A look into Wide Sargasso Sea Essay Example for Free

A look into Wide Sargasso Sea Essay In what appears to be a recreation of the novel Jane Eyre and the main protagonist deeply etched in its lines, Wide Sargasso Sea has given its author, Jean Rhys, quite a number of literary distinctions such as the Heinemann Award as well as the coveted W. H. Smith Award, thus securing her a well-deserved spot in the world of the written arts. Although one may be able to observe that, to some interesting degree, Rhys’ novel strongly echoes Jane Eyre in a number of ways and that, hence, her work cannot stand by itself as a lone and solid literary work without depending too much on what has already been written, Wide Sargasso Sea delivers by tempting the mind to look deeper into the context of the story. Not only is one prompted to internalize on the lives of the characters involved and the situations that have kept them both together in a single place and romantically miles apart while living together. The reader is all the more prompted to juxtapose the literary content into the context of the social developments that have shaped the course of the novel. A look into the main characters, Rochester and Antoinette, provides us with a fitting yet succulent glance of the underlying precepts behind the length of the novel. One cannot simply deny and shy away from the fact that, after reading Wide Sargasso Sea, much is to be discerned and contemplated on the behaviors of the characters and the very societal setting that has molded them to what and who they are. Rochester and Antoinette: similarities and differences The characters of both Rochester and Antoinette bear the same characteristic of madness, illustrated to some degree in the former character’s attempt to ditch-off Antoinette by turning towards infidelity and intentionally letting her hear all about his conceited deeds. The fact that Rochester verified the instance when she slept with another woman further illustrate the point that he does not yearn for Antoinette as much as his coldness and arrogance would bitterly consume his outward feelings toward her. Madness has consumed Rochester and his treatment of Antoinette, devouring and distorting his perception of the place where they lived, choosing his England more than anything else whilst staying in a seeming paradise. The madness that has dissolved the humanly precepts of Rochester does not necessarily amount to that of a madman exiled in a sanitarium somewhere in a desolate region. Rather, the context of the madness that have seemed to corrupt his thoughts can all the more me concretized with Rochester’s efforts to keep Antoinette away from him as much as possible, with the very idea that she has turned into a lunatic. Rochester appears to have countered or met the madness in Antoinette by employing actions that can be interpreted as way beyond normal thinking, one that is not commonly done by the normal individual. His deliberate intent of letting Antoinette understand that he has purposely committed infidelity is what a normal person will not usually do, is beyond the point of tolerance, and is exceedingly beyond the limits of a married man. Madness has indeed taken its course in the veins of Rochester as his treatment and attitude towards Antoinette plummet to an unceasingly growing emptiness. Antoinette, on the other hand, has been depicted almost throughout the stretch of the novel as the mad woman that she is, as the Creole taken down by the sheer weight of madness and by the mounting confusion that creases her understanding of her personality and, far more importantly, of her understanding of who she really is. It is not difficult to ascertain from the descriptions of both the personality and actuations of Antoinette that she has been slurred down by the very idea of â€Å"madness† that the people surrounding her have casted upon Rochester’s wife.

Country Music: The Image and the Reality Essay -- Music Analysis

Sunday after church, on a quiet balmy summer day, dinner is fresh, hot, and ready for immaculate consumption. After clearing the table, the men adjourn to the front porch to talk politics, church, and relax after a long week of satisfying the burdensome requirements of familial responsibilities. After all, what man is there who would not rather be fishing? The women, on the other hand, scurry in the kitchen, do the dishes, clean up, and put things away; while repeating the local gossip about who is seeing who; who should and who should not be marrying who. These images may appear out of Norman Rockwell or Mayberry R.F.D. U.S.A., but they are the images the American country music industry and fans envision of themselves. These perceptions are extremely strong held views of a past that has come to exist more in recollection than reality. The country music industry, with its roots in deep southern religious traditions, is blinded by these and similar views, and unwilling to recognize its true state is far less appealing than the wholesome image it seeks to portend. Country music is a dichotic blend of the past and the present. It seeks to hold to religious traditions while oftentimes staggering in intoxication of those appurtenances contrary to its traditions; the clearest examples of this dichotomy are seen in the lyrics, dress, and dance found in modern country music. To understand the present bifurcation of Country Music, a history of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville is implicit. The Ryman auditorium began its existence as the result of a religious transformation by steamboat captain Thomas Ryman on May 10th, 1885. Ryman, while attending a preaching service held by the late nineteenth-century evangelist Samuel Porter Jones, ... ...ta Lynn - The Pill Lyrics. 01 31, 2001. http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/lynn-loretta/the-pill-22418.html (accessed 05 09, 2012). About.com. About.com Nashville. The New York Times. 01 27, 2009. http://nashville.about.com/od/historyandsites/a/GOOpryhistory.htm (accessed 05 08, 2012). Bjorke, Matt. 10 Controversial CMA Award Moments. 11 07, 2011. http://www.roughstock.com/blog/10-controversial-cma-awards-moments (accessed 05 09, 2012). Foster, Ben. Top Ten Greatest Women of the Nineties, #4 - Shania Twain. 10 27, 2010. http://www.zimbio.com/Robert+Mutt+Lange/articles/T4wGiHg6ZzP/Top+Ten+Greatest+Women+Nineties+4+Shania+Twain (accessed 05 09, 2012). Quan, Denise. Trace Adkins talks puppets, politics and bit parts. 01 25, 2011. http://articles.cnn.com/2011-01-25/entertainment/trace.adkins.soundcheck_1_puppets-trace-adkins-cnn?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ (accessed 05 09, 2012).

Analysis of “He” by Katherine Anne Porter

Katherine Anne Porter’s â€Å"He† In Katherine Anne Porter’s short story, â€Å"He†, Mrs. Whipple has the misfortune of a mentally retarded son. While struggling to feed and clothe the hungry mouths of her family, Mrs. Whipple tries to camouflage hatred toward her son by putting up a facade of love and concern for him in an attempt to look like a better individual. Mr. Whipple and Mrs. Whipple’s neglect toward their son is evident right from the start by his lack of a name. He is only acknowledged as â€Å"He† or â€Å"Him†. Nance explains that this, â€Å"failure of the boy’s parents to recognize his personality, symbolized by their failure to give him a name, is the root of their error and suffering† (Nance 19). If Mr. and Mrs. Whipple would take the time to understand their son as a person and recognize his abilities, they would be able to accept his situation more easily and Mrs. Whipple could be less concerned with what people say. The distortion of Mrs. Whipple’s concern for her son is first evident when she says, â€Å"I wouldn’t have anything happen to Him for all the world, but it just looks like I can’t keep Him out of mischief. He’s so strong and active;He’s always into everything; He was like that since He could walk. It’s actually funny sometimes, the way He can do anything; it’s laughable to see Him up to His tricks. † (Porter 493) The truth is that Mrs. Whipple fails to put any considerable effort into keeping Him out of trouble in the first place. Mr. and Mrs. Whipple give the boy more chores because they say that He is bigger than average, and wont think twice about taking some of his blankets if the other children get cold in winter. On more than one occasion she intentionally puts Him in harms way. After receiving a letter saying that her brother and his family is coming for a visit, Mrs. Whipple insists on sacrificing a baby pig that would be worth a substantial amount of money by Christmas. With the mama pig being a great fighter, Mrs. Whipple asks Adna to retrieve the piglet. After Adna refuses the challenge, Mrs. Whipple believes it would be a great joke to make Him do it. After the boy manages to steal the pig, with the sow raging at His heels, Mrs. Whipple takes the pig from the boy without showing gratitude for the great favor He did. On another occasion, Mr. and Mrs. Whipple allow the boy to lead a full grown bull home. Both knowing that the bull could easily tear the boy to pieces, they still allow him to bring the animal three miles home. She mustn’t make a sound nor a move; she mustn’t get the bull started. The bull heaved his head aside and horned the air at a fly. Her voice burst out of her in a shriek, and she screamed at Him to come on, for God’s sake. He didn’t seem to hear her clamor, but kept on twirling His switch and limping on, and the bull lumbered along behind him as gently as a calf. Mrs. Whipple stopped calling and ran towards the house, praying under her breath: â€Å"Lord, don’t let anything happen to Him. Lord, you know people will say we oughtn’t to have sent Him. You know they’ll say we didn’t take care of Him. Oh, get Him home, safe home, safe home, and I’ll look out for Him better! Amen. † (Porter 497) Without concern for the boys safety Mrs. Whipple cries out at the boy to hurry up knowing that her actions could startle the bull. She then runs inside, not waiting to make sure her son made it all the way safely, and prays. Her prayers to get Him home safely bear more on what people will say about her if he does not make it. â€Å"[This] is a prime example where Mrs. Whipple’s superficial mask of love and concern is taken over by her abhorrence toward Him because of her personality flaw† (Makoid). Year after year the Whipple’s condition slowly dwindles. Adna and Emly move to the city for jobs, and He gets more chores placed upon his shoulders. One winter the boy slipped on some ice and fell over and started having convulsions. From then on He had to stay in bed. His legs swelled up and his condition didn’t improve. With the Whipples on their last legs, the doctor suggested they put the boy into the County Home. Mrs. Whipple, still worried about what people will say, refuses to see the boy go. She thinks that with Adna and Emlys’ help the family will be able to get back on their feet by next summer and take care of the boy. Eventually Mrs. Whipple understands what has to be done. Her neighbor and the doctor drive Mrs. Whipple and Him to the hospital. On the ride to the hospital He starts to cry. This is when Mrs. Whipple realizes that He is going away forever. His tears signify that maybe He knew that He was going away and He was finally happy; Happy to get away from the distortion and confusion of his parents. Mrs. Whipple understands her err, and is now truly concerned about his feelings. Mrs. Whipple and her family are poor southerners struggling to feed and clothe their children. With the addition of a mentally retarded second son, situations become more complicated for the family. Mrs. Whipple tries to mask the neglect of her disabled child by showing false love and concern for him. Only if she could grasp reality and accept her situation, would she be able to overcome her position and truly be happy. Instead Mrs. Whipple insists on hiding her conditions and doing whatever is possible to appear as a great family that is better off than they actually are. Works Cited Makoid, Terence. (2003, April 23). Katherine Anne Porter: Analysis of Mrs. Whipple in â€Å"He†. Retrieved April 24, 2011, from University of North Carolina website: http://www. unc. edu/home/tmakoid/english/he. html Nance, William L. Katherine Anne Porter & the Art of Rejection. University of North Carolina Press. Chapel Hill , 1964. 18-23. Porter, Katherine A. (1927). He. In L. McDougal, American Literature (pp. 493-498). Evanston, IL: McDougal.

The Journey Of Gilgamesh And Enkidu - 904 Words

Gilgamesh had a journey that he had begun with Enkidu which they had to travel to Cedar Forest to defeat Humbaba. When Enkidu died, Gilgamesh had to deal with his own journey that’s when everything begins for him. He learned immortality from which he got from Utnapishtim. His journey ended when he had return to Uruk. The second part of his journey was for wisdom. When Gilgamesh had to find Utnapishtim, he believes that it was for immortality. But it was impossible. It was not possible. Love was a big part of motivation erotic and platonic, had motivated a different in Gilgamesh. The love that Gilgamesh and Enkidu had as friends made him better man in the first part of the story, but when Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh had change†¦show more content†¦Gilgamesh and Enkidu did not do this to give praises of their own names. They both was doing god’s work by killing Humbaba, even if it was not directly to another god’s wants. Shamash helps Gilgamesh by the Sun-god w hich Gilgamesh had a god to go too. It was very nice to have a god of his own. Shamash hung around to help Gilgamesh and Enkidu. That’s why it was a little bit confusion to why Enkidu tells Gilgamesh to kill Humbaba so fast, before Shamash finds out about it. Shamhat was a female character in Tablet I and II of the Epic of Gilgamesh had was again in tablet VII. She was a prostitute who brings Enkidu from a wild man into interaction with civilization. Gilgamesh was somewhat a real person who lived between 2,500 and 2,700 B.C. and the fifth king in the First Dynasty of Uruk. Urshambi take Gilgamesh on a boat ride across the sea and through the Water of Death to Utnapishtim. Humbaba was the monster who protected the Cedar Forest. He can do tricks by changing his face. The giant ship was called The Preserve of Life was a tasked by Enkidu which had abandon his worldly possessions. Ishtar was a goddess. She was the one that let the fire and brimstone loose. That made Enkidu and Gil gamesh not meet eye to eye. That half lead Enkidu to the death penalty from the gods. That sends Gilgamesh failing his search for immortality.Show MoreRelatedThe Epic Of Gilgamesh : Gilgamesh1013 Words   |  5 Pages Gilgamesh in 2015 Even though the epic Gilgamesh is thousands of years old, it is still read today. Why would the era of technology read an epic this old? This is because the themes in Gilgamesh are still relevant. In addition, the themes are experiences that Gilgamesh went through in his life period, and serve as lessons for the current readers. Gilgamesh’s themes include journey, legacy, love, and death. These themes make Gilgamesh a vital reading for the 21st century citizens because peopleRead MoreGilgamesh s Death Of The Epic Of Gilgamesh1536 Words   |  7 PagesEpic of Gilgamesh, the main character Gilgamesh wants to become more godlike as to escape death. Already two-thirds god, Gilgamesh wishes to eliminate the part of him that forces him to face death. Death becomes a large issue for Gilgamesh, one that cannot be overcome or avoided due to the fact that while he is part god he is also human, and as part human he must succumb to the fatal flaw of all humans, death. However Gilgamesh s fear of death does not surface until he witnesses Enkidu die. EnkiduRead MoreGilgamesh Essay Paper728 Words   |  3 Pages In the â€Å"Epic of Gilgamesh† translated by N.K. Sanders, Gilgamesh completes a series of many challenges and obstacles, fulfilling the conditions of an archetypal quest story. In order to fulfill an archetypal quest story, the hero or protagonist must complete a series of hurdles, on their way toward achieving their goal. In the â€Å"Epic of Gilgamesh†, Gilgamesh hunts for his main obsession, immortality, while he battles off monsters, with the help of some friends. Sensing Gilgamesh embraces too muchRead MoreThe Epic Of Gilgamesh And Odysseus1497 Words   |  6 PagesSTATEMENT In Greek literature, the character Gilgamesh from The Epic of Gilgamesh and Odysseus from The Odyssey by Homer can be compared by their similar journeys and differing heroic qualities. PURPOSE STATEMENT Through careful research and reasoning, Odysseus and Gilgamesh can be seen as both similar and differing characters because of their choices and changes throughout their journeys. INTRODUCTION Gilgamesh, the famous hero of The Epic of Gilgamesh and Odysseus from The Odyssey are found to beRead MoreAnalysis of Internal and Eternal Journeys Within Gilgamesh674 Words   |  3 PagesJourneys within Gilgamesh: Internal and external The Epic of Gilgamesh details two fundamental types of heroic journeys or questions: external and internal ones. The first journey is an external one, in which Gilgamesh proves himself to be the most valiant of all warriors, overcoming Enkidu and Humbaba. The second type of journey is an internal one, in which Gilgamesh seeks to understand the meaning of life, after the death of his beloved friend Enkidu. When Gilgamesh realizes that his strengthRead MoreThe Greatest Lesson Of The Cedar Forest884 Words   |  4 Pageslesson Gilgamesh learns. Gilgamesh is bitter that only the gods can live forever and says as much when Enkidu warns him away from their fight with Humbaba. Life is short, the two warriors tell each other on their way to the deadly confrontation in the Cedar Forest, and the only thing that lasts is fame. But when Enkidu is cursed with an inglorious, painful death, their bravado rings hollow. Shamash, the sun god, consoles Enkidu by reminding him how rich his life has bee n, but though Enkidu finallyRead MoreCampbells Hero Essay1147 Words   |  5 PagesIn this essay I will examine how Gilgamesh would be an example of Campbell’s hero. I will first introduce Joseph Campbell and his â€Å"hero.† By summarizing and analyzing the story, I came to the conclusion that Gilgamesh is a good example of a hero. I will point out in the text what lead me to that realization and explain the journey of the hero. Joseph Campbell was a well known mythology teacher who spent his whole life trying to understand the different types of stories that are told. To CampbellRead MoreEpic of Gilgamesh Theme1707 Words   |  7 PagesLove, both erotic and platonic, motivates change in Gilgamesh. Enkidu changes from a wild man into a noble one because of Gilgamesh, and their friendship changes Gilgamesh from a bully and a tyrant into an exemplary king and hero. Because they are evenly matched, Enkidu puts a check on Gilgamesh’s restless, powerful energies, and Gilgamesh pulls Enkidu out of his self-centeredness. Gilgamesh’s connection to Enkidu makes it possible for Gilgamesh to identify with his people’s interests. The love theRead MoreEssay about Friendship Theme in Gilgamesh970 Words   |  4 PagesFriendship Theme in Gilgamesh True friendship is egalitarian. Everything is shared, loyalty to the friendship is equal, and the basis of the camaraderie is wholly altruistic. The friendship between the king Gilgamesh and the man of the steppe, Enkidu, was not a true and equal friendship. Loyalties and sacrifices to that friendship were disproportionate. Friendship is conveyed in more than one way in Gilgamesh. The companionship between Enkidu and the animals of the steppe is the first exampleRead MoreSimilarities Between Gilgamesh And Enkidu1178 Words   |  5 PagesCedric Harper World-lit Dr. Clark Gilgamesh and Enkidu In the epic of gilgamesh, Gilgamesh is a man and a God. He built high walls and had orchid fields around his city. He also wasn’t respectful. He touched women whenever he wanted to, He never gave his servants any type of love. Enkidu is a man who was created to tame gilgamesh. He was created by the Gods. The Gods wanted to tame him so they sent an equal power which was enkidu. A wild man who becomes Gilgamesh s best friend. After being visited