Theme of Breaking the Rules in the Movie ‘The Breakfast Club’ and the Novel ‘The Wave’

Rules need to be broken at times. As both the 1985 film by John Hughes, ‘The Breakfast Club’, and the 1981 novel by Morton Rhue, ‘The Wave’, discuss why and what can happen when such acts are done. With so much desire to break the rule, there is little room left to see why they need to be disobeyed sometimes. Law break can come in many ways, and likewise, the effects can come in many ways; some extremely liberal, others shockingly. On the outside, these pieces of literature and cinematography seem to be the standard plot, with no clear deeper connection or violation of laws. What is not known publicly, however, is their discovery of a much broader concept.

Many laws need to be violated in a society with so many barriers and limitations to make social change. Through the characters of Bender and Ben Ross, both Rhue and Hughes discuss this theory. Bender, naturally, is the first person to break the rules in ‘The Breakfast Club’. He speaks in the film’s first few minutes, when everything is meant to be silent. Notwithstanding the initially innocuous rule violation, it eventually leads to a slightly more serious one when the five students sneak out to get cannabis from their locker. A raw and honest conversation breaks out between the five students with the help of the medicine and leaves them more clearly and morally. All five characters are sitting in a circle during one of the final scenes, and Brian, alone in the frame, is asking, “What will happen to us on Monday?”. Claire sparks tension and discussion among the group when her honesty leads her to say that she doesn’t think they’re going to be friends. She continues to create a hypothetical situation where Andrew and his friends are approached by Brian. She says Andrew’s going to say hi, so once Brian’s gone Andrew’s going to “cut him all up so [his friends] wouldn’t think [Brian] really liked it”. Each of them would do similar things, she says. The blunt reaction sends Brian to tears, Bender explodes, which makes Andrew an awkward mess, but Alison’s unnaturally cool through it all. The cinematography used by Hughes in this scene clearly communicates the emotions of each individual. Andrew and Claire are barely looked at by Brian, and his tears show that he is visibly upset. He responds sadly, not violently. Similarly, Andrew can’t look at anyone either, for most of the climatic scenes his eyes are fixed to the ground. When he speaks, he doesn’t move his body, almost as if to move as much as he needed, he’d trigger something awful a possible trait from his tense home life that he acquired. Bender overlooks any chance of a civil conversation and loses all shits. He tears at Claire and throws blatant insults at her as he tries to prove she’s a horrible person to “tell the truth”. Whenever they speak, each character is in their own frame, portraying the isolation they feel in the situation. The argument eventually transforms into a truck load of confessions, initiated by Brian’s reaction to Claire’s insistence that he “knows no pressure”. Brian breaks down and says that his attempted suicide resulted in the pressure he and his parents put on him. With a flare-up weapon. Giggles erupted around him, and Brian laughed soon as well. The group realizes that they are born into a faulty system through the convocations and interactions and confessions made with each other. But if they want to contribute to it, it is their choice. From total strangers who would never have been caught dead talking to each other and five characters with nothing at all in common. In Saturday’s detention, they certainly learned something, and Brian put it on paper in poetic ending to an insightful film. That’s how breaking Bender’s silence and rules ultimately leads to the social progress of five teenagers struggling.

The violation of Mr. Ross’ rule also leads to progress when he begins an apparently innocent social experiment that breaks many ethical rules. The intention of Mr. Ross was to teach his students about the atrocities of the Second World War and, more generally, blind obedience to authority. When the innocence of it all begins to deteriorate, however, he continues to do so even though he is well aware of the dangers that might arise. Laurie, one of Mr. Ross’ students, is shocked by the actions of the Nazis at the beginning of Rhue’s novel. So shocked, she’s mad at anyone who fulfilled the orders of Hitler. She concludes that ‘they might have fled. They might have fought back. They had eyes and minds of their own. They were able to think for themselves. No one would simply follow such an order. Laurie’s enthusiasm for the subject is illustrated by the use of anaphora. Rhue uses the linguistic technique to convey her scepticism to the reader. Throughout the course of the book, situations arise where Laurie is the only one who can really understand, the Wave has brainwashed everyone. This is problematic when the movement is beginning to look more and more like the power and authority of Hitler over the Nazis. Ultimately, with the help of Mr. Ross and the school projector, Claire put a stop to it. In a desperate, well-thought-out bid to end the epidemic, the student group, and Mr. Ross, get through to the brainwashed followers, shed light on their image, and the Nazis. Claire and all the followers of the Wave are horrified by the blind obedience to authority that took them over without anyone realizing it. Claire’s description of this social progress “It happened in a way [she’s] pleased … [she’s] sad it had to come to that, but [she’s] happy it worked out, [she] feels everybody learned a lot”. The ethical rules violated in the seemingly harmless experiment of Mr. Ross ultimately lead to a whole high school’s social progress.

Following the rule is building up the character. Progress as a person is a personal accomplishment that can be triggered by ignoring the occasional restriction. Robert Billings and all five characters from ‘The Breakfast Club’, but particularly Alison, make drastic strides as individuals when they ignore the rule book. Robert Billings lives in the shadow of his most successful older brother at the start of Rhue’s ‘The Wave’. There’s no point in even trying to the point where he’s left feeling. Thinking, his brother’s going to do it better than him, and probably has already done it, so what’s the point? This is evident from his lack of contribution in Mr. Ross’s history class. The school had just finished watching a horrible movie about the persecution of Jews by Hitler, and Robert was just waking up from his sleep. Ben Ross “couldn’t be able to see [Robert] being picked up by the other students and he was dismayed that Robert at least didn’t try to participate in the class”. In this situation, Rhue uses emotional language to show Mr. Ross’ empathy. Robert’s indirect characterization also leaves the reader sympathetic to the allegedly disturbed boy. Later in the novel, however, when the Wave is in full motion, Robert transforms completely from this boy who has not even answered a question when asked and the target of any bully, to a volunteer bodyguard equal to the rest. When he breaks some of his own personal rules, he makes the drastic transformation. Instead of having to project this person that he didn’t care about, he broke through his shell and integrated with society, becoming equal to each of his classmates. If the Wave never came into being, Robert would likely never have had the confidence or desire to contribute to society and become his own man. Breaking the rules made him enough confident to make his own private progress.

Likewise, Alison is making progress on her own in ‘The Breakfast Club’ by bending a few rules. When she is dropped off during Saturday’s arrest, Alison is first introduced to the public. When she gets out of a speeding, screaming vehicle that comes to a halt, she immediately catches the eyes of the audience. The car speeds off when she goes to the driver’s window, just as fast as it showed up. Through this longshot of Alison and her car, the viewer immediately knows that she is not the most normal of men. She says the first word, it’s not even a word, it’s just a tone, and it takes her 33 minutes to say; it also demonstrates her social detachment. Hughes uses her lack of communication to express Alison’s feelings of isolation. It’s like there’s something inside her that tells her she’s worthless, she’s worth nothing, so she’s supposed to say nothing. She begins to break her confidence midway through the film. Once she starts adding what she has to say to the party, this can be seen. On the couch in front of Brian and Andrew, she is seen dumping the entire contents of her purse. Unhesitating and outwardly saying that she carries in her bag an unnatural amount of stuff because she never knows when she’s going to have to “jam”. She puts herself in the party “out there” as she confesses that she is in prison because she “had done something else to do better”. Fortunately, on that Saturday, March 24, she had nothing better to do. She would never have smoked with 4 people she would never have met officially before without the Saturday in gaol. And she’d never realize she doesn’t matter. She’s something about it. She’s nothing. Before this day, she would never have spoken to anyone. Let’s start dating a jock let alone. She wanted self-confidence. And she earned it by getting high and communicating with people who would never have gotten next to her before this day. Alison made a huge amount of personal progress by breaking not just a rule, but a law.

Essentially, this rule breaking is not always a negative thing, it goes without saying. We explore the idea through the characters created by both Rhue and Hughes in the novels, that rules need to be broken at times. The weather is small, or the weather is big, with potentially heavy consequences, it’s only problem if someone finds out. So, break the rules, push the boundaries, make progress. Broaden your mind. Initiate the spark that starts the flame of social progress. Do whatever desires one’s heart. Go totally nuts. Ultimately, you might be in the position of Alison, Brian, Andrew, Bender, Claire and Gordon High’s entire community A better person, a little enlightened, or a tiny bit dumb, dancing to ‘Don’t Forget About Me’.

Essay on Homegoing

The story is built around the descendants of Maame, an Asante woman in eighteenth-century Ghana. She escaped from the fated land where she was a slave, to an Asante household leaving behind her newborn baby who is later known as Effia. Maame later got married to a great Asanteman and gave birth to another child called Esi. The two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, were born in separate villages. Effia got married to an Englishman called James Collins, who was involved in the slavery business and lived in Cape Coast Castle. Unknown to Effia her half-sister, Esi was sold as a slave to the British and was imprisoned in the castle dungeons beneath them. Esi was part of about a thousand slaves who were sent off to America through the West African Atlantic slave trade. She, therefore, made a family of her own there. Her children and grandchildren were raised in slavery. From the viewpoint of a descendant of either Effia or Esi, one representative for each generation, each chapter of the novel is narrated, and the two families alternate up to the present day. Quey, James, Abena, Akua, Yaw, and Marjorie as expanded into chapters follows the descendants of Effia and James Collins. On the other hand, the chapters titled Ness, Kojo, H, Willie, Sonny, and Marcus follow Esi’s descendants.

‘Homegoing’ brings to light the effect of racial stereotypes and bias on an individual’s character. From the reading for instance, in part two ‘Homegoing’, Marjorie sees how her status as a black girl renders her unable to date a white boy in her class, although her class contributions, arguments, or claims are not even considered by the teacher. Again, the point where Esi was caught running and placed in prison for women. When she describes the story of how a soldier raped her and stares at her with shame, this depicts racial the against women based on their skin color. Yaa Gyasi helps with these incidents captured in her book to make us understand the concepts of stereotype and racism through much clearer lenses.

In relation to a book written by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi. Which is about the myth created by the people of Buganda in Uganda. Both the ‘Homegoing’ and Kintu shares similarities such as rich and detailed histories and generational family lines. These two stories are dissimilar in their geographical setting of the stories. For instance, whereas ‘Homegoing’ was based in a Ghanaian setting, ‘Kintu’ was based in an Uganda setting

I think the book was very interesting. Its uniqueness is indispensable in the sense that organization of the book does not follow the regular chapters that use numbers but rather are arranged in chronological order linking different stories of different generations together. With this I mean each of the chapters can be a whole story on its own but yet she finds an interesting way of linking them all together.

Essay on Themes in ‘Things Fall Apart’

In the novel ‘Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the story of Umuofia, a fictionalized village set in Nigeria, is told. The novel details Umuofia as a pre-colonized village, allowing the reader in on their customs and traditions, all the way to a colonized Umuofia; where the story ends. Throughout this story of colonization, many themes are displayed. Masculinity in ‘Things Fall Apart is one of the first apparent and recognizable themes to the reader as the story is being set up. Masculinity in Umuofia creates divides between families, customs in the village, and overall sets up how respected each man is in the tribe.

The people in Umuofia were known and respected for their masculine tendencies and practices by other surrounding villages. “Umuofia was feared by all its neighbors. It was powerful in war and magic, and its priests and medicine men were feared in all the surrounding country” (Achebe 11). Though a literal war is never detailed in the story, the symbolization of war and being a warrior meant a lot to the townspeople of Umuofia. Being a warrior would not have masculinity attached to it if the women in the village also took part in this custom, however they do not. Being a warrior, and having warrior-like tendencies gained man respect, not so much for a woman. When Achebe describes the rituals of the village and folktales throughout the story, the tone of the novel changes when describing some of Umuofia’s practices. It almost comes across to the reader in a dark, chilling tone. This subconsciously helps the theme of masculinity because it stands out to the reader and helps them connect why Okonkwo does many things. Another method of showing masculinity in the customs of Umuofia is Okonkwo, the main character of the story, in a seven-year exile. Okonkwo got exiled from Umuofia because he fatally shoots a clansman inadvertently. Since Okonkwo did not have the intention to kill the clansman, and it was a pure accident he was only subjected to seven years of exile. “The crime was of two kinds, male and female” (Achebe 124). The custom of this crime is if you kill a clansman, purposely, you are exiled from the village forever. If you kill a woman, you are only in exile for seven years. Women were not valued the same as men, not only in this tribe but in this period. This is clearly shown by the degree of punishment associated with this custom. Women were seen as servants to men, and bearers of children; not as a person of true value to the community. The custom also sends the exiled person (and his family since Okonkwo was head of the house) to the motherland. Every person lives in their father’s tribe in these fictional villages of Nigeria. The part of the custom where you have to return to your motherland seems to have no masculine undertones at face value. Going to the motherland allows the exiled the opportunity to get in touch with their feminine side and to acknowledge their maternal ancestors as a form of punishment. They do not do this to benefit the exiled, but to punish them for committing such a horrid crime. Many customs of Umuofia are set up with undertones of masculinity somewhere in them whether it is apparent on the surface or not.

Okonkwo was a very respected man in his village before his exile. He is known for being the greatest warrior in Umuofia in his time, which held great value to not only him, but his community. “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages, and even beyond. His fame rested on his solid personal achievements” (Achebe 1). Okonkwo’s dad, Unoka, did not leave the best legacy for himself or his family due to his non-masculine tendencies. He was not good with money, he was emotional (and content with it), and he could not provide for his family through farming, as a man in this village should. All these attributes associated with Unoka made him as valuable as a woman. Since Okonkwo had so much resentment and did everything in his power to be the exact opposite of his father, it created a tone of toxic masculinity in Okonkwo. He was a very aggressive man who repressed feelings and emotions. He redirected a lot of the emotions he felt through abuse of his wives and sometimes even his children. ‘Okonkwo, who had been walking about aimlessly in his compound in suppressed anger, suddenly found an outlet’ (Achebe 38). His kids and his wives endured a lot of abuse from him because he thought feeling emotions were the trait of a woman, not allowing himself to cope with his feelings healthily. And though they endured such abuse from Okonkwo, it was accepted by all the wives because ‘warrior-like’ tendencies were valued in Umuofia. Okonkwo’s masculinity in the story was very toxic and not viewed as something to respect by other groups of people, however, he was a very respected man in his community.

Lastly, masculinity created a divide between the two generations of Okonkwo’s family in the story. Okonkwo did not appreciate the way his father Unoka went about his life but Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son did appreciate the way Okonkwo went about his life. Okonkwo showed his disapproval of his father by disowning his own family. He started feigning for himself before becoming a real adult and working to be the exact opposite of his father. The young men in the village are usually living and around their families until they become married. Okonkwo had such strong disapproval of his father’s life choices and the way he handled things, he broke away early. Similarly, Nwoye did the same thing to his father. Nwoye showed his disapproval later in life unlike Okonkwo but still broke away from his family before his due time. Nwoye converted to Christianity and was disowned by his father and family. The parallel in these two stories lies within the reason they had such disapproval of their father; their masculinity complex. Unoka was not masculine enough and Okonkwo was so masculine, it was toxic to Nwoye. Okonkwo and Nwoye’s relationship was not strong, and they both had an inner dislike for one another’s character. Note however internalized this for much of the story until his conversion to Christianity. “That was the kind of story Nwoye loved. But he now knew that they were for foolish women and children. And he knew his father wanted him to be a man” (Achebe 54). Personal views of masculinity in each of these men drove them apart from their families and loved ones. How a man was to behave in Umuofia was objective and not subjective. Different traits of men were not accepted if it is not what Umuofia viewed as a man. If you did not act masculine enough, it was frowned upon and you were not accepted as a man, but as a woman, in this village.

Masculinity is the first major theme shown through the tribe for a reason. While the story is being set up, it informs the reader why certain customs are in place, why some behavior is accepted and some are not, and how it affects them in the long run. Though many themes are laid out in ‘Things Fall Apart, masculinity is one of the easiest to see and the most prevalent. From the first page to the last, the role of masculinity shapes the stories and actions of the character in one way or another. Masculinity drove sons from their fathers, created laws and customs, and even was the foundation for how respected a man was.

Comparative Essay on the Novels Mathilda, by Mary Shelley and The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison

In the novels Mathilda, by Mary Shelley and The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison; both writers convey ideas around the effects of traumatic events caused by deep desires. In Mathilda, the majority of trauma faced is based around the incestuous love and desire Mathilda’s father feels for her which ultimately leads to his suicide and Mathilda’s lonely death. However, in The Bluest Eye, Morrison examines trauma faced by black people in America. She focuses on societies impacts on the way people view themselves and how trauma from bullying causes Pecola’s desire to change herself in order to feel accepted within society, whilst also dealing with the disturbing problems of her family around her.

In Mathilda, Shelley presents Mathilda as a “solitary” character after the death of her mother, which then leads to overwhelming feelings when her father returns shows her the affections she had desired, which causes confusion and leads to an incestuous relationship with her father. Mathilda’s family feels a resentment towards her due to the death of her mother which differs from The Bluest Eye because Pecola feels the same lack of love, but from society also, due to the complexity of racism during the 1940s. The traumatic event from the death of her mother has had significant negative impacts on the lives of Mathilda and her father, thus affecting their relationship poorly. The use of pathetic fallacy when describing her home as ‘desolate’ reflects the bleak, emptiness she feels without receiving the love she wants from her family, showing she if reflecting her internal feeling onto her idea of the setting. This is represented again later in the text when she enters herself into voluntary isolation after the death of her father; Mathilda has spent so much time alone, she finds comfort in loneliness. Mathilda feels like a burden to her family in the beginning of the novel, she says: ‘there were none to praise and very few to love’. This shows that she is aware of her family’s resentment towards her; ‘none to praise’ suggests that Mathilda tries her best to impress her family in order to feel loved but never receives the attention she desires – she has given up hope on receiving the affections she wants. This mirrors the feelings of Pecola in The Bluest Eye, both try to impress their families to gain affection. It is the lack of affection that causes Mathilda’s abnormal relationship with her father later in the novel when she refers to him as her ‘lover’. As the novel progresses her father begins to see Mathilda as a replacement for her mother, her father’s desire for her mother causes his hatred for himself – the deepest desires cause the deadliest hate. The relationship with her father makes Mathilda question her identity, not only within her family but within society: “Collective identification…evokes powerful imagery of people who are in some respect(s) apparently similar to each other.” (Jenkins, 2008). Mathilda doesn’t fit within a social group because of the abnormal relationship with her father so she questions her identity as a whole, which causes her inner conflict, similar to Pecola’s in The Bluest Eye. The term ‘collective identification’ accurately displays the contrast between what is expected of someone in society and how Mathilda does not conform to this by isolating herself both physically and emotionally. Shelley symbolises her own trauma in the disturbing themes within the novel: “The situation of Mathilda encrypts that of Mary Shelley herself as she experienced the deaths of her children while she tried to deal with Shelley’s intellectual abstractness and Godwin’s massive indifference to anything but his own financial troubles” (Rajan, 1994). Shelley does not receive that affection that she wants from her family which therefore reflects the emotionally starved life Mathilda has, Shelley is telling a story about herself through the novel. This supports Socrates’ idea: ‘from the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate’, because Mathilda’s desire for affection causes her to hate herself and her father’s desires for her causes him to hate himself, which causes Shelley to present Mathilda’s trauma in this way.

For Morrison, trauma manifests in the racism of American society. Pecola Breedlove begins to feel a self-loathing, due to the response of the people around her, which causes her to have a deep desire for ‘the bluest eyes’. The irony in her name; ‘Breedlove’ suggests she is loved either by society, or herself. This contrasts the reality; her race causes a lack of love from society and therefore causes her trauma. The use of irony conveys the contrasting experiences for white and black people in society. Pecola’s desire causes her to have a deadly hate for herself and constant feelings that she isn’t good enough for society. Morrison uses them as a symbol for racism to demonstrate the ideas of society on beauty during the 1940s. Pecola feels redundant in her family; this is made clear to her by her mother when Pecola visits her at work and she is hurried away: ‘Mrs. Breedlove yanked her up by the arm, slapped her again, and in a voice thin with anger, abused Pecola directly.’ Mrs Breedlove urges Pecola away as if she is ashamed of her, this supports the idea that lack of affection causes her to have a self-loathing and deep desires to change herself in order to impress the people, which links to Mathilda and the negative impact this also has on her psychological health. It says that Mrs. Breedlove ‘abused’ which conveys the aggression felt towards Pecola- the implied violence of the word ‘abused’ allows one to note the cold nature of Pecola’s family, similar to in Mathilda. Morrison makes the reader sympathise for Pecola to get them to understand that realities of racism in America, this causes an emotional impact on the reader as some may be able to relate to racism in modern culture and find comfort in Morrison’s efforts to gain equality within an unfair society. This lack of love from family is linked back to Mathilda in Shelley’s novel, as both characters feel like outcasts within their own families and therefore have negative opinions of themselves because of this. Pecola notices the response of her mother towards ‘the little girl in pink’, although the race of the girl is unknown, one assumes that she is white, thus leading Pecola to the conclusion that if she manages to get ‘the bluest eyes’, society will love her and therefore her mother will too: “the feeling of low self-worth after years of being put down is still perpetuating and is resulting in an ugliness this is constantly felt, if not directly seen”. (Smith, 2012). This assists the idea that when Pecola feels unloved in both her family and in society, she begins to feel as if she is no longer worthy of the love that she desires. This results in her low self-esteem which causes her mental trauma and reflects the thoughts of people facing racism in society. The references to self-worth in this analysis reflect the view of Pecola on herself and how others are able to manipulate the way one views themselves. This is shown again through the volatile relationship between her and Maureen Peal where she is made to believe she is ugly because of Maureen’s mockery, specifically to her appearance. Maureen leads Pecola to believe that she is trustworthy and when she offers to buy Pecola an ice cream, Pecola is shocked as she is so used to being treated differently to everyone else due to her race. Maureen manipulates Pecola into thinking she is different which traumatises Pecola even more when she finds out she thinks the same way as others in society. This once again refers back to the desire for blue eyes, supporting the idea that the views of others shape her view of herself – society has led her to believe that beauty is whiteness. The betrayal of trust made by Maureen enhances Pecola’s insecurities which makes her vulnerable and in need of constant reassurance from people. This is conveyed at the end of the novel when she constantly asks if her eyes are ‘blue enough’ or if they are ‘bluer than Joanna’s’ or ‘bluer than Michelena’s’. This links back to Socrates’ statement: ‘from the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate’, it is Pecola’s deep desires for blue eyes that cause her to hate herself. Morrison uses irony when using the colour blue as it used to represent beauty and it also represents coldness which is what Pecola faces because of segregation in society. Society is constantly putting the black characters in the novel down because of the view perceived by white people: black people were of a lower class than them; this is conveyed through some of the offensive language used by Morrison to demonstrate the harsh and traumatic realities of segregation in 1940s. Segregation was widely spread across the world and was what caused these negative views towards black people. This novel was set in a time period before the Rosa Parks’ bus boycott but was written after it. Morrison may have used the incident as motivation for her novel as she has felt inspired by Parks’ bravery and aimed to educate people in modern society on racism during this time period. Similarly, Mathilda feels segregated from other people because of the taboo situation with her father; both characters in both novels feel isolated from society.

Following on from this, in Mathilda, her father’s desire to kill himself causes Mathilda to hate herself as she believes she is to blame for his death. Mathilda feels as if she owes it to her father to punish herself for his death, this results in her living in voluntary isolation. One might say that it is Mathilda’s desire to impress her father and her father’s desire for her causes both of them to hate themselves. Mathilda blames only herself and places herself as the only cause for the death of her father: ‘I alone was the cause of his defeat and justly did I pay the fearful penalty.’ The lexical choice of ‘defeat’ suggests to the reader that it was almost as if Mathilda’s father was in a battle with his desires and the word ‘defeat’ shows that his desires have gotten the better of him. One would say that he feels ashamed of himself that he has been so weak to such an abnormal desire, which is what ultimately actually causes his death – guilt. This refers to Sigmund Freud’s theory on psychosexual stages of development, also known as the Oedipus complex; this describes a child’s feelings of desire for his or her opposite-sex parent. This self-conflict that Mathilda’s father has within himself is linked to the self-conflict that Pecola has about her race and her views on beauty in The Bluest Eye. Both main characters have a battle within themselves relating to their desires, these deep desires cause them to hate themselves and want to change, for Pecola it causes her to ask for blue eyes and for Mathilda’s father, it drives him to suicide. The reader is able to see that Mathilda blames herself for this traumatic event as she says: ‘I alone’. The use of ‘alone’ shows that she is taking full responsibility because she feels guilty and at blame for her father’s death: “The different manifestations of social isolation become more poignant when you consider the major importance our society attaches to personal relationships and a rich social life.” (Hortulanus and Machielse, 2006). By outlining the significance of personal relationships here, one is able to note that it is Mathilda’s personal relationships that cause her to be viewed as an outcast within society. Mathilda has an abnormal personal relationship with her father therefore meaning she feels isolated in society; this is also shown through when she says ‘I alone’. However, in contrast to this statement, it wasn’t the response of society that causes Mathilda to isolate herself, it was her own response to guilt and trauma that made her behave in this way. Although social groups have significant impacts on people within society, as proven in The Bluest Eye, it seems as if Mathilda had already been isolated before society for affect her. The trauma from her father admitting his true desires for her and the trauma of him then committing suicide confuses Mathilda, thus leading her to believe that the best thing for her is to enter herself into voluntary isolation. The act of committing herself to isolation seems punishment enough for Mathilda to balance with the death of her father, she convinces herself that this is the best way for her to make amends with her father despite him not actually being there. One might say that it seems as if Mathilda dramatizes her grief and that this extreme response, it seems as if Mathilda makes her life a performance; ‘For Mathilda, life and theatre are no longer distinct concepts: the world is a stage and life is a dramatic production.’ (Bunnel, 2013). This view on Mathilda links back to the idea that she is constantly trying to impress her family to feel loved – she wants to feel loved in order to help her to cope with her dramatic and traumatic life: ‘in a letter that is essentially an autobiographical memoir revealing her perception of the world as a stage, of her life as a theatre production, and of herself as an actress in that production.’ (Bunnel, 2013) This suggests that Mathilda’s trauma has caused impending psychological damage on her that causes her to crave attention from people that she did not receive from her family members – Mathilda wants sympathy and reassurance due to her guilt. The metaphor allows the reader to understand Mathilda’s thought process and allows them to try to understand her respone to the trauma – a crave for attention. Overall, it seems as if this traumatic event has caused Mathilda’s psychological health to deteriorate alongside her father’s, Mathilda is an example of the way sexual abuse can psychologically impact its victims, she demonstrates the effects that it can have on future relationships and the way it can cause people to view themselves. Thus, supporting the statement as it is desires of characters within the novel that cause Mathilda to hate herself.

Similarly, in The Bluest Eye, Pecola lives with the trauma and conflict within herself because of her deep desire to be beautiful which ultimately causes her to hate herself. Collectively, the people around her have been able to put Pecola down and make her believe that it is her race that makes her ugly; Pecola finds it hard to accept herself and feels distant from the people around her, just like Mathilda in Mathilda. Both characters are isolated from the people around them, for Mathilda this is physical isolation, whereas for Pecola this is an emotional isolation. The bullying that Pecola faces at school leads her to believe that she is ugly and causes her to have this desire to change herself in order to be seen as beautiful. Pecola only begins to see herself as ugly after people convince her that she is, at the beginning of the novel she is innocent and oblivious to herself being any less beautiful than the other characters in the novel. Not only do people view her as ugly because of her race, but they also view her as untrustworthy; this is demonstrated in the novel when she is wrongly blamed for killing a boy’s cat and is called a ‘nasty little black bitch’ by the boy’s mother. This is an example of the way Pecola was being put down because of her race, thus, leading to her desire to have ‘the bluest eyes’ because she believes that if she is white, she will be viewed differently – this pattern within the text is used to show the traumatic impacts of racism on its victims. This negative language (‘black bitch’) is Morrison’s way of demonstrating to the reader the effects of racism in America during 1940s. Martin Luther King was also a significant figure during this time-period due to his involvement in American Activism, his well-known speech; ‘I have a dream’ was delivered in 1963 where he called for an end to racism in America. This inspirational speech may have been a driving force for Morison to write this novel and encouraged her to educate people on the trauma of racism through her writing. Pecola feels isolated from the white people around her because she wants to fit in with society and they do not accept her, this is shown through her relationship with Maureen Peal. Maureen Peal is a white girl who is able to use and manipulate Pecola because of her race, she knew that Pecola would be in search of her approval in a bid to be accepted by society, Morrison uses this as a way of showing what happened during the period of segregation in America. This false hope that Maureen gave to Pecola made her desire to change herself stronger, therefore making her self-conflict worse; Pecola is tied between wanting the bluest eyes to be perceived as beautiful and staying loyal to her roots. Blue eyes symbolise beauty within society, Maureen represents everything that Pecola wants to be and by Maureen being nasty to her is Morrisons way of showing that Pecola has set unattainable goals for herself – Morrison is trying to encourage other to accept themselves via her writing. Pecola knows that she will never truly be accepted by society until she has these blue eyes which is why she desires them so deeply: “As Gurleen Grewal also argues, merely perceived ‘ugliness’ to beautiful blackness ‘is not enough’ for such counter-rhetoric does not touch the heart of the matter: the race based class structure upheld by dominant norms and stereotypes.” (Sugiharti, 2018). It is clear to see that norms and stereotypes have significant impacts on characters in both novels; neither of them seem to fit into the mould society has deemed to be correct. Suggesting that, despite Pecola’s belief that if she was white she would be beautiful, it will still not solve the problem of her low self-esteem, this is because she has been shunned by so many that this type of trauma has caused long term psychological damage for her.

In both novels, one is able to see that although trauma is experienced in different ways it still ultimately has the same negative psychological impacts on the victims. Both characters in the novels experience their own kind of trauma caused by hate which once again links back to Socrates statement: ‘From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate’ and this leads to both of them feeling isolated and alone.

Connection between Crime and Power in Subcontinent: Analysis of Moth Smoke and The God of Small Things

Abstract

Misuse of power and authority is a very dangerous dilemma of mankind. The class system is the main reason behind this uneven distribution of power among upper and lower class. As Karl Marx divides it into two classes, first one is upper class which is called the Bourgeoisie and second class Is The proletariat. This paper is an attempt to explore the connection between crime and power in the subcontinent. This paper explores debut novels of Mohsin Hamid and Arundhati Roy to discuss in detail about this issue by having two perspectives. In Moth Smoke (2000) written by Mohsin Hamid, the perspective of Pakistani people will be seen. On the other hand, in The God of Small Things (1997) written by Arundhati Roy will present the Indian view of this class system and power misuse. The paper analyzes these two novels through the lens of Marxist theory. According to Karl Marx, the biggest crime is to exploit the rights of the working class or lower class. In this paper, the exploitation of lower class or poor people will be discussed in detail. The paper addresses the Marxist criminological perspective where the judicial system also supports the upper class and works against the lower class. The law also favors the powerful and is bias towards them and works against the powerless. In both novels lower-class people are used as scapegoats and they are sacrificed for elite class. This Marxist criminology and power distinction disturb the balance of country and economy. The main purpose of this paper is to put forward the oppression and exploitation happening in both India and Pakistan. Both of these novels have portrayed the human complexities and dilemmas and the plight of lower-class people and these aspects will be analyzed under the light of the Marxist theory, particularly Marxist criminology.

Introduction

Arundhati Roy is a critically acclaimed Indian writer who received immense popularity and reputation in the field of English Postcolonial Literature. Her debut novel The God of Small Things was well-received among readers as well as critics. She won the Booker prize for her novel and bagged huge acclaim all over the world for presenting the harsh realities and complexities of Indian society. In The God of Small Things, Roy explores the relationship between the owners of factory and their employees. Chacko who is the boss of the factory uses his power against his employee Velutha when he finds out that Velutha is against the capitalist system and wants to revolt against them.

Mohsin Hamid is a Pakistani writer who also bagged immense popularity for his depiction of the socio-political situation of society in Pakistan. His other works such as The Reluctant Fundamentalist and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia also deal with the issues of class system, exploitation and globalization. Both these writers sketched their characters and constructed their plot according to the Marxist theory. In Moth Smoke, Hamid explores the equation between Aurangzeb who is called as Ozi and Darashikoh who I called as Daru. Both belong to different social class and Ozi uses his power and falsely accuses Daru of a crime.

The theory which is used to analyze these two texts is “Marxist theory’ given by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The concept of Social Stratification and class system is proved to be a disastrous monster in society. The powerful become more powerful day by day and starts exploiting the poor more and more. This uneven distribution of power and wealth leads towards crime, particularly towards Marxist Criminology. “Capitalist societies are ‘dog eat dog societies in which each individual company and each individual is encouraged to look out for their own interests before the interests of others, before the interests of the community, and before the protection of the environment. If we look at the Capitalist system, what we find is that not only does it recommend that we engage in the self-interested pursuit of profit is good, we learn that it is acceptable to harm others and the environment in the process” (Gordon)

The law is said to be unbiased and equal for everyone but the sad reality of society is that laws are made by powerful people according to their own convictions. These laws are molded according to the needs and benefits of the powerful people and very often the scapegoat is the person from lower class. In the two novels which are under observation in this paper lower class people are sacrificed to save the honor and dignity of the upper class. The proletariat are crushed under the heavy feet of social stratification. According to Karl Thompson

“Marxist criminologists see power being held by the Bourgeoisie and laws are a reflection of Bourgeois ideology. The legal system (lawyers, judges and the courts) and the police all serve the interests of the Bourgeoisie. These institutions are used to control the masses, prevent revolution and keep people in a state of false consciousness.”

Research Methodology

The Research methodology used in this paper is a qualitative method because in literature the only research methodology or framework is interpretation. Hence, both of the novel The God of Small Things and Moth Smoke will be analyzed and interpreted with the help of Marxist theory and all the Marxist elements present in the novels will be interpreted. The main purpose of this research is to bring out manipulation and misuse of power by thoroughly studying both the novels

Research Gap

The comparative study of one Pakistani and one Indian novel will help to bring forward the condition of society and law as well as power politics in the sub-continent. All the main elements and characters of the novels will be analyzed through the lens of Marxist criminology with the help of descriptive qualitative research method.

Research Questions

  1. How the Bourgeoisie exploit the rights and dignity of the proletariat in Moth Smoke and The God of Small Things?
  2. How Law favors and works for the Bourgeoisie against the proletariat in Moth Smoke and The God of Small Things?
  3. How does capitalism lead to crime?

Research Objectives

  1. To explore how the upper class exploits the rights of lower class and crush their dignity.
  2. To examine how law favors the powerful against the powerless.
  3. To understand how Capitalism is the main cause of increase in crimes.

Literature Review

Both of the novels which are under discussion in this paper are the area of interest for many researchers from past few years because of the diversity of topics and socio-political elements present in these novels. Starting from Moth Smoke then Munazza Yaqoob (2010) gave a whole different perspective to look at Moth Smoke in her research paper Human Perversion and Environmental Space: An Ecocritical Study of Mohsin Hamid’s Moth Smoke where she pointed out the ecocritical elements present in the novel. She explains that there is a connection between nature and human beings. If nature is disturbed and polluted then it also disturbs and pollutes human nature. Just like in Moth Smoke the environment of Lahore is shown as polluted which polluted the hearts of the characters as well.

Then there is an article Spiral of Fear and Silence in Mohsin Hamid’s Moth Smoke and The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Salma Khatoon and Nosheen Fatima (2019) in which the authors explain the effects of constant exploitation, insult and manipulation. The lower class is suppressed by the upper class and because there is no support from law and society that’s why the lower class is forced to stay silent against this oppression which leads to a burst of anger and aggression like a volcano. Just like how Daru transforms into a totally different person after he becomes poor. He tries every possible way to react to oppression by selling drugs and even committing murder.

Now looking at the articles written on The God of Small Things then there is an article GENDER DISCRIMINATION IN THE NOVEL GOD OF SMALL THINGS written by Dr Sujatha (2018) explains the feminist perspective of the novel. The female characters are shown more brilliant and active than the male characters but the male ego of Ipe family never allows the male members of the family to appreciate the hard work and intelligence of Mammachi and Ammu. Similarly, Chacko is allowed to choose a girl for himself but when Ammu falls in love with a boy, she is insulted and even disowned by the family. The researcher throws light at the gender discrimination and “subaltern” perspective of the novel.

Another article The Emotional Abusing and being Abused in Roy’s The God of Small Things written by B. Winmayil explores different types of abuses mentioned in the novel. He divides the bused into three categories the females, the child and the lower class. The female characters of the novel are throughout abused by society. Ammu is molested by the corrupt police officer and also, she is humiliated by her own family mainly Chacko and baby Kochoma. Child abuse is also discussed in the form of rape of Estha when he is raped by a shopkeeper outside a cinema hall which leads him towards a traumatic childhood as well as complex adulthood. The effect of this abuse is everlasting that is why he couldn’t lead a normal life after this incident. Then the third category is of lower class people in which Velutha a Pravan which is considered as the lowest rank of the caste is abused and humiliated and eventually beaten to death because of his relation with Ammu and his rebel against the powerful class the bourgeoisie. The researcher discusses these three types of physical and mental abuse in detail.

Textual Analysis

The British left the system of oppression and power politics post colonialism in the subcontinent. The concept of “us” and “other” is changed from the colonized and the colonizers into the rich and the poor. The poor who were colonized by foreign people are now colonized by their own rich people due to power politics going on in the society. As Boehmer explains “The colonial relationship, mediated through discourse, is not then a simple opposition between the colonizer and the colonized but a complex network of discursive, power, relationships. (Boehmer p.23). The same power relationship is much evident in Mohsin Hamid’s Moth Smoke by showing the contrast between the lifestyle of Aurangzeb (Ozi) and Darashikoh (Daru). Ozi is a wealthy person who owns an expensive jeep also has a well-paid job. He lives a luxurious life in a big house with his beautiful wife. He is a powerful respectable person in society who flaunts his wealth and power with pride. As Ozi once says in the novel “I am wealthy, well connected, and successful. My father’s an important person. In all likelihood, I’ll be an important person. Lahore is a tough place if you are not an important person.” (184). He puts the blame of the murder committed by him on Daru shows that how powerful people use their power and exploit and manipulate the law as the law bodies also support the powerful only. According to Karl Thompson “Capitalism is Criminogenic which means that the Capitalist system encourages criminal behavior. The Law is made by the Capitalist elite and tends to work in their interests. All classes, not just the working classes commit crime, and the crimes of the Capitalist class are more costly than street crime.” (Thompson)

This clash of classes and unequal distribution of power leads towards Marxist criminology where the poor starts working for their own interest as Karl Thompson writes “Capitalism is Criminogenic because it encourages us to want things we don’t need and can’t afford”. In Moth Smoke, Daru also starts illegal activities and drug smuggling in order to earn money and match the standards of living of the Bourgeoisie class. He wants air conditioner, generator and car-like Ozi by hook or crook. As William Chambliss remarks“Drug dealers see themselves as innovative entrepreneurs. So internalized is the desire to be successful that breaking the law is seen as a minor risk.”

The same manipulation of laws and power politics are present in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things in the form of relationship between a boss and an employee where Chacko who is the head of the family as well as the pickle factory manipulates the rights of the workers working in the factory as Marxism was the main movement going on at that time as Arundhati Roy explains

Marxism was a simple substitute for Christianity. Replace God with Marx, and Satan with the Bourgeoisie. Heaven with a classless society, the Church with Party, and the form and purpose of the journey remained similar. Communism crept into Kerala insidiously. As a reformist movement that never overtly questioned the traditional values of a caste-ridden, extremely traditional community. The Marxists worked from within the communal divides, never challenging them, never appearing not to (Roy p.64).

Velutha who is a hard-working young worker in the factory starts to feel this unfair social stratification and tries to rebel against this power politics becomes the victim of the power game. Velutha falls in love with Chacko’s sister Ammu and when Chacko finds out about their relationship as well as Velutha’s involvement in the communist party protest, he frames Velutha in a murder case. Velutha is falsely accused of committing the murder of Sophie Mol and is sent to jail. In jail the law and law bodies like police also work for Chacko and beat Velutha till death. It is not necessarily that Marxism contributes nothing to India, but that Marxism is not totally accepted by people. Even though Velutha transgresses into the realm of Marxism and searches for fraternity, he is destined to be tricked by others ‘hypercritical conversion to Marxism. (Pei p.12)

Characterization

The paper is divided into five chapters. The very first chapter is a brief introduction of both novelists and their novels as well as the introduction of the theory given by Karl Marx. The second chapter is based on research methods and questions along with the main purpose or aim of this study. The third chapter is based upon the literature review of other scholars in this domain. The fourth chapter is a textual analysis or data analysis of novels in light of Marxist theory. The fourth chapter is the conclusion of this discussion to sum up the whole idea.

Conclusion

There is only one rule which is governing all the systems all over the world only the powerful has the access to all the luxuries by exploiting the rights of poor people. the dilemma of our society is that the Law bodies also favors the powerful and works against powerless people. By the comparative study of both the novels Moth Smoke and The God of Small Things, it is much evidence that a crime is committed by the powerful but its punishment is given to an innocent poor powerless person which shows the dark and horror face of the society.

Work Cited

  1. Hamid, Mohsin. Moth Smoke. Penguin Books, 2013.
  2. Roy, Anuradha. The God of Small Things. 1997.
  3. Thompson, Karl. The Marxist Perspective on Crime. 2016.
  4. Pei, Ting. “The Minor-Narrative of Transgression in The God of Small Things”. Contemporary Literary Review India, Vol. 4, no. 4, Nov. 2017, p 12

What Does to Kill a Mockingbird Mean: Critical Essay

The literary piece Kill the Mocking Bird’ by Harper Lee has shown a Socio-historical approach. According to J. Antonio To Kill a Mocking Bird describes the resistance that had happened in the united states. Racism in the united states has been a major issue since the colonial era and the slave era. The legal sanction of recessive had imposed a heavy burden on Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latin Americans. European Americans were given legal success in the use of literacy, immigration, voting rights, citizenship, land acquisition, and criminal proceedings in the period periods from the 17th century to the 1960s. Many non-English European immigrant groups, particularly American Jews, Irish Americans, and Italian Americans, as well as other non-English American immigrants from elsewhere, have experienced xenophobic exclusion and other racism in American society. As we all know racism is the prejudices or discrimination against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group. Up until now, racism was still visible for Americans, mostly black Americans were treated differently from white American showing the prejudices or biased judgment of people in society.

The story was written in 1960but it is set in the mid-1930s in Maycomb, Alabama. The story began with the introduction of the character of Scout, Jem, and Dill who wants Boo Radley out of his house because he hasn’t seen him in May, since he was a teenager. Atticus the lawyer father of Scout and Jem, was asked to be the lawyer and defend Tom Robinson. A black man whose wrongly accused of raping a white woman. As said many residents in Maycomb are racist. As Americans were racist they do not believe in the statement of black men in that era. we can see that Atticus did his best to defend Tom Robinson even though there is little chance to win the case, also people in Maycomb criticize him for defending Tom Robinson. Racism affected prejudice, despite tom Bradley’s clear conscience he was still convicted that is because the judge in the court during that time was a white american. Scout and Jem assume that people are good because they have never seen them do evil deeds. but because of the conviction of Tom Robinson, Scout was able to retain his faith in human nature contrary to Jem whose faith in justice and humanity were badly damaged. On the other hand, despite knowing and experiencing evil he still understood evil without losing his faith in man’s capacity for good. According to Atticus’ lesson to his children, ‘they can only understand other people by walking in their shoes which I have viewed to treat others with sympathy and try to understand from a different perspective. Because of the lesson from Atticus, Scout, and Jem were able to learn valuable life lessons from their father about tolerance, empathy, and understanding. Atticus gives Jem and Scout air rifles, he makes it clear that it would be a sin to harm a mockingbird. It is a philosophy in the story that ‘It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’ Mockingbirds are only singing from their heart’ still rangers shoot them for fun and cannot be eaten by humans. Therefore mockingbirds are innocent of all happenings just like the character of the story Boo Radley and Tom Robinson to be killed nor experience stereotypes and prejudice from other people. They were both innocent

They were shot by the rangers for fun. Mockingbirds didn’t do anything to the rangers and are innocent of all happenings. Just like in the novel, every character is innocent “caged for crimes they never committed, and died without being protected and given justice by the law.

Critical Analysis on The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Criticism Of the Novel

Whereas A Farewell to Arms describes Hemingway hero’s sense of alienation with his illusion of becoming the saviour of mankind and his acute consciousness of death, the central concern of The Sun Also Rises is the hero’s subsequent struggle to get over the depression of his alienation and learn to live in a world that “kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially”[7 ].

Many critics have regarded the novel as a static picture of the modern “wasteland”. Critics like R.W. Stallman; Philip Young etc., consider Jake as a representative of the sterile land, the wasteland; he is viewed as a representative of the “lost generation”, a sun gone down, never hoping to rise again. While, on the one hand, Shakespeare’s heroes and heroines are persons of consequences on whom depends the destruction or reconstruction of order in the whole society. Hemingway’s characters, on the other hand, are modern isolates who destroy or restore their own houses that are their personalities. As we see them at the end of the novel, both Brett and Jake seem to have set their house in order. The climax of the development of both these two characters comes in their self-denial: As Jake denies himself the desire to possess Brett, so does Brett let go of Romero whom she so much wanted to have.

In this way, after making a close scrutiny of the novel, The Sun Also Rises, we can safely and rightly conclude that not that the heroes of Hemingway’s novels are basically unsocial or anti-society, rather they have seen through the realities of social life around them. It is their discovery of their hollowness and vicariousness that has made them disengage their fidelity from the group. The reality of this world is that faith in religion and God is usually disappointing; the prevailing ethics and social conventions are a sham and virtue and morality are mere cloaks for unashamed defiance of all basic principles of honesty, loyalty and righteousness. Hemingway knew that the entire might of the social machinery comes into action against the innocent joys and aspiration of an individual’s sentiments, which taken singly, every individual member of the social mass, holds dear to his heart. The most heinous crimes are committed in the name of religion and God and justice and pateridtism. Countries with ‘Thou shalt not kill’ as their basic religious commandments gave the desolation and man-slaughter of the First World War. Glory here lies in successfully perpetrating inglorious deeds on weaker people. Patriotism and sacrifice do not mean the laying down of one’s life at the alter of one’s motherland or of any noble cause. They simply mean paying tribute to the mean, self-seeking and ambitious schemes of mischievous and corrupt politicians. With such injustice, cruelty and moral chaos prevailing and also thriving in the world, it is too heavy a weight on one’s faith to believe that the world is ruled by a God who is just, merciful and omnipotent. Prayers to him are of no avail and people wearing the sacred. Hearts of Jesus and Saint Anthony are shot. The words sacred and holy sounds hallow and embarrass one. Even if one were to have the ingenuity to steal a little individual happiness from this world and to retire with a lone corner to remain with it forever, one’s plans are still beyond to be smashed by the hostile forces of fate or nature. We can wind up the discussion by saying that Hemingway’s depiction of their predicament is truly representative of the predicament of the existence of all the members of human society taken individually since society is the perfect representation of the real scene prevailing in the whole world. In this connection, the following criterion is fully applicable to Hemingway: “A novel is not life but an image of life, an author’s selective interpretation concretely embodied. Every selection from the whole of actuality is an interpretation of the whole of actuality.”[11]

Essay on Symbolism of Birds in ‘The Awakening’

The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a novel written in late 1890s, explains about Edna Pontellier as she sheds the parts of herself that are dictated by societal expectations and uncovers her true self and defines freedom in sexual passion and artistic expression but she also finds that refusing to conform to accepted women’s roles has a downside at Madame Lebrun cottages on the summer resort island of Grand Isle wealthy businessman Leonce Pontellier struggles to find a peaceful place to read the newspaper he ends up in a rocking chair on his cottage porch smoking as his two children play shortly after his wife Edna arrives at the cottage accompanied by Robert LeBron Madame Lebrun’s son after a time Mr. Pontellier prepares to go out for the evening leaving Robert and Edna at the cottage chatting like good friends later after Edna is asleep her husband returns what if their sons tosses restlessly in his bed deciding the boy has a Beaver Mr. Pontellier becomes upset and applies Edna is a neglectful mother after Mr. Pontellier goes to bed Edna sits up alone and wide awake upset by the way he treated her the next day Mr. Pontellier leaves for New Orleans to attend to his business while he’s away he sends Edna a box of treats which she shares with Roberts and her friend Madame Ratingolle who’s pregnant.

In Mr. Pontellier absence Robert and Edna continued to spend time together Madam retinal sensing Edna and Robert are quite close warns Robert to leave Edna alone one summer evening a party is going on at the main House of Madame Lebrun’s cottages Robert convinces mademoiselle rise an accomplished pianist to play apiece Edna experiences an intense emotional reaction in the music after the party breaks up Edna and Robert walk with the group down to the beach edit decides to attempt to swim she’s been trying to learn to swim all summer without success this time she stays afloat euphoric she swims out way too far and as a moment of panic when she sees how far she is from shore but she makes it back safely under the light of the moon a traditional and key symbol of femininity because of its connection to the see the tides and the menstrual cycle and it carries those connotations in this novel the narrator refers to a Mystic moon and Robert tells Edna Pontellier the moon must be shining or the spirit that haunts the Gulf will not appear the moon is also associated with nighttime and its light shines on many of edna’s most intensely emotional moments all throughout the book on Sunday a group from Grand Isle goes by boat to a nearby island for church service Robert and Edna go but Edna becomes ill during the mass so Robert takes Edna to Madame Antoine’s home where Adnan apps most of the day Edna and Robert stay late at Madame Antoine’s before going back to Grand Isle together just a few days after this Robert decides to leave for Mexico to pursue some opportunities there leaving Edna noticeably sad the summer winds down and soon it’s time for the pontil yeas to go back to New Orleans after they’ve settled in Edna begins to break with her normal routine she stops paying social visits and receiving callers and she refuses to correct the household staff when they underperform instead she pursues her painting her husband is concerned both about Edna and how her behavior might look to others in their social circle one night he expresses dismay at her lack of interest in running the household and storms out to get dinner at the club and it becomes angry smashing a vase trying to crush her wedding ring Edna calls on her independent woman friend mademoiselle rise who reveals Roberts sent her a letter asking about Edna and they feel slighted that Robert didn’t send her letter to but she’s eager for news of him Edna tells Madame was orise she is becoming an artist and the pianist tells her an artist must be courageous Mr Pontellier asks a doctor what to do about Edna’s strange behavior he advises him to let Edna do as she pleases Mr Pontellier invites the doctor to dinner to observe Edna and his father the Colonel is visiting and the talk over dinner is lively something Edna says makes doctor Mandalay think she might be having an affair which hasn’t happened yet but he discreetly keeps his suspicion to himself because he doesn’t think it’s anyone’s business sometime later Edna finds herself alone at home for an extended.

Her husband is away on business and the children are staying with their grandmother she enjoys her time alone and goes to the races several times there she meets al say aerobot as their relationship develops as it becomes sexually charged individuality is a theme strongly represented here and Nippon soliai is on a journey toward establishing her own identity Edna is not happy to just devote herself to marriage and family she desires to become better at her art and a willingness to be alone much of the time but she is unwilling to give up on the possibility of true love she shares a sexual attraction with al sayeh robot but she doesn’t want to be just another in his long string of conquests she’s in love with Roberts and he was her but she wants to move the relationship into the realm of the physical and he doesn’t in each case edna’s interactions highlight her uniqueness the tragedy is she can never fully express her developing individuality because of the social conventions that bind both her and Robert being true to herself results in a solitude she cannot live with Meanwhile Edna decides to move out of her husband’s home to a smaller one the pigeon house she can afford on her own partly with money she earns by selling her artwork as she sets this plan in motion she learns Robert is soon to return from Mexico her pleasurable anticipation finds an outlet in a sexual encounter with mr x Edna feels conflicted about this because she loves Robert but she enjoys expressing her sexual feelings on her 29th birthday Edna hosted dinner party meant to say goodbye to her husband’s large house afterward she and al say walk together to her smaller one and again have sex some days later Edna runs into Robert who’s returned from Mexico Robert is getting uncomfortable about getting too close to her and their conversation is awkward for the next few days he seems to avoid her when she runs into him again in a local garden he agrees to accompany her home and they both admit that they love one another just as things get serious however Edna receives a message that Madam wrapped in yo is in Labour and needs Edna by her side since Edna previously promised to be there for her friends Labour and delivery she feels obliged to go she tells Robert to stay at her house until she gets back it’s clear she means they will spend the night together when Edna returns record is gone he’s left a note saying goodbye because I love you Edna stays up all night the next day she returns to Grand Isle where she goes to the sea we doubt begins to swim until she’s finally too far out to make it back to shore the ocean is one of the book’s most important symbols like the moon whose tides it controls the sea is a powerful image in the awakening the seas sensuality represents Edna pontellier Hayes awakening to her independent and sexual self the touch of the Seas sensuous and folding the body in its soft close embrace its voice calls to Edna with an unceasing whispering that speaks to the soul to see also represents freedom in the see Anna learns to swim independently an important milestone in her move toward liberation but she also learns of the dangers posed by swimming too far out the downside of freedom is risk a spiritual metaphor the sea represents birth and reapers the emergence of life from the primordial ocean on all these levels the sea has a powerful draw for Edna she looks out at it often here ultimately ends her life in it the driving theme of women and society makes the novel resonant to this day in New Orleans society in the late 1800s women had limited opportunities to become anything other than wives and mothers social structure was largely built on men and women performing well defined duties the upper class in particular had myriad strict conventions men were to go out and achieve success and provide for their families women were to have children run the household and be devoted wives and mothers consider how Edna pontellier is caught between two extremes of womanhood represented by Madame rats in your mademoiselle rise Madam wraps in Newell is the ideal wife and mother doing everything expected of her and finding great contentment in it mademoiselle rise is the opposite she’s not a wife or a mother but an artist she’s respected as a talented musician but she pays a price for rejecting society’s norms society largely rejects her she lives in isolation Edna is a wife and mother but she finds little fulfillment in these roles and relationships she wants to grow as an artist but she does not want to give up on romance she wants the independence to make her own decisions but she also wants to be with Robert ultimately she finds society has no place for a woman like her the symbol of birds in the awakening symbolized women caged and broken by the limitations society has placed on them the opening image of the novel is of two caged birds compare and amakin group later in the novel mademoiselle rise tells Edna pontellier that she will need strong wings to fly if she’s committed to defying traditional women’s roles in addition and their moves from her grand home to a smaller pigeon house the smaller house gives her a kind of freedom but it represents the way her unconventional choices remove freedom binding her into a smaller and smaller space the novel’s final image also includes a bird the it has a broken wing and it circles above is Edna gives up her own life if mademoiselle rises opinion is true edna’s wings were not strong enough to withstand society’s pressures the awakening is structured around a series of awakenings as Edna pontellier slowly discovers her true feelings and desires as a character Edna doesn’t change inwardly instead she gradually aligns her outer self with her inner self for example she doesn’t become dissatisfied with her marriage and motherhood she awakens bit by bit to the realization she is already dissatisfied as she strips away the social conventions that do not serve her true self she is increasingly emboldened to act on her own wishes edna’s sexual awakening is an important part of herself discovery she has the stirrings of physical attraction to Robert before he leaves for Mexico when she meets al say arrow bath she can experience sexual passion in way she hasn’t in her marriage this awakening leads her to initiate a more physical relationship with Roberts though he’s ultimately unwilling the act of waking itself is an important symbol directly related to this theme the awakening spends an unusual amount of time on Edna pontellier’s sleeping habits but not without reason these details are important to developing the titular theme of spiritual awakening in many cases a period of sleep followed by waking leads to an instance of mental or emotional awakening for example when edna’s husband comes in late and wakes her she cannot go back to sleep it is overcome with a sense of indescribable oppression as she considers how her husband relates to her the physical awakening is a precursor to the realization she’s unhappy with her marriage and her role as a wife and mother.

To Kill a Mockingbird’ Book Report Essay

Background Information:

Historical:

To Kill a Mockingbird was published on the 11th of July 1960.

The book has been published for 59 years yet schools still use it as a part of their curriculum and book study as it is a book we could learn from and also understand as if we were part of the book.

Cultural:

To Kill a Mockingbird is set in Alabama, United States.

Harper Lee was born in Alabama, United States, and due to that she has a wide range of understanding about the country, culture, and the way of speech.

Biographical:

Harper Lee was born on the 8th of April 1926 in Alabama, United States.

Harper Lee died on the 19th of February 2016.

She studied at Oxford University in the United States.

To Kill a Mockingbird, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and is ranked by the Guinness Book of World Records as the top-selling novel of all time.

Famous books that were written by Harper Lee included To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman.

Main Plot:

The main plot in To Kill A Mockingbird is about Scout’s coming of age as she grows up in Alabama, United States, a racially segregated state. The major event which leads to the climax of the story is the trial of Tom Robinson, a negro man, for the attempted rape of Mayella Ewell. Although Tom is clearly innocent of the charges, he is found guilty because people in the South were not ready to take the word of a black person over that of a white person no matter the circumstances. Scout’s father, Atticus, who is the moral icon of the story, defends Tom to the fullest of his abilities despite knowing the futility of his effort. The trial itself may be considered the climax of the story, but the climax could be said that it is the attack on Jem and Scout as it is the final point of growth for Scout and resolves the subplot concerning Boo Radley.

Discussion Questions:

What are some of the cultural features, for example, attitudes, values, and customary aspects of the text? How do they impact events, and characters setting?

Came with a bag to hand to the child and went to get to his dad to thank him. He had paid him (apples) from the farm for the paperwork he had done for the farmer.

What part of the text most intrigued you and why? Find the page number and explain why you enjoyed this part to your group. Be prepared for questions.

When Atticus is teaching his children adult values and aspects of the way of life in an intelligent way. Atticus treats his children maturely and treats them as if they were adults and have reason to love freedom, for example, the scout would have been in trouble. Cunningham was coming over for lunch.

How Boo Radley was written with how the reader knew how he thought and his actions while the children thought differently about Radley until the events unfolded and opened their minds to see a whole new perspective on the character.

How does the author’s style affect the reader? What are some of the language choices the author makes to convey ideas?

The author had written the story with an accent shown; an example can be “Who did’em reckon?”. The way the character talked and portrayed through the eyes of a child showed their own ideas and words. How the author portrayed the story and information about the characters and the way of life can relate to how the way of life that it was indeed like in the 18th and 19th centuries with the negro African-Americans being slaves.

In what ways is the reader presented with a new perspective? (This question can be discussed with your group, but also with students who have read a different one of the 2 novels).

Personally, I have not been to or seen Alabama and the story of its past has opened me to a whole new perspective of the past and how depression affected the people and the old times, including the hostile environment. It also shows how the African-Americans were treated in the 18th and 19th centuries showing their slavery and their lack of rights in the community.

What are some hidden meanings and symbols located in To Kill a Mockingbird?

The mockingbird symbolizes that it only provides and does not take anything from us, throughout the book there are many characters that can be considered as mockingbirds, these being; Atticus, “Boo” Radley, Jem. The oak tree symbolizes compassion, communication, and friendship, the gits had been a watch, pennies, chewing gum, and a grey string. Do not judge the book by its cover, you do not understand a person until you have got to know them well, an example could be Boo Radley and how he was judged before getting to know him better as a person.

Burris Ewell in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’: Critical Essay

The Pulitzer Prize novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, tells the story of a young girl named Scout Finch and her brother Jem. It takes place in the fictional town of Maycomb Alabama in the late 1930s. They all, including their visiting friend Dill, get intrigued by getting a glimpse of their mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. They walk past his house daily and got different treats from him, but never saw what he looked like. Their father, who is an attorney named Atticus, defends a black man named Tom Robinson who was accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. Meanwhile, Aunt Alexandra arrives to teach Scout some traits of a good woman. When the trial comes the kids go inside to watch. It becomes obvious that Mayella Ewell is Lying, but the court still convicts Tom despite the evidence not pointing to him. Most whites in the town end up unhappy that Atticus accuses Bob Ewell, the father of Mayella, of lying. After the trial, Tom gets shot dead 17 times in an attempt of escaping prison. Jem and Scout notice that Atticus is being threatened by Bob and they get attacked, but their mysterious neighbor comes to save them accidentally killing Bob in the act. Jem breaks her arm and they both suffer other minor injuries. As they go home scout meets Boo Radley for the and stands where the window is where he looked out them every day. She then thinks about all of this from Boo’s perspective and goes home to her father who reads to her goodnight. Harper Lee gives each character distinct traits that make them unique. Jem is shown to become empathetic and he is curious, which are traits that mirror my own. Burris Ewell is a character who, unlike me, has bad hygiene, but can be understood because that was the way he was taught. In the book to kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee gave distinct traits to characters that I was able to identify with.

Harper Lee’s Writing characterizes Jem as someone who starts as a kid and grows into a young man and develops traits throughout the book such as empathy. At the beginning of the book, Jem wants to strike a match under a turtle, but according to Dill, “striking a match under a turtle was hateful”. Jem questions how he knew the turtle could not feel, but Dill says, “Were you ever a turtle”. Dill’s empathy showed Jem that you should put yourself into other shoes and not just think of someone from the outside. As Jem continues to grow up, he begins to use more empathy. Soon after the turtle incident, Jem’s sister Scout got into a fight with Walter Cunningham Jr, a poor boy, and Jem breaks up the fight and invites Walter to come to eat dinner with me them. Most kids avoid Walter but Jem learned from Dill used empathy and understands his place in life and tries to make him happy. At the beginning of chapter 25, Scout finds a roly-poly and begins to poke and irritate it. She felt sleepy and tried to smash it when Jem comes and refuse to smash the bug. She asked, “Why couldn’t I mash him” and seemed confused, but Jem says, “Because they don’t bother you”. Jem uses empathy and compassion by refusing to let Scout smash roly-poly. As Jem grows up he gets more of an understanding that those will disadvantaged should not be mistreated.

I see myself as Jem because he is one who grew into empathy. When I was around the age of nine I was not that empathetic in my actions. I would smash every bug I see, and I would not put myself in other people’s shoes and think about their situation. As I grew up similar to Jem I gained an understanding of how I could understand situations from other people’s point of view. The day I noticed a change in my empathy was when I caught a lizard. I was so excited, so I put it in a cage. The next morning before I went to school I was about to release and when I picked it up the tail fell off! I felt so guilty and though I killed the innocent lizard, soon I found out that this was a natural defense for lizards and they will just grow back another one. This was the first time I could remember I had true empathy for something. Similar to Jem I learned from this and used empathy more often in my life. I continued to use empathy on my family trip to Canada. When I visited my relatives in Canada, we walk around downtown Toronto. As we strolled along the sidewalk I saw a homeless man sitting on the side of the street. I put myself in his shoes and imagined all the trouble he was going through. As I went home and entered my bed I was deeply saddened by the way some people are living in this world. I wanted to help so badly, so I went to the same spot the next day and gave him a donation. This made me feel good, but I was still thinking of all the others in this world living in those conditions. Just like Jem, I used empathy toward others and imagined what their life was like.

Harper Lee’s writing characterizes Burris Ewell, Son of Bob Ewell, as someone who has a paucity of hygiene. When Burris is introduced in Chapter 3, he comes to school because the law requires it and his teacher advocates him to, “bathe yourself before you come back tomorrow”. Burris lacks basic details of hygiene and was described with, “rusty” hands and his, “fingernails were black deep into the quick”. Burris rudely being insulted says back to Miss Caroline, “You ain’t sendin’’ me home, missus”. Burris’ family has been a “disgrace of Maycomb for three generations”. His family is poor, his mother is dead, and his father is abusive. Though Burris might not be the most well-rounded person, he can be understood because his Dad is abusive, and he has probably not taught him the finer details of hygiene. He simply doesn’t know how to bathe himself which is why he is asked by many people. Burris’ behavior and cleanliness are a reflection of how he was raised and nurtured by his Dad. Burris lacks minor opportunities that make a big impact on his character and personality.

I see myself contrasting with Burris because Burris lacks a good sense of hygiene. I am not very particular about my hygiene, but I do have a good sense of it i.e., washing my hands. Some of the more simple aspects of hygiene I have, and Burris lacks. I can access a clean shower, I have clean clothes, and I have access to a doctor that keeps the “cooties” out. Burris lacks good hygiene because of his lack of opportunity, and I have good hygiene because I have more opportunities. Though Burris and I have differences in our traits, he teaches me that we are different because of how we were raised. While Burris was raised by an abusive father, I am raised by kind and loving parents. He wasn’t taught the minor aspect of good sanitation, so he therefore lacks it. Burris makes me look at some unnoticed things I don’t really understand how lucky I am to have. He also makes me look at something I have been taught that don’t take for granted. Burris Ewell and I are different in our hygienic manner in the sense that we are given different opportunities.