Category: Novel

The novel the Bell Jar was published before Sylvia Plath committed her forth suicide, which was successful eventually. As the only full-length novel she left on the world, some of its features such as the nature of autobiography, extreme theme and feminist philosophy have continuously attracted the attention of its readers and scholars all around the world. As a female writer with tragedy color, the intention of this novel of Sylvia Plath was to ‘liberate herself from her past’. With the narration of the unforeseen events she has been through in 1953, she has demonstrated us the fact that the society was marked with post-war traumas. The social order needed to be restored urgently, the constraining power of social ideology on people, especially on women, had been strengthened. Social convention has legalized and naturalized the ideology of women being inferior to men through major social institutions like church, schools, hospitals, prisons, social media, traditions and even scientific theorists, like Freud. All the so-call social restored had became a huge spiritual cage, a bell jar, which was supposed to be used for observation in scientific field, for women, especially for well-educated, intellectual women. The title is her vivid criticism of the idea that women have been merchandised and treated as the sample from laboratory for science use. Plath narrates her experience through Esther, a young,intelligence, talented women she created, to narrate her misfortunes and struggles, to share her painful past with the world. We could easily notice that Esther is a thoughts-active young lady who keeps thinking, asking questions, and making assumptions all the time. Her internship experience in a periodical office in New York makes her question her self-value, her romantic relationship with Buddy Willard makes her wonder her self-identification. Who am I? To whom I want to be? What does my existence mean to the society, to the world? Features of historical background are beyond evident to us as readers, which are discussed and criticized in base of two main foot-stones: the journey of self-identification of young ladies and their rebellious spirits against the patriarchal society of the time. Also, the novel is filled with the dissatisfaction to the reality and critical thinking on marriage. What kind of role does a woman play in marriage? Should woman lose herself in order to devote herself completely to her marriage? Are the answer to these question could only lead to the binary opposition, which is women could only be the angel in the house, otherwise they are madwomen in the attic? On other aspect, how deep does the psychological theories have the effect on the process of Plath shaping her characters? Comparing to the Freud theories at that time, the experience of Esther could be analyzed in terms of his theory of personalities as well. Unfortunately, Sylvia Plath herself failed to escape from her destiny of death, the rebirth of Esther Greenwood in the novel was actually the liberation from reality for Plath.

In this essay, I would like to make some comments on some ideologies Plath has expressed and share some of my self-reflections and personal comprehension in terms of these following aspects: the title of the novel-why she chose the bell jar as the title, what does the bell jar stand for; the idea behind the bell jar, which is being observed and observing; women’s self-doubts, confusion and self-identification; women’s role in marriage and their rebellious spirits against the patriarchal convention, angel in the house or madwomen in the attic; last but not least, the reflections of Freud’s theories of personalities in the growth of Esther.

The bell jar

I would like to believe that the naming of the novel was inspired by the ‘big glass bottles full of babies'(Plath 66) Esther sees with her boyfriend Buddy in his medical school. The glass bottles are filled with babies specimens who are dead before being born, which are being exhibited for the purpose of observation, analyzation and experiment for medical students and professors. The novel has repeatedly emphasized that Esther always has the feeling of being followed and suffocated by ‘the air of the bell jar’ and she could not breathe.’The air of the bell jar wadded round me and I couldn’t stir'(Plath 195). The impossibility of the existence of the bell jar in reality is beyond evident. However,what exactly is this invisible, intouchable and inescapable bell jar is? To analyze this metaphor, we have to draw a clear picture of the difficulties Esther is facing and how does she react on them.

The predicaments she is in are being described separately in different chapters. In chapter six, her disappointment in love, which is to find out that her boyfriend is not pure and innocent as she thinks he would be, and he has been lying to her the whole time. ‘Now I saw he had only been pretending all this time to be so innocent'(Plath 73) This emotional shock is powerful and devastated’After that something in me just froze up'(Plath 74) the worst part is that the limitless closeness between Buddy and his mother and the philosophies Mrs. Willard has been sharing like ‘What a man is is an narrow into the future and what a woman is is the place the narrow shoots off from'(Plath 75), has made Esther feel like being a trap they have set up. Buddy Willard has been a hypocrite, and the center of the interest of Mrs.Willard is to find an innocent, virtuous woman for her son as his wife. In chapter seven, we could find out that the attitude of her mother, Mrs.Greenwood, toward sex and virginity also follows the patriarchal pattern,like the article ‘In Defense of Chastity’, which’gives a reason why a girl shouldn’t sleep with anybody but her husband and then only after they were married'(Plath 85). The inequality between men and women in conventional love relationship, in conventional concept of marriage and family that Esther has noticed has exhausted her. Not to mention the rude and unmerciful treatment she has received from Dr.Gordon, the bias she has suffered from the patriarchal society. All the unfortunate experience have weakened her faith as a independent and confident young lady who should have had vivid hope toward the limitless future. Yet all she feels are endless sense of miserable and none stopping suicidal attempts. It is miserable for her to realize that no one cares about how does she feel and what does she desire. On their path toward the society, intellectual women have always been confused and hesitated, who have been oscillated between their true-self and the social acceptance.

The most direct comprehension of the metaphor of the bell jar are the patriarchy represented by her boyfriend Buddy Willard and Dr.Gordon, the family tradition and social convention represented by Mrs.Willard and Mrs.Greenwood and the physical and mental prisons which represented by some social institutions like schools, church and mental hospitals. All the forces mentioned above consist of the irresistible pressure on women, which imply that fact that only through depriving women’s rights on being in charge of their own could men establish their position of ruling. Instead of facing the society, to be their own, women are forced to face their family, from public space to private room.

Even in their private room, their connections with the outside world have been cut out. Their rights of being an individual have been violated. They have to act on their best side, put on a mask to be the angel in the house, with no soul, with no personal feelings. Every sides of them have to be the perfection. With no one to talk to, with no one to make connection with, they have been barren spiritually, living like the walking dead. They would eventually give themselves away and being exhibited like the dead babies in the glass bottles. Their private room, is the second comprehension of the bell jar.

The third comprehension of the bell jar is that the female’s body being a prison to their liberated soul. The patriarchy have brain washed women into believing that their physical difference with men is what makes them being inferior to men, which also has lulled them into false sense of being able to escape from their human body. Esther has been wanted to commit suicide, but her true goal is to liberate her soul and her spiritual world.

The choosing of the bell jar as the title of the novel has indicated that the experience of Esther, or Sylvia Plath herself of their teenager period are not pleasing, the whole tone of the story is suffocating and depressive. It is the ultimate shout out of pain and struggles to the world of Esther and Plath. When readers finish reading the novel and pondering on the title, they would be enlightened and impressed by Plath on how she planted the story from the beginning. The title is one of my favorite parts about the novel, and it is the main reason why I choose this novel to write an essay about.

In the dystopian novel, The Giver, Lois Lowry illustrates the boringness of conformity. She has positioned the readers to view the community as a calculated and controlled society. The concept of individualism is non-existent in the dystopian novel the Giver. Consequently, people do not have the ability to make their individual decisions and people are unable to think for themselves, blindly accepting and following all rules. As the plot progressed, it became obvious that the community was one of unnatural conformity. For example, in chapter 13 Jonas angrily expresses his emotions “if everything’s the same, then there aren’t any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic or a red one?” (Lowry Pg. 123) The lack of freedom and desire applied in the ‘Giver’ was implemented to show that the citizens do not have the right nor ability to make choices. When people are unable to experience pain themselves, their individuality is devalued. Society believed that in order to protect the citizens from making wrong choices they would eliminate opinions to maintain a safe world. The readers are positioned to view this as restrictive because Jonas clearly was frustrated by the lack of knowledge the society built up. Furthermore, when Jonas accepts the standard apology phrase in chapter 1. “we accept your apology Asher; the class recited the standard response in unison.” (Lowry pg.5) It is frightful not knowing the importance of being an individual. This quote is underlining the message of the book, that you do not know the worth of your individualism until it is taken away from you. conformity in the novel The Giver by Lois Lowry is explored very effectively through the explicit dystopian tone used throughout the novel.

Throughout the book, Jonas constantly engaged himself in situations and effectively showed courage. As Jonas is the receiver of memory, he has knowledge that citizens are incapable of understanding. considering Jonas has witnessed the past, he realizes all the happiness that has been lost through time. Jonas consistently shows tremendous courage throughout the novel. For example, throughout his training Jonas learns from the memories and obtains all the wisdom. ‘It hurt a lot,’ Jonas said, ‘but I’m glad you gave it to me. It was interesting. And now I understand better. What it meant, that there would be a pain.’ (Lowry pg. 60). The use of the word “pain” suggests that there is no pain without memories. The members of the community cannot express their happiness as they have never experienced pain, citizens don’t appreciate the wonder of life because life is taken for granted. In addition, Jonas and the Giver made a plan for Jonas to escape resulting in the community gaining all lost memories. This action will help the community to feel emotions and have compassion again. “he felt, surprisingly, no fear, nor any regret at leaving the community behind. But he felt a very deep sadness that he had left his closest friend behind…..he called back and hoped that with his capacity for hearing beyond, the Giver would know that Jonas had said goodbye.” (Lowry pg. 208) when Jonas heard of Gabe’s release, he develops courage. Courage was shown as he took up a role and left his best friend to save the community. Jonas shows an enormous amount of courage never backing down from a challenge and always wanting to help.

Throughout the entirety of both novels, characters are faced with physical and psychological manifestations of entrapment, from which the everlasting effects transcend beyond the point of their liberation. Whether it’s from Ma’s heart-breaking journey to escape her physical imprisonment in ‘Room’ or Esther Greenwood’s painful course to reclaim her independence after mentally trapping herself in ‘The Bell Jar’, both share feelings of isolation and captivity. Donoghue and Plath equally manage to depict how a trauma can profoundly impact one’s emotional state and perception of the external world.

The Bell Jar follows the fictionalised autobiography of Sylvia Plath, which within the Bildungsroman novel is represented by Esther Greenwood. Set in 1953, the story follows Esther, an intelligent aspiring writer, who begins working for a popular magazine company in New York called “Lady’s Day”. At first Esther is excited by the promise of this new opportunity to improve her writing skills, but as she is surrounded by the other interns and a demanding boss, she begins to feel isolated from society and falls anxious about her future. Almost at every interaction she is reprimanded and looked down upon for her guilty feelings which leads her to dwell into a deep hole of depression and suicidal attempts. She soon begins to conceptualize her depression and realises that she’s been trapped under a Bell Jar, unable to control herself but able to witness her own decent into mental instability.

“What I’ve done is throw together events from my own life, fictionalising to add colour. I think it will show how isolated a person feels when they are suffering a breakdown. I’ve tried to picture my world and the people in it as seen through the distorting lens of a bell jar.”

Esther’s journey is symptomatic to Plath’s as she was variously diagnosed with depression, bipolar and schizoaffective psychotic disorder. Through her personal experiences she sheds light on how these mental issues affect people while criticising psychiatric practice of the time. The character of Esther becomes more harrowing as we learn Plath commits suicide one month after publication of ‘The Bell Jar’.

In Room, we follow the journey of Jack and his Ma whose livelihoods are confined into one small room. For Jack, the Room represents the entirety of his childhood, knowledge and home, he understands nothing of the outside world and has no interaction with it. However, for Ma, the Room represents her cruel imprisonment – once abducted and now forced to take care of her child in harsh conditions, her kidnapper makes her recollection of her life outside the room merely a dream. The path they take becomes revelatory as Jack discovers the horrors of reality while Ma endures a phycological breakdown.

From the beginning of The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath creates a world in which her protagonist, Esther, descends into alienation and begins to isolate herself from the offset. She recalls “It was a queer sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenberg’s, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.” This implicitly shows by Esther identifying with the Rosenberg’s, a couple executed as Soviet Spies, she situates herself outside of her retrospective American society. This inclusion also represents Esther’s preoccupation with death and foreshadows her attempts on committing suicide, a central event in the novel. Her fears of becoming electrocuted later become a reality and is the core reason to why she spirals out of control. Plath establishes Esther as a quintessential overachiever, from a modest family unlike her other female interns. We see her articulate this when she says “I was supposed to be having the time my life. I was supposed to be the envy of thousands of other college girls” The anaphora used of the conditional tense reiterates how everything was not as it seemed. Esther is almost caught off-guard by her feelings and is mourning the loss of a life she could of lead unlike the one she lived that caused her pain. The internship she wins elucidates a key theme of the novel: the disparity between what Esther thinks should be and what in actuality occurs. She notes “I should have been excited the way most of the other girls were” and believes she should be “steering New York like her own private car”, to consequently find out “[she] wasn’t steering anything, not even [herself]” . The implication made here is that she feels disconnected, that even to her own puzzlement, New York is just depressing and dizzying. She begins to question her own abilities and feels as if the world she inhibits is superficial and disorienting. The simile used, exemplifies how Esther also feels helpless, almost as if she’s on a phycological ride that will soon crash. The feelings Esther embodies are not ones that were uncommon in the 1950’s – during the period after the war, many women who were once mobilised for work, were forced into earlier established gender roles, a move many women found confining.

“Plath’s novel The Bell Jar dramatizes the collusion between the notion of a separate and separative self (or bounded, autonomous subject) and the cultural forces that have oppressed women.”

The feeling of numbness that Esther feels is the kernel of the madness that will soon overtake her. Eventually, the gap between societal expectations and her own feelings and experiences becomes so large that she feels she can no longer survive.

Unlike Esther’s narrative, where she slowly loses grasp of reality and withdraws herself from society, Emma Donoghue chooses to craft a world in which Ma is physically disconnected from. She is bred into a world of entrapment and embarks on a journey to escape her kidnapper. You can sense Ma’s trauma when she talks to Jack of her aching tooth exclaiming “It’s called mind over matter. If we don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” At first this seems like a simple lesson Jack should live by, but in the context of the entire novel, this quote has sinister undertones. It describes Ma’s approach and mindset towards Old Nick when he physically and mentally abuses her every time he visits. This also alludes to how she is forced into a constant state of fear – Her and Jacks survival is dependent on the mercy Old Nicks shows. We further understand she applies this philosophy in order to endure the endless and torturous abuse she receives. Jack’s position as the lead character means that the narrative is tied to his perspective and we understand things from his point of view. Hence it becomes quite horrific when he describes Old Nick raping Ma. He states “Lamp goes off click and Old Nick creaks bed […] I count 378” . This imagery reinforces the horror Ma has to suffer in order for her survival. Jack is completely oblivious to the rape and doesn’t understand it, his only sense of what’s going on is the “creaks” produced by the bed, making the overall situation more haunting and unbearable to comprehend as a reader. Jack understands “Nothing makes Ma scared. Except Old Nick” and that he is a reason to fear. Despite not having much to say, his presence is overwhelming as he shadows over Ma, making her entrapment more hellish.

“Donoghue’s narrative can be read as a superb exploration of the phenomenon of resilience, a psychological construct that explains how, under traumatic circumstances of distress, human beings might develop an unexpected capacity to cope with pain and suffering.”

Donoghue proves Ma’s journey of suffering forces her to rebuild her state of mind and Identity. She feels physically imprinted on by ‘Old Nick’ but develops a coping mechanism to push through the pain and trauma.

Moreover, Esther’s encounters with men throughout The Bell Jar show how society oppresses and almost rejects the notion of exploration of female sexuality yet favours and supports men who engage in multiple fornications. Although Plath makes it evitable Esther’s troubles originate in her mind, she also highlights how they are exacerbated by the circumstances surrounding her. Esther is left scarred after her interaction with Marco as he attempts to rape her. She states he calls her a “slut” repeatedly and that “the word hissed by [her] ear” . This implies the attitude of Marco and many men at the time, seeing woman in one of two ways – Beautiful loving beings capable of marriage or promiscuous girls objectified for men’s sexual pleasure. The repetition of the derogatory word “slut” illustrates how Marco is able to control and manipulate Esther into thinking the act of rape is her fault in the situation. He believes she is inferior to him and commits the rape in order to overpower her. The entire confrontation reinforces how Esther is losing control of herself, this highlighting the inextricable link between the mind and body, as her mental frailty has left her physically vulnerable. She is slowly accepting her decent into depression and feels hopeless, unable to escape. This is clearly seen when she says “It’s happening’, I Thought. ‘It’s happening. If I just lie here and do nothing it will happen” which indicates she’s desperate to explore herself sexually but not at the cost of it being un-consensual. She feels trapped and must bear her pain and shock alone, intensifying her feelings of isolation. The feelings Esther embody are common to many females in 1950s as white middle-class females were highlighted in media with the introduction of the pill. Meaning females could commit sexual acts without getting pregnant. Esther sees her own naked skin “like a pale veil separating two blood-minded adversaries.” Implying she sees her own flesh as a screen between her and Marco’s opposing wills. Both Esther and Ma are left physically imprinted on by men who overpower them with force. Esther wears Marco’s blood on her face, after he rapes her, as a sign of survival but ultimately shows her decent into insanity. Similarly, Ma has to endure relentless assaults from Old Nick in order to survive. She develops a coping mechanism to push through and doesn’t lose her state of mind in order to look after Jack.

Introduction

In the last decade many researchers and readers has analyzed “The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho” through different literary theories and linguistics aspects. These studies mostly used psychoanalytical theory as a measurement to evaluate the story, otherwise others have different theories to use such as existentialism (Hasnah, Lily, 2008) and phenomenological (Mawadda, 2010). The alchemist is an allegorical novel written in Portuguese and then has been translated into 57 language by 2012. The story is all about Santiago who travels cross many countries till he reaches his destination which is Egypt aiming to find treasure, while facing a lot of struggles that could not stop him from continuing to follow his dream. this research has a differences and uniqueness, the theory that is used to for the analysis is the reception theory. The Following parts are critical interpretation for the novel , previous analysts’ studies, inference and evaluation and finally the results.

Methodology

The method used to analyze and criticize the novel is qualitative, which relies on creditable and reliable studies supporting the following criticism. There are two sources used

I. Primarily : Most of the primarily data came from Alchemist novel as primary data

II. Secondary: The secondary data came from previous studies , articles and books.

Reception theory

Reception theory conduct the readers ability to decode the message that was encoded by the writer may vary from reader to another, and the reader could understand the message in many different ways.

Interpretation and analysis

Interpretation is expressing and analyzing different topics. According to study made by (Nurul, 2015) shows that most of the readers have different theories and opinions against the novel, and their experiences, religions and backgrounds had a rule in formatting their criticism.

Positive interpretation

1. The novel has a strong religious background, Muslim readers would feel that their religion is supported by some ideas were written in the novel. According to the novel the whole universe would conspire to support your dream , And the same concept was mentioned in the Quran.
2. The overall experience and moral are incredibly inspiring the reader to find the light in a dark path.
3. The novel leaves a positive impact in the reader mind, after reaching the end it influences the reader perspective of life.
4. The words and the ideas were suitable for everyone, in different ages.
5. Multiple Religious perspective, the novel mentioned that there is one god, but everyone interprets differently, this explanation is a descent simplification for different religions idea which help the reader to be more open minded and acceptable.
6. Humanity has commonalities, which reduced the cultural and religious gap between different characters in the novel
7. The writer simple manner of storytelling allows the reader to discern deeper meaning from what he is saying

Negative interpretation

1. Alchemist novel is imaginary. However, the strong meaningful ideas the novels represent but it is not realistic. The reasons why He started this journey till the end , was not real enough for readers to imagine.
2. The novel main ideas were not easily to understand, it could be considered as wisdom as well as it could cause a confusion to the reader due to the mixed thoughts and beliefs.
3. The only female character in the novel was Fatima, However, the novel was about equality and acceptance women role was not an interesting idea for Coelho, which disagree with the overall idea.

Inference and evaluation

According to previous studies about the Alchemist by different writers from different countries, proves that decoding any message by readers may vary even though if readers are almost in the same education level. (Utomo, danang setyo) analyzes “the accurateness of translation directive utterance in the novel of Coelho”. Next, (Hasnah, Lily, 2008) emphasizes some Santiago’s process of making decisions seen from Kierkegaard’s existentialism explain about Santiago’s freedom and subjectivity. (Harb, mohammed mahmound, 2015) attempts to show the influence of Arabic literature on Paolo Coelho through his Alchemist novel. (Mawadda, 2010) describes the main character is the taught person, no matter hard, he keeps follow his way to reach his dream, he tries to fulfill his needs.

Explanation

Literature psychology means “the effects of literature upon its readers or audience psychology”. The correlation between psychology and literature is strong as literature could influence the reader feeling and personality. That is the reason behind Coelho to write the alchemist as a literary work, the writer aimed to provide motivation and support to the readers till their feelings get better, and gave them an example of the struggles could face anyone but keep going through these circumstances would lead them to success and achievements. Some of the readers has received the message and others were confused due to the mixed ideas, but overall the alchemist achieved a massive success in the last years.

Conclusion

To sum up, Coelho is the writer of the alchemist novel which based on the psychological analysis. The main idea about a guy named Santiago who started his journey from Indonesia to Egypt to find treasure, no matter what he faces through his journey the spirit inside him never fade. The moral is to inspire millions of readers, motivate them, offer different aspect of life and use humanity as a common language despite different cultures. The negative side about the novel, Women were not mentioned in the story ,Only Fatima has a character, for some readers the story was not realistic and more imaginary as well as the ideas were not clear and mixed for the reader. Reader backgrounds greatly effects the novel interpretations by their country of origin. These claims were proved by some previous study were mentioned to prove the different perspective of each reader.

References

1. Akhiriyah, U. (2008). The Struggle of Santiago to Find the Treasure in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist.
2. Harb, mohammed mahmound. (2015). The Influence of Classical Arabic Narrative on Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, International Journal of Humanities and Social Science.
3. Hasnah, Lily. (2008). Decision Making in Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist.
4. Mawadda, s. (2010). A Main Character Analysis of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho using Hierarchy of Human Needs of Abraham H. Maslow’s Theory.
5. Nursecha, Nanang. (2014). Spiritual Journey in Paulo Coelho’s Novel The Alchemist (1993): An Individual Psychology Approach. Publication artical .
6. Nurul, A. (2015). Positive and Negative Interpretations by Readers from Seven Countries on The Alchemist Novel by Paulo Coelho. Journal of literature.
7. Ramadhona,Nuri Aprillia. (2012). Analysis of persuasion 5 strategies at identity of Santiago’s character in The Alchemist novel: an approach of critical discourse analysis.
8. Utomo, danang setyo. (n.d.). Translation Analysis of Directive Utterances in Novel of The Alchemist into Sang Alkemis (Pragmatic Approach).
9. Wijayanti, Oktavida. (2007). The Influence of Setting towards Santiago’s Characteristics as seen in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist.

The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston can largely be considered a work of resistance. Janie Crawford’s quest for fulfilment, freedom and autonomy, the development of her personal voice and the use of voice throughout the text, showcases the power of black people- particularly black women- to define their own futures and harness their voices. The text thereby offers a powerful resistive stance against the prevailing racial hierarchy of the time. This is achieved despite the historical context, wherein Janie’s behaviour is constrained by the limited opportunities afforded to black women in the early 1900s. Consequently, her ability to exercise her freedom is restricted to her choices regarding men.

Janie’s quest for autonomy and personal fulfilment is motivated by her cognitive freedom. Born in the aftermath of slavery, Janie is the first black woman in her family provided with the liberty to explore her own desires. This mental independence is illustrated through a solitary moment in which Janie marvels at the abounding nature in her backyard. The imagery of “the blossoming pear tree” is indicative of sexual awakening (Hurston, 1937, p. 42), and is an experience Janie links to the concept of marriage, remarking, “So this was a marriage!” (Hurston, 1937, p. 43). However, there is a deeper sentiment expressed in this scene, namely, Janie’s thirst for life and personal fulfilment. “She [wants] to struggle with life but it [seems] to elude her”, resulting in her searching her surroundings, “Looking, waiting, breathing short with impatience. Waiting for the world to be made” (Hurston, 1937, p. 43). Janie develops an intrinsic desire to continue her journey of self-discovery by embarking on “her great journey to the horizons” (Hurston, 1937, p. 130).

Conversely, Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, envisions Janie’s life in far more restrictive terms. Unlike Janie, Nanny lived the majority of her life as a slave and was denied the psychological freedom to “fulfil [her] dreams of whut a woman oughta be and to do.” (Hurston, 1937, p. 48). Consequently, Nanny’s perception of success is defined by her exposure to white supremacy. In the same breath, Nanny remarks “de white man is de ruler of everything” whereas black women are condemned to being “de mule uh de world” (Hurston, 1937, p. 47). Unable to contemplate the autonomous role a black woman might hold in post-slavery society, Nanny marries Janie off to the wealthy Logan Killicks in an attempt to obtain for Janie the wealth and security Nanny herself was denied and, subsequently, secure Janie a higher social position through the emulation of white society.

Notably, Janie embarks on her quest for liberation through the rejection of the existence Nanny envisions for her in favour of her own definition of fulfilment. Although Janie attempts to reclaim her autonomy by leaving Logan for Joe Stark- a man she loves and hopes might enable her to rediscover the “pear tree”- her subsequent marriage ironically results in the embodiment of the life Nanny coveted for her. Janie expresses her dissatisfaction with this path to Pheoby, remarking that to Nanny “sittin’ on porches lak de white madam” seemed like the highest form of achievement but Janie felt as if she “done nearly languished tuh death up dere.” (Hurston, 1937, p. 156). Following Joe’s death, Janie abandons this restrictive existence and marries Tea Cake. Janie’s choice exposes her to diverse experiences such as travelling and voluntarily working on the bean fields. Although Janie’s choices result in a complete abandonment of the life Nanny prescribed for her, she thrives in this environment and feels as if “her soul [had] crawled out from its hiding place.” (Hurston, 1937, p. 171).

Janie’s discovery of personal fulfilment on her own terms offers an alternative avenue for resistance against the racial hierarchy. The novel was originally published during the Harlem Renaissance; a literary era geared towards the creation of a collective black identity through the artistic expression of black people (Bobo, 1998). However, the definition of a common black ideology was widely contested. Many scholars aimed to portray black society as refined and cosmopolitan in an attempt to argue for inclusion in white “civilization” (Bobo, 1998). Conversely, in her essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” (1928, p.2), Hurston describes what she believes to be intrinsic differences between white and black people’s natures. Hurston describes a scene where she becomes passionately enthused by a jazz performance, “I dance wildly inside myself; I yell within, I whoop”, whereas her white friend “sits motionless in his seat, smoking calmly.” Through Janie’s rejection of white society in favour of a life suited to her personal needs, Hurston continues the argument that black and white people have fundamentally different responses to life and, therefore, concepts of fulfilment. In this way, Hurston offers black self-determination as an alternative form of resistance from that conventionally assumed by black scholars.

As well as reinforcing the text as a work of resistance, the development of Janie’s voice is a crucial component in her journey towards autonomy. During her second marriage, Joe’s masculine prowess is rooted in his submission of Janie. Whenever Janie attempts to express herself, Joe undermines her stating, “You gettin’ too moufy, Janie”, (Hurston, 1937, pg. 115) and insults her intelligence, “You see ten things and don’t understand one” (Hurston, 1937, pg. 10). As a coping mechanism, Janie, “[learns] to talk some and leave some” (Hurston, 1937, pg. 116). However, in retaliation against one of Joe’s public humiliations, Janie insults him by stating, “’tain’t nothin’ to it but yo’ big voice” (Hurston, 1937, pg. 119) and declares, “When you pull down yo’ britches, you look lak de change uh life” (Hurston, 1937, pg. 11). By reclaiming her voice, Janie publicly emasculates Joe and, in doing so, is able to escape his restrictive influence. Janie is ultimately successful over Joe in that her comments encourage his physical demise, leaving Janie alive and financially secure. Furthermore, the depiction of a black woman triumphing over entrenched sexism by successfully reclaiming her voice, published against the backdrop of the gendered 1930s resistance movement, illustrates the need for black women to harness the power of their voices and resist subjugation.

Although resistance work is usually characterized by the overt presentation of racial injustice, Hurston criticizes this norm by declaring “I do not belong to the sobbing school of Negrohood” (Hurston, 1928, p. 2) and instead, uses voice as a literary device throughout the text to highlight and celebrate Southern, black experiences. Hurston’s use of unfiltered, Southern dialect provides her disenfranchised black characters with the opportunity to express themselves. The characters’ lilting cadences and consistent use of vernacular forces white readers to consider black dialect as worthy of contemplation, therefore inverting racial power dynamics. Conversely, the use of dialect serves to empower Southern, black readers by allowing them to identify with the characters and their experiences. Additionally, considering the novel is framed as Janie telling the story of her life to her friend Pheoby, the entire narrative is a consequence of characteristically black, oral tradition. By presenting the novel this way, Hurston elevates black culture- and therefore black people- to a status worthy of public consideration, consequently solidifying the text as a resistance work.

Nevertheless, the novel is constrained by the prevailing historical context. As a black woman in Florida in the immediate aftermath of slavery, Janie possesses restricted rights. Consequently, Janie’s ability to cultivate freedom depends largely on the opportunities presented to her by prospective partners. Indeed, she chooses her husbands based on her perception as to how they will help her on her “journey to her horizons”, unable to envision reaching them alone. Joe Stark offers an improvement on her first marriage in terms of sexual attraction. Janie hopes a life with him will mean “flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything.” (Hurston, 1937, pg. 65). On the other hand, Janie and Tea Cake’s relationship involves equal partnership and excitement, as they partake in enjoyable experiences together such as dancing and travelling (Hurston, 1937, pg. 152). Dependent as she is on her husbands, Janie retains a significant level of autonomy. Janie does not mourn Joe but inherits his money to become financially independent. Similarly, when faced with the decision to kill Tea Cake or save herself, she chooses herself and decides to live without him. Ultimately, Janie is able to rise above her constraints and achieve personal fulfilment, “Ah done been tuh de horizon and back” (Hurston, 1937, pg. 241). Janie also ends the novel single and completely autonomous, at great personal cost but mostly because of her ability to navigate her marriages and the constricting historical context successfully.

Evidently, Their Eyes Were Watching God can largely be considered a resistance text. Hurston’s depiction of Janie Crawford’s quest for fulfilment, freedom and autonomy argues for black self-determination in face of racial and sexist injustice. Additionally, the use of voice and development of Janie’s voice throughout the text illustrates the power of black society to triumph over discrimination. This is achieved despite the historical context, wherein Janie’s decisions are limited to the scope of marriage.

Bibliography

1. Bobo, K. D., 1998. Searching For ‘The New Negro’: the Harlem Renaissance and Nella Larsen’s Quicksand. [Online] Available at: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/english/mwollaeger/KrisBoboPaper2.htm [Accessed 7 August 2019].
2. Hurston, Z. N., 1928. How It Feels to be Colored Me. The World Tomorrow, p. 2.
3. Hurston, Z. N., 1937. Their Eyes Were Watching God. s.l.:HarperCollins Publishers Inc..

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair gave a very harrowing insight into the meatpacking industry during the early nineteen hundreds. Chapter after chapter I read some pretty revolting things such as having rodent feces on the meat, workers falling into vats of chemicals, and meatpackers using spoiled meat and trash in some of their canned products. Following the release of The Jungle “The White House was bombarded with mail, calling for reform of the meat-packing industry.” The public was outraged in response to the publication of his book. His novel caused the meat packing industry to up their standards with the meatpacking process and worker safety.

One of the biggest concerns in the book was the appalling sanitary conditions in the processing plant. Time and time again Sinclair writes about the disgusting conditions the livestock is slaughtered in. In the book it is said that there is a trap that catches scraps of meat and trash and every few days someone is supposed to shovel those scraps into the truck with the rest of the good meat. If that isn’t distressing enough, the meat that falls on the floor will be picked up, dusted off, and put back into the grinder and the sausage meat also gets stored in huge piles that are kept under leaky ceilings that are overrun with rats, so it’s filled with rodent feces and horrifying amounts of bacteria. The Jungle gave exposure to the filth of the meatpacking industry, so investigations were launched and commissioners called for the secretary of agriculture to make rules requiring the ‘cleanliness and wholesomeness of animal products.’ To obtain USDA federal inspection, the establishment must apply to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service for a grant of inspection to become an official establishment for meat and/or poultry. In addition, the applicant must specify the meat processing activities that need inspection.

Another big concern was the working standards that all of the employees were exposed to daily and what that meant for worker safety. The workers that had to push carts of meat had a dangerous job because of the uneven floors and the instability of the carts. Sinclair writes that once a worker wasn’t quick enough to get out of the way of an out of control cart and was crushed to death against the factory wall. In addition to that hazard, the men who process animal bones for fertilizer work in the most atrocious smell with vats full of chemicals. Occasionally they fall into these chemicals and die. Often, there is nothing more than bone to retrieve. Today, organizations like the USDA and OSHA have gotten involved the safety of the workers and the conditions in the plants and claim to have made vast improvements to worker safety in meat packing plants by implementing better safety tools to reduce stress and strain on workers such as steel toe shoes, no cut aprons, knives designed with safety features, hearing protection, cut resistant gloves, and hard hats. Rates of illness and injury in meat and poultry processing fell to an estimated 5.7 cases for every 100 full-time workers in 2013 from 9.8 in 2004. And while the statistics show improvement, there is always another story. The GAO listed multiple challenges in gathering data, including workers fearful for their jobs are reluctant to report injuries and illnesses, and employers financially motivated to undercount those instances. ‘We should have no confidence about industry’s assertions about their injury rates’ said Celeste Monforton, an expert in occupational safety and health. Also “administration of first aid does not have to be reported to regulators, and injured workers are often given aspirin or hot compresses and sent back to the processing line” said Monforton, a professorial lecturer at Milken Institute School of Public Health.

Lastly lack of regulation was what caused for the egregious conditions in the meat processing plants. President Roosevelt overcame meat packer opposition and created the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. The law authorized inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to stop any bad or mislabeled meat from leaving the plant. The inspectors at the processing plants in 1904 were appointed at the request of the meatpacking management, and they also have very little authority. Inspectors who objected to the bad meat got immediately replaced at the meatpackers request. Sinclair writes that there is a government official at the plant to check the pig glands to make sure that they don’t have tuberculosis, but if you talk to him, he is happy to look away from his work, even though dozens of carcasses will go unchecked. Today, as mentioned previously, there are many new laws and regulations that were passed to fix the lamentable standards that were expressed in The Jungle.

The release of The Jungle helped prompt the public outrage that led to legislation that would regulate and sanitize the meat packing facilities. His publication was a blessing in disguise because it is likely that the repulsing conditions in meat packing facilities would have gone on for longer and many more people would have died as a result. There should no longer be spoiled meat, rodent feces, and human remains in the meat we consume today thanks to Sinclair. Upton Sinclair once said ‘I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.’

ABSTRACT

Psychology plays a major role in one’s life. It is human psyche which holds a lot of past experiences be it happiness, sadness or any traumatic incident. Many theories and definitions related to human psychology and behaviour has been given by Freud, the well-known psychologist. According to him psychological trauma of a person comprises of childhood memory with traumatic incidents, disturbed experiences faced in puberty, horrifying and traumatizing exposures faced by a person in the past that haunts him in his present or tend to reappear in future, affect the mental, physical and overall growth of a child which in turn makes him a coward, faint-hearted person in future. Khaled Hosseini’s Kite Runner, a 2003 novel, talks about such traumas faced by the characters in the novel.

Right from Amir’s father to his adopted son, Sohrab’s childhood, the narrative shows the ups and downs they have gone through. The setting of the story is around the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and focuses on the impact of the terror created by the Taliban. The most critical dreadful incident in the novel was when Amir exhibits a traumatizing experience of his friend Hassan’s exploitation sexually and consequently raped. He did not help him at that moment as he felt weak and coward at that time. This episode kept on affecting his psyche and made him feel guilty and anguished throughout his life. This childhood heart-wrecking incident in Amir’s life affected his adult decision and choice-making in the long run, even though he tried to escape and elope from reality. Not only children but adult characters like Amir’s Baba also underwent these traumatic exposures when he went to the USA. He experienced his masculine power fading due to culture, caste, and ethnographic differences.

It is noticed in this work how suppression and domination lead to health deterioration, as in the novel, Amir’s Baba was diagnosed with cancer when he faces humiliations after leaving Afghan and shifting to the US. Even Sohrab, Hassan’s son too went through traumatizing and heart-breaking circumstances, right from his father’s death to his kidnapping by Assef, till his adoption by Amir from an orphanage home and his adjustment with Amir and his wife in the US. Assef is now a member of the Taliban, a villain right through his childhood and an enemy of Amir and Hassan. Khaled Hosseini himself, being a writer of Diaspora, has faced rootlessness, antipathy, atrocities, and dominations. He has shown his sufferings and self-experiences in his works. He was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and now lives in the USA since 1980, which is autobiographically shown in his works, especially in The Kite Runner. The Kite Runner is an internationally recognized work, which is liked and loved by many readers worldwide. This research paper will try to explore the traumatizing experiences that characters underwent and how harrowing feelings of trauma, guilt, agony, and pain suffered during childhood make a deep scar with a never-ending black hole in one’s heart throughout his life.

Introduction

The author, Khaled Hosseini, an Afghan-born American, is widely known for his renowned book The Kite Runner. He is a physician and medical practitioner by profession during the year 1996 to 2004 and turned into a noticeable writer. Khaled was born in 1965 on the 4th of March in Kabul, Afghanistan. Nasser Hosseini, a father of Khaled Hosseini, was a well-known person as he was an Afghan Ambassador, who served at the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Khaled’s mother was a teacher at high school in Kabul, where she managed to educate children with Farsi and History as subjects. In 1976, the Hosseini’s moved to Paris. They were hesitant to return to Afghanistan due to the distressing circumstances after an incursion of the Soviet Army in Afghanistan. Hosseini came up with the idea and began writing The Kite Runner while working as a doctor in practice in 2001.

The Kite Runner tells a dramatic tale of family, affection, and companionship against the backdrop of historical upheaval. Young Amir’s impressions of Kabul are filled with Afghanistan’s cultural heritage which values traditions and rituals, familial bonds, and a deeply rooted ethical identity. The Kite Runner is an extraordinary and robust debut and is as emotionally compelling as it was tender, published in 2003. The novel’s themes are universal: family relationships, the strength of compromise, the cost of deceit, the inhumanities of a rigid system of classes, the brutal realities of war, and one of the most is one’s redemption process. The novel also talks about the psychological traumas the characters undergo in the course of the narration. Amir being an ignored child urging to seek his father’s attention feels jealous of his loyal friend cum servant, Hassan. Hassan being an innocent and devoted person to his companion, is left alone at the time of his hardship. The variations of nature seen in Hassan, Amir, Baba, and Sohrab because of some traumatic situations led to a feeling of guilt in the near future. Sin and redemption play a significant role in novel, these feelings are only responsible for a change in the life of Amir and he takes the decisive step to adopt Sohrab as his kid and repay for the compromise Hassan had made for Amir at the day of kite flying competition held during the winters of Kabul in 1979.

The story also focuses on Hassan, a Hazara, who was a companion of Amir when he was ideal and a servant when he was busy with his school and social gatherings. Hassan and Amir were born in the same year and shared the same land of the mansion, but the only difference was Amir was the son of a rich and respected man of Kabul, his Baba, whereas Hassan was the child of poor Hazara who was serving Amir’s family since decades.

Trauma and Psychological Trauma:

Freud, a well-known psychologist, has given many theories and definitions related to human psychology and behaviour. According to him psychological trauma of a person comprises of childhood memory with traumatic incidents, disturbed experiences faced in puberty, horrifying and traumatizing exposures faced by a person in the past that haunts him in his present or tend to reappear in future, affect the mental, physical and overall growth of a child which in turn makes him a coward, faint-hearted person in future. Trauma is a bi-fold expression that refers to mental tribulations one has endured and that links to the extraneous event to the actual after-effect on the emotional nature of a person. He also says that due to the past with sexual seduction and bullying, the patient builds the symptoms of neurosis or psychological disturbances.

The concept of psychological trauma requires a continuous, to and fro communication between the outer and the inner worlds, or more specifically, what is recognized as the subsequent traumatic effect of the direct interaction between the actual reality and the emotional experience. Freud’s concern for this led to his description of traumatic neuroses as: ‘an exception [for] their relations to the determinants in childhood have hitherto eluded investigation’1

The Kite Runner is full of violent incidents like sexual assaults and rape by local bullies, the trauma of war, destruction and displacement from the homeland, beloved’s death, foreigner’s brutal invasion and rule, racial prejudice, etc. The effect of these violent events is so overwhelming that the characters in the novel are left with immense trauma. Based on the feeling of this ‘individual’ and ‘collective trauma’ Kai Theodor Erikson, an American sociologist, in his work Everything in Its Path (1978) states that,

“By individual trauma, I mean a blow to the psyche that breaks through one’s defences so suddenly and with such brutal force that one cannot react to it effectively…. By collective trauma, on the other hand, I mean a blow to the basic tissues of social life that damage the bonds attaching people and impair the prevailing sense of community. The collective trauma works its way slowly and even insidiously into the awareness of those who suffer from it, so it does not have the quality of suddenness normally associated with “trauma.” But it is a form of shock, all the same, a gradual realization that the community no longer existed as an effective source of support and that an important part of the self has disappeared….. “I” continue to exist, though damaged and maybe even permanently changed. “You” continues to exist, though distant and hard to relate to. But “we” no longer exist as a connected pair or as linked cells in a larger communal body. (pp.153-154)”2

Theme of trauma, guilt, and redemption in The Kite Runner

Story of The Kite Runner revolves around Amir and people living around him. Amir is living in a big mansion with a lush green garden and marbled floor with beautiful imported decors. His father, popularly called Baba or Baba Sahib, is a well-known person whose victory and hard-work is well known in Kabul. Both Amir and Baba are looked after by Hassan and his father, as being Hazara, their family has been serving Amir’s family for ages. It is shown in the novel that Amir and Hassan were born in the same year and shares their childhood like Amir’s Baba and Hassan’s father Ali did. “Ali and Baba grew up together as childhood playmates—at least until polio crippled Ali’s leg—just like Hassan and I grew up a generation later.”3 [chapter 4, page-21, line-19-21]

Right from Amir’s childhood Baba used to despise Amir, as he could not find his bravery and leadership quality in Amir. There is one incident where Baba is talking to Rahim Khan and telling him the actions of Amir he has been noticing, “Sometimes I look out this window and I see him playing on the street with the neighborhood boys, I see how they push him around, take his toys from him, give him a shove here, a whack there. And, you know, he never fights back. Never, He just…….drops his head and…” 3 [chapter -3, page-19, line- 79-83]

Baba’s complain is that Amir was always defended by Hassan, be it any situation and circumstances. “… You know what always happens when the neighbourhood boys tease him? Hassan steps in and fends them off. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. And when they come home, I say to him, ‘How did Hassan get that scrape on his face?’ And he says, ‘He fell down.’ I’m telling you, Rahim, there is something missing in that boy.”3[chapter-3, page 20, line- 288-294]

Baba’s observations about Amir are shocking: “I could see him searching, researching for the right words. He lowered his voice, but I heard him anyway. “ If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believed he’s my son.”” 3[ chapter-3, page 20, line-306-309 ]

Through these conversations between Baba and Rahim, we get to know that Baba feels guilty about having Amir in his life.

As we proceed with the story of the characters, we come across a terrible incident that happened when Assef and his gang attacked Hassan on the occasion of kite flying during winters in Kabul. Hassan also threatened Assef to make him ‘one-eyed Assef’ when he was trying to assault Amir. The story goes further when once Amir was searching for a book in his father’s study, and he found a book on Hazaras wherein it states that, “An entire chapter dedicated to Hassan’s people! In it, I read that my people, the Pashtuns, had persecuted and oppressed the Hazaras. It said the Hazaras had tried to rise against the Pashtuns in the nineteenth century, but the Pashtuns had “quelled them with unspeakable violence.” The book said that my people had killed the Hazaras, driven them from lands, burned their homes, and sold their women. The book said part of reason Pashtuns had oppressed the Hazaras was that Pashtuns were Sunni Muslims, while Hazaras were Shi’a.”3[chapter-2, page 8, line-267-275]

This discrimination can be seen in the text when children and adults of Kabul were mocking and harassing Ali, a Hazara, a minority community who tried to rise against Pashtuns. They made fun of his crippled leg and his zig-zag walk due to polio and even called him ‘flat-nosed Babalu’.3

Afghanistan has always been at the crossroads of history and the convergence of cultures. Thousands of Afghans left their country and scattered around the world due to the Russian invasion from 1979 to 1989, followed by the Taliban rule: “…that night of July 17, 1973. Kabul awoke the next morning to find that the monarchy was a thing of past. The king, Zahir Shah was away in Italy. In his absence, his cousin Daoud Khan had ended the King’s forty-year reign with a bloodless coup.”3

The life of the characters is seen changing after this invasion of the Taliban. Many people in Kabul, be it rich or poor or Hazaras or Pashtuns, had to face the hardship of the changing scenario of the Kabul. Those who could afford migrated to other countries while others stayed at their homeland and tried to adapt according to the situation. Amir and Baba migrated to the US, leaving behind their home and prestige and starting life from new.

Kabul, in Afghanistan, holds awful and disturbing memories, especially of Pashtun boy Amir and Hazara boy Hassan, who are raised together. They share their free time by playing, plucking fruits and dry fruits from neighbor’s trees, and the most important is they were famous playmates of kite flying. Hassan and Amir used to call them ‘sultans of Kabul’ every time they won the kite flying competition. Amir used to fly a kite, and Hassan used to chase the kite and bring it for Amir before it fell on the ground. Such was the bond shared by Amir and Hassan. It was always Hassan who used to put his life in danger for Amir. One day in the winters of Kabul Amir won the kite flying competition, Hassan ran behind the blue kite to bring for Amir so that he can show it to his father and show his victory. Hassan can catch the kite but at the cost of getting life-long trauma of being sexually raped by the local bully of Kabul, Assef and his gang in the silent streets of Kabul. Moreover, to the surprise, Amir witnessed the whole incident but did not attempt to rescue the loyal Hazara, Hassan. Amir was quite feeble to tackle the gang: “….But there were two things amid the garbage that couldn’t stop looking at: One was the blue kite resting against the wall, close to the cast-iron stove: the other was Hassan’s brown corduroy pants thrown on a heap of eroded bricks…….Assef knelt behind Hassan, put his hands on Hassan’s hips and lifted his bare buttocks. He kept one hand on Hassan’s back and undid his own belt buckle with his free hand. He unzipped his jeans. Dropped his underwear. He positioned himself behind Hassan. Hassan didn’t struggle. Didn’t even whimper. He moved his head slightly and I caught a glimpse of his face. Saw the resignation in it. It was a look I had seen before. It was the look of the lamb.”3[ chapter-7, page 66]

He instead took the blue kite and quietly moved toward his home and attracted everybody’s attention towards him as he won the kite competition that day. That day Amir and his Baba grew closer than before, and Baba too started admiring his son. Amir got all this by the price of Hassan’s exploitation. Though Amir felt guilty of leaving Hassan alone in that heart-wrecking incident. It can be observed from the lines of Amir, “….Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba. Was it a fair price? The answer floated to my conscious mind before I could thwart it: He was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?”3 [chapter-7,page-68]

Hassan had to pay the price of being a poor Hazara. Hassan was always a faithful companion, he would do anything for Amir ‘a thousand time over’. Whereas Amir ruined his life by being a silent spectator of that dastard activity of rape by Assef Apart from this unforgettable misconduct, characters like Baba, Amir, Hassan, Ali have their personal experiences of trauma and guilt, which keep on haunting their psyche.

Soon, Amir and Hassan got separated. Amir feels burdened with his deeds, and he chooses to leave his house for Hassan. He puts some money and watches under the mattress of Hassan and shows it to Baba that Hassan has stolen all this, Hassan accepts that he has committed the theft. Baba forgives Hassan, but Ali and Hassan abandon the house. Five years later, after the Soviets occupied Afghanistan, his father and Amir fled from Kabul and began a new life in California. Baba is employed at a gas station, while Amir is taking classes to improve his writing skills. Soraya Taheri and Amir were betrothed.

Nevertheless, Amir is unable to shake Hassan’s thoughts. Fifteen years after Soraya’s wedding, Rahim Khan calls Amir and says he wants to talk to Amir. Rahim Khan here tells Amir that, “There is a way to be good again” as he can rescue Sohrab from the orphanage and accept him as his child. The breath-taking news Amir receives from Rahim khan when he enters Afghanistan is that Baba is Hassans’ father too. Rahim Khan also reveals that both Ali and Hassan are dead. The primary way to be better again is to save Sohrab, Hassan’s son, from Assef. Amir is searching for Sohrab with the help of a Farid guide. It was found that Sohrab was to perform in women’s clothes, so he was dressed like them. Sohrab protects Amir by blowing out Assef’s left eye with a slingshot. Amir is protecting Sohrab by bringing him to the United States and redeeming himself of the guilt and trauma he has been living.

References

1. Grünbaum, Adolf. “Epistemological Liabilities of the Clinical Appraisal of Psychoanalytic Theory”. Noûs, vol. 14, no.3, 1980,pp. 307-385. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2214964.
2. Erikson, Kai Theodor. Everything in Its Path.1978. New York: Simon and Schuster.pp 153-154
3. Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. Riverheads Books, 2003.
4. “Phases of the Development in Khaled Hosseini’s Novel: “The Kite Runner”.” International Journal Of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research, vol.6, no.6, June 2019, pp. 522-526., :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR906W69.pdf.
5. “Waterstones Preston.” , 3-5 Fishergate, Preston (2019), http://www.findglocal.com/GB/Preston/189665377735856/Waterstones-Preston.
6. Chun, Yang. “Exploration of Trauma Narrative in The Kite Runner.” Sino-US English Teaching, ISSN 1539-8072, Vol. 11, no. December 2014, Dec. 2014, pp. 962–967., http://www.davidpublisher.org/Public/uploads/Contribute/550a3fd6a6be0.pdf.
7. Tutté, Juan Carlos. “The Concept of Psychical Trauma: A Bridge in Interdisciplinary Space.” The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, vol. 85, no. 4, 2004, pp. 897–921., doi:10.1516/rqat-vgj3-y1xq-dw37.

Lois Lowry’s The Giver ignites the minds of readers, both young and old. It has a story, unlike any other young reader’s fiction novel. Not every fictional tale includes talking animals, magic, or happily ever after. Its tightening plot sends forth post-apocalyptic elements, themes, symbolism, and some ties to certain concerns of reality. I will discuss the language in The Giver, and how it is often used as a tool for social control in the isolated community.

The Giver, as mentioned, is set in the post-apocalyptic era. The community is underlining controlling and authoritative towards every citizen. A few of many rules in the story are not permitting to be different, not allowed to show any form of feeling, no free choice towards the citizens’ future, and each married couple is only allowed to have two children. The community is undeniably watched by their every move from a higher power. When I was reading The Giver, I thought about how similar it can be to present-day realities. For example, North Korea, with its restraining authority, does not allow the citizens of the country to look unique from each other. Another example is China creating laws such as the one-child policy (now two-child policy), preventing married couples to have more than one child.

In the language of the community, “newchild” is used for social control. A baby is also known as a “newchild”. In the previous paragraph, I mentioned that married couples are only allowed to have two children, or “newchildren”. However, the mother does not give birth to the baby. Higher authority gives the baby to the couple. Similar to “newchild”, another word used for social control is called “Nurturing Center”. The young ones will stay in there for quite some time until they are given away to their parents by an authority. The last word I will mention from The Giver is “release”. “Release” seems a decent word, rather neutral. However, “release” in the story is an unnatural death: euthanasia. If citizens fail to follow the rules of the community, if one is a frail elder or imperfect “newchild”, they are “released” to a place called Elsewhere. Elsewhere as we know is not a place, just a term used to conceal the death.

Three of the many words in The Giver promote the rules of the stale community. Authority does not give families the ability to set standards and grant their fulfilling wishes. “Nurturing Center” forbids the couples from having a child with their unique sets of genes. Instead, even more so secluded women have the duty of giving birth to the children for the community. Lastly, “release” shares no respect for the life of the citizens. Instead of confronting the citizens of the cruel punishment mainly due to disobedience, higher power prefers to keep the harsh consequence hidden and provide an adequate excuse so citizens can remain in their life of what is considered normal. The words affect the young readers by reminding them that this story is not the precise reality we live in, to ease the reader in that sense, and note to them that The Giver is fantasy. The words also play the role of control over human life.

Furthermore, I believe Lowry is trying to offer her readers to perceive their lives as meaningful. We have the right to feel and think however we want, to do whatever we want. We have leadership, but not an intense dictatorship where government and society tell us who, what, when, where, and how we do. The terms in The Giver support the explanation of how society can have its downfall, and how appreciative we need to be of our position. The small fragments of reality mentioned can even show the readers how far away and perhaps even how close society can be under complete control.

In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir goes through a lot. But he learns that you can be forgiven for things you have done. Amir gets to have another chance at life to make things right for good. In doing so he gets redemption. At the beginning of the novel, Amir lacks the courage to stand up for himself. By the end of the novel, Amir is motivated by feelings of guilt to seek redemption by saving Sohrab.

At the beginning of the novel, Amir lacks courage and is motivated to gain Baba’s approval. Amir says “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything.” (Hosseini 22) Amir has never stood up for what is right, which makes him a coward. He was never able to let go of what he did, due to his cowardness. He is seeking Baba’s approval but he will never get it due to how he took his mother’s life. Amir watches Hassan in the alley but does not do anything, he should have stood up to Assef. When coming back to Afghanistan Amir started to forgive himself for what he had done to Hassan.

At the end of the novel, Amir gains an understanding of what he did wrong in his past. Amir is guilty of what he did to Hassan. Amir says “I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan—the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past—and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran.” (Hosseini 77) Amir saw things being done to Hassan that should never happen but Amir didn’t stop it. His guilt was too strong to fully forgive himself but having Sorab to now take care of, Amir is getting a due over.

Amir seeks redemption by taking care of Sohrab. Amir says, “Would you like to come to live in America with me and my wife?” (Hosseini 320) Amir cares for Sohrab and the way he shows that is by wanting Sorab to be “his” maybe even be a part of his family forever. Amir wants to take Sohrab to be forgiven of the horrible things he did. By this, he got redemption for something that was not fixed before but is now.

Amir redeems his actions little by little. Amir takes Sohrab home to give him a better home but ruefully Amir wanted to take his nephew home to be forgiven. The reader can learn that your mistakes can be made up but it won’t happen fast it may take time.

Esperanza saw self-definition as a battle, the battle for self-definition is a typical subject, and in The House on Mango Street, Esperanza’s battle to characterize herself underscores her each activity and experience. Esperanza must characterize herself both as a lady and as a member of her family and her view of her personality changes through the span of the book. Esperanza depicted a distinctive picture to the readers of spectators of her environment, the individuals she experienced, and her elucidation on the occasions that occurred with her and the individuals throughout her life around then. On numerous occasions Esperanza battled with how she was seen and how she wished to be seen.

In the start of the book Esperanza needs to change her name with the goal that she can characterize herself all alone terms, rather than tolerating a name that communicates her family legacy. She wants to isolate herself from her folks and her more youthful sister so as to make her very own life. She starts to need to be viewed as ‘wonderful’ by men as she develops through the book, Esperanza needs to battle to characterize what genuine inward magnificence is and she understands it’s not exactly when a man discloses to you he ‘adores you’. Likewise, toward the start of the book she makes it extremely certain that she wanted to be poor and needed to show signs of improvement life for herself without any men. Esperanza survives the accounts and encounters of different characters in the book and inevitably ends up engaged with them. It requires some investment for Esperanza to develop and experience some damaging things in life with the goal for her to at last get a feeling of self.

Esperanza ‘s battle with self-definition will assume a key job in the result of future, regarding what she needs to be and what she needs to abstain from starting. Without the ‘battle’ which came through experimentation, neediness and rape, she wouldn’t have any thought of who she would need to move toward becoming as a person. Without encounters you will never pick up learning of your own and need to depend exclusively on what others let you know. Esperanza has thought of herself as something skimming, she alludes to herself as a red inflatable that is holding back to drift away. The picture of the inflatable proposes that she believes she is gliding fully expecting something and that she feels separated. The shading red may recommend that she hangs out in the area. Esperanza discovers companions, Lucy and Rachel, not long after this segment, yet the sentiment of being an inflatable endures. She is as yet drifting since she believes she doesn’t fit in on Mango Road, and she is as yet disengaged on the grounds that she doesn’t impart her most profound insider facts to her companions.

Esperanza starts telling us of her identity struggle at the very beginning of the book, she says “In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting”. She follows up with saying “I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees”. She clearly has an issue with her name and how she feels like it doesn’t fit with who she really is as she is trying to define herself. She then proceeds on to talk about some of her physical attributes she says “And me, my hair is lazy. It never obeys barrettes or bands”. “I am an ugly daughter; I am the one nobody comes for”. She is letting the audience be aware of her low self-esteem with her outside appearance and how she thinks she is viewed by others. Her wanting to be accepted by others and to be seen in a different light rolls in to her later becoming more sexually aware, Esperanza would like to be “beautiful and cruel” so men will like her but not hurt her, and she pursues that goal by becoming friends with Sally. But Sally didn’t portray things in a way that would mesh with the experience Esperanza has after trusting sally. “Sally you lied. It wasn’t what you said it would be at all. What he did. Where he touched me”. After she is assaulted, she doesn’t want to define herself as “beautiful and cruel” anymore, and she is, once again, unsure of who she is. Esperanza says this in “Red Clowns,” after the group of boys has sexually assaulted her at a carnival. She repeats the accusation that her friend lied, blaming Sally for the assault instead of the boys who have hurt and traumatized her. Esperanza blames Sally for not returning after she goes off with an older boy, she is reflecting her anger on sally rather than the boys because she trusted sally to protect her, she was following in Sally’s footsteps, not her own.

Eventually, Esperanza decides she does not need to set herself apart from the others in her neighborhood or her family heritage by changing her name, and she stops forcing herself to develop sexually, which she isn’t fully ready for. She accepts her place in her community and decides that the most important way she can define herself is as a writer. “I make a story for my life, for each step my brownstone takes.” As a writer, she observes and interacts with the world in a way that sets her apart from non-writers, giving her the legitimate new identity she’s been searching for. Writing promises to help her leave Mango Street emotionally, and possibly physically as well. “One day I will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango.”

Esperanza clearly shows a struggle within herself, she is grasping for the person she herself can identify with inside of herself. She wants to be an individual, get lost and her thoughts and find her way to self by telling stories and writing it all down. Making the choice as to what path to follow is a difficult one and even more of a struggle to build your very own path. Its takes courage and confidence to be okay with who you are and who you are going to form yourself to be in the future.