Hypocrisy of Mr. Garner and Mr. Bodwin in Toni Morrisons Beloved Essay

The Hypocrisy of Mr. Garner and Mr. Bodwin in Toni Morrison's Beloved   In Toni Morrison's novel Beloved, both Mr. Garner and Mr. Bodwin are presented initially as decent men, with views on the black race that differ from all the rest of the white men in the book. The readers first impression of each of these men is favorable. With further reading and thought however, the reader notices more and more details that tend to change their initial impression. By the end of the book both men seem to have lost their appeal. Even though there is very little said against Mr. Garner, and even less against Mr. Bodwin, it seems that Morrison was trying to cause very mixed opinions about each one of these characters. In the end, Mr. Garner seems no less racist than his fellow slave owners, and Mr. Bodwin, though opposed to slavery also appears to be much more racist than he lets on.   Mr. Garner is the owner of Sweet Home, the plantation where Sethe, her family, and others had been slaves before their escape. He is singled out from the rest of the white men right away. When his character is first introduced the narrator speaks of him fighting with other farmers about his slaves being men. "Now at Sweet Home, my niggers is men every one of em. Bought em thataway, raised em thataway. Men every one" he had told other farmers (Morrison 10). With this comment Mr. Garner was fishing for the reaction he loved to hear, "I wouldn't have no nigger men round my wife.", to which he'd retaliate "neither would I, neither would I"(11).   On the surface Mr. Garner is presented as a very admirable man. He "ran a special kind of slavery", Baby Suggs had thought, "treating them as paid labor" (140).   The way... ...s than noble. Both men seem to put on a mightier-than-thou air when in public, and try to appear as non-racist as possible. Yet Mr. Garner owns slaves, an obviously racist act, even if he does allow them more than other slave owners would. And Mr. Bodwin who claims to be against slavery, and has fought to end it, displays in his own house a figure that embodies slavery. It appears that the only difference between other slave owners and Mr. Garner, is that they don't try and hide their racism or pretend they're better than anyone else. Mr. Bodwin does not own slaves, and does not believe in the practice, but he is still racist as we can see from the figure in his house. Which of these is better? Who can say? But most people aren't fond of hipocrits. Works Cited Morrison, Toni. Beloved. Markham, Ontario: Penguin Books Canada Limited, 1987

Social Attitudes Toward Vietnam Veterans Essay -- Exploratory Essays R

Social Attitudes Toward Vietnam Veterans I have always been interested in the Vietnam War and the results of â€Å"the longest war in America.† Therefore, I have decided to examine the social attitudes toward Vietnam veterans. Since I feel so passionately about the way that Vietnam veterans are viewed, the purpose of my paper is to inform others about the way that the veterans have been criticized and misrepresented. Personally, I hope to gain a further understanding of the attitudes and views towards Vietnam veterans, especially since my father is a veteran. After reading my paper, I hope that my audience will walk away with more respect and reverence for those that fought in the Vietnam War and gave their lives for their country. My audience will consist of my peers, my professor, and any other person interested in learning more about the sentiment towards Vietnam veterans. My research has involved searching the Internet, going to the University Library and looking through books, and even interviewing my father, who fought in the Vietnam War. I have also examined the lyrics to Billy Joel’s ballad, â€Å"Goodnight Saigon.† Thus far, the most valuable sources have been a few books I took out from the library. These books include information about the history of the Vietnam War as well as about the aftermath. In addition, several of these books include powerful pictures and images from wartime to the present time. After examining the lyrics to Billy Joel’s song, â€Å"Goodnight Saigon,† I realized that it does not directly relate to my topic about the sentiment towards Vietnam veterans. However, it does provide a clear insight into the way the soldiers felt while they were fighting in Vietnam. At first I was unsure about the lyrics sin... ...port my beliefs about the changing social attitudes toward Vietnam veterans. As the writing process continues, I plan to gather more research materials such as new books and articles. The social attitudes towards Vietnam veterans has proven to be an extremely interesting subject to me and I hope that through my discussion of these views, my audience will gain a new understanding of some of the bravest and most heroic men of the century. Works Cited Doyle, Edward, et al. The Aftermath. The Vietnam Experience. Boston: Boston Publishing Co., 1985. Greene, Bob. Homecoming. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1989. Gustainis, J. Justin. American Rhetoric and the Vietnam War. Westport: Praeger Publishers, 1993. Joel, Billy. â€Å"Goodnight Saigon. â€Å" The Nylon Curtain. 1982. Katakis, Michael. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1988.

How Happy could Gay Men be in a Homophobic Society such as Ours Essay

Homosexuality is no longer an undisclosed idea amongst us, and their existence in our society is no longer a question to be raised. As we know, they enter the same shops we visit every now and then; they ride the same buses and subways we catch; they walk the same streets we tread everyday; they breathe the same air we do, all for one apparent reason: they are no less human than any of us in this society could possibly be. Despite the common knowledge we all have about the existence of these people who suddenly came out from the box, it still raises different reactions from the crowd of the so called â€Å"normal people†Ã¢â‚¬â€as the society itself may refer to it. While others have learned to accept the given fact that there is a possibility of alteration to the socially set standard of normality, such as this one on the area of gender, there are still some who just couldn’t practice the act of coexistence with these so called â€Å"new breeds. There are still people who religiously believe that the defiance of the â€Å"norm† such as crossing from one gender to another is absolutely unacceptable. Given this reality, a lot of attempts have been made to somehow sway these people out of their enclosed bubbles. Even media, one of the most influential elements in our society, took a step further by recognizing the existence of gays and lesbians in their projects themed after differe nt slices of life—like the top notching series Will & Grace, and the award-winning movie Philadelphia. With people’s warm embrace with the idea in moving pictures, it seemed no far from the possibility that they could, one way or another, welcome the idea in reality with open arms; the only question remaining is: how wide open could these people extend their arms based on what their televisions feed them? According to Marisa Conolly on her article entitled Homosexuality on Television: The Heterosexualization of Will & Grace in Print Media, despite the television show Will & Grace’s attempt to promote the â€Å"normality† of the existence of gay men in the society, the show wasn’t able to fully liberate the misunderstood bunch. Intentionally or not, certain limitations have been set by the said show, leaving unnecessary provisions among viewers which they could refer to in terms of classifying homosexuality unacceptable and acceptable for the public’s eyes. Generally, Will, one of the main characters of the said show who happens to play a part of a supposed homosexual, was somehow portrayed in a heterosexual manner; his mere association with Grace, a straight female character, shades the scene to a different color. Their supposed friendship was brought into a different heterosexual border of relationship, wherein platonic is brought into a twisted romantic angle—somehow portraying him caught in between the certainty of homosexuality and the tendency to lean on heterosexuality. Unfortunately, their possible interest to sell is totally negating the promotion of the other, thus making it more complicated for the viewers whether to absorb him as a subtle gay who simply seeks recognition, or as a male, in the middle of an identity crisis, still clinging on the idealism of heterosexuality through tricky dramatization of his relationship with a straight woman. The same idea was raised in the film Philadelphia by Jonathan Demme. On the said movie, instead weighing through the inconsistency of the perceived representation of character, the viewers are simply being caught in the middle of a life and death situation. Instead of making their viewers understand the real score within the extent of reality that the film itself is providing, they are subconsciously redefining pity as a substitute for this understanding. They have misused the forthcoming of death to the gay persona’s advantage by playing on it as if saying: â€Å"Hey, I am dying now of AIDS, and I am gay. Now that I will be leaving this mortal place soon, will you please have the compassion of accepting me for who I really am? † Personally, I don’t think that this is the proper way of educating the people because it is basically misleading. Though the two groups are closely knitted by its constant reception of seclusion from the society, it is unfair to define being gay no different from having AIDS. Being gay is not a deadly viral disease like AIDS; it is simply a way of life that is, more often than not, being misunderstood. Upon watching the film, I was left caught at the vagueness of Denzel Washington’s character. I thought at first that he will be the one responsible to set free Tom Hanks’ character, but by the end of the film, my hopes were dropped on the floor. His supposed homophobia, which I first thought will be the vital element he has as one of the lead character, somehow got lost in the latter part of the story. The issue tackled dealt mainly on Hanks’ viral illness and how most people generally react to it—giving the homosexuality issue, which is more widespread in reality, a weak standpoint. The common ground between the two different portrayals of gay men stated above is its tendency to seek for conditions before actually opening the idea of acceptance. For television sitcom Will & Grace, they sought for a subtle way to conform with the â€Å"norms† by partially heterosexualizing the gay character, while for the movie Philadelphia, they played with emotions, most specifically guilt, by bringing into their attention that death is an uneventful future for the character. Basically, in their own particular ways, they are always looking for certain loop holes to pull off gayness acceptable—meaning gayness itself defines no reason to stand on its own. In this case, their uncritical viewers tend to get accustomed in looking for such passages before they actually accept certain circumstances, which unfortunately not every gay man has. In the end, publication of ideas and slices of life such as these only implies that as time passed by the society is still keeping its doors closed to the recognition of homosexuality’s existence. Again it only shows the greatest weakness that any society has: a fear of the â€Å"unordinary. † They are not exactly liberation but rather a form of deception in order to switch the attention of the critical public regarding their claim for ample recognition to homosexuals. None of these moving images placed a dot at the end of the statement â€Å"we accept homosexuality†; instead, they only made the issue more complex than ever by adding up the condition â€Å"if and only if† to the said declaration. If the shows themselves couldn’t accept the fact that gay men exist, how could their viewers do? I could give credit for the attempt pull out gays and lesbians from their malicious-satirical stereotype of simply being unpleasant, loud and mischievous, but still, that doesn’t make it enough for me. Compassion may be the best way to seek approval, but seeking proofs out of the ordinary and passing it off as the best solution is nothing but a substandard achievement. Homosexuality isn’t actually an issue seeking for a special treatment; that will be way too much for a goal now that it couldn’t even reach the approval of being lined up on the average level. All gays and lesbians need is the chance to be treated in a normal way—no more and no less than how people accept heterosexuals—where in they are not shoved away as if they are infectious beasts. Since media started this crooked representation of homosexuality on screen in the first place, I believe that they will be the only one who could correct this. Next time they produce best selling stories about homosexuals on their reels, they should try taking away those â€Å"special cases† that tend to sensationalize their stories—like exploring Will’s manly side as a gay man and Hanks’ incurable illness. If they want to represent gay men as part of the normal sector in our society, then they could probably represent them as simple as being another friendly neighbor from the block without a semi-romantic relationship with a straight female, but rather a nonchalant relationship with another man, or a successful lawyer who need not die at the end of the story just to gain recognition for his success as a lawyer; instead, he could just be another lawyer who saved the day—roles as simple as that, just like most heterosexuals portray. In that way, it will seem to be more realistic and fair for these people who usually live under the shadow of our judgmental society.

Plot and central idea in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” Essay

Shirley Jackson’s, â€Å"The Lottery† concerns a small town’s annual lottery drawing and the grim circumstances that ensue. In this short but disturbingly profound piece of work, Shirley Jackson communicates to the reader the theme of scapegoatism along with its implications concerning traditions. In the village where this lottery takes place, we find many familiar elements: a post office, a grocery store, schools and a coal mine. In this village, Mr. Summers owns the coal mine, so his business has made him the wealthiest man in the village. Mr. Summers also controls the annual lottery. He is somewhat uncomfortable with his authority but has chosen to carry on with the yearly tradition. The order in which the lottery drawings take place emphasizes who does and who doesn’t have power in the village’s social hierarchy. Men or working sons draw for their families. The few exceptions involve death or illness. Only then is a wife permitted to draw. It is evident that although everyone eventually participates in this drawing (children included), women are disenfranchised from the village social structure. As the villagers anxiously wait for the lottery to begin, the young boys rough play and gather piles of stones, while the girls socialize in their circles, watching the boys. Agriculture is the main staple of this village and a great emphasis seems to be placed on the bountifulness of crops. This is reinforced by Old Man Warner, a long time resident of the town, when he cites the expression, â€Å"Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.† There is timid talk by Mr. and Mrs. Adams of nearby villages doing away with the lottery, but the notion is quickly abolished when Warner calls these new thinkers â€Å"a pack of crazy fools.† He sarcastically suggests that perhaps they would be better off if they succumbed to living in caves and eating â€Å"stewed chicken weed and acorns.† As far as Old Man Warner is concerned, there has always been a lottery. As Mr. Summers begins to address the town gathering, Mrs. Hutchinson shows up  late, hurriedly joining her husband and family. She claims to have almost forgotten what day it was. Once the drawing commences, Mrs. Hutchinson rushes her husband on when his turn comes to draw with the remark, â€Å"Get up there, Bill.† The reader gets the impression that Mrs. Hutchinson holds little respect for either Mr. Summers or the lottery. The last round of the lottery concludes with Mrs. Hutchinson drawing the slip with the feared â€Å"black spot.† As the town and her own family members move in on her with stones, she cries out several times, â€Å"It isn’t fair, it isn’t right.† Her cries go unheard and we are uneasily left to hope that the villagers were swift with their proceedings. In this story, Shirley Jackson illustrates how traditions are passed down to our children, who tend to do what they are told without asking or knowing why. By the time we are mature enough to question morality, as long as it â€Å"isn’t fair† or â€Å"it isn’t right† to us, we are more willing to accept the condition of our surroundings rather than promote change.

Renewable Energy Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Renewable Energy - Research Proposal Example The trend of FDI is common among developed countries of the world including the United States. In the US, technologies have been developed and utilized efficiently to meet the needs of renewable energy in the country (Nations, 2010). However, with the increasing population and their demands of daily use for home, businesses and transport, it has become important to secure basis for the USs future energy needs and so the need of FDI in the energy sector. In an official report by OCO Global (2012), it was stated that the United State is facing challenges and lack of opportunities in terms of Foreign Direct Investment. Though, during the government of former president Bill Clinton it was noticed that $1 billion were invested in coal plant and a great many improvements had been made in solar and wind turbines. It is evident from the fact, at that time 1900, jobs were opened in solar energy sector and 3,300 jobs were offered in wind turbine sectors of energy industry. FDI market reports have revealed that there is an exceptional form of political and social force that prop up the development and evolution of renewable energy sources. On the other hand, it has been evaluated by the researchers that political leaders of the US and other countries as well emphasize on clearer and more sustainable sources of renewable energy that can help the country to fulfill future needs of the population (Energy Politics, 2012). AEO (2012) report discusses that previous and present both governments has always targeted to have set goals, when it comes to alternatives for renewable energy sources. Likewise, in the United States the New Energy for American program has a 25 percent target for coming years particularly focusing 2025. Payne and Yu, (2011) report discusses that an increasing flow of FDI in the United State can potentially accelerate the economic growth and

Drama Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Drama - Essay Example Henceforth, the attitude created by the actor in the stage is critical because that attitude determines the environment and the thought the audience will have towards the script. Learning the tactics of acting in a theatre is very important. The actor must familiarize with the character and afterwards learn the details of the subject, which will enable the actor to assume the character and blend with other characters in the vicinity. Before an actor presents the character to the society, the actor must subject the character to the society viewpoint. Brecht and Mueller argue that Stanislavski method of physical action as advantageous in modern acting (160). Brecht and Mueller explain â€Å"first rehearsals the actor show the plot, the event, the business, convinced that feeling and mood will eventually take care of themselves† (160). Therefore, Stanislavski method of physical action gives time to an actor to transform to the character and as the rehearsal proceeds, empathy and mood eventually develop. Brecht and Mueller states that, â€Å"Stanislavski speaks of rhythms which sweep across scene† (160). Sometimes, the rhythm may be insignificant in a scene because of the manner in which an actor expresses the words. In addition, I also agree that the use of images during acting bring forth a better understanding to the audience. Although, Stanislavski system may be challenging to some actors, the system has incredible method of harmonizing several weakness during acting. The system also provides a platform for learning to new and weak actors. Moreover, the system can measure the actor’s talent through the actor’s ability to manage incomplete

Writing a memoir Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Writing a memoir - Essay Example I once came face to face with my own feelings toward a bully that made me reassess my own ability to feel empathy toward someone who had never done anything but expressed profound hatred toward me and others. This bully's name was Fidel and he had a habit of picking on people. One day a kid fought back and Fidel was on the receiving end of a good old-fashioned whooping. My sympathy went toward Fidel who had been such a perfect model of a bully rather than the little kid who had avenged us all. Why Why on earth did I suddenly feel this compassion toward a person for whom I had never felt anything but contempt I realized that day that the mind is far more than a mystery; it is a comic mystery, forever capable of upending expectations. What I learned from feeling an unexpected depth of emotion toward someone that I normally feared and despised was that placing some kind of expectation upon emotions is senseless. Whenever I hear someone say something like "nobody would ever react in such and such a way" what they are really saying is everybody reacts the same way to every circumstance. My compassion for a brutal bully allows me to laugh at people expressing such remarkably unimaginative beliefs. The experience with Fidel and the intrusio