the Association founded thirty-five years ago. As the outgrowth of the great thought conceived in the fertile mind of Carter Godwin Woodson – eminent scholar and great American – who came up from the coal mines of West Virginia, and the border country of old Berea College, through the classic halls of Harvard, in preparation for his great service.
In his novel Dracula, Bram Stoker’s characters are deeply disturbed by the existence of the vampire. The notion of a creature that is both living and dead challenges their sanity by forcing them to question those things which they had previously considered to be obvious truths. Typically, these members of Victorian society would believe that one must either be alive or dead, seductive or repulsive, masculine or feminine, sexual or maternal, or mentally stable or unstable. However, many of the characters in the story possess traits which cause them to embody the aforementioned impossibilities. The coexistence of these conflicting ideas causes an uncomfortable tension that is referred to as ‘cognitive dissonance’. When the characters experience this feeling of cognitive dissonance, rather than changing their worldviews, they resort to questioning their state of mind. An intense fear of insanity pervades this novel, therefore, those qualities that cause the characters to question their sanity must be reconciled before they can rest and the story can come to a close.
Get original essayCount Dracula is the most obvious example of a character that exists as two separate conflicting ideas. The vampire is a creature who has passed from human life, but who is resurrected as a monster that walks, speaks, and feeds on blood. As coined by Stoker, Dracula is a member of the ‘undead’. This fact causes much skepticism from all of the characters except for Professor Van Helsing, whose job it is to convince the others that the vampire does indeed exist. The unwillingness to believe that Dracula could be the cause of Lucy’s troubles is best displayed during Van Helsing’s conversation with Doctor Seward. The professor spouts off a list of things which have occurred in the world, despite the fact that, before their occurrence, they would not even have been considered as a possibility. “Here I interrupted him. I was getting bewildered. He so crowded on my mind his list of nature’s eccentricities and possible impossibilities that my imagination was getting fired.” (Stoker 263) As soon as Seward’s mind begins to question his current ideas about reality, the doctor abruptly brings an end to the conversation for fear that he may have to alter his preconceptions. Seward knows that Van Helsing is asking him to draw a parallel between such events and the possibility that Count Dracula is the true cause of Lucy’s downfall, but is afraid to admit to a notion that could be considered impossible or even ‘crazy’.
“You are a clever man, friend John; you reason well, and your wit is bold; but you are too prejudiced... Do you not think that there are things which you cannot understand, and yet which are... Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain.” (Stoker, 261)
If a phenomenon cannot be explained through reason, the characters tend to dismiss the event rather than to question the limits of their own knowledge. This is the easier way out. Humans do not like to deal with cognitive dissonance because it is an uncomfortable psychological experience.
The three vampire sisters who inhabit Castle Dracula also possess the binary qualities of life and death, but they are also both seductive and repulsive. The vampiresses encounter Jonathan Harker while he is alone in the castle. “There was something about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear. I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips.” (Stoker 51-52) Rather than act on his desires or confront his fears, Harker simply lays still and allows the vampires to surround him and caress his body. Like Seward’s disruption of the conversation with Van Helsing, Harker’s inactivity is another way of disregarding a situation that he cannot understand. Jonathan is confused about the fact that he is sexually attracted to the vampires even though, during his time, the blatant sexuality that the three women exhibited would have been completely unacceptable from any other female. So, he attempts to avoid the situation by acting as though he were sleeping, almost as if he were hoping that he could tell himself that the whole event was merely a dream. Indeed, the very next day, Harker questions the reality of the events of the previous night. “I awoke in my own bed. If it be that I had not dreamt, the Count must have carried me here. I tried to satisfy myself on the subject, but could not arrive at any unquestionable result.” (Stoker 55) Although the vampire attack was remembered in vivid detail, Harker continues to question the accuracy of his memory by putting forth the idea that all of these events could have occurred while he was sleeping. Because our dreams are often irrational and indecipherable, Harker’s willingness to attribute his sexual encounter to such a hallucination would imply that he believes himself to have been in a less-than-stable mental state. Thus, Jonathan chooses to question his sanity rather than to accept that these ‘impossibilities’ could have occurred.
During his encounter with the three females, Harker also becomes an anomaly by developing feminine qualities throughout the scene. "In the Victorian mind men bore the complete onus for sexual depravity; a good woman only submitted to her husband's bestiality in order to reproduce" (Demetrakopoulos 106). When Harker lies very still and allows the vampires to take full control of him, he is taking on the traditional Victorian woman’s role in sex. In Jungian terms, the vampire sisters act as an agent that brings out Harker’s anima, or repressed feminine side. Later in the scene, Harker becomes so overwhelmed that he faints. Fainting is another activity that is typically labeled as a feminine action, causing Harker to take on the female role yet again. “Without a clearly defined, passive femininity against which to define himself and his world, Jonathan Harker crumbles into a nightmare of uncertainty, confusion, and vampiric ‘brain fever’.” (Prescott and Giorgio 490) Harker’s slip into temporary insanity provides him with another way to deny what has happened to him; he may have seen creatures that were both living and dead, or who were both seductive and repulsive, but it could also have been a hallucination as a result of his ‘brain fever’.
When Harker is recovering from his temporary illness, his fiancé, Mina, is there to look after him. Throughout the novel, Mina parallels Jonathan in the sense that she also takes on attributes of the opposite gender. When she vows never to open his journal unless it becomes absolutely necessary, Mina takes on the role of the protector as she attempts to ward off any recollection that may cause Jonathan to relapse into his state of insanity. In a sense, Mina becomes Harker’s ‘knight in shining armor’. Mina also becomes a saving grace for the rest of the men as she learns to work with the newest technology and keeps accurate records of each person’s encounters with the supernatural. When Dracula attempts to destroy their records, Mina has been wise enough to make several copies of the documents, thus allowing the ‘children of the light’ to continue on and defeat the vampire. Van Helsing praises Mina for her great achievements and exposes her dual nature as both feminine and masculine. “Ah, that wonderful Madam Mina! She has man’s brain – a brain that a man should have were he much gifted – and a woman’s heart.” (Stoker 321) However, after making this statement, the Professor goes on to state that, despite her helpfulness, Mina must no longer assist in the battle against Dracula. This must happen because Mina’s feminine and masculine qualities cannot be tolerated when they exist in one person. Nonetheless, Mina does continue on in the battle against the monster and is arguably the most important key to the discovery of Dracula’s whereabouts.
In stark contrast to Mina, Miss Lucy Westerna is represented as the epitome of Victorian femininity, except that she is highly sexualized. This sexuality becomes most evident once Lucy has undergone her transformation into a vampire, but her it is also expressed – in confidence – to Mina before she had become a creature of the night. “Why can’t they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble?” (Stoker 81) Lucy is being courted by several men at once and, although she does not accept each advance, she tends to be flirt with each man and wishes to be with all of them. Once Dracula takes her life and she becomes a vampire, Mina’s sexuality is fully exposed and she no longer has the ability to be a wife or a mother. When Arthur, Van Helsing, Quincey, and Dr Seward travel to Lucy’s grave site to end her life as a vampire, they encounter a version of Lucy that is both sexual and, in a twisted sense, maternal. Lucy calls to Arthur in a tantalizing manner, displaying the fact that, as a vampire, Lucy will no longer hide her sexual cravings; she can never be a pure Victorian woman. Lucy feeds on young children and enters her tomb grasping a child tightly before she throws the girl to the floor in one careless gesture. Lucy was a woman who wanted to be married and, presumably become a mother in order to fulfill her wifely role, but the reality was that she could never have done so because of her sexuality. Dracula changed Lucy by exposing her inner self.
The final character who possesses opposing qualities is Doctor Seward’s patient, Renfield. Because he is a patient in the asylum, Renfield is considered to be the least sane of all of the characters; he is what ‘the children of the light’ fear to become. In reality, Renfield is one of the most informed people in the novel. He is aware of Dracula’s presence and is able to accurately judge Seward’s affections for Lucy and also tries to warn Mina that she should not stay in the asylum because of Dracula’s impending attack. When his patient speaks to Mina, Doctor Seward is very surprised by his coherent language and apparent insightfulness: “Here was my own pet lunatic – the most pronounced of his type that I had ever met with – talking elemental philosophy, and with the manner of a polished gentleman.” (Stoker 319) Renfield challenges the characters’ notions of what constitutes sanity. It would seem impossible that the man who collects and consumes insects could see things more clearly than the other characters in the story, yet he manages to correctly assess the situation much more quickly than the others. However, his coherent moments are attributed to momentary lapses of sanity rather than indicators of his true mental state.
In order to maintain their preconceptions, those characteristics which are binary opposites must be eliminated in order for the characters to rest and feel that their job has been completed. Count Dracula and the vampiresses are killed by the ‘children of the light’ in order to make things right in the world. Because they are successful in defeating them, they no longer need to worry about the existence of a creature who defies all natural laws by being both dead and alive at the same time. Similarly, Renfield is killed off because he cannot exist in the world that the other characters wish to live in. He is a madman who was able to see things much more clearly than the ‘children of the light’, and thus must be eliminated from the story. In the case of Lucy and the three sisters, each one is killed by a male with a large stake. The stake acts as a phallic symbol, thus asserting the man’s power over these voluptuous women. In the scene where the vampire Lucy is killed off, Arthur is the one who ends her life while all of her other suitors stand and watch. This makes all things right because it allows Arthur to assert his power and take his rightful place as her husband.
To correct the destabilization of gender roles, Mina and Jonathan are not killed off, but are given defined societal roles by the end of the novel. As the ‘children of the light’ are hot on Dracula’s trail, Mina’s transformation into a vampire has already begun to occur. She does not take part in the killing of Dracula, despite the fact that it was her careful work that ensured the discovery of his whereabouts. “By instructing the men to read the death rite, she gives herself over to the patriarchal control.” (Prescott and Giorgio 505) Mina gives herself over to the men because she allows them to assert their ultimate control over her; she does not want to turn into a vampire because she would become a sexual creature, thus destroying her image as a pure Victorian woman. Patriarchal control is also established when we learn that Mina has become a loving mother. This puts Jonathan in the role of the bread-winning husband while Mina becomes a maternal figure.
Stoker’s Dracula comes to a close when all things have been ‘made right’ in the world of the characters that he has created. Each character who possesses conflicting traits is either reformed so that he or she no longer represents a threat to familiar notions, or, if they cannot change, they are simply disposed of all together. Mina and Jonathan Harker’s gender roles are reconciled, Lucy’s sexuality is laid to rest and she is prevented from becoming an unacceptable mother figure, the madman who knows too much is killed in his asylum cell, and Count Dracula and his three vampire sisters are all disposed of so that the characters no longer need to experience the sense of cognitive dissonance which boggles their minds. The story has a happy ending and the remaining characters are free to live their lives without having to question their sanity.
Works Cited
Demetrakopoulos, Stephanie. “Feminism, Sex Role Changes, and Other Subliminal Fantasies in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Frontiers 11(1977): 104-112.
Prescott, Charles and Grace A. Giorgio. “Vampiric Affinities: Mina Harker and the Paradox of Femininity in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Victorian Literature and Culture 33(2): 487-515
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Get custom essayStoker, Bram. Dracula. Toronto, ON: Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 1994.
Dragon legend and folklore has a long and rich history in many cultures around the world. The dragon is a powerful and mysterious creature that has captured the imagination of people for centuries. In Chinese legend, dragons are considered to be powerful and benevolent creatures that bring good luck and prosperity. They are often associated with water and are said to be able to control the weather. In European legend, dragons are often portrayed as fierce and dangerous creatures that must be defeated by brave knights. They are often associated with hoards of treasure and are said to guard it fiercely. In Japanese legend, dragons are considered to be powerful and wise creatures that can bring good luck and prosperity. In Indian legend, dragons are considered to be powerful and benevolent creatures that bring good luck and prosperity. They are often associated with water and are said to be able to control the weather. In many cultures, the dragon is associated with wisdom, power, and good luck. Many cultures have stories that involve dragons as powerful and benevolent creatures, and often as protectors of villages and towns. Some culture like the ancient Babylonians, and ancient Egyptians also have dragon stories, and in many cultures, the dragon is considered to be a symbol of strength and power. The use of dragon legend and folklore in Wings of Fire is a reflection of this rich cultural history, and it adds depth and complexity to the world-building and storytelling of the series.
Get original essayThe use of dragon mythology and folklore in the book, Wings of Fire, is a key element in the world-building and storytelling of the series. The book, written by Tui T. Sutherland, is a fantasy novel that takes place in a world where dragons are the dominant species and the main characters are dragons themselves. The book is full of references to dragon mythology and folklore, which contribute to the overall atmosphere and setting of the story. One of the main ways that dragon mythology and folklore is used in Wings of Fire is through the creation of the different dragon tribes. Each tribe is based on a different aspect of dragon mythology, such as the IceWings who are based on the idea of dragons being able to control the elements, and the NightWings who are based on the idea of dragons having the ability to read minds. The different tribes are also based on different cultures and regions, such as the RainWings who are based on tropical rainforests, and the SandWings who are based on deserts. This use of dragon mythology and folklore helps to create a rich and diverse world for the story to take place in.
Another way that dragon mythology and folklore is used in Wings of Fire is through the creation of the dragon's abilities and powers. Each tribe has unique abilities and powers that are based on different aspects of dragon mythology and folklore. For example, the SandWings have the ability to camouflage themselves in the desert, while the SeaWings have the ability to breathe underwater. These abilities and powers not only add to the world-building but also contribute to the storytelling by creating conflict and tension between the different tribes. The use of dragon mythology and folklore in Wings of Fire also contributes to the overall atmosphere and tone of the story. The book is full of references to ancient dragon legends and myths, which adds to the feeling of a fantasy world. The dragons are portrayed as powerful and majestic creatures, which adds to the sense of wonder and awe in the story. Additionally, the use of dragon mythology and folklore helps to create a sense of history and tradition in the world, which adds depth and complexity to the story.
In conclusion, the use of dragon mythology and folklore in the book, Wings of Fire, is a key element in the world-building and storytelling of the series. The different dragon tribes, abilities and powers, and overall atmosphere and tone of the story are all based on different aspects of dragon mythology and folklore. This use of dragon mythology and folklore helps to create a rich and diverse world for the story to take place in, adds depth and complexity to the story, and contributes to the overall atmosphere and tone of the story.
In the 1861 novel Great Expectations, Charles Dickens tells the story of a poor English boy named Pip who faces a number of complicated situations and characters on his way to becoming a gentleman. Dickens’ writing style, while indicative of the time period, is notable for its use of dramatic symmetry. Dickens consistently draws parallels between characters and major events throughout the book to enhance their importance.
Get original essayMost of the parallels, particularly between characters, are developed over the full course of the novel. For example, when Pip is young his attention is fixed firmly on Estella. As he grows, he acknowledges the intensity of his love might not be a good thing, going as far as to say, “I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.” Later in the book, Pip is a grown man and has resolved to marry Biddy, proposing by a letter which ends with “…if you can tell me you will go through the world with me, you will surely make it a better world for me...” Pip’s deepest desire is to be with Estella, but as an adult he understands it is in everyone’s interest for him to marry Biddy (at least until he finds out she and Joe are to be married). The dramatic symmetry between Estella and Biddy highlights how Pip's perspective has changed over time.
Two convicts that disturb Pip’s life offer another instance of dramatic symmetry. Magwitch sets Pip’s journey on its way. Later, Compeyson’s appearance leads to Magwitch’s death and Pip is forced to decide what to do with his life. Both men force Pip down a specific path.
Pip and Estella unknowingly mimic the relationship between Miss Havisham, a disabled, haggard women, and Compeyson, the convict who left her at the altar. Pip can see that Miss Havisham has influenced Estella “…to wreak Miss Havisham’s revenge on men…” so that Miss Havisham can feel better after her brutal rejection. Meanwhile, Pip is also carrying out Magwitch's misplaced ideology. Magwitch is proud of “the gentleman what I made!” and enthralled with the idea of Pip's transformation. It's clear, however, that Magwitch is disconnected from reality when he makes comments like, “I’ve come to the old country 'fur' to see my gentleman spend his money like a gentleman." Neither Pip nor Estella truly want to live their guardians' lives, but they have little choice in the matter.
Dickens draws another parallel between Pip and Magwitch (Pip's secret benefactor) when Pip decides to become a secret benefactor to his friend Herbert. Pip describes the lengths he goes to keep his identity secret: “…secret articles were signed of which Herbert was the subject, and I paid [Wemmick] half of my five hundred pounds down…" It's this secrecy that gives Herbert the confidence to act on his dreams of pursuing a partnership and ultimately become a successful man.
Dickens' use of dramatic symmetry makes characters, events, and circumstances more poignant. As events are mirrored throughout the novel, the reader is able to see history repeating itself and understand the importance of recognizing and breaking that cycle.
Know Your Character's Features
Get original essayDo you know what characterizes your character's features? Or are you drawing generic eyes, noses, and face shapes? This first part doesn't require drawing skills, only being able to really see them in your mind's eye. It's perfectly okay, in the beginning, to base your characters on people you know. Think of a close friend, someone you can visualize clearly. Can you describe the shape of their nose? Eyes? Mouth? Is their chin strong or weak? Most probably you cannot, because you have a general picture of them in mind, but you cannot think of the details when you try to picturize them.
This is easy to change, as you just need to start paying attention to individual features by themselves. Next time you see that particular friend, look closely, and write down what you see. By describing the identifying features that you see to yourself, you become aware of their uniqueness.
Face
The face is naturally where we look for the most of the details to recognize a person. The eyes, the nose, the lips etc. are distinctive for each person.
Hands
Remember male and female hands don't look alike; there might be smooth or rough hands, long fingers, short fingers, fine hands, coarse hands and so on...
Posture
Have you ever found yourself recognizing someone in the distance by how they stand, or how they walk? Posture is another big clue for identification. We're constantly told we should stand straight, so we may tend to always draw people who stand straight, but in reality there are many degrees of posture. We each have our special posture, like the characters below, who each stand differently.
Dressing style
Note that this is about a person's style, not about a costume. You're not designing one outfit that this person will wear all the time, unless they're in a uniformed profession. While in real life few people wear the same thing day in, day out, most people do have a distinct dress style, and that is something that very much matters in a character. This dress style not only creates consistency, but also conveys much of the character's personality and/or situation.
Know How to Draw Those Features From Various Angles
Once you're fully aware of what is distinctive in your character, it's time to make sure you can draw these traits.
Exercise
Use a willing friend again, or if not possible, gather pictures of a celebrity (as they'll be easy to find) from many different angles. Focus on just one feature at a time, sketching it from different directions. This needn't be a burden, as you'll notice that some angles are a bit repetitive, and that you can get a good grip on a feature if you have it from front, side, three quarters, above and below. Here are some examples of a nose from various angles.
Some face contours:
In this way you build up an understanding of these features as 3D shapes. Feel free to reduce them to simpler geometric shapes if you have trouble at first. And don't forget to compare different features under similar angles. For instance, how do different eyebrows look with different expressions?
How to Draw a Human Figure
In this chapter, we will learn the steps of drawing a full-sized man in pencil. As you might already know, drawing a Human Face might be challenging, as only artists with lots of experience can do so with ease. Our art lessons are intended primarily for kids, so there is no need to put too much detail into the realistic Eyes and other facial features. Just do the best you can! It is important to learn how to draw portrait of a man using #2 pencil.
Some people have a habit of using dotted lines as guidelines, which they later erase. My word of advice is to learn how to draw a line in one motion without being afraid to make a mistake. You have to visualize the final image while you are drawing a human figure, especially of a man in motion. Surprisingly, the most important thing in visual art of any kind is not accurate proportions and outlines of the image, but the mood or character of the person conveyed in a drawing though his or her facial expression and/or body language.
Dreamcatchers today come in a variety of different sizes and styles. They usually consist of a small wooden hoop covered with a net or web of natural fibres, with meaningful sacred items like feathers and beads attached, hanging down from the bottom of the hoop. Real authentic, traditional dream catchers are handmade and crafted only from all natural materials, measuring just a few small inches across in size. The hoops are usually constructed of a bent Red Willow branch covered in stretched sinews. Wrapping the frame in leather is another common finishing touch for “real” dream catchers.
Get original essayToday the dreamcatcher is associated with Native American culture in general, but dream catchers are believed to have originated from the Ojibwa Chippewa tribe in particular. The Lakota tribe also has its own legend about the origins of the dreamcatcher, but most researchers believe the dreamcatchers were passed down from the Ojibwe through intermarriage and trade. It wasn’t until the Pan-Indian Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, that they were adopted by Native Americans of a number of different nations. Some consider the dreamcatcher a symbol of unity among the various Indian Nations and a general symbol of identification with Native American or First Nations cultures. However, many other Native Americans have come to see dreamcatchers as over-commercialized, offensively misappropriated and misused by non-Natives.
The Ojibwe word for dreamcatcher asabikeshiinh actually means “spider”, referring to the web woven to loosely cover the hoop. The patterns of the dream catcher are similar to the webbing these Native Americans also used for making snowshoes.Authentic Symbol or Cultural Appropriation?Though dreamcatchers are quite prolific, finding real authentic dreamcatchers is not that easy. Real handmade dream catchers are usually small in size and feature sacred charms like feathers and beads. Many dreamcatchers for sale today, however, are much more American than Native American, often oversized and made of cheap plastic materials. Many Native Americans still consider the dreamcatcher to be a symbol of unity and identification among the many Indian Nations and First Nations cultures. Still, many other Native Americans have come to see dream catchers as a symbol of cultural appropriation, over-commercialized and offensively misappropriated and misused by non-Natives.
What do they do?Sometimes referred to as “Sacred Hoops”, Ojibwe dreamcatchers were traditionally used as talismans to protect sleeping people, usually children, from bad dreams and nightmares. Native Americans believe that the night air is filled with dreams, both good and bad. When hung above the bed in a place where the morning sunlight can hit it, the dream catcher attracts and catches all sorts of dreams and thoughts into its webs. Good dreams pass through and gently slide down the feathers to comfort the sleeper below. Bad dreams, however, are caught up in its protective net and destroyed, burned up in the light of day.Story of the DreamcatcherAncient legends about the history and origin of the dreamcatcher exist among several Native American tribes, but chiefly through the Ojibwe and Lakota nations. While many cultures find spiders to be creepy crawlers, the Ojibwe people found them to be a symbol of protection and comfort. The Ojibwe word for dreamcatcher asabikeshiinh actually means “spider”, referring to the web woven to loosely cover the hoop.
Also, according to the Ojibwa story, a mystical and maternal “Spider Woman” served as the spiritual protector of the tribe, especially for young children, kids and babies. As the Ojibwe people continued to grow and spread out across the land, The Spider Woman found it difficult to continue to protect and watch over all the members of the tribe as they migrated farther and farther away. This is why she created the first dreamcatcher. She believed that it would help her with her job. Following her example, mothers and grandmothers as the years went on, would recreate the maternal keepsake as a means protecting their children and families from afar.
All parts of the authentic Native American dreamcatcher have meaning tied to the natural world. The shape of the dreamcatcher is a circle because it represents the circle of life and how forces like the sun and moon travel each day and night across the sky. The dream catcher web catches the bad dreams during the night and disposes of them when the day comes. As for the good dreams, the feathers act as a fluffy, pillow-like ladder that allows them to gently descend upon the sleeping person undisturbed. There is some contention when it comes to the meaning of the beads that often decorate the dreamcatcher. According to some American Indians, the beads symbolize the spider—the web weaver itself. Others believe the beads symbolize the good dreams that could not pass through the web, immortalized in the form of sacred charms.
In his famous poem “Harlem,” Langston Hughes raises the question, “What happens to a dream deferred?” (line 1), and goes on to offer several possibilities for the consequences of deferring one’s dreams—“Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun? / Or fester like a sore— / And then run?” (Hughes, lines 2-5). John Steinbeck’s 1937 novella Of Mice and Men presents an image that is the epitome of Hughes’ “dream deferred” and works to answer the question of what happens to such dreams. Set in Salinas, California during the Great Depression, the novella centers around the attempts of two farm laborers—George and his mentally handicapped companion, Lennie—to achieve their dream of owning a small farm and “liv[ing] on the fatta the lan’” (Steinbeck 56). Of Mice and Men is frequently read and criticized in the context of the Great Depression, as this is one of the primary forces at work within the story, and is therefore interpreted as a social criticism of both the American Dream and of the broken economic systems that make it impossible to realize. Such a reading is not incorrect; certainly, the Depression and the economic failures that accompanied it play an enormous role in the work. However, to read it only in this light is to overlook a crucially important facet of the story. Of Mice and Men is not merely a tale about the Depression; it is a testament to the human need to dream. In this way, Steinbeck’s novella extends far beyond a social criticism within its specific historical context to offer an image of a shared human tendency to dream, often beyond what is possible, and of the tragic consequences of the conflict between these dreams and social and economic realities.
Get original essayThe lives of the story’s two protagonists, George and Lennie, are dictated largely by their social and economic status. The novella’s opening is a demonstration of their need to travel to find work that can sustain them. When the story begins, they are stopping to make their home for the night in a clearing, drinking from a pool of green water and eating canned beans (Steinbeck 3-8). It is clear from the characters’ introduction that the two are barely getting by; certainly, the Depression is a powerful and looming force in both of their lives. Equally strong, though, is the force of the aspiration that motivates them. They fantasize about owning their own farm and having “a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs…” (Steinbeck 14). Lennie in particular is fascinated by this dream, intent on caring for the rabbits they plan to own, and George, who is effectively Lennie’s caretaker, allows him to dwell on and derive joy from this image of their future as a method of maintaining his morale and keeping his actions in line. As Duncan Reith asserts in his article Futile Dreams and stagnation: politics in Of Mice and Men…, George and Lennie’s dream is “both psychologically necessary and ludicrously far-fetched” (Reith), a remark that points not only to the mens’ reliance on this fantasy as a motivation and a goal toward which they can work, but also to the strong likelihood that George and Lennie will never manage to realize this dream.
This sad implausibility of the image on which the two have based their hopes is alluded to throughout the story. As Peter Cash notes in his article, “John Steinbeck (1902-1968) Of Mice and Men (1937),” “there are increasingly obvious signs that these dreamers will be disappointed” (Cash 219), even from the start of the novella. George’s comments about Lennie’s trouble at their previous job and his repeated instruction to come back to this spot in case of trouble are primes examples of this foreshadowing of the tragic events to come. He tells Lennie, “I want you to look around here….if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush” (Steinbeck 15). Here, the information about Lennie’s past is not simply provided in passing as an explanation of the current predicament; it is used repeatedly and in reference to the possibility of further trouble in the future. This, combined with the later incredulousness with which the possibility of actually achieving their dream is met signifies its improbability. It becomes apparent that this ambition seems entirely out of reach even to George; for example, when he talks with Candy about the idea of buying the stake together, he says incredulously “I bet we could swing her” (Steinbeck 60). This remark is preceded by the narrator’s statement that “This thing they had never really believed in was coming true” (Steinbeck 60), revealing that George, despite being the primary perpetuator and presumably the author of this dream, never truly believed in it to begin with. This lack of faith in their own motivating force points to the fact that their fantasy exists as an instinctive coping method for their current situation rather than a reliable image of the future.
In spite of the fact that their hopes of owning land are, as Reith claims, “ludicrously far-fetched” (Reith), and that many of the characters themselves recognize this, the allure of this ambition remains strong. It is this infectious pull—the human reflex to hope for something better—that draws readers into George and Lennie’s struggle. As Dickstein explains in her article “Steinbeck and the Great Depression,” George and Lennie’s relationship seems to be “built on a dream of independence that others around them too soon come to share” (Dickstein 122), pointing to the unifying power of their shared ambition and to the enticing effects this has on the other characters. Although this idea that striving for independence has effectively made the two dependent on each other seems, on the surface, deeply ironic, it ultimately illuminates the reality that their goal is not an economic response to the poverty of the time, but a fundamentally human response to an isolating and oppressive environment. It is, just as Reith asserts, “psychologically necessary,” not as a result of the Depression, although this is the backdrop on which the story hangs, but as a result of the inherent tendency in people to use dreams as an “escape from [a] bleak predicament” (Reith). Reith’s assertion affirms the idea that George allows them to indulge in their vision of the future not because it is likely, but because their otherwise dull existence without any hope for better would be more than either could bear.
The opposition between these aspirations and the crushing reality of an oppressive economic system is the frame on which the story is built and thus serves as a key force in advancing its plot. Despite the fact that the characters’ dreams serve as a method of coping with this reality, the coexistence of the two forces is also a source of major conflict within the story. Dickstein summarizes this central conflict in her remark that, “the fruit of American plenty on the California trees and vines is exactly the fruit that the beleaguered migrants cannot have, the dream that will never be realized” (Dickstein 116). Here, she is expressing the sad truth that George and Lennie’s goal is not only out of reach, but it taunts them in the form of society’s perpetuation of the myth of what Dickstein calls “the American plenty,” and what is more commonly referred to as the American Dream. In this way, George and Lennie’s desire to own their own land simultaneously serves as both a weight and a motivation. On one hand, the fact that the two men have a shared goal binds them together and pushes them to work and save, granting them hope and purpose in the midst of a rather mundane and arduous life. At the same time, however, even operating under the unrealistic assumption that their goal might be attainable, they are left in the meantime with a dream unfulfilled. From this comes a friction caused by living at halfway point between their hopes for the future and the reality of their life—a reality that includes the fact that, though they perhaps have yet to fully admit it, their dreams are being “thwarted by a selfish, competitive, manipulative system” (Dickstein 117).
The effects of this repression are, as Langston Hughes suggests, are all distinctly damaging. The possibilities he presents for a dream deferred include “stink[ing] like rotten meat,” “crust[ing] and sugar[ing] over—like a syrupy sweet” and “sag[ging] like a heavy load” (Hughes, lines 4-8) For George and Lennie, it is most visibly the latter, as the inability to reach their goal if only for the time being forces them to stay in a job that, from the moment of their arrival, seems to be an invitation for trouble. George alludes to this in his remark that he has “never seen no piece of jail bait worse than [Curley’s wife]” (Steinbeck 32) as he warns Lennie to leave her alone. This warning, coupled with the knowledge of Lennie’s past, foreshadows the events to come. George further acknowledges that the farm is not a good place for the two of them in his assurance to Lennie that, “we’ll get out jus’ as soon as we can. I don’t like it no better than you do” (Steinbeck 33). However, Lennie’s handicap in combination with the economic hardship of the time leaves the two with virtually no other options, and thus their dream forces them into a corner that in turn serves as a precursor for the trouble that follows. It soon becomes clear that this sacrifice and suppression on behalf of their dream deferred comes with dire consequences for all involved.
In the meantime, however, the story progresses, and as George and Lennie attempt to move toward their unrealistic goal of “liv[ing] on the fatta the lan’” (Steinbeck 56), the plights of other characters start to become visible. One example of this is Curley’s wife—who, although she is presented as one of the story’s antagonists—is yet another example of the human inclination to dream and of the consequences of suppressing such dreams. In her conversation with Lennie near the end of the story, she reflects sadly on her missed opportunity to become an actress, remarking that, “I coulda made somethin’ of myself… If I’d went, I wouldn’t be livin’ like this, you bet” (Steinbeck 88). This interaction points to her own desire to become more than is allowed by the life in which she has now been essentially been trapped. Where George and Lennie’s dream is merely unrealistic, hers is completely impossible. She is married now, tied to Curley and their ranch, with no opportunity for achieving anything more. The fact that this lost opportunity is what she chooses to talk about in her first real human interaction since George and Lennie’s arrival on the farm speaks volumes about the extent to which this loss of potential weighs on her.
That Curley’s wife is forced to live a life that is less than what she dreamed of continues to produce tension until the end of her life. She is described in Dickstein’s article as a “lonely, seductive, unsatisfied wife” (Dickstein 118), an accurate indication of the restlessness and discontentment that spurs her disruptive behavior on the farm. She flirts with the men and stirs up trouble not out of maliciousness, but out of a sadness that is caused directly by the death of her dreams through her marriage to Curley. As Cash claims, she “has amorous and glamorous ideas above her station” (Cash 222), resulting in a deep dissatisfaction with the state of her life. Although she is both painted by Steinbeck and viewed by the other characters as an antagonistic force, her actions are fueled by the same human desire that fuels the actions of the protagonists throughout the story. Her character affirms this idea of the inherent human tendency to dream; it is not simply a characteristic of George and Lennie, nor a product of the male need to work and provide during the Depression, but a characteristic of human nature itself. That her need to dream has manifested in a vastly different form from the rest of the characters points to the universality of the need itself—no matter the situation, people cannot help but hope for better.
This dream of Curley’s wife is, in the end, her downfall, illustrating the consequences of the repression of ambition. Through her death, it becomes clear that these conflicting forces within the story—the need to dream and the inability to attain one’s dreams—cannot coexist indefinitely. Her “dream deferred,” as Hughes calls it, does not simply die off and vanish; instead, it festers inside of her, preventing her from conforming to social expectations as the rest of the characters would have her do. She meets Lennie—who as a result of his mental illness and lack of social competence is an unencumbered embodiment of their own deferred dream—and their dreams combine in a chemical reaction that ultimately implodes the status quo on the farm and leaves them both dead. Both of these characters are, whether they are aware of it or not, attempting to push beyond the boundaries of what is allowed to them by their station; both are too caught up in the idea of something better to realize and adhere to the behavior demanded from them by society. It is this, then—the intersection of their two dreams deferred—that sparks the flame that, in the end, leads the characters into an irreversible tragedy. As Hughes alludes to in his poem, their dreams deferred to not simply “fester” or “crust over” or “sag like a heavy load” (Hughes, lines 4-10)—instead, they explode.
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Get custom essayThe image Hughes presents in his poem “Harlem” of a “dream deferred” is one that appears throughout and serves as a driving force within John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. The novel, while it is influenced heavily economic context of the Great Depression, also doubles as a universally relatable depiction of the human instinct to hope and dream. The novella’s tragic ending—the death of Curley’s wife and George’s subsequent decision to shoot Lennie—ultimately answers the central question in Hughes’ poem: “What happens to a dream deferred?” The unfortunate and violent end met by two of the story’s characters suggests that it is exactly as Hughes suggests in his final, looming question: “Or does it explode?”
Small scale farmers are the driving force behind economies in Africa, even though their potential is not realized. The term small scale farmers is given to farmers from their lack of resources, they own small land that they use to produce crops. Which they may also trade for money. Their labor force may consist exclusively of family members. Small scale farmers are characterized by their use of outdated agricultural technology, they have small produce, with small returns, their labor loads that are changing seasonal and women play a crucial role in keeping it running. Small scale farmers are different, this is due to difference in farm sizes, distribution between in food and cash crops, off-farm activities and farm animals, in the use of external help and hired labor, the crops produced and traded and house running costs patterns. Small scale farming may be crucial for household food security, their role can be extended to rural livelihoods and food security for all in poor in the area. The productivity is quite low, which maybe the result of no interest to participate on urban population and rural household. By ensuring the productivity is increased of the small scale farmers, in long term this can ensure food security. Decline in agricultural productivity contribute to the growing poverty among Africans. Addressing issues that can positively affect this, can help reduce poverty which affect the rural population. Which at the end they might be forced to seek livelihood in urban areas.
Get original essayDroughts affect communities in different ways. A community or household mainly dependent on livestock and agriculture is more vulnerable than a family or community with diverse livelihood. Meaning they are not solely dependent on water to produce. Drought is major common natural disaster in Africa. It triggers household insecurity, causes poverty and lack of food security. According to Devereux and Maxwell (2001) the sub-Saharan Africa should account for approximately 50% the world’s poor in 2015 an increase from 19% in 1990. There was a case of drought in Ethiopia, which affected over 13 million people and they were left in need of emergency assistance. This was in 2002 to 2003, there was a combination of economic shock and drought. According to OCHA (2004) food aid was delivered. But other aspects of assistance did not get much emphasis and funding such as public health, income support to protect livelihoods and medicine both for the community and the livestock, seeds, water and sanitation needs. According to Calow et al (2010) there is a food first approach when it comes to assistance when a community was hit by drought which does not take into consideration other factors such as nonfood assistance. Water supply is also overlooked making this not to align with livelihood realities. Malawi also suffered in prolonged drought which resulted in drying up of shallow wells resulting in severe scarcity of water. This was 1991 – 1992 in other areas however ground water was available, not accessible.
Access to clean and good quality water, is important to prevent exposure to diseases. From numerous epidemiological surveys it was observed the leading cause of death in drought and famine related disasters. Are preventable diseases that are also infectious such as measles and diarrhea they are the main cause of death.
Child hood malnutrition lead to illness repeatedly was observed especially during drought. In small scale farming domestic water is used for irrigation and for livestock watering. It also used for food, drinking and building and building materials (e.g. brick making). The 2004 -2005 drought in the Horn of Africa has seen losses of over 70% of livestock, migration of a great number of people searching for water relief aid, jobs and food. Women and girls are affected mainly during drought as the recorded time is 5 hours to collect drinking water during dry season and drought. This also affects negatively their educational opportunities as collecting water falls within their responsibilities. Collection of drinking may also lead to injuries on young children as they carry heavy buckets and travel long distances. In 2008 according to allAfrica.com, Lesotho suffered three dry year. Lesotho supplies South Africa with, these dry years left people with no access to water and no food security. They were also facing the spread of diseases and death. It was determined that 30 percent of their water points ran dry according to their department of rural water supplies. Approximately 350000 people were facing food shortages for at least 6 months. Burkina Faso suffered two major droughts in the 1970s and 1980s. The drought was experienced in parts of the country that is densely populated and high land use and with highly degraded land in need of urgent corrective actions. With more than 80 per cent living in rural areas with density of 211 per square kilometer. The agricultural sector has employed 87 percent of the labour force. Yatenga in Burkina Faso suffered quite a number of drought dating back from 1832 – 1839,1940-1942 and 1979-1985 this is just to name a few. Rainfall dropped in the last thirty years from 720mm per annum to lower than 500mm per annum. They removed natural vegetation for agricultural purposes, which had an adverse effect on the land, as erosion occurred when there were heavy rains. In October 1984 there was a disastrous drought that affected food production and livelihoods. Their losses were estimated to be 149kg less per person of annual cereal harvest. It consist of Mossi people which make up 40 percent of the population. It also consists of Fulani people which are of a significant number 10 percent and they are mainly involved in pastoral activities. It is densely populated with 100 people per square kilometer. This put a lot of strain on the land and lead to poverty on the village which pushed most of the Mossi people to start looking for other forms of livelihoods. They looked for wage labour opportunities out of their region. .
Apart from lacking of resources other challenges faced by rural farmers which threaten their livelihood is drought. An extensive research of drought in Africa has been done, in different perspective. This include meteorological, agricultural and food security. Water security was overlooked when these studies were done, as ground water supply can be the main source of water in some of the rural areas. It also reduces the impact of water shortages with change in rainfall. Water and food common and it is interrelated, by building an infrastructure to make use of the ground water. Food production and consumption becomes a concern with shortages in water, and depletion of ground water is an unlikely a concern. Planning is critical and identifying areas that are likely to be affected by water shortages. Put in place ways to monitor areas that are likely be affected for early detection. Design infrastructure to supply ground water to rural area based on a sound knowledge of hydrogeological conditions, user demand and water points which are accessible conveniently. There is an increase in failure of wells, springs and boreholes during drought. This tends to be a trend, but the ground water is rarely affected this. There are transactions of goods during drought, such as trading of livestock for agricultural produce. Violence can erupt fighting over water resources and land which is common. The most important recommendation was that government should give access to portable water supply and sanitations acknowledging the Ethiopians low access to potable water and sanitation. Looking at Yatenga people of Burkina Faso, agricultural practice they adopted and self-development. They used kitchen waste as fertilizers, and farmed vegetables. They also use animal dung as fertilizers, as they allow them to graze after they harvested. Naam movement it helped with development without destroying the environment with the help of Bernard Ledea Ouedraogo. A teacher who is interested in rural development work. This movement is self-help and in consisted of a group of young women and men. They have leaders they elected and are equal in terms of gender. They gathered in rainy season to plant and harvest using local low cost tools and materials. Six S was established by Ouedraogo to assist with financial and technical support to the Naam groups. It raised money internationally for medicine, pumps, cement and better tools. It was started in 1976 it was an umbrella organization and in 1985 the number of the Naam groups increased to 1350. This went beyond just agricultural activities, as in Somiaga village the Naam group built a pharmacy and mill came up with a solution for drinking water by digging a well and started a tree nursery. To improve food security a cereal bank was started in 1983. This help with fluctuating price when cereal is not in abundance. It is bought at low prices when it’s on season and stored at the cereal bank. They also build a dam it not only became useful for irrigation and filling of local well it became a source of fish. Yatenga continued with innovative ways of overcoming challenges to survive water shortage. With projects like Projet Agro-Forestier to improve on soil by preventing soil erosion. And the conservation of water, promoting water harvesting.
According to Lovell (2000) it is crucial to invest in collector well with large diameter so they can support a wide range of uses including garden irrigation. According to Adelana and MacDonald (2008) to improve on water security on a local level. Informative decision needs to be made, useful information like hydrogeological and ground water information can be useful. This can be used to ground water development and the management of integrated water resources. Which can also help in preparing for drought. For example in Ethiopia the UK Department of International Development is developing ways of improving rural areas water supply and to prepare for droughts. They collected such primary information and local level mapping for such development.
Since progress has been made on preparing monitoring and assessment of poverty, livelihood surveys and monitoring systems are an increasing feature of development programs.
If these systems in place can be combined with information of food security known by government and donor it could help with awareness and help with response which will be effective. Even with good information from the monitoring of livelihood and all related information system it does not mean that the response will be timeously, flexible and effective. However it will make the impact of drought on water and food security, vulnerability easier to understand and foresee the extent of impact.
Degradation of natural resource led to food insecurity and jeopardy of livelihoods of rural population making them more vulnerable. WFP and the organizations interested in development of countries that are vulnerable to drought, they believe if investments can be made on natural resources it can a long term solution. Compared to short term solutions of giving these countries food and money. With water security, food security and strengthening of their resilient is likely in long term. The risk of failing crops is reduce. Water harvesting also shown to be effective as it was reported that water from ponds pans and dams can be used for production purposes ( that is farming, livestock, and building etc.), domestic purposes ( cooking, cleaning etc.). Interviewed rural residents had positive feedback stating water interventions affected positive natural resources in turn resulting in improved food security. The jobs opportunities opened by the implementation of such projects also assist the rural resident with medical needs, education of their children and reinvestment on their livelihoods.
The future does not look better with climate change effects. An increment of 5-8 per cent of Africa arid and semi-arid land is expected. Which in turn will result in maize production from southern Africa to decline, and there will be no production of wheat by 2080 in the continent. Some countries like South Africa are lucky as these arid conditions remedial action can be taken. Such as removing of alien plants and importing water from its neighbor Lesotho. With climate change it is expected that rainfall will drop and high temperatures will lead to evaporation of water. This will lead to extreme water shortages. This will affect economies for example Namibia which is very reliant on natural resources. This decline in rainfall affects livestock farmers as it affects the grazing resources threatening the pastoral livelihood. This will result in pastoralist travelling long distance looking for grazing land. Also conflicts will arise amongst pastoralist and with farmers over the limited resources.
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Get custom essayThe African countries we looked at we saw majority of their population were employed in agricultural sector, or relied on it for their livelihood. As seen most of these people live in rural areas for example Burkina Faso, Yatenga people making up 40 per cent of the population. The common thing in their situation shortages of water really affect their livelihood, food security their livestock. Which also result in migration where they need to leave their home to find paying jobs so they can take care of their families. Droughts also break up families. According to the Overseas Development Institute (2017) water programmes they really improve and better people’s food security. They improve their health as seen drought is associated also with infectious disease (e.g. Diarrhea, cholera etc.) which also result in death. According to ODI (2017) even progress is seen as effects of long dry season and drought may be reduce not all household are entirely saved from poverty. It is a start that also increase the resilience in such areas. The Yatenga people also proved that working together as a community can change and develop a community, without any modern technology. As the resilience of a community lies on learning where they can improve next time. In Yatenga people for example the Cereal bank, in general the will to learn and improve their situation with what they have. They did more with assistance they received externally
Drought is considered by many to be the most complex but least understood of all natural hazards, affecting more people than any other hazard (G.Hagman 1984). However, there remains much confusion within the scientific and policy communities about its characteristics. It is precisely this confusion that explains, to some extent, the lack of progress in drought preparedness in most parts of the world. Drought is a slow-onset, creeping natural hazard that is a normal part of climate for virtually all regions of the world; it results in serious economic, social, and environmental impacts. Drought onset and end are often difficult to determine, as is its severity.
Get original essayThe impacts of drought are largely non-structural and spread over a larger geographical area than damage from other natural hazards. The non-structural characteristic of drought impacts has certainly hindered the development of accurate, reliable, and timely estimates of severity and, ultimately, the formulation of drought preparedness plans by most governments. The impacts of drought, like those of other hazards, can be reduced through mitigation and preparedness. Drought preparedness planning should be considered an essential component of integrated water resources management.
Increasing society’s capacity to cope more effectively with the extremes of climate and water resources variability (i.e., floods and droughts) is a critical aspect of integrated water resources management. Drought preparedness planning will also provide substantial benefit in preparing for potential changes in climate. Historically, more emphasis has been given to flood management than drought management. With increasing pressure on water and other natural resources because of increasing and shifting populations (i.e., regional and rural to urban), it is imperative for all nations to improve their capacity to manage water supplies during water-short years. Drought risk is a product of a region’s exposure to the natural hazard and its vulnerability to extended periods of water shortage(D.A.Wilhite 2000).
If nations and regions are to make progress in reducing the serious consequences of drought, they must improve their understanding of the hazard and the factors that influence vulnerability. It is critical for drought-prone regions to better understand their drought climatology (i.e., the probability of drought at different levels of intensity and duration) and establish comprehensive and integrated drought information system that incorporates climate, soil, and water supply factors such as precipitation, temperature, soil moisture, snowpack, reservoir and lake levels, groundwater levels, and streamflow. All drought-prone nations should develop national drought policies and preparedness plans that place emphasis on risk management rather than following the traditional approach of crisis management, where the emphasis is on reactive, emergency response measures. Crisis management decreases self-reliance and increases dependence on government and donors.
Droughts can be classified into four major categories:
The impacts of a drought can be economic, environmental or social. Drought produces a complex web of impacts that spans many sectors of the economy and reaches well beyond the area experiencing physical drought. This complexity exists because water is integral to society' ability to produce goods s and provide services. Impacts are commonly referred to as direct and indirect. Direct impacts include reduced crop, rangeland, and forest productivity, increased fire hazard, reduced water levels, increased livestock and wildlife mortality rates, and damage to wildlife and fish habitat. The consequences of these direct impacts illustrate indirect impacts. For example, a reduction in the crop, rangeland, and forest productivity may result in reduced income for farmers and agribusiness, increased prices for food and timber, unemployment, reduced tax revenues because of reduced expenditures, foreclosures on bank loans to farmers and businesses, migration, and disaster relief programs.
Many economic impacts occur in agriculture and related sectors, including forestry and fisheries, because of the reliance of these sectors on surface and subsurface water supplies. In addition to obvious losses in yields in crop and livestock production, drought is associated with increases in insect infestations, plant disease, and wind erosion. Droughts also bring increased problems with insects and diseases to forests and reduce growth. The incidence of forest and range fires increases substantially during extended droughts, which in turn places both human and wildlife populations at higher levels of risk.
Environmental losses are the result of damages to plant and animal species, wildlife habitat, and air and water quality; forest and range fires; degradation of landscape quality; loss of biodiversity; and soil erosion. Some of the effects are short-term and conditions quickly return to normal following the end of the drought. Other environmental effects linger for some time or may even become permanent. Wildlife habitat, for example, may be degraded through the loss of wetlands, lakes, and vegetation. However, many species will eventually recover from this temporary aberration. The degradation of landscape quality, including increased soil erosion, may lead to a more permanent loss of biological productivity in the landscape. Although environmental losses are difficult to quantify, growing public awareness and concern for environmental quality has forced public officials to focus greater attention and resources on these effects.
Social impacts involve public safety, health, conflicts between water users, reduced quality of life, and inequities in the distribution of impacts and disaster relief. Many of the impacts identified as economic and environmental have social components as well. Population migration is a significant problem in many countries, often stimulated by a greater supply of food and water elsewhere. Migration is usually to urban areas within the stressed area, or to regions outside the drought area. Migration may even be to adjacent countries. When the drought has abated, the migrants seldom return home, depriving rural areas of valuable human resources. The drought migrants place increasing pressure on the social infrastructure of the urban areas, leading to increased poverty and social unrest.
Preparedness plan