Tuesday, January 21, 2020

How do Hardy and Steinbeck portray loneliness in The Withered Arm :: English Literature

How do Hardy and Steinbeck portray loneliness in 'The Withered Arm' and 'Of Mice and Men'? Thomas Hardy, author of 'The Withered Arm' and John Steinbeck, author of 'Of Mice and Men both portray the common theme of loneliness in each of these novels. For example, in 'The Withered Arm', Rhoda is judged for the cause of her loneliness, such as when it says 'She knew that she had been slyly called a witch since her fall', as are Curley and Curley's wife like when Candy refers to Curley's wife as a tart. Both show signs of discrimination be it due to race, sex class or disfigurement. Also, both mainly revolve around a friendship-Lennie and George in 'Of Mice and Men' and Gertrude and Rhoda in 'The Withered Arm'. 'The Withered Arm' also conveys many other themes; a lot of these are common to 'Of Mice and Men'. Similarities in these themes include the unhappy marriages suffered which could also link into the loneliness theme. Curley and Curley's wife in 'Of Mice and Men' have an unhappy marriage as do Farmer Lodge and Gertrude in 'The Withered Arm' though in 'Of Mice and Men', neither try to resolve the situation whereas in 'The Withered Arm', it is Gertrude's main concern to find a cure for her arm so that her husband will love her again. However, we know that this won't happen as there have been too many bad things happen for everything to turn out happily. 'Of Mice and Men' also shows strong signs of this inevitability. We hear from George about the many mice that Lennie has killed and how things always go wrong due to the fact that he does not know his own strength. After crushing Curley's hand and killing the puppy, we know that it is only a matter of time before Lennie kills a person. We also know their 'American dream' of owning a ranch will not come true as, fairly near the beginning, George says 'Nuts' showing that he did not believe in it from the start. 'The Withered Arm' was set in Hardy's home town of Dorset though he has used fictional names for parts of Dorset such as Holmstoke, Casterbridge, Egdon Heath and Wessex. This in itself is a rural, quite isolated setting as is the ranch in 'Of Mice and Men' which is situated near Soledad in California which is also the author's-Steinbeck's-home town. The isolation of these settings is used to show the isolation of the characters within them. This technique of using the setting as a reference to other points of the story is also used in the settings themselves.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Euthanasia and Early 20th Century

Life is precious and shouldn't be taken for granted. A high percentage of people living in America believe that the taking of someone's life is rather normal in certain ways. Euthanasia is illegal in most of the world, however is permissible in the Netherlands and also in Colombia. In the United States of America, euthanasia is legal only in the state of Oregon. Rendering to a May 2004 Gallup Poll, 53% of all Americans think that euthanasia is ethically acceptable, while 41 % believe it is wrong. During the time of the early 20th century, groups formed supporting uthanasia, and mainly were located in England and America.Throughout World War II, the Nazis in Germany had their own program assisting euthanasia. They assisted people with euthanasia who weren't worthy and who were not in good physical shape enough to live on. They were comprised of primarily children and older people. Euthanasia has its pros and cons, and obviously has its reasons. You're probably wondering, what is eutha nasia? Euthanasia comes from the Greek language and means â€Å"good death†, and is basically a thought of â€Å"mercy killing†. Euthanasia can be divided in to two categories.Two Main Types of Euthanasia There are two types of Euthanasia, active and passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia is an ending of one's life, mainly done by a physician, usually by lethal drug injections. On the other hand, passive euthanasia is when someone stops a patient from receiving his/her medical treatments which eventually causes that person to die. As we can see, euthanasia is related to death in either case. Euthanasia is mainly used at hospitals, where people are in very bad condition, especially individuals who are in comas.There are even times when Euthanasia is practiced by turning off the ife support machines, or not providing enough food and/or water to the patient. In addition, there are cases where prescribed medications like antibiotic, morphine, etc. , are given to patients wh ich can lead to a patient's death. Performing the action of euthanasia, passive or active, is a big problem that needs to be addressed by the government. The main problem lies with the decision maker in determining the sick patient's future.If the decision maker thinks that the patient is suffering exceedingly, he/she will perform the act of euthanasia. However, if the patient is not suffering, the erformer will not proceed to his/her prescribed actions. It's important to note that today, machines, medicines and other technology have saved millions of lives, therefore, making euthanasia a more and widely discussed and controversial matter throughout the world. Sometimes euthanasia can be beneficial when a person is in critical condition and is too sick to benefit from life.It could also be a way to dismiss extreme pain. However, Euthanasia can have a negative aspect. Euthanasia can debase human life or a monetary reason to save loads of money rather than pending it on life support m achines. In conclusion these are the basic pros and cons ot euthanasia. The pros and cons ot the supporting evidence will be discussed in detail below to be understood in its supposed manner. Pros and Reasons Supporting Euthanasia There are many pros for supporting Euthanasia. One would be to help remove extreme suffering from a terminally sick person.Secondly, it another way for ending tremendously high medical bills, knowing that a patient is not going to be cured or knowing that a patient will not live due to the suffering that's being experienced. Lastly, euthanasia can be beneficial when used on a person who has been in a coma for a while to help family members or close friends overcome any thoughts or feelings that they might have towards the person in the coma. Cons and Reasons Opposing Euthanasia There are also negative aspects for supporting Euthanasia.A person shouldn't be killed with the use of euthanasia because it is compared to â€Å"murder†. Secondly, Euthanasi a is another way to stop the high costs of medical bills. This type of thinking is immoral. Lastly, Euthanasia can be influenced by the sick patient's wealth and his/her personal belongings, i. . , acquiring wealth, property, inheritance, etc. As we can see from the above pros and cons mentioned above, the action of Euthanasia is rather opinionated. Some people side with euthanasia while others criticize and oppose it.There seems to be no really right or wrong side, but more of a sense of morals involved. Euthanasia is a large topic and can interfere in many people's lives, and can even interfere in one's religion, which is a whole separate topic. The following will show the thoughts about Euthanasia in both Christianity and Islam. The Christian religion has several beliefs on Euthanasia. One aspect deals with life which concerns the giving and life and the taking away of life is created by God and God only, and therefore people's lives should not be determined by human choice.They also believe that no human being should have the right to take the life from another for any reason possible. The Islamic religion is quite similar to the Christian religion on this topic. In the Islamic religion, Allah SWT once said in the Quran, â€Å"Do not take the life, which Allah made sacred, other than in the course of justice. † The Prophet, PBUH, said: â€Å"Amongst the nations before you there was a man ho got a wound, and growing impatient (due to the pain), he took a knife and cut his hand with it and the blood did not stop till he died.Allah said, ‘My slave hurried to bring death upon himself so I have forbidden him (to enter) Paradise. † Sahih Bukhari. Therefore, a person who takes one's own life away will not enter Paradise. It's not up to individuals to make the determination on when life should end; it only belongs to Carmelite Spirituality and the e 30 May 2 Practice ot Mental Prayer As we can see in the figure above, a very ill patient, Faye, lying down in bed, with n illness which caused her to be both paralyzed and speechless. Faye cannot move any part of her body and cannot communicate with anyone, as well.Faye and her family collaborated together and have decided to use active euthanasia, by the means of using lethal drug injections. In this situation, Faye has agreed to the injections because she feels that she will not gain anything from life due to her terminal conditions. Euthanasia for Faye was an upright choice because it provided an easy death for her and avoided a lot of pain and suffering that she was experiencing. As for Faye's family, it saved them a large debt that included life upport, which would have kept her alive throughout her miserable future.

Saturday, January 4, 2020

John F. Kennedy Assassination - 1618 Words

John F. Kennedy Assassination Was John F. Kennedy’s assassination a single shooter or was it a conspiracy? Since November 22, 1963 people around the world have wondered who it was that shot President Kennedy, and what for. So many questions have formed around this event, not just about who the shooter was, but also questions like what might the world have been like today if the shooting didn’t happen? The Kennedy assassination has been a mystery for many years. A lot of people hear about the different scenarios and some of these people are people who do not care at all for History, but the Kennedy Assassination is one of those things where it just makes everyone wonder. So with that being said, was John F. Kennedy’s assassination a single shooter or was it a conspiracy? John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917. He was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. John Kennedy Sr. was a successful banker, he went on to a government career as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and a s an ambassador to Great Britain. Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald was a boston debutante. Growing up John F. Kennedy’s nickname was â€Å"Jack†. John was the second oldest of nine siblings. His sister Eunice Kennedy, was the founder of the special Olympics, Robert Kennedy, a U.S Attorney General, and Ted Kennedy, of the most powerful Senators in American History. The Kennedys were a wealthy and successful family. Joseph and Rose Kennedy’s main focus was the education of their children, which wasShow MoreRelatedThe Assassination Of John F. Kennedy982 Words   |  4 Pages O’Reilly and Dugard’s book, Killing Kennedy, is about the events leading to President John F. Kennedy being shot, as well as what happened after the assassination. This book also describes the rise and fall of John F. Kennedy. The authors also wrote about the Cold War, Kennedy dealing with communism, and threats of crime. January of 1961, the cold war was growing stronger and Kennedy was struggling with communism. During all of this happening, he was learning what it meant to be a president. HeRead MoreThe Assassination Of John F. Kennedy1620 Words   |  7 Pages Ever since the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, there has been controversy over whether the true gunman was held accountable. The United States Government claimed that it was an easy, open and closed case. They found Lee Harvey Oswald, close to ground zero, with a freshly fired riffle, immediately after JFK was shot. Contrary to the governments report, skeptics argue a vast scope of conspiracies to shed light on what they believe happened that day; ideas ranging from magic bullets, multipleRead MoreThe Kennedy Assassinations By John F. Kennedy Essay1486 Words   |  6 Pages Decades later, the Kennedy assassinations and surrounding mysteries continue holding public interest. Although their notoriety as charismatic leaders is a significant contribution, other factors regarding societal psychology deserve consideration whilst exploring this phenomenon. With these events occurring during a time that allows living witnesses, modern accessible evidence, various media covera ge, and visible modern impact, the mysterious Kennedy assassinations have the capacity to encourageRead MoreAssassination Of John F. Kennedy1002 Words   |  5 PagesThe Assassination of John F. Kennedy â€Å"Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.† President Kennedy stated in his commencement speech at American University on June 10, 1963. John F. Kennedy was an American politician who served as the 35th President of the United States from January 1961 to his assassination in November 1963. There are numerous conspiracy theories involving Kennedy’s assassinationRead MoreAssassination of John F. Kennedy931 Words   |  4 PagesThe John F. Kennedy assassination is believed to be one of the most controversial and debated topics in American History. JFK was one of the most beloved presidents of our time. Other assassinations of presidents didn’t have as many Conspiracy theories compared to the JFK assassination on November 22nd, 1963. Some of the theories include a Government cover-up, Mafia influence, and Cuban President Fidel Castro (Stern). T he assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, raised many questions thatRead MoreThe Assassination Of John F. Kennedy1500 Words   |  6 PagesOn November 23, 1963, three shots were fired at President John F. Kennedy’s limousine in Dallas, Texas. The first shot went through the president’s neck, the second was the fatal shot that would ultimately end Kennedy’s life. There is a lot of speculation about what really took place in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Many people believe that Lee Harvey Oswald worked alone, but there are many people across the nation who think differently. Many theories can both support and disprove that LeeRead MoreThe Assassination Of John F. Kennedy1626 Words   |  7 PagesThe Assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated on November 22, 1963 at 12:30 p.m Central Standard Time in Dallas, Texas while riding in a motorcade in Dealey Plaza.[1] Kennedy was fatally shot by Lee Harvey Oswald while he was riding with his wife, Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally s wife, Nellie, in a presidential motorcade. A ten-month investigation by the Warren Commission from November 1963 to September 1964Read MoreThe Assassination Of John F. Kennedy Essay967 Words   |  4 PagesThe book I chose to read is The Assassination of John F. Kennedy by Lauren Spencer. It was published in 2002 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. It contains 64 pages. This book not only provides information on the killing of President Kennedy, but also information on his life, the arrested murderer s life, and more interesting background information and details. This books main objective is to go deeper into the case of John F. Kennedy s assassination, to discuss personal information about suspectsRead MoreAssassination of John F Kennedy1119 Words   |  5 Pagessixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building. However, did Lee Harvey Oswald, a crazy lunatic act alone in the assassination of President Kennedy. Both first – hand knowledge and visual evidence allows people to re – examine the events of this day and prove that there were other gunmen involved in the bombardment of our youngest elected president. John F. Kennedy was depicted as a nationwide hero to many Catholics living in the U.S. during the early 1960’s. He was idolized by severalRead MoreAssassination of John F. Kennedy3949 Words   |  16 PagesThe Assassination of President John F. Kennedy Within six seconds on November 22, 1963, three shots were fired. Seated in an open limousine, President John F. Kennedy was killed by two of the shots, which also wounded Texas Governor John Connally. Kennedy was the youngest president to be elected and a man people either loved or hated. There was a fascination about this young First Family too, a family which created an image that many American families yearned for. As a result, the assassination came