Category: fiction

The modern Chinese fiction is closely associated with concentrating on the rural settings and countryside to discuss important social topics and issues. The relationships between people within the rural settings develop according to the traditional social patterns and principles, but it is important to pay attention to the degree of closeness between rural inhabitants and to the role of the definite activities in their life.

Thus, the concept of justice can also be discussed with references to the discussion of the countryside lifes details. Furthermore, it is necessary to state that the peoples perception of injustice is more acute within the rural settings, where the personal boundaries between people are rather obscure.

The focus of this paper is on representing the issue of rural injustice in Ding Lings When I was in Hsia Village, Zhao Shulis Hsiao Erh-Heis marriage, and Mao Duns Spring Silkworms and on analyzing the use of the authors realistic approach and tone to discuss the idea.

Therefore, the specific aspects of the countryside are discussed in these works with references to the idea of rural injustice which should be examined with the help of focusing on the authors manipulation of the matter-of-fact tone and depictions.

In spite of the fact that in their works, Ding Ling, Zhao Shuli, and Mao Dun discuss different topics and concentrate on various aspects of the rural life, these authors use individual approaches to emphasizing their realistic tone in the discussion of the problematic idea of the rural injustice because the focus on the unmediated realism is necessary to reflect injustice as the part of the rural populations everyday reality.

While living at the rural territories, the protagonists depicted in the works of the modern Chinese authors have to face injustice in different forms almost each day. In this case, the rural injustice has the roots in the peoples unjust behaviors, ignorance, and aggression against the other people.

Chen-chen, the female character of Ding Lings When I was in Hsia Village, experiences the obvious injustice with references to the villagers negative attitudes to this young woman. During the days after returning back from the Japanese territories, Chen-chen has to realize all the sides of the peoples injustice and unfairness related to judging her with references to the villagers words and actions.

Thus, the villagers are inclined to talk that Chen-chen is useless as the communitys member; she cannot face the people as the equal one because of her ignorance related to the chastity norms and the communitys values; and she should be discussed as the real punishment for her family because of her provocative behaviour.

The villagers attitude toward Chen-chen can be represented in the phrase said by one of the communitys members, Such a shameful woman should not be allowed to return (Ling 271).

Paying attention to the description and characterization of Chen-chen as a shameful woman, it is possible to refer to the majoritys opinion and to take the opposition which is similar to the viewpoint of many people from Chen-chens community.

However, such an approach cannot be discussed as the just one in relation to the aspects of Chen-chens behaviour and sources of the publics hatred and ignorance.

All the negative characteristics given to Chen-chen by the villagers can be discussed as the examples of the rural injustice because these people cannot look at the situation from the other point and understand the significant role of Chen-chens behaviour for the rural community.

Realism in Ding Lings work is accentuated in all the used techniques and approaches to write the story. Thus, the author chooses the technique of reportage to represent the story of Chen-chen, and she relies on the use of the realistic tone in order to describe and emphasize all the details of the communitys settings and of the villagers attitude to the young woman.

To illustrate the particular aspects and examples of the rural injustice, Ding Ling refers to the words of Chen-chen which describe her personal attitude to the problem. Thus, Chen-chen states: Nobody treats me the way they used to.

Have I changed? Ive thought about this a great deal, and I dont think Ive changed at all (Ling 274). Chen-chen becomes the direct object of the villagers unjust and prejudiced behaviours because these people do not understand the womans sacrifices which contributed to their personal wellbeing.

To emphasize this fact, Ding Ling strengthens her realistic tone with the help of using the reportage as a narration technique. Instead of being grateful in relation to Chen-chen because of her sacrifices, the villagers are inclined to ostracize the woman.

Thus, these villagers are realistically described to be focused on prejudice and superstitions. Rural injustice reflected in personal relations becomes the clear result of such prejudice and false visions.

The focus on superstitions as the possible source for injustice is also reflected in Zhao Shulis Hsiao Erh-Heis marriage. Shulis main characters, the couple of young people who refuse to marry according to the traditional norms, are judged by the rural communitys members because of their unconventional behaviors.

The author depicts injustice in relation to the villagers actions and behaviors while stating that no villager dared speak up for the young couple (Shuli 103).

Referring to these words, Zhao Shuli accentuates the publics fear to be judged unjustly because of their actions and opinions, but these villagers can also be discussed as the embodiments of the rural and social injustice because they are inclined to persecute persons who express a kind of courage to go against the traditional norms which are based on prejudice and superstitions.

Zhao Shuli focuses on this controversy in the peoples vision of justice while discussing the possibility to influence the peoples wills and actions.

Moreover, the focus on the publics fear is accentuated one more time, with references to resolving the problematic situation of the traditional marriage. Thus, the author repeats that nobody dared speak up. People were afraid of reprisals if they failed to bring the charge home to the Wang cousins.

Some chicken-hearted villager even whispered Tolerance means peace (Shuli 113). Zhao Shuli draws the readers attention to the fact that tolerance means peace while using the obvious irony as the literary device because, in this case, tolerance is closely associated with the idea of the rural justice which is not observed in the villagers behaviors.

To represent the variety of the villagers characters who are rather selfish, prejudiced, and ignorant, Zhao Shuli uses his specific variant of the realistic tone which is emphasized with manipulating the colloquial or peasant style and manner of writing.

From this point, the characters and situations seem to be extremely real because protagonists are characterized by using the speech patterns which are typical for the rural territories, and situations are depicted in the most comprehensible manner. As a result, the fact of the observed rural injustice can be perceived by the readers more clearly.

Thus, Zhao Shulis realistic or the matter-of-fact tone and the use of the colloquial style to accentuate this tone contribute to discussing the idea of rural injustice in the depicted village because this injustice is also rooted in the peoples prejudice and superstitions.

In the works written by Ding Ling and Zhao Shuli, rural injustice can be discussed as the product of the peoples relations influenced by their viewpoints, traditions, and visions. In Spring Silkworms, Mao Dun discusses the concept of rural injustice as the product of the external forces impact because these forces can become threatening for the rural population.

In this case, injustice is more related to the social and economic issues which play the important role in the Chinese rural communities while influencing all the spheres of the peoples life. Old Tung Paos family and many other villagers become the victims of the foreigners intrusion into their economic and everyday life. As a result, these people face injustice related to the issues of the labor exploitation in the field of the sericulture.

To emphasize the experienced injustice, the author uses a lot of realistic depictions to illustrate the state of villagers. Thus, Mao Dun describes the women and children participating in sericulture, stating that none of these women or children looked really healthy. Since the coming of spring, they had been eating only half their fill; their clothes were old and torn. As a matter of fact, they werent much better off than beggars (Dun 18).

From this point, the villagers could not be described as healthy and satisfied while developing the sericulture in the region, and these people could not expect that the foreigners rules would change the situation for better.

Referring to the threat of the free markets for the members of Old Tung Paos community, Mao Dun reveals the instances of the social injustice with the help of depicting the villagers value system in a realistic and rather dramatic tone. Being the master of critical realism, Mao Dun combines the realistic techniques to describe the landscape and nature or people with the elements of irony and drama in his tone.

Thus, the depictions of the peaceful green countryside and of the suns rays which forced open the tender, finger-like, little buds are changed with the realistic depictions of villagers working in the filed of the sericulture as beggars (Dun 13-17).

From this perspective, it is possible to note that the detailed description of the agrarian landscape with a lot of the realistic features and elements is chosen by Mao Dun in order to accentuate the idea of injustice with references to this rural background. In spite of the fact that the author often refers to the use of comparisons, his tone can be generally discussed as matter-of-fact.

Thus, a lot of rural scenes seem to be depicted close to reality that is why the readers strong reflection on the idea of injustice discussed in the story becomes more evident. Mao Duns reference to the idea of the rural injustice is based on the economic and social background.

In this situation, the authorities and foreign producers within the sphere of sericulture can be described as the causes for observing injustice in the rural communities. Focusing on Mao Duns specific writing style and tone, it is possible to note that the matter-of-fact tone with the elements of irony and drama is effective to reflect the idea of injustice in the literary work completely.

Ding Lings When I was in Hsia Village, Zhao Shulis Hsiao Erh-Heis marriage, and Mao Duns Spring Silkworms are the good examples of the modern Chinese literature focused on the rural problems and issues. Injustice in different forms is the topic and pattern depicted in many literary works written by the Chinese authors.

That is why, it is relevant to pay attention to the discussion of this topic with references to the authors works which are different in their themes and presenting the idea of injustice, but these works are similar in relation to focusing on the realistic tone to discuss the pattern in detail.

Although Ding Ling, Zhao Shuli, and Mao Dun choose to concentrate on realism as their method, the authors writing styles can be considered as rather different because Ding Ling develops her realistic tone with references to the focus on the personality, Zhao Shuli combines the matter-of-fact tone with the colloquial style reflected in the characters speech and descriptions, and Mao Dun refers to combining the realistic tone with the elements of irony.

As a result, Ding Lings approach is effective to represent injustice with references to personality; Zhao Shulis approach is successful to focus on the injustice based on superstitions, and Mao Duns technique is effective to represent the social injustice.

Works Cited

Dun, Mao. Spring Silkworms and Other Stories. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1956. Print.

Ling, Ding. When I was in Hsia Village. Modern Chinese Stories and Novellas, 1919-1949.

Ed. Joseph Lau, Cen Hsia, and Leo Lee. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981. 268-278. Print.

Shuli, Zhao. Rhymes of Li Yu-tsai and Other Stories. USA: Foreign Languages Press, 1955. Print.

Introduction and History

Science fiction as a genre is rich in ideas and technologies offered by different authors. Sometimes it is possible to encounter bold and incredible inventions that are supposed to be used by people in the future. At the same time, some phenomena once described in science fiction, for instance, various automated mechanisms, or more obviously robots, have long been used in the modern world. Some of the favorite themes of the authors of this genre are space travel to other planets and interstellar contact with aliens. In this category of science fiction, it is often possible to find references to faster-than-light travel, that is, nearly instantaneous flight over long distances. This technology, as McGuirk (2018) notes, was described in the works of Lem, Asimov, and other outstanding science fiction writers. Nevertheless, its plausibility is still doubted today, and the proof is the fact that so far, no means have been found to overcome the light barrier and reach such speed.

Making use of the phenomenon of faster-than-light travel was typical for writers of the 20th century. According to Dourish and Bell (2014), authors began actively using this hypothetical technology after the conquest of space, and one of the first science fiction writers who mentioned it was Isaac Asimov. Dourish and Bell (2014, p. 770) argue that science fiction shapes popular imaginings of the future. This statement is quite justified since the topic of finding viable means to overcome the speed of light is still relevant today. Despite Albert Einsteins insistence that faster-than-light travel was theoretically possible based on his theory of relativity, no significant discoveries were made (Long 2016).

Thompson (2017, para. 2) devotes his article to this issue, but he is confident that physics is very strict about nothing moving faster than the speed of light. A similar opinion is held by Baraniuk (2016, para. 43), who notes that if things could travel faster than light, they would disobey these fundamental laws that describe how the Universe works. Furthermore, Sutter (2017) claimed that even in the case of overcoming the speed of light, the result would be undesirable because of wormholes. Certainly, the development of such a technology would bring many benefits, and discoveries could be made. However, the laws that are known today present obstacles to the creation of such technology, and therefore faster-than-light travel remains nothing more than fiction.

Current Status/Recent Developments

Even though the technology for faster-than-light travel has not been developed in any sense, attempts have been made. According to Baraniuk (2016, para. 13), in the early 1960s, William Bertozzi at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology experimented with accelerating electrons at greater and greater velocities. This work was aimed at finding an alternative energy source that could provide a space vehicle with the appropriate capacity to overcome the speed of light. Nevertheless, studies that had the potential to lead to innovations were not successful. It was proved that electrons were not able to move above a speed of 300,000 km/s, which refuted the possibility of faster-than-light travel (Baraniuk 2016, para. 15).

Attempts are still being made to find a way for faster-than-light travel. Sutter (2017), who considers wormholes in the context of this topic, notes that they should not only be extremely powerful but also stable. Otherwise, flights making use of wormholes would be meaningless since short-range movement in space would not lead to any results concerning the efficacy of wormholes as applied technology. Accordingly, to find a potential solution, a fuel source must be discovered that could provide spaceships with enough energy to overcome the light barrier. At the moment, there is no such energy source, which therefore nullifies all the efforts of inventors in this direction.

It is noteworthy that the desire to overcome the light barrier is even considered to be theoretically impossible by some authors. As Thompson (2017, para. 7) remarks, it seems likely that warp drives and hyperspace shall forever exist only in the realm of science fiction. At the same time, even despite the development of modern technologies and progress in space exploration, experiments of this type continue to be unsuccessful. This fact confirms that at the moment, neither theoretical nor experimental hypotheses have proved to be correct.

Technological Limitations and Future Potential

To make the technology of faster-than-light travel a reality, it is necessary to not only search for an appropriate energy source but also to work on the construction of modern vehicles. According to Baraniuk (2016, para. 18), as objects travel faster and faster, they get heavier and heavier  the heavier they get, the harder it is to achieve acceleration. Consequently, changes must be made in the traditional construction of spacecraft to minimize their weight without at the same time losing the necessary protection. This work may have more practical application because due to technical progress, new forms of spacecraft are being created, and external vehicle structures can be equipped with the most modern materials that make it possible to reduce the total weight. It is possible that in the coming years, scientists will be able to develop appropriate technology and ensure that new formats of spacecraft design will become more widely accepted.

The project under consideration has many technological limitations. As Long (2016) remarks, in assuming that reaching and overcoming the speed of light is possible, theories of space and time would be refuted, which is impossible in the present state of modern physics. Modern scientists and researchers probably do not yet have sufficient knowledge to develop a plan for the motion of spacecraft at such a barely conceivable speed. However, even in the context of existing information, it is difficult to suggest that faster-than-light travel might become real. If the exploration of outer space and other planets and galaxies continues, valuable minerals may be found that would permit the creation of the necessary type of fuel. Nevertheless, sufficient financing would be required for this work, and in the next few decades, any significant progress is unlikely to be made. Perhaps in the future people will learn to use energy necessarily, but today, faster-than-light travel is impossible from nearly all points of view.

Conclusion

By the laws of physics that are known today, faster-than-light travel is nothing but science fiction, and up to now, no significant discoveries have been made in this area. Scientists have tried to find opportunities for developing this technology, but the laws of the universe do not allow it. Science fiction writers have used this theme in their works quite often. Nevertheless, when considering this issue from the standpoint of modern science, traveling faster than the speed of light is impossible. The search for potential energy sources and work on the design of space vehicles are necessary for potentially making progress.

Reference List

Baraniuk, C 2016, The real reasons nothing can ever go faster than light, BBC. Web.

Dourish, P & Bell, G 2014, Resistance is futile: reading science fiction alongside ubiquitous computing, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 769-778.

Long, KF 2016, Unstable equilibrium hypothesis: a consideration of ultra-relativistic and faster than light interstellar spaceflight, Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, vol. 69, pp. 97-101.

McGuirk, C 2018, Stanislaw Lem, Philip K. Dick, and American science fiction, Science Fiction Studies, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 211-215.

Sutter, P 2017, Are wormholes a dead end for faster-than-light travel?, Scientific American. Web.

Thompson, A 2017, The impossible physics of faster-than-light travel, Popular Mechanics. Web.

The thinking self identifies the common sense and the genuine sequence of logical ideas that allows a person to make the corresponding conclusions. The clarity of thought, however, is hard to achieve due to the external influences and emotional stance.

According to Descartes, the supporter of the rationalist perspective and the author of the phrase I think, therefore I am, declined the importance of emotional and sensuous perception of the world because it does not provide evidence and facts about existence of the world. In fact, his perception of the world and objective reality was possible through the thinking process that is the only means of recognizing the matter.

The mind allowed the philosophy to recognize and explain various phenomena; it was compared with the soul that allows the human organism to live and act logically. Genuine thinking is still challengeable because people are often affected by emotional and irrational factors that prevent them from understanding what is certain and what is not.

Because the thinking process focuses on the material side of the debate, the existence of spirituality and God is under the question because the presence of the divine cannot be proved. However, such an argument cannot be fully justified due to the narrow-focused emphasis placed on the claim.

Specifically, the existence of the world cannot rely only on thinking, but on the perception and emotion as well because they serve as the links to the external world. Five senses exist to cognize the world whereas the role of the mind is confined to interpreting these senses in a logical way. In this respect, the objectivity of judgment, therefore, premises on the extent to which feelings and emotions influence the thinking process.

Such an assumption has many confirmations, when a persons vision disaccords with the perception of another person. The level of comprehension of certain ideas depends on the background and intelligence of a person.

For instance, in case a person lived in Middle East and adhered to the principles of Islam, his intelligence and background will make it difficult to understand the mentality and traditions of European culture, in which men and women are equal. People could argue against the principle of equality because they have been taught the opposite since their birth.

Relying on the facts that have been distracted from contexts has serious consequences in different situations. The story below supports this position:

John and Andrea had lived in one neighborhood for 15 years since their birth until they had to move to different places. John and his family moved to England where their predecessors lived whereas Andreas moved to Berkeley, California to study Art History at the University.

As per John, he decided to dedicate himself to the computer science due to his great interest in innovation and technological progress. Before they departed, both friends had much in common; they studied and walked together, their liked talking on different topics and they were fond of arguing about what is more important culture or science. These disputes were the most interesting activities, although they knew that they never reach agreement on either of issues.

Six years later, John decided to visit Berkeley and find out how Andrea was doing and what changed in her life. The girl was very glad to see him because she missed him much and disputes they used to involve during their school years.

She confessed him that she was interested in art because she needed the opposite point to quarrel with him. In fact, her interest in art history was premised on the possibility to create arguments against and engage in quarrelling. John was a bit surprised by Andreas confession because his obsession with technologies was genuine. He was strictly convinced in his judgments and, therefore, his arguments were shaped by his genuine interest. Once they start discussing this issue, Andrea replied,

My interest in art history is also a kind of genuine, but the purpose of studying was completely different than yours.

But, I cannot understand what actually the truth is in your attempt to discuss contradictory issues. Do you really believe in what you are asserting?, John wondered.

I really do because I rely on facts and evidence that have been proved before me, she logically explained.

But those people also relied on somebody elses observations and, therefore, you cannot state for sure that what you learn is actually the truth, until you apply it to practice, John remarked with in perplexity.

I believe that if the majority agrees with the statement, it is not by chance. Their own beliefs and suggestions premise on valid facts and logical deductions. Besides, art history is not an exact science and, therefore, different interpretations of phenomenon is acceptable, Andrea started arguing.

John did not notice the moment when they started disputing on another issue. They were deeply engaged in the process, attaining no importance to the topic of their arguments. As soon as they realized this, Andrea questioned,

Are you not sincere and genuine when engaged into an argument with me? Do you dislike the process itself?

Well, I do&but&

So, does it make difference to you whether I like something or not? It is just a context, which does not change the matter of facts, Andrea explained.

Well, probably, you are right, let us leave this issue and enjoy our dispute, John responded with a smile.

As soon as they realized that genuineness of quarreling and arguing does not lie in the angles of discussions, but in the actual process of arguing, Andrea and John ignored this fact and acknowledged the actual purpose of their friendship. Additionally, genuine thinking is often affected by external factors, as it is presented in the story.

Hence, Andrea sacrificed her genuine interests and preferences for sake of pleasing her friend John, whose interest in the context was also real. Despite this situation, Andreas intentions were initially good, which justifies her action as a morally and ethically right one.

What is more important is that their discussions were premised solely on logically construed assumptions and theses, which means that they are true. It also supports the idea that original thinking cannot be based merely on the fear of not finding an answer to the question. Rather, the purpose of the argument should premise on searching for the truth.

Certainly, if a person possessing power asks a question to an inferior person, the latter could be afraid of engaging into a genuine argument because of the authoritative influence. Such a situation also distorts the objectivity of judgments and creates false observations. In fact, the person cannot clearly state what original and genuine thinking should base on to make the dispute objective.

The elements of literature connote the aspects that make up a piece or work of literature such as a poem, biography, prose, epic, story or play. To be able to write a complete work of literature, a writer, poet, or playwright needs to use certain elements of literature to make the work have meaning.

The basic elements of literature found in most writings include the plot, setting, character, structure, conflicts, point of view and theme. These elements however differ from the various types of literature work. For example the literature elements found in novels or short stories might differ from those found in poetry or prose (Bhattacharyya, 2010).

DiYanni in his work mostly focuses on theme as the main element of literature in his analysis of various works. Theme is the central idea or basic meaning that is underlying in a story, poem, novel or play. The theme is identified in terms of looking at the characters in a literary work or the authors perspective or view of the literature piece. The theme is seen to reflect the society or world as a whole (Werre, 2003).

DiYanni (2007) explores the theme of denial in his comparisons of literature by Faulknet, Miller and Poe. He notes that denial is very prominent in the story of A Rose for Emily and in the play Death of a Salesman and in the poem The Raven. Within the play, the story and the poem each, the theme of denial is prominent because of the central characters refusal to accept the reality.

This creates a dreamlike situation that enables them to remain indifferent to the truth about their lives and surroundings. This state of denial is however seen to be a momentary solution to their problems.

In his theme analysis of A Rose for Emily, the main character, Emily Grierson is seen to be withdrawn into her own unrealistic dream world. The people in the town she lives in feel that disrupting her unrealistic world will upset her causing her to react in a negative way. When her lover, Homer, tries to threaten her unrealistic world, she kills him and hides his body in an upper bedroom in her house. Homers body is discovered well after Emilys death and funeral (DiYanni, 2007).

Diyanni further analyses Emilys character and her creation of the unrealistic world by looking at her actions that revealed she was in denial. In the story, we are told of how Emily keeps her fathers body for three days denying that he is dead and also denying the townspeople his body.

Her denial was evident in her refusal to believe that her father was dead despite persuasion from doctors and ministers who had called on her to dispose of the body. Emilys other denial was that she saw her marriage to Homer Barron and his existence to never have been real. This is evident in the quote:

The man himself lay in the bed&& The body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace, but now the long sleep that outlasts love has cuckolded him (DiYanni, 2007, p.84).

In the story, the town gets free postal delivery services which require that every towns member have a mailbox and house numbers attached to their house. All the townspeople agree to have the mailboxes and numbers attached to their houses except Emily. She refuses to get a mailbox and house numbers hanged on her house which is see to be a form of denial. Other than the mail services, she refuses to pay tax to the local government (DiYanni, 2007).

The townspeople also experience some denial where in a traditional stance; they claim that Emily is no longer a member of the upper social class because she does not possess the qualities to belong to that group. The townspeople believed the Grierson family held themselves in high esteem, more than what they truly were.

The townspeople also deny that they have a right and obligation to inform Emily that there is a foul stench around her house. They withdraw from the reality by covering up the smell with sprinklings of lime around her house and all the outer buildings. The townspeople also deny that Emily and Homer could be in a love relationship because they think it would be improper for a lady like her to have a relationship with a day laborer from the North.

They also deny that a lady from the Grierson family with such a high standing in society would take a person like Homer Barron seriously. They even go to the extent of denying the relationship by saying that grief would not cause a real lady to forget her high ranking social status in the towns society (DiYanni, 2007).

DiYannis next analysis of the theme of denial is in Millers play Death of a Salesman. The main character of the play, Willy Loman, lives in a delusional world in which he is successful and adored by the people around him.

Willys wife Linda and their two sons, Happy and Biff, support Willys unrealistic world because they do not want to disrupt his dreamlike state, claiming that he will eventually realize the truth on his own. Willys denial occurs when he denies that he is a mediocre salesman in the first Act of scene three. He claims that he is known in all of New of England in a conversation with his two sons (Diyanni, 2007).

He further exaggerates the circumstance of his denial when he claims that he can park his car in any London street and no one would touch it because the police would protect it like it was their own. He also appears to be delusional when he claims that he never has to wait in line to see a buyer.

Willys denial from reality is also evident where he is has an antagonistic view towards anyone or anything that wants to threaten his unrealistic world. This is evident when Willy tells off Bernard for saying that his son is about to fail school and also when he chases his son Biff out of the house for calling Willy a fake after discovering that he has a mistress .

Willys wife Linda also faces some denial when she refuses to accept the fact that her husband tried to kill himself. These is evidenced where she writes a letter claiming that all the car accidents Willy had been involved were not accidents at all. She first removes and later replaces a rubber hose from behind the water heater that Willy used to try and kill himself with because she feels that removing the hose might insult Willy.

Linda also contradicts the self-depreciating remarks that her husband makes. She is noted to say that her husband is the handsomest man in the world and that he doesnt talk too much, he is just a man with a lively personality. She is also quoted as saying Theres nothing to make up dear. Youre doing fine (DiYanni, 2007).

Linda summarizes the things that have pushed her husband into denial as being his old buyers who were also happy to see him and brought him constant business when he was a younger salesman. Now his buyers were either dead or retired. She also says that Willy drives for seven hundred miles without making any money from his long and tiring journey.

To counter his wifes statement about his fruitless sales journeys, Willy lies to his wife that the fifty dollars he borrows from Charley is the salary he makes when he goes on his seven hundred mile journey.

Willys sons are also in denial that there is something wrong with their father. They perpetuate Willys delusions by playacting out one of their fathers daydreams in which they are both successful businessmen. Happy is seen to be telling his brother about how they are going to sell start a sporting good line known as the Loman Line that will be worth a million dollars.

On the other hand, Happys brother Biff is pretending to go for a job interview with Oliver who is his former boss. The job will make him to be a successful salesman for sports goods (DiYanni, 2007).

When Biff confronts him with the rubber hose he used to try and kill himself with, Willy faces a nervous breakdown. Biff wants his father to acknowledge the fact that he was trying to commit suicide and he also confronts his father on the fact that Willy is not a successful salesman. He wants his father to accept the fact that he is a failure and a thief.

In the events that lead up to his death, Willy has a last argument with his son after which he drives off in his car and later crashes it. This scene is viewed to be a reflection of Willy driving away from the truth and reality of himself and his mediocre life.

The next theme of denial to be analyzed is Poes poem The Raven. The narrator of the poem attempts to deny the fact that his love, Lenore, is dead. He is faced with denial when he is made angry by the ravens declarations that his lover Lenore no longer exists which in the end makes him view the raven as nothing more than just a bird.

In stanza two of the poem, the narrator denies that his Love Lenore is gone where he states Eagerly I wished the morrow; vainly I had sought to borrow from my books surcease of sorrow-sorrow for the lost Lenore (DiYanni, 2007, p.1173).

In the fifth stanza of the poem, the narrator faces denial when he states in the poem that he gazed down the hallway and stood there reveling in the fact that his lover was no longer among the living. His denial is in evidence again in the eighth and ninth stanzas when he refuses to accept the fact that he is lonely. The stanzas in the poem also reveal that the presence of the raven is seen to be a distraction from the narrators experience of solitude and loneliness after the loss of his lover.

His denial of loneliness is also in evidence in the tenth stanza where he believes that the raven will leave at some point, likening its departure to that of his friends, his hopes and dreams. The narrator is in denial when he refuses to accept the fact that the raven is only just a bird. This is evident in the fifteenth and sixteenth stanza where he labels the raven to be a prophet of doom. He also likens the bird to a fiend and a devil.

DiYanni compares the different characters of the play, poem and story noting that the narrator of the poem, Emily Grierson and Willy Loman are all similar in that they allow outside influences and their unrealistic worlds to affect their decisions. DiYanni also notes that all the three characters are lonely with the narrator being lonely from the death of his lover, Emily Grierson loosing both her father and Homer and Willy being the lone salesman trying to make a living.

The characters are also lonely in that they live in their own delusional worlds which make it difficult for them to relate with the other characters in their lives, creating situations that are filled with tension and antagonism (DiYanni, 2007).

The aspect of the main characters in the play, poem and story placing some distance between them and the truth creates a situation where they are unreceptive and antagonize anyone who tries to threaten and distort the truth about their unrealistic world. In each of the three works, death is seen to be a consequence of each characters extreme denial.

In the case of Willy, the removal of denial from his life in the play gives him the motivation to commit suicide. Emily Grierson murders Homer as a result of a withdrawal from her unrealistic life while the narrator looses his sanity when he strains himself to question the reality of the raven (DiYanni, 2007),

Another similarity of the three works is seen when the family of Willy helps to perpetuate his fantasies because they believe they have no right to interfere with his unrealistic world. This is similar to when the townspeople help to perpetuate Emilys delusions. All the three characters deny reality because the truth to them will mean having to reevaluate their ambitions, goals, priorities which would mean redefining their happiness.

Emily, Willy and the narrator use physical and violent outbursts as a way of showing their defiance and resistance to the fictional and factual true predicaments of their lives. The three characters also run from the truth about their unrealistic worlds by either committing murder as was the case with Emily killing Homer or committing vehicular suicide as done by Willy or becoming mentally insane as evidenced by the narrator questioning whether the raven was truly a bird (DiYanni, 2007).

The theme of denial in most of the works analyzed by DiYanni has revealed the fact that the character in focus by the author will most often face denial in the form of refusing to accept that their surroundings are real. The characters also refuse to accept that the existence of their friends and family members are real.

They refuse to deal with their emotions and deny any confrontations with the people that are close to them. The characters are seen to violently refuse any person or thing that tries to threaten their world or alter their chosen view of reality. An intrusion into their dreamlike worlds results in disastrous consequences which are more than likely death or suicide.

References

Bhattacharyya, A. (2010) Elements of Literature. Web.

DiYanni, R. (2007) Literature, reading fiction, poetry, and drama. 6th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Werre, P. (2003) The elements of literature. Web.

For this particular study two works of fiction and one of poetry will be used. In the fiction genre the proponent of this study will examine the work of Sherman Alexie, a short story entitled Indian Education and another short story by Jamaica Kincaid entitled Girl.

In the poetry genre Langston Hughes A Dream Deferred will be examined more closely and together these three works will be analyzed using an element of literature. Furthermore, these three will be compared side-by-side to determine any connection, any common denominator. And finally these three works by these three authors will be read for pure enjoyment to appreciate literature and how it can inform, entertain, and move the soul.

Plot

The element of literature that will be used to study these three works is plot. In short stories it is how the authors arranged events to provide information needed to understand a story. It can also be understood as the way the author arranges the events, information given in the story to create a particular effect on the reader. This should make the reader want to read more. In a more simplified explanation, a plot is the beginning, middle, and end of a fictionalized short story.

When it comes to poetry it is not easy to determine the plot especially when the poem in question cannot be considered a narrative poem and something that only contains a few lines, such as Hughes A Dream Deferred. In this case it is helpful to know that a poems plot can also be understood as the way the author tries to argue a point (Drury, year).

In A Dream Deferred the argumentation did not go full circle because it did not contain any information concerning the gathering of evidence and chains of reasoning but at least it began and ended the poem with a prelude to argue about the possible impact of a dream deferred.

Indian Education

Looking first at Sherman Alexies work one can automatically see that the author used a clever way of arranging information and events by using the events surrounding his student days as he went through grade school  specifically from First Grade to Twelfth Grade.

In this manner one can see how he has metamorphosed from a small and insecure little boy into someone who tried to rectify his life by taking charge and eventually graduating with honors and recipient to numerous awards and scholarships while his friends, neighbors and classmates back in the reservation continues to struggle even as they graduate from High School because they have little prospects considering who they are and where they are at.

Thus, the story is not just about the triumphs of Alexie, the typical story of a little boy who defied the odds and overcame every obstacle thrown his way. The plot of the story consistently highlighted the discrimination, poverty, hopelessness that many experienced in the Indian reservation. Alexie also constructed the plot in such a way that as the humiliation, frustration, and anger escalated with each grade level, one can also find different villains at each different stage.

For example in First Grade it was the other Indian boys who bullied him no end up until he found a friend. This is very ironic because they are a people oppressed and instead of helping each other they are fighting and hurting one another. In the Second Grade the villain was a mean teacher who made his life miserable and it was his first major taste of what injustice is all about.

In the Third Grade and Fourth Grade he was always in the firing line either as a guilty participant in some prank or an innocent bystander caught in the collateral damage. There was a bright spot in this stage of his development process though because it is during the Fourth Grade that he received an encouragement that he can be a solution rather than a mere spectator to the Indian Reservation problem that was about to go down the dumps.

It was a major turning point in his life because as one will take a step backwards and analyze the story one can see that his life began to change for the better. It was in the Fifth Grade when he discovered the beauty and power of basketball. Nevertheless, the villains are still there ready to pounce on him.

In one occasion the villain was not human, but a temptation in the form of a rubber cement from a paper bag and his cousin the victim of the said villain went round and round the merry go round his ears rang, mouth dry and his mind blank (Alexie, 1993). And then he was up again when he was in Sixth Grade because he found a best-friend and ally.

In the Seventh and Eight Grade he discovered that villains are not only found in schools and the school playground but they can also be the unknown force called discrimination and this is a debilitating force powered by the hatred and bigotry of many members of the community, the state, the nation. They spew venom without even verifying the facts and made judgments based on biased information.

In the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Grade he realized that racists will judge him solely based on the color of his skin and nothing more. He also learned one more thing, that for those living in the Indian Reservations and even Indians who are trying to get away from it all, the number one villain that they need to contend with is not the environment and the people who tried to pull them down or those who judge them harshly, their number one enemy is the way they treat themselves.

He mentioned his father early on in the story who had a bad habit of downing a gallon of vodka a day  though it seems like an exaggeration one can get the picture. It is true that people must not condemn others but based on how the story has unfolded the author also pointed to the necessity of the Indians pulling themselves out of the gutter.

In the last and final stage, in the Twelfth Grade this is the resolution. The author demonstrated that the nation, the state and the community may try to force Indians to do something that the do not like and to make them feel that they are second-class citizens but they can do something to rectify it.

They can be like the author who blazed a trail for others. He defied the odds by becoming educated, by becoming a scholar. But at the end of the story he found it difficult to rejoice because looking back, his people are in a path to self-destruction.

Kincaid the Girl

The challenge of understanding plot in this short story is obvious to the reader. The author tells a story using only one sentence. It is a unique and interesting way of telling a tale but Kincaid had to sacrifice a few elements of plot in order to pull it off. First it is hard to find out the setting and time. No one knew where the story happened and at the same time nothing much is revealed about the character. More importantly there was not even a semblance of a dialogue between two characters.

It is clear though that a mother is speaking to a daughter but it is a one way street. The daughter tried to interact but the mother knew nothing about it because her daughter was only able to reason in her head. This also gave the reader a difficult time trying to adjust every time the girl tried to interject her own thoughts and opinions.

Nevertheless, the causality or the reason for writing the piece and the reason why the reader must continue with the story is clear even from the beginning. It is a mothers set of instructions given to her daughter on how to become a fine woman acceptable in society and able to make her parents proud.

Dream Deferred

Langston Hughes began the poem right at the very beginning; he started his argument by asking a question: What happens to a dream deferred (Hughes, 1996).

And then he developed the piece using more questions and zero answers. As mentioned earlier the plot of this poem can be seen as the start of an argumentation that has no resolution. The author asked a question but instead of answering it the next lines in the poem were all clarifications in the form of questions. However, one way to interpret this poem is to see the questions as answers.

Thus, when the author asked: Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? he was not merely asking he was also giving suggestions and probably an answer. If one will use this analogy then a dream deferred is a dream that will undergo a slow and agonizing death. First it will dry up, then it will fester like a sore dripping with all the bad odor and decaying fluids. It will stink like a rotten meat while parts of it will shrink and sag and the it is gone.

Common Denominator

If one will compare the two short stories and the poem one can argue that there is indeed a common denominator: poverty and despair and in the short stories one can even add the element of anger simmering just beneath the surface. The reason why Indian Education is such a pitiful state is due to poverty.

If all the Indians were as fortunate as the author they could have had the chance and the opportunity to transfer to a much better school were the teachers are kinder and has a better world view as compared to the teachers sent to the reservation. These teachers are understandably rude because they may also resent the fact that they were sent to a far away place far from their homes and forced to co-mingle with people with different traditions and culture.

Poverty is the reason why the Indians were faced to make decisions as the author eloquently puts it. There are two things in the story that reinforces this view and these are illustrated using two words: HUD and reservation. They have no place to live and they have no other place to go. They do not have the means to make money so that they can experience respect and dignity once again. Their land was taken from them and many of them do not have the skills suited to a modern economy. And so they have to live in the reservation.

As a result they do not have the ability to send their children to a good school and at the same time they do not have the capability to build a home that is suited for the family they simply had to rely on the government to build a house for them. All of these things had crippled the Indian man, he can no longer stand proudly just like their ancestors and the warriors of an era long gone.

Poverty breeds despair and the men took solace in alcohol. Alcoholism is a constant feature in the story from the time that the author mentioned the voracious appetite of his father for vodka, a very strong drink, to the time he talked about a young man who died from alcohol abuse  crashing his car into an innocent tree  and finally when the graduates, from the government run school in the Indian reservation deciding to meet frequently in the tavern instead of finding work and changing their destiny.

There is also an anger that tries to break free and yet the author realized that it has to be pushed below the surface. So many times he wanted to explode bewildered and frustrated by the racist comments, by the condemnation, and by the generalization made by others who had not even an iota of information to be able to understand the context of the struggles and various problems faced by those living in the reservations.

Poverty is also very much evident in Kincaids piece. Poverty is the reason why the mother was a little bit paranoid in teaching her daughter how to behave because they cannot afford to make mistakes. The strict rules, the forceful discipline that does not even allow her daughter to speak one word is due to extreme poverty.

The things that the mother wanted the girl to perform is a direct result of their poverty  they cannot afford to buy ready-to-wear-clothes, there is no money to buy food already cooked or prepared by someone, there is no way to pay the services of a laundry woman or go to a Laundromat to clean the clothes, there is no money to go to the supermarket to buy okra. It was the duty of the girl to produce and take care of these things.

Despair is seen in the way the girl or the daughter tried to reason out but her thoughts have no room in the house. There is no other source of information considered valid but that of her mother. It must be pointed out though that not everything about the story is a paranoia and child labor. The author also tried to show that she grew up in a particular culture where the mother transmits to the next generation  in this case mother to daughter  the necessary lessons of life that will guide her to womanhood. Thus, in the monologue the mother tried to enforce rules that will hopefully transform her daughter into a fine lady highly respected in society and able to become a productive citizen of the community or at least a dutiful wife like the mother in the story.

Nevertheless, it can also be argued that anger is simmering just beneath the surface considering that every aspect of her life was controlled and also the fact that she was forced to work doing not only household chores but the gathering and cooking of food. This is the work of an adult but the daughter had to endure all of that and more.

Poverty can be the reason for the dream that was deferred. Although the author did not provide enough information to make a solid conclusion one of the major reasons that a person is unable to achieve dreams is due to extreme poverty. Another possible reason for a dream to be deferred is injustice and other social factors that prevent a person from realizing his dream or from competing in a level field. Racism can be also a factor why injustice exists in the dream crushing world of Langston Hughes.

Lessons Learned

There are at least two memorable lines in Alexies story. The first one states: Sharing dark skin doesnt necessarily make two men brothers and the second one states: That was the year my father drank a gallon of vodka a day and the same year that my mother started two hundred different quilts but never finished any (Alexie, 1993). The first statement is like a two-edged sword it cuts through racism as well as a rebuke to the Indians who prefer to live a life of mediocrity.

The author demanded equality and respect for his heritage but at the same time there is something in him that says do not create a link between me and the drunkard who killed himself by ramming his car into a tree  we may have the same features but we are not related  this he desperately wanted the world to understand.

The second statement encapsulates the despair and the frustration that everyone felt while living in the Indian reservation. The alcohol was a way of escape while the quilt was a way to reconnect with the past, a continuous attempt to preserve their heritage even if they feel that it is not really that important and so the mother is not that inspired to go to the next level when it comes to improving her business and in the words of the author does not even finish what was started.

The poem of Hughes and Kincaids short story can be linked together by the idea labeled as a dream deferred. The girl in the story have her own idea about how to live life and how to determine his future but it seems that society and her mother had already chosen a path for her. While she is still alive and while the culture and traditions of her land continue to be dominant force then she simply had to accept that her dream has to be deferred.

Conclusion

The works of Alexie, Kincaid, and Hughes talk about poverty and despair, in a way that people will listen. They did not present cold hard facts, statistics and demographics about poverty and the feeling of hopelessness among the people  they illustrated, it they described using vivid terms and analogy that makes their message come alive in the mind.

The reader was moved and vowed never to participate in racist actions and words. The proponent of this study was moved to take a closer look at the lives of marginalized people and the things that they had to go through on a daily basis and why many of them has lost hope and surrendered to the notion that their dreams will forever be deferred.

References

Alexie, S. (2010). The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Web.

Annenberg Media. (2010). What Goes into a Plot? Web.

DiYanni, R. (2007). Literature, Reading fiction, Poetry, and Drama (Ashford Custom 6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Hogue, D. (2010). Elements of Literature. Web.

Hughes, L. (1996). A Dream Deferrred. Web.

Moore, J. (2008). Jamaica Kincaids Girl: How Structure and Language Convey Tone and Theme Web.

According to Theodore Strugeon, a science fiction story is a story built around human beings, with a human problem and a human solution, which would not have happened at all without its scientific content. Since the publication of Darwins science of evolution, mankind has been attempting to solve one of the major problems of our age  where will this sort of evolution lead the human race and what implications does this have regarding the significance of our ideas and essential humanity.

The ideas and questions this science introduced thus helped give rise to the literary genre of science fiction, in which answers to these questions were sought. As the introduction of science brings about new capabilities for extended human understanding, both H.G. Wells and Arthur C. Clarke explore the darker side of evolutionary thought and where humans are heading both in terms of human society as well as in individual development.

In both stories, human society is presumed to have developed to a relatively utopian state at some point. This is only speculated upon in Wells story as the Time Traveler wanders through the green countryside of the future. Deducing what must have happened in the intervening years of his time travel jump from the evidence in front of him, the traveler describes how things must have been: The ideal of preventative medicine was attained. Diseases had been stamped out & I saw mankind housed in splendid shelters, gloriously clothed, and as yet I had found them engaged in no toil. There were no signs of struggle (Wells 49).

The society that develops following the interference of the Overlords in Clarkes story help to establish something very similar to the society described by Wells traveler at an earlier point in its development: Production had become largely automatic: the robot factories poured forth consumer goods in such unending streams that all the ordinary necessities of life were virtually free. Men worked for the sake of luxuries they desired: or they did not work at all (Clarke 73). In both cases, the developments brought about as a result of science enabled mankind to turn his attentions to the fulfillment of desire.

Although utopia had been reached in both tales, this did not usher in the sort of explosion of ideas and culture that characterized the Renaissance period of earlier times. Instead, it led to the destruction of these elements of human existence. In Wells story, this is epitomized in the relatively bestial qualities of the inhabitants of his future world, the Eloi and the Morlocks. The traveler includes these ideas in his ruminations of what had led the human population to such a mindless state of existence.

Hardship and freedom: conditions under which the active, strong and subtle survive and the weaker go to the wall; conditions under which the active, strong and subtle survive and the weaker go to the wall & Under the new conditions of perfect comfort and security, that restless energy, that with us is strength, would become weakness (Wells 49-50). Art and culture have completely disappeared as the last ditch efforts of active minds to find meaning in a world now engineered for the perfect and effortless sustenance for future generations. This is exactly the case found in Clarkes story as well, although found at an earlier stage.

As George and Jean Greggson consider moving to a specific isolated colony, the director explains the reason for its establishment: The worlds now placid, featureless and culturally dead: nothing really new has been created since the Overlords came. The reasons obvious. Theres nothing left to struggle for, and there are too many distractions and entertainments (Clarke 149-150). With the destruction of any need for creative thought and competitive energy, the purpose of civilization takes a fundamental turn.

The two authors take a dramatically different although equally distressing approach to the end of mankind. This is reflected in a complete loss of individuality within the societies discovered by the time travelers of both stories. Wells character discovers that the Eloi are nearly completely mindless in their blissful daytime activities while the Morlocks are equally mindless in their voracious appetite and only slightly more clever thinking. After all, they were less human and more remote than our cannibal ancestors of three or four thousand years ago. And the intelligence that would have made this state of things a torment had gone. Why should I trouble myself? These Eloi were mere fatted cattle, which the ant-like Morlocks preserved and preyed upon  probably saw to the breeding of (Wells 74-75).

The future humans of both stories transition into something no longer recognizably human, having lost the quality of mind that we consider makes us unique among the animals, but the humans of Clarkes story are moving on to something too unknown to be judged. As Jan describes the last moments of Earth, he tells the Overlords through radio transmission that the mindless-seeming children of the last human generation have made an evolutionary jump beyond the bounds of matter to become a part of something larger than even the Overlords: theyre on their way at last, to become part of the Overmind. Their probation is ended: theyre leaving the last remnants of matter behind (Clarke 227).

Through both stories, it is only through the intervention of science that these fundamental questions regarding the human condition become answerable questions within these stories. By circumnavigating the time element, either through a time machine or through the elaborate end game of Jan Rodricks, science is able to give mankind an idea of what life would be like should mechanics manage to remove all elements of strife to introduce utopia.

Rather than leading to the type of Golden Age often anticipated, both stories illustrate how this final Golden Age was something more in the nature of a final death throe. While Wells indicates this inevitable decline and loss of everything human is irrefutable and irrevocable, Clarke offers hope in the possibility of the existence of an entirely different sort of existence. This existence is, admittedly, no more concerned with the concept of a once-human race or their various developments on Earth than is the obliterated planet of Wells creation, but there is a hope of the human race having contributed something lasting to the universal order.

Works Cited

Clarke, Arthur C. Childhoods End. New York: Ballantine Books, 1953.

Wells, H. G. The Time Machine: The War of the Worlds. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Publications, 1968.

Introduction

The Malleus Maleficarum is a historical book that was written in the middle age. The term Malleus Maleficarum means The witch hammer. The book guided investigators as they eradicated witchcraft in the society. The effect of this historical book is intensive in the modern society despite the time that has elapsed since it was first published.

The essay will discuss womens victimization and affirmation in relation to witchcraft. Moreover, the relationship between witches and demons will be outlined. Historical ideologies based on witchcraft as discussed in the Malleus Maleficarum and how such ideas can be transformed by fiction will be scrutinized.

Background

Christianity doctrines failed to accept the existence of witchcraft and dismissed the ideology of Malleus Maleficarum as mere superstitions.

Witchcraft victimized women to a great extent as sentence of witches was fatal. The historical book solved the problem of uncertainty, as witches would only be branded if they fitted the description. In fact, approximately 9 million women were hanged or burnt alive after they were regarded as witches.

Before the guidelines, witches were branded based on mere suspicion or failure to comply with Catholic doctrines. The Malleus Maleficarum intensified the works of investigators and was regarded as a book that was soaked in blood. The witch hunting exercise took place for a period of 250 years and realized good results (Kieckhefer 24).

Witchcraft Fiction Transformation

Witch hunting was meant to eradicate evilness that was associated with witchcraft in the society. Emphasis was on witches and not wizards since women engaged in witchcraft more than men did. The investigators court judged both witches and those that were accused of sacrilege.

The Catholic doctrines did not agree with ideology of existence of witches who could transform nature permanently. According to Christians, belief in magic powers of witches was regarded as blasphemy. The devil and witches could not cause permanent transformation on human beings, according to Christian doctrines.

For example, the suffering that was inflicted on Job involved natural factors like diseases, which are manipulated by God. Christians argue that if witches and demons had power to transform nature, then there would be a lot of disorganization in the world (Ankarloo and Clark 11).

The Malleus Maleficarum argues that the power that is influenced by physical factors, like that of a witch cannot exceed natural phenomena (Broedel and Hans 9).

The devil has power to study the stars and witches call on his intervention in their evil acts by observing certain star patterns. It should be noted that, the devil and witches cannot manipulate the pattern of stars; nature cannot be transformed by demons or witches. The craft that is used by the devil, like in the instance of studying the stars, can never be adequate to transformation nature permanently. Permanent situations like disease or cure can only exist by other power and not that of devils and witches (Ankarloo and Clark 16).

Power influence among the witch, devil and God has been scrutinized in the Malleus Maleficarum. Permanent transformation can only occur when the superior power influences the weaker powers. For example, the devil could cause permanent transformation of nature only when permission is granted by God.

There are those scholars who postulate that witchcraft and magic do not exist. Others argue that there is witchcraft although its influence and effect on nature exists in the mind. In addition, there are postulations that although magic may be imaginary the cooperation between the witch and devil is real (Kieckhefer 20).

The three postulations have been nullified in the Malleus Maleficarum as none of them adequately explains the effects of the devil and witches. According to Thomas S., witchcraft exists and it is a sacrilege to argue that there are no witches. However, transformation of nature by demons and witches is only possible if permission is granted by God. Notably, it is wrong to postulate that effects of witches are imaginary.

Devils have power over men and can transform them if God permits. According to Malleus Maleficarum, angels who fell from heaven became devils and were more powerful than human beings. Witches are defined as women who try to behave like these devils and win more people to their religion (Kieckhefer 12).

The belief that the effects of witchcraft can only be presented mentally was also misplaced and its application led to false persecution of people. For example, there are women who were branded as witches simply because they confessed having a strange illusion. According to the Canon law, witches were supposed to be killed as stated in the Holy Scriptures.

Malleus Maleficarum has been associated with death and suffering of many people based on social structure. The book encouraged hunting of witches and in the process innocent people were killed. It should, however, be noted that Malleus Maleficarum also had positive impact especially on women.

Witch branding was more specific and there were more investigations than judgments after Malleus Maleficarum was introduced. There are arguments that the historical book was discriminative as women were the only victims. Moreover, the method used to suspect and brand witches was not fair. Witch hunting was the only way to cleanse the society off evil and prevent spread of crime to male gender (Ankarloo and Clark 17).

The scientific field was regarded as being sacrilegious in the middle age. The historical book used the information that was well known to enable people cope and understand nature. Malleus Maleficarum tried to unite people by eradicating witchcraft in the society in the best way possible.

Although Christians differed with the analogy of witchcraft, the effect of Malleus Maleficarum was intensive and penetrated all levels. It should be noted that, before the Bible, Malleus Maleficarum guidelines were universally used to save people from evil (Broedel 16).

Women Victimization and Affirmation

There are different approaches that have been used to comprehend the nature of witchcraft. The female gender has been associated with a higher incidence of witchcraft as compared to the male gender. The Malleus Maleficarum compares a woman, tongue and Ecclesiastes as they commonly reach extremity.

When a woman is holy and righteous she is known for the best virtue and when she becomes evil her wickedness is extreme. A woman is described as evil that can never be avoided by the society. Women are portrayed as being naive and are easily tricked by the devil into witchcraft.

Moreover, women are easily influenced by spirits than men thus are easily converted into witchcraft and superstitions (Kieckhefer 18). In addition, women are portrayed as gossipers and, therefore, spread evil to fellow women at a higher rate than male gender. There are postulations that the subordinate role assigned to female gender renders women vulnerable to witchcraft and superstitions. Society victimizes women and they shield themselves with witchcraft.

There are perceptions that women are less intellectual than men are and are thus likely to fall into witchcraft. For example, according to Malleus Maleficarum, only one woman could comprehend philosophy. Furthermore, the first woman was formed from a bent rib, which shows that women are imperfect and cunning. Women are described as being weak in faith and easy trusting, traits that are required in witchcraft (Ankarloo and Clark 11).

There are allegations that the women who were weak and intellectually challenged by men saw witchcraft as the only means of vengeance. Women are associated with poor memory and most married men said that their wives were the cause of their sorrow. Women who practiced witchcraft had their love converted to hatred and by all means sought vengeance.

The voice of a woman is said to be deceitful, as she does not mean what she says. Most of kingdoms have suffered due to women wickedness. For example, wicked Jezebel was cursed due to her wickedness and led to destruction of Jews. Women are also known to go to extremity to get what they desire.

For example, women dress and adorn themselves to capture the attention of men. According to Malleus Maleficarum unsatisfied sexual desires that are more pronounced among women are the root causes for witchcraft and superstitions. It should be noted that witches are more likely to be infidel, ambitious and sexually unsatisfied. Since women were most likely to be involved in witchcraft as compared to men, Malleus Maleficarum aimed to reduce the majority (Broedel 27).

Despite the wickedness that is associated with women, there are instances where they are praised in the Malleus Maleficarum. When the naive nature of a woman is not corrupted by witchcraft, then she will be holy and righteous. For example, God appointed Mary to be the mother of Jesus Christ because she was righteous.

Women innocence is greatly valued as virgins are seen as being pure and not evil. Sex was sacred and adultery was punished by death. Women accused of having sexual relations with the devil were branded as witches and killed (Kieckhefer 22). On the other hand, those who valued their purity were greatly rewarded.

Women, Satan and God

According to varied arguments, witches work in conjunction with devil and it is impossible for them to cause harm on human beings without cooperation. The Malleus Maleficarum uses various approaches to determine whether harm can be a sole responsibility. The analogy of Job in the Bible has been used to show how devil inflicted suffering on him in absence of a witch but with permission of God (Ankarloo and Clark 21).

The superior power of the devil must not consult the inferior power of the witch before any action. Consequently, inferior power only consults superior power when the task is beyond its ability. Christians dismiss the idea of existence of any power that can transform nature permanently. The Malleus Maleficarum states that permanent transformation can only be done in accordance to the will of God.

The devil does not need the witches to complete his mission but rather uses them and in the end destroys them. According to this perception, witches are used involuntarily by the devil and should not be punished for actions that are beyond their control. On the contrary, there are arguments that evil is voluntary and should not be seen as a responsibility. For example, a person rapes for pleasure and not obedience to some power. Witches should be punished because they find pleasure in evil deeds (Stewart 8).

Since the devil is in a spirit form, he requires witches to get in contact with humans. It is impossible for the devil to cause harm or cause permanent transformation without any intervention by witches. There are arguments that transformation can be realized by power of imagination and not necessarily by body contact. For example, a person is not likely to sit on a broken chair simply because he imagines the possibility of falling.

Transformation in this case is not caused by body contact but by invisible power of imagination. Malleus Maleficarum argues that magic should not be associated with evil powers simply because we are not aware of how the effect of transformation is realized (Broedel and Hans 23).

Conclusion

Malleus Maleficarum played a great role in eradication of witchcraft in the middle age. Women have been prejudiced and affirmed in this literature. Scholars and psychologists have different perceptions in regard to Malleus Maleficarum. There are those who criticize the book for being responsible for deaths of many innocent people in the middle age while others appreciate its efforts.

Historians should appreciate the efforts of Malleus Maleficarum in eradicating witchcraft. The guidelines could not be perfect to ensure that no innocent soul was lost during the witch hunting exercise. The approach was directed to women because they were the majority, and this should not be seen as discrimination.

Works Cited

Ankarloo, Bernard, and Stuart Clark. Witchcraft and Magic in Europe in the Middle Ages. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 2002. Print.

Broedel, Peter. The Malleus Maleficarum and the Construction of Witchcraft: Theology and Popular Belief. Manchester: Manchester University. Press. 2004. Print.

Kieckhefer, Richard. Magic in the Middle Ages. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. 2000. Print.

Stewart, Maxwell. Witchcraft in Europe and the New World. New York: Palgrave publishers. 2001. Print.

Life is short. Get the best

No evidence found. Murderer went unpunished. Brevity is a key to success when one needs to present ones ideas in a limited number of words. Six-word memoirs and six-word fictional stories are hard to write, though, reading somebody elses examples, one may notice that most of people have fun while doing that. Practice makes perfect when it comes to writing and only after writing hundreds of short sentences one will be able to choose two or three of those which can be recognized as six-word memoirs or six-word fictional stories. Concentrating at the essence of life will help to write a six-word memoir; when making up my six-word fictional story, I ran to a conclusion that the best stories were those which came to my mind first. A six-word fictional story is a work of fiction because it presents unreal facts, while a six-word memoir is a work of non-fiction which presents reality and is able to evoke a certain response in a reader.

Looking through numerous examples of six-word memoirs, I got convinced that not all of them should concern the events which took place in the life of a person who wrote it. In other words, this is not a description of the persons achievements or the places he/she once visited; however, some of the memoirs may still be about marital status or family problems. I realized that the most important in writing a six-word memoir is to convey the essence of ones personality and the attitude towards ones life which, according to Schwarz, has been influenced by who you were, who your family was once upon a time (Schwartz 400). Therefore, I believe that my six-word memoir Life is short. Get the best characterizes me as a person and lets those people who know me realize that this memoir is all about my life. Though this memoir does not directly describe the events from my life, it shows what I value in this life. It expresses exactly who I am, who I was, and who I will always be, which allows considering it a memoir.

Six-word fictional stories are somewhat more difficult to write because one has to apply imagination for this. Schwartz states that to write a fiction, one needs to create a world from the ground up, the imagined minutiae of the life of characters [one invents] (Schwarz 400). A six-word fictional story makes the reader able to suggest what could have happened in the story. Great imagination is crucial here though at first it seems impossible to be brief and creative at one and the same time. Nevertheless, those who have no imagination for the moment of writing a six-word fictional story should bear in mind that the most important criteria for it is to be fictional. Thus, my six-word fictional story Evidence not found. Murderer went unpunished may be regarded as such because it is invented and because it helps suggesting what happened in the story. For instance, it is clear that a murder took place; it was followed by an investigation and a trial in the course of which no evidence was found and the case had to be closed, which let the murderer avoid the punishment.

According to Schwarz, the most vivid feature which distinguishes a memoir and a fictional story is that the voice of memoir & can evoke a quick response (401), as well as it can form certain attitude about a person who wrote a memoir. Fictional story, in its turn, evokes only emotions and does not allow shaping an opinion about its writer, since what it represents does not reflect the writers inner characteristics.

In sum, six-word memoirs and six-word fictional stories demand brevity from the writer. The main difference between them is that a memoir evokes response in a reader, while a fictional story is not real and can only evoke emotions about the characters presented in it rather than about the writer.

Works Cited

Schwarz, Mimi. Memoir? Fiction? Wheres the Line? Pearson Longman, 2005.

Introduction

Suzanne Rahn, in her article An Evolving Past: The Story of Historical Fiction and Nonfiction for Children of 1991, described how the historical fantasy novels proved to be so essential in the historical years. Despite the success experienced by the fiction writers in historical years before World War II, Rahn in her article explored the failures of English writers regarding the fiction novel. However, due to high demand of the fiction books by children, current English writers have embarked in fiction writing with reference to the historical fiction novel.

Main Body

In her article, Rahn portrayed the efforts inputted in reconstructing the past. For instance, she explained on how Scott attracted the attention of young children by writing historical fiction novels. In addition, according to Rahn, Scott ensured that he had advocated historical aspects by writing non-fiction novels such as Kidnapped with the goal of presenting the real people, real events, and consequences that young children experienced in the past while struggling for their rights.

Rahn in her article also outlined the role of women in regenerating the past. She expressed on how women crossbred the past and the present through feeding young individuals with stories. According to Rahn, through the stories told to the young children by the old women, the children ended up intermingling the past cultures and forces with the current cultures of the world.

Rahn also used symbolism to express her views about the historical novels. For instance, in the novel The Time Machine by Well, the travelling of the children to the past according to Rahn symbolized the quest for civilization anticipated by the writer through the children to overcome experienced cruelty and oppressions. However, Rahn in her article warned young children against the spirit of adventure. She related the death of many young children to the quest of adventure during historical world.

According to Rahn, Grandfathers Chair a title for Hawthornes novel was also symbolic. Rahn argued that through the topic Grandfathers Chair, Hawthorne succeeded in making young children develop a sense of belonging and desire for heritage. At the same time, Rahn argued that the Hawthorne, in writing his novel, fixed fiction and non-fiction with the aim of attracting the attention of young children into loving his piece of writing.

According to Rahn, some of the historical novels expressed some vital roles played by young children. For instance, she outlined the theme of survival in her study of Harriets novel. She supported her point by explaining the responsive roles played by young children left as orphans.

Rahn also viewed the past historical stories used as baits in involving children into participating in some community responsibilities. For instance, she explained on how young girls participated in revolution wars in the past.

To capture the attention of young children, Rahn argued that most of the historical writers such as Yonge and Scott wrote romantic stories, which they knew to be loved by young children. According to Rahn, the audiences of most historical writers were young children, and historical writers could do anything to capture their attention.

Some of the historic novels also aimed at recruiting young children into army indirectly. For instance, Rahn argued that Henty wrote a historical novel with the intention of acquainting young boys with military personality. She later explained on how Henty became jovial after succeeding in coaxing young children into military.

Rahn argues that some of the historical writers chose to reflect most of their writing to children with the intention of correcting the past through introducing some values of the past through their writing to young children. Most of the writers also used pictures to help children create imaginations of the past to revise instead of rejecting it.

2. Kidnapped is a historic fiction novel written by a Scottish writer, Stevenson. Just as Rahn reflected in her article, it was written in 18th century to young boys with the aim of passing information about the historical and political situation of Scotland. The novel is all about a young boy, a stylistic device used by the author to capture the attention of young children. The novel reflects on how helpless David at the age of 13 managed to escape and came into contact with Alan in the ship, showing the children responsibility in rescuing themselves from the past, theme portrayed by Rahn in her article as demand for civilization.

The novel supports Rahns views on how children undergo troubling situation in fighting for their lives. The novel further reflects on how David ended his captivity on the ship by stumbling together with Alan into new adventures, supporting the views of Rahn about the orphans problems in the historic times. Surprisingly, David was running away from the police because of the accusation of murder by his uncle.

Conclusion

On the other hand, many of the escapades that David encountered were well caused by his naivety and too much confidence. For instance, David walks into his uncles home with the courage that he can handle him only to end up in a trap, a situation explained by Rahn as quest for adventure of children in intermingling the past and the present. In the sea, David also risked his life; he shipwrecked almost losing his life.

Works cited

Girouard, Mark. The Return to Camelot: Chivalry and the English Gentleman. New Haven: Yale UP, 1981. Print.

Marryat, Frederick. The Settlers in Canada. 1844 rpt. London: J.M Dent, 1909. Print.

Stevenson, Robert. Kidnapped. Victoria: Arc Manor LLC, 2009. Print.

Introduction

In literature, science fiction is one of the few genres that have managed to retain their relevance even with the advent of new and perceivably better genres. A common definition is that science fiction is a genre of fiction where the stories are about futuristic science and technologies (Scholes 6).

It falls under fiction because most of the contents such as aliens, futuristic space travel, and paranormal events are imaginary (Scholes 6). Science fiction has found its place among the great literatures of the word and hence a contribution in the field of literature.

Some of the most sales in literature are in the genre of science fiction with fans all over the world (Scholes 6). This essay looks at the genre by using two examples of texts to portray some of its characteristics.

Purpose of Science fiction and its use in Colleges

Traditionally, science fiction has mainly been read for leisure due to its enjoyable nature by a particular age group of people (Roberts 11). The use of science fiction has therefore been to provide entertainment for the readers. In colleges, science fiction has an application in the teaching of literature and English classes (Roberts 13).

The value in teaching is as a result of its enjoyable nature where unmotivated learners and reluctant readers find this method of learning easy to use (Roberts 9).Colleges also use this genre of literature to sharpen the literary skills of the students.

This genre of literature was successful in the past with some of the works receiving major awards. The authors who write in mainstream literature have also ventured in this genre thus symbolizing its importance and position alongside the other great genres of literature (Scholes 6).

The texts

The two texts to be discussed in relation to science fiction are Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed by Ray Bradbury, and Nightfall by Isaac Asimov. The two fit in the genre because of their utilization of scientific theories and fictional ideas.

In Ray Bradburys story, the earth is engaged in an atomic war. One of the families sets off for mars where other humans are said to be living (179). The main character is said to be attempting to build a rocket with human beings easily traveling to and from mars (190).

In the second story, a fictional planet with light throughout is described (Asimov 11). These and other scientific theories in the stories are some of the reasons why they fit into the genre.

The stories add to the body of knowledge in science fiction, as they propose some new theories. In Ray Bradburys story, it is the existence of a virus on planet mars (186) while it is the new planet and stars in Asimovs story with a planet that never experiences night (13).

Science and technology are a significant component of Bradburys story. It is through it that the planet earth and all its inhabitants are partially destroyed with just few survivors (185). The technology in the setting of the story is so advance that a common man like the character and the friends are able to build their own rocket (189).

The persona of the scientist is engaged in both of the stories as it is characteristic of fictional stories. In Asimovs Nightfall, the character, Mr. Bittering explores the building of a rocket to take him and his family back to planet earth even though a mention of his scientific capabilities is not made (179).

Some of the scientists in the Nightfall include Sheerin 501 and Siferra 89 both of whom make great discoveries in their respective fields about their fictional planet (33).

Gender and sexual roles in the context of science fiction are well represented. In Bradburys story of the family members, Mr. Bittering is the only one concerned with the changes in events in their new planet (Roberts 15). The male sex is therefore depicted as being stronger and wiser as it is in most of the fiction stories (Margot 153).

Race is presented in the same story as constituting the Martians and the earth people. The Martians are depicted as being evil to the humans coming after Mr. Bitterings family (194)

Technology and religion are combined in the Nightfall with a cult said to confirm the likely events in the planet Lagash (40). According to them, the planet would experience darkness after a predicted period of years. The scientists came up with the same theory, which was later confirmed (40).

The concept of humanness is well explored in the story by Bradbury. In fact, human beings are portrayed as a superior race (187). They view other beings as a threat to them even when they happen to be friendly. The view is consistent with most of the works in science fiction (Roberts 17).

The existing and actual scientific theories of the existence of life forms on mars and some form of harsh conditions here, which would not favor human survival, are alluded to in the story (189). Scientists believe in a form of life that is not known to the planet earth within the atmosphere and environment of mars, which may affect human beings (Margot 157).

The two stories are part of larger themes with Bradburys story alluding to the end of the planet earth and global atomic war. The notion of utopia is presented in the story by Bradbury where the character believes that planet earth is their rightful home without some of the changes that his family was going through (186).

Dystopia is presented in Asimovs story where the planet in which the characters were living would experience darkness and virtually turn into a dystopia (32).

The two stories also present an interaction between science and society with science contributing significantly to behaviors, events, and decision-making in the societies in the stories. In Bradburys fictional story, it is because of science that man has been able to destroy his world while at the same time colonizing a different one (185).

Asimovs story on the other hand presents a positive interaction of science and society where scientific knowledge helps in the prediction of a major event in the fictional planet (Roberts 24). The negative and positive interactions of science and society as depicted in most science fiction works (Roberts 26) are therefore highlighted in the texts.

Conclusion

In conclusion, science fiction is an important genre in literature that has found its place among the other great genres. Its main use is leisure as utilized in learning institutions where students can learn literature and English besides having fun at the same time. Two examples of texts in this genre have been discussed alongside their contribution to the genre.

Works Cited

Asimov, Isaac. Nightfall: and other stories. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1969. Print.

Bradbury, Ray. S is for space. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1966. Print.

Margot, Jean-Michel. Jules Verne, Playwright. Science Fiction Studies 32.1(2005): 150-62. Print.

Roberts, Adam. Science fiction. London: Routledge, 2000. Print.

Scholes, Robert, and Eric Rabkin. Science fiction: history, science, vision. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977. Print.