Towards the Better Light Essay Example for Free

Towards the Better Light Essay The speaker in Elizabeth Bishop’s poem â€Å"The Fish† portrays someone who is rather inexperienced to what he is doing. An amateur in fishing if I may say due to several lines in the poem that suggests the speaker is confused with conscience upon catching the fish. The poem narrates a series of striking turns of emotions felt by the speaker towards his catch. First is the excitement and thrill of actually catching a fish, followed by being dumbfounded by the fish’s state: weak and powerless due to the many battles and struggles it might have been through before. The speaker becomes extremely at awe with the features of the fish, given a long list of descriptions all throughout the poem appealing to all senses for optimum understanding of the readers. It is as if the speaker desperately wants everyone to understand how he exactly saw the fish and how he actually felt at that moment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Looking at the long list of detailed descriptions, it is evident that the speaker is moved and is renewed by this experience. In fact, he was so moved that confusion overtaking him has led to the decision of finally letting the fish go.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Epiphany, as Levin might define it, has overtaken the speaker in such a way that the experience is almost, if not life changing. Understanding the life of the fish somehow illuminated him, giving him a huge revelation to the meaning of life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Changes in one’s life, as the speaker in Larkin’s poem A Study of Reading Habits may not be as moving as the amateur fisher in Bishop’s poem sees it. Rather, it may be more on deteriorating and depressing. The second poem entitled A Study of Reading Habits is also in a narrative form. It tells of the story of a person in three major points of his life- as a young boy, as a teenager and as an adult. The speaker expressed his emotions during these points through his portrayal of his reading habits during that time. Irony is present in the poem, as the decency and formality of the title contrasts the actual content of the poem, which is filled with slang terms such as â€Å"ripping† and â€Å"stewed†. This somewhat creates an image of sarcasm to give emphasis to the unfolding of a series of turmoil and depression throughout the speaker’s life. In the first stanza, reading serves as a way to brighten up his day if he is bullied and picked on by bigger kids in school. Using the term â€Å"cured†, the speaker points out that as a child, the books have comforted and soothed his fears of being oppressed because each time he reads, he enters a different world where he can be as strong and as magnificent as he wants to be. At adolescence, described in the second stanza, the speaker views the act of reading as a means of fantasizing sex in a dark, evil way. His sexual urges are probably triggered by erotic and ecstatic readings, as a naturally occurring part of puberty and adolescence. During these two stages in his life, reading has become his escape. He is very much relieved and transformed by the act of reading and whatever trouble and sadness he experiences in the real world is somehow erased by literary works. At these two stages, reading is still considered a good thing for him. However, as the speaker reaches adulthood, he came to a point of realization where his views have changed due to possibly more unfavorable events. At his point of realization, he now sees that reading cannot solve or even change whatever is happening in his life. Even his escapist tendencies in the form of reading cannot save him from believing that he is a loser, a failure of some sort.    Proofs to this are lines like â€Å"the dude who lets the girl down† and â€Å"the chap who’s yellow†, suggesting that even in his fantasies and made up world of stories, he still ends up being bad at what he does. The way I see it, it is not a form of depression but merely sadness. The speaker does not feel empty at all, but he feels terribly sad about not getting what he wants the way he has imagined things to turn out, or not getting what he wants at all. He does not blame the books for his sadness, but he now believes that he cannot rely on it as an escape from his sadness. Contrasting the amateur fisher with the troubled adult, the poems create two opposing attitudes towards life. The amateur fisher, a hopeful and inexperienced person that he is, finds beauty even in a lowly creature as the fish. He is able to empathize with the state of the fish and appreciate life in a better light through what he has witnessed. Being able to understand and feel the pains experienced by the fish, the amateur fisher is moved and blessed that he is in a better state. He let the fish go in exchange for a new lesson in life. The adult who has turned his back on reading, on the other hand, is more of a pessimist. He creates a negative aura in his life because he has let the drastic changes in his life get in the way of his joys. From finding it as a cure for sadness and oppression, â€Å"A load of crap† is how he now views the act of reading. Along with his maturity is the change in his attitude towards things. One is optimistic: learning from his experiences towards the better light while one sticks to his one- sided view of life, letting his self to be caught up in a dark, cold corner. References Bishop, Elizabeth. â€Å"The Fish†. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Meyer, Michael.5th Edition.   Bedford/St. Martins, 2000. 509-511. Larkin, Philip. â€Å"A Study of Reading Habits†. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Meyer, Michael.5th Edition. Bedford/St. Martins, 2000. 511-512. Levin, Harry ed. The Portable James Joyce. New York: Viking, 1947. .

Politics and Government - Neoconservatism Movement and the Ashes of Fai

The Neoconservatism Movement - Out of the Ashes of Failed Liberalism Neoconservatism is a relatively recent term, no more than thirty or forty years old. In fact, many of its members never truly accepted the term at all. And while its name may be relatively easy to pinpoint, its roots refuse to be tied to any one person, event, or movement. Rather, neoconservatism stems from a number of social and political factors. One of the largest sociopolitical factors in the development of neoconservatism revolves around the 1960s liberal movement. Himmelstein states in his book, To the Right, that a number of "factors contributed to a general crisis of confidence in American institutions and created a political opening for . . . the Right, which presented itself in the late 1970s as a ‘revitalization movement’" (6). It seems that Himmelstein is describing a progression parallel to the liberal movement of the 1960s, on a smaller scale and with an alternative ideology hindered by fewer limitations. Accordingly, Francis states, in Beautiful Losers, that "the emergence in the 1970s of the political and intellectual movement known as "neoconservatism" is generally regarded as a response to the failures of conventional liberalism to deal effectively with the challenges of that decade [i.e. 1960s]" (95). So, are we to believe that neoconservatism stems exclusively from disenchanted 1960s liberals? I rving Kristol, a noted fore-founder of the movement, attaches an even more specific label, describing neoconservatism as "the erosion of liberal faith among a relatively small . . . group of scholars and intellectuals, and the movement of this group toward a more conservative point of view," without completely conforming to the traditional Repub... ...Cited Dorrien, Gary. The Neoconservative Mind: Politics, Culture, and the War of Ideology. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993. Ehrman, John. The Rise of Neoconservatism: Intellectuals and Foreign Affairs 1945- 1994. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995. Francis, Samuel. Beautiful Losers: Essays on the Failure of American Conservatism. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1993. Himmelstein, Jerome L. To the Right: The Transformation of American Conservatism. Berkely: University of California Press, 1990. Kaiser, Charles. 1968 in America: Music, Politics, Chaos, Counterculture, and the Shaping of a Generation. New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988. Kristol, Irving. Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea. New York: The Free Press, 1995. White, Theodore H. The Making of the President—1968. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1969.

An exploration of the theme of Deception, good or bad in ‘MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (William Shakespeare)’ and ‘THE ROVER (Aphra Behn)’

Deception, â€Å"the quality of being fraudulent†1 or†to cause to accept as true or valid what is false and invalid†2 is a major theme in both plays ‘Much Ado about Nothing' and ‘The Rover'. However there is a certain dichotomy for deception here as it is both malign and benign, intentionally good and intentionally bad. Another proof of this is that the two plays are comedies meaning some deceptions have got to be taken lightheartedly and blithely. These are shown in Benedick and Beatrice's gulling and Lucetta's gypping of Blunt aided by Sancho and Philippo. There are two main comic deceptions in Much Ado these are benign and harmless to the people they are directed against. When Claudio professes his love for Hero to Pedro who strangely, immediately offers his help to woo her for him, he at first sounds too eager to help his friend (as if he has something else in mind) but we soon learn his intentions are well meant. â€Å"I will assume thy part in some disguise, and tell fair Hero I am Claudio and in her bosom I'll unclasp my heart and take her hearing prisoner with the force †¦Ã¢â‚¬ 3 This of course acts as an introduction to the theme of deception and shows us, the audience how easy and tolerated deception is in the world of Messina .It shows how easy it is to control a person's life and manipulate anyone's feelings. This is reflected in the second example of the benevolent plans set by the characters; the gulling or tricking of the two, presumably past lovers, Benedick and Beatrice. This deception can be seen as a â€Å"white lie†4 .The two characters are tricked by a larger group of characters including the respectable and estimable Leonato whose involvement is one of the main reasons the gulling was successful: â€Å"I should think this is a gull but that white bearded fellow speaks it†5 This underlines that no character in Shakespeare's world or in Messina is above deception. A better example of this is the Friar's plan to deceive the prince and Claudio â€Å"Your daughter here the princes†¦, let her awhile be secretly kept in, and publish it that she is dead indeed†6 This shows that even a high-ranked holy/spiritual person could turn to deception. This is actually another example of deception with good intent. The Friar deceives the princes to change the nasty accusations for sorrow and make everyone pity her and remember all her civilities and people will see her loveliness as more precious after she has gone. Examples of deception in the rover include: Pedro's deception of his father's orders for Florida to marry don vincentio and instead finds her a better suitor, Antonio who turns out to be an even worse suitor for going behind Pedro's back to court Angelica, this causes them to fight and drives the two into a duel where Antonio yet again deceives Pedro by sending in Bellville to fight in his place. Bellville sees this as an opportunity to get Florinda, deceptively in Antonio's name â€Å"this minute let me make Florinda mine†7 and expectantly, Willmore blows Belville's cover and ruins their plan. The tricking of Beatrice and Benedick is shown in two of the most comic scenes in the whole play, these scenes are also the best examples of deception in the play and this goes to show that a lighthearted or benign deception is very possible in Messina. It underlines the fact that deceit can be useful and can bring two people together even if its â€Å"one of Hercules' labours†8. Beatrice and Benedick's scam can be used as a mirror for the gulling of blunt in ‘The Rover' but not in the sense that it brings two people together or in the sense that it ends happily but in the comic sense, it is the funniest scene in the play and so reflects that deception if taken lightheartedly can be benign or harmless. There are also examples of harmful deceptions which create the dark and ugly side of the world of Messina, the main catalyst for this is of course the Prince's half brother, Don John. One critic9 blames his evilness on jealousy and/or the bitter resentment of a society â€Å"that looks down on those like him who are conceived out of wedlock† I personally believe he is just a typical villain, â€Å"mere, unmixed evil†, an â€Å"ill-conditioned, base and tiresome scoundrel†10 created by Shakespeare for the audience to hate and fear. Don John's intentions are completely and utterly malefic. He tries to talk Claudio into thinking Don Pedro is wooing Hero for himself- â€Å"I heard him swear his affection† in the masked ball. The audience is not so sure whether this is true or not since Don Pedro was very eager to get Hero for Claudio earlier but we soon learn Don John was simply being the scoundrel he is. One thing that can be noted is Don John's deceptive tongue or his ability to persuade many or most of the other characters in the play easily. This is also true for Willmore in ‘The Rover'. He woos Angelica Bianca and gets her to sleep with him even though she was infuriated by him minutes earlier for taking down her picture; he turns it against her and rails at her for seducing him and all the other poor men who cannot afford her. He also leads her to deceive herself and Moretta's soliloquy in this scene illustrates the extent to which Angelica has â€Å"lost† herself and her career which is â€Å"the fate of most whores†11 in her opinion. There is a certain parallel or mirrored idea in the two plays. Balthasar's song12 is of course echoed throughout Much Ado, it is around deception it speaks, or the deceptive nature of men. This is mirrored through Wilmore's defensive comment after being accused of cheating on Angelica he said â€Å"For I never heard of a mortal man, that has not broke a thousand vows†13. In another sense deception can be used to show who is boss, or to show off someone's authority. For example the Prince of Aragon immediately marks his territory in Messina by grabbing the first opportunity he could, and that is through wooing Hero. By wooing Hero for Claudio he showed that he was the dominator or leader figure. Don Pedro also does that with Beatrice and Benedick and he succeeds in creating his â€Å"mountain of affection†14 and proof for this is that the pair are lovesick for one another. It is when Leonato falls under Pedro and Claudio's side against his own daughter' that we see the effects of the dominance Pedro gained from his earlier deceptions. Even though Leonato has seen Pedro's deceptive nature in action he still follows him: â€Å"Would the two princes lie, and Claudio lie, who loved her so, that speaking of her foulness, washed it with tears? Hence from her, let her die†15 The audience here would feel compassionate to Leonato. He is trapped and does not know who to believe but shortly falls on the Prince and Claudio's side since the idea of the Princes lying is inconceivable to him. Lying was considered a much more serious offence in that time than it is nowadays;†it was a diabolical trick because Satan told Eve lies in the Garden of Eden, causing her to sin.†16 This is another type of deception the play talks about, deceptive reputations. The prince, Claudio and Leonato are Shakespeare's idea of the perfect gentlemen but they all seem to make up their decisions and take drastic measures to regain their â€Å"honour† almost immediately without any real tangible proof of Hero's crime â€Å"I stand dishonoured, that have gone about to link my dear friend to a common stale.† 17 Another example of deception we encounter in the plays is deception between friends. Benedick in a sense deceives his friends in breaking the â€Å"patriarchal code of friendship†. This is quite shocking since he has known his friends longer than any of the people in Messina. Beatrice asks the messenger in a pun â€Å"a good soldier to a lady, but what is he to a lord?†18 .A Shakespearean audience would find this repugnant and not the appropriate behavior for a gentleman. Bonds between men, especially ones that were formed in war, were especially valuable and tight-knit in the Elizabethan era. This is also mirrored in ‘The Rover, the cavaliers, almost one by one sell Don Pedro out by marrying his sisters and Valeria(their cousin) .Even though they are old friends, the cavaliers deceive Pedro, their friend for a woman. Some critics have argued that â€Å"distrust of women is the basis of all male bonds†19 this is true in ‘The Rover'; Fredrick warns Bel lville of Florinda's intentions when she gave him the note with the instructions to meet her: â€Å"Have a care, sir, what you promise; this may be a trap laid by her brother to ruin you†20 The cavalier's initial distrust of women is as clear as Benedick's initial misogynistic view of them. When Lucetta is introduced to Blunt all the men knew she was out to trick him, â€Å"cheat him of all, then have him well-favourly banged, and turned out naked at midnight†. They, however do not warn Blunt but instead get a front row seat to watch the humiliation of their friend begin. There are many instances of self-deception in both plays actually. For example Benedick and Beatrice undergo a huge change in perspective after their gulling. Both fall helplessly in love with each other even though they were self-declared heretics of love. Beatrice says she will not love a man until â€Å"man be made from some other metal than earth†21 and Benedick claims he will die a bachelor and will not be â€Å"converted and see with (the) eyes (of love)† only if he met the perfect woman which, as he describes, is quite an impossible scenario. It is important to note Shakespeare's placement of this scene exactly before the one with the deception so we can contrast the two views, before and after the deception. The difference is crystal clear, Beatrice says â€Å"Benedick, love on. I will requite thee†22and that â€Å"(her) kindness shall incite (him) to bind (their) loves up in a holy band†23. Benedick says that he â€Å"will be horribly in love with her†24 and that when he said he would rather die a bachelor than fall in love (the scene before) he didn't think he would live until he was married. We notice the same with Wilmore from The Rover. His whole life got turned around in the last scene with Helena when she convinced him to marry her and putting his past perpetually-amorous life behind him. He forgets his old ways and he is no longer the sexed up â€Å"Father Captain†25 who tries to rape Florinda†¦twice and is continuously rejected by almost every female character in the play! His promise which is â€Å"the bargain is now made†26 is his everlasting goodbye to women and a welcome mat to the woman. He is completely self-deceived. Another similar example is Fredrick: at the beginning of the play we feel he has an unnatural distrust in women. He seems to warn every one of his friends about women, he even tries to get in on the action when Blunt tries to rape Florinda†¦a barbarous revenge. Claudio also deceives himself into believing he is in love with Hero when really he has not even met her. He falls in love with her because of his esteemed first impression of her and mainly because she looks like a pure, good virgin which was considered of great importance in Elizabethan England, a girls honour was entirely based on her chastity, if she loses that she would â€Å"lose all social standing† which is why the second thing he asks about her is â€Å"is she not a modest young lady?†.Don Pedro also deceives himself in thinking his brother, john the bastard has been washed clean and is now a clean and changed man. In reality he is the villain and the person behind ev ery harmful deception in the play. The two plays both exhibit deception in the most ambidextrous of ways. It is both malevolent and benevolent, in the sense that the plays end happily through all the obstacles that have been set throughout it.

Theme Of Independence In The Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin

Freedom and Independence for All Kate Chopin is the author of many short-stories and novels. Her short story, â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† is about a woman named Mrs. Louise Mallard with a fragile heart that suddenly and unexpectedly loses her husband in a train accident. Throughout the story, Mrs. Mallard learns to embrace the accident because for her it meant she finally obtained freedom from her demanding life that she has been wanting to break away from. Freedom and independence is one of the themes of â€Å"The Story of an Hour† and appears in the story when Mrs. Mallard learns that her husband is in a train accident, when she secludes herself from everyone in her room, and when she learns that her husband is actually alive. The first instance†¦show more content†¦After she learns she has this freedom, she secludes herself from everyone in the house so that she can take it in and enjoy it. The theme of freedom and independence is also present when Josephine tries to coax Mrs. Mallard out of her room, fearful that she is hurting herself and making herself ill. Mrs. Mallard retires to her room to be alone and to think about everything her sister told her. She begins to daydream about her new life and what it could be like. Chopin says, â€Å"When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free!’. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome† (237). While Mrs. Mallard sits in her room, she begins to feel something that she has never felt before in her life. She feels free, and she adores that feeling. She no longer has to rely on her husband or think about what he will say to her because he is no longer in her life. In an article by Tseng it says, â€Å"The most interesting part of the story depicts the heroine’s experience of ecstasy while contemplating her newfound life of freedom† (29). While she is in her room, she dreams of what her life will be like now that she has her own life and independence. It is when Mrs. Mallard begins to acquaint herself with this freedom that her dreams suddenly come to a halt. The final place that the theme of freedom and independence appears in the storyShow MoreRelatedThe Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin886 Words   |  4 Pages In Kate Chopin â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, the reader is presented with the theme of prohibited independence. In Kate Chopin â€Å"The Storm†, the scenery in this story builds the perfect atmosphere for an adulterous affair. The importance of these stories is to understand the era they occurred. Kate Chopin wrote stories with exceptional openness about sexual desires. In â€Å"The Storm†, a short story written by Kate Chopin in a time when women were expected to act a certain way and sexual cravings was consideredRead MoreThe Life and Works of Kate Chopin1569 Words   |  6 PagesKate wrote two novels and hundreds of short stories. Few of her stories were â€Å"Story of an Hour† and â€Å"The Awakening†. One of Kate Chopins most famous stories is the Story of an Hour. In the story Chopin was brave enough to challenge the society in which she lived because in the first half of the 19th century, women were not allowed the freedoms men enjoyed i n the judgments of the law, the church or the government. This famous short story showed the conflict between the social traditional requirementsRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin1540 Words   |  7 PagesIn Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, the main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard, is a woman with a heart problem that gets horrifying news that her husband has passed away in a train crash. When she starts thinking about her freedom, she gets excited; she is happy to start her new, free life. However, a few hours later her husband walks in the door and she finds out it was all a mistake. When she realizes her freedom is gone her heart stop and she then dies. In â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† Desiree is an orphanedRead MoreThe Storm And The Story Of An Hour Comparison Essay847 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Story of an Hour† Katherine O’Flaherty was born in St.Louis, Missouri on February 8,1850. Katherine was considered one of the first 20th century feminist authors. Katherine evolved most of her work as being an American novelist and a short story writer, also a feminist literary movement artist. When her husband died was really a profound writer. By the age of 49 Flaherty was best known for her novel (The Awakening) also a feminine role book. In 1894 she wrote a short story (The Story of anRead MoreAnalysis Of Kate Chopin s Story Of An Hour993 Words   |  4 PagesIrony in â€Å"Story of an Hour† In Kate Chopin’s short story â€Å"Story of an Hour†, Irony, or the expression of meaning that traditionally indicates the contrary of what is expected, plays a huge role in deciphering the theme and underlying motifs of the story that takes the reader through the hour of Mrs. Mallard’s life after her husband supposedly dies. Through Irony, Kate Chopin effectively portrays the forbidden joy of independence (SparkNotes Editors). The theme is portrayed by the author’s emphasisRead MoreIn The Life And Writings Of Kate Chopin And Mary E. Freeman,1343 Words   |  6 Pagesthe life and writings of Kate Chopin and Mary E. Freeman, how can you see the obvious cry for women to have an equal status in a man’s world? Chopin and Freeman lived in a time when men dominated women; a woman’s job was to marry, have a home, and raise children. Women were their husband’s property and law did not protect them if they were abused. (Plaza) Owning land, making financial decisions, and voting was among the many things women could not do. Freeman and Chopin both used their literaryRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin919 Words   |  4 Pagesthe title states, â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin, is a story that takes place in a very brief period of time. The story revolves around a married woman, Louise Mallard, who is troubled both mentally and physically. Several other characters are present, such as Josephine, Mr. Mallard, and Richard, but play a limited role in the story. Mrs. Mallard is used to bring about a feminist theme in a time where women were viewed as invalidated until taking a husband. This story makes an effort to showRead MoreKate Chopin: A Woman Ahead of He r Time Essay1390 Words   |  6 Pages Kate Chopin a Woman Ahead of Time In the 1800s married women had to submit to their husbands. Woman who got married had no voice with law. This meant their husbands would have to take legal action for them. Wives did not have any rights to their own property, and they would not have right to wages they earn. But these started to change through feminist women who raised their voice against men. Even though the feminist movement started in the 1960s, there were women ahead of this time thatRead MoreRole of Conflict Essay1355 Words   |  6 PagesWilliams Role of Conflict The two stories I chose were â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin and â€Å"The Carnival Dog, the Buyer of Diamonds† by Ethan Canin. Both conflicts have similar ideas, which can be compared and contrasted as I have below. These elements include theme, setting and characters. The first element to discus is theme. In â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin the theme is the self-independence of women. In the beginning of the story, the main character, Louise Mallard mournsRead More â€Å"Stylistic Techniques in Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour† 1108 Words   |  5 Pagesand engaging a piece of literature possesses the power to create a substantial contribution. One such great writer, Kate Chopin often wrote about an alternative way of thinking in regards to a women’s position in the 19th Century. Chopin was well known for some of the most shaping feminist stories and novels during her time. Accordingly, in her short story â€Å"The Story of an Hour† Chopin tells the tale of Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to the death of her husband, instead of fearing the forlorn widow years