Category: Patriotism

Patriotism

The problem of patriotism should be addressed from different and sometimes contradictory perspectives. First of all, it should be taken as a historical category that evolved through a certain period. Secondly, we should handle it as a social phenomenon exemplified by different social groups, movements, and nations in different ways. And, last but not the least, we should recognize that patriotism is an ideological and symbolical phenomenon having to do with human feelings and mindset orientations.

This means that it is important to address the realization of patriotism themes in literature and poetry. The first two tasks are realized in this essay in a general way and the analysis of patriotism themes in literature and poetry is made drawing on the literary heritage of Chilean writer and poet Pablo Neruda. The quotations from his works are used throughout this text.

We may start by saying that there exists no single patriotism but rather a patriotism that significantly differs from each other. The notion of patriotism as we understand it now was something unknown in feudal and aristocratic times when the philosophical category of patriotism was absent and we could only speak only about loyalty to family, monarch, aristocratic circle, honor duties, and social group. The feeling of patriotism as it occurs in Neruda’s poetry is not definite and is combined with fear for the future and the desire of love comfort: “Hide me in your arms//just for this night,//while the rain breaks//against sea and earth//its innumerable mouth’ (Neruda, 2004, 189).

As some researchers of nationalism as Anderson claim, the formation of national states was the main driving force of creating patriotism as ideology (Anderson, 2006). This process was connected with breaking feudal barriers, the political emancipation of people, and the dynamic development of capitalism.

French Revolution and American War for Independence were among the most significant driving forces of forming patriotism sentiments among people. The humankind and Western world in particular hence entered into the era of capitalist patriotism which was centered on defending the nation against external enemies and its a way of development. This nationalism was the main factor in bridging ideological gaps between different social groups and uniting them around the idea of national development. As Urrutia, the Neruda’s wife and the author of memoirs about their joint life observed, one of the driving forces of her husband’s patriotism were his ‘revolutionary sentiments and the rereal-lifeor people which often was stronger than the love for himself.(Urrutia, 2004, 163). As Urrutia notes Neruda was very emotional and impressive and it was one of the main reasons for his early death because of the failure of the socialist project in Chili.

However, this form of patriotism was often premised on chauvinism and racial preeminence against other nations and formed an ideology of civilization difference. It was one of the main reasons for left thinkers such as Lenin to announce patriotism as a repressive and reactionary ideology used by ruling elites to legitimize their power and erase social differences between rich and poor.

Thus, the era of social revolutions in Russian and their attempts in Europe was characterized by a critique of patriotism as it was defined in the liberal tradition. The notion of patriotism is reformulated to include the struggles of suppressed peoples against colonial rule. The notion of patriotism as it was formed by great third world liberators as Gandhi focuses on the unjust world order and the need for the autonomous development of former colonial nations. Patriotism means defending own nation against foreign aggression and imperial intruders. Neruda advocates this point of view when he admits that, ‘I am the tiger//I lie in wait for you among leaves//broad as ingots//of wet mineral (Neruda, 2004, 87). He loves nature and this is also a form of patriotism.

It should be also noted that the notion of patriotism was significantly reformulated by Soviet leaders such as Stalin who opposed the Trotskyite agenda of global revolution and claimed that patriotism should be only socialist to be true. Moreover, the influence of Marxism resulted in borrowing another definition of patriotism as the support for social revolutions and workers’ movements in other counties.

According to this vision, the real patriot of the nation should support every effort to topple repressive authorities in other countries thereby promoting the cause of freedom in the world. There can be no patriotism that supports repressive national orders and those who do this automatically became fascists. This was proved by Hitlerism when German ‘patriotism’ in fact transformed into racial hatred and the sanction for mass killings of other peoples. We see that the notion of patriotism is specific and significantly depends on the ideological position of the subject. This is especially true if we refer to Neruda’s understanding of life as it occurs in his verse from Captain Verses called ‘Insect’ – “From your hips to your feet//I want to make a long journey” (Neruda, 2004, 27).

The abovementioned considerations are especially important in light of patriotism symbols and expression in Neruda’s poetry. There is no denying the importance of the fact, that Neruda drew on the left tradition of patriotism which can be best exemplified by the slogan – ‘Proletarians of all countries – unite’ (Heptonstall, 2005).

As an active supporter of Latin American national movements against neo-colonization and imperial aggression, he thought that patriotism is the struggle of oppressed people against colonial powers and local comprador elites which serve their interests. For Neruda patriotism can not be imagined without socialist revolutionary politics. The patriotism which defends repressive imperial powers is reactionary and should be described as chauvinism and even racism (Magnet, 2004, p. 64).

As every genius poet Neruda had its symbolic representation of patriotism in this poetry. The first deeper layer of Neruda’s representation of patriotism may be described as ‘return to the origins’ which does not mean a conservative retreat to the past but searching in the past the roots for future transformations for the better and understanding the spirit of the land and people which would do it. Neruda’s lyrics devoted to a woman have much in common with the patriotism theme: “I have named you queen.//There are taller ones than you, taller.//There are purer ones than you, purer.//There are lovelier than you, lovelier” (Neruda, 2004, 25).

There is no denying the importance of the fact that this aspect unites Neruda with the romantic epoch in poetry which studied national traditions and spirit to conceptualize patriotism as the common goal and feeling (Mascia, 2001).

The Neruda’s patriotism in its deepest level is represented as his love for Latin American past before colonization when it was a divine land without sin: “Descend to the mineral roots//and in the desolate metal’s veins//reach mankind’s struggle on earth, //beyond the martyrdom that mauls// the hands destined for the light// Don’t renounce the day bestowed on you//by those who died struggling. (Neruda, 2004, 148)

This layer of patriotism in Neruda’s poetry may be characterized as the most abstract and romantic as it involves the description of nature, traditions, and people without necessary reference to historical struggles and future perspectives. However, even in this form, the ideological connotations of revolutionary patriotism are evident, even though they are dressed in another form.

Another essential motive in Neruda’s poetry is the motive of land betrayal, the betrayal of clean and innocent land by imperial predators who seek power, money, and national regional resources. Here, Neruda’s poetry enters its patriot prophetic mode where the national past seems to be the promises of a victorious future (Urrutia, 2004).

This links Neruda’s lyrics with Benjamin’s mysticism. The piece of poetry ‘Victorious people’ which features in his Captain’ Verses shows that Neruda affiliates himself with ordinary people but not an oligarchy. But the people which he refers to are not only his countrymen but oppressed people of the world in general and this makes his patriotism universal.

As Neruda says: My heart’s in this struggle// My people will overcome. All the people will overcome, one by one. // These sorrows// will be wrung like handkerchiefs until//all the tears shed on the desert’s//galleries, on graves, on the steps// of human martyrdom, are squeezed dry. //But the victorious time’s nearby. (Neruda, 2000, 199).

The Captain Verses which were published in 1952 are characterized by great emotional dynamics which combine sadness with glory and sorrow with hope. The patriotic motives are embedded in difficult symbolic fabric which makes them bee uneven and multifaceted. However, Neruda writes hymns and poetic slogans, he spends much effort to make his poetry complex and interesting while maintaining its appeal and ideological reference (Nolan, 1994).

However, this patriotic thrill is separated by the pure lyrics as in the case with these words: “My love, suddenly your hip// is the curve of the wineglass// filled to the brim, // your breast is the cluster//your hair the light of alcohol//your nipples, the grapes //your navel pure seal//stamped on your belly of a barrel//and your love the cascade of unquenchable wine//the brightness that falls on my senses//the earthen splendor of life (Neruda, 2000, 25).

Neruda’s universal socialist patriotism extends to the poetic defense of the Soviet Union as a positive experience in the history of humankind. He associates it with ‘factories and songs’, ‘the wonder of harnessed energy’, and ‘worker’s paradise (261). Such symbols of war against fascism as Stalingrad are extensively used by Neruda. He constructs a positive image of the Soviet Union and uses it as a patriotic symbol for the people of Latin America.

For these people it does not matter that the Soviet Union is taken as the example since their struggle goes in line with the struggles of Soviet people: “The Soviet Union, if we joined//all the blood spilled in your struggle// all that you gave like a mother to the world// that moribund freedom might live//we’d have a new ocean, //greater than any//deeper than any//alive as all the rivers//active as the Araucanian volcanoes’ fire. (Neruda, 2000, 263).

This layer of Neruda’s realization of patriotic ideas in his poetry concerns current political events and social struggles and hence has much emotional potential and ideological appeals if compared to his ‘general patriotism’. These patterns of his poetry, hence are the most popular and interesting in terms of depicting the symbols and ideology of patriotism (Heptonstall, 244).

To sum it up, the analysis of the main historical patterns of patriotism was made, which revealed that throughout history there existed some distinct approaches to the conceptualization of patriotism (Viroli, 1997). Furthermore, the representation of patriotism in Neruda’s poetry was analyzed drawing on the examples from Captain Verses and some other works. We found out, that the representation of patriotism in Neruda differs by poetic forms and artistic goals which Neruda pursues.

References

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Verso, 2006.

Heptonstall, Geoffrey. “A Sober Life of Pablo Neruda.” Contemporary Review 2005: 243-256.

Magnet, Odette. “Neruda: For the Love of Women.” Americas (English Edition) 2004: 64.

Mascia, Mark J. “Pablo Neruda and the Construction of Past and Future Utopias in the Canto General.” Utopian Studies 12.2 (2001): 65-89.

Neruda, Pablo The Captain’s Verses. Translated by Donald D. Walsh. New Directions Publishing Corporation; Bilingual edition, 2004.

Neruda, Pablo. Canto general. Trans. Jack Schmitt. Berkeley: U of California P, 2000.

Nolan, James. Poet-Chief: The Native American Poetics of Walt Whitman and Pablo Neruda. 1st ed. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1994.

Urrutia, Matilde My Life with Pablo Neruda. Stanford General Books, 2004.

Viroli, Maurizio. For Love of Country: An Essay on Patriotism and Nationalism. Oxford, England: Clarendon, 1997.

Introduction

Virtue is a trait that promotes the moral and common good. However, patriotism is a virtue to the point that is not the extreme and the people of the country never gain at the cost of resources, which are useful to other countries. In addition to that patriotism should not avoid or prevent the flow of talent from other countries to the mother country. In that aspect American society follows Nussbaum’s broader cosmopolitan view to inviting the talent from all parts of the world. According to George Bernard Shaw, Patriotism is a feeling of one own country’s superiority because he/she was born in it. As one’s birth cannot decide one’s superiority, the wars may result in extreme patriotic behaviors according to Guy de Maupassant. Hence, in extreme conditions patriotism cannot be considered as a virtue when it leads to wars between countries, which are destructive and harmful for the people of participating countries. Hence, the broader cosmopolitan view of Nussbaum can be viewed superior to that of David Miller’s view as it inherently contains the common good and moral values for mankind. Patriotism should be compassionate and it may take an extreme turn when the people of a particular country or origin are oppressed by people of another country or origin. In that condition, the oppression faced by the people may take shape of extreme patriotism and may result in the common good of the oppressed. However, after attaining freedom, the previously oppressed people should not dominate other people in the name of patriotism as it does no common good and in that context, the patriotism may lose its virtue.

Compassionate Patriotism

In some cases, patriotism arises from fear, grief, and astonishment and from the feeling that everybody has to defend the country. The September 11, 2001 incident that happened in the US was the incident that is capable of giving rise to that type of patriotism. Even in the wake of American’s sympathy to women and children in Afghanistan, the orientation of intentions and imaginations of American society in the aftermath of 9/11 just resulted in a patriotic fervor that leads to the war on terror. Hence, in the above context, patriotism is the feeling that arises from the concerns of the safety of the people of a nation. However, in that concern, the fate of thousands and lacs of peoples who are suffering from national calamities and civil wars all over the world are neglected as they do not have enough economic clout in the international arena and they are not fierce enough to fight against the problems they face. As a result in the above context, patriotism is the quality that defends a country but not a virtue that does the common good. The above type of patriotism cannot result in compassionate patriotism as the safety concerns of the people of the US and their children resulted in the defeat of other people and safety concerns of their children for at least one generation. Hence, it can be termed that the patriotic fervor that results in a win of pride for one country and loss of pride and livelihood for another country is not compassionate patriotism. Compassionate patriotism arises from the aspect that enables the sharing of values and prosperity with the people of another country. One can observe that there is no conflict with the countries with which we share our prosperity, values and thoughts. The conflict arises by loss of compassion in patriotic feelings and the compassionate patriotism can lead to prevention of conflicts between different countries. Though one can term the safety concerns are emotional as well as the compassion, the compassion results in positive results and safety concerns arise from the lack of compassion.

Martha Nussbaum (2001) quotes Aristotle in her article about compassion that requires three things. The first thing is the rise of compassionate feeling from own self interest and the reality of another person’s good or ill. The other kind of compassion is the compassion that arises from emotion and do not consider the vulnerabilities of self and other people. The patriotism seizes to be a virtue when the expansion of moral concern in that stops at the national boundary. Though our philosophies regarding religions and studies say that all human beings are of equal worth, the human emotions involved in patriotism do not believe it and that removes virtue from the patriotism. Nussbaum quotes Aristotle for second time about the citizens of Plato’s ideal city who are asked to care for all citizens equally and actually care for none. As care is a result of intense attachments in small groups the universal care sometimes seizes to occur if it does not have an organizational buildup to take care.

Comparison between Miller’s and Nussbaum’s Views

Miller in his debate ‘We should promote Patriotism’ emphasizes one’s allegiance to national boundaries without justification of their stand. He quotes the moral and political philosophies that are flawed and are only corrected when found that they are inconsistent. Hence, he supports the allegiance and extreme patriotism unless it is proved that the patriotic feelings are not justified and are not for common good. He undermines the role of rationality to support his argument and talks about the allegiances of people towards nationality that build the political philosophy and organization. Hence, he supports the patriotism to its extreme point in order to build organization necessary for the people living under certain boundaries. David Miller talks about the different points of distributive justice that emerge from national and universal point of view are the reason for the national and universal allegiances. The above aspect indicates that the patriotism feelings are a result of political organization and distributive justice for the people living in definite boundaries. In contrary to the argument of Miller, Nussbaum talks about compassionate patriotism and broader cosmopolitan view. She quotes the Ravindranath Tagore’s views in his story ‘The Home of the World’ that the worshipping the country is different from serving the country as the former may result in not considering the flaws in patriotic feelings. The cosmopolitan view rises from the sharing of feelings of human beings but not from the pre decided agenda. Hence she expresses that the patriotism should be in a way to serve the people rather than raking up the emotions. She talks about human rights in the context of the global relations, national values and rational education system. All the above aspects decide the way patriotic feelings rise and breed in the minds of the people. The patriotic feeling that makes the students and youth think that US is above the remaining world and propaganda regarding it may result in envy and prejudice in the minds of lesser developed countries and are capable of breeding opposition to US. Does the opposition to US in various countries is inevitable in the era of global economics and relations? If the above idea is true, the broader cosmopolitan view of Nussbaum prevails over the patriotic view of Miller. Nussbaum discusses about the two communities, a human being has to face; one, the community of his birth and the other the community of human argument and aspirations. The community of human argument and aspiration leads to the fact that the growth of community can ensure the growth of neighboring and other communities as well as the countries. The universal citizenship view can develop relations between citizens of different countries as US encourages the talent shift from other countries to America. Hence, the broader cosmopolitan view can keep the patriotic rhetoric under control and can develop relations with other communities thus decreasing the chances of conflict between US and other countries.

Hence, according to above discussion, the Nussbaum’s view emerges as the suitable one in the backdrop of global economics and politics for a country like US. The patriotism within the broader cosmopolitan view not only can benefit US but also the other countries in the world who are a part of global economy and international society. The essay ‘Patriotism’ in the book of Emma Goldman (1910) quotes Leo Tolstoy’s opinion that the Patriotism is a principle to justify the training of murderers. When the training of military does not arise from defensive tactics and if it focuses on attacking others, the patriotic feelings that are enrooted in the minds of people by the government are the ones, which help the administrations’ attacking tactics using its military and patriotic feelings in the people. Emma Goldman states that the patriotism declares that the world is divided into small spots and each spot belongs to a particular community and supports conflicts between communities that are result of conceit, egotism and arrogance that evolve due to extreme patriotic feelings in the people and in the minds of political leadership.

Conclusion

The above discussion that contains the views of Martha Nussbaum, David Miller and Emma Goldman supports the view of Nussbaum’s broader cosmopolitan view that give strength to universal citizenship. As universal citizenship is capable of avoiding the conflicts between citizens of different countries by sharing the world in a mutually agreed manner the extremes of patriotism; arrogance, egotism and conceit can be contained. The resultant world that is dominated by the feeling of universal citizenship, which is a follow up of broader cosmopolitan view on patriotism can be expected to be more peaceful than the present world.

Bibliography

George Bernard Shaw, Leo Tolstoy, 2008, Quote Unquote. Web.

Martha Nussbaum, 2001, Can Patriotism can be Compassionate?, The Nation. Web.

David Miller, 1993, We Should Promote Patriotism, In Defense of Nationality in Journal of Applied Philosophy, Volume 10, Number 1.

Martha Nussbaum, 1994, We Should favor a Broader Cosmopolitan View, Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism of Boston Review.

Emma Goldman, 1910, Patriotism in Anarchism and Other Essays, Kennikat Press.

Service to community depends heavily on the individual community member’s notion of self, which is in turn heavily influenced by his culture. This paper explores the differing notions of community exemplified by two very different main characters: Dr. Rieux in Albert Camus’ The Plague, and Lieutenant Shinji Takeyama in Yukio Mishima’s Patriotism. This paper will show that each character’s service to his community, or lack thereof, directly reflects his culturally defined role.

In Camus’ The Plague, Rieux begins the novel far more absorbed in his personal life than in his professional responsibilities as Oran’s only physician. His wife’s long illness necessitates a visit to a sanatorium out of town, and her leaving triggers tremendous guilt in him, both personal and professional, as seen here: “he begged her to forgive him; he felt he should have looked after her better, he’d been most remiss” (Camus 10). Rieux’s role as husband supersedes that of doctor, initially.

In Patriotism, we see the opposite is true of Takeyama. His role as an officer of the Imperial troops subordinates his role as husband, so much so that Takeyama’s “honeymoon trip was dispensed with on the grounds that these were times of national emergency” (Mishima 1).

The two characters differ wildly in their views toward their roles in the community also. Rieux, though a competent doctor and essentially kind hearted, exhibits a slightly annoyed air during the early days of the plague, and as the disease wears on, this annoyance graduates to full blown resentment.

“The whole of the following day was spent, so far as Rieux was concerned, in long drives to every corner of the town, in parleyings with the families of the sick and arguments with the invalids. Never had Rieux known his profession to weigh on him so heavily” (Camus 59).

Takeyama, conversely, observes his role as officer, soldier, and defender of the Imperial family with a religious austerity that borders on obsession. “On the god shelf below the stairway, alongside the tablet from the Great Ise Shrine, were set photographs of their Imperial Majesties, and regularly every morning, before leaving for duty, the lieutenant would stand with his wife at this hallowed place and together they would bow their heads low” (Mishima 2).

Both characters are products of the cultures they live and work in. Rieux, although an important member of the community, remains first and foremost an individual, amongst other individuals. The townspeople of Oran habitually place their own needs first, and identify less as a cohesive community, and more as a collection of individuals with a loose geographic connection.

“Being ill is never agreeable, but there are towns that stand by you, so to speak, when you are sick; in which you can, after a fashion, let yourself go. An invalid…likes to have something to rely on,…but at Oran the violent extremes of temperature, the exigencies of business,…and the very nature of its pleasures call for good health. An invalid feels out of it there” (Camus 5).

Takeyama, by contrast, utterly identifies with the community represented by the Imperial troops. His connection to his fellow officers and soldiers is deeply emotional and intimately connected to his psychological well being. Upon discovering that the cohesive community he imagined himself a part of is actually riven with discord, infighting, and rebelliousness, the schism between his fantasy community and his real community rends his soul.

“Profoundly disturbed by the knowledge that his closest colleagues had been with the mutineers from the beginning, and indignant at the imminent prospect of Imperial troops attacking Imperial troops, he took his officer’s sword and ceremonially disemboweled himself” (Mishima 1).

Lastly, a significant disparity in the experience of time exists between these two characters, which also relates to their respective views of community. A good deal of time elapses between the imposition of the quarantine and the moment when Rieux and the other townspeople take action and begin helping one another:

“precisely when things seemed worst, people began to pull themselves together. Tarrou organized a group of volunteers to combat the plague. Rambert, on the eve of his escape, chose to remain and fight;…It was not a question of heroism; people hardly had enough freedom of choice to be heroic.

They simply decided to do what they could, even if their resistance was absurd. And perhaps, suggests Camus, to continue upholding one’s human obligations when there seems the least possibility of fulfilling them is, if not heroism, the best men can do” (“Community of Death” 98).

For Takeyama, on the other hand, he takes action the instant he learns of the mutiny, and his action is to flee, via death. “Well, then .” The lieutenant’s eyes opened wide. Despite this exhaustion they were strong and clear, and now for the first time they looked straight into the eyes of his wife. “Tonight I shall cut my stomach.”

(Mishima 3). His culturally defined role as soldier leaves no room for any other action, in his mind.

In Camus’ The Plague and Mishima’s Patriotism, each character’s culturally defined role ostensibly dictates the actions he takes to serve his community in a time of great strife. Ironically enough, Takeyama, the character who displays the most obvious adherence to the idea of community, is the first to leave his. Rather than stay and help his community during a civil war, he immediately kills himself and abandons it. It is Rieux, the reluctant community member, who remains to minister to the needs of his afflicted neighbors.

Works Cited

Camus, Albert. The Plague. Trans. Stuart Gilbert. New York: Vintage Books-Random House, 1991. Print.

“Community of Death.” Time 16 August 1948: 98. Web.

Mishima, Yukio. Patriotism. Trans. G.W. Sargent. Mutantfrog Travelogue. WordPress, 19 October 2010. Web.

The book, Give me liberty by Naomi wolf is written by the author with the intention of highlighting the country’s need to restore liberty in the falling system.

The author is keen to note that though it is easy to indentify the problems that are inexistence, it is not always clear to come up with the solutions that are needed. In this book, the author shows the changes that ordinary citizens would bring about when they are involved in the democracy of the country. The changes that the citizens would need to incorporate are in reference to the intentions of the founding fathers about democracy.

This paper is aimed on examining the way America is supposed to run by ensuing that the fake democracy and patriotism is fought against. It also define the battle plan that the American citizens would use in ensuring that they fight back and regain back the rule of laws defined in the American constitution that enhance the liberty that is desired in the country.

At declaration of independence, the founders that were involved in formulation of American constitution had in mind that there will be provision of the rights that would ensure that every citizen was equal to the other. The founders were instrumental in noting that the creator had assigned certain rights that they should be assigned by the individuals in the country so as to promote equality. The rights of life liberty and pursuit of happiness are rights that the government should at all time ensure that they are followed.

Changes that may need to be adjusted to these rights need to be agreed by the people as they are the only ones who are assigned the power to alter them. It is therefore of importance to form laws that govern us from these principles as equality of all people should be acknowledged at all times. It is also notable that these rights should be extended to all people of the world as we are all subjects of the creator.

However, the author is keen to note that there are some characters that can lead to the human generation not practicing these rights of promoting the equality that the creator instituted. Having a fake democracy, fake patriotism as well as crises in our government are some of the causes that make United States not follow the dream that the founders had in mind when formulating the constitution.

Patriotism in America has been changed to such a state that it has been rebranded. The term has been used to mean uncritical support of American policies. The involvement of United States in wars has got much support from people regardless of the cost to be incurred in these exercises.

The supports of American policies have notably being immersed whether they are right or wrong. Such a move is what the author is keen to refer to it as fake patriotism. As president Lincoln noted that the loyalty that is in existence in United States is a blind loyalty that is backed by the realization that America is a better county that the other countries in the world (Wolf 24).

The founders of this country did not create it as liberty for America but lather America for liberty. The notion that America is a better country as compared to other countries of the world is therefore wrong as America should only be an example of a country that endorses liberty among all people and not acting in such a way that it is the only country that has liberty on their side.

The rule of law is one important policy that needs to be followed. It enhances patriotism amongst the people in the country and provides a guide of how patriotism should be. Such a guide can be an important tool that makes sure that the people stays patriotic to the nation and also in dire practice of liberty.

According to Wolf, there exists a lack of understanding on how the democracy that is there in the country works. The country also faces crises if incase the system that we use in administrating us does not use the principles the founding fathers were keen to note down that will fight against torturing of citizens in the country.

It is also notable that if people are not aware of the laws as that are assigned to them by law, a government or a leadership may cause an abuse of power that they hold. It is therefore of importance that there his knowledge of this right so as to keep the administration in check against misuse of the power assigned to them by the constitution.

The author is also keen to note of other core principles available to the citizens that would ensure that liberty is granted to the citizens of the land. For one, the citizen has the right to speak freely of the ideas they may have in minds that are beneficial to Americans (Wolf 154). Such ideas may be beneficial to the society and the country in general. Moreover, there should be the responsibility of the citizens against oppression and injustices that may be in existence in our society.

Whether we experience the oppression or is contained in the foreign policy, we should ensure such is not practiced. Incase the government does not act against this there should be such moves that drive them to keep away from their actions. A protest is one of the moves that can be of importance in fighting such. The author outlines one of the best ways to carry out a protest successfully without going against the law to fight against such vices as oppression.

Though a lot of wrongs can be described that limits our liberty, some people have shown hope and desired evolutionally attempts. The battle plan the author talks about in this book has an aim of achieving liberty in United States. It is evident that liberty that was defined by our founding fathers is not enjoyed by many people in the land as the constitution stipulates.

As the author notes, it is not by how big the number of people who are helpful in fighting for liberty is that makes the success come about, but the spirit that they have in them. An example is given of the founding fathers that were small in number and formulated a document, which is used by the whole of America.

Basically, the battle plan is one that the American people need to use, to bring back the nation to the state that the founding fathers desired to exist where equality and liberty forms part of governance. The fact that he United States government has for some time spied on the emails and phone calls of American citizens, also raises concerns that there has been violation of the liberty and some of the core principles of the constitution.

To fight this, the author notes that the public acting in their great numbers can be able to stop this and they are powerful enough to such an extent that no government can suppress the power that they have. As the founding fathers noted, liberty is a state of mind. The same can be said when someone calls himself or herself an American.

Being an American is a state of mind that comprises or altitudes and actions that aim at achieving total liberty for the citizens as well as other people in different parts of the world. Some Americans as well as different people of the world have shown that they stand by the founding fathers and the constitution vision of having a society that practices total liberty (Wolf 211).

A good example of such people is David Antoon who even risks his career to unravel the separation of power between the state and the church. A journalist by the name of Josh Wolf decided he would rather go to jail than reveal the source of the information that he had reported. Such actions are what liberty requires us to have so as to make sure we fight against the suppression of liberty that ma be instituted by our authority.

The battle plan has the sole aim of bringing back the liberty that was lost in the way, after the founding fathers defined it. It is the people like these two individuals, which are required in the battle plan so as to achieve the desired success. Through having the right altitude, our minds will be in such a stage that liberty will be granted back to us. Restoration of liberty also requires us to have changes in our laws that strengthen the spirit of liberty in us.

Promotion of liberty is also important in other countries. United States should practice it by avoiding violence occurring between them and other countries since disagreement should be solved using on the means available to them. The foreign policy should be such that it does not suppress the liberty that is assigned to these people as they also have constitutions that highlight the same. Ensuring that liberty is practiced in other countries limits these countries from acting against our people (Wolf 178).

As the title of the book describes it “Give me back liberty” is a book that shows how liberty was defined by the founders of our great country. The founders upheld equality amongst us as well as liberty. The author notes that that there has been failure to follow the principles that provide liberty on to us through such practices as fake patriotism and having a fake democracy in our system.

There is also notable presence of laws that suppress liberty among the people. However, the author is keen to note the fact that there is hope that is inexistence in restoration of our country to one that practices total liberty.

Some people have taken it among themselves to institute change and avoid suppression of liberty. Though not many, they have the needed notion in their mind that is useful in gaining the lost liberty. Numbers do not matter in gaining the lost liberty and the spirit that the people have is what is important to them. Achieving this does not need us to wait others to fight for it as every one of us can be useful and can assist in gaining liberty individually.

Work Cited

Wolf, Naomi. Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2008.Print.

In Patriotism, author Yukio Mishima develops the theme of freedom through the use of character and characterization. The short story details a single moment of perfect, sublime freedom shared by a soldier and his wife, in the brief moments leading up to their respective ritual suicides. Death, in Patriotism, is the great liberator from an otherwise harshly proscriptive life bound by protocol, moral rigidity, and highly restrictive societal roles. Patriotism’s soldier, Lieutenant Shinji Takeyama, while waiting for his wife Reiko to witness his seppuku or ceremonial disembowelment, remarks “Was it death he was now waiting for? Or a wild ecstasy of the senses? The two seemed to overlap, almost as if the object of this bodily desire was death itself. But, however that might be, it was certain that never before had the lieutenant tasted such total freedom (Mishima 5). Once the decision to dispatch themselves is mutually reached, this quote illustrates the bliss experienced by both characters, who now have a few hours to do exactly as they please, knowing there will be no societal repercussions. In Patriotism’s early pages, Mishima describes both the lieutenant and Reiko as “frighteningly and awesomely serious” (1). Before their suicide pact, Reiko and Shinji live their lives on a “moral basis… by the Education Rescript’s injunction that ‘husband and wife should be harmonious’” (Mishima 1). They worship photos of their “Imperial Majesties,” and each offers total allegiance to their respective gods: Shinji to

the army, and Reiko to Shinji (Mishima 2). However, as each character moves closer to death, their actions become imbued with a sense of freedom and adventure neither has ever known. Each character begins to take liberties with his and her gender roles, for example, previously adhered to unfailingly. Shinji offers sake to his wife, and even though “Reiko had never before tasted sake,…she accepted without hesitation and sipped timidly” (Mishima 7). Similarly, the lieutenant “who had never once before helped with the bedding, now cheerfully slid back the door of the closet, lifted the mattress across the room by himself, and stowed it away inside” (Mishima 7). The joy that Shinji attaches to stepping outside his role, ever so subtly and mundanely as helping his wife with the household chores, illustrates the freedom he enjoys at that moment, a moment free of the constraints of masculinity, free of the restrictions his society places on a husband, free to be alone, and be himself, with his wife. Bittersweet though it is, Patriotism reveals a delicate and poignant moment between two souls temporarily free to express their love for one another, before death frees them forever.

Works Cited

Mishima, Yukio. Patriotism. Trans. G.W. Sargent. Mutantfrog Travelogue. WordPress, 2010.

Introduction

The masterpiece Patriotism by Mishima is an allegorical exposition of the circumstances leading to the death of a young man and his newly wed wife. To bring out the themes of the story, Mishima applies diverse elements of literature to achieve the same. Nevertheless, the use of imagery to underscore the theme of devotion comes out clearly, as the story unfolds.

“Patriotism” by Yukio Mishima

In ‘Patriotism’ Mishima develops the theme of devotion through the use of imagery. The education edict that, “husband and wife should be harmonious” (Mishima 2), does not evoke any form of fights or disagreement between amongst men; on the contrary, it stirs love, respect, and devotion for each other.

Husbands do not scold their wives but they give their lives, love, and time to their wives in full measure. In this case, the education edict comes out as an image, a controversial image for the author to underscore the theme of devotion. Conventional wisdom would call for such an edict to cause revolts amongst men (Keene 1220); however, the edict arouses love.

The education decree

Written at a time when affirmative action is unknown, the education edict would conventionally attract bad blood from men who are enjoying superiority at this time. The Japanese men at this time have every reason to say they are not equal to women; however, in a bid to underpin the theme of devotion, Mishima chooses to paint the men as compliant beings who would raise no finger even at times when they should do so.

In what appears like irony, Mishima paints the soldiers as devoted persons; for instance, instead of revolting against the edict, all men embrace it and decide to love their women even more. Therefore, the education decree is an image that underlines devotion that ran deep in the Japanese culture at that time (Gwenn 96). Similarly, the citizens have to show love to their Imperial Majesties each morning; something they execute devotionally.

There are tablets holding sets of photographs of Imperial Majesties and before going to work, one has to bow before the photographs. The Imperial Majesties’ photographs are images used deliberately to emphasize the theme of devotion. If the people were not devoted, they would find no reason or sense in dutifully bowing down to the photographs every morning.

The Majesties’ portraits

The people’s compliance and dutifulness shows how devoted they are and through this, Mishima achieves the theme of devotion comfortably. Moreover, there is renewal of holy water every morning “and the sacred sprig of sasaki was always green and fresh” (Mishima 2).

The reason why the lieutenant and his wife renew the holy water every dawn is a symbol of their degree of devotion. In a recap, the characters in Patriotism are devoted to whatever they believe, be it governance or religion; once they set out to do something, they execute it devotionally. Their devotion in worshiping the Imperial Majesties is just but an indicator of how devotion can run deep in a society.

Conclusion

Mishima seeks to highlight a number of themes in Patriotism by employing different literal elements. However, the use of imagery to explore the theme of devotion stands out conspicuously throughout the story.

Instead of revolting against what seeks infringe their superiority, men choose to love their women even more in the spirit of devotion. Moreover, the theme of devotion comes out in the way people dutifully bow to images of Imperial Majesties. The education edict and the Majesties’ photos are images that underline the theme of devotion in the story.

Works Cited

Keene, D. Dawn to the West: Japanese Literature in the Modern Era. New York: Holt, 1984.

Gwenn, P. The Moon in the Water: Understanding Tanizaki, Kawabata and Mishima. Honolulu: Hawaii University Press, 1979.

Mishima, Y. “Patriotism.” Mutantfrog Travelogue. Web.

In every literary works, the author uses his or her life experience and the immediate social, political and spiritual practices to educate or pass a specific message to the society. For instance in her intriguing epic country lovers, Nadine Gordimer focuses on the social prejudices practiced in an environment which harbors mixed races.

Through discussing the adventures and social attributes of the characters, Gordimer highlights the aspect of racism. On the other hand, Aurora Morales expresses her poetic skills by enlightening the reader on the aspect of ethnicity as practiced in her contemporary society. Although both Gordimer and Morales apply different forms and style of writing literature, each of them condemns social injustices less seriously.

While Gordimer highlights constrained relationship arising from aspects like racism, Morales boasts of her ethnic culture as a way to call for unity. Through focusing on the social and political relationships and elusive interaction of various characters in the articles, the next discussion elaborates the theme of racism/ethnicity while highlighting their similarities and differences.

Critical analysis of Gordimer and Morales’ pieces of work highlight some differences as per literature. For instance, both authors apply different forms of writing literary works to express their artistic skills. Gordimer writes a short story in form of a narrative giving it ironical title country lovers. Gordimer has organized the story in form of well-structured paragraphs accurately punctuated. Furthermore, each paragraph highlights a different idea.

For instance, the first paragraph gives the picture of the environment or the setting of the story as a farm, which harbors two races blacks and whites. Moreover, the author enables the readers to pick out the main theme of the story from the first paragraph. The rest of the paragraphs give emphasis on the theme by applying aspects like the direct speech, which is a common element in short stories.

More over, Gordimer applies the aspect of narration and vivid description, which draws the picture of her story in the readers mind. For example, she describes Thebedi’s hut, which is made of raw bricks with a chimney thus, mimicry of the white man’s house. Inside the hut there is a bed made from iron, wooden table and boxes.

At the same time, she gives a description of Paulus house as a permanent structure with thick walls to prevent penetration of heat and inside the house there is a kitchen with plenty of foodstuffs and servants, dining room and with numerous bedrooms. Therefore, Gordmer’s description of the two homesteads enables her to emphasize her theme of racism (Spain, 2012, p.770). While the blacks live in abject poverty, the white masters live in large, well build permanent structures.

From the above analysis, Gordimer is against economic differences, which arise because of racism. Although Njabulo is a servant in a white man’s house, he is unable to build a permanent house for his family. The huts are traditional houses of the African society, which are not only unstable but also prone to distraction in strong weather conditions like storms.

On the contrary, Morales express her artistic nature by writing her literary work in form of a poem. Written in four stanzas, each stanza has different number of lines highlighting a different aspect. Each stanza starts with the letter “I”, which is common in most poems.

The first stanza emphasizes on the author’s title child of Americas therefore, underscoring the aspect of ethnicity in the society. There are many aspects of poetry expressed for instance repetition of the expression “I am”, which shows the author is more concerned about her ethnic identity in a foreign environment with multiple cultures (Rich, 1982, 54).

The narrator has accepted her culture, race, ethnic background and identity as an American. In addition, Morales add rhythm to the poem to accentuate the element of rhyme, which is common in poetry. For example, the first two lines in stanza three produce a rhythmic fashion as shown below “I am not African. Africa is in me, but I cannot return.” This intrigues the reader to appreciate the author’s cultural and ethnic identity. Thus, silently appreciating the social diversity found in America.

The second difference evident in the two pieces of literary works is the setting of the Gordimer’s story and Morales’ poem. The short story is set in a farm, in which the owners are whites while the blacks only offer labor. The farm has many families where children play together. Unfortunately, only the white children enroll in school.

The author elaborates the theme of her story by writing “the farm children only play together when they are small but once the white children go away to school, they soon dont” (Gordimer, 1988, p.3). Therefore, Gordimer underscores the racial segregation in her setting. Similarly, children know how to make toys of oxen and bracelets using beans and castor oil seeds (Gordimer, 1988, p.3).

Gordimer shows that the whites are colonizers who oppress the black people and have set social rules in the environment that have culminated into injustices. There are no schools for black children, the black people are servants and neither of them freely visits each other’s house. Romantic interracial sexual relationships are illegal, an aspect, which has been socially accepted. Critical analysis of the story proves that the setting of the story is in Africa with the whites being immigrants who forcefully decided to rule the natives.

Contrarily, the setting of Morales story is in America. In the first stanza and from the first line, the writer confesses, “I am a child of the Americas” (Morales, n.d, stanza 1). However, although the whites dominantly inhabit America, there are other ethnic groups and races like Jews, Spanish and African among others. However, the narrator applauds other races and countries, which have contributed to the richness of the American culture.

Comparison of the main themes in Gordimer and Morales literary works accentuates some differences. For example, Gordimer silently condemns racial prejudice in her contemporary society by vividly describing the social activities in the farm and its surroundings. The first instance of racial practice Gordimer points at is the separation of the black and white children especially when the latter enrolls in boarding schools.

Although in their early childhood, their parents allow them to play together; this habit dies out as the children progress into adulthood. Secondly, a romantic relationship between different racial groups is a social taboo as experienced by Thebedi and Paulus. Paulus is white while Thebedi is black; however, the two accept their childhood friendship to culminate into an illegal love affair. Gordimer condemn racism when she writes, “He told her, each time, when they would meet again” (clungston, 2010, p.11).

Intuitively it was a taboo for the two lovebirds to have an open relationship. Although their relationship grew, but it seemed like a game of hide and seek. Thus, forcing them to have their sexual adventures in weird locations like the riverbank, away from the public. At this level, Gordimer enlightens the reader on the impact of racism on social development among children.

Furthermore, after a few sexual adventures, Paulus impregnates Thebedi. Ironically, her parent marries her off to a black man to conceal any form of suspicion from the white master (Paulus father). Due to social prejudice, Paulus kills his child to escape embarrassment and further punishment from his parents. Thebedi refrains from stopping Paulus to kill her child because of her identity as a black woman.

Therefore, Gordimer proves that racial segregation is a barrier to social development and can lead to social or human injustices as experienced by Thebedi. Thebedi is sure Paulus killed her child but she is unable to testify openly against him retracting her initial accusations. The author writes “Yet a year later, she retracted her testimony and in a calmer manner testified,” she had not seen what the white man did in the house” (Clugston, 2010, p. 49).

Therefore, Thebedi’s identity as a black woman forces her to accept oppression from the white man. Moreover, the judge not only drags the case for at least a year but he also rules in favor of the white man. According to Gordimer, racism culminates into social injustices like murder and oppression thus, social growth in a multiracial environment.

On contrary, in her epic masterpiece Morales focuses on ethnicity in the society more so, America which, harbors many immigrants. The main theme of her poem is to emphasize self-identity a problem experienced by most Americans especially due to ethnicity. Social diversity is an aspect that America currently experiences. Therefore, the first line of the first stanza confirms the author’s message to the reader “I am a child of the Americas…A child of many Diaspora, born into this continent at a crossroad…” (Morales, n.d, stanza 4).

The native people of America are the American Indians while all the other citizens like Europeans, African Americans, blacks, Spanish and Jews among others are immigrants. All these races have enriched America’s ethnic culture. However, the ethnicity has led to oppression, disunity and lack of identity amid other social problems.

Therefore, Morales poem is not only appreciating her culture but also calling upon other people to embrace and use their culture for the social development of America. In the last line of the last stanza, the author writes, “I was born at the crossroads and I am whole” this statement emphasizes the rich cultural heritage America boasts posses (Morales, n.d).

Although these traditions culminated from a turbulent past experience, all immigrants whether slaves, tradesmen or natives proudly belong to one country, America. Therefore, the ability of the Americans to struggle, persevere and integrate into one society proves that cultural diversity is essential for the social development.

Comparatively, both Gordimer and Morales, focus on social development as an important feature in the society. Gordimer highlights racial segregation as a social barrier, which eventually, leads to oppression and other forms of prejudices in society. Similarly, Morales praises ethnicity as an aspect that should promote cultural growth especial in a multiracial environment.

According to her poem, all Jews, Spanish, African American and Europeans living in America are Americans. Thus, the different ethnic groups should unite to explore and integrate into the unique culture. Both authors express the negative impact of racism and ethnicity in the society. While Gordimer presents oppression and social injustices as the outcome of racism, Morales focuses on lack of self-identity and esteem as the eventual impact of ethnicity when traded on the wrong grounds.

The second similarity evident in the two pieces of work is the application of the literary elements like metaphors and similes. Although the authors use different types of literary techniques, each of them uses these literary techniques to emphasize their themes. In her short story, Gordimer embraces similes especially when comparing the social lives of the blacks and the whites.

For example, after finding out Thebedi’s baby belongs to him Paulus says, “I feel like killing myself” (clungston, 2010, p.10). Paulus statement proves that racism is highly practiced in his society. Therefore, he relates his relationship with Thebedi to death. Analytically, Gordimer uses this element to condemn silently racism because practicing it is equally to killing a human being.

Another simile, which expresses racism appears when the author says, “Already at birth there was on its head a quantity of straight, fine floss, like that which carries the seeds of certain weeds in the veld.” (Gordimer,n.d, par.6) according to this statement, Gordimer shows that Thebedi’s daughter was illegal and therefore, unwanted in her society. Thus, the author highlights inhumanity because eventually, Paulus kills the little innocent baby because of fear, racism and oppression as commonly practiced in his society.

In addition, Gordimer uses metaphors to express black color as ugly thus, not beautiful to look at or admire. For instance, she describes Njabulo skin as “matt, opaque coffee-grounds” (Anderson, 1991, P.20). According to the author, although the black skin is unique, people tend to despite the victim. Therefore, she condemns segregation of the blacks especially by the white people who think their skin color is superior. Eventually, she uses the black and white skin to promote racial unity an element that constantly misses in the society.

Similarly, Morales applies the art of metaphors to express her poetic skills and educate the reader on the importance of embracing ethnic unity. The first metaphors, she coins is “I am not African, Africa is in me…Spanish is in my flesh…I am not European, Europe lives in me…” (Morales, n.d. stanza 1-4). The aforementioned group of metaphors highlights the narrator’s identity, culture and ethnic background.

However, intuitive analysis of the poem reveals that the narrator accepts herself as an African, Spanish and European. When she writes,” Europe lives in me “(Morales, n.d, stanza 1 line 5), it means that the narrator accepts Europeans as Americans who were unable to be accommodated in their original country because of oppression, economic constraints and religious conflicts among other social, political and economic problems.

While the phrase “Spanish is in my flesh” (Morales, n.d, stanza 1 line 3), highlights the integration, intermingling and eventual assimilation of the Spanish people into America thus, giving them a common identity as Americans. Additionally, the metaphor “Africa is in me” mean Africans came into America as slaves, however, with the abolishment of slavery they became Americans.

Surprisingly, the African culture still lingers in African Americans because of the origin and traditions that has not changed for many ages. Therefore, acceptance of all the races in America transforms America into a peaceful country with multiple cultures, racial identities and traditions among others.

The fourth metaphor Morales applies is “I was born at the crossroads and I am whole” (n.d, stanza 4 line 1), her literary expression describes American people as originating from diverse background. Besides, American Indians, there is no other American person who can claim that America is his or her native land.

African, Spanish, Jewish and European cultures are all form a unique American culture while at the same time retaining the individual cultural practices. According to Morales, lack of self-identity especially in relation to ethnicity has slowed down social development culture. Essentially, the different ethnic groups in America should create a rich culture that would build self-esteem of most Americans.

In conclusion, Gordimer constructs her short story to educate the society on the negative impact of racism. She uses different literary techniques like narration, similes and metaphors to put emphasis on her theme. On the other hand, Morales writes a short poem to preach against the use of ethnicity in oppressing others especially in America.

She calls upon all Americans to embrace ethnic unity for the social development. She uses metaphoric expression to emphasize her theme. Finally, both authors not only use similar literary techniques like metaphors but they also focus on a common goal social development in the society.

References

Anderson, P. (1991). Attitudes to Race in Nadine Gordimer’s ‘Country Lovers’ and Alice Walker’s ‘The Welcome Table’. New York. Indie Print publishers.

Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into Literature. California: Bridgepoint Education publishers.

Gordimer.N. (n.d). Country lovers. Web.

Gordimer, N. (1988). Town and Country Lovers . New York. Reclam Philipp publishing company.

Morales, L. A. (n.d). Child of the Americas. In Lauraa.diaz-authors page. Web.

Rich, P. (1982). Tradition and revolt in South African Fiction: The Novels of Andre Brink, Nadine Gordimer and J.M. Coetzee. Journal of Southern African Studies, 9 (1), 54-73.

Spain, A. (2012). Event, Exceptionalism, and the Imperceptible: The Politics of Nadine Gordimer’s the Pickup. MFS: Modern Fiction Studies, 58 (4), 747-772.

This essay compares Country Lovers by Nadine Gordimer and What It’s like to be a Black Girl by Patricia Smith. The works of these authors explore various themes such as race or ethnicity, prejudice, the quest for freedom, and inequality in societies. The focus of this essay is on the theme of race or ethnicity both Gordimer and Smith explore in their works. The essay shall compare and contrast the two works with regard to literary style, form, and content.

Gordimer has written several novels and short stories. The author has the ability to create a short story with the well-informed themes, which engage her readers. In Country Lovers, Gordimer portrays the struggle of a black woman during Apartheid in South Africa. She shows racial prejudice, characters inner struggles, and confusion.

Gordimer manages to capture several ways people suffer in a racial society as they undergo and endure catastrophic moments. Gordimer uses the theme of racism in order to provoke high-levels of human emotions within few pages of the story.

Gordimer presents the story of love between a white skinned Afrikaner and a black skinned girl in a farm setting. Gordimer notes, “The trouble was Paulus Eysendyck did not seem to realize that Thebedi was now simply one of the crowds of farm children down at the kraal, recognizable in his sister’s old clothes” (Gordimer, 1978).

It is obvious that Paulus developed love for the black, Thebedi. The author writes, “The schoolgirls he went swimming with at dams or pools on neighboring farms wore bikinis, but the sight of their dazzling bellies and thighs in the sunlight had never made him feel what he felt now when the girl came” (Gordimer, 1978). The society and the law did not approve of such relationships in South Africa during the Apartheid era.

Immorality Act 1950 to 1985 of the Apartheid prohibited all forms of sexual relations between blacks and whites. Another law of 1949 known as the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act banned all interracial marriages in South Africa (Tyson, 1999).

Such laws caused serious problems for Paulus and Thebedi because their secret love affair was against Immorality Act. Gordimer notes, “She had to get away before the house servants who knew her came in at dawn” (Gordimer, 1978). Thebedi and Paulus kept their affair going despite harsh laws discouraging racial relations.

Gordimer notes that both black and white children played together when they were young, but when the whites attend school, “they soon don’t play together anymore” (Gordimer, 1978). This implies that racism had minimal influences on children. This marks the spread of racism among children. It shows that boarding schools create a sense of superiority among whites as a result blacks refer to their former friends as ‘missus and baasie’.

In the poem, What it’s like to be a Black Girl, Smith explores the issue of racism in a jagged society. The persona (a black girl) is at the threshold of puberty and feels a sense of discomfort with her changing physical body and mind as she hopes for better changes.

Smith uses narration in order to drive her point of racism to readers in the first three lines of the poem. The style relies on “jagged sentence structure” (Pfeiler, 2003) coupled with a language of profanity to show her readers the seriousness of the poem. Thus, we can be able to understand young black girls’ lives in 1950s when she wrote the poem.

Smith explores how racism affected black women in her time. Racism went to the extent of affecting health of women in society. For instance, transition into womanhood was an ordeal for black girls in a racial society, “it’s dropping food coloring in your eyes to make them blue and suffering their burn in silence” (Smith, 1955).

Consequently, black girls embraced puberty with a sense of confusion and sadness, “First of all, it’s being 9 years old and feeling like you’re not finished, like your edges are wild, like there’s something, everything, wrong” (Smith, 1955). Every teenage girl experiences such thoughts. However, Smith introduces the idea of racially jagged society and its pressure on girls by inserting ‘black girl’.

The society is changing for young black girls. As a result, young girls have to find means of fitting in a racially jagged society using several ways, “It’s dropping food coloring in your eyes to make them blue and suffering their burn in silence. It’s popping a bleached white mop head over the kinks of your hair and priming in front of the mirrors that deny your reflection” (Smith, 1955).

The usages of “food coloring in eyes and hair bleaching” (Smith, 1955) show how a young black girl struggle to grow into acceptable woman in a racial society. She aims to be like white women, who have white skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes and then men would admire.

Historical analysis requires readers’ knowledge of historical events of the time (Tyson, 1999). This enables readers to understand the form and context of literary works in the context of history. Therefore, we can understand both Country Lover and What It’s like to be a Black Girl in the context of history. Readers can only imagine what blacks experienced at the time of Apartheid and its effects on mixed raced relationships.

For instance, Gordimer notes, “He told her, each time, when they would meet again” because they cannot be seen in public together (Clugston, 2010). From the above sentence, we can understand why the relationship between Thebedi and Paulus was socially wrong. The Apartheid laws prohibited such relationships between mixed races. The white people controlled most aspects of social life in South Africa.

Their children attended best schools and learned ideas about racial segregation in society. On the other hand, blacks learned to respect white people as they grew up. Therefore, understanding the historical context of Country Lover enables readers to understand the position of a black woman when Paulus murdered the baby.

Both the poem and the short story have shown historical forms and settings. Gordimer and Smith wrote their works while racism was a dominant factor in a relationship between whites and black. Apartheid reflected racial discrimination in South Africa, whereas sense of skin color discrimination showed racial discrimination in American society.

Both works show that racism influenced all aspects of life, including individual appearances and interracial marriages. In the case of Thebedi, racism denied Thebedi justice following the murder of her child. Within the historical context, Gordimer aims to invoke social protest using her short story. She highlights and draws readers’ attention to contemporary social problems in South Africa as she hopes for change (Lazar, 1993).

On the other hand, the poem depicts a black girl struggling to fit in a racial society (Smith, 1955). Therefore, we can only understand lives of Black Americans during racial segregation and discrimination based on skin color. In the poem, we can relate to the struggle of a young black as she struggles to grow into an acceptable woman in a racial society (Pfeiler, 2003).

Smith uses the form of confessional poetry in which she explores intensely experiences of black women with unusual frankness. This was the case in 1950s when writers condemned social issues in society. Smith aims to bring readers’ attention to social pressure black women experience in order to gain acceptance in a racial society.

Smith also uses her poem as a form of social protest with the hope that social circumstances will improve as she notes, “it’s finally have a man reach out for you then caving in around his fingers” (Smith, 1955).

The contents of What It’s like to be a Black Girl and Country Lover have women to depict racism in societies as they deal with unfairness in societies as protagonists of the story. Both writers use black women because such acts affect them most in society.

Smith uses vocal style to express her feelings in the poem. This style of expression enables readers to understand that being a black woman in a racial society tough. The author uses words, which arouse a sense of sadness and indignation such as ‘everything wild’ and ‘suffering their burn in silence’. Thus, a black girl must engage in activities, which will make her to look like a white woman for social acceptance.

The sense of bitterness drives the poet to use profane language in her poem, “it’s learning to say fuck with grace, and fucking without it” (Smith, 1955). This symbolizes the way a black woman feels in a racial society.

Gordimer and Smith show that children do not understand differences in society due to racism. For instance, in the poem, the black girl has “a sad tone and does not understand why she is different” (Pfeiler, 2003). On the other side, the short story shows that both white and black children play together when they are young.

However, as they grow up, racism influences their actions and feelings. Paulus ends up killing Thebedi’s child while the black girl has to endure suffering in silence. The authors show that racism is destructive irrespective of where it occurs. From these female characters, we can be able to understand what it meant to grow up during Apartheid era in South Africa in the 1970s and in America in 1950s during racial segregation and discrimination.

Gordimer presents her work from a third person point of view. This style enables the writer to present the story in an unbiased manner without authorial bias.

We can conclude that both literary works present historical realities of racism in different settings. Historical circumstances shape events of these literary works. Therefore, these literary works use women protagonists in order to expose harsh realities, which black women experience in racial societies. Societies of the 1900s considered interracial romance a taboo due to racial prejudice at the time. Consequently, such racial prejudice could only lead to devastating consequences.

The style, form, and content of both works show how whites in South Africa and America heightened racial tension in which blacks suffered in most cases. Therefore, we can learn of social stigma of being black as a social reality of the problem at the time.

References

Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Gordimer, N. (1978). Country Lover. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.

Lazar, K. (1993). Feminism as Piffling’? Ambiguities in Nadine Gordimer’s Short Stories. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Pfeiler, M. (2003). Sounds of Poetry: Contemporary American Performance Poets. Tubingen, Germany: Gunter Narr Verlag.

Smith, P. (1955). ‘What It’s Like To Be A Black Girl (for Those of You Who Aren’t)”. Web.

Tyson, L. (1999). Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. New York: Garland Publishing.

Introduction

Written by Yukio Mishima, Patriotism is an allegorical short story describing the circumstances leading to the death of a young man and his newly wed wife. The author employs different elements of literature to underscore different themes. However, use of symbolism/imagery to explore the theme of loyalty stands out conspicuously as developed next.

In ‘Patriotism’ Mishima develops the theme of loyalty through the use of symbolism. One of the lieutenants general, Ozeki ensures there is proper housing for his soldiers. For instance, Shinji gets an apartment immediately after his wedding. However, the apartments are of poor standards. The houses are old with three bedrooms and a tiny garden on the side.

The rooms are made of patches of mats hence the sun penetrates through into the houses. Moreover, the rooms are not enough hence some rooms double as guest rooms and bedrooms. Interestingly, none of the soldiers complains about the poor housing system. The houses lack any form of security incase the soldiers are on duty.

The soldiers’ silence towards the deplorable living conditions symbolizes their loyalty to the government and authority. The pathetic shacks going for soldier’s houses is an image of how living conditions here are wanting; nevertheless, this image brings out loyalty because at the end of the day, no one complains despite the fact that anyone has every reason to complain.

As aforementioned, silence and compliance are symbols of loyalty. For instance, one day the lieutenant general orders other junior officers to prepare for a coup that would automatically rebel against the government. Homma, Yamaguchi, and Kano respect these orders at the expense of their lives.

This highlights the theme of loyalty, as the soldiers are ready to obey orders well aware of the dangers involved. Although one of the lieutenants, Shinji is against the coup, he does not resist the orders before the general. However, before he commits suicide he writes a note stating, “Long live the imperial forces” (Mishima 95). This form of ‘blind’ compliance regardless of the risks involved underscores the theme of loyalty in the story.

The author continues to explore the symbol of compliance and selflessness by explicating how soldiers brave hostile conditions to execute the coup. On the dawn of 26 February, violence erupts in the country. Soldiers forego their sleep, overlook the snowy weather, and assemble in order to plan for a coup. Although there is violence and poor weather, soldiers obey orders and stay in cold for about two days to plan for a coup.

As the story closes, the reader might wonder why soldiers seem to follow orders blindly even in cases where common sense would demand otherwise. For instance, a coup underlines rebellion against a government that the soldiers ought to serve dutifully (Nathan 59); therefore, one would expect the soldiers to reject such a move with absoluteness. Nevertheless, the author uses this symbolism to bring out the theme of loyalty, if anything loyalty demands one’s support at all times be it in good or bad times.

Conclusion

The theme of loyalty comes out clearly, as Mishima develops Patriotism, an all time masterpiece. Soldiers’ ‘blind’ compliance and silence symbolize their unrelenting resolve to remain loyal to the immediate authority.

Against all the expectations, the soldiers comply with the lieutenant’s orders to stage a coup. Moreover, they remain silent despite the fact that they live under deplorable conditions. Mishima deliberately paints the soldiers as such to bring out the theme of loyalty by using silence and compliance as the core elements that define loyalty.

Works Cited

Mishima, Yukio. Death in Midsummer and Other Stories. New York: New Directions

Publishing Corporation, 1966 Nathan, John. Mishima: A Biography. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 1974.

Patriotism is the love that one has for his/her country. When America was fighting for independence patriotism was very important because it encouraged Americans to put more efforts in the struggle for independence.

America is made up of fifty states; all of these were expected to unite to fight against British rule in America. Some people did not see the importance of fighting and therefore chose to remain loyal to the British government. Their loyalty was seen by freedom fighters as an insult to the American people. Their houses were burnt, and some of them were killed because they were thought to be undermining the efforts of freedom fighters.

Everyone was expected to show his/her commitment to the struggle for independence regardless of their sex or age. This led to a lot of casualties and destruction of property. The war affected children of that time negatively because both men and boys were recruited into the armies and sent abroad. This meant that the boys had to quit school and join the army. In the battlefields many men were killed which left many children fatherless and therefore the mothers had to assume duties that were earlier left for fathers.

Children were not allowed to be children because they had very little time with their families. They were organized into youth organizations that were responsible for collecting money within their schools and within areas of their locality. The money would then be used to support the struggle for independence.

The children’s’ efforts in the struggle for independence were greatly recognized and appreciated by the government which led to the introduction of classes on patriotism and nationalism. This was done because the government and activists had declared that patriotism was a must for all.

The women were also directly affected because they had to take positions that were earlier reserved for men and therefore they spent most of their time at work, leaving the children without someone to take care of them. The children were on their own because the men in their families such as uncles, brothers, grandfathers, and fathers had joined the army.

After the war women had been enlightened and shifted from being house-wives and were employed in various sectors such as factories and offices. Men were significantly affected by the struggle for independence.

While in the battlegrounds, they were not to show any signs of fear, and sometimes their fellow men killed those who did so. Fighters who had severe injuries were sent back home. Most of the men who died in the war were below 30 years which meant that women who had not been married had to remain unmarried for a long time.

Men who returned home were left helpless under the care of nursing homes. They felt unimportant to society because they could not marry and have children. This was so because most of these men returned home without hands and legs. The effects of the war are still being felt to this date.

Reference

1. Paul, D. (2007). True Stories of the First World War. The USA. First Scholastic Printing.ISBN 978-0-439-93237-0