Category: Literature

The Necessary Targets is a play that had been written by Eve Ensler. The highlight of the play is about the role of women in the society. The play had remarkably convinced readers to think about the women when it comes to warfare. The author had claimed that the first idea that one gets when we talk about war is man and the weapons but no one had ever tried to understand what happened to the women in the wars had affected humanity since the beginning of humans life time.

The play Necessary Targets could be a very interesting play for the students to perform and equally experience it as an audience. It is being proposed that the projection of the play for school Theatre Company would be a great source of joy and legendary salute on the upcoming Womens History Month.

Characters

The published play tells the stories of many Bosnian women who had to go through the aftermaths of the war. The use author had mentioned that even though there were a lot of destructions in the era and many women had lost their brothers, sons, fathers and husbands, those Bosnian women did not want to take revenge. A number of female students can take part in the play and tell the stories of different women as mentioned in the published play (Ensler).

Character I:

The first character that could be projected in the theater could be of Azra who according to the authors writing was the oldest woman. The character of Azra needs to be very sophisticated. The dialogue delivery will automatically take the grasp of audiences attention. The character of Azra is more of a woman who does not have any reason in life to live. Azra had been shown to complain a lot in the course of the play. Azra would be the first character to be shown on the stage as she is most experienced about what happened in the war (Ensler).

Character II:

Saeeda is the next important character of the play as she is portrays the character of a very helpless mother. The character of Saeeda is more of a psychology imbalanced woman who had lost her only child while she was running from the men during the war. The person who would be playing the character of Saeeda must wear a bag made up of bundle of clothes where she tried to hide her baby daughter Doona.

Character III:

The third character would display a stronger woman named Jelena who is one woman who tries to calm the women in the group (Bovard). The character of Jelena would ultimately help the audiences to understand the emotional capacity of women.

Character IV:

Nuna is the fourth character of the play who is a young girl in the group. She does not have the idea how crucial the situations for girls would be because in the course of the play her attention is diverted towards the American women who had come to rehabilitate them. Nuna must be portrayed as a character that is greatly influenced from the American ladies and tires to ask questions from people to gain knowledge (Ensler).

Sets

The set should be set as the real scenarios of Bosnia. The set must be floored with soil and stones. Two camps would surely compliment the story as the author had written some scenes where the women told their stories while starring outside the camps. The camps are required to be khaki in color. It would be best if the camps are stitched with different pieces of clothes as the women are poor and had no one to provide them with basic needs (Morgon).

The set would also include a bathroom that would show the filthy condition in which women after the war had to live. A room must also be set up on the stage as it would be shown that the American women who came for women rehabilitation lived comfortably.

Costume

The costumes for the play are suggested to be very traditionally Bosnian. In Bosnian traditions, women are supposed to wear one long veil like robe. The fabric that will be used for the robe must be worn out. The clothes must be torn from the bottoms that will show the poor conditions of the women as they had no homes. The costume for the American women for rehabilitation services must be trousers and dark colored shirts with caps to wear on heads.

Lights and Sounds

The sounds and the background music should be selected from the genre of mellow music as it will compliment the overall scenario of the play. Moreover, lights will be dim but it could be make brighter at the end of the play as it will enhance and the visibility of the characters while delivering the desired message to the audiences.

The portrayal of the play in the school theatre would be very interesting for the local audiences. Through the usage of proposed sets and theme, it would be easy for the audiences to understand the living conditions of the women during the war. In this way, the audiences shall also be able to understand the tradition of Bosnian women. The play will overall be a very excellent projection specifically for the women history month.

Works Cited

Bovard, K. Necessary Targets Review. Theatre Journal 54.4 (2002): 642-643.

Ensler, E. Necessary Targets. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2003.

Morgon, R. Sisterhood is Forever: The Womens Anthology for a New Millennium. Washington DC.: Washington Square Press, 2003.

Introduction

In the year 1951, about two years before his death, Dylan Thomas wrote one of his most famous and oft-quoted poems. This was Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, an address to his ailing and dying father (Linda 1). His fathers health, a hitherto strong and vibrant soldier, was failing him, and he was losing his eyesight. This poem is very personal and very emotional, as Dylan beseeches his father to fight death.

Almost a century before Dylan wrote this poem, Alfred Lord Tennyson, in 1833, wrote one of his well received poems of the time. This was Ulysses, a monologue by king Ulysses after his return to his kingdom following an exciting adventure (Grimes 3). The king is old and restless, and this is vividly expressed in this monologue.

This essay is going to compare and contrast these two poems. The author will analyze the themes of these poems and their form and structure. The two poems have some features and elements that make them similar and different at the same time. This is the thesis that this author will be working on in this essay.

Thematic Analysis

Madruga adds that a poem tries to pass a distinct message across to the audience. It can be one message or a myriad of several related messages, and this is what they refer to as the theme of the poem (Madruga 5).

As earlier indicated, the themes addressed by the two poems acts as their basis of convergence and at the same time their divergence.

Dylan Thomas: Thematic Analysis

Several themes are discernible in this poem:

Death (and Life)

This is perhaps the major theme of this poem. The persona talks in length about death and dying and their relationship to getting old. This person strongly feels that a great man should never let himself die quietly without resisting and giving a fight. This is what he is trying to tell his octogenarian father.

This is what he means when he beseeches his father do not go gentle into that good night/old age should burn and rage at close of day [lines 1 and 2] (Cummings 3). Though the persona does not mention the word death in these lines, it is clear from the use of words that death is what they are referring to. That &..good night (Cummings 4) can be viewed as a reference to death.

It is the view of the persona that nobody, and especially not his father, should give death the pleasure of taking him without putting up a fight. They say in lines 3, 9, 15, and 19 rage, rage against the dying of the light (Linda 6). By saying the dying of the light, the persona may be referring to the last days of the living man. In their opinion, the man should rage, (and) rage (some more) against death. This is especially so in the case of his father, who was a strong soldier in his latter days.

Old Age

The father to the persona is dying of old age. This is obvious from the several references made to the same in this poem. In line 2, they say old age should burn and rage at the close of the day (Linda 4). This means that the persona does not believe that old age should justify death. One should not accept death meekly just because they are old. To the contrary, the old age should fight death as much as possible. The use of the word wise men in line 3 can be seen as direct reference to old men, like the personas father. The same applies to the words grave men&../ (with) blind eyes in lines 13 and 14 (Cummings 6).

Alfred Lord: Thematic Analysis

Death

Death is also one of the themes in this poem. For example in the 8^th line of the last stanza, the persona makes a direct reference to death by saying death closes all&& (Grimes 5). This reference to death proves right one of the assertions of this essays thesis, since it brings together the two poems. Both personas admit to the inevitability of death.

However, that is as far as the similarities goes. Whereas death is a central theme in Dylans poem, it is peripheral in Ulysses. Whereas Dylan urges hiss audience to fight death, to rage against it, Alfred expresses a resigned acceptance of the same. By saying that death closes all (Madruga 2), Alfred is admitting that every person will die one day, and thus, putting up a resistance will not help matters.

Old Age

Again, this is a theme that is central to both poems. In Dylan, the personas father is dying as a result of frailty brought about by old age. The persona in Alfreds poem admits that they are old from the start. In line 3, the persona saysmatchd with an aged wife, I mete and dole (Grimes 4). This is an indication that the persona is old just like his wife.

However, there is a marked difference between old age between these two poems. For example, in Dylans poem, it is the audience who is old, and not the persona. However, in Alfreds poem, it is the persona who is old. In line 6 of the last stanza, Alfred writes free hearts, free foreheads-you and I are old (Madruga 6). This is an admission of the fact that the persona is old.

Structure and Form of the Poems

This is another element that highlights the similarities and differences between the two poems.

Alfreds Ulysses is made up of four paragraphs that vary in length (Grimes 2). Each of these paragraphs has a distinct message in it. On the other hand, Dylans poem is made up of six stanzas. This makes it different from that of Alfred.

However, similarities are discernible when it comes to the length of the stanzas; all the stanzas in the two poems are not equal. The first five stanzas in Dylans poem have three lines each, making them a tercet (Grimes 4). However, the last stanza (stanza six) is a quatrain, having four lines.

The two poems are also similar given that they are both monologues. Both involve the persona talking to another person whose responses are not included in the poem. However, the difference comes in when one considers the audience of both personas. Dylans audience is clearly his father, and this is clear in the last stanza when he says, and you, my father&& However, the audience of Alfreds persona is not clear.

At the start of the poem, the persona in Alfreds poem appears to be talking to themselves. However, from the 3^rd stanza, the persona appears to be speaking to an unidentified public. This is especially so when he introduces his son to this public; this is my son, mine own Telemachus [line 1, stanza 3] (Madruga 6).

In the last stanza, Alfreds persona appears to be addressing his fellow mariners. He appears to be telling them to keep up the good fight, despite the fact that they have been made weak by time and fate, but strong in will [line 26, stanza 4] (Grimes 4).

Conclusion

There are several elements that are similar in the two poems. This includes several common themes, structure and such others. However, the same elements set the two poems apart. For example, the structure and form of the poems differs in some aspects.

Works Cited

Cummings, Guide. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night: A Study Guide. Retrieved from https://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides2/DylanThomas.html

Grimes, Linda S. Alfred, Lord Tennysons Ulysses: Life After Adventure. Web.

Linda, Sue G. Dylan Thomas Do Not Go Gentle: Analysis and Commentary. Web.

Madruga, Jessica. Analysis of Ulysses by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Web.

With the challenges of modern day living, most individuals have to go to all possible lengths to earn a basic living. This is an element that has been well presented in authors Barbara Ehrenreich and Lars Eighner in their essays titled Nickel-and-Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America and On Dumpster Diving respectively.

Ehrenreich assumes the life of a struggling low-wage earner while trying to find out how individuals in such levels cope with life. Eighner on the other hand finds himself in a tight spot after losing his job and has to contend with feeding off other peoples rubbish.

His essay is more of a guide on the profession of dumpster diving and he tries to present the lifestyle in positive light. However, the unifying theme for both essays is poverty and the challenges that it brings along. The two authors spend a great deal of time trying to show how average and lowly individuals get by in life with or without a well defined income. This theme is well presented using such literary elements as style of narration and progression.

As far as the progression of the narrative is concerned, both authors begin by providing the readers with an explanation of how they find themselves in their current situation. Eighner dedicates a number of paragraphs explaining that she is a successful writer who however prides in experiencing the challenges that befall her subjects of study from a first-person point of view.

She goes ahead to explain the flow of events between the time she leaves her home and gradually takes the author through her experience as a low-income restaurant waitress upto the time that she throws in the towel and goes back to her old life.

The challenge of finding a decent place to live in at her income as is testament of how average unskilled female Americans have to contend with deplorable working conditions just for basic sustenance. The process of finding a job is equally tasking and it takes the author through disappointment after disappointment (Ehrenreich 174-175).

She answers the numerous call-outs for which she qualifies basing on the fact that she has no previous experience whatsoever and it takes some waiting before she secures one. The job search reveals the rot in the human resource departments of various companies when she learns that most of the job call-outs in newspapers are placed by companies as a way of finding easy replacements for the members of staff who quit or are sacked.

Eighners story has an equally well laid out narrative structure and he starts by elaborating his fascination with dumpsters leading to a proper transition to the revelation that he went into dumpster diving even before he became homeless.

He then directly jumps into offering tips on how to successfully partake in the activity and he adopts a humorous approach that makes it easy for the reader to go through the journey of dumpster diving in a more relaxed way. The opinion of society as regards to poverty is elaborated when he explains how challenging it was for him to start out in the field occasioned by self-loathing and fear of mockery from friends and relatives.

The mistrust that most people have in regards to decisions made by the poor is manifest by how individuals have second thoughts pertaining to the quality of food items handed to them by the author From time to time one of my companions, aware of the source of my provisions, will ask, Do you think these crackers are really safe to eat? (Eighner 167). It is definitely clear that the same individual would not question the safety of a mould-covered food item were it handed to him/her by a wealthy person.

Both stories provide thematic emphasis by having the narration from a first-person point of view. This works well especially because the two authors personally experienced the events in the narrations and only they are best placed to detail what they were going through at particular instances.

For instance, when Ehrenreich tells of her disappointment at failing to secure a job after numerous attempts, the reader can easily relate with her as she gives her heart-felt opinion using the same words that she would use were she to verbally narrate the story.

The same effect is created by Eighners assertion that he is &not here by chance; the Dumpsters in this area are very rich. Students throw out many good things, including food. In particular they tend to throw everything out when they move at the end of a semester, before and after breaks, and around midterm, when many of them despair of college. So I find it advantageous to keep an eye on the academic calendar (167).

In conclusion, it is worth noting that with the social aspects of urbanization and modernization, more and more individuals are finding it increasingly challenging to secure meaningful employment and most of them have to do with harsh working and living conditions. This has been well presented by two authors who narrate events from different perspectives but still succeed in trying to show the effects of poverty on the social fabric.

Works Cited

Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel-and-Dimed: On (not) getting by in America. English Composition II: Writing about Nonfiction Prose. Slavicz, Susan, et al. Boston: McGrawHill Learning Solutions, 2007. Print.

Eighner, Lars. On dumpster diving. English Composition II: Writing about Nonfiction Prose. Slavicz, Susan, et al. Boston: McGrawHill Learning Solutions, 2007. Print.

Work and empowerment is a growing aspect in the female world of late. Most of the women have ventured into employment. This has widely affected their position in society. Saudi Arabian women have had difficulty in defining their position in the family. Their role in the society includes the normal home chores and nothing more. Islam rules and regulations governed these women. Strictness of the law crushed the hopes and expectations of these women.

From the short story Zainab, the author portrays a clear picture of Saudi Arabian women. He says that women should be at home (Ash-Shamalan 40). Their duty is to take care of their spouses and carry out house chores.

These include washing up utensils, cooking, cleaning the house, doing the laundry etc. In addition, women should be submissive to their husbands. In Duties of a working mother, Munawarr illustrate that taking proper care of the children is an obligation of the women (Munawwar 44). He uses the character of Leila to bring out this scenario.

Although she has a job as a teacher, she still has to ensure that the children have eaten and that their homework is submitted in time. When the guest visits her home, she is the one responsible for welcoming and preparing meals for them (Munawwar 45). Traditionally in the Middle East, the unmarried daughters have the least authority, and are to portray an attitude of difference and servitude. The role and status of women inside the household coincide with their role outside the house.

In Saudi Arabia, the voice of a woman has no weight. They have no authority to make decisions. When they get married, they are automatically bound by a contract that stipulates the extent a woman can go in decision making. This same contract does not limit the husbands decision making whatsoever.

Nevertheless, the women are limited to playing their role of child rearing and housekeeping. These women thus find satisfaction and enhancement of their moral status spiritually. She has no say in deciding what she wants while under the care of her parents. The father decides for her the person to marry her (Al-Ulayyan 132).

Suad encounters this when her father chooses a husband for her. She could not resist this since daughters are not supposed to show resistance. When it comes to matters of decision making at work, the voice of the unmarried women is inconsequential. It is the duty of husbands to make decisions. Culture and custom hinders the participation of women in activities other than household chores.

These cultures also dictate their limit of employment. According to them, employment of women and deploying labor of females in factories is immoral and dishonorable. Moreover, women attain power to speak to the authority of men as seen with Ahmads wife. Men gain control over home finances.

Having a job does not review the status of women in the family. Men still regard them as their property. The only job they have permission to do is teaching. If the husband feels this profession is hindering her wife to fulfill her household responsibility, he tells her to resign. In Duties of a working mother, Leila has experienced this for quite some time.

The husband mounts pressure on her to resign so that she can concentrate on the household chores (Munawwar 45). Ahmads mother did not appreciate his wife when she decided to venture into teaching. The mother in law insisted that she should stay at home.

A womans contribution to the economy of the family does not influence her status in the family. Despite this contribution, she does not govern herself. The husband remains to be the breadwinner of the family. At work, women are at peace. They are happy to be earning and doing what interests them.

In Duties of a working mother, Leila is happy being a teacher. She does her work with commitment and makes children understand concepts with ease. As a result, she receives an appraisal from the administration of the school for a job well done. Women do not receive equal treatment at work simply because they are economically dependent and subservient. Employers regard married women as being dependant on the husbands salary and wages.

There is no restriction of hiring men, yet there is a restriction on women. There is a lot of discrimination in hiring of old and married women. The women work in difficult conditions for extremely little pay. (Cairoli 165) Women are not included in positions of textual authority and higher managerial tasks. The married women should motivate themselves to struggle for employment and recognition for being skillful.

Relationships with the relatives also come with challenges. When a woman gets married, she gets a warm welcome into her new home, and the in-laws seem to be unusually friendly. The pain of leaving family is too much for them to bear. This is evident in the story Zainab. At her in-laws, Zainab is a lonely stranger with no one to socialize and talk to apart from her husband.

When she is unable to bear children, her mother in law subjects her to harsh words (Zeinab 41). Zainabs disappearance became a crisis of the society. The husband reported the matter to her mother so that she can search for her. She is so infuriated that she denounces her and says she has brought shame to the family.

Education is valuable to the women in Saudi Arabia. Most of them study in order to establish themselves and become independent. All these women take their studies seriously. This is rampant across Asia. Women empowerment is the only solution to eliminating discrimination of Saudi Arabian women.

Works Cited

Ash-Shamlan, Shariff. Zainab. Voices of change: short stories by Saudi Arabian women. Ed. Abubakar Bagader, Ava M. Heinrichsdorff and Deborah S. Akers. London: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Munawwar, Wafa. Duties of a working mother. Voices of change: short stories by Saudi Arabian women. Ed. Abubakar Bagader, Ava M. Heinrichsdorff and Deborah S. Akers. London: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Al-Ulayyan, Qumashah. I never lied. Voices of change: short stories by Saudi Arabian women. Ed. Abubakar Bagader, Ava M. Heinrichsdorff and Deborah S. Akers. London: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Cairoli, Laetitia. Girl but Not Woman: Garment Factory Workers in Fez, Morocco.

The main purpose of the paper is to consider three sources about Swahili speaking community and to understand whether the arguments presented in those works support or contradict the ideas presented in the article The Shirazi in Swahili Traditions, Culture, and History by Thomas Spear written in 1984.

The books under discussion are Being Maasai: Ethnicity & Identity in East Africa by Spear and Waller written in 1939, and two books written by Thomas Spear Mountain Farmers: Moral Economies of Land & Agricultural Development in Arusha & Meru (1997) and Traditions of Origin and Their Interpretation: the Mijikenda of Kenya (1981).

Those books dwell upon the same peoples, but present different aspects of their life. The sources are useful as they consider the problem discussed in CRA source from different angles that helps understand and learn more about Swahili speaking community.

Summary of the Arguments Provided by the Scholars

Spear and Waller dwell upon the Maasai peoples who inhabited the costs of Kenya and influenced other peoples on the territory, especially their language (28). The problem that exists on the territory of East Africa with the languages is decided in the following way, Rendille is spoken with Maa on the similar rights, while Swahili remains the language of government and some teachers at schools (Spear and Waller 288).

The main idea of the book Mountain Farmers: Moral Economies of Land & Agricultural Development in Arusha & Meru is Maasai and their traditions in farming and the language peculiarities.

Thus, the author states that Swahili were the pioneers in trade on the territories belonged to Maasai and with the trading they brought new traditions and language which influenced the Maasai peoples. Thus, the author focused his attention on the dialects in Arusha and Meru and the impact of Swahili speaking peoples on their development (Spear Mountain Farmers 18).

Spear in his book Traditions of Origin and Their Interpretation: the Mijikenda of Kenya dwells upon the traditions and mode of life Mijikenda peoples. The specific customs related to magic (different spells, charms and sacred places) are considered along with the history and the development of the Mijikenda (Spear Traditions of Origin and Their Interpretation 91).

The book states that Mijikenda came from Swahili and this fact explains the similarity in the languages and the beliefs between those peoples (Spear Traditions of Origin and Their Interpretation 28).

What Each Source Adds to the Understanding of the Topic

Reading the book under consideration, it became more understandable for me that Swahili contributed to the customs and traditions of many other nations. Thus, Maasai, Rendille, and Mijikenda were influenced by Swahili. It is natural that while close contact peoples languages interfere into each other and the assimilation takes place. Moreover, the cases of bilingual communities with Swahili as one of the languages also increase the Swahili-speaking community (Spear and Waller 288).

Thus, it is important to read those books to understand why Swahili speaking community remains one of the largest in the African society. Several millions people speak this language as their native, at the same time much greater peoples speak this language as second and borrowed one. Moreover, it was interesting to understand that Swahili language managed to widespread its influence on many different regions of the Indian Ocean coastline.

How Each Source Relates to the Original CRA Source

Relating the sources under consideration to the CRA source, it is impossible to omit the fact that all these sources dwell upon the Swahili speaking community and the influence it provided on different peoples in the regions. Moreover, each source under consideration is related to the CRA source in a specific way.

The book Mountain Farmers: Moral Economies of Land & Agricultural Development in Arusha & Meru like the CRA source dwells upon trading in different regions of the African continent which promoted the assimilation of Swahili language on those territories. Spear and Waller speak about the same topic of languages influence, but touches the language problem which exists in the society because of the influence of Swahili language.

The CRA source as well as the author of the book Traditions of Origin and Their Interpretation: the Mijikenda of Kenya consider the origin of Mijikenda and state its close relation to Swahili due to the great similarity in customs and languages of those two people.

In conclusion it should be mentioned that the history of the languages development on the territory of the African continent is rather complicated and confusing. The collaboration between numerous languages and cultures lead to many different consequences. Some cultures began to speak the most spread language, Swahili, because it was the most influential.

Other used this language because of other reasons, still, many different peoples on the territory felt the impact of Swahili community both on their language and culture becoming either bilingual or using this language for granted. The sources under consideration helped understand the main idea of the CRA source better and provide additional arguments in the relation to Swahili speaking community.

Works Cited

Spear, Thomas T. and Richard D. Waller. Being Maasai: Ethnicity & Identity in East Africa. Oxford: James Currey Publishers, 1993. Print.

Spear, Thomas T. Mountain Farmers: Moral Economies of Land & Agricultural Development in Arusha & Meru. California, CA: University of California Press, 1997. Print.

Spear, Thomas T. Traditions of Origin and Their Interpretation: the Mijikenda of Kenya. Athens, OH: Ohio University Center for International Studies, 1981. Print.

In his article Behind the Counter, Eric Schlosser argues that the fast food industry is behind the countrys trend toward unsupportable earnings. Beginning with the story of a 16-year-old girl named Elisa, he illustrates what a typical work day looks like for her.

Although busy, it is not portrayed as unnaturally stressful or more demanding than other jobs. However, as his discussion continues, Schlosser illustrates why the industry initially capitalized on adolescent workers and how this has shaped highly questionable hiring ethics within it and other industries in America.

The primary focus of Schlossers argument is that the fast food industry has driven an environment in which capital and production is all and people are interchangeable. Initially offering the expanding baby boomer population with flexible jobs that met their school needs, fast food is now actively exploiting less advantaged members of the population in ways that provides them with few, if any, alternatives.

Roughly 90 percent of the nations fast food workers are paid an hourly wage, provided no benefits and scheduled to work only as needed & Managers try to make sure that each worker is employed less than forty hours a week, thereby avoiding any overtime payments (Schlosser 426).

Because the industry continues to perfect the factory assembly-line systems that were prevalent at the height of the Industrial age, it is increasingly unnecessary to retain skilled employees or to engage in any training at all.

Throughout his article, Schlosser charges the fast food chains with deliberately short-changing their employees already minimal wages through practices such as requiring restaurants be busy before they start their shifts, paying in food instead of paid hours or requiring employees to clean on their own time.

This practice has been well-documented in industries outside of the fast food industry as well, lending support to Schlossers claim. Steven Greenhouse documents numerous cases in his article Forced to Work Off the Clock, Some Fight Back. In this article, several individuals employed in low-skilled or no-skilled occupations speak out about their companies policies regarding requiring employees to work for no pay.

The strategies listed by these individuals echo those listed in Schlossers article. While Schlosser offers some support for his claims, Greenhouse interviews the director of the wage and hour division of the U.S. Labor Department, giving the claims made in the argument a great deal of credibility.

The Labor Department has taken many corporations to court on behalf of employees who have been cheated out of their fair wages. It is one of the more common violations of the Labor Standards Act, said Alfred Robinson of the Labor Department in Greenhouses article. Although the ethnicity of most of the individuals cited in Greenhouses article is not specified, one is specifically identified as being an immigrant worker and the quote attributed to him reflects his English as second language status.

It can easily be inferred from the information presented by the very well-referenced article by Greenhouse that the issues discussed by Schlosser are valid concerns for the mostly immigrant workforce currently manning the kitchens and counters of Americas fast food restaurants.

Practices engaged in by companies that attempt to argue that they are in full compliance with the law while blaming individual managers for coercing employees to work without pay are bad enough when the employees have a sense of their American rights, laws and legal recourses.

How much worse must the situation be when the individuals involved may not realize theyre being cheated, dont know they have rights or that there are laws to protect them or have no idea what to do other than simply accept a deplorable situation?

Works Cited

Greenhouse, Steven. Forced to Work Off the Clock, Some Fight Back. SKN Worldwide. (2004).

Schlosser, Eric. Behind the Counter. The Blair Reader. 7^th Ed.

I stand here ironing is a story that tackles numerous societal problems including mother daughter conflicts, gender roles, diligence, personal effects of national economic struggles and the challenges of single parenthood. These themes make the story relevant today as it was during the time of its writing

Theme in I stand here ironing

The prevailing theme in the book is challenges of single parenthood. Olsen is a single mother who is faced with the task of bringing up a sickly child Emily on her own. Things are further complicated by the fact that she is very young and quite poor  having come from an immigrant Russian family herself. Throughout the book, one cannot help but wonder what would have happened to Emily if her father had been around.

Olsen lacked the strength to confront the social workers who recommended the placement of Emily in a sanatorium. Perhaps things would have been different is Emilys father was around because two people would definitely feel strong enough to challenge the health workers; especially if their instincts went against them.

Emily ended up being very happy in the health facility because of her mothers decision and this may have changed if she was not a single mother. The story illustrates that single parenthood often puts parents in a position where they cannot cater to their childrens needs thus compromising on what they become in the future.

Emilys mother found herself in these difficult circumstances after her partner opted out of the marriage when Emily was less than a year old. Providing for her child on her own made it quite tricky to Olsen so she had to send Emily to relatives (Olsen, 6).

These circumstances were somehow beyond Olsens control because she had tried all she could to make things work. Eventually, she had to accept that she could not be there for her child and subsequently sent her elsewhere. Olsen is filled with lots of self doubt in subsequent parts of her life over her choices concerning Emily and the manner in which she chose to raise this child.

Mother daughter conflicts (or parent to child conflicts) are also an important theme in the book. As Olsen narrates the story of raising her first born daughter, one can see the guilt and loss of time that she feels concerning this matter.

The relationship between mother and daughter in this narrative is quite complex thus leading to the negative feelings that Emily has towards Olsen. Emily feels that she missed out on some of the critical factors of growing up. She did not get much attention from her mother and this makes her act out against her and the rest of society.

In fact, at the beginning of the narrative when Olsen receives a call from an external party about Emily needing help, she starts to wonder what the problem was and what she could have done to prevent those problems. In a certain way, Olsen contributed towards Emilys resentment of her because she did not offer her child stability. Minor signs of affection such as smiles (6) were a virtually unknown to Emily.

This relationship between mother and daughter is therefore characterized by continual reflection and bitterness over the past and what could have been done. Emily longs to enjoy a normal life but may feel that too much has been said and done to allow her this (Olsen, 8).

Her mother also goes through numerous reflections on the past and realizes that she could have offered her daughter a better life if she had been more knowledgeable or if she had been wiser. This story therefore places the mother daughter conflicts in perspective by illustrating the origin of these problems. Motherhood in the story is not presented in the usual romanticized manner that most people have grown accustomed to in that era. The author was bold enough to present a realistic picture devoid of any alterations.

It is essentially a story about internal struggles that a mother faces and the need to redefine herself and her understanding of this role as she reflects on the life of her daughter. It shows how members of that society often struggled with selfhood and therefore had to sacrifice some of their other roles in order to meet these perspectives head on.

Indeed, this story illustrates how a mothers love for her children is very real it was. Olsen wishes that she was in a position to give her daughter a better life than the one she lived when she was young. This is the reason why Emilys mother is filled with regret when she thinks about the choices and the life she accorded her daughter (Olsen, 8).

As one goes through the narration, one can evidently see that most of the tough times this family went through were inevitable and that it was nobodys fault that what happened actually did. Olsen had the best intentions and actually did what she could at those times. Also, as one thinks about Emily, one gets this image of a girl who wanted an ideal parent and this was not possible at the time.

The poor and strained relationship between this mother and daughter therefore illustrates a deep history between these two individuals. Emily is overwhelmed by her past which was filled with a lack of involvement by her mother and also lack of affection from the same individual. This story shows that when relationships do not look as good in the present, then they have probably been brought on by a series of past incidences and events.

All in all, it can be said that the book was responsible for bringing out a fresh perspective on motherhood. Stereotypical images of happy American families were challenged through this short story and therefore contributed to an understanding of motherhood as being an immensely personal and unique experience to all individuals.

Another emerging theme in the story is the personal effects of national economic downfall. The storys setting can be traced back to the nineteen thirties during the economic depression.

Families all over America had to contend with economic challenges and nowhere were these forces more evident that in the single parent homes. Olsen found it hard to make end meets at such difficult times. The kind of jobs she could secure required her to sacrifice her time away from her family or the things that mattered most to her. This eventually affected her parenting abilities.

In fact, the story revealed how the economic history of the country affected lives of Americans personally. The predicaments faced by this young mother would have been much less if her external environment had been less harsh. In fact through Olsens eyes, it is possible to see the inevitability of certain situations. Life may sometimes be determined by factors that cannot be controlled by specific individuals.

In such circumstances, all one can do is try and cope with the challenges rather than resist them and deal with the consequences later. As one reads through the story, one realizes that Olsen was a victim of circumstance. First, she had to abandon the plans that she had for her education. At the tender age of sixteen, Olsten could no longer go to school because her family needed her to make economic contributions to their income.

This put Olsen at a serious disadvantage because the lack of education meant minimal access to great economic opportunities and hence a life of poverty (Olen, 4). The fact that her family members were refugees from Russia did not help either because it was this difficult situation that caused them to resort to child labor from their daughter in order to make ends meet. External factors are therefore critical in determining how the lives of individuals eventually play out.

Olsen also got involved in communist centered movements such as the Warehouse union and the Young communist league. She probably got involved because she was a member of the working class. The unfairness and difficulties inherent in the class system were a harsh reality to the young Olsen. Her involvement in these movements was therefore a way of protecting her interests as a working class mother and member of an exploited class.

Gender roles are also another important theme in the book. The book was written at a time in Americas history when the feminist movement just started picking up. In this regard, there was a need to highlight the plight of women who were confronted with unfair situations.

Olsen was abandoned by her husband and left to fend for her family at an early age (Olsen, 5). It did not matter that both these adults were responsible for bringing Emily to the world; it was a woman who was left to handle the responsibility alone. Indeed the story of Olsen was one that was rarely told in fictional tales at the time. This explains why it became a reference point for explaining how women were often ignored during difficult times.

Olsen had been abandoned and had to find a way of coping with poverty. This illustrates that American society at that time was quite tolerant of runaway fathers who do not take responsibility for what they had done. Furthermore, society had not instilled certain social support services such as welfare and the like. This meant that the biting realities of poverty were quite inclined to one gender over the other. Additionally, the image portrayed of women in this story is one of an unfair economical system.

Throughout the story, one does not find any description of women who happen to be economically successful. Even the narrator herself appears to hold insignificant jobs in her life. At the time when she is reflecting over her life as a mother, one gets the picture of a stay at home mother who has not gotten an opportunity to make a substantial contribution to her countrys economy. This could be an illustration of how unfair the system was to them.

The issue of persistence in the face of turmoil is also an important theme in the short story. As Olsen thinks about her early life with young Emily, she creates an image of very difficult circumstances. She talks about all the poverty that they had to deal with. Furthermore, she highlights how difficult Emily herself was.

She used to complain a lot of times and was never happy with the way they lived. In addition, Olsen was left by her spouse. Some individuals facing such hard times would simply decide to give up and let go of their responsibilities. However, Olsten persisted through all these problems.

Eventually, she was able to come out of her difficult predicaments and thus show some optimism for the future. A number of issues crop up as one looks through the life underwent by Emilys mother. First, she was lonely; at the time of her spouses departures, she had no one to give her support, to share her struggles with or even to look up to but she still overcame this problem (Olsen, 4).

Emilys mother was also very vulnerable. Because of the nature of her background, she was not in a position to stand up for her rights. This was probably why she got convinced by Emilys father to get involved with him. Her economic situation made her settle for less even when she knew that she deserved better.

Conclusion

I stand here ironing is a personal and rich piece of literature owing to the fact that its subject matters have not been presented as black or white; they each have their own flaws and inadequacies. However, through the use of theme, readers can identify with their circumstances and hence understand the source of their troubles.

Reference

Kelly, Joseph, ed. I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen The Seagull Reader Stories. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2001.

The novelette Blackberry Winter recounts one eventful day in Seths childhood when he was years old. Blackberry winter is referring to a cold weather in June. The story happens in Tennessee. The story has a backward observation. For example, But I did follow him, all the years, (Warren 41), clearly indicates that the narrator is talking about a story that happened 35 years ago. Heroism is one key aspect that is manifested in the story.

The country is witnessing what Seths mother refers to as blackberry winter (Warren.26). Although it is unreasonably cold, Seth is setting out barefoot even after being warned by his mother. However, he manages to sneak out without his mother realizing it. In all his movements, Seth is walking barefoot despite the harsh weather.

While Seth is warming himself at the fireplace, he sees a man coming from the wood towards his canon house. From his description, the narrator says that the man was coming through a path that no one passed through, apart from hunters or those who wanted to fish but only with his fathers permission, but the strange man was very brave as to go through the scary path (Warren 26).

As the man approached, Bully was ready to send him back but the man was not deterred. This is an aspect of heroism. The man goes to the extent of scaring the huge dog with a knife (Warren 28). The writer says, pulling his knife against the dog was a funny thing to do (Warren 28).

As the narrator says, naturally any woman would be afraid to come into contact with such a strange man. Seth says that his mother was very confident and a self reliant person who faced the dirty, scary strange man. The narrator says that the mans eyes were bloodshot (Warren 29). When the narrator went to see the flooded creek, he saw a cow jumping over the fence up the creek.

Despite the threatening effects of the flood, the cow emerges heroic and as the narrator says, a boy had commented that the cows owner would be proud to see it a strong jumper. Jebb is also a symbol of heroism, &.up in his seventies&& but he was as strong as a bull. (Warren 37). The narrator says that even after the death of his parents, he still recalls that June day because of the many adventurous moments in that June day.

Pow Wow Highway

David Seals Pow Wow Highway bears various similarities with Patterns of the Hero Journey as highlighted by Joseph Campbell. Campbell says that in the departure stage, there is the call to adventure, just as Gary Farmer goes on a sojourn in a bid to find his medicine.

As a result, he is involved in trading marijuana and alcohol as he aspires to acquire the status of a warrior. When Farmers estranged sister (Bonnie) get herself arrested in New Mexico, Famer seeks to help her and her two children. Farmer has to make this necessary journey to New Mexico on a road trip (Seal 56).

Along the way, he encounters various twists and turns, and he has to make frequent stops as well. While moving on the Powwow Highway, it finally dawns on Farmer and a friend who is traveling with him that they are now facing the dreams and realities of the present-day United States. Joseph Campbell Heroic Journey is a narrative of an individual (The Hero) who aspires to attain great deeds for the benefit of the majority.

Campbell portrays the hero as a seasoned global traveler as a result of the training, advice, and equipment that he provides, and which is a necessity for the journey. Campbell depicts the picture of the hero crossing the threshold by way of moving into a special world from an ordinary world (Campbell 81).

The journey by the two characters as depicted in the PowWow Highway and the Heroic Journey respectively is symbolic of the changing realities in the life and environment that the characters in question are now subjected to. In addition, both characters demonstrate the willingness to do a greater good to others, and this is an act of selflessness.

Works Cited

Campbell, Joseph. The Heros Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work (3rd edition). Phil Cousineau, editor. Novato, California: New World Library, 2003. Print.

Seal, David. The PowWow Highway. New York: Penguin Group, 1990. Print.

Warren, Robert. Blackberry Winter: A Story Illustrated by Wightman Williams. Massachusetts: Cummington Press, 1946. Print.

The short stories Cathedral by Raymond Carver and A Conversation with My Father by Grace Paley, while they differ in characterization, both employ a detached narrative point of view to create an emotional experience of profound isolation in the reader.

In Carvers (2006) story, we learn the emotional isolation experienced by the narrator almost immediately, through his description of his own wifes attempted suicide, and his description of the death of Roberts wife. Carvers narrator maintains a cold distance from the emotional impact of having very nearly lost his wife before he met her.

Carvers narrator seems more engaged by the competition between himself and his wifes first husband, as evidenced herein: one night she got to feeling lonely and cut off from people she kept losing in that moving-around life. She got to feeling she couldnt go it another step. She went in and swallowed all the pills and capsules in the medicine chest&But instead of dying, she got sick. She threw up. Her officerwhy should he have a name? he was the childhood sweetheart, and what more does he want? (Carver, 2006).

As Bullock (1994) details, in the narrators account of his wifes attempted suicide, the figures in the storythe wife, the officer, the blind manseem a long distance away, tiny separated figures, observed by a detached, all-seeing eye. They might as well be figures on the screen of the television. Similarly, when the narrator describes the loss of Beulah, Roberts wife, he betrays an almost savage disregard for Roberts emotions when he says, Beulahs health went into rapid decline.

She died in a Seattle hospital room, the blind man sitting beside the bed and holding on to her hand. Theyd married, lived and worked together, slept togetherhad sex, sureand then the blind man had to bury her. All this without his having ever seen what the goddamned woman looked like. It was beyond my understanding (Carver, 2006).

Significantly, the narrator never names his wife. He identifies her only by role. This omission creates a distinct absence of personality in the woman. The narrator feels no real connection with her as a human being, aside from a mildly competitive instinct to assert his ownership over her body when she falls asleep and her robe opens in front of Robert.

The point of view on display from Carvers narrator reveals the vast emotional distance that exists between himself and other people, and he transmits and transfers this distance to us, the reader. The narrator feels nothing when describing intensely emotional events; he recounts them as though they were news.

As a result, the readers own emotional experience comes to resemble his: muted, and disengaged. Carvers use of point of view allows us to perceive the world from the same standoffish, sharply critical distance that the narrator does, and ironically, this brings us closer to him.

The narrator in Grace Paleys (2006) A Conversation with My Father follows a different characterization than Carvers, however, the point of view contains the same chilled distance between observer and observed (Bullock, 1994). Paleys narrator initially appears more animated, more engaged, than Carvers.

An example occurs in the storys opening when she expresses I want to please him, though I dont remember writing that way. I would like to try to tell such a story, if he means the kind that begins: There was a woman& followed by plot, the absolute line between two points which Ive always despised. Not for literary reasons, but because it takes all hope away. Everyone, real or invented, deserves the open destiny of life (Paley, 2006).

Such passages suggest that Paleys narrator might be more sympathetic to the plight of other humans than Carvers narrator, and therefore, more capable of true human emotional empathy, however, when we look closer, we see that Paleys narrator, like Carvers, identifies her father exclusively by role. He is never named in the story.

Also, Paleys narrator betrays the same disparaging judgmental point of view as Carvers when she says, people start out fantastic, you think theyre extraordinary, but it turns out as the work goes along, theyre just average with a good education (Paley, 2006).

Critics such as Wilde delineate this storys meaning via gender roles, and link gender to ways of seeing. Wilde (1987) explains that in A Conversation with My Father, the paternal world  encoded in the fathers request that his daughter compose a simple story & Just recognizable people and then write down what happened to them next - bases itself on unexamined and peremptory powers of discernment and identification. Defensively but still smugly, it prescribes an impossibly simple, stable, and objective mirror to reflect what it takes to be the inevitable, sequential trajectory of lifes beginnings, middles, and ends.

However, the narrator herself displays the same critical, arms length point of view as Carvers, which results in a similar isolating emotional experience in the reader. The way that the narrator tells the story of the neighbor across the street barely conceals her disapproval of the womans choices, as we see here: Although she was often high herself, certain good mothering reflexes remained, and she saw to it that there was lots of orange juice around and honey and milk and vitamin pills.

However, she never cooked anything but chili, and that no more than once a week. She explained, when we talked to her, seriously, with neighborly concern, that it was her part in the youth culture and she would rather be with the young, it was an honor, than with her own generation (Paley, 2006).

In this passage we see real similarities between the dismissal of emotion portrayed by the Carver narrator when describing the death of Roberts wife and the near death of his own. Similarly, Paleys narrator passes judgment on the neighbor womans motivations, as we see in this section: In order to keep him from feeling guilty (because guilt is the stony heart of nine tenths of all clinically diagnosed cancers in America today, she said), and because she had always believed in giving bad habits room at home where one could keep an eye on them, she too became a junkie.

Her kitchen was famous for a while  a center for intellectual addicts who knew what they were doing (Paley, 2006). There is a sarcastic and dismissive undertone to Paleys narrators description, which echos Carvers narrator description, as seen here: She could, if she wanted, wear green eye-shadow around one eye, a straight pin in her nostril, yellow slacks, and purple shoes, no matter.

And then to slip off into death, the blind mans hand on her hand, his blind eyes streaming tearsIm imagining nowher last thought maybe this: that he never even knew what she looked like, and she on an express to the grave. Robert was left with a small insurance policy and a half of a twenty-peso Mexican coin. The other half of the coin went into the box with her. Pathetic (Carver, 2006).

Within Paleys narrators description of her neighbor lies the same biting judgment and fault finding as Carvers, and the same dismissal of emotional context as it pertains to action.

The short stories Cathedral and A Conversation with My Father, at first glance, appear very different, not only because the narrators differ in gender, but also as the writing styles feel opposite. Carvers voice remains minimalist and monotonous throughout, while Paleys contains more tonal shifts and humor.

However, upon closer inspection the reader sees that both narrators employ the same superior, cold, remote approach to human interaction, both pass harsh judgment on others, and both refer to those closest to them  Carvers narrators wife, and Paleys narrators father  exclusively by role and function, as opposed to by name. Both stories thus create an isolating emotional experience on the page and in the reader.

References

Bullock, C. J. (1994). From Castle to Cathedral: The Architecture of Masculinity in Raymond Carvers Cathedral. The Journal of Mens Studies, 4, 343-351.

Carver, R. (2006). Cathedral. The Norton Introduction to Literature. A. Booth, J. P. Hunter, K. J. Mays (Eds.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Paley, G. (2006). A Conversation with My Father. The Norton Introduction to Literature. A. Booth, J. P. Hunter, K. J. Mays (Eds.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Wilde, A. (1987). Grace Paleys World-Inventing Words. Middle Grounds: Studies in Contemporary American Fiction. E. Elliot, (Ed.). Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Introduction

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898) wrote two popular books for children  Alices Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1871) under the pseudonym of Lewis Carroll. Dodgson was basically a Euclidian mathematician and logician.

In Alices adventures in Wonderland, he wrote about a girls adventurous experiences when she tried to reach a beautiful garden through a small doorway. The book Through the Looking Glass is a continuation of the story of Alice as she becomes a young woman. Both the works belong to the genre of literary nonsense and hence they raised a lot of eyebrows as they came from a man who was a gifted mathematician (Carpenter, 2003).

Imagination and fantasies are generally antithetical to logical thought. Hence it was a surprise to many that such a rich work of imaginative story should have been penned by a mathematician. Thesis: Lewis Carroll and his two books are intrinsically linked; while several instances in his real life are included in the stories, the stories are remarkably different from his real life in some aspects.

Plain life of Dodgson versus the colorful landscape of Wonderland

Dodgson came from a devout Christian family with Irish roots and most of Dodgsons ancestors had worked in the military or served in the Church. His father was a highly conservative clergyman who participated in religious disputes and inclined more towards Anglo-Catholicism. Charles Dodgson was born in Daresbury near Warrington in Cheshire, as the third child and first boy of the family (Carpenter, 2003).

He had eight other siblings younger to him and spent his childhood at a big Rectory at in North Yorkshire. He was a very intelligent boy and was mostly self-educated. It is said he even read The Pilgrims progress when he was just seven years old (Carpenter, 2003).

He was basically a shy person and as a child he had a very fragile constitution and suffered various illnesses. He also had a stammering problem. Right from his younger days Dodgson wrote poems and short stories and had them published in magazines (Carpenter, 2003). He had formal education in a school at Richmond and later at Rugby school. At school, young Dodgson was teased for his stammering but he scored well in his exams and won many prizes  mostly books of his own choice.

He was an avid reader and enjoyed reading Shakespeares plays and the novels of Charles Dickens. He was brilliant in Mathematics and went on to study at Oxford. He lost his mother during this period. Though he was extraordinarily gifted, he did not always work hard. Due to his talent in mathematics he was given the post of lecturer and he worked as such for nearly twenty six years (Carpenter, 2003). However, he did not enjoy his work.

Thus the life of Charles Dodgson alias Lewis Carroll was not a very interesting eventful one. The story of Alice in Wonderland on the other hand is very eventful and colorful with strange characters, magical happenings and lovely dialogues. Alices Wonderland is a girls way of escaping into her own imagination. Following the white rabbit, Alice embarks on an adventurous journey involving changes in size, conflicts in self-awareness and identity. She experiences what it is to be diminutive in size and what it is to be very huge.

She is forced to think logically at times and her discussions with various characters including the Cheshire Cat, Caterpillar, Mock Turtle, and Mad Hatter expand her thinking. The sequel to this book, titled Through the Looking-Glass has more colorful characters such as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Walrus and the Carpenter, and the garden of talking flowers.

Traces of Dodgsons real life in his works:

The story of Alice in Wonderland has many traces of the real life of Lewis Carroll. Dodgson was very much bothered by his stammering and it is said that the character of Dodo in Alices Adventures in Wonderland is based on his personal self. He even referred to himself as the Dodo (Carpenter, 2003).

But stammering did not stop Dodgson from being a good entertaining in social gatherings. He was able to sing before an audience and good at mimicry and storytelling. Dodgson was close friends with the three young daughters of the college dean at Oxford known as the Liddell sisters. They were Lorina, Alice and Edith. He loved to entertain them with stories. One day when sailing along with the girls and his friend Robinson Duckworth, Dodgson spun a story for the girls around a little girl named Alice who fell down into a rabbit hole.

When she reached underground, she found herself in the company of some strange creatures: a Mouse, a Duck (named after Duckworth, his close friend and colleague at Oxford, a Lory (for Lorina), an Eaglet (for Edith) and a Dodo (for Dodgson. He told them that Alice and the creatures were wet as they swam to the shore. The girls instantly knew that this was a reference to their last trip on the river when they had gotten wet due to the rain. Dodgson continued the story with his imagination and fantasies.

The book Alices Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass were essentially stories created by Dodgson for the Liddell sisters and published under the pen name of Lewis Carrol, on the suggestion of the father of the girls, Henry George Liddell. It is said that Dodgson used a pen name to safeguard his privacy and also to protect his reputation as a logical thinker and mathematician.

The book carried illustrations by John Tenniel. There were many other characters in the book that bore resemblance to real life characters either through their character etching or through their depiction through Tenniels drawings. Bill the Lizard is considered by many to refer to the name of Benjamin Disraeli. Tenniels drawings of the Lion and the Unicorn appeared to refer to Gladstone and Disraeli respectively.

The Hatter seemed very much like Theophilus Carter, an innovative furniture designer and dealer that Dodgson was familiar with. Experts opine that Tenniel was instructed by Dodgson to draw Hatter in the resemblance of Carter. The story told by the Dormouse has three characters named Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie  obvious references to the Liddell sisters Lorina, Alice and Edith respectively.

The Mock Turtle refers to John Ruskin as a Drawling-master who came every week to teach Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils (Carroll, 1865, p. 144). Actually, the Liddell girls studied oil painting and drawing under John Ruskin. When Lewis Carroll visited the Liddell sisters, they sang a song for him called Star of the evening, beautiful star. In the book, the Mock Turtle sings Beautiful Soup in reference to their song.

Mathematics in Dodgsons works and in his life

The huge success of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass made Lewis Carroll so very popular that whatever he wrote became after than became popular including his articles on Mathematics (Johnson, 1999). Carroll had the talent of making mathematics fun for everyone through his mind benders, brain teasers and math puzzles (Johnson, 1999, p. 20). According to mathematician Keith Devlin Alice in Wonderland is a satire on modern mathematics of the mid-19th century (Devlin, 2010, p. 1).

At the time Dodgson wrote his story, mathematics was undergoing a transformation and becoming more and more abstract. Dodgson did not like those changes and was very conservative (Devlin, 2010). The mushroom that the Caterpillar points to Alice is symbolic of the absurdity of symbolic algebra (Devlin, 2010).

The grin of the Cheshire cat that is left behind after the disappearance of the cat refers to the increasing abstraction in mathematics (Devlin, 2010). In the first chapter, where Alice keeps shrinking, she wonders whether she will simply vanish or end up with a minimal size questioning the concept of limits. In her discussion with the Caterpillar, Alice realizes that proportion was what was more important than length in her world of Euclidean geometry (Bayley, 2010).

In the second chapter, Alice arrives at odd results with multiplication: Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven isoh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate! (Carroll, 1865, p. 20). Here, Alice talks about the representation of numbers using different bases and positional numeral systems (Gardner, 1990). In the fifth chapter, the Pigeon compares little girls to serpents for they both eat eggs, using the concept of abstraction as was the norm during that period.

In the seventh chapter, at the tea-party, there is a strong discussion regarding inverse relationships between the Hare, the Hatter and the Dormouse. At yet another instance, Alice refers the addition of the ring of integers modulo N when she reflects on the how changing sears in circular fashion will bring them back to initial state.

New higher moral identity in Alice and Lewis Carroll

Alice can also be seen as the reflection of the evolution of a new moral identity in its author. According to Ann Reed (2000), Alice evolves through five levels of awareness  or stages of moral reasoning. She first drinks the contents of a bottle to shrink and later eats a cake to become big. However, none of it helps her to reach her goal of passing through the door. Ann Reed says that Alice embodies the conflict between feelings of inferiority and the feelings of superiority that often accompany inner growth.

Reed also points out that these feelings indicate the emergence of a new higher identity. In her talk with the Caterpillar, she confesses that she does not recognize herself due to the various changes in her. Her final outburst and victory over the Queen of Hearts symbolizes the emergence of the new, higher moral identity within her. Carroll, through the character of Alice, traces his own personal inner growth.

Conclusion

Starting out as the son of a clergyman, Carroll became a reader, an explorer, a student, a lecturer, a mathematician, a story teller and finally a writer. The books Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass are intertwined with the real life of the author Lewis Carroll right from the way in which they were conceptualized as stories meant for girls whom he cared for a lot to the success they brought to him as a writer and as a mathematician and a person with a new higher identity.

Bibliography

Carpenter, A. S. (2003). Lewis Carroll: through the looking glass. Twenty-First Century Books

Johnson, A. (1999). Famous problems and their mathematicians. Libraries Unlimited

Reed, M.A. (2000). Composing Dialogues to Express Self-Differentiation and Burkes Rhetoric: A Way to Comprehend Multilevel Inner Growth. Roeper Review, 23(10):2000, p. 10

Devlin, Keith (2010). The Hidden Math behind Alice in Wonderland. Web.

Carroll, L. (1865). Alices Adventures in Wonderland. Macmillan Publishers.

Carroll, L. (1871). Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. Macmillan Publishers.

Gardner, M. (1990). More Annotated Alice. New York: Random House. p. 363

Bayley, M. (2010). Algebra in Wonderland. New York Times, 6 March 2010. Accessed from https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/opinion/07bayley.html