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“Happy Endings” is an interesting short story by Margaret Atwood, which aims at showing that the end of a narrative is not as important as the middle. I choose this story because as a reader I understand clearly that, the middle of the story is the fundamental part which is unique. Furthermore, the narrative itself is unique as compared to others because it has multiple plots, and each story has a different version. The purpose of many versions is to ensure that everyone is satisfied, and Atwood avoided gender discrimination in her writing (Atwood 289). Nonetheless, “Happy Endings” reflects individual’s life where, one falls in love, marries, owns a home, gets kids, retires and eventually dies. On the other hand, I decided on a story by Ernest Hemingway “Hills Like White Elephants” because I find it more complicated as well as symbolic. The narrative has a deeper and contradicting meaning, and makes it difficult for readers to understand its content. At first I was puzzled of the basis of the entire narrative, but it took an exceptional perception to realize that the couple was arguing about having an abortion.
Get original essayThe main focus of this paper is comparing and contrasting two stories from different authors, “Happy Endings and Hills like White Elephants.” However, the goal is on interacting with the fiction’s environment to understand how perfect each author focuses on literature setting. Furthermore, the paper compares two stories to choose and understand how the subjects connect in a meaningful manner. The purpose thereby, is not on stating the obvious, but rather illuminates subtle differences and unexpected similarities. However, the paper uses literature settings such as imagery, symbolism, characters, and gender differences to understand how the two stories share various properties. To be precise, the paper aims at making the two papers more interesting by illustrating how the stories are different. In “Happy Endings” most readers might find it contradicting, since it is one story with different contexts in it. Thus, the paper creates a clear understanding as to why Margaret Atwood decided on the title and the content (Atwood 290). Contrary, Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” also has its uniqueness by using symbolism which readers find contradicting the narrative’s meaning (Wyche 59-70). A research strategy to identify the comparison between Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills like White Elephants” and Margret Atwood “Happy Endings” will be formulated, and reviewed journals from EBSCO data base and academic sources used to inquire on all the required information in relation to literally setting in the two stories.
The sources used were based within the time range of 2009-2018 to make sure the data is up to date. The terms to consider in finding articles and academic sources are, symbolism, metaphor, literally setting in “Hills Like White Elephants” and “Happy Endings.” The data will be retrieved from an article if only it clearly illustrates the literal connection between the two stories. The methods to use in this paper are essential and effective, since they determine the quality of evidence used. The use of many sources is important since it will allow more information to be accessed. Nonetheless, the advanced technology that develops yearly will make it easier in filtering the required data.
“Happy Endings” by Margret Atwood and “Hills like White Elephants” by Hemingway are two short stories, with different meaning. In Atwood’s narrative, the entire context uses satire in a way that she makes fun of a naive conception that an individual can have a simple happy ending (Mead 39-47). She reflects the story to normal human life in each of the plots, and readers are directed to the message that people need and must pass through obstacles in life. In the narrative by Atwood, both genders are touched in both negative and positive ways. However, her core message in ensuring both genders are fair is that life does not appear according to our expectations, but every incidence in life has a source and a purpose. To be precise, in section ‘A’ John and Mary die happily, but in other sections death does not create a happy ending. Margret Atwood short story is interesting and full of symbolism, and in a summary of the plot it has six different outcomes. Thus, the stories end differently and make them appear sarcastic since all go against different structures in a culture. In “Happy Endings” by Margret Atwood every character is used as a symbol of a social structure that the writer aims to criticize (Mead 42). Atwood perfectly uses John as a stereotype symbol that represents a male who is capable of everything. James is also used as a symbolic feature of the future generation, which is far lost of becoming cultivated individuals. However, the future generation represented by James is depicted as destructive and materialistic. Furthermore, women are also used as symbol in Atwood’s story whose core perspective is to get married, settle and bear children. In the end all the characters are a pillar of an existing culture that we live in.
Similarly, “Hills like White Elephants” by Hemingway is a story also based on the relationship between a man and a woman. Like in Atwood’s narrative, Hemingway also uses disagreements between the two characters, but on their conversation directed to Jig the female over an operation that is supposed to be a great significant on their relationship (Hemingway 402). Hemingway’s tale has two essential symbols, drinks and hills that aids with a clear understanding of it meaning (Wyche 59-70). The story begins with a vivid description of their surrounding, that the two characters were surrounded by hills and fields, thus it illustrates more on the couple’s situation. On the other hand, Atwood’s tale also begins with a vivid description, as the writer creates a perfect life for both Mary and John in section ‘A’. However, both authors create a symbolic aspect of women struggling to attain equality against their male partners. The symbolic act is raised from the theme of domestic conflict which is a life choice that cannot be undone. Furthermore, the relationship between both stories is generated from choices characters make. Whereby Hemingway uses the Jig to act against what his male partner chooses. On the other hand, “Happy Endings” themes are created by different individual’s choices, which generate an impact on other people’s lives. Cheating is also a symbolic aspect in Atwood’s narrative though it is being dominated by a single person in a relationship.
Both stories have imagery that makes them easy to understand, because the authors ensure that whatever was left unstated would be easily understood in the fiction work. According to Hemingway’s story, the image is created along white hills, which he does not illustrate why they are white. The image is used to conjure something up in the sun, but perhaps it is the pregnant belly of the American girl. However, metaphor is highly utilized in Hemingway’s story because, despite his setting on a hot place, shade is depicted as little (Wyche 59-70). On the other hand Atwood also highly uses metaphor in her work, when she uses six scenarios in one narrative (Mead 40-47). The image is viewed in domestic violence which is contributed by both genders. Thus, the six stories are an image of several issues marriage life goes through and their significant. On the other hand, Hemingway also uses a unique writing style which draws many readers to his short story. “Hills like white Elephants” is surely an attractive and profound story just like Atwood’s.
However, his writing is complicated because unlike Atwood, his story has a hidden element in the dialogue structure between the two characters featured. In writing Hemingway puts more focus on literally setting using symbolism, dialogue and also hidden meaning that drives readers to a different level. The author uses alcohol as a huge symbol, where a couple sits in a bar though in a lonely mood, they orders drinks. Despite the woman being pregnant, which seems a bother to the man, she still takes alcohol, and the writer does not illustrate whether or not if she cares about it. However, from this instance, it is obvious that the man is sure of his decision on abortion. Whereas, Atwood bases her narrative on domestic conflicts, which impacts from relationship issues. The story is on things that happen in our real life, and in most cases death provides the happy ending. Thus, the author focuses on both the mechanism of gender stereotyping. However the themes portray marriage and love relationship, illustrating values and elements in the society. Atwood reflects in her story things that marriage fulfillments bring and their significance.
Contrary, “Hills like White Elephants” by Hemingway is a story set in a unique style whereby; he uses irony, short stories and literature. It is ironic how the writer sets his charades in a mood of argument, and the basis of their disagreement is on killing an unborn child (Hemingway 33-90). However, Hemingway’s narrative has a deeper and contradicting meaning, and makes it difficult for readers to understand its content. At first I was puzzled of the basis of the entire narrative, but it took an exceptional perception to realize that the couple was arguing about having an abortion (Wyche 59-78). The argument is the story’s plot and the male domination is found as the primarily and obvious choice in the final decision. In this story, argument is used to solve domestic conflict, and the author does it perfectly by beginning the setting with the couple settled under a shade having drinks. On the other hand, Atwood narrative depicts death as the main resolution to relationship matter. In version B of Atwood’s story, she uses character development and the incident witnessed is a bit painful as compared to version A. The narrative itself is unique as compare to others because it has multiple plots, and each story has a different version. The purpose of many versions is to ensure that everyone is satisfied, the author avoided gender discrimination in her writing.
Margret Atwood story differs from Hemingway’s in the setting since, rather than focusing on plot which is a core art in narratives, she begins by exploring the theme. The story is not based on story telling it is about the art of fiction, since the author ensures that the characters take chances. At the beginning of the story, Atwood provides readers with six options on whether to continue reading the rest of her narrative. However, in version ‘A’ it is so predictable for the readers, and less is expected to happen. However, the author perfectly used the best mood to attract readers’ attention, by implicating no twist or much drama in the first section. Furthermore, in version ‘B’ of Atwood’s tale the mood changes as life is depicted to be full of complications, and the plot changes where love affair is illustrated as unequal. However, the writer considers more interest in her story unlike in the first section which was more obvious, by describing Mary and John characters as pathetic and being in a dysfunctional relationship. Contrary, Hemingway’s narrative is set in a complicated but obvious manner, by making it more predictable for readers. It is through the story’s setting that mood and tone in this story are created. Unlike in Margret Atwood’s tale where she is part of the story, Hemingway uses the third person in narrating his story over a love relationship between a man and a girl (Wyche 59-70). His story is flavored by the usage of symbols and metaphor to provide a vivid description. However, the storyline is not easily identified since the author uses heavy dialogue throughout the story. Thus, the location plays an essential role as well as the characters making the story flow.
From the time of birth, females are raised to adhere to gender roles that are considered ‘traditional’ in relationships according to societal standards. In a mostly male society, women are demanded to know how to cook, clean, look attractive, and to be sexually prepared to keep her man happy. In ‘Happy Endings,’ Atwood sets up an interaction between John and Mary. She lets the reader choose between six different circumstances that could happen after their first encounter, but she says that that option A is the only one if you prefer a happy ending. The story explores the harsh stereotyping of women, the double standards imposed by society, and the traditional idea of a man’s and woman’s place through the form of short stories that show different outcomes.
In the story ‘B’ of ‘Happy Endings,’ Margaret Atwood uses Mary, to show what a woman typically brings to a relationship. She shows this by having Mary be submissive, attractive, and passive in a relationship with a man she wants to marry. She does this because she has been conditioned to believe that she needs to be married to achieve the ultimate happiness. Mary pwho desparelty wants John, lets him take advantage of her again and again. She gives herself to him in hopes that one day, his feelings of lust will morph into feelings of love.
‘He comes to her apartment twice a week and she cooks him dinner, you’ll notice that he doesn’t even consider her worth the price of a dinner out, and after he’s eaten dinner he fucks her and after that he falls asleep’.
She cooks and cleans for him and lets him use her as his sex toy. The author is using this scenario to show us how if a man does not want to commit to a woman, it is acceptable in society. Also, it is not uncommon for women to trade sex for a man’s time and attention. The moment Mary realizes that she is over John is when John is seen taking another woman out to dinner. He never took her out to eat. ‘Mary collects all the sleeping pills and a half a bottle of sherry. You can see what kind of a woman she is by the fact that it’s not even whiskey’. At the end of the situation, Mary fantasizes about attempting to take her own life. Only to be rescued like a damsel in distress, by John. Unfortunately, John does not come for her, and the amount of pills she swallows mixed with the alcohol kills her. It seems that Mary’s suicide, shows how she wants her image to be unaffected when John finally comes around.
In scenario C, Atwood shows one of the double standards that are applied to women when it comes to relationships. ‘John, who is an older man, falls in love with Mary, and Mary, who is only twenty-two, feels sorry for him because he’s worried about his hair falling out’ (210). In this scenario, Mary meets John, who satisfies her need for love and affection. He is a married man with two kids and a ‘satisfying’ life. ‘John tells Mary how important she is to him, but of course he can’t leave his wife because a commitment is a commitment’ (211). He tells Mary that he loves her but he cannot leave his wife because he made a commitment. When he finds Mary with James, who is her age and whom she finds exciting and engaging, he shoots both of them out of rage and then kills himself. ‘He purchases a handgun, saying he needs it for target practice…and shoots the two of them and himself’ (211). Atwood is drawing the reader’s attention to how Mary pays the ultimate price for doing what makes her happy. However, when John cheats on the mother of his children behind her back, it is an entirely different situation and approved by society.
In scenario E, Atwood shows the idea that a woman’s purpose should be to be a caregiver and provider. ‘Fred has a bad heart. The remainder of the story is about how kind and understanding they both are until Fred dies’. After her husband dies she devotes her life to charity work. This goes to show that Madge’s life was meaningless after her husband’s death.’If you like, it can be ‘Madge,’ ‘cancer,’ ‘guilty and confused,’ and ‘bird watching’. Atwood also brings up that women must accept the death of her partner with ‘kindness and understanding,’ while men are allowed to grieve the loss of their partner, and spend their remaining life bird watching. This is Atwood’s way of showing how women are expected to lead a life of service while men can pursue whatever pleases them.
Every version of the story goes back to version A the ‘happy ending.’ As Atwood explains, no matter what the details are, ‘You’ll still end up with A’. She makes us believe through a series of attempts that a reader could choose B or C and get something different from A. However, in F, she finally explains that even if we went through the whole alphabet, we would still end up with A. ‘John and Mary Die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die’. After that she then goes to say that no matter the ending, beginnings are always more fun. Completely throwing light to the entire situation as if it didn’t matter.
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Get custom essayThe story provides a view of various male-dominated constraints on women in each of the options, and Atwood allows the women to play precisely into their stereotypical roles. In ‘Happy Endings,’ Atwood satirizes the typical submissive behavior of a woman in a relationship; this is done to exemplify the deep-seated programming of women by society concerning how she is supposed to be in a relationship with a man.
Happy Holi 2019 is near about us it is Festival Of Joy & Festival Of happiness. Festival of Excitement or Festival of colors. No its more than it especially when we talk about India and then more about UP And Bihar.We welcome holi and celebrate holi we spread color of happiness joy we share our happy moments, our sad moments and many more things to share. Especially a meet and greet with our friends and relatives in dawn is too special, coloring them with abeer and gulal, eating sweets makes our day. From morning till night we enjoy holi. Colored ourselves with different colors indicating the happiness of joy & sorrow or sadness of our live.
Get original essayThe festival of love & date of Holi is different every year in India! In most of India, Holi is celebrated at the end of winter, on the day after the full moon in March each year. On the eve of Holi, large bonfires are lit to mark occasion and to burn evil spirits. This is known as Holika Dahan.
Let me tell you how it all started, the real history of Holi, why people start enjoying it as a festival? Hiranyakashipu was a king in ancient India who was like a demon. He wanted to take revenge for the death of his younger brother who was killed by Lord Vishnu. So to gain power, the king prayed for years. He was finally granted a boon. But with this Hiranyakashipu started considering himself God and asked his people to worship him like God. The cruel king has a young son named Prahalad, who was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Prahalad had never obeyed his father’s order and kept on worshiping Lord Vishnu. The King was so hard-hearted and decided to kill his own son because he refused to worship him. He asked his sister ‘Holika’, who was immune to fire, to sit on a pyre of fire with Prahalad in her lap. Their plan was to burn Prahalad. But their plan did not go through as Prahalad who was reciting the name of Lord Vishnu throughout was safe, but Holika got burnt to ashes.
The defeat of Holika signifies the burning of all that is bad. After this, Lord Vishnu killed Hiranyakashipu. But it is actually the death of Holika that is associated with Holi. Because of this, in some states of India like Bihar, a pyre in the form of a bonfire is lit on the day before Holiday to remember the death of evil. But how did colors become part of Holi? This dates back to the period of Lord Krishna (reincarnation of Lord Vishnu. It is believed that Lord Krishna used to celebrate Holi with colors and hence popularized the same. He used to play Holi with his friends at Vrindavan and Gokul. They used to play pranks all across the village and thus made this a community event. That is why to date Holi celebrations at Vrindavan are unmatched.
Holi is a spring festival to say goodbye to winters. In some parts the celebrations are also associated with the spring harvest. Farmers after seeing their stores being refilled with new crops celebrate Holi as a part of their happiness. Because of this, Holi is also known as ‘Vasant Mahotsava’ and ‘Kama Mahotsava’.
Day 1 – On full moon day (Holi Purnima) colored powder and water are arranged in small brass pots on a thali. The celebration begins with the eldest male member who sprinkles color on the members of his family.
Day 2- This is also known as ‘Puno’. On this day Holika’s images are burnt and people even light bonfires to remember the story of Holika and Prahalad. Mothers with their babies take five rounds of the bonfire in a clockwise direction to seek the blessing of the God of fire.
Day 3- This day is known as ‘Parva’ and this is the last and final day of Holi celebrations. On this day colored powder and water is poured on each other. The deities of Radha and Krishna are worshipped and smeared with colors.
Chromium is a lustrous, brittle, hard metal. Its colour is silver-gray and it can be highly polished. It does not tarnish in air, when heated it burns and forms the green chromic oxide. Chromium is unstable in oxygen. Chromium main uses are in alloys such as stainless steel, in chrome plating and in metal ceramics. Chromium plating was once widely used to give steel a polished silvery mirror coating. Chromium is used in metallurgy to impart corrosion resistance. Chromium is mined as chromite (FeCr2O4) ore.
Get original essayPeople can be exposed to chromium through breathing, eating or drinking and through skin contact with chromium or chromium compounds. The level of chromium in air and water is generally low. In drinking water, the level of chromium is usually low as well, but contaminated well water may contain the dangerous chromium(IV); hexavalent chromium. For most people eating food that contains chromium(III) is the main route of chromium uptake, as chromium(III) occurs naturally in many vegetables, fruits, meats, yeasts and grains. Chromium(III) is an essential nutrient for humans and shortages may cause heart conditions, disruptions of metabolisms and diabetes. But the uptake of too much chromium(III) can cause health effects as well, for instance skin rashes.
Chromium(VI) is a danger to human health, mainly for people who work in the steel and textile industry. People who smoke tobacco also have a higher chance of exposure to chromium. Chromium(VI) is known to cause various health effects. When it is a compound in leather products, it can cause allergic reactions, such as skin rash. After breathing it in chromium(VI) can cause nose irritations and nosebleeds. The health hazards associated with exposure to chromium are dependent on its oxidation state. The metal form is of low toxicity. The hexavalent form is toxic.
Chromium enters the air, water and soil in the chromium(III) and chromium(VI) form through natural processes and human activities. The main human activities that increase the concentrations of chromium (III) are steal, leather and textile manufacturing. The main human activities that increase chromium(VI) concentrations are chemical, leather and textile manufacturing, electro painting and other chromium(VI) applications in the industry. These applications will mainly increase concentrations of chromium in water. Through coal combustion chromium will also end up in air and through waste disposal chromium will end up in soils. Most of the chromium in air will eventually settle and end up in waters or soils. Chromium in soils strongly attaches to soil particles and as a result it will not move towards groundwater. In water chromium will absorb on sediment and become immobile. when the daily dose is too low. Chromium(VI) is mainly toxic to organisms. It can alter genetic materials and cause cancer. Crops contain systems that arrange the chromium-uptake to be low enough not to cause any harm. But when the amount of chromium in the soil rises, this can still lead to higher concentrations in crops. Acidification of soil can also influence chromium uptake by crops. Plants usually absorb only chromium(III). This may be the essential kind of chromium, but when concentrations exceed a certain value, negative effects can still occur. In animal’s chromium can cause respiratory problems, a lower ability to fight disease, birth defects, infertility and tumor formation.
Cadmium is a lustrous, silver-white, ductile, very malleable metal. Its surface has a bluish tinge and the metal is soft enough to be cut with a knife, but it tarnishes in air. It is soluble in acids but not in alkalis. About three-fourths of cadmium is used in Ni-Cd batteries, most of the remaining one-fourth is used mainly for pigments, coatings and plating, and as stabilizers for plastics. Cadmium has been used particularly to electroplate steel where a film of cadmium only 0.05 mm thick will provide complete protection against the sea.
Cadmium has the ability to absorb neutrons, so it is used as a barrier to control nuclear fission. Cadmium can mainly be found in the earth's crust. It always occurs in combination with zinc. Cadmium also consists in the industries as an inevitable by-product of zinc, lead and copper extraction. Naturally a very large amount of cadmium is released into the environment. About half of this cadmium is released into rivers through weathering of rocks and some cadmium is released into air through forest fires and volcanoes. The rest of the cadmium is released through human activities, such as manufacturing.
Human uptake of cadmium takes place mainly through food. Foodstuffs that are rich in cadmium can greatly increase the cadmium concentration in human bodies. An exposure to significantly higher cadmium levels occurs when people smoke. Tobacco smoke transports cadmium into the lungs. Blood will transport it through the rest of the body where it can increase effects by potentiating cadmium that is already present from cadmium-rich food. Other high exposures can occur with people who live near hazardous waste sites or factories that release cadmium into the air and people that work in the metal refinery industry. When people breathe in cadmium it can severely damage the lungs. This may even cause death. Cadmium accumulates in kidneys, where it damages filtering mechanisms. This causes the excretion of essential proteins and sugars from the body and further kidney damage.
Cadmium waste streams from the industries mainly end up in soils. Cadmium waste streams may also enter the air through (household) waste combustion and burning of fossil fuels. Because of regulations only little cadmium now enters the water through disposal of wastewater from households or industries. Another important source of cadmium emission is the production of artificial phosphate fertilizers. Part of the cadmium ends up in the soil after the fertilizer is applied on farmland and the rest of the cadmium ends up in surface waters when waste from fertilizer productions is dumped by production companies.
Cadmium can be transported over great distances when it is absorbed by sludge. This cadmium-rich sludge can pollute surface waters as well as soils. Cadmium strongly adsorbs to organic matter in soils. When cadmium is present in soils it can be extremely dangerous, as the uptake through food will increase. Soils that are acidified enhance the cadmium uptake by plants. This is a potential danger to the animals that are dependent upon the plants for survival. Cadmium can accumulate in their bodies, especially when they eat multiple plants. Cows may have large amounts of cadmium in their kidneys due to this. Animals eating or drinking cadmium sometimes get high blood-pressures, liver disease and nerve or brain damage.
Both James Joyce's Eveline and Thomas Hardy's The Son's Veto express the negative effects that service has upon an individual's life. While Joyce uses an intimate obligation, a promise to a dying mother, Hardy's story addresses a wider cultural restriction that is created by social class systems. This paper will explore the disdain felt by both authors towards the obligation of an individual to serve others.
Get original essayBoth stories contain a crippling of sorts. The Son's Veto centers on a woman, Sophy, who, while dutifully serving the vicar, Mr. Twycott, injures her ankle and has her mobility restricted for life. "Since she was forbidden to walk and bustle about, and indeed, could not do so, it became her duty to leave" (616) Her injury is not discussed with compassion at first. It is her duty to leave. Hardy's language depicts service to the house before consideration of such social compassion as asking for a form of worker's compensation. The novel's connection between service and its negative effects foreshadows the later crippling of her ability to marry out of joy due to her son's wishes.
Even in her first marriage, Sophy is unable to express free will due to her servile position. "'No, Sophy; lame or not lame, I cannot let you go. You must never leave me again'" (616). It is not her choice to get married; alas, she marries anyway. Not because marriage will help her financial status, but instead because of the fact that "she had a respect for him which almost amounted to veneration" (Broadview, pg. 616). Sophy's respect comes from her position as his inferior. As the serving class, she has been crippled.
Joyce constructs the character Eveline in a similar manner to Hardy's Sophy. The collection in which she appears, Dubliners, emphasizes Joyce's conception of Dublin as a place of paralysis. Yet, even in the story's introduction, Eveline appears as a girl whom has had her decision making abilities crippled. There was a time when she could play in the fields but "then a man from Belfast bought the field and built houses on it" (20). Even when the field was still present, her father would interrupt the games by chasing them down with his blackthorn stick. Her inability to make decisions is coupled with the physical threat of her father in this scene where service to the economy has trampled the individual's enjoyment of the land.
Furthermore, Eveline's agency is restricted by her family's needs. Her mother has passed away and her father has begun to drink heavily. His behavior forces her to "always give her entire wages-seven shillings" to feed the family (21). Even then, when Eveline has abandoned any possibility of using her money for her own advancement, she must argue with her father and, only at the last minute, hurry out on Saturday night to shop for the family. She has been economically handicapped, much like Sophy with her ankle.
Significantly, Sophy's ankle is not the last of her troubles. Upon her husband's death, her son refuses to let her marry an old acquaintance, Sam, because of the cultural stain it would place upon him as a 'gentleman'. He forces her to swear to God and claims "I owe this to my father" (621). Not only does he prevent her from marrying a man that cares for her, but also, Randolph manages to become crippled himself. He, the priest, who by position is supposed to be a beacon of light, appears "black as a cloud" at his mother's funeral (621). His final appearance symbolizes the darkness that he has driven into his soul. He has lost his father and his love for his mother a long time ago and now the effects of serving his social class and his father's name have blackened him with evil.
In comparison, Eveline after deciding to hold true her promise to "keep the home together as long as she could" as her deceased mother instructed, appears ghost-like. She appears paralyzed or dead with "her white face...passive, like a helpless animal. Her eyes (giving him) no sign of love or farewell or recognition" (23). She is corpselike due to her service of her mother's last wishes. Eveline could have left for financial stability and love and the tropics but instead she is held behind as if her mother's cold, dead hand had reached up from the grave to keep her there.
Both Hardy and Joyce manage to demonstrate the negative effects of service on an individual's ability to dream. Both main characters dream of marriage and stability and a more positive life. However, their position of social, financial, and emotional servitude restricts their ability to pursue that happiness. Both novels suggest that it is only through liberation from servitude to others that the individual can achieve true freedom.
The poems under study are Neutral Tones ("NT") and I Look Into My Glass ("Glass"). Both poems focus on loss of a different kind: "Glass" expresses the loss of Hardy's youth; "NT" focuses on the death of Hardy's estranged wife, it grieves the loss of their love. Although the losses are different, both poems use the vehicle of time to express Hardy's sadness, "Glass" through the passage of a day and "NT" through the passage of the seasons.
Get original essayIn "Glass", the verbs cleverly highlight the passage of time and the pain of the loss of Hardy's youth. In the first two lines, "look" and "view" are both in the present tense: Hardy is both literally looking into his mirror and figuratively looking at himself, being both retrospective and introspective. However, with the sight of his aging skin, the tense quickly changes to the conditional. Hardy wishes that his heart were as "thin" as his "wasting skin". He wishes his heart weren't so full of feeling and passion, that he had the moderate, dispassionate feelings of an old man; for then it would not hurt if someone did not reciprocate his feelings. In the final stanza, he reverts to the present tense, and the verbs he uses here highlight both his pain and his passivity. Time, personified, is the aggressor and is robbing him of his physical youth. The assonance in the last stanza, emphasises the aggression of time, as does the sudden quickening of pace in the last two lines and the use of active verbs ("shakes", "throbbings").
Hardy feels lonely, unloved and slightly betrayed by the "hearts grown cold to me". If his heart were not so full of passion, then he could approach old age and death without distress, in a calm fashion. He grieves that this is not the case and that, though his body is old, he still has the feelings of a young man. He thinks time has been mischievous by taking away his youthful looks whilst retaining all his feelings. The poem is dominated by contrasting images of eve and noon, inward youth and external decay. He compares his body to the end of a day, whereas his emotions are at the meridian. Passion, which is at its zenith, seems to shake the “fragile frame” of the body. Hardy projects the image of a person suffering passively at the hands of others through phrases such as “hearts grown cold to me” and “Time, to make me grieve”.
In "NT" Hardy uses the seasons to convey time. He begins by describing winter in the past tense. He describes it as dull, grey and lifeless. All of this is a metaphor for the aftermath of his relationship with his wife, describing the lack of feeling between them, where once there had been joy and warmth. He talks of "the starving sod", inferring that there is no sustenance, warmth or comfort. His use of words, such as "fallen" and "starving" highlight the death of the love that once existed between them. Hardy deliberately doesn't describe his wife in the first stanza, preferring, instead, to describe the bleakness of the scene. This bleakness is also emphasised by the lack of movement and energy seen throughout this stanza. He then goes on to describes his wife's eyes as cold, uninterested, bored and perhaps a little perplexed (as to the fact that she had ever loved Hardy). They passed some social niceities between them but these words sounded even more hollow because of the lack of warmth, love and intimacy that had once existed between them. Hardy then goes onto to describe his wife's smile as dead, but even that dead smile disappeared, to be replaced by a bitter rictus grin. Hardy is haunted by the image of his wife's face, silhouetted by a cold, harsh sun, a stark tree and a desolate pond edged with the grey leaves of the ash, a tree which symbolises sacrifice. The title of the poem implies that Hardy can speak of his wife in a neutral voice because there are no feelings there, only emptiness. It also refers to the fact that they just exchanged banalities and didn't have a full-on row, However, Hardy is not neutral. He is very negative and embittered by the experience, saying "that love deceives". Now, every time Hardy feels unloved, wronged or hurt, he sees his wife's face by the pond. His bitterness is further emphasised by the use of the phrase "God curst sun", with its short, harsh sounds. The overall impression of Hardy's dramatic monologue is of decay and the loss of love and vitality.
Hardy coveys grief in both of these poems using the passage of time and many other methods (some analysed above). "Glass" is thoughtful and there is rather a slow pace, which is emphasised by the regular rhyme scheme and numerous punctuations. "NT" is not as languid in pace and has a "choppier", more aggressive tone. Strongly negative words, such as "starving", "deadest", "die", "deceives", "wrong", "God curst" and "ominous" dominate. The main difference to me is that, in "Glass", he comes across as sad, full of lamentation and suffering but in a passive, almost accepting fashion. In "NT", he comes across as angry, hurt and bitter. Whilst he cannot have done anything to stop or slow down the passage of time and the aging of his body, one wonders what he did to his wife to make her feel such antipathy and bitterness towards him. In "Glass", Hardy is almost harking back to the good old days, when he was young in body and heart. In "NT", it is as if there were no good old days (when obviously he was once in love with his wife, otherwise he wouldn't have married her and wouldn't have felt so bitter towards her- the love/hate oxymoron.) It is as if he wishes those days had never been, that he had never married. One poem is full of sadness and regret, the other full of anger and pain. All of these feelings are manifestations of grief.
They say grief moves through denial (which Hardy does in the first stanza of "NT" by deliberately not talking about his wife), to anger, pain, acceptance and sadness. Hardy knows aging is inevitable but grieves the effect time is having on his body. Hardy grieves the relationship he had with his wife but was an active participant in the relationship; he might well be cursing himself for having married her in the first place, thinking he could have saved himself the pain.
The period of 1919 to 1929 saw a change in the history of the United States of America. The Great Migration was on with an influx of blacks moving from the south to the north in search of better opportunities. Many settled in Harlem, located in Manhattan, New York; their eagerness and energy transformed into a creative fusion giving birth to the Harlem Renaissance. One aspect of the Harlem Renaissance was the literary phenomenon from which Poets such as Langston Hughes emerged. 'Harlem' by Langston Hughes has a Marxist meaning as this era influenced Hughes's writing skills.
Get original essayThe critical theory technique of Marxism is a critique of society that combines political economy and ideology, which is found in literature and art. There was an impressive number of black poets who were known for being Marxist during their careers based on how they presented their views in their writing. The use of Marxism allows the author/poet to communicate their views whether cultural, economic or political in a context that enables the reader to gain a perspective of the social background at the time the work was done. Langston Hughes was among the few black poets who applied this technique in his work.
Line one of the poem ‘Harlem’ opens as a question; “What happens to a dream deferred?” The American Dream became a reality in the 1920s. Blacks were moving north in order to escape segregation and widespread lynching that was still prominent in the South. They saw an opportunity to have better lives in the north where slavery was abolished. The ‘American dream’ was the hope of many and their families. The use of the word ‘deferred,’ which means to put off or delay, gives the view to the fact that though there was a dream being chased, somehow, it got delayed.
“Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun/ Or fester like a sore - And then run?”. The comparison between one's dream and that of a dried-up raisin and a festering is sore is not only dramatic but also disturbing. A dream can be placed on permanent hold which the raisin signifies; however, the longer the waits before taking necessary action the harder it becomes to accomplish. At the time this poem was written, Harlem had descended what it was in the early 1902s at the birth of the Harlem Renaissance to a municipality of squalor and poverty. The Great Depression forced investors to withdraw, and with them went jobs and the booming entertainment industry. The dreams of many were dwindling as the citizens of Harlem now lived in desperation and deprivation.
Additionally, Hughes was a master at his craft, the use of similes, imagery and metaphors does not go unnoticed. “Does it stink like rotten meat? The imagery of rotten meat was perhaps used to indicate the change that ensued from a societal standpoint. Harlem was now “Cramped in, bitterly poor - generally, unemployment rates in Harlem would be double the general rate across New York - Harlem was an unhealthy place to live”. Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet? has a negative connotation to it as sugary food hardens over time. The dreamer who defers also signifies the dream being lost. With the changes that took place during that era, Harlem has lost the opportunities it once held leaving its residents frustrated where the dreams that they once held must be relinquished.
Relinquishing the dream that they held on to for so many years must have been as hard, looking back from where they came. The ramifications that came with being black was one that was burdensome and “Maybe it just sags like a heavy load”. Understanding the narrative from a political stance, the people of Harlem were forced to either leave or remain in what had become a community prevalent with violence. The last line “Or does it explode?” gives the air of situation become explosive after a time. The American Dream was never attained and those who stayed were forced to live in squalor.
Hughes Marxist technique in was able to communicate the social structures being faced by African Americans after the post-World War 2 era and into the 1970s. Marxism provides a description and changes the status quo. ‘Harlem’ allows the reader to understand that there are consequences for not following your dreams, whether done so bye complacency or circumstances. The once bright dreams of Harlem had either been dimmed or snuffed out as prejudice towards blacks and equal rights where still unattainable.
This short poem is one of Hughes’s most famous works. It is probably the most common Langston Hughes poem taught in schools today. Hughes wrote 'Harlem' in 1951, and it addresses one of his most common themes - the limitations of the American Dream for African Americans. The poem has eleven short lines in four stanzas, and all but one line are questions.
Get original essayIn the early 1950s, America was still racially segregated. African Americans were burdened with the relic of slavery, which essentially rendered them, second-class citizens, in the eyes of the law, particularly in the South. The change was brewing, however. Hughes wrote 'Harlem' only three years before the Supreme Court decision in the 1954 case Brown vs. Board of Education that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. Thus, Hughes was intimately aware of the challenges he faced as a black man in America, and the tone of his work reflects his complicated experience: he can come across as sympathetic, enraged, hopeful, melancholy, or resigned.
Hughes titled this poem “Harlem” after the New York neighborhood that became the center of the Harlem Renaissance, a major creative explosion in music, literature, and art that occurred during the 1910s and 1920s. Many African American families saw Harlem as a sanctuary from the frequent discrimination they faced in other parts of the country.
Unfortunately, Harlem’s glamour faded at the beginning of the 1930s when the Great Depression set in which left many of the African American families who had prospered in Harlem poor once more. The speaker contemplates the fate of a “dream deferred.” It is not entirely clear who the speaker is –perhaps the poet, perhaps a professor, perhaps an undefined black man or woman. The question is a powerful one, and there is a sense of silence after it. Hughes then uses vivid analogies to evoke the image of a postponed dream. He imagines it drying up, festering, stinking, crusting over, or, finally, exploding. All of these images, while not outright violent, have a slightly dark tone to them. Each image is potent enough to make the reader smell, feel, and taste these abandoned dreams. According to Langston Hughes, an abandoned dream does not simply vanish, rather, it undergoes an evolution, approaching a physical state of decay.
The speaker does not refer to a specific dream. Rather, he (or she) suggests that African Americans cannot dream or aspire to (be) great things because of the environment of oppression that surrounds them. Even if they do dare to dream - their grand plans will fester for so long that they end up rotting or even exploding.
Being that the University of Florida is home to a large and diverse population, it comes to no surprise that the Harn Museum of Art, located on the outskirts of the university's campus, successfully captures, and represents the diversity found within the university through its global exhibitions. With exhibitions such as the Peace, Power, and Prestige: Metal Arts in Africa exhibition that highlights the works from African communities, the Resilient Visions: Haitian Art exhibition that showcased art from Haitian culture, and the Conserving Treasures: Jamini Roy and Modern Indian Art exhibition that demonstrated works inspired from Indian culture, the Harn Museum of Art reflect and serves as an effective ambassador for cultural diversity in Gainesville.
Get original essayWith minority groups such as Hispanics, African Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans collectively making up 43.3% of the student population at the University of Florida as of 2019 (out of a total of 52,218 students), it is oftentimes difficult for minority students and staff alike to find mediums that serve as connections to their cultural roots (Florida, and Population). Individuals that fall under this minority category, like me, often find it difficult to connect with others when there is a lack of the cultural surroundings that the individual has been accustomed to and has grown up with. With that being said, the Harn Museum of Art provides a space for students, staff, and Gainesville locals to observe, learn, understand, and appreciate various works of art. The museum serves as a ground for individuals to get in touch with and learn about various cultures, as well as have minority students being able to view works of art and artifacts that relate to the cultures that they identify with. As is stated in the Harn Museum of Art's mission statement, '…The museum brings the joy of experiencing great works of art to diverse university, community, national and global audiences through relevant and enlightening art collections, exhibitions, and learning opportunities'. Within the Harn Museum of Art are several exhibitions that capture this sense of global diversity, stretching from the Haitian art exhibit to the Latin America exhibit ('About Us | Harn Museum Of Art'). In this paper, we will explore these diverse exhibits and discuss their relation to the diversity found in Gainesville.
South America is a culturally rich continent that consists of several Latin-American countries such as Colombia, Guatemala, Ecuador, Venezuela, and so forth. Being that Latin-America covers a large region filled with various ethnic groups and is home to roughly 600 million people, it is filled with a high level of diversity, culture, and tradition. Within this culture and tradition comes the dances, dishes, and tropical landscapes that Latin-America is most known for. However, despite the large population of Latin-America, only 20.7% of the student population in the University of Florida identify as Hispanic/Latinx (roughly 9,923 students) (Florida, and Population). With this small student population in combination with the few Hispanic/Latinx-influenced areas in Gainesville, it is often difficult for Hispanic and Latinx students to connect with Gainesville using their cultural roots. This is where the Harn Museum of Art plays a crucial role.
In the past, from November 2016 to November 2017, the Harn Museum of Art held an exhibition that highlighted and celebrated artists and works originating from South America. The works ranged from photographs to paintings and focused on various broad themes. One of the pieces that were showcased in this exhibition was created by Angel Botello and was named El Encuentro ('Spotlight: Latin America | Harn Museum Of Art')[image: ].
This piece depicts two groups of people, presumed to be Christopher Columbus and Haiti natives, in a state of conflict. This work has intricate colors and details embedded within it, as well as a high level of emotion. Botello, the creator of the art piece, was of Spanish-Puerto Rican descent and was known for his use of bold colors and depiction of what island life was like. Throughout his life, Botello traveled to many areas such as Haiti and Cuba, which allowed him to grasp an understanding of what life was like in various areas of the world. With this being said, Botello may act as a cultural medium to many students that identify with Botello and his work. Hispanic/Latinx individuals may feel a strong sense of community with Botello as he is of Spanish descent, as well as the art he produces is that they are heavily influenced by Hispanic and Latin culture. Even individuals who are Haitian may find that their culture is embedded into the works of Botello as he was heavily influenced by Haitian culture as he traveled and lived in Haiti for a duration of his life.
In essence, despite the Latin-American exhibit only having roughly 50 pieces, much can be drawn from one piece alone and demonstrates the amount of culture that can be embedded into the works of art the Harn Museum of Art showcases.
Haiti, a mountainous country that is one of the most heavily populated in the world, holds a population of nearly 7 million people with an influence on French and African culture. Despite having strong ties to these cultures, Haiti is known for following its independence by having distinct traditions in its music, foods, rituals, dance, religion, and dress. It is said that the Haitian culture is distinct from any other African or New World cultures. With that in mind, it is fair to say that Haitians are deeply embedded in their culture and hold it to high regard. However, even with a population of roughly 7 million people, almost 50,000 leaving the country every year to travel to the United States, the student population of those who identify as Black/African-American at the University of Florida is only 6.6% as of 2019 (Florida, and Population). With only a small influx of students who identify as Black/African-American, it can be hard for individuals to truly connect with their distinct cultures in Gainesville. Despite the lack of representation these students may feel that they have, the Harn Museum of Art takes into account various cultures into the art exhibits and serves a medium of culture for Haitian and other African individuals.
In the past, from April 2018 to November 2018, the Harn Museum of Art held an exhibit dedicated to honoring various pieces of art made by Haitian artists than spanned from 1969 to the first decade of the 21st century. These pieces revealed much of the Haitian culture, revealing what every day Haitian life was like to discussing historical and political scenes from Haitian life. One of the pieces that were showcased in the exhibit was made by an unknown artist and titled Bottle for Vodou Spirit Damballah, depicting what looks like a snake wrapping around a beautifully-colored bottle.
Haiti, as well as other African-influenced countries, are known for their religious belief typically known as 'Vodou' (or 'voodoo' to the outside world). This religious practice combines Catholic and African beliefs and focuses on healing the sick. This religious practice has several names, being known as mambo, bokò, or gangan, and are held to high regard as people make pilgrimages to holy sites to practice these beliefs as the religion is considered to be sacred. As for the serpent that is shown in this piece, is it named the 'Damballah' and is believed to be the life force who created the universe. He is the being that is believed to help sustain the world and creating sources of life. It is said that the Damballah lives in sources of water, perhaps explaining why the piece is of a serpent wrapped around a bottle, possibly containing a liquid of some sort.
As has been discussed, this one-piece reveals much about Haitian culture and serves as an effective medium for teaching those who do not know much about Haitian culture, as well as representing those who do identify as Haitian. With the little representation of Black/African-American culture that is found in Gainesville, the Harn Museum of Art does its part in representing all cultures and serving as a link to various cultures with the exhibits they include in their museum.
With one of the world's oldest cultures, India is home to more than 1.2 million people and is regarded as the second-most populous nation after China. Many consider India to be the first and supreme culture in the world with its eccentric religions, foods, textiles, clothes, architecture, and art. Despite India's large population, only about 8.3% of the student population within the University of Florida identifies as Asian as of 2019 (Contributor). With only 3,989 students out of 52,218 identifying as Asian, there is little to no representation of Asian culture within Gainesville (Florida, and Population). With little to no representation, students that identify with Asian culture may feel 'out of place' and unable to connect with their roots and with others. However, the Harn Museum of Art holds several exhibitions highlighting and representing Asian culture.
In the past, from March 2018 to August 2018, the Harn Museum of Art held an exhibition that showcased the works of Jamini Roy, one of the most important and influential figures of modern Indian art. These works of art from Roy, 45 pieces in total, highlighted Indian culture, and gives representation to those who identify within this Asian ethnicity. Some of the pieces that were shown in this exhibit were titled Gopini and Saint Francis, which displayed individuals wearing traditional Indian attire.
Intricate and colorful clothing is closely tied to Indian culture. With various colors, textiles, fabrics, and patterns, Indian attire is famously known to be eye-catching. Clothing is crucial to Indian culture as it allows people to express themselves and represent their culture in traditional ways. In these pieces, the individuals depicted in the paintings look as though they are wearing a dhoti, a traditional piece of clothing for men worn for special occasions that are tied around the waist and hang near the legs (Contributor). The creator of these pieces, Jamini Roy, used a traditional style when creating his artwork, perhaps explaining why he decided to paint individuals wearing traditional clothing (“Jamini Roy Biography – Jamini Roy on artnet”). Being that Roy was a man, he was most likely close to the traditional clothing of men.
Through these pieces, much can be told and shown about Indian culture, primarily the traditional clothing and patterns associated with it. The Harn Museum of Art holds several pieces such as the two discussed above that teaches and showcases the culture from various ethnicities and countries, as well as gives representation to those who identify with the cultures and ethnicities presented.
The Middle East is a vastly large region that covers areas such as Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, Morocco, and so on. It is home to an estimate of 300 million people and holds several cultures such as Turkish, Iranian, and Arab. Through a historical perspective, the Middle East is considered to be the 'cradle of civilization' and the birthplace of the world's major religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism ('Introduction To The Middle East'). However, despite the Middle East is rich in its culture, religion, foods, clothing, landscape, and languages, the proportion of students who identify as Middle Eastern in the University of Florida is a mere 3.5% as of 2019 (Florida, and Population). However, this percentage is an extremely inaccurate representation as most individuals who consider themselves to be Middle Eastern are often considered to fall under the 'White' ethnicity being that there is no specific ethnicity for Middle Eastern individuals. With this being said, not only is there a small student population of Middle Eastern students at the University of Florida, but there are Middle Easterners who are not considered to be Middle Eastern because there is not an ethnicity for it. This gives an inaccurate and unfair description for Middle Easterners, who may feel detached from their culture and background. However, with the Harn Museum of Art in place to showcase exhibits containing Middle Eastern art and artifacts, individuals who identify as Middle Eastern can connect to their culture and be represented.
In June 2017, the Harn Museum of Art held an exhibition dedicated to showcasing cloth, metalworks, and calligraphy inspired by Arabic artists and made in the Middle Eastern region. One of the pieces was created by Yelimane Fall and was titled Jawartu, Line 22. The work was of painting that showed Arabic calligraphy in several, bold colors.
The Arabic language and writing are considered to be a sacred part of Middle Eastern culture. The calligraphy behind each letter is intricate – one of which I consider to be complex and beautiful. Yelimane Fall, who is a master calligrapher, found beauty within Arabic writing and creates paintings based on lyrics from the poem 'Jawartu', which protects and promotes those who read it. Each of the paintings that Fall makes illustrates one of the twenty-nine verses found within the ode.
Though this piece is composed of mostly calligraphy, it represents an extremely crucial and sacred part of Middle Eastern culture. There is much to learn and appreciate in this work of art alone, as well as the other pieces found within this exhibit. Those who identify with Middle Eastern culture can appreciate this piece and exhibit greatly, as well as feel represented through the Harm Museum of Art.
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Get custom essayWith the exhibitions and art discussed in this essay, it is clear to see that the Harn Museum of Art serves as an effective ambassador for cultural diversity in Gainesville as it holds several pieces that honors and respects various cultures. Minority groups that identify with these different cultures can feel as though they are getting reputation through the artwork that is displayed in the Harn Museum of Art. Even those who do not identify with these cultures and ethnicities can learn much from the artwork displayed in the Harn Museum of Art. Despite Gainesville being a small town with few culturally diverse areas for minorities to connect with, the Harn Museum of Art has and will continue to be an area of representation in Gainesville. That being said, the Harn Museum of Art has a clear connection to the cultural demographics to the cultural diversity found in Gainesville and at the University of Florida.
Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories is in many ways a simple fairy tale about magical people in a magical land. Rushdie himself admits that he first came up with the basic idea for the novel while telling stories to his son in the bathtub, and indeed, the simple structure and plot of the novel make it an ideal children's book (Nelson). While he wrote the book ostensibly for his son (as both a child and an adult), one wonders what Rushdie's other motivations and thoughts were while writing. So many aspects of the book have direct parallels to Rushdie's own circumstances and to the world he saw around him at the time that one must look at all the complexities and not simply discount the book as children's literature. What complexities, divisions, and issues did Rushdie consider in his creation of the Haroun narrative?
Get original essayOne cannot deny the importance of Rushdie's own personal circumstances in the writing of Haroun and the Sea of Stories because Rushdie wrote it for such personal reasons. After Rushdie's publication of The Satanic Verses, and Ayatollah Khomeini's subsequent issuing of the fatwa calling for his death, Rushdie went into hiding in Great Britain and was unable to see his family for significant periods of time. Were it not for this inability to communicate directly with his son, very likely Rushdie would not have written this book. In very real and tangible ways, Rushdie saw and felt his work being censored at this time, and so censorship becomes a major theme in Haroun, his first post-fatwa publication. As a direct connection, the character of Khattam-Shud, the dark poisoner of the Sea of Stories, closely parallels Khomeini, who is Rushdie's own enemy of stories. In the same way Khomeini tries to maintain the one truth of his country's national and religious identity by silencing Rushdie's story, Khattam-Shud maintains control over the Chupwalas by silencing them all completely. Khattam-Shud's ultimate goal is to control all, and he says, "inside every single story, inside every Stream in the Ocean, there lies a world, a story-world, that I cannot Rule at all," so he must obliterate the source of stories, just as Khomeini would have liked to obliterate the source of The Satanic Verses (Rushdie, 161).
Khattam-Shud, like Khomeini, wishes to create a world in which there is only one truth: one right and one wrong, and stories represent a divergence from that truth. Rushdie prefers to look at the world as being dynamic and narrative, as Hassumani says, "Rushdie's...novels have always pointed to the dangers involved in buying into binary systems that simplify experience into either/or categories... Religious or political leaders who present it as a system of binaries are actively creating a myth and then selling it as 'reality'" (Hassumani, 99). Rushdie criticizes this tendency of politicians to create their own "realities" when he compares Rashid's storytelling to that of politicians, saying, "Nobody ever believed anything a politico said, even though they pretended as hard as they could that they were telling the truth...But everyone had complete faith in Rashid, because he always admitted that everything he told them was completely untrue" (Rushdie, 20). Rushdie again highlights this tendency of politicians to create their own versions of reality when Haroun and Rashid meet Snooty Buttoo. Buttoo pays for Rashid's stories, but insists on "up-beat sagas only" and says, "If you want pay, then just be gay" (Rushdie, 49). By attempting to create a falsely happy world for his constituents, Buttoo is censoring Rashid, and while Rashid feels this is wrong, he compromises his ethics and goes along with things because he needs the money. After Haroun and Rashid's adventure on Kahani, they must still return to earth and Rashid must face his obligation to tell stories for Mr. Buttoo. His words, "You'd better be good; or else" are an implied threat to the physical well being of Rashid if he does not comply with his demands (Rushdie, 205), much in the same way that writers living under restrictive governments in much of the middle east were threatened with violence if their writing in any way challenged the ruling ideology. As Rashid tells his story, the audience realizes the story's connection to their own situation of being ruled by a corrupt politician, and begins to chant, "Mister Buttoo- go for good; Mr. Buttoo-khattam-shud" (Rushdie, 206). This use of the words "khattam-shud" connect the corrupt politician to the evil character in Rashid's story, but also in this context mean literally "completely finished," and state clearly that the people of the Valley of K will no longer tolerate a leader who inhibits their free speech. They indeed drive him out of their town, leaving them "free to choose leaders they actually liked" (Rushdie, 207).
Rushdie again highlights the importance of free speech when he so strikingly contrasts the Guppies with the Chupwalas. The Guppies, perpetually full of talk, do not even understand the concept of censoring themselves based on who is around them, much less the concept of censorship of others. When discussing their course of action, Haroun says, "that sounds like mutinous talk to me," but fail to comprehend his meaning and ask, "what's a Mutinus...is it a plant?" (Rushdie, 118). In fact, Rushdie asks quite overtly through his character of Butt the Hoopoe, "what is the point of giving persons Freedom of Speech...if you then say the must not utilize same? And is not the Power of Speech the greatest Power of all?" (Rushdie, 119). Here, Rushdie is perhaps referring to and denouncing the more covert censorship of the Western world, rather than the open censorship of Khomeini's Iran. In the western world, in a way that is more like what Haroun is used to, dissenters are not silenced, but instead, people simply do not utilize their freedom of speech because they are afraid or simply apathetic. When the battle between the Guppees and Chupwalas occurs, Rushdie portrays free speech and open communication as the clear reason for the Guppee's victory. He tells us, "all those arguments and debates, all that openness, had created powerful bonds of fellowship between [the Guppees]. The Chupwalas, on the other hand, turned out to be a disunited rabble," showing that the lack of communication and trust between Chupwalas led to their quick downfall (Rushdie, 185). Indeed, he goes as far as having the Chupwalas call the Guppees "liberators." This seems a gross over simplification from which we cannot draw direct parallels to the political reality of the day. Would Iranians have felt liberated had they been freed from the rule of Khomeini? On the contrary, many Iranians hailed Khomeini for bringing back their Islamic roots and creating a cohesive national identity for Iran. Indeed, many agreed Khomeini's attempt at censoring because they, like Khomeini, saw Rushdie's Satanic Verses, as an attack on and an open rejection of Islam. Rushdie does subtly admit that not all of the Chupwalas wish to be freed from their oppression in his introduction of the suicide bomber. While in character with the children's story feel of the rest of the novel, the juggler of the bomb is in fact a reference to real life fanatics, the most publicized of which are Muslim fanatics, who willingly sacrifice their own lives in order to destroy any contradictions to their one truth.
One point which Rushdie tries to impress upon his readers is the superficiality of this idea of a single truth because it leads to artificial divisions between people who do not agree on what constitutes that one truth. As Hassumani says, "Haroun attempts to deconstruct such binary oppositions by revealing them to be cultural constructs and attempts to envision the Ocean as an alternative site of heterogeneity" (95). Rushdie explores this idea of cultural constructs in his creation of the "Invisible Wall" between Chup and Gup, and the blatantly artificial means they have for maintaining such stark division. As Butt the Hoopoe explains to Haroun, "Thanks to the genius of the Eggheads at P2C2E House, the rotation of Kahani has been brought under control. As a result the Land of Gup is bathed in Endless Sunshine, while over in Chup it's always the middle of the night" (Rushdie, 80). Because of the artificial barrier of the Invisible Wall, Guppees assume that Chupwalas are evil dark creatures without ever having met any of them. Haroun, however, admits that he thinks that, "if Guppees and Chupwalas didn't hate each other so, they might actually find each other pretty interesting" (Rushdie, 125). This situation has direct parallels in the way Rushdie viewed the real world. Being Indian and Pakistani, but having spent much of his life in Great Britain, Rushdie identifies with both the Muslim and the "Western" worlds, and sees the sometimes stark division between the two as artificial. Just in the way that the Guppees put up an invisible wall, there exists between the occidental and oriental worlds a barrier that causes one to judge the other ever without having enough information to do so.
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Get custom essayAmidst Rushdie's vivacious fantasy world, he manages to communicate his criticism of our world's many sets of binary divisions. He wants the reader to recognize that to know what conflict is, one must understand the complexities behind it and appreciate that nothing can be definitively divided between black and white. In this way, Rushdie's fanciful narrative makes more sense of conflicts between Western and Eastern worlds than the news media, which tend to portray the world in terms of "us and them."
Harper Lee was an American novelist who was born in Monroeville, Alabama on April 28, 1926. She was the youngest child of four. Lee studied law at the university of alabama for four years and left before taking a degree, moving to New York, and pursuing her career as a writer. She began to write satires, reviews, and columns all at the age of seven. While in New York, she was working as an airline reservations clerk and began to write several essays and short stories, which neither of them were published, but an agent encouraged her to expand one of her stories into a novel.
Get original essayLee was most known for one of her most successful novels, To Kill a Mockingbird. Since its publication, it then received some awards such as the Pulitzer Prize, for fiction in 1961 and was made into a major motion picture in 1962 (Rollyson 1), the Alabama Library Association Award, and the Brotherhood Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird is narrated by Jean Louise 'Scout' Finch, a mature lady who is pondering her transitioning in the South during segregation. Scout, her brother, Jem; their dad, Atticus; the legal counselor; and Scout’s friend; Dill depend on Lee's recollections of her own adolescence with her siblings, father, and future creator Truman Capote (Ashburn 1). The kids are lucky in having a dad who boldly won't fall down before the prejudice of the townspeople, rather looking after the man he knows is honest. The novel appears to have suffering intrigue principally on account of its treatment of racial bias (it is just plain wrong to slaughter a mockingbird, the kids are told, and the mockingbird is compared to Tom Robinson, the wrong blamed dark man). Lee's aptitude in bringing out Scout's excursion to development, the sentimental and Gothic components of the story, and Lee's misleadingly straightforward style assist her with recounting to a specifically unpredictable story.
A theme in one of Harper’s novels in To Kill A Mockingbird, is courage and cowardice. Scout experiences a few various types of courage during her childhood. The most widely recognized meaning of boldness is being strong even with physical threat. Atticus shows this when he stops in the way of a rabid dog and drops it with a rifle shot. Different sorts of courage, however, depend more on moral determination. For example, Atticus talks charmingly to Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, despite the fact that she consistently heaps verbal abuse on him and his kids. On occasions like these, Scout says, she thought 'my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.' Mrs. Dubose shows the children another exercise in mental fortitude when Jem is sentenced to go through two hours daily perusing to her as repayment for the blossoms he harmed. Scout follows along as Jem visits after school to peruse Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe, a story of chivalry and heroism. Mrs. Dubose's conduct appears to be odd; she regularly floats off during the readings and starts to slobber and have seizures. After her death a few months after, the children find that she was attempting to overdose on morphine, a painkiller. Jem's reading filled in as an interruption that helped her pass on liberated from the addiction. Attucs tells his kids that in spite of her issues, Mrs. Dubose was the most valiant individual he at any point knew, for genuine courage is 'when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.' Atticus shows a similar sort of courage in battling a similar Robinson case; in spite of the fact that he realizes it would be impossible for a white jury to restore a decision for 'not guilty,' he in any case contends the case as well as could be expected. As opposed to Atticus' courage stands the fearful conduct of Bob Ewell, who never legitimately faces those whom he thinks have wronged him. He vandalizes Judge Taylor's home when he thinks nobody is there; he tosses rocks and agitates Helen Robinson, Tom's widow, from a distance; and ambushes Atticus' kids as they walk alone on an abandoned road around night time.
The story of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird is set in the 1930's, where blacks were all the while being discriminated against. In spite towards the end of slavery just about a century prior To Kill A Mockingbird was distributed in 1960 (President Lincoln gave the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863), African Americans were as yet prevented numerous from securing their essential rights. Even though Lee sets her novel in the South of the 1930s, conditions were minimal improved by the mid 1960s in America. The Civil Rights development was simply coming to fulfillment during the 1950s, and its standards were starting to discover a voice in American courts and the law. The well known 1954 U.S. Supreme Court trial of Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas declared the long-held practice act of isolation in state funded schools unlawful and immediately prompted integration of other open foundations. Though, there was as yet significant protection from these changes, and may states, particularly those in the South, took a very long time before they completely incorporated their schools. Different ways blacks were underestimated by society incorporated the isolation of open bathrooms and water fountains, just as the act of driving blacks to ride in the back of transports. This prejudice form was tested by a retail establishment store worker named Rosa Parks. After she was captured for neglecting to yield her seat to a white passenger, social equality pioneers started a boycott of the transport system in Montgomery, Alabama, on December 5, 1995. The primary chief of the boycott was the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Alongside other black ministers, for example, Charles K. Steele and Fred Shuttlesworth, King sorted out the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in January, 1957, one of the main associations that helped end segregation by the mid-1960s. That year that Lee won an agreement for the incomplete composition of To Kill A Mockingbird, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which gave punishments to the violation of voting rights and made the Civil Rights Commission. African Americans would not see security and enforcement of every one of their privileges, however, until well into the following decade, when the Civil Rights Act of 1968 were passed. These laws restricted racial segregation from open spots, working environments, surveying spots, and housing. The justice system was likewise unfair during the 1950s, as blacks were avoided from juries and could be captured, attempted, and sentenced with little reason. One prestigious case happened in 1955, when two white men were accused of the homicide of Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old African American youth who had supposedly harassed a white lady. Like the jury in Tom Robinson's trial, the jury for the Till case was all white and all male; the trial was likewise held in an isolated court. Despite the fact that the barrier's case laid on the improbable cases that the body couldn't be explicitly recognized as Till and that the defendants had been framed, the jury took just a single hour to clear the men all things considered. The men later conceded their violations to a journalist in extraordinary detail, yet were never punished for the homicide.
As the title of the novel implies The Mockingbird fills in as a symbolic image all through the story. At the point when the kids get guns for Christmas, Atticus reveals to them that it is okay to take shots at blue jays, however 'it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.' as Miss Muddie Atkinson clarifies, it would be neglectfully brutal to slaughter innocent animals that 'don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.' The mockingbirds are quiet as Atticus goes to the road to shoot a rabid dog, and Scout depicts a similar silence in the court only preceding the jury articulating Tom Robinson liable. The innocent enduring mockingbird is reviewed in a publication B.B Underwood writes on Robinson's passing, and again when Scout discloses to her dad that revealing Boo Radley's job in Bob Ewell's death would be 'like shootin' a mockingbird.' Another symbolic image is contained in the snowman Scout and Jem work after Maycomb's uncommon snowfall. Since there is not really much snow, Scout makes the base of the figure from mud; they at that point change their 'morphodite' from dark to white with a coating of snow. At the point when Miss Maudie's home bursts into flames that night, the snow dissolves and the figure becomes dark again. Its change proposes that someone’s race is a constrained differentiation that reveals minimal about and a person's actual worth.
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Get custom essayAll in all, Harper Lee was an American novelist who was well known for her successful publication of her novel To Kill A Mockingbird. In the book, there are various things that can be analyzed such as themes, symbolism, and historical events.