Discuss the theme of dream and reality in The Metamorphosis by Franz Essay

Discuss the theme of dream and reality in The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka - Essay Example Samsa also finds an apartment for the family to live in. "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from a troubled dream he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous insect. He was lying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his dome-like brown belly divided into corrugated segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, flickered and shimmered helplessly before his eyes. There is a wonderful rhythmic sound to this dreamy narrative passage. Gregor is half-asleep and gradually realizes that the transformation is indeed real and no nightmare. It also occurs to him that he still retains his human memories and human cognitive capacity, which means that the transformation is incomplete (Grà ¼nbein). "Ach Gott, he thought, what an exhausting job Ive picked on! Traveling about day in, day out. Many more anxieties on the road than in the office, the plague of worrying about train connections, the bad and irregular meals, casual acquaintances never to be seen again, never to become intimate friends. The hell with it all!† The metamorphosis, though shocking and striking, is yet grounded in reality. For example, when we go to bed everyday in new surroundings, we are expect to feel a moment of surprise on waking up - a sudden sense of unreality, and this experience must occur repeatedly over in the life of a traveling salesman. It is the sort of thing that makes any sense of continuity in life impossible, as the sense of reality depends upon continuity, upon duration. Also, awakening as a gigantic insect is similar in effect to awakening as Julius Caesar or Benjamin Franklin (Preece 23). Kafka brings about a sardonic tone to the narrative by using a broad range of literary devices. The

Debating public Policy Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Debating public Policy - Term Paper Example The researcher is of the view that decision making in public policy is an engineered process that reflect the motive and paradigm set by decision maker. Moreover, policymaking decisions are controlled activities which often reflect the political motives. Decision in policymaking, according to Deborah Stone is a process which involves an actor (an individual, firm or organization or entity) who chooses to take course of action in order to achieve the desired end. The actor follows mental operational steps including: defining of goals, imagining alternative means for attaining them, evaluating the consequences, and choosing the alternative that is most likely to achieve desired goal (Stone 233). While these steps represent an organized process, decision makers often disregard their implementation in the exact sequence. Some of the reasons include the emphasis on ends versus means, welfare versus utility of the public, and so on. Policymakers therefore often skip the initial stages, and work their way from the bottom - that is from the goals towards the alternatives and their consequences. The main aim of policy decision is to maximize the total welfare instead of focusing on a chosen few within the community (Stone 234). After all, the purpose of a public policy is to promote the welfare of the society. Regardless of the consequences to a small number of individuals, decisions pertaining to the welfare of a community should be a reflection of the choice of the individuals. What use is the policy decision to the society if it only serves a chosen few? Thus, the public decision maker is a "servant" to the objective of the society, and the decisions made should reflect the choices and preferences of the individuals (Stokey and Zeckhauser 258). However, reality it is different. In a multicultural environment such as in the United States, it is difficult to holistically achieve complete consensus of

Knowing Your Audience & Communication Release Assignment

Knowing Your Audience & Communication Release - Assignment Example In the case of the mining accident, it is clear that the families of the victims would be suffering from acute emotional trauma. They want as much information as they can but are afraid of receiving any devastating information. When writing for the families of victims, the journalist should stick to the pertinent details and should provide as much accurate information as he can. Also the writer should not mention any gory details that would further disturb the families at this time. The tone should be emphatic and the language needs to be simple and clear. Another kind of audience in the case of the mining accident is the employees that work in the mine. These employees have to be notified since they have a right to know about the accident and are losing confidence in the organization’s safety measures. In this case, the writer should strive for honesty. The facts should be accurately presented and employees should be aware of the reasons behind the accident. They also have to be reassured that accidents happen in most organization s and often even the best safety measures fail. The tone of the message should be neutral and honest. Since the employees are aware of the technical terms, jargons could be used. Following a cave-in of the San Josà © copper mine located in northern Chile on August 5, 33 workers have been trapped in the mine. The owner of the mine Minera San Esteban along with the government have immediately opened rescue attempts through drilling holes in the mine, located 300 meters underground. On account of the immediate rescue attempts being installed, it has been expected that the trapped workers will be rescued within the shortest period of time. In this moment of pain, the President and the entire community of Chile wishes to extend support and sympathy to the family. It is understandable that the

Impressionism And The Work Of Debussy

Impressionism And The Work Of Debussy Debussy was a tonal trailblazer; a musical pioneer who revolutionised not only French music at a time when it was stagnating and receding from the world stage, but the entire Western musical tradition as well. Almost all subsequent styles which followed were either directly or indirectly affected by his originality, for example jazz, atonality and minimalism. After Debussys significant contribution to the repertoire nothing, to iterate a clichà ©, was ever the same again in musical terms. Nevertheless, it is precisely his striking innovation which has rendered Debussy so difficult to categorise. Musicologists encounter no trouble in labelling Mozart a Classical composer or Liszt a Romantic, yet how to catalogue Debussys oeuvres has presented critics with a conundrum for many decades; and is one, as yet, without a universally accepted solution. The most widely-utilised term in reference to the composers compositions is without doubt Impressionism, and is widely accepted by those who do not study music, and also by some who do, as a sole definition of his works. But can this label really encompass a compositional career that spans so many different styles and innovations? This essay will endeavour to answer this question, and to prove that Impressionism alone is not a fair assessment of Debussys music; that he is, despite there being characteristics from a number of aesthetic movements found in his works, almost impossible to classify. Debussys second envoi de Rome precipitated the first ever appearance of the tag Impressionism regarding his works. In a criticism of his orchestral and vocal piece Printemps (1887), the Secretary to the Acadà ©mie des Beaux-Arts opined: One has the feeling of musical colour exaggerated to the point where it causes the composer to forget the importance of precise construction and form. It is to be strongly hoped that he will guard against this vague impressionism, which is one of the most dangerous enemies of truth in works of art. This was a gross misunderstanding and misreading of Debussys intentions, and one which has stuck tenaciously and erroneously ever since. Before the reasons why this is such a misnomer is discussed, it must be acknowledged that it is possible to describe some of Debussys music as Impressionistic. Impressionism was first applied to painting as a label as a consequence of Claude Monets painting Impression, soleil levant (1872). Impressionism was a subsidiary of the wider notion of Realism. Stefan Jarocinski encapsulates the movement impeccably, explaining that Impressionists were concerned with seizing the image of a reality which had not yet been deformed by the intervention of the intelligence and wanted to create a pure impression; that is, unblemished by the sphere of intellect. The Impressionists, in short, were purveyors of sensuality. It must be understood that labelling Debussy in such terms is not entirely invalid. Although he was composing largely after the heyday of the Impressionist painters (the 1860s, 70s and 80s), some of his compositions (namely La mer [1903-05] and Images [1904-08]) do display qualities and tendencies associated with this movement. Debussy himself wrote to the editor of the La revue musicale, Emile Vuillermoz, in 1916, saying: You do me a great honour by calling me a pupil of Claude Monet. It is true to say that a number of the composers artistic principles correspond to those expressed or implied by the Impressionists. For instance, during a rehearsal for the premiere of La mer (1903-05), in answer to conductor Chevillard who had expressed confusion at Debussys specified tempo differing from that of the previous day, the composer replied: but I dont feel music the same way every day. On a wider level, this statement can be interpreted as being compatible with the common Impressionist pr actice of painting the same scene at different times of the day (for example, Monets Water Lilies or Haystacks). Several painters of the movement in question were inspired by similar stimuli as Debussy. A prime example of this is their admiration of Japanese artist Hokusai, whose celebrated woodblock print appeared on the cover page of La mer (1903-5), as stipulated by Debussy. Like the Impressionist painters, again, he made frequent use of water as an inspiration for his compositions. See below a juxtaposition of Sisleys Watermill at the Bridge of Moret in Winter (Ex. 1, 1893) and an extract from Debussys Reflets dans leau from the first volume of Images (Ex. 2, 1905). Note how the rising and falling semitone figure is an evocation of the ebbing and flowing movement of the water. Ex. 1 Ex. 2 In summary, Stefan Jarocinski, despite disagreeing with the application of the term in reference to Debussy, hails Impressionism as the supremacy of musical colour over form and design, an assertion that could certainly describe his musical convictions of other elements subservience to tone colour and the rejection of accepted traditional forms and harmonic principles. Even his biographer, Louis Laloy, claims that Debussys music is a purely auditory music, just as Impressionist painting is entirely visual. However, even Debussys so-called Impressionist pieces cannot be described as exclusively affiliated with this movement. For instance La mer (1903-05), although its depiction of the sea is obvious in its music as well as its title, cannot merely be interpreted as an entirely visual sensory experience, without connotation. As pianist Paul Roberts writes, the sea has often been used to represent themes of love and femininity. The time at which it was written was one of emotional upheaval for Debussy, as he left his wife Lilly Texier for another, Emma Bardac. Equipped with this knowledge, it seems that La mer occupied a deeper, psychologically cathartic purpose that lies beyond the intentions of the Impressionist painters. The Acadà ©mies comments on Debussys Printemps, and by extension, his other works, is an inaccurate, reactionary and narrow evaluation based on musical conservatism. The label, as argued by E. Robert Schmitz, has been detrimental to status of the composers works ever since. He laments that it has resulted in innumerable flawed and misguided performances with use of excessive pedal. His compositions are in fact anything but vague; they are precise and fastidious. In addition, conversely to the common misconception that his piano pieces are indistinct and laden with pedal use, he actually utilises the piano in a masterly way which shows a deep understanding of the instrument and its parameters. In contradiction to the common misconception as outlined by Schmitz, his music is often percussive rather than vague, for example the opening bars of La sà ©rà ©nade interrompue (Ex. 3, from Prà ©ludes, Book 1, 1909-10), which imitates a Spanish guitar, emphatically staccato. Further analyse s of his works reveal the use of Golden Sections, displaying a precision and mathematical element to his compositions that is quite extraordinary. Ex. 3 It must also be noted that Debussy himself rejected the unfortunate label assigned to him, as expressed in a letter to his publishers in 1908: I am trying to do something different in a way, realities what the imbeciles call impressionism, a term which is as poorly used as possible, particularly by art critics. Regarding this, it could be interpreted that the composer disagreed with the label itself rather than the aesthetic, as reality is precisely what the Impressionists hoped to convey. However, one must concede that if the composer wasnt himself happy with the term, and if his music rarely displays qualities which are characteristic of the movement, then it is accurate to say that defining Debussy as an Impressionist is not a valid categorisation. Almost as commonly circulated a term in reference to Debussy is Symbolism. This is a much fairer assessment of his music. The movement, which has its origins in the writings of Charles Baudelaire, grew quickly in Paris during the latter half of the nineteenth century. In brief, Symbolism was a reaction against Realism, and can be seen as almost the antithesis of Impressionism. Its followers were concerned with externalising, through the means of art, the internal, and often infernal, world of the mind, dreams and the supernatural. There is unimpeachable evidence to align Claude Debussy with Symbolism. To begin with, it was a movement rooted in literary origins. Debussy, despite being largely uneducated in any discipline but music, was well-read and had a passion for literature that permeated through to his compositions. His strongest influences were words and writers rather than the visual arts (although Symbolism wasnt exclusively a literary movement; it existed in art too). Debussy gravitated towards Symbolist beliefs, and forged close friendships with notable figures associated with the movement, such as Paul Bourget and Stà ¨phane Mallarmà ©, whose literary salon he was a regular attendee of. Much of his music was overtly Symbolist in character. Prà ©lude à   laprà ¨s-midi dun faune (1892-94), the orchestral tone poem that took his recognition to a new level entirely, is based on a poem by Mallarmà ©. Its whimsical flute opening (Ex. 4) is tonally and rhythmically ambiguous, portraying the indistinct dreams of the eponymous faun; a central theme in Symbolist philosophy. Ex. 4 There is plenty of non-musical evidence to support Debussys affiliation with the Symbolist movement. In 1901 he began to write for a Symbolist periodical, La Revue blanche, and his Chansons de Bilitis (1897-8), as well as their words being written by Debussys close friend and Symbolist Pierre Louà ¿s, was published by Librairie de lart indà ©pendant, a Symbolist publisher. Mediaevalism, or to be more accurate, pseudo-Mediaevalism, a core Symbolist credence, is prevalent in many works. The imitation of monastic organum music (Ex. 5) in the opening bars of La cathà ©drale engloutie (From Prà ©ludes, Book 1, 1909-10) is a prime example, as is the fact that Pellà ©as et Mà ©lisande (1893-5), is set in Allemonde (literally Other World), an imagined Mediaeval setting. Ex. 5 Pellà ©as et Mà ©lisande (1893-5), Debussys only opera, based on a play by writer Maurice Maeterlinck, heralds the zenith of his association with the Symbolist movement. It makes frequent use of symbolism (for example hair to depict eroticism; light and shade to provide conceptual symbols of doomed love). Parallels can be drawn with Wagner, whom Symbolists admired ardently, and who influenced Debussy greatly in the earlier years of his compositional career. Both Wagners Tristan and Isolde (1875-9) and Pellà ©as are tragedies, use leitmotivs and have common themes of love and death. Debussy was as enthusiastic a supporter of his predecessor as any Symbolist, having visited Bayreuth in 1888 and 1889. However, his Wagnerism and Symbolism waned soon after the first performance of Pellà ©as. Furthermore, in 1893 he declared his intention to write an article entitled The Futility of Wagnerism which, although it never materialised, suggests a marked shift in his values. This is why it i s as invalid to describe Debussys music exclusively in terms of Symbolism as it is Impressionism. Both labels represent only a fraction of his artistic output and fail to acknowledge that between Pellà ©as and La mer, a change occurred in his music that was reliant on neither poets nor artists, which could suggest that his own unique voice was finally established after years of musical exploration. In 1889 Debussy had an experience which was to significantly alter the nature of his compositions. During a visit to the Universal Exposition he encountered the sound of the Javanese gamelan for the first time. The pentatonic tonality he heard was to be incorporated into some of his most celebrated compositions, for instance in Pagodes from the piano triptych Estampes (1903), whose blue and gold cover evoking Japan, as well as music exemplifies the Exoticism that the composer incorporated into so many of his pieces. Debussys love of Spain filters through in the second movement, Soirà ©e dans Grenade, in which a habanera rhythm underpins the piece (Ex. 6). As well as Exoticism, it can be interpreted that Debussys music contains elements of the Pre-Raphaelite movement (La damoiselle à ©lue, 1887-8, the text of which was written by Dante Gabriel Rossetti) and even the Romantics (there are sometimes common themes between their beliefs and ideas expressed in Debussys compositions, for e xample escaping by means of travel and antiquity). Ex. 6 Debussy himself christened all labels useful terms of abuse, recognising the arbitrary nature of inflicting any sort of category upon his works. As Paul Dukas wrote in 1901: his music is unclassifiable. Debussy was a radical who defies classification because he is so different to his predecessors and encompasses so many different styles and movements, which is why musicologist encounter such difficultly in trying to pigeonhole him. Beethoven is often described as being both Classical and Romantic. Debussy was also a giant amongst composers in this sense, constructing a bridge between tradition and modernity and liberating harmonic convention. He instigated a musical transition; pre-empted the future. His legacy is far too great to describe in such narrow a term as Impressionism.

Characterization in Sister Carrie Essay -- Sister Carrie Essays

Characterization in Sister Carrie      Ã‚   The theme of unrequited love and unfulfilled ambitions, against a backdrop of a nation being transformed by industrialism and capitalism, provides the substance of Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie.   During the late 19th Century we encounter three main characters who demonstrate this underlying motif:   Carrie Meeber, Charles H. Drouet, and George W. Hurstwood.   Carrie will fulfill many of her desires for riches and success, but her insatiable appetite will leave her feeling dissatisfied at the end of the novel and all alone.   With respect to the two men who most covet her affections, Charles Drouet and George Hurstwood we have a study in contrasts.   About the only thing Drouet and Hurstwood have in common is that they both desire Carrie's love.   Both Drouet and Hurstwood love Carrie, but Drouet is a materialist and Hurstwood is a romanticist - a fact that will enable Drouet to survive the loss of Carrie as Hurstwood commits suicide over the loss.    From early in the novel we see Drouet established as a representative of the new America - industrialism, capitalism, and nouveau riche successes.   When Carrie meets Drouet on the train, his manners and fine dress impress her but they are only a cover for an identity that believes he needs to impress others to be successful.   In other words, Drouet's manners and attitudes are put on like so many new clothes, discarded when they no longer fit his purposes.   However, it is exactly these superficial qualities that impress Carrie Meeber, a young woman on her way to Chicago to make her way in the world.   Carrie eventually succumbs to the clothes, money, and housing Drouet lavishes on her, but it is her desires and his money that unite them ... ... to escape the reality of their lives through material pursuits.   Hurstwood cannot do so and as a result succumbs to this inability in the face of such heartaches and losses.      WORKS   CITED          Eby, C. V.   Cultural and historical contexts in Sister Carrie.   Univ. of Pennsylvania Library.   Available: http://www. library.upenn.edu/special/dreiser/scculhist.html, 2001: 1-5. Moers, E.   The Blizzard.   In Sister Carrie.   Edited by Donald Pizer, (2nd edit.).   New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1991: 525-533. Dreiser, T.   Sister Carrie.   Edited by Donald Pizer, (2nd edit.).   New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1991. Warren, R. P.   Sister Carrie.   In Sister Carrie.   Edited by Donald Pizer, (2nd edit.).   New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1991: 534-542. 1                                                

‘The Pit and The Pendulum’ by Edgar Allan Poe and ‘An Encounter’ by James Joyce Essay

An analytical study of ‘The Pit and The Pendulum’, ‘An Encounter’ and ‘The Pedestrian’, focusing on the themes of paralysis, entrapment and isolation The texts chosen for this study are: ‘The Pit and The Pendulum’ by Edgar Allan Poe and ‘An Encounter’ by James Joyce which, I feel, are appropriate as they provide comprehensive coverage of the themes analysed whilst managing to cover a historical period of some seventy years1. Poe’s piece is a dark, Gothic work which deals, in great depth, with the notion of both mental and physical paralysis encompassed in an entrapping and isolated atmosphere. Joyce, on the other hand, takes a characteristically more diverse and subtle approach to the concept of paralysis, cunningly concealing the theme within the stagnant surroundings of his Dublin. Verbal ‘entrapment’ is furthermore offered in the form of a dubious elderly man. The story ‘An Encounter’ by James Joyce amply exhibits many stylistic features associated with the modernist author – for example the use of epiphany or writing through first person narrative, with inner monologue to highlight the consciousness of the protagonist and also subtly divulge the feelings of others to the perhaps more ‘aware’ readership. However, Poe, on the contrary, chooses to play the cards of shock and terror in a style which is far more explicit and gruesome in comparison with Joyce’s incorporation of ambiguity. The theme of paralysis is key to Joyce’s work – the notion is implicit throughout Dubliners as a whole. With this idea comes its antithesis – escape – or with respect to ‘An Encounter’ and many of the other stories, thwarted escape. It is because of the character’s desire to achieve this freedom, that when the day fails to reach its high expectations, the stagnation and restrictiveness of the surroundings are powerfully reinforced – perhaps even confirmed. From the outset of the tale, Joyce ponders the notion of escape. Characters searching for such an escape, often describe how they would wish to travel afar to achieve it. So important, it seems, is this idea that the protagonist of the initial story of Dubliners, can be quoted of aspiring to exotic, foreign fantasy: ‘I felt that I had been very far away, in some land where the customs were strange – in Persia, I thought.’ This feeling is openly exhibited in ‘An Encounter’, as Joyce’s first person narrator states; ‘Real adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad.’ In the story, Joyce develops the theme in the form of an inner monologue – the thoughts of the protagonist dictating how his ‘Wild West’ adventures ‘opened doors of escape’. The method used is quite customary of the author- the thought processes of the boy (relating to escape) are ultimately what drive the tale, yet Joyce quietly conveys them through subtle, nondescript details. Joyce’s relationship with his hometown appears, like his works, slightly ambiguous. He may often be quoted of his distaste for the stagnant city2, succeeding in displaying it with an absence of enthusiasm, as a moribund, non-eventful hive. However, one feels that on reflection, after reading his work a subtle affection is undoubtedly apparent – perhaps Joyce’s time spent in exile3 incubated an innate longing for the city – Dublin’s entrapment being, perhaps, what fuelled this fascination with the petty happening of the city? Joyce’s relationship with the theme of entrapment in Dubliners is essential to the text: at times he appears intent, at others repelled. ‘An Encounter’ deals with methods of escape other than exotic foreign adventure, focusing on the attempt of two boys to ‘break out of the weariness’ of their everyday environment. Although, at first the prospect of adventure excites the young boys, there is constant undertone of anti-climax carefully intertwined into the story. Joyce writes from the first person point view, often through analepsis. It is perhaps because of this that a frequent air of frustration pursues the young schoolboys – it is as if the story is being recalled by a man embittered by the ‘restraining’ and ultimately paralysed city of Dublin. Quite often Joyce refuses to commit any fervent emotion to events, preferring to use lacklustre qualifying adverbs or adjectives; ‘†¦ We were all vaguely excited†¦ it was a mild sunny morning’ Joyce intently chooses to focus in on the most insipid details, usually choosing to focus on empirical sense experience – such as Mahoney’s grey suit or the ‘brown4 fishing fleet’- which works to suppress the buoyant atmosphere. This notion is also relative to the descriptive mood, which the author quite purposely generates through negative evocation of certain aspects: ‘†¦ The docile horses†¦ the drivers of groaning carts.’ This process of qualification through modifiers generates a subdued atmosphere parallel to that of the jaded inner-consciousness of the protagonists. The negativity which is now apparent in almost everything encountered appears to be an entrapping agent over the boys, who sulk into a resigned and somewhat resentful state, a state which is furthermore reiterated by the repetition of the adverb ‘too’: ‘It was too late and we were too tired to carry out our project of visiting the Pigeon House.’ Joyce has succeeded in presenting Dublin as an impotent city of circularity and entrapment. He is now anxious to erase the protagonist’s claim; ‘I was very happy’, from the audience’s memories, introducing words such as ‘solemn’, ‘sedulous’ and eventually even denotes the character’s thoughts as ‘jaded’. There is constant, yet suitable repetition of the adjective ‘tired’ – the day has become tedious, adventure and escape have proved elusive, and the encounter of a less than legendary sea-farer has confirmed that the protagonist will not find merriment in Dublin, forever doomed to live in the fantasies of comic book and literature. However, despite its lack of event, the day does provide the boys with one notable incident. Aspirations of escape having been superseded, Joyce begins a new paragraph focusing primarily on the silence and ‘stillness’ of the eventual situation: ‘There was nobody but ourselves in the field. [We had] lain on the bank for some time without speaking’. Through creating such an ominous, yet ‘dying’ atmosphere – sentences slowly becoming shorter, more concise (defeating imaginative possibility as displayed by the boys hitherto) and less picturesque use of vocabulary – Joyce signals the need for new themes to be introduced. He achieves this through the introduction of a curious elderly antagonist. The old man introduces the possibility of in-depth monologue and direct speech. In the conversation with the boys, he seemingly manages to entrap the young protagonist with his reference to literature – a topic of known interest to the boy – and also through cunningly incorporating a sinister ‘circular’ approach. Joyce is very keen to exploit the idea of circularity in his work and in this piece, the ‘monotonous’ voice of the antagonist and the way his voice ‘slowly circles round and round in the same orbit’, help to achieve the spellbinding quality of the man. This technique paralyses the narrator, who seemingly allows the man to give a discourse in the form of a monologue – mainly due to his apparent inability to interrupt. The politeness evident in the boy’s character is in hindsight, far from being useful. Joyce implicitly airs his personal views on the expensive Jesuit schooling that the protagonist has been subject to by placing the boy in a situation of danger. The resultant irony – learnt social skills being a hindrance – also helps highlight Joyce’s disregard for the church and its establishments. The worrying feature of the man’s discourse is the implicitly perverse way in which he speaks. He frequently refers to the ‘whipping’ of young boys, with one feels, over-excitable ardour. Joyce establishes the man’s odd approach through primarily using such adjectives as ‘magnetised’ and ‘circle’ in reference to his thought process. This creates the impression that he is intent on the subject. Secondly, a section of reported speech is introduced; ‘When a boy was rough and unruly there was nothing would do him any good but a good sound whipping†¦ what he wanted was to get a nice warm whipping.’ Joyce emphasises the mans positive outlook on the subject through the use of a positive lexical range; there is repetition of the word ‘good’ – firstly as a noun, secondly as an adjective – and also use of the adjective ‘nice’, which appears somewhat misplaced when used in conjunction with the concept of whipping. The protagonist’s isolation from sympathetic intellectuals due to young age means he is quick to warm to the old man when he talks of literature. In the epiphany, he even appears isolated from his closest friend, Mahoney, and it appears to me that the epiphany of the piece (from the young boy’s perspective) confirms that the older man has had a profound influence on his views – both intellectually and sexually. It appears that after entrapment, the isolation of the naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve child has left him susceptible to corruption and the ‘encounter’ has left the boy and the audience with the idea (with undoubted authorial intent) that the world is not such an innocent place. Such mental metamorphosis is more openly explicit in Edgar Allen Poe’s work, no epiphanies are evident, yet a first person narrative works to convey the progressively tortured thoughts of the protagonist to the reader. ‘The Pit and The Pendulum’ is a piece typical of the nineteenth century ‘gothic horror’ genre. The main area of focus is that of psychological terror and mental torture of the protagonist, brought about through natural agents and physical entrapment and isolation. The style is typical of Poe, aesthetic – as opposed to scientific – and wholly grotesque. The piece is, in its simplest form, an account of the destruction of the protagonist’s psyche. Poe begins ‘in medias res’ by describing the trial of the man, the narrator intently focusing upon his gloomy and confused mental state. Syntax used is complex and verbose, helpfully describing the characters inner consciousness and displaying his tangled, entrapping thought processes. The lexical field and imagery employed is especially exotic and indulgent – Poe uses metaphorical language peppered with adverbs and adjectives as the candles before the man alter from ‘white slender angels’ to ‘meaningless spectres, with heads of flame’. Another technique which is commonly employed by Poe is that of repetition, in this particular story, Poe often relies on the syntactical position of verbs to gradually heighten tension, and prompt his audience. A good example of repetition may be found when the protagonist is awaiting his doom at the hands of the pendulum – each new paragraph commences with the preposition ‘down’: ‘Down – steadily down it crept†¦ Down – certainly relentlessly down!.. Down – still increasingly – still inevitably down!’ This repetition works to give extra strength to the nemesis and increase the tense, anxious and bleak atmosphere. The notion of ‘down’ is the most important in the authors mind, and the layout of the word on the page vividly reflects the terrifying motion of the blades descent and, more importantly, the ever more dejected mental state of the protagonist. A technique used by Poe – and also exhibited by Joyce- is that of prolepsis. The fact that the protagonist is often left thinking of what ‘may be’ suggests a certain degree of isolation – the surrounding atmosphere offering no apparent subjects for the character to focus on in the present. In ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’, Poe incorporates a feeling of perpetual unease into the thought processes of his protagonist. There are frequent examples of this which often come about directly before the ‘ghastly’ prospects of the character are realised; as in the heightened, almost hysterical language and excited syntax of: ‘The result of the slightest struggle, how deadly! Was it likely, moreover, that the minions of the torturer had not foreseen and provided for this probability? It is characteristic of Poe to use hyperbole, a technique which creates a melancholy, theatrical feeling – often seemingly increasing the grandeur. Hyperbole also escalates the terror and entrapment suffered by the protagonist, the indulgent language used portrays a somewhat exaggerated experience to the audience. This technique is supported by extensive use of adjective and adverb, commonly negative in effect, as when the protagonist is close to death by the pendulum; ‘The odour of the sharp steel forced itself into my nostrils. I prayed – I wearied heaven with my prayer for its more speedy descent. I grew frantically mad, and struggled to force myself upward against the sweep of the fearful scimitar. And then I fell suddenly calm, and lay smiling at the glittering death†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Psychological entrapment in the story is offered in the form of ‘The Pit’. To accomplish the desired atmosphere for such a tortured fate, Poe begins to describe the physical surroundings of the protagonist in some detail. The ‘subterranean world of darkness’ to which the man is instantly subject to is stereotypically associated with Poe’s genre of writing, the gloom becoming a perfect vehicle to carry an unnerving, mystifying atmosphere. Further concern for the antagonist is drawn from the constant reference to his ‘fatigued’ state and also the dangerously ‘moist and slippery’ characteristics of the chamber. The tension generated relies heavily on Poe’s use of syntax – the protagonist encounters ‘The Pit’ through a sequence of brief sentences: ‘I proceeded for many paces; but still all was blackness and vacancy. I breathed more freely.’ The length of the sentences and the fact that Poe does not feel it necessary to justify or convolute the thoughts of the protagonist – who currently sees his punishment as ‘[not] the most hideous of fates’ – represents relatively calm and clear thought processes. As the narrator becomes evermore aware of the horrific situation, Poe mirrors his mounting terror through increasingly complex syntax: ‘The difficulty, nevertheless, was but trivial; although, in the disorder of my fancy, it seemed at first insuperable.’ Poe’s evidently excessive accentuation of punctuation, creating furthermore verbose sentences, achieves a faster movement of thought and a growing sensation of confusion. Eventually, as the protagonist gradually uncovers the secrets of his confinement, a greater fear of entrapment and danger being incubated inside him is realised. Poe displays this through every quickening pace in complex sentences which are supported with dashes – giving the effect of total bemusement and terror in the protagonist, feelings which almost lead to the making of treacherous mistakes. Quite suddenly, with a simple sentence – perceptibly out of step with the ever-increasing complexity of the syntax – the climax of the character’s investigation is revealed; ‘I stepped on it, and fell violently on my face.’ With the inclusion of this short, astute sentence, Poe signals that complex syntax hitherto has given sufficient insight to the audience and that the tensi on has peaked. The fact that the piece is written in the form of a first person narrative always suggests – in a similar style to James Joyce’s reflective, possibly older narrator – that the protagonist is reminiscing about his exploits, and that ultimately the piece will not end in his death. This is, of course, the case when General Lasalle of the French army comes to the rescue. The ending is extremely interesting as Poe chooses, unlike the other events of the story, to dramatically reduce proceedings – deciding to summarise the rescue in a short paragraph. The said paragraph uses more restrained syntax – exclamation is succeeded by a simple statement which, in the context, appears almost bathetic. ‘The fiery walls rushed back!.. The French army had entered Toledo.’ It is not entirely clear why Poe has chosen to end the piece in an almost anticlimactic manner. Perhaps he chooses to condense the singular joyful occurrence of the narrative thus maintaining its stance as a work of horror. Many sources, however, maintain that the story’s closure was dictated by demanding time restrictions implemented by Poe’s publishers5. Another reason for Poe choosing a first person narrator is perhaps that this perspective gives us a stronger feeling of entrapment due to our constant awareness of the innermost feelings of the protagonist. The narrative does not, unlike a third person perspective, allow the audience to transcend the situation, providing direct access to the horror which is occurring on the page. There is also no direct speech in the story. This fact reinforces the idea of isolation in the way that the protagonist has no need to speak due to absolute solitude. The grotesque element of Poe’s work, which quite frequently works as a perversely aesthetic or romantic catalyst for the mental entrapment of the protagonist, is usually evident in the form of a tormentor drawn from nature.6 In ‘The Pit and The Pendulum’, psychological suffering is brought on by a swarm of rats. These animals bring negative connotation, as they are associated with such horror as The Plague. They are definitely an effective device which works to supplement the physical entrapment already being suffered by the protagonist at this time. At one point, Poe also uses ‘fearful images’ of skeleton forms and such, which ‘disfigure’ the surrounding walls. It is stated that these figures have been created by monks, suggesting that this environment is some kind of medieval building – not designed specifically for torture. It is therefore interesting to observe how Poe manages to alter these innocent images into emotionally petrifying fiends – working as the author will have wished, to terrify the protagonist and therefore, the readership. By introducing entrapment in the form of the wooden framework and hideous vermin, Poe has realised the importance of including both physical and metaphysical entrapment a work of the Gothic horror genre of which he is undeniably a master.    1 ‘The Pit and The Pendulum’ was first published in 1843 for a collection named The Gift, later (revised) for the Broadway Journal in 1985. ‘An Encounter’ – taken from Dubliners – was written in 1904 yet published 1914. 2 In a letter to his English publisher, Grant Richards, he claimed that his intention was ‘to write a chapter of the moral history of my country and I chose Dublin for the scene because that city seemed to me the centre of paralysis.’ (Letters, II, 134). 3 During the summer of 1904, Joyce and his new-found love Nora Barnacle left Ireland for Europe. At ‘An Encounter’s’ time of writing, it is most likely that Joyce was living in Pola – Croatia. 4 The use of the adverb ‘brown’ is also evident to the same effect in the story ‘Araby’. Entrapment is projected through the ‘brown imperturbable faces’ of the housing. 5 SEE NOTE

Famine, Affluence, and Morality Essay

In Peter Singer’s 1972 article titled â€Å"Famine, Affluence and Morality†, he suggests that wealthy nations have an ethical duty to contribute much more than they do to other nations who are suffering through a natural disaster, extreme poverty, famine or other issues. In this paper, I will describe Singers objective and give his argument with regards to this issue. I will describe three counter-arguments to Singer’s view which he addresses, and after that reveal Singer’s reactions to those counterarguments. I will explain Singer’s idea of marginal utility and also differentiate how it pertains to his argument. I will compare how the ideas of duty and charity alter in his suggested world. To conclude, I will provide my own position in response to Singer’s argument. The primary objective of Singer’s article is to express that we as people have the capacity to assist those in dire need as it is our moral duty to do so. He uses the disaster in East Bengal as an example. â€Å"Continuous poverty, a cyclone, and a civil war have turned a minimum of 9 million people into abandoned refugees; nonetheless, it’s not beyond the capability of the wealthier countries to provide sufficient help to decrease further suffering to very small proportions (Singer 1972). He thinks that there’s no reason at all for individuals to suffer if other people have the ability to assist and prevent it from happening or getting worse. It’s our moral responsibility to modify our way of living so as to achieve this important objective. They are overcrowded, hungry, dehydrated and need medical attention. Singer believes that we have the resources to decrease the suffering and pain yet we disregard the problem and do nothing at all, which can be immoral. We should modify our opinions of morality so as to develop a dedication to helping people in dire need. Singer provides counter-arguments in his work which I will talk about here. He offers his readers a scenario which involves a drowning kid and a witness. Most people would try to save the kid since it’s the â€Å"right† action to take. Singer proposes that this duty happens since lots of people know that a drowning kid is considered very bad and outweighs the fact they you have to get your clothes muddy and wet. The counter-argument in this situation proposes that because I am not the only individual seeing this event, why is it my duty to do something positive about it? Why must it be my ethical responsibility to assist this kid in case nobody else is doing anything regarding it? Singer explains, â€Å"In case it’s in our power to avoid something bad from occurring, without thereby compromising anything of comparable moral significance, we should, morally, to do it (1972). † He thinks that we are able to do what’s right however we should decide to do what’s right even when everybody else decides not to. Singer also touches on whether our moral responsibilities must be restricted to distance. The counter-argument in this instance proposes that because these suffering people are so far away, why is it my moral responsibility to help them instead of using it in my own area? According to Singer, â€Å"It makes no ethical difference whether the individual I can assist is a neighbor’s kid 10 yards from me or a Bengali whose name I shall never know, 10,000 miles away (pg. 232). † It’s still our moral obligation to do what’s right. Is it morally appropriate to discriminate against a suffering individual just due to their distance? Singer suggests, â€Å"In case we accept any rule of impartiality, universalizability, equality, or whatever, we can’t discriminate against somebody just because he is far away from us (or we are far off from him) (pg. 232)†. A person’s distance must not restrict our moral duties. Singer believes that everybody must give when it’s required. Many people are not contributing, so how much must I give without making myself or my loved ones worse off? The counter-argument here is whether to give more than can cause financial stuggle. He discusses the probability of contributing to the point of marginal utility. As Singer states â€Å"Because the situation seems to be that not many people are likely to give considerable sums, it makes sense that I and everybody else in similar conditions must give as much as possible, that is, at least up to the level at which by giving more one would start to cause acute suffering for oneself and one’s dependents-perhaps even beyond this level to the stage of marginal utility, at which by giving more one would cause oneself and one’s loved ones just as much suffering as one would prevent in Bengal† (pg. 234). To conclude, we all must give as much as possible so long as it doesn’t cause us to suffer in the process. Singer proposes that responsibility and charity is our ethical duty. We â€Å"ought† to assist unknown people in need of assistance if we are capable to and that it would be morally incorrect not to contribute. We must put on our old clothes instead of purchasing new ones just for the simple truth that you want to be well dressed. Duty and charity change in this future world since in this era, many people won’t give up certain luxuries so as to give to other people. Most people are selfish and would prefer to indulge in the finer matters in life rather than worry about contributing their hard earned bucks to other people in need of assistance. Individually, I support Singer’s point for many reasons. I do think that we must assist people in need when we are capable of doing so as long as it does not cause us to suffer financially. I agree that a few luxuries must be overlooked if it implies that a life can be saved. In case we were suffering or in an identical condition, would we wish or expect assistance? I agree that it’s the correct thing to do morally. I don’t believe that we must discriminate against a suffering person simply because that individual isn’t in our society. The life of an individual is invaluable and must come first of all. To conclude, Singer’s primary point is that it is our moral obligation to assist other people in times of need with regards to medical care, food, shelter or reconstruction. I agree that we must contribute our money and time to assist other people if it doesn’t create a bad impact on our own lives. In this era, lots of people are selfish as well as greedy and don’t usually stop to take into consideration other people in need of assistance. People need to understand that there are lots of people around suffering and may ultimately pass away if they don’t get the assistance they need as well as deserve. I agree that it is our moral duty to assist any person in urgent need even when it’s an individual thousands of miles away.