Category: Hope

Introduction

As an attempt to address some phenomenon in human life, some philosophers have contradicted or dismissed claims of other philosophers. Concern of human suicide is a philosophical problem that has elicited different claims among philosophers. Many philosophers have provided diverse explanations for this event in human life. In their claim, they have used existing philosophy to build their own or conceive a fresh.

Being a philosopher, Nietzsche provides an in-depth view of suicide in his various works, which delineate suicidal motive. He uses a supernatural character, Zarathustra, to explain the concept of suicide in humankind. Additionally, Camus developed a different perspective of suicide.

Hence, this paper focuses on the interpretation of Nietzsche Zarathustra in terms of the relationship between absurdity and suicide as described by Camus.

The Problem of Suicide

Camus methods of resolving the Nietzsches problem of suicide, and absurd reasoning, might have seemed very surprising to Nietzsche (Camus 3). This may be the case since Camus feels honored to presuppose and confront the complete deficiency of meaning in entire human life.

Consequently, after posing his concern of suicide and life value, he notes that the voluntary death process indicates acknowledgement of the importance of suffering, and the lack of a weighty reason for living. Therefore, Camus (6) asserts that the relationship between the absurd and suicide, the actual extent to which suicide serves as an answer to the absurd, represents the true subject of his essay.

Camus does not seek refuge in any perspective of the ascetic ideal, which Nietzsche has added meaning in every life of human up to the present. As Camus works his path towards the answer, he emphasizes on the question whether it is achievable to appreciate life as worth living without invoking a single ascetic concept that undervalue life.

These ascetic concepts include God, guilt, sin, morality, eternal freedom, soul, ideal worlds, and afterlife. He argues that all such ascetic concepts appeal to the concern of a sacrificial mind.

Life Affirming Suicide

Nietzsche focuses on reversing Schopenhauers appraisal, and thus keen on reviewing the problem of suicide from the viewpoint of life-affirmation. Thus, he had expressed the perspective that people should accept the wishes of others, who prefer to be deceased, in the Zarathustra speech on the death preachers.

Zarathustra in response to those of the view that life is typical suffering says that, see to it, then, that you cease & and let this be the doctrine of your virtue & thou shalt kill thyself! (Loeb 168). Later in the Twilight of the Idols, Nietzsche gives the same advice to Schopenhauer, which Loeb feels can extend to Camus.

Nietzsche argues that it is not under the control of a person to thwart their birth although humans can correct this error, because it is in other cases an error. Thus, when one commits suicide, he or she does the most worthy possible alternative.

Life itself gets more benefit from this course than from life of anemia, renunciation, and many other virtues. The victim has freed others from sight of him or her, and has freed life from hostility. Pessimism first ascertains through the self-refutation by the pessimist. He or she must advance the logic, rather than negate life simply by illustration and will.

Nietzsche argues that the pessimist who desires death conducts a life-affirming and life-enhancing action by killing him/herself. This view aligns with those of Camus and Schopenhauer (Loeb 166).

Life itself gains an advantage from the suicide of pessimism, and the suicide frees life from hostility. Even though the pessimist does not deserve to live, he or she earns the right to live through his or her life-affirming and life-supporting suicide.

If an observer compares life-affirmation with life- and self-preservation, one comes to believe in the strangeness and contradiction of Nietzsches reference of the suicide of a decadent. However, this perspective ignores his differentiation of the things, which benefit life from those that benefit specific creatures.

Nietzsche would agree, for sure, that there are life instincts in the degenerate that sustain his live against his or her wish to die. Nevertheless, such forces are lasting and partial for the benefit of people at large. Despite their efforts to keep the degenerate alive, they are helpless with respect to the underlying disease, misery, and fatigue, which make him or her constitutionally incapable of affirming life.

To transcend his or her death wish, the degenerate does not have an option but to live in rebellion against the unsuitable life he or she does not fit. Since the lasting forces that sustain the life of a specific living decadent work against the profits of life, they have overwhelming influence of human life (Loeb 167).

Generally, these forces keep alive a person who tends to oppose life and whose existence represents opposition to life. The decadent has only one option of affirming life in general, which is to deny by ending his or her own life

Nietzsche draws some fundamental conclusions from this course of thinking, which contradicts the usual and the innocuous understanding of his insistence on life-affirmation. The subsequent paragraphs will pivot on three of the conclusions he drew. First, he argued that the decadent has just two alternatives of life-affirming suicide or life-depriving survival that hinders the decadent to live in a manner that affirms life.

Philosophers perceive Nietzsche as upholding the life-affirming life for all, besides counseling pessimist to alter or enhance the life-denying perspective of their lives. Nonetheless, despite his intent to promote life-affirmation of decadents, Zarathustra appears to propagate and intensify the decadents innate drive to self-destruction.

Thus, he emphasizes in the Twilight of the Idols that the optimal life interest of ascending life requires that the decadent should push down and away degenerating life. In addition, he later writes in the Antichrist that, the weak and ill-constituted shall perish: first principle of our philanthropy.

And one shall help them to do so (Loeb 169). This is absurd as in mainstream public, a person who encounters a decadent anticipating to commit suicide should help the decadent in reversing negative thoughts of suicide.

The second conclusion concerns his quest for a counter-ideal to the ascetic-ideal. In support of this conclusion, he asserts that the decadent is unable to affirm life despite ascetic ideal conferring meaning to his or her life. This implies that meaning is a survival precondition, although it does not ensure life-affirmation.

Therefore, a counter-ideal must offer the form of meaning that sustains life-affirmation. Nonetheless, because Nietzsche views suicide as the only life-affirming alternative for decadents, the counter-ideal must symbolize a new meaning that will overpower any lasting life-preserving forces and facilitate the decadent to succumb to their prevailing suicidal instincts.

This implies that the mainstream understanding of the counter-ideal cannot be proper. The optional non-ascetic ideal must be able to bear the burden of answering the question, Suffering for what? Thereby, impeding suicidal nihilism, because that is the existential task the ascetic ideal discharges (Leiter 287).

However, counter-ideal hinders the capacity of the ascetic ideal to prevent the occurrence of suicide among decadents. In other words, the counter ideal must object the ability of the ascetic ideal to preserve the blank life of decadents who make up a destitute and opposition to life.

While the ascetic ideal represented a trick life played during its struggle against the imperative death wish of a decadent, the counter-ideal must reveal that trick and simultaneously enhance and justify the appropriate desire of the decadents to commit suicide.

Counter Ideal of Zarathustra

In his third essay, Nietzsche used most of his time disintegrating and reviewing the dominant ascetic ideal while dismissing plausible candidates for a novice counter-ideal. However, he did not propose his idea of the construct of the new counter-ideal (Loeb 172).

As a result, many scholars have found his conclusion as unconvincing, evasive, or a depiction of his character as the best at disintegrating than advancing a hypothesis. Nevertheless, scholars should consider Ecce Homo argument, which is in post-Zarathustra books, as presumed to be wholly critical and preliminary to the positive solutions, which Zarathustra had proposed in advance in Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

The reason for this attention is his testimony at the end of the essay of Genealogy that he belonged to his decadent age, and thus, is not healthy, strong, courageous, or free enough to speak with conviction on behalf of the requisite counter-ideal to object the ascetic ideal.

Conversely, he argues that he had to visualize a prospect man with the requisite inspiring wickedness and self-convinced intellectual malice. In this context, Nietzsche recognizes the immoralism of the counter-ideal and confesses to be less courageous or free to advocate it.

According to him, it will take a man belonging in the future era to liberate his contemporaries from the past ideal such as intense nausea, the will to oblivion, and the nihilism. Since Nietzsche argues that the decadence of humankind induces the great nihilism that represents humankind weariness over its own decadence. Hence, the life-affirming aspect is necessary in the facilitation of suicide in humans.

In Ecce Homo analysis of the Genealogy, Nietzsche states that ascetic ideal has immense influence due to ideal independence in spite of the harm associated with it. Noteworthy, counter-ideal was nonexistent until Zarathustra was conceived. Nietzsche attested that the counter-ideal did not originate from him, thus, he did not explain it in the range of work that projected his perspective, not even in the Genealogy.

In light of his conclusion of the second essay, he asserts that it is proper for him to keep silent to avoid interfering with the ascetic ideal than be an atheistic Zarathustra (Loeb 172). Presumably, he could interfere because by writing in his perspective, he would be too afraid to express the sublimely evil and rationally malicious perspective of the desired counter-ideal.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra portrays Nietzsches imaginary man of the future compelling human to transcend itself and to determine its own demise. In an introductory exhortation reechoed at various key instances throughout the book, Zarathustra urges humans to accomplish their biggest experience finally, one that will allow them to overcome self.

This symbolizes the hour of intensive disdain towards self when humans appreciate all that they highly treasure concerning self, such as a rationale for existence, poverty, grime, and distorted contentment.

Speaking from a position of a redeemer of grand love and alluding to the beatitudes in the Gospel, Zarathustra declares his love for the overall self-destructive humans desiring to kill themselves and those who can access means to achieve that objective.

Speaking as a preacher of repentance, a position that does not suit him, Zarathustra cautions humans about the consequences of preserving self, disgraceful insignificance, sterility, and hardships that accompany lasting survival.

Criticism of Nietzsche by Camus is rather different from criticisms of other critics. Camus does not deny the importance of transmutation of principles and virtues.

Although in the aspect of nihilism and Nietzsches methods for attaining it, Camus creates another transmutation in his writing, which maintains awareness of contemporary and cultural relevance. Camus has the conviction of Zarathustra moving from the cave to the society with a view of provoking it to continue with the rebellion for the cause of a genuine self.

Conclusion

Evidently, scholars do not accept most of the initial public speeches of Zarathustra, for they refuse to see or hear, but they use much of their time and efforts in attempting to explain opening command of Zarathustra. Certain philosophers question the meaning of the terms that Nietzsche uses, such as Untergang.

Moreover, other philosophers argue that the Zarathustras domination is simply psychological, spiritual, or metaphorical. Yet, some philosophers also claim that retraction and deconstruction of Zarathustras initial domination occur as the book advances.

Yet still, some dismiss the whole book as forsaken by Nietzsche when he translated it into the optimal phase of his real masterpieces including the Genealogy. Thus, Nietzsche Zarathustra is a hero who has no hope in life.

Works Cited

Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays. New York: Vintage International, 1991. Print.

Leiter, Brian. Nietzsche on Morality. New York: Routledge, 2002. Print.

Loeb, Paul. Nietzsche on Time and History: Suicide, Meaning and Redemption. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2008. Print.

There is an assumption that our society and culture can determine the choices of individuals. However, sometimes peoples choices are based on personal considerations and moral principles shaping characters identity. Social status, individual characteristics, and moral assets, therefore, predetermine a personal choice.

Within this context, Lalamis book Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits is an account about difficult choices made by the protagonist to achieve their own purposes. Faten, the main heroine and a determined girl, tries to challenge the host society. In the pursuit of options, opportunities, and dignity, she expresses her superiority over other people. While focusing on Fatens identity, the heroine makes personal choices to get respect and attention in a new society.

Many might believe that Faten is a very eccentric and hypocritical girl who is reluctant to accept alien culture and society. However, she makes a personal choice to wear all religious and cultural attributes of Moroccan culture to get attention and respect in Spain. Hence, Fatens first appearance in the book allows the reader to understand the extent to which Faten is committed to her goals and faith: She wore a gray, pilled sweater and an ankle-length denim skirt, and her hair was covered in a headscarf (Lalami 23).

While presenting Faten through the prism of Larbis view, the author, apparently, tries to capture the full grasp of her personality. Faten becomes a religious fanatic to resist Larbis position. Hence, from Amranis point of view, Faten is an arrogant girl who refuses to shake his hand.

Being reluctant to acknowledge Faten as full-fledged personality, Larbi is determined to consider Faten the wrong type of people who should not communicate with his daughter (Lalami 25). As a result, the man destroys her future and dooms the main heroine to living a dissipated life. For the first time, Faten realizes that her personal freedom is limited to the choices made by other people with power and money.

In the pursuit of dreams, some people can stat that Faten, a determined and rebellious girl, opposes the bureaucratic system of education in Spain, but in fact, the heroine just strives to gain recognition by promulgating Morrocan culture. The protagonist, thus, explores the limits of individual choices and concludes that education and perseverance are powerful means to opportunity, dignity, and choice.

After immigrating, Faten, a pious idealist, deliberates on her personal choice to wear the hijab at the university in Morocco and the circumstances that have made her take it off in a host country. The girl wonders about Noura, her rich former friend, whom Faten convinced to wear the hijab: Noura was probably still wearing it. She was rich; she had the luxury of having faith. But then, Faten thought, Noura also had the luxury of having no faith (Lalami 138).

While Nouras beneficial connections protect her from wrong decisions, Fatens socioeconomic circumstances, as well as religious learning, work against her in the world where money give you choices (Lalami 139). A matter of choice, therefore, was confined to the power of money, but not to the main principles of morality and faith.

Many might agree that Faten made a personal and deliberate decision to abandon her morality, personal values, and beliefs. In fact, Faten, the Muslim fanatic, understands that difficult choices must be made to survive in a cruel world. These choices, however, lead to the frustration of her dreams and faith in a better life.

With no credentials and respect, she encounters similar problems to those she encountered in Morocco. Fantasizing about what she could have achieved after graduating from university and understanding that reality is far more severe than she imagined in her dreams, Faten realizes she is the one to rely on because  no one gives anything for free (Lalami 43).

In the pursuit of dignity and respect, Faten encounters indifference of other people to recognize her beliefs and positions. Living in exile is the price that Faten has to pay for upholding her moral positions and remaining faithful to herself. The Eid holiday was not a veritable event to celebrate anymore, although it made the heroine nostalgic about the times when she lived in Morocco. It was just a reminder of the sufferings she had to overcome on the way to her dreams.

Despite all the adversities, however, Faten cooked a meal because it was the only means of restoring her self-image. At a glance, Fatens decision to cook the dinner can be seen as an act of despair. However, Faten chooses to celebrate to challenge the opposition and remain faithful to herself. Though being opposed by others, this is the only thing that allows her to make choices and influence her future.

There is a false assumption that a persons fate depends solely on the decision he/she makes. However, personal choices can make individuals witness strong opposition, particularly when those individuals face the resistant majority. Inability to accept other cultures and social conditions does not allow Faten to follow her personal choices. Her arrogance, confidence, and a strong feeling of superiority prevent her from reaching her goals.

Being a complex character, Lalami decides to depict Faten through the lenses of Larbi to better define the dimensions of her character and explain what factors made her choose the life she led. In fact, because Faten thinks of herself as a very religious and honest person, she still cheats at her exams and, later, she enters a life of degradation.

In conclusion, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits embraces the problem of personal choices, as well as the extent to which they influence life of individuals. Within this context, Faten is a unique character, a heroin who struggles against Western stereotypes to prove her identity and right to self-expression.

She desperately opposes indifference and ignorance of the European world in the pursuit of accomplishing her utmost dreams and gaining respect and attention. In reality, the host culture neglects Fatens attempts to follow her principles. Thus, she has had a potent impact on Nouras decision not to attend New York University; she has also shared her political views on the bureaucratic system of education which prevents talented and skillful children from entering a higher educational establishment.

As a result, she becomes the victim of the Western corrupt world and her personal choice to resist the host society. Faten faces a difficult decision while experiencing a life outside the campus. Lalami, thus, presents Faten as a very complex character and, therefore, she chooses to describe her intention and features through Larbi point of view to understand her veritable goals and choices in life.

Works Cited

Lalami, Laila. Hopes and Others Dangerous Pursuits. Washington, PA: Harvest Book. pp. 19-51, 127-145.

DEFINITION

Hope is successful sense of planning to meet one’s goal, it is positive motivational state. (Synder, Irving, & Anderson)

EXPLANATION

Positive emotions are basis of positive impact on our goals and our direction for achieving those goals. Hope creates eager and drive to achieve success. Even in dark shaded times hope is like a light that gives a sense to find answers and step towards a direction. It is said hopeful employees tend to create a dialogue towards independency and grow thinking process among team. They are prone to develop creative and critical thinking to cope up with strategical issues and at time develop directions never worked on inclined to. In organizational culture hopeful employees tend to bring information while looking at problems and opportunities from different perspectives and directions. Thus hopeful employees are one major factor of creativeness. It can be also said hopeful employees are happy employees who indulge their minds to think out of box that lead to creative more minds to work along. (Rego, Machado, Leal, & Cunha, 2009)

VARIABLE

There can be many factors that affect hope, its consistency and level in an individual.

• Age
• Gender
• Useful Ideas
• Way power
• Schooling
• Happiness
• Overall creativity

MODEL

The findings showed that the composite hope measure predicts all creativity dimensions, and the way power dimension predicts the ideas championing dimension. They also showed that happiness predicts creativity, and that the composite hope measure also predicts creativity via the mediating role of happiness. (Rego, Machado, Leal, & Cunha, 2009) An employee with high willpower may feel difficulties in achieving high creative performance if he has not the way power necessary to find the creative routes that lead to creative ideas. And an employee with highway power is potentially less creative if he lacks the will to persist in pursuing solutions for problems and opportunities despite obstacles and drawbacks.

An employee with high willpower may feel difficulties in achieving high creative performance if he has not the way power necessary to find the creative routes that lead to creative ideas. And an employee with high way power is potentially less creative if he lack the will to persist in pursuing solutions for problems and opportunities in spite of obstacles and drawbacks.

In 2006, Ceriff and Winston discussed hope with future perspective study on Patterson’s and Winston’s model of servant leadership. (Cerff & Winston, 2006) They took research that show positive link between leadership to hope and motivation, hope and self-efficacy. It has been discussed how servant leadership plays positive and maximum impact on followers; strengthening believe, skills. In model of Winston, hope plays important dynamic and generating success in servant leadership role. (Cerff & Winston, 2006)

CONCLUSION

The vocabulary of servant leadership characteristics defined by Greenleaf and many writers, hope grows among organization impacting overall performance. Optimism, good communication, trust among team is integral part of strong mission statements and decision making. Leadership plays role in growth of hope, faith, ambitiousness, commitment, motivation and trust. Ceriff’s research gives pointers for hope theory providing directions in future research.

Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men takes place during the Great Depression in America which has an effect on the characters lifestyle and dreams. Steinbeck portrays the hopes of many people during these times through different characters: for example, the typical American dream which is shown through the two main characters, George and Lennie. Steinbeck also shows the troubles being a black person during these times can bring, through Crooks (the black stable buck.) Additionally, Steinbeck illustrates how much harder it was for a woman to pursue their dreams in 1930’s America, through the character Curley’s wife. The American Dream is presented as being unattainable in John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men. This is predominantly evident in the case of George, Lennie, Crooks and Curley’s wife.

Hope is something many character in Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men experience. Steinbeck portrays hope with George and Lennie’s American dream. Steinbeck shows this multiple times in the form of dialogue. On page 27 of the digital version George delivers this line: “”Well, it’s ten acres,” said George. “Got a little win´mill. Got a little shack on it, an´a chicken run. Got a kitchen, orchard, cherries, apples, peaches, ´cots, nuts, got a few berries. They´s a place for alfalfa and plenty water to flood it..” An´rabbits, George”” here we can see that George describes the house by memory. This shows that he has said this to Lennie multiple times. Lennie also talked about rabbits. We know from previous events in the book that Lennie has a bad/short memory so him being able to remember that he is going to tend the rabbits again means that George has told this story a lot. All of this points to that George and Lennie dreams/hopes to live the American dream someday. Just like George and Lennie’s hope of living the American dream, Crooks also hopes in some way of living the American dream.

Crooks hopes and dreams of being better and more equally treated than what he is currently. Steinbeck gives the readers of “of mice and men” a lot of hints that you have to read between the line to catch. An example of this is on page 33 of the digital copy: “”You go on get outa my room. I ain’t allowed in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t allowed in my room.” Why ain’t you wanted?” Lennie asked. “Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but i can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me.”” Crooks expresses that he is mad but also jealous of the other men when he says that they stink and that they don’t let him play cards with them. It is understandable that Crooks wants to be equally treated. But Crooks probably doesn’t only dream of being like the other men on the ranch. Maybe he wants to go and find a better job that he enjoys more. Steinbeck shows us that his living condition isn’t the best and that he works very hard as a stable buck. Crooks probably dreams that he could leave the ranch and find a higher paying job or a job that he would enjoy more. He doesn’t do this because he knows that as a black man during these times he would have it way harder to find a job, especially during the Great Depression. You can draw similar lines between Crooks’s dream of leaving the ranch with Curley’s wife’s dreams.

Curley’s wife hopes to become a famous actor/performer one day but she knows that for everyday that passes her chances of this becomes smaller. On page 44 of the digital copy a dialogue between Curley’s wife and Lennie goes like this: “”Well, I ain’t told this to nobody before. Maybe I oughten to. I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.” And because she had confided in him, she moved closer to Lennie and sat beside him. “Coulda been in the movies, an’ I coulda have nice clothes- all the nice clothes like they wear.”” Curley’s wife really describes how she feels like she missed out on the chance to become a moviestar. You can sense that she has thought plenty times of leaving Curly and following this dream. She describes all the things she could have been and all the things could’ve had which shows that she has, just like George and Lennie, though about this dream multiple times. I can imagine that talking to someone about this probably feels nice since she can’t talk about this with Curly. She probably even hopes to become friends with someone, like Lennie. In the quote she trusted Lennie enough to tell him about this, which further proved the point that she hopes to find a friend on the farm.

In conclusion, Steinbeck uses hope as a main theme in his novel, this is demonstrated through his well put together characters.

Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. In the short stories “My hotel year” by Douglas Coupland, we have a view of the doomed relationship of two Headbangers who are clearly lost in life. We meet the narrator who is going through a rough path, but is full of hope that this rough path is only temporary. The short story “Things that fly” also by Douglas Coupland, is explaining the daily routine of the main character that is going through a heartbreak and how she escapes the pain and loneliness by hoping. In both short stories, we learn about the importance of hope when going through a rough path and the author demonstrated This through multiple symbolisms and flashbacks.

In the short story “My hotel year” the characters show us that you have to hope in order to find yourself and move on. The author uses flashbacks to portray that the narrator succeeded in moving on from the rough path that she was going through. In the title of the short story “My hotel year” (Coupland P25), we see that she is remembering all this from a better place and she is going back to these memories only to remind herself how far she came from. “I had been going through a patch of intense brooding” (P29), In this piece of the short story she is referring to her hurt in the pass tense to amplify on the fact that she got over this path and is currently in the better place that she was hoping for. For the character Cathy, the author used symbolism to express her hope on moving on. In this quote, “Bye, bye, fishies.” (P53) She is letting go of the fishes as a symbol of letting go of her hurting and all the things she went through in order to move on and hope for the better. “In the end Donny got his wish and he did get shot” (P66), Donny was shown in this story as a coward compared to the other characters, he too had hope but he hoped for an ending. He was feeling lonely and unwanted therefore, he chose the coward way out and wished death upon himself. In this short story, all of the characters deal with their hurt and trouble differently but at the end they all had hope to help them on continuing.

In the short story “Things that fly” the narrator frequently uses hope as an escape from things that stress him. The narrator has a repetitive dream of flying, “I simply put my arms behind my shoulders and float and move.” (P86), his dream is symbolic of how he would love to be able to fly away from all of his problems. This dream is also a symbol of the hope he has for one day to be able to be far away from his problems and hurting. Even to the narrator is going through a heartbreak, he is showing signs of hope on experiencing love once again. The narrator explained that whooping cranes performing a mating dance looked so sweet and graceful, (P87). This shows that the even with the trauma that he is experiencing, the door of hope in love is still open. Throughout the complete short story, there are multiple things that are flying and are being referred to. They are all in one way or another referring to the symbol of freedom that the narrator hope and pray for, (P88). To him, the ability to fly is the ability to truly feel free. He believes that everything that can fly have the ability to simply fly away from them. In the short story “Things that fly” the narrator used a lot of symbolism to show how he hope to fly away from all his issues.

As a student in social service hope is a big help on dealing with lost, hurt and other similar feelings. Hope underpins the recovery process and a big part of recovery depends on the fact the patient desires to get better. Getting past a big trauma is hard work and sometimes just hoping for a better tomorrow provide enough strength to keep on going. The wonderful thing about hope is the promise of s future reward. Some may want to explore love, acceptance, understanding just like the characters in these short stories. All of them exist even if you have not experienced these wonderful aspects of life yet, all you have to do is not give in to despair and to carry the sensation of hope.

In conclusion, the short stories “My hotel year” and “Things that fly” by Douglas Coupland is the best start in the understanding the role that hope plays in recovering from a hard time. The multiple characters show a different way of hoping and also a different type of hope. Two of the characters from “My hotel year”, the narrator and Cathy, were hoping for a better life while Donny was hoping on getting killed. In the short story “Things that fly” also by Coupland, we have a character that is not hoping on feeling better and dealing with his issue but instead he is hoping to be able to fly. He thinks that by having the ability to fly he it will be easier for him to fly away from what is hurting him without dealing with it. Hope is also a big part in recovery in our everyday life, some patient that are going through a lot of trauma uses the idea of a better tomorrow to generate strength to keep on going.

The effect being hopeful in a higher power can have on the world Hope, Hope can be a fickle feeling. Hope can be easily lost, and hard to regain. Hope is sometimes all people need to keep themselves going, and without it, people will often find themselves empty and lacking a purpose. But on the other hand, Hope can be what binds people together, and give those in need the help they desire. Hope can drive people to strive for a goal, or fight for what they think is right. Hope can be lost, and in addition it can also serve as a means to keep people going. The only thing that is needed to spark hope in people, is a catalyst.

One of the first scenes in the movie, Children of Men, depicts the protagonist named Theo Faron, (Played by Clive Owen) who lives in a world where women have mysteriously become infertile, and the youngest living civilian on the planet being just over eighteen years old. In this world, hope is dwindling further every day as time passes by, and it is of popular belief in which in the next few decades, humanity will cease to exist due to reproduction failure. This first couple of scenes, while having little dialogue shows in the expressions of the people around him how hope seems to be fading away more and more. Soon Theo is united with a group of people who possess the only pregnant girl in the world. This sparks a great flash of hope within. Theo who makes it known that this news should be made public as to inspire hope in the hearts of others as well, but is shut down by the decision of The Fishes who claim that the government will simply seize Kee and her child for their own political gain. In the end, Kee is left to make the final decision, and she chooses to stay with The Fishes and give birth with them instead of going public as Theo wanted.

Throughout the rest of the film, Theo, Kee, and Jasper, along with other characters that come and go along the way. There are many varying degrees of Hopelessness. The moral of the story is that no matter what, hope should never be a feeling to let go of. Theo held onto that hope the moment it sparked within him. Kee became a symbol of hope to a fallen world, like humans now days follow religion, because of the fact of her baby the word had simmer of hope to live and sometimes that is all it takes. As previously stated people need hope to have some purpose in their lives because without it life can be hollow and pointless. Today humans search for a missing piece most often in religion or the lack there of. From Christians, to Muslims, to Atheist, to Pantheist, every person feels as though they are missing something. They are searching for something more in the world or even within themselves. That is where hope comes in. Without hope humans would have no reason for existence in this world. If not for hope the majority of humans would have no purpose in life.

Therefor oftentimes people put their hope and security in something higher than themselves. Christians for example, they believe in only one God. They find their hope in Gods son, Jesus. They believe Jesus was sent to earth in order to die for their sins. Christians believe that he rose from the grave after three days. This shows that their God is not just human. Because while Jesus was on earth he faced all the same things humans do now. It shows that he came to earth and put down his godliness to die for their sins. The resurrection shows that he is more than just a good human. It shows that he is God’s true son (Polkinghorne). This gives them a purpose. This gives them a hope. God’s redemption gives them hope to continue to live and strive to do better every single day. It shows them that God is a power higher than themselves, that they can put their hope and trust in. Although they may not be able to see God, their Bible tells them to hope for the things unseen (Polkinghorne). The Bible also tells them that they can trust and hope in God’s promises of a better life. It also gives people something to do.

The worse thing for someone who is hopeless is to be hopeless and idle. But christianity gives them hope as well as something to keep them busy. This is true for all religions. Religion gives people hope, and a purpose. It gives them something to believe in when they cannot believe in themselves. Islam is similar to Christianity. They also believe in only one god but their god does not have children. Their god definitely would not come to earth especially to die for their sins. They have to balance out sins with good deeds. They find their hope in Allah and the Quran. The Quran is the book that was written by Allah to give muslims guidance.

The Quran mentions gods rahma towards you (Nigosian). Rahma is a word that speaks of the love and compassion of Allah towards his followers (Nigosian). Muslims can find comfort in knowing that Allah has love as well as compassion for them as long as they continue to serve him. The Quran tells a story of a man named Joseph (Nigosian). Josephs brothers kidnapped him and sold him into slavery. His father, Jacob, was heartbroken. Joseph had a long and very hard journey but he ended up king of Egypt (Nigosian). He eventually reunited with his father (Nigosian). In all the time that Joseph was gone, Jacob never lost hope in his sons return. This is an example of Allah’s rahma towards his followers (Nigosian). Muslims can find hope in comfort in the fact that Allah has love and compassion for them. They have hope in one day they will reach an afterlife that is far better than the life they are currently living. Just as christians find their hope in Jesus, Muslims find their hope in Allah and his promises for them. Atheist believe that there is no god and that everything can be explained through science. Atheist reject religion in every way possible. They believe that once you die that is it. You have no spirit that lives on, no second life or second chance (Walters).

Each atheist can find hope in different things. Most of them find hope in the fact that there is no afterlife and that there is no god judging their every decision. There is only one life to live. You only have one chance at a great life. This gives them hope as well as purpose in their lives. It helps atheist enjoy life to the fullest because it is the only life they are given. For most other religions they find their hope in a god or in a better afterlife. But atheist are among the very few that do not. Just like everyone else, Atheist have the same need for hope as someone who believes in christianity. Another religion people find hope in is Pantheism. Pantheist believe god lives in everything and everyone (Levine). This means everything and everyone is united together by the spirit that flows through all us (Levine). Their god is best described as an impersonal spirit that is neither good nor bad (Levine). But this does not mean pantheist do not live moral lives because they do live generally good moral lives (Levine). Living generally moral life is important for pantheist in order to continue their journey.

The more a person becomes one with their true spirit, the more enlightened they can become (Levine). This is what gives a pantheist hope. They can continue to become something better than themselves until they reach their ultimate god-likeness (Levine). It gives them a hope and a purpose to strive for. The hope for pantheism is becoming closer and closer to true enlightenment (Levine). Not only does this give a pantheist hope but it pushes them to be better person. Therefor spreading hope and purpose to the world. Hope can be a fickle thing, and often is abandoned, but all it takes is one ember of hope, just something that can imply a better future for everyone, and miracles can become a very possible reality. We all have a need for hope. The search for hope will continue for as long as human life exist.

Work Cited

1. Cuarón, Alfonso, director. “Children of Men.” Universal studios, 2007 Le Guin, Ursula K.
2. “Introduction to The Left Hand of Darkness”. Handout. Levine, Michael P. Pantheism : A Non-Theistic Concept of Deity. Routledge, 1994. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=76498&site=ehost-live.
3. Nigosian, S. A. Islam : Its History, Teaching, and Practices. Indiana University Press, 2004. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=139709&s site=ehost-live.
4. Polkinghorne, J. C. The God of Hope and the End of the World. Yale University Press, 2002. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=188135 &site=ehost-live.
5. Walters, Kerry S. Atheism: A Guide for the Perplexed. Continuum, 2010. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=344089&site=ehost- live.

Working hard and thoroughly planning is a necessary key to accomplishing the goals one will set in life, but what usually happens is that something will go wrong, and it’s usually something out of anyone’s control. Despite how stressful and discouraging it is to see plans and schedules get messed up, the only thing that can be done now is to observe what damage has been done, rearrange, and move forward with a positive attitude. The novel Nectar in a Sieve, by Kamala Markandaya, provides many examples of this. In her story, Markandaya writes ”Nature is like a wild animal that you have trained to work for you. So long as you are vigilant and walk warily with thought and care, so long will it give you its aid; but look away for an instant, be heedless of forgetful, and it has you by the throat” (Markandaya 39). The statement explains how even if Rukmani has control over her life and land at that moment, at any point disaster could strike, so she always feels like she has to be prepared for the worst. Yet even when she secretly saves food, hides rupees, and stores seeds for planting, when something happens that will affect her livelihood, the plans she made tend to not go the way she wants, or at least not for long. However, the great thing about her character is how she’s able to observe the poor situations she’s in and adapt them as part of her everyday life with a hopeful and non-negative attitude. Despite all the struggles she goes through, Rukmani can accept, endure, and deal with each new thing as it comes and doesn’t get too overwhelmed, ultimately making her definition of everyday life continue to change.

To start, in chapter 7, a monsoon harshly strikes the land Rukmani lives upon, and everyone suffers from the lack of preparation due to Ira’s wedding. “Nothing was done to make our hut weatherproof or to secure the land from flooding. That year the monsoon broke early with an evil intensity such as none could remember before” (Markandaya 39). Rukmani had paid no attention to the weather because she believed it would all be under control and there was no need to worry. And so, the monsoon had taken that chance and hit when she least expected it, causing disaster for everyone. Yet even after all the despair this storm has caused, Rukmani still heads out to the markets just days later, hopeful that they can buy food. She realizes quickly that rebuilding what the monsoon has destroyed will take a long time, Rukmani learns to live with what little they have, and she patiently waits for the time when more food will be available. When they finally eat after such a long period of starvation, everyone is content and at peace. Though there are many things to worry about in the future, Rukmani holds onto the content feeling she has at that moment and rests with it. In chapter 13, contrary to the monsoon that brought loads of rain, there was a year that came with hardly any rain at all. This of course brought more hardship among Rukmani and her family. They went into starvation again and had trouble paying rent. Rukmani had to start going elsewhere to get water for her family, and by the time the rain came, it was too late. The starvation was long and painful not only for Rukmani but for everyone else in the village. It came to the point where grass was eaten to temporarily ease the pain of hunger. Markandaya writes, “For hunger is a curious thing: at first it is with you all the time, waking and sleeping and in your dreams, and your belly cries out insistently, and there is a gnawing and a pain as if your very vitals were being devoured, and you must stop it at any cost, and you buy a moment’s respite even when you know and fear the sequel” (Markandaya 86). And with hunger, many people suffered and grew weak, including the people Rukmani loved most.

Next is how more than weather can have an unexpected change. There are also unexpected changes in the people who surround Rukmani, including herself. Throughout part 1 of the novel, Rukmani’s hatred for Kunthi only grows and grows. It comes when Rukmani has a desire to kill Kunthi. One night, she hears footsteps outside and believes it could only be Kunthi arriving to steal their belongings, or whatever was left of them, so Rukmani runs outside and brutally leashes out an attack, blinded by pure rage. “Then I heard a thin, shrill scream. “Mother! Mother!” Hands were dragging me away. I felt myself pulled and thrown to one side…. ‘Are you out of your mind? Your daughter, you have killed her. Murderess!’” (Markandaya 95). It turned out that she had nearly killed her daughter, Irrawaddy. Rukmani was already very upset over the two previous losses of her two sons Raja and Kuti, and after her murderous attempt, she learns to control her anger. She learns to stop judging people and accept them for who they are, and that shows when she and Nathan meet Puli when they travel to the city after being kicked out of their house. Ruku accepts Puli’s unusual disease and also learns to adapt to life in the city. She and Nathan find work for themselves and seem to have a life going for them. Though it is not one full of fortune, they are happy for what they have left. But once again, when Rukmani least expects it, disaster strikes again. Nathan falls very ill. Rukmani tries to stay hopeful, telling Nathan that he will be okay, but Nathan knows better. “I saw him open his eyes, his hand came to my face, tender and searching, wiping away the unruly tears. ‘You must not cry, dearest. What has to be, has to be.’” (Markandaya 185). Nathan tells Rukmani to accept what is about to come, as she always had. Eventually, Nathan passes, and though Rukmani is in grief, she does what Nathan says and accepts his death, and she moves forward with her life. She returns home to her village and children and the last words in the novel are, “There was a silence, I struggled to say what had to be said. ‘Do not talk about it,’ he said tenderly, ‘unless you must.’ ‘It was a gentle passing,’ I said.’ I will tell you later.’”(Markandaya 186). Rukmani plans to tell her son of Nathan’s death ‘later.’ After that, the readers can assume that life will go on, and all Rukmani and the readers can do now is accept what happened to Nathan and look toward the future.

In conclusion, the novel Nectar in a Sieve shows many different examples of Rukmani’s character and how accepting and enduring she is, even when tragedies like monsoons, droughts, and death strike when she least expects it. She learns to adapt when put in new environments like the city she traveled to when she and Nathan had nowhere else to go. In all the examples given, Rukmani learns to adapt the situations she’s in into her normal life. She makes sacrifices for the wellness of her family, and she stores away valuables as a way of planning for the future, and most of the time, it works in her favor. Despite all the hardships she’s had throughout her life, she’s able to accept and move forward onto what the future has in store for her, ultimately changing her definition of everyday life.

For a reader to be able to completely understand and appreciate the struggles and outcomes of WW2, grading has explored key themes such as hope, loss, and relationships to highlight how Yael has managed to survive in a deadly time. In the novel speculative fiction is a central element that makes the reader question what truly could have been a reality.

Throughout Yael’s story, the importance of hope becomes greater as she begins to understand how important she is to the people she cared about “Hope. A strange word…Now hope weighed so much.” The metaphorical use of hope weighing so much demonstrates how she has survived so much, and that hope the thing that used to not exist has become more frequent in her life. Later in the novel Yael begins to mention hope more regularly, “Fueled by screams and hope, hope, hope…” The metaphorical repetition of the word hope used in this quote describes how her past of terror and pain has given her hope that she could finish the race in the first place. A similar quote “The end. Almost there.” “The victory. Almost hers.” This anaphoric parallel structure perfectly captures the anticipation and hope that Yael varies alongside her throughout the race, so that she can win and do the very thing that she feels must be done for the survival of the world.

The notion of survival is explored throughout the novel as it is essentially what the novel is about. Graudin has used quotes to express the difficult challenge of surviving Hitler’s regime. Throughout her life, Yael has gained many skills that she has used to protect herself against the Nazis. This is explored in the quote “She could not speak, but her instincts did.” In the quote, the personification of Yael’s instincts emphasizes Yael’s automatic response to danger. Throughout Yael’s inner dialogue in chapter 23, she says “I can save them all… She was done leaving people behind” This expresses how Yael feels like she is finished with leaving people behind who have sacrificed themselves for her and how she instead wants to avenge her past friends by surviving and helping others to survive. In Wolf by Wolf Graudin has shown examples of determination to survive in characters other than Yael, a great example of this would be Vlad “By pretending the pain was not there, I had let it root. I’d given it power over me.” In the novel, Vlad mentions his past multiple times and in this quote, the personification of his pain denotes its power over his life and how it provokes him to survive his past of physical injuries and mental trauma. Throughout the exploration of Wolf by Wolf the harsh reality of WW2, particularly the holocaust and the perseverance required to survive becomes more and more apparent to the reader.

Loss is an innate part of the human condition, experienced universally. In Ryan Graudin’s alternative historical fiction novel, Wolf by Wolf, the notion of loss is strongly embedded throughout Yael’s journey through the Holocaust and its aftermath. In chapter 24 Vlad mentions how he has been impacted by the war “I lost everything that day. My family. My name. My life” The use of anaphorical listing In Vlad’s Flashbacks of his dead family is demonstrative of the widespread loss and negative impacts of Hitler’s rule. The quote establishes how the war has not only caused a loss of life but also a loss of identity and dignity. Loss of hope is another form of loss explored throughout Wolf by Wolf “I’m tired of fixing things that always break” In the quote the symbolic language of the bike being broken symbolizes how Felix has lost hope and feels as though he tries he will just be let down. Throughout the novel, the recurring motif of Yael’s tattoos has an effect of creating a greater impact on their meaning to Yael and the reader. “Yael looked at the faces of Adele’s brothers – her family – and thought of the wolves on her arm. That lonely, lost pack.” Here Yael metaphorically compares her family and friends to a pack of wolves, this conveys the tattoo’s symbolic representation of her family. In addition to this the alliteration of the words “lonely” and “lost” Emphasizes the loss of her pack.

Throughout the study of Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin I have gained a thorough understanding of how the author has used Yael and alternate history to represent the determination and strength that an individual can have when faced with a challenging or frightening Circumstance. Graudin has Represented these characteristics with themes such as loss and hope in an endeavor to educate audiences about the harsh realities of WW2, especially for Jewish victims.

In his 1937 novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck explores the hopes and dreams of the characters against the reality they are faced with living and are each trying to survive. Through the characters of George, Candy and Crooks, Steinbeck explores the realities of loneliness and powerlessness, and discrimination towards race, disability and age that these characters face and their hopes and dreams for a better life, independence, security and respect to overcome those obstacles.

George, a main character, is sick of working for others and not being his own boss. George’s dream to own his own small farm and “live of the fatta the lan” (page 16) is repeated throughout the novel. George’s wants to own a farm so he can have independence and not have to answer to anyone. George wants to be able to “… put in a crop … [and] know what come of [his] planting” (page 65).

When Candy offered to help buy the farm, George begins to think this dream could happen and “[t]his thing they had never really believed in was coming true” (page 67). However, George’s dream to own a farm is short-lived when he decides to shoot Lennie after Lennie killed Curley’s Wife. When George discovered that Lennie killed Curley’s Wife and Candy asks him if they can still get the farm, George tells Candy “I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her” (page 107). George tells Candy that “’ll work my month an’ I’ll take my fifty bucks … An’ then I’ll come back an’ work another month an’ I’ll have fifty bucks more” (page 107) which seems to be George giving up on his dream and resigning himself to the fact that he will not gain independence nor be his own boss.

The character Crooks is faced with discrimination towards his race and the isolation he feels because of that discrimination. Crooks is the only black man on the ranch. He is not allowed to live in the bunkhouse with the other white men or play cards with them, but instead stays in his own room and reads books and has no-one to talk to. Crooks tells Lennie “I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick” (page 82). When Candy tells Crooks about buying a farm with George and Lennie, Crooks ask to join the farm telling Candy “… If you … guys would want a hand to work for nothing – just his keep, why I’ld come an’ lend a hand” (pp 86, 87). If Crooks was part of the farm, he might not be as alone or discriminated against. When Crooks realises that George did not want any knowing about buying the farm, Crooks withdraws his offer to Candy to work on the farm, telling Candy “I didn’t mean it. Jus’ foolin’. I wouldn’t want to go no place like that” (page 94). While Crooks wanted to be a part of the dream of the farm, the reality of this dream was short-lived for Crooks.

Candy’s character is facing the reality of old age and suffers from disability as he has lost a hand on the range. Candy old dog has also been put-down which makes Candy lonely. When Candy learns of George and Lennie’s dream to buy a farm, he offers to put his own money in to help buy the farm. Candy wants to be part of this dream as it will provide him security because he is old and fears that we will eventually be put out of work if he stays on the ranch. The dream of being part of the farm also helps Candy cope with the loneliness he feels having lost his beloved dog. After Lennie kills Curley’s Wife, Candy still wants the dream of the farm to happen and Candy asks George “You an’ me can get that little place, can’t we, George? You an’ me can go there an’ live nice, can’t we, George? Can’t we” (page 107). As with the dreams of George and Crooks, it seems like fate and forces out of the Candy’s control (being Lennie killing Curley’s Wife) put and end to Candy’s dream and his hopes of escaping his fear of being put out of work because of his age and physical handicap.

While the hopes and dreams held by the characters George, Crooks and Candy do help them survive the reality of their situations of powerlessness, discrimination and loneliness, by giving them something to look forward, the reader sees that those dreams are short-lived and not realised by the novel’s end. This leaves the reader wondering if these characters will ever realise their dreams of independence and security and freedom from isolation and discrimination, or whether they will give up on their dreams.

This quote is said by a very important man in this movie, Red. This quote is first of all strong because he said it and he is the man who is still hoping for a future without prison. In this scene they are all sitting at the table, eating their meal like every other day.

Andy is talking about how they can not take away his music and that it is kind of his sprinkle of hope. The rest at the table do not agree and Red tells him, “Let me tell you something, my friend.” “Hope is a dangerous thing.” He said the quote with a little bit of anger and convincingly. He is telling Andy that it can drive a man insane and that he should get used to the fact that he would not get out of this prison.

After he said those words, Red walks away. In my opinion, this moment shows you that prison life, without freedom, does something to you. Even though Red walks away, he is the character who is still holding the most hope in that horrible place.

I think that the people we don’t think of, hold on to the most hope in life and that makes it so special and emotional. Red is a very powerful character and in the beginning of the movie he seems to be a tough guy but in the end, we notice that he is a soft man with a big heart and he just wants to get out of prison to start a new and better life. The funny thing is, he is telling Andy to “not have hope” but during this movie we see Red trying his best to convince these people with all this small talk and telling them he is going to do better and change but in the end, he still refuses.

I love that he does not give up and therefore still keeps hope until the moment he has to show up and try again.

At this moment he is just sick of it so he starts telling what he really would do if he gets out of prison. At that point, he gave up and lost his hope and because of that, they agreed to let him go. I think there are two stories on this side. He did not lose hope and kept fighting and convincing them that he should get a free life and become a good man. And because of this hope, he stayed positive and believed in himself because he tried over and over until he would get out. So the decision was made when he did not have hope anymore so I don’t know if you should have hope or not. Especially in this movie/theme, it’s a hard one, having hope in prison can either break you or save you. I think it’s always hard to decide whether you should have hope or not. At home, at school, in general, and just in daily life.

As I already said, hope can save your day and make little expectations big expectations but also the other way around. For example, if you are looking forward to something and have been hoping for a while that this moment/day will be one of the best in your life and it turns out to be disappointing, then you have had so much hope for nothing and you are very moody and your day became a lot worse than you expected.

As a kid, I was very naive and always kept hoping for the good and fun stuff. For example, when I had good grades I always hoped that we were going to eat French fries or pizza and of course, you look forward to that as a child. Then it turned out that we were just going to eat fish with vegetables like every other day. Can be very painful for a little kid.

Not referring to this example but now I always keep my expectations low so that these turn out to be better than I thought. Cause as an adolescent everything seems a lot worse than it is… After my opinion, hope can be a dangerous thing and not a good thing. Then I mainly talk about hoping for something that you know will never be. I share this opinion because of a lot of things, people have let me down and because of this I trust people less quickly and that’s how I started to lose hope in people and myself.

But I think everyone should have hope in this world and that is a good thing cause otherwise, this planet would be worse than it already is.

Even though I think hope is a bad thing, I still hope for good grades and that I can graduate within a good year.