Category: Tragedy

On September 15, 1963, four hundred African Americans joined together to worship at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. A few days earlier, the courts had ordered the Birmingham schools to be desegregated, and tensions between white segregationists and African Americans were at a breaking point. Four girls, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins (age fourteen), and Denise McNair, age eleven were in the basement of the church when a bomb exploded, killing them instantly. Others in the church were seriously injured. The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church served as an organizing center for rallies and marches. Many well-known civil rights leaders, such as Fred L. Shuttlesworth, Dick Gregory, Ralph Abernathy, and Martin Luther King Jr., used the church as their headquarters at one time or another.

At 10:22 that morning there was a loud thud followed by a large blast that sent a gust of fire above the church. Closed doors flew open, and the walls shook. Some of those inside believed the Russians were coming. A motorist was blown from his car. A pedestrian calling his wife from a pay phone across the street was thrown across the street, the phone still in hand. Pastor John Cross moved toward the fog that was at the northeast side of his church. There was a large hole in the wall of what had been the women’s lounge. The bomb had made a crater 2 1/2 feet deep and 5 1/2 feet wide. Civil defense workers began digging into the wreckage. There they saw blood-spattered leaflets printed with a child’s prayer: ‘Dear God, we are sorry for the times we were so unkind.’ They finally uncovered four bodies. They were stacked horizontally, like firewood. Cross had no idea who they were. They looked like old women, and he knew that the basement had been filled with Sunday school children.

‘Lord, that’s Denise,’ said Deacon M.W. Pippen, owner of the Social Cleaners. Denise McNair was Pippen’s granddaughter. Cross then realized the corpses were girls. Pippen had recognized Denise’s no-longer-shiny patent-leather shoe. The clothes had been blown off the girls’ bodies. Samuel Rutledge, looking for his 3 1/2-year-old sons, instead found a female buried alive, moaning and bleeding from the head. He carried her through the hole toward the street. ‘Do you know who she is?’ people asked one another. Cross thought she had to be 40 or 45 years old. But Sarah Collins was only 12. After being loaded into an ambulance, she sang ‘Jesus Loves Me’ and occasionally said, ‘What happened? I can’t see.’ The ambulance driver delivered Sarah to University Hospital and returned to pick up his next cargo, the corpse of her sister Addie Mae.

Approaching her father in the crowd on the sidewalk, Maxine Pippen McNair cried, ‘I can’t find Denise.’ M.W. Pippen told his daughter, ‘She’s dead, baby. I’ve got one of her shoes.’ Watching his daughter take in the significance of the shoe he held up, he screamed, ‘I’d like to blow the whole town up.’

Word of the bombing reached Martin Luther King in Atlanta as he was about to step up to the Ebenezer Baptist Church pulpit. ‘Dear God, why?’ he had silently asked. Writing President John F. Kennedy that unless ‘immediate federal steps are taken,’ the ‘worst racial holocaust this nation has ever seen’ would come to pass in Alabama. His telegram to Gov. George Wallace charged, ‘The blood of our little children is on your hands.’

King prepared to go back to Birmingham, to another riot scene. The now-familiar assortment of law enforcement officials stood guard with their shotguns at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church while two FBI lab men flown down on a military jet sifted through the debris.

One of the stained-glass windows had survived the explosion. Only the face of Jesus had been blown out.

Prosecutions in the killings of Denise McNair, Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Morris Wesley, and Carole Robertson were delayed by the reluctance of witnesses and a dearth of physical evidence. One suspect died in 1994 without having been charged; three others were convicted of murder between 1977 and 2002.

In signing the Civil Rights Act, which banned major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic and religious minorities and women, President Johnson deployed 72 pens, providing plenty of keepsakes. One went to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who said the new law would ‘bring practical relief to the Negro in the South, and give the Negro in the North a psychological boost that he sorely needs.’ LBJ told the East Room crowd that the historic ceremony was occurring on his daughter Luci’s 17th birthday and exactly nine years after his heart attack in 1955.

Gunpowder was originally created and widely used by ancient China around the 10th century. It is rumored that Taoist alchemists discovered gunpowder while trying to find the formula for immortality. The creation was made out of carbon, sulfur, and potassium nitrate. While the formula failed, the compound that was formed was much more potent. It had the ability to burn at high temperatures and explode when concealed in a canister. After a little more testing with the proportions of the ingredients, gunpowder was created.

Gunpowder had many uses early on. One of those uses is for mining, in which the Chinese used it to blow up rocks. This proved to be much easier than conventional tools since it was faster and less work, albeit far more reckless. Another use was for fireworks, the first is known as the ti lao shi, also known as the ground rat. It fired in all directions, spinning on the ground. The crackling effect of gunpowder was used in fires to ward off demons and was later used to scare enemies. The Chinese would also use gunpowder on oxen, turning them into massive weapons. Another major use was for shooting small pebbles, rocks, and arrows from early forms of guns and cannons. British scientist and philosopher, Roger Bacon, was one of the first in gunpowder’s evolution. He was responsible for making gunpowder more powerful through experimentation with ingredients and proportions. However, after it was created, it was mostly kept a secret because of its power until it was leaked in the 16th century. After the leak, there was an explosive amount of development in gunpowder. There was the new ability to change the colors of the sparks from the gunpowder by adding metals to it, advancing firework technology. It also gained a hotter and faster burning rate. Plus, it became very ingrained in military technology with new developments like guns and cannons.

A triumph for gunpowder is the fact that it highly contributed to the end of the middle evil ages, a very cruel, and ruthless period of time. Because gunpowder was powerful enough to launch projectiles close range combat was limited. This is because projectiles could easily pierce armor and kill the person inside. Plus a single cannonball could kill many people at once! With these new inventions, wars quickly devolved into guerrilla (hide and seek) warfare. Furthermore, with the use of gunpowder castles were made useless because cannons could quickly knock down walls and doors. Even if the castle had a draw bridge and moat they were useless because cannonballs and flaming arrows could be shot over the walls and destroy the castle from the inside. These reasons are how gunpowder largely contributed to the demise of the middle ages and started a new era for mankind. Weapons play a huge part in gunpowder’s history. Some of the earliest weapons known to use gunpowder were used by the Chinese. For example, the early Chinese would light fires before a battle started and through gunpowder on them. This would ignite the gunpowder causing it to make a loud crackling sound. This would make their army look and sound larger than it really was and scare the enemy. Another early weapon the Chinese used was gunpowder on oxen. They would light the tail and horns of the oxen on fire and then strap a larger bomb on its back. This would send the oxen rampaging into the enemy causing much confusion and destruction. Furthermore, the first military rockets were used by the Chinese c.1232. They were called the fei huo tsiang or flying fire lances in English.

The first guns were far from effective, they launched small rocks or arrows out of hollowed-out bamboo rods supported by steel. However, this design did not create much compression at all when the gunpowder was lit so the projectiles did not go far. Plus the weak materials used meant that the aim was horrible and the gun had a strong chance of backfiring. Because of the poor results from guns early on, it took a while for them to get more usage and evolve. But by the 13th century, more and more guns became popular. The first which is shown above was created around 1332 with a completely bronze structure which made it very powerful but hard to carry. The first cannons started to be used around the 13th century in the middle east. The Chinese used a shoot of bamboo and a large rock (similar to their first gun) and launched the rock by igniting tun powder behind it. It went through a similar evolutionary process to guns. However, cannons were a definite deviation from standard guns. Because of this, cannons were sometimes favored because of their massive damage potential and firing range.

The one downside is that cannons could be unpredictable with backfiring. This is because the massive explosion that occurs in the barrel will slowly wear it away. So if a cannon has been overused it will explode when lit and destroy anything around it. Even though gunpowder may have been responsible for much death and destruction throughout the ages, it is also responsible for saving millions of lives and keeping us safe. Gunpowder brought the end of the terrible medieval ages, created weapons that provide safety to people, and therefore strengthen our military. It made fireworks, a lovely spectacle to behold, and finally, fun recreational activities like fire-making, target shooting, and hunting paved a way for new technology. We chose our topic because gunpowder was the driving force of modern-day concepts such as guns and fireworks. We always talk about these things very casually even though our ancestors way before us were very terrified of gunpowder because nothing had ever been like it. It is this and the general curiosity about such a dangerous powder that led to us choosing this topic.

The way we conducted our research was we initially searched through the databases for primary source documents and reliable information, before resorting to the internet for the rest of our information. After we had found our information, we needed to find some interactive media. Soon enough we discovered a video and some audio that fit under the limit and implemented it. As this was all going on, we were citing the sources and annotating the ones we were actually going to use for our annotated bibliography. We eventually found all the information we needed and we were done. We selected the website for our presentation category because we felt that an electronic form of the project would be easier to access and would give a more modern feel to our project. The way we created our project was by meeting up and adding to the website carefully and gradually each time, starting out with our basic information and sources, then things like photos, a video, some audio, and optimization. Each time we worked, the website become a bit more complete, and we did it until the due date. Our project supports the theme of triumph and tragedy by how we decided to go in a more positive direction. This helps show that our website is for triumph over tragedy and demonstrates how the debate for this theme works. Not only that but we also mentioned some of the bad things that came from gunpowder, showing that there is a tragic side to each topic. Besides those two things, there wasn’t much else we could’ve done to relate to the theme

American Literature has played a big role in impacting our society today. 1917-1937 was the era of the Harlem Renaissance, the Roaring 20s, The Lost Generation, and the Jazz Age. These Eras are important because of how they affected us and changed us for the better. These moments in history have led to wars, the great depression, and being poor. A quote by Langston Hughes “Negroes – Sweet and docile, Meek, humble, and kind: Beware the day, They change their mind.” History has changed the way we live, the way we talk to one another, and how we treat each other. The Lost Generation was a group of writers that consisted of both women and men.

These men and women started the Lost Generation after the “Great War” which was World War I. A war that led to about a million deaths had an effect on these people so they chose to write about how they felt after the war. Chemical attacks, muddy conditions, firearms heard from all around, fevers, rashes, and diseases led to about another million in deaths. Diseases that consisted of trench foot, trench mouth, and trench fever were all from soldiers due to living in unpleasant conditions. World War I left a huge impact on society at the time, which is how the Lost Generation got its name. Their name was chosen that way because after the war they were all left delusional and lost. The way each person felt about how many deaths occurred made them lose their faith, patriotism, and their courage; they felt like they didn’t have a purpose anymore. The most known people that were a part of the Lost Generation were Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and T. S. Elliot. Although in total the lost generation writers were about 12 people which consisted of 9 men and 3 women. Some of the famous poems and books were mostly written by Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ernest Hemingway which he wrote about 24 books in total, of his famous works is “The Sun also rises” and “ A Moveable Feast”. As for Fitzgerald one of his most known books is called “Tender in the Night”. Therefore all of these 12 writers were a big part of American literature of the books and poems they wrote.

Although there are 12 people apart of the Lost Generation, Fitzgerald is the main one and the one who made the most impact. F. Scott Fitzgerald who stands for Francis Scott KeyFitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, and died December 21, 1940, throughout his life he lived a great one. Fitzgerald was an American short story writer and novelist in the 20th century, he has 4 novels and more than one hundred and fifty short stories. He wrote about how he saw America as a disappointment when it failed to deliver what was called “The American Dream”. One of his famous books was called “The Great Gatsby” which was about the Jazz Age and the wealthy. Which this novel represented the lost generation through both characters Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan in how WWI made them lose their innocence and change how they see life. Fitzgerald was a big part of the lost generation as well as most of the other members because they wrote about how everyone felt after the war. Each and every writer spoke the truth about America and how it ruined their perspective on life and everyone agreed because they had felt the same as them. A quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald was “Show me a hero and I’ll write you a tragedy” which he said in 1945 when World War II was ending. Meaning that every “hero” has a tragic story of struggling to get to the top because heroes sacrifice their lives every day just for the rest of us to be safe.

The lost generation impacted society and made everyone feel better because no one was different according to the writers, and everyone felt the same. Each writer and their novels, short stories, quotes, and poems had an impact on every person. They contributed to American Literature with their writings and famous works and now are a significant part of our history.Therefore as to American Literature, another big part of history was the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance started in 1919 and lasted through the mid-1930s and was mainly about the African American culture. The Harlem Renaissance started because of a great migration of African Americans to northern cities. This point in history was an influential turning point for blacks because it embraced American literature. Throughout the Harlem Renaissance, there was a lot of protesting because people were adapting and beginning to try new things from the African American culture. A lot of people contributed to the Harlem Renaissance, but the most significant ones were W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Cyril Briggs, and Walter Francis White. Each of them was a part of something that impacted society, and in addition, W.E.B Du Bois and Walter Francis White were a part of the (NAACP). Which stands for The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The Harlem Renaissance embraced poetry, jazz, painting, and sculpting, dance, and opera. All of these different types of forms of art represent how it was to be black in the United States. Therefore the Harlem Renaissance’s impact on America was ineradicable meaning that this era was unforgettable. This movement brought notice to all of the incredible works of African American art. Which inspired the future generations of African Americans. As for African Americans, their way of life changed because all their cultural doings made them more popular and it inspired the rest to not hide anymore. Because of that they are viewed differently in their race, no one is being rude to them or had to be a slave because all of that changed for them during the Harlem Renaissance. There was a Harlem Renaissance and then there were the Jim Crow Southlaws which caused racial segregation between both blacks and whites. The Harlem Renaissance ended during the 1930s because of a riot that had happened in a neighborhood in Manhattan neighborhood on March 19, 1935.This was caused by a boy named Lino Rivera because he got caught stealing a penknife which caused a huge protest of more than 10,000 people. They protested about police brutality and started destroying stuff and this lasted for about2 days the 19th through the 20th. Therefore causing the Harlem Renaissance to come to an end.

In addition to the Harlem Renaissance, The New Negro Movement was mainly about The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) which has been around since 1909 and is the oldest and hugest civil organization that still stands today. It was started by white and black activists in New York City to respond to the violence that was going on against the blacks. W.E.B Du Bois, one of the members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People contributed a big part to this program. Du Bois was most known for one of his edited works called “The Crisis” which was mainly to talk and show the readers about racial prejudice towards African Americans. “The Crisis” sold about one hundred thousand copies monthly until W.E.B Du Bois stepped down as editor for the NAACP. Another contributor to the Harlem Renaissance was Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, and died on May 22, 1967, and throughout his life, he was an important person during the Harlem Renaissance. One of his most known works is called “The Weary Blues” which is mostly about loneliness and uncertainty about the future. A famous quote by Langston Hughes is “The Jewish people and the Negro people both know the meaning of Nordic supremacy. We have both looked into the eyes of terror.”.

Nordicism is about race that is superior and at risk so when Hughes says that they looked it in the eyes, talking about how the whites were the “eyes of terror”. Therefore the Harlem Renaissance is a big part of American literature because of all the forms of art and how it has impacted our society, and it is history that we will remember for a long time.The Roaring twenties started in the time period of 1920-1929. It was a time of noise and economic prosperity. The First World War had been good for American business because factory production had risen sharply to meet the needs of the war. As for America, it had been able to seize markets that used to buy from Europe. Once the war had been over these countries still continued to buy American goods. The Roaring 20s was a decade full of change. The 18th Amendment had passed and created an era of prohibition and how that same amendment in 1933 was abolished. Also when the American troops came back after World War I and how their perspective changed. How the 19th Amendment was passed giving women the right to vote, which had a huge impact. How the KKK would target blacks, Jews, and Catholics. Also about the Great Depression, the stock market crash. The Stock Market Crash was a bad place for everyone and it took people out. There were all forced to sell their businesses and cash in their life savings. The Brokers called in their loans when the stock market started falling and people tried to scramble for any money they could find to help pay for their margins in which they ended up losing faith in Wall Street. The Great Depression was considered a worldwide economic slump that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the longest and most horrible depression ever experienced by the Western part of the world.

The Great Depression caused drastic declines in unemployment, and acute deflation meaning that the prices fell in goods and services in almost every country of the world. Its cultural and social effects were no less than surprising in the United States because the Great Depression had one of the hardest effects faced in American history after the Civil war. In the 19th century Klan also known as the KKK was originally organized as a social club by the Confederate veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1866. Their name came from a greek word which was “Kyklos” meaning in English which is translated to“circle”.“Klan” was added for the sake of alliteration and Ku Klux Klan emerged. The organization quickly became a ride for all of the Southern white underground resistance to radical secret. Klan members sought the restoration of white supremacy through intimidation and violence aimed at the newly empowered black free men and women. As for American Literature you see in novels, school books, poems, and quotes throughout this period how it changed everyone’s perspective and had a huge impact on them.Therefore in the Jazz Age after WWI a large number of jazz musicians migrated from New Orleans to popular northern cities such as Chicago and New York, which led to a wider sparsity of jazz, and all the variety of styles that had developed in those cities. As the the1920s continued, jazz rose in popularity and helped to cause a cultural shift. Its popularity in speakeasies, and illegal nightclubs where alcohol was sold during Prohibition, made jazz famous in such a short time because of all the events that would go on. Some famous entertainment places such as the Apollo Theater and the Cotton Club came to incorporate the Jazz Age. A new style that surfaced was the way women dressed.

Flapper women were known for their styles of dress, their attitudes, and their morals to begin to fascinate society during that time. This time period in American society made many more opportunities available for women, in their social lives and especially in the entertainment industry. Some famous female musicians during the Jazz Age include Bessie Smith, who received attention for two reasons she could sing well and was also a black woman. Until the 1930s and 1940s, that female jazz and blues singers such as Smith, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald were truly respected and recognized as successful artists throughout the music industry. Their determination made the way for many more female artists who came after them. Flappers were young women who were known for their style of short hair, straight waists, and above-the-knee hemlines, as well as for their general contempt for social and sexual normality. The Jazz Ages saw the rise of the flapper, a new breed of young women who bobbed their hair, wore short skirts, and danced. Flappers were known for their style and the popularity they created of new trends that would go with what is going on at the time. They embodied the musical and dance movements which emerged from the dance clubs playing jazz and new versions of old music, which became popular in the 1920s and into the early 1930s. Flappers favored a young and boyish style in women’s fashion, which largely emerged as a result of french fashions. Shorthair, flattened breasts, and straight waists were some common features of this look.Contests and dance clubs had become very popular in the 1920s. Folk music, classical pieces, and operettas were all transformed into popular dance melodies in order to satisfy the public craze for dancing.The most popular dances during this time period were the waltz and the foxtrot, and the American tango. Throughout the early 1920s, a variety of dances were also developed like the Lindy Hop, Charleston, and the Breakaway. The jazz age contributed to American Literature with all its works about the Jazz age like the book by F. Scott Fitzgerald “The Great Gatsby”.

The era 1917-1937 was significant because of the things that happen and how they happened. The lost generation, the Harlem Renaissance, the Roaring 20s, and the Jazz age all had important roles in history. The people who contributed in this era helped make the world what it is today. The era of 1917-1937 was an era that consisted of a lot of American Literature that we will always remember for our whole lives.

Essay Example #1

The tragedy of the Commons refers to a public setting such as an area of land that is being used so excessively without care, to the point where the area has no resources to offer. In the article, the author writes, “as the human population has increased, the commons has had to be abandoned in one aspect after another. First, we abandoned the commons in food gathering, enclosing farm land and restricting pastures and hunting and fishing areas” (Hardin, 1968). The author is referring to people who use up natural resources to their own advantage and do not consider the negative impact it has on the environment. Selfishness in individuals results in a loss for everyone since the natural resources become depleted. In this text, the author constantly outlines the optimum population and how our society is moving away from maintaining a balance with living stands as a result of overpopulation. Although I do not completely agree that this is a complete solution to the issue regarding the tragedy of the commons, I believe that this, combined with other solutions can help eliminate tragedy. Some examples of the tragedy of the commons include national parks, agriculture, and fishing.

The first example of the tragedy of the commons is within Agriculture. In the text, the author explains a scenario where herdsmen use cattle to maximize their profits. The author explains that the herdsman asks himself, “what is the utility to me of adding one more animal to my herd?” (Hardin, 1968). Although the positive component to this question is the addition of an animal, the problem is, as each animal is added, it will create grazing and since there is more than just one herdsman, each herdsman will contribute to overgrazing, negatively affecting the environment in the long run. This is where the commons create tragedy. The author writes, “each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit-in a world that is limited” (Hardin, 1968). Each herdsman will keep adding another animal, thinking that it is rational to do so, and will neglect the effect it has on the environment. Since all herdsmen will follow this mentality, they will want to increase the population of cattle, eventually causing the land to become barren and diminish its value.

The second example of the tragedy of the commons is given by an example of national parks. In the text, the author gives an example of Yosemite Valley, a gorgeous national park that seems to grow without limit. He mentions, “the values that visitors seek in the parks are steadily eroded” (Hardin, 1968). This is a result of overpopulation and the numerous amount of people who visit the park do not care to protect its environmental resources. Most national parks nowadays are exploited and deprived of environmental resources. National parks preserve a lot of natural beauty including historic sights, rivers, and trees. If we continue to treat national parks as commons, then they will be of no value to anyone and they will become abandoned.

The last example of the tragedy of the commons is given by an example of fishing. Bodies of water including oceans, lakes, and rivers are often open to the public for fishing. Since it is open to the public, people take advantage of it and do not care about issues such as overfishing. Similar to the cattle example, each fisherman will keep adding another fish to their bucket, neglecting the downside of their decision, expecting to profit from it. Every other fisherman will repeat this by justifying themselves and making it seem like it is rational, but they do not realize the downsides of their decision. Many species of fish have become endangered, leaving bodies of water to be wasted for anyone.

The article lists many solutions to various environmental problems. Three environmental problems that are often talked about are hunting, water pollution, and deforestation. Firstly, the Tragedy of the Commons can be used to examine the possible solutions to hunting. Previously, when people used to hunt animals, they would hunt as many as they could and would selectively choose which part of the animal they would keep and which part they would leave behind. This is a major environmental concern because nowadays many animals are endangered as a result of this. Nowadays, many rules and regulations have been set by governments for hunting animals. For instance, in Ontario, a hunting license is required to hunt animals such as deer or moose. The license requires individuals to study the Ontario Hunting Regulation which sets limits on how many animals may be grazed on government lands and how to discard certain parts of animals (Michael, 2021). As a result of the laws that are put in place, people value animals more than they used to. Individuals are not allowed to go and hunt as many animals as they would like, rather they hunt a limited number of animals and make use of the full animal effectively.

Secondly, the Tragedy of the Commons can also be used to examine the possible solutions to water quality. In the text, the author mentions, “the rational man finds that his share of the cost of the wastes he discharges into the commons is less than the cost of purifying his wastes before releasing them” which is a major concern. (Hardin, 1968). The issue is that many big corporations find that it is cheaper to dump chemicals and radioactive materials into the water without considering the harm it creates. There are many ways in which this can be controlled. For smaller bodies of water, such as lakes and rivers, the government must put a hefty fine on companies that pollute the water intentionally. For larger bodies of water, such as the ocean, there is no single jurisdiction that can pass a law to protect the entire ocean, rather each country must do its part. Each country can protect the ocean along its coastlines by putting strict laws and regulations in place. If each country passes a law that bans people from throwing waste into the ocean, then the tragedy will be prevented.

Lastly, the Tragedy of the Commons can also be used to examine the possible solutions to deforestation. Deforestation is a result of a tragedy of the commons, as governments and corporations fail to consider the cumulative effect of their actions on the environment. Many forests are wiped out for the establishment of new infrastructure. According to Heather Farley, a researcher at MIT, “sixty percent of the Amazon rainforest is within Brazil and this is where a great deal of deforestation and fire-setting in exchange for economic growth (i.e. agribusiness) is taking place” (Farley, 2019). A solution that can be applied to decrease the rate of deforestation is that the government would have to put strict rules and regulations in place, and must follow through on them. As consumers, we would have to decrease and eventually remove the demand for products such as paper and wood by finding an alternative to them. The tragedy would be removed if a system involving the community, government, and the market is agreed upon.

In conclusion, a tragedy of the commons is described as how people take advantage of resources that are open to the public while neglecting the outcome of their actions for everyone else. Examples of the tragedy of the commons are depicted through national parks, agriculture, and overpopulation. Lastly, the tragedy of the commons could be used to find solutions to environmental problems such as hunting, water pollution, and deforestation.

Essay Example #2

The tragedy of the commons is a wide problem in economics where every person is trying to take the greatest benefit of a given resource that is available to all individuals, until the point where that certain resource is depleted. This scenario happens generally when one is reaching for only personal gain failing to care for the society as a whole, meaning that every unit or measure an individual consumes hurts the other who can no longer benefit from that resource. In general, the tragedy of the commons is a concept highlighting the conflict between individual and collective rationality.

The tragedy of the commons is usually brought up while talking about environmental problems nowadays. For instance, it could be deforestation or overfishing. A prominent example of deforestation of rainforests still happening is Brazil’s destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Huge sections of the Amazon Rainforest were being cleared for the creation of new infrastructure, while the meantime because of this Brazilian economy was booming and the government was gaining profits. The other example is being focused on the tragedy of the high seas, the bit of the oceans that lie beyond coastal states’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone, or so to say commons.

The idea of the tragedy of the commons became very sensitive and popular after the American ecologist Garrett Hardin published an article regarding the topic. The main thesis of his essay results in the conclusion ”that all resources, such as the ocean, which are held in common and are therefore not anyone’s private property, will be overused and ultimately degraded”. Hardin’s reason for this article was a worry that limited resources are facing increasing consumption, or to say in other words, overpopulation. This “problem” is depleting finite biophysical resources because of unlimited use of it, and it definitely should be brought under control. It is basically a rephrasing of the Malthusian argument that a fixed amount of resource base implies a limit on humanity, and then a discussion of some implications of this.

The importance of tragedy of the commons is crucial nowadays since most of its problems of it are related to environmental and global issues. One reason why it might be critical to planet earth is that in real life examples of overconsumption decisions are being made not by individuals but more likely by groups of people, which makes the outcome of the tragedy of the commons even bigger, and small costs add up to very big ones. Again here, deforestation and overfishing examples could be used. The problem of the commons is still very new to humanity since Hardin started bringing it up only in 1968, so it is still being figured out how to deal with it. If we take the example of climate change, the overuse of transportation and electricity increases carbon dioxide to a significant level, but an individual does not realize it since one person’s emission is little, but adds up to a big number in general. There are two tragedies in this case: first, it was realized as a problem only 30 years ago; second, it might be even too late to completely prevent it. Thus, knowing about this problem and trying to overcome it might give hope that enough awareness would be raised and with help of collective action could stop the tragedy of the commons at this point.

There are many different ways in which the tragedy of the commons could be solved. In general, overcoming this problem requires collaboration and cooperation so the resources could be preserved for the good of all, as stated previously. More precisely, taxes and regulations could be imposed by the government so it would affect society’s usage of the resources; formal or informal property rights could be given to people to restrict the overuse of other resources. Hardin proposes a solution for overpopulation – individuals can no longer be free to “breed”, that is, having an unlimited number of offspring should be banned. Even though there could be many solutions, not all of them are necessarily applicable. And even though the tragedy of the commons is being approached, it doesn’t mean it can be prevented completely. Real actions such as The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) of the European Union are being taken currently. It sets quotas for which member states are allowed to catch each type of fish, as well as encouraging the fishing industry through various market interventions. Another example could be China’s one-child policy, but it intends to have negative consequences since it is considered to be inhumane in other parts of the world. Therefore, technically the tragedy of the commons could be avoided with help of regulations and a collective approach, but in reality, there is still a long way to come to its complete solution.

A tool consistently employed by the Greeks was that of imagery, and within the genre of tragedy and the epic they have demonstrated their mastery of the device. Imagery within tragedy adds a necessary and otherwise unattainable sub-story to the play through symbolism, while within the epic it enables the reader to fully comprehend the text with thorough description.

The Oresteia, for instance, is flooded with symbolic imagery. Within the first two plays, The Agamemnon and The Libation Bearers, such visual and tactile language serves several purposes. There are multiple ways in which it adds depth, the first being a sense of the severity that it lends to the curse on the House of Atreus. It specifically accomplishes this aim with the ubiquitous image of blood; throughout both plays the reader understands that blood is inextricably-and appropriately-linked with this cycle of murder. “From him deep in the nerve is given the love and the blood drunk, that before the old wound dries, it bleeds again (emphasis added),” Clytaemestra claims after she murders Agamemnon; she is quite obviously referring to the power of the cycle of violence that claims her family. This insight also surfaces in The Libation Bearers, where the Chorus laments, “Through too much glut of blood drunk by our fostering ground the vengeful gore is caked and hard… swarming infection boils within”. This is a stunningly lucid piece of imagery that fully relays both the historical reality of this curse and its dire consequences. Such visual language conveys the curse’s absolute inescapability and destructiveness-this rich imagery is essential for the reader to understand the full brutality of this cycle of death.

Imagery also works to reveal Clytaemestra’s true character through the symbolism of the often-mentioned net. The connotations of the net-entrapment and deceitilluminate her genuine nature before she exposes it herself. Within her first address she says “Had [he] taken all the wounds the tale whereof was carried home to me, he had been cut full of gashes like a fishing net”; this introduces the symbol. Later, her malice is more evident, as she lays tapestries for her husband’s arrival (which visually picks up on the theme of the laid net) that efficiently parallels the entrapment of her scheme: “Strew the ground before his feet with tapestries…a crimson path”. As demonstrated by this statement, Clytaemestra’s veiled intentions echo the veiled conflict of The Agamemnon; although Clytaemestra’s antagonism is kept hidden, it slips through the cracks of dialogue in the form of potent symbolism: the act of laying the bloodred tapestries is an ominous portent that betrays Clytaemestra’s malicious mindset. The fluidity of symbolism can be observed within the net imagery, as it easily transforms itself-into a noose, snake, or robes-all while maintaining its meaning of entrapment.

The imagery in The Eumenides is similarly involved. The surface story-Orestes’ sentencing-is simply a distraction from the complex underlying conflict: the power struggle between the Erinyes and the Olympian gods, elucidated, of course, by imagery. This device at first lends an insight into the Erinyes’ perspective: “The hunted beast has slipped clean from our nets and gone”. In addition to providing a unification of the three books with the mention of the net, this piece of imagery establishes the feeling of being ‘cheated’ that the Erinyes feel not only in respect to Orestes, but in response to the shifting deistic power balance. It is this more subtle power struggle that is the deeper meaning of the text, but without the light and dark imagery within the play it would be challenging to entirely grasp. The Erinyes describe themselves as “spurned, outcast from gods, driven apart to stand in light not from the sun”, and often make references to darkness: “Night, hear me, o Night, mother”. They are thus established as a ‘dark’ power, coming into conflict with the Olympian deities ‘light’ power-this light/dark conflict reflects the gods’ power struggle. They argue for what they claim is their rightful authority over familial murder: “So the immortals must hold hands off, nor is there one who shall sit at our feasting. For sheer white robes I have no right and no portion”. They are arguing for the separation of authority; just as they do not presume to hold power in Olympian matters (signaled by the “sheer white robes”), they should be the only authority in matters of family conflict-their own ‘earthly matters.’ This is especially apparent in a following piece of imagery: “Men’s illusions in their pride under the sky melt down, and are diminished into the ground, gone before the onset of our black robes, pulsing our vindictive feet against them”. One can imagine the authority ‘melting’ from the sky (echoing the ‘dripping blood’ image from Agamemnon and Libation Bearers which tied in with the very same subject: cyclical familial murder) and reaching the ground, which is the domain of the Furies. Their imagery-sated argument provides a firm resonance to their expressed fear of losing their authority in the divine world altogether.

Lastly, imagery provides a conclusion to the cycle of murder presented in the previous books. References that recall the ‘dripping blood’ from Libation Bearers and Agamemnon, such as “the vindictive poison dripping deadly out of my heart upon the ground” or “spill the dripping rain of death” -the latter of which directly recalls Clytaemestra’s speech following the death of Agamemnon-instantly pulls one back into the mindset of the cyclical murders. It is within this final chapter, however, that this cycle is resolved; the dark, bloodied imagery of the Erinyes gives way to the light, benevolent imagery of the Eumenides: faced with “luminous evidence of Zeus”, they are offered “a place of [their] own…with shining chairs”. The light imagery continues with the Furies’ eventual response: “I speak this prayer for them that the sun’s bright magnificence shall break out wave on wave of all the happiness life can give”. The light has overcome the dark and bloody; the curse of Atreus has been resolved. The play’s imagery has thus effectively conveyed the course of true events more clearly than the dialogue itself.

Sophocles’ Antigone also represents an incorporation of imagery. Within the text, ‘living corpse’ imagery exists to provide an insight to Antigone’s psyche, especially when one considers the implications of Antigone essentially being buried alive in, in her own words, a “tomb, bridal chamber, prison forever”. When one recalls an earlier thought of Antigone’s-“It will be good to die, doing so. I shall lie by his side, loving him…forever” -this symbol is, however disturbingly, illuminated, tying in both her desire for death in order to be with her family and her family’s tradition of incest. Another prevalent piece of imagery is that of the dust of the earth and the moisture of Polyneices’ body. “We brushed off all the dust that lay upon the dead man’s body, heedfully leaving it moist and naked”. The connotations of this moisture have several meanings; there is an implicit attachment of the moisture of his body and the libations poured by Antigone (“Antigone brought thirsty dust to the body; from a shapely brazen urn…poured a triple stream of funeral offerings; and crowned the corpse”. The phrase “thirsty dust” appears several times throughout the play -this suggests the ‘thirst’ of the earth itself for the death of Oedipus’ family members, inflicted by the curse on his line; only death can quench such a thirst.

The Oresteia and Antigone by virtue of their symbolic imagery emerge as complex and multi-layered works-the interplay of images and symbols grant it a multi-faceted significance that surfaces in each book. In each play, a story of sorts is created solely out of the imagery that glimmers beneath the surface dialogue.

Imagery within a different genre-the epic-serves quite another purpose. Here, it is not symbolic imagery that is emphasized, but rather elaborate description. As opposed to a sub-story, imagery within epics serves to clarify the events of the surface-and onlystory. Within epics, the reader is often given a sketch of an event; the imagery provided fills in the specific detail.

Fittingly, the execution of imagery within epics is also very different from that of tragedy. This is best observed within Homer’s The Iliad, where tertium comparationis runs rampant in the form of the simile. Each instance of simile, though seemingly redundant, precisely describes the less tangible components of a situation; as the text sets up the situation (generally warrior/s from the Greek army attacking warrior/s from the Trojan army), the imagery fills in the emotional nuances-the aggression, fear, and predatory instincts of each party within each unique conflict. A fitting example of such simile can be found in Book Sixteen: “So these lords of the Danaans killed each his own man. They as wolves make havoc among lambs or young goats in their fury, catching them out of the flocks, when the sheep separate in the mountains through the thoughtlessness of the shepherd, and the wolves seeing them suddenly snatch them away, and they have no heart for fighting; so the Danaans ravaged the Trojans” (XVI, 351-7). What helps to define this imagery-like all the similes in the poem is it’s setting: Patroclus, wearing Achilleus’ armor, is turning the tide of the battle to favor the Achaians. The animal characterization of Trojans as separated sheep perfectly encapsulates their terrified confusion in the face of this horrifying threat, and they quickly lose spirit. The characterization of a wolf on the part of the Greeks, however, represents the renewal of determination of their army; they are newly characterized as sly, threatening predators, when just pages ago they were described as decidedly less menacing “cattle…of a great marsh pasture” (XV, 630-1). A third element to this simile is the “thoughtless shepherd”-this communicates that the Trojan leader, Hektor, has failed to sufficiently rally his troops: the imagery places partial blame on Hektor for the disordered scattering of the troops-he is not doing his duty to protect them.

Similes of this type occur time and again in The Iliad, but each under their own set of distinct circumstances. Though they are often strictly animal characterizations of warlike activity, this is not always the case. For example, “The Myrmidons came streaming out like wasps at the wayside when little boys have got into the habit of making them angry by always teasing them as they live in their house by the roadside; silly boys, they do something that hurts many people” (XVI, 259-63). The imagery of the Myrimdons as wasps provides a perfect image of the soldiers pouring out of their tents as if a solid mass, instead of individual warriors-their bodies actually seem one body, and their spirits all share the same fury. This simile also offers its own perspective regarding the war itself; by characterizing Paris as the “little boys”- thoughtless and self-indulgent-this piece of imagery is actually placing the full blame of the war on Paris himself (“silly boys, they do something that hurts many people”). In this way the simile provides not only meticulous detail regarding the sentiments of a particular event, but also gives insight into the war itself-where the action of The Iliad is the story’s skeleton, the imagery provides the meat: the description necessary to wholly understand the poem’s progression.

The Odyssey, Homer’s other famed epic, also uses imagery to clarify elements of the story itself. Odysseus himself provides a bulk of the imagery present in the poem, in order to better communicate his story to the Phiakians (and the reader). Imagery within his retelling of his journeys is essential, as no one has experienced the foreign lands that Odysseus has-he therefore employs rich sensory language when describing such places: “In the forest glen [my men] came on the house of Circe. It was in an open place, well-polished, and all about it were lions…waving their long tails and fawning…They stood there in the forecourt of the goddess with the glorious hair, and heard Circe singing in a sweet voice as she went up and down a great design on a loom, immortal such as goddesses have, delicate and lovely and glorious their work” (IX, 210-25). This level of description, in contrast to simply stating the facts-the men’s arrival at the house of a goddess-are truly necessary not only for Odysseus’ audience (the Phiakians), but Homer’s as well. One cannot fully understand the journey of Odysseus without these details, and one cannot access these details sans imagery.

Odysseus’ descriptive imagery continues with his painting of Skylla: “In that cavern Skylla lives, whose howling is terror. Her voice is only as loud as a new-born puppy could make, but she herself is an evil monster…She has twelve feet, and all of them wave in the air. She has six necks upon her, grown to great length, and upon each neck there is a horrible head, with teeth in it, set in three rows close together and stiff, full of black death” (XII, 85-93). Without such a description of Skylla-or Charybdis, the Cyclops, Sirens, and Lotus-Eaters-not only would Odysseus’ survival been decidedly less impressive, but his journey, and the story itself, would not have been nearly as monumental. It is the imagery of the storytelling that makes this text epic-the imagery that propels Odysseus’ voyage from standard to grand, and from mundane to fantastic.

The Indian author Anita Desai creates in Fire on the Mountain (1977) a perfect tragedy in the Greek mode. The novel has an abrupt ending in a tragic manner and the tragedy becomes complete when Raka sets the forest on fire. Lonely and isolated Nanda Kaul suffers lot in her life. She chooses loneliness after her husband’s death. She wants undisturbed life but slowly she is attracted towards her great granddaughter Raka. She becomes uneasy by seeing a frequent talk in between Raka and Ram Lal. She becomes jealous. Like Nanda, Raka also wants loneliness and undisturbed life. Both live under a one roof but maintain distance between them. Nanda makes a false story about her childhood to attract Raka. Raka can’t understand why her great grandmother who avoids talking now didn’t stop talking.

The novel also presents a study of trauma that takes refuge in seclusion. Nanda, who avoids meeting people now eager to meet her friend Ila Das. She is jobless as well as homeless. Her intention of meeting to Nanda is to seek her help. She wants a little space in the big house of Nanda but remains silent. Nanda also know what she wants but again she thinks about her undisturbed life and remains silent. After the tea party Ila returns home unaware of the impending danger. On the way at late evening, was raped and murdered by Preet Singh, a villager whose daughters marriage Ila Das wants to stop with old widower. Telephone from the police station with the news of her only friend’s death who is the only witness of her happiness and suffering and request for identification creates a terrible shook to Nanda Kaul. In this shook she collapses in the chair with the hanging phone in her hand. Raka puts fire on the mountain and comes to the door running, scratching, tapping and drumming, and announces to her Nani that she has set the forest on fire. This is the first time that Raka insistently calls her Nani, but she gets no response. The reader is left to imagine what might happen next. Thus ends Anita Desai’s sensitive portrayal of her female protagonist, who has been trapped in the interminable meshes of daily life as the caretaker and nourisher and what-not in the family. Raka suppose that her great grandmother’s shock is more powerful than her. To Nanda, Ila’s death is like the fire that has burnt the hill. The fire on the mountain now doesn’t hear her now. She is beyond of all things. She makes a confession of her behavior with Raka and Ila. She feels bad and holds herself responsible for Ila’s tragic death.

The end of the life of Ila Das’s life is pathetic one. She wants to do something for society but it become harmful to her. The pain is so intense that Nanda chokes and dies of heart attack. The death of two friends at a time made a story more pathetic. Death of Ila Das is unnatural and death of Nanda Kaul is also shocking for the reader. The death of both friends suggests the futility of human existence. While Nanda dies because of her concern for her loneliness, Ila dies because of her concern for others.

Both adjust in their young days. When both are young they adjust in their life but in old age they accepted alienment. Both self-adjustment and self-alienation signifies the tragic sense of unfulfilment. Overall, Ila’s unfortunate circumstances can be viewed as a commentary of the lives available to single, poor women in India but also the sexual violence that results in any context of patriarchal domination. Nanda’s exile to Kasauli, though presented as an act of choice, is actually forced on her. She comes to terms with the reality of her self-enforced exile when she hears that her old friend Ila Das has been raped and murdered. At the same time, Raka sets the forest surrounding the house on fire. She remains the observer of whole incident and the only one who emerges strong. She is the only one who is a loner by choice. She doesn’t try to ‘belong’. She makes up her own bit of feminine ‘space’ wherever she is. She thus explores the mountainside, turning nature inside out for the benefit of her own empirical satisfaction, and when her wanderlust reaches satiety, she sets fire to it, destroys it. She emerges in complete control of her surroundings. She makes it. She mars it. She establishes herself with effortless aplomb as the mythical ‘destroyer and preserver’ of her environment. She doesn’t let her environment shape her existence. She makes her own essence shape the environment. Raka-the ‘moon’-girl, like an other-worldly creature is the epitomisation of feminine ‘jouissance’ of feminine volition to the extreme. She knows that the hills have undergone denudation due to the effects of the vaccine industry and spreading forest fires which occur every now and then in Kasauli.

Raka sets fire to the mountain showing the discrepancies in human behavior, her own, her grandmother’s and of Preet Singh who rapes and murders Ila. It seems Raka has grasped the significance of this message and the landscape alone is her teacher and confidante. She identifies herself with nature, of the shelter she gets and in this process does not experience a ‘loss of self’, but she becomes; she inhabits; the world of nature. Raka does not let herself be seduced nor is her rebellion ‘completely within’, although the world sees her as the ‘crazy one from Carignano’. She transcends the realm of the known and worldly by crossing radically into the territory of nature and the unknown away from human habitat. Raka carries the message of purifying the existing social system with the burden of philosophy on her fragile shoulders and identifies the destruction of nature which infact protects and soothes.

In most Greek tragedies, the writer uses the chorus as a tool to comment on action in the play. The chorus does not play an active role in the story, such that if they were removed from the work, the plot would not be affected. However, in Oresteia, Aeschylus does not keep to this traditional pattern. Aeschylus utilizes a different form of chorus to put emphasis on certain themes and develop the plot more effectively. Throughout the work, the choruses do comment on the action of main characters, but as the trilogy progresses, the chorus goes through a metamorphosis from the traditional chorus of Agamemnon into a chief character in The Eumenides.

Though the chorus in Agamemnon is traditional, it serves a purpose not to be overlooked. To begin with, because the chorus is composed of Argive elders it can provide significant background information. For example, the chorus informs the audience of the sacrifice of Iphegenia, “Her supplications and her cries of father were nothing, nor the child’s lamentation to kings passioned for battle…Pouring then to the ground her saffron mantle she struck the sacrificers with the eyes’ arrows of pity”. This passage depicts Agamemnon as cold-hearted toward his daughter, paving the way for Clytaemestra’s arguments later. Also, while awaiting news of Agamemnon’s return, the chorus hints that there is trouble at home and gives the audience an uneasy feeling when they speak of “the pitiless pondering of sorrow that eats [their] heart”. What the chorus fails to do, however, is just as important. Though they recognize that “Ruin is near, and swift” while listening to Cassandra’s prophecies, the elders do nothing. Furthermore, after Agamemnon has been murdered, the elders are indecisive and inhibit themselves. Although they don’t contribute to Agamemnon’s demise, they stand by without attempting to save him.

On the whole, this chorus represents the sentiment of Greek society. When Agamemnon returns, the chorus says to him “But I: when you marshalled this armament …in ugly style you were written in my heart for steering aslant the mind’s course to bring home by blood sacrifice and dead men that wild spirit”. This shows that the people felt some contempt for Agamemnon’s actions. However, in the following lines, the chorus displays loyalty, an important societal value: “But now, love drawn up from the deep heart, not skimmed at the edge we hail you”. In the case of Agamemnon’s murder, the chorus merely analyzes the situation in an attempt to pass judgment because they cannot act directly. Even this fails, because the societal morals are conflicting with each other – though Clytaemestra murdered her husband, the chorus questions whether it was justified: “Between them who shall judge lightly? … [Agamemnon] killed, he has paid”.

In The Libation Bearers, the chorus, a group of foreign serving-women, influences the plot more than the chorus does in Agamemnon. Mainly, the chorus provides guidance to Electra and Orestes. Being sent by her mother to pour libations, Electra consults the chorus saying, “Attendant women, who order our house…be also my advisers in this rite”. Being older and wiser, the chorus “advises” Electra to pray for “one to kill [Clytaemestra and Aegisthus], for the life they took’. Orestes, after being urged by the chorus, takes action against his father’s murderers. After the libations have been poured, the chorus says, “The rest is action. Since your heart is set that way, now you must strike and prove your destiny”. Furthermore, the chorus suggests a way of carrying out the deed, referring to the part that Orestes “must not play”, meaning that he must disguise his identity upon entering the house. After the murders of Aegisthus and Clytaemestra, the chorus advises Orestes again, telling him, “There is one way to make you clean: let Loxias touch you, and set you free from these disturbances”. Here the chorus offers him the one chance he has to be absolved of his sin. As well as providing guidance, the chorus also plays a key role in the murder of Aegisthus. Intercepting Cilissa, the chorus instructs her to “not tell [Aegisthus to bring his followers], but simply bid him come as quickly as he can and cheerfully”. This leaves Aegisthus unable to defend himself when Orestes attacks him.

Again, in this play, the chorus does more than just development of plot – it also demonstrates important themes. The theme of justice continues for one. When praying to Zeus the chorus says, “Let the old murder in the house breed no more” (ll. 805-806). As serving-women in the house, loyal to Agamemnon, the chorus believes that Orestes’ actions are justified by Agamemnon’s death, meaning that his vengeance is the rightful end to the line of deaths. Also, the chorus displays the theme of women’s vulnerability and dependence. Unlike Clytaemestra, the chorus cannot take charge. Instead, along with Electra, they must pray that the gods “Let one come, in strength of spear, some man at arms who will set free the house” (ll. 159- 160). Without Orestes, Electra and the chorus are helpless.

Unlike the helpless choruses of the other plays, the chorus of The Eumenides takes on a very active role. Throughout the play, the Furies’ actions are motivated by the ancient laws. Justice, according to these laws, is accomplished only by vengeance; a murdered man must be avenged by his blood relatives. In the case of killing one’s family, the Furies constitute the only source of justice. Because of this, the chorus hunts Orestes – to fulfill their duty. Though Clytaemestra was killed to avenge Agamemnon, the chorus believes that nothing can justify the murder of one’s own blood relative. When the Furies are defeated in trial, they again turn to vengeance, threatening “vindictive poison…[that] shall breed cancer, the leafless, the barren to strike” to punish the Athenians. This shows the extent of their dependence on vengeance for settling conflicts.

On a broader perspective, the Furies’ struggle in The Eumenides reflect the change in societal views of justice – from the older idea of revenge to the new method of trial. Early in the play, the chorus says to Apollo “A young god, you have ridden down powers gray with age”. This introduces the theme of new versus old. When Athene tries Orestes for the murder of Clytaemestra, though it seems that the furies act as prosecutor, they are actually defending themselves and the old ways of justice. They argue “if…his crime be sustained…every man will find a way to act at his own caprice”. Without the threat of the Furies, there is nothing to keep men from killing their families. After the trial, the chorus says, “I, the mind of the past, to be driven under the ground out cast, like dirt!”. With the verdict in favor of Orestes, it seems to the chorus that the new gods have no respect for the old ways. However, when Athene persuades the Furies to give up their rage by offering a share in the worship of the Athenians, a peaceful marriage is formed between the old ways and the new.

In Agamemnon, Aeschylus funnels the morals of society through the comments of the Argive elders, focusing them on the house of Atreus and, more importantly, the conflicts that are tearing it apart. The chorus in The Libation Bearers, more active than the elders, is able to aid Orestes in resolving Agamemnon’s death, but their inactivity helps to demonstrate an important theme. Once the metamorphosis is complete in The Eumenides, the furies act as a chief character, making them a force to be reckoned with. This shows that, similar to the conditions of Greek society at the time, the past cannot be disregarded – a reconciliation is needed between the ancient laws and the new system. By giving the chorus an active role, Aeschylus widens the perspective of his work, applying its themes to the outside world.

The nature of mankind makes us struggle to choose between right and wrong. From time to time, there is a struggle between personal desires and moral decisions. In the play “Macbeth”, William Shakespeare illustrates humanity as murky and corrupt. He demonstrates the unsavory side of human nature through three of the main characters. Not only in Macbeth but in the real world today this is portrayed. Forced loyalty and too much greed for power can lead to corruption of the mind. Banquo who seems to be honorable but scrubs to his desires first. Lady Macbeth reveals desire that leads to her collapse of the mind. Macbeth becomes inundated in greed that leads to horrible deeds. Thus, Shakespeare emphasizes that greed overrules human sympathy in human nature.

Banquo reveals greediness in pursuit of his desires. He reveals his first sense of greed when he hears Macbeth’s prophecies from the three witches. Banquo states: “My noble partner you greet with present grace and great prediction of noble having and royal hope, That he seems rapt withal speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear your favors nor your hate.”. Banquo, who gives the impression to be an honorable man, also displays his greed by wanting to receive a great prediction just like Macbeth. Banquo exposes his overruling by committing the act of error. After the loss of Duncan, Banquo talks to himself as the witch promised: “if there come truth from them as upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine why, by the verities on thee made good, may they be my oracles as well and set me up in hope?”.

Banquo doesn’t disclose the secret of the prophecies and his feeling about Macbeth for the reason that Banquo have faith in that his prophecy will not come true if he reveals this information. Banquo makes a promise to Macbeth that stops Banquo from revealing their secrets. There are some upright qualities but also bad qualities in human nature that could potentially lead to a downfall. In addition, Shakespeare displays much greater greed in Lady Macbeth. After learning the news about the prophecies, Lady Macbeth tells her ambitions. “The raven himself is horse That cracks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlement. Come, your spirits That tend on mortal thoughts! Unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty; make thick my blood.”. Lady Macbeth brings the disgrace of a female character normally recognized as sympathetic and obedient during this time.

However, a female character that turns out to be angry in her desires her and Macbeth’s future. In addition, Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to act upon his want and his fate. As she’s aware Macbeth does not have what it takes to actively pursue the throne, she manipulates him out of greed and wants: “Was the hope drunk from this time Such I account thy love. Art, thou afeard to be the same in thineown act and velour as thou esteem’s the ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting I dare not wait upon I would, Like the poor cat I the adage?. Not only does Lady Macbeth bring out her own role, she whips Macbeth into act to accomplish her want. Lady Macbeth’s natural humanity is brought out when she is not able to kill Duncan herself because he resembles her father.

This exemplifies that she is trying to suppress her human nature and allow her ambition to rule. Though, even after accomplishing her goal, she is still unsatisfied throughout the rest of the play. Lady Macbeth expresses her feelings, but not to Macbeth: “Nougats had, all’s spent. where our desire is not without content tis sifter to be that which we destroy than by destruction, dwell in doubtful joy. Why do you keep alone, of sorriest fancies your companions making what’s done is done. Even though her ways aren’t quite met, she tries to keep her emotion to herself to keep her throne. The greed in human nature is so strong that it can overtake morality. Just as shown.

The New Orleans Saints were found to have operated a bounty system in which players were paid bonuses for, among other things, hard hits and deliberately injuring opposing players. Athletes exposed “Greed” by doing unlawful acts for a bonus. Just as Lady Macbeth, Macbeth and even little Banquo. “On May 2, the league announced the suspension of four players for their leadership roles in the bounty system. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma was suspended for the entire 2012 season”. (NY times) Greed for an upper role of power can lead to corruption of the mind and a person’s humanity. As In Shakespeare, the NFL athletes were seeking more of an advantage on top of the upper role they already resembled.