Crime and punishment morally ambigous character Essay Example for Free

Crime and punishment morally ambigous character Essay Several morally ambiguous characters played different vital roles in Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. In fact, most characters illustrated in this twisted novel can be evaluated as possesing good and evil qualities. Sonia Marmeladov is especially ambiguous and important in this novel. Her contradicting social and moral statuses along with her contrasting roles as a saintly liberator and sinner allowed Sonia to play a crucial role throughout the novel. Not only that but her character further strengthens the theme of religious awakening. At times Sonias character becomes hard to categorize as good or evil because of her actions. The first descriptions the reader gets of Sonia are from her drunk father, Marmeladov. She has lived her life with little money, poor housing conidtions described as having every sign of povery (294). Sonia tries to make an honest living by making linen shirts but do you suppose that a respectable poor girl can earn much by hard work? Not fifteen farthings a day can she earn(15). Not merely enough to support a family along with her drunk fathers habits. So Sonia eventually becomes a prositute in order to to support her family and gains a yellow ticket (16) This is what gained Sonia her title as a sinner and which puts her character at question. However, Marmeladov explains to Raskolnikov how Sonia goes to them mostly after dark, she comforts Katerina Ivanorna and gives her all she can( 16). This part of Sonias character depicts her as a loving daughter willing to sacrifice herself to save her family. This portrayal in some ways resembles Christ as He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. He sarcrificed himself as she sacrifies herself. Does that change the fact that she is committing a sin? No of course not and that is exactly where the conflict of her morality takes place. The world sees her in such an attire(163)which puts her to shame in her guady finery (163) Yet the reader sees a young, timid girl who was pushed to take drastic decisions in her life. It is Sonias actions which are evil but her purpose and pure soul make her more saintly than most of the characters in the novel. Because her character plays this role, it is her who helps Raskolnikov find his religious faith and who leads him to finally come clean later on in the book. Another circumstance where Sonya is morally ambiguous is where she has to decide to either have a relationship with Raskolnikov, or leave him out of the picture when he tells her that it is he who murdered the pawnbroker. Sonya knows that it is right to help Raskolnikov because he could be lost and go even deeper into his madness. However, Sonya knows that Raskolnikov is a killer and it would be wrong to be associated with somebody who knowingly commits sins as extravagant as murder. Sonya is also aware that Raskolnikov has issues and his madness could drive him to do other things that could lead to even worse consequences. Sonia does tell Raskolnikov that he must turn himself in and confess his sins but she also hugs him and kisses him as to comfort him. Her odd response is to tell Raskolnikov I will follow you, I will follow you everywhere Ill follow you to Siberia (407). As she tries to find a valid excuse as to why he killed those women, she finds that there was no good intentions in his mind, yet she still sticks by Raskolnikovs side. This response leaves the reader wondering whether Sonia is doing this to help a lost soul and play her role as a saintly liberator or does her love blind her and is she simply not caring that what Raskolnikov committed was murder. However, even though the last part of the book depicts Sonia as an accomplice to a morally wrong crime, the epilogue illustrates her as a saintly liberator. In Siberia, the image which she carried back in part one and part two of the book are stripped and she is loved by the prisoners in the camp. They even called her â€Å"little mother Sofya Semyonovna†(538), and although it is clearly stated that Sonia herself did nothing special to be liked, their preference for her depicts that they sensed her moral â€Å"goodness. † Without direct statement, Sonia herself was the reason why Raskolnikov felt in some way his religious reawakening. Through her unconditional love, she and her role made this â€Å"story of a gradual renewal of a man† (542) happen. Dostoevsky theme of religion was carried on and developed by Sonia’s character through her moral ambiguity. Though her character appears to be immoral in several cases, in the epilogue the reader sees how it all comes together and how Doestoevsky uses Sonya illustrates important social and political issues that were of concern to him, such as the treatment of women, the effects of poverty, the importance of religious faith, and the importance of devotion to family.

Writing In A State Of Siege English Literature Essay

Writing In A State Of Siege English Literature Essay The ten years between 1948 and 1958 recorded the bustle and disturbance of social life and exhibited the necessity and possibility of a united fight against racial discrimination. The wide spread resentment at the pass-laws, liquor raids and inadequate amenities in 1950 resulted in the suppression of Communism Act. The word communist it self meant unlawful. In 1952, eight thousand people were imprisoned for opposing the apartheid regulations. Chief Albert Luthuli, the President General of the African National Congress was banned for his commitment to a democratic and inter-racial future in South Africa. Things were in oblivion and in 1958, as the whites did not require any permits, the Fugards were advised to go to Sophiatown, a freehold township, a place which combined magic and smut, respectability and crime, black and white and the most lively and crowded of all the African townships, where the blacks and the whites could move freely, with certain social constraints. As Jurger Schadeberg observes, There was poverty in Sophiatown. There were areas that were somewhat slummy. There were gangs. There were crime and there were cutthroats, but it was a real suburb. It had all the facilities a normal suburb has. Whereas when people moved to Orlando or Meadowlands, or whatever, there was nothing there. Sophiatown was romanticized afterwards. Sophiatown was a symbol because it was a place where people were not mixed than in other places. And people owned their own property. (Schadeberg, 2002: 111-112) Sophiatown was predominantly black and also predominantly poor. The greater part of Sophiatown was a sickening slum. As Don Mattera observes the little Chicago of Johannesburg was essentially known for its cosmopolitan flavor and every conceivable space was occupied by a living thing man or animal. (Mattera 1987:49). Derek Cohen also observes, The small corner of the world, the all but forgotten township of the 1950s, Sophiatown, teems with the variety and vivacity of the world itself. Deep in the bowels of this house of hunger, where men and women tread a diurnal mill of deprivation and indignity, lie, as Fugard reminds us, humanity and strength3.(1984:273-284)) The township also had a surprisingly stunning intellectual atmosphere as the black journalists were trying to express their feelings. Jim Baileys Drum magazine covered the township life. Drum ran articles almost every month, reporting on crime figures, the circumstances forcing ordinary citizens into a life of crime, and the shebeen culture, which fed these offences. Benjamin Pogrund, a liberal friend of the Fugards advised Fugard that he would find the right atmosphere in Sophiatown for his play. The only job Fugard could find was that of a clerk in a Native Commissioners Court where offenders of the pass-laws were tried. The cruel conditions gave birth to his pessimism and his earlier incomplete novel (Tsotsi) found its voice in the two plays of his apprenticeship years, No-Good Friday and Nongogo which represented the travails of the black township. Though they were his early plays and though they lacked the dramatic charm and vision of his later plays, they indicate the struggling mind of Fugard to represent his stance as a dramatist. If No Good Friday projects the impact of bad economic conditions on the individuals who aspire for better social conditions and education, Nongogo reflects the aspirations of the people who dream for better living and individual dignity. These two early plays belong to the formative stage of Fugards maturity as a dramatist. No-Good Friday and Nongogo both represent the apartheid trauma of the South African Society. An exploration (Gray,1981:56-63) into the manuscripts of the first novel of Fugard, (which he threw into the Fiji lagoon) Tsotsi, which was published in 1980, reveals Fugards anxiety during his apprenticeship years to present the problems within the existing conditions. Fugards early plays, No-Good Friday and Nongogo also share some of the aspects of Tsotsi as they were set against the same milieu. Stephen Gray5(1981:56) feels that the characters of Tsotsi appeared in the subsequent plays of Fugard like The Blood Knot, Hello and Goodbye, People Are Living There, Boesman and Lena and in many of his plays written during the 1970s. Fugard presents the burning zeal of an incipient black revolutionary against the exploitation faced by the blacks in No-Good Friday (1958). This play works at two levels at the surface level, it appears to be a mere representation of the conditions of the blacks; but at deeper levels, it records the helplessness of the blacks in the face of exploitation by their own fellow men during the conditions of the apartheid. Fugard presents the oppressive politics working on the life of the township in various forms. Crime by African against African was an everyday reality in Sophiatown. For example an article in the November 1951 issue of Drum, The Birth of a Tsotsi, describes the classic circumstances under which a young boy takes the wrong turning: With grinding poverty and the sea of squalor that surrounds the Gold City, it is not difficult to understand the rest. There is a struggle for existence, and the individual intends to survive. Fugard records this struggle in a naturalistic manner in his early plays like No-Good Friday and Nongogo. Willie Seopela, the independent and stubborn protagonist is an aspiring youngman and he stays with Rebecca, his lady love. Willie, an intellectual in the making, with hopes for a brighter and better living, is a student pursuing his undergraduate studies through correspondence. He represents the image of the desperately stubborn black young men of South Africa. Despite hard circumstances, Willie is optimistic and highly independent. He is liked by Father Higgins, the white humanist who visits the black ghettos to offer solace. Father Higgins introduces Tobias, an innocent villager, who comes to Sophiatown for a better living, to Willie and asks him to fix him somewhere, as he is badly in need of money for his living. Willie, aware of the catastrophic situation that awaits black people in the township, asks Tobias not to entertain big dreams. He does not make any promise to Tobias. The residents of the black township are frequently nagged by Shark, a black gangster who appears every Friday, the day of their weekly payment. The innocent residents ought to offer a share from their pay packets either to Shark or similar other gangsters in trains and on roads. They cannot even make a complaint against them to the police, for, they do not have the pass-books to stay in that town. In a way, they buy their protection from Shark, their fellow black South African. Even the independent Willie makes a passive living allowing the share for Shark from his Fridays pay-packet. Tobias, unaware of these facts innocently argues about the share and gets killed in the hands of Shark. It is only after the death of Tobias, Willie realises the gravity of the situation, the result of their passive attitude and decides to oppose Shark in spite of the murderous consequences. In the process, he sacrifices his love for Rebecca. The play ends with Willie getting prepared for the challenge. The play projects a story of loss of relationships, loss of values and loss of security or protection in the white repressive world. Willie, the protagonist condemns the situation in Johannesburg and very often he appears to be the mouth-piece of Fugard. We are frequently reminded of the life-situation described in Peter Abrahams Mine Boy ,Alan Patons Cry, the Beloved Country and Alex La Gumas A Walk in the Night and And a Threefold Cord. Life is not easy there and it has become unbearable, as observed by Father Higgins, a character in No Good Friday. The grim situation of an unprotected life is summed up by Guy very well. Speaking about Shark, he says: Dont you understand? Hes got shares in the police station. . . . . . You can forget about the police. They protect a fellow like Shark. You see they are only interested in our passes. But a Kaffir laying a charge against a criminal-that would be a joke. We are all criminals. Look, Father, do not be hard on us. You know what I have just said better than any other white8. (1977: 146) As in The Blood Knot and other plays here too Fugard arranges his scenes and the protagonist to present the conditions which reflect their predicament. Asked by Guy to explain their sad life, Willie says that the music of their life is a song of melancholy, loneliness and despair (1977:125) and this is reflected in every scene, every chapter and every dialogue. The play portrays the hard realities of the life in Sophiatown, especially on Friday, which is a fertile acre for troubles (1977:126). Father Higgins, though aware of the all pervading nature of sorrow, expresses his helplessness when Willie asks him if he wants to plant a daffodil in his yard. As Don Mattera describes: The ghetto-like township was unpredictable and dangerous. There were times of searching for a loved one in some alley; finding him or her wounded in a hospital or jail, or dead in a morgue. Or checking for husband or father, a brother or a son who had never returned home from work. Or waiting for a mother, an aunt or sister who did not get off the bus or tram where you usually waited for them. Then the anguish and anxiety that would follow reports of a woman raped, beaten and robbed by the jobless and wont work brigades of tsotsis who owned the days and ruled the nights.'(1987:50) No-Good Friday portrays all these problems in Sophiatown, absence of care by the government, unemployment, frustration, poverty, insecurity, gangsterism, evils of pass-laws, broken bonds of love and the cheapness'() of life seen through the lives of various characters. Despite the hard work, they can hardly reach homes safely with their Friday pay-packets. Reflecting the problems of township life, the play is presented in the back yard of Willie and it indicates their poverty amidst iron shacks. The play has black as well as white characters, like Father Higgins, who resembles Rev. Trevor Huddleston, who made a crusade against the stringent laws of the apartheid in the townships. It also records the migration of the innocent youth to the townships to find employment. The play records the raging gangsterism, a social evil, an oppression by the notoriously stronger ones, which has no opposition. It also shows how the underprivileged ones are victimised. The race-laws worsen the condit ions of living and the Group Areas Act had restricted the blacks in the name of the pass-books. The pass laws had been a permanent threat to the African people. As observed by Edward Roux: The pass laws held the people in conditions of abject poverty and subjection à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ were the cause of sharp racial friction between the peoples of South Africa upheld the cheap labour system which resulted in malnutrition, starvation and disease and filled gaols with innocent people, thus creating wide-spread crime19.(1964:320). Fugard also projects the hidden social angle the White police mans hidden understanding with the black gangsters like Shark. Speaking about the crime of Sophiatown Bloke Modisane writes, I learned there in Sophiatoown,that one looked at the killing and never at the faces of the killers; one also knew that the law is white and justice casual, that it could not protect us against the knives of Sophiatown, so we tolerated the murders whilst the law encouraged them with its indifference.( 1986:63) The residents of Sophiatown cannot approach the police, who are obviously on the side of law. The blacks continue their survival in hellish conditions. These and similar conditions are portrayed in a more powerful manner in Sizwe Bansi is Dead. If Tsotsi traces both gangsterism and the realisation on the part of the protagonist in a single individual, No-Good Friday projects the evils of gangsterism through Shark and the realisation appears in the protagonist, Willie. Having understood the significance of life and the way it is being shattered in Sophiatown, Willie mourns over the misery of their lives and the impossibility of living. He realizes that life is not a fairy tale with a happy ending. The absurdity of living forces him not only to be away from Rebecca but from his own life itself. To make his life more purposeful and less mundane, he wants to oppose Shark by informing the police. His dreams of living happily ever after get shattered and he says: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.I gave up dreaming. Tobias reminded me of too much, Guy. He was going to make some money and live happily ever after. Thecosy little dreamà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ like this, Willie and Rebecca lived happily ever after! Thats how the fairy stories end and its stupid because, out there is life and it is not ending happily14. (1977:155) He feels that life is vain and useless without a protest against the problem. He blames the individuals within his society including himself for allowing such problems. Willies opposition to Shark and the words of the cunning politician Watson project Fugards anger against such conditions. When life becomes dreadful and unprotected, it becomes meaningless. The death of Willie is not the end of the sequence, but it makes a bold beginning of opposition against gangsterism. It is also the frustration and struggle for a better life. The action of the play takes place between two Fridays and the play carries various emotions like humour, satire, shame, anger, frustration and tragedy, the representative feelings of an impoverished, fragmented and violent society20. (Sheila Fugard: 1993:408).Watson, the politician stands as a satirical portrait of the townships black politicians, who demand a sacrifice from the innocent blacks, for their own betterment. The ironical dedication of the song of Guy, Friday Night Blues itself speaks about the theme of the play. Shark, the gangster with a significant name swallows people like Tobias and ironically praises those who pay him regularly. The play brings out the fact that the people of the township should not have cosy dreams about comfortable living. Going against the tradition of depicting the gangsters from the romantic viewpoint, as was done by other writers of his time, Fugard presents Shark, the gangster, as a cruel reality. As observed by Don Mattera, No story about gangsterism or violence in the townships of Johannesburg can be complete without that of Kort Boy- real name George Mbalweni the five-foot-nothing knifeman from Benoni, a former mining town on the East Rand near Johannesburgà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Kort Boy was a legend in his day much hated , much loved it all depended on which end of knife you were at.(1987:102) Characters in No-Good Friday are many, representing the unlimited problems of his society. Each character stands for a problem. Fugard does not offer any solution but he represents things as they are, for an understanding of what was going on in South Africa. As a symphathising white liberal he expresses his sense of helplessness in the wake of events and the act of writing itself becomes an act of courage and commitment as an individual and as a writer. Despite the removal of the apartheid condition, they enjoy their validity, for, these plays stand as records of the 1950s. Fugard brings out his message best the problem of survival in the wake of hopelessness, dejection and destruction. No Good Friday had its premiers on 30th August 1958 after ten years of the initiation of apartheid in South Africa on the primitive stage of the Bantu Mens Social Centre and Fugard was praised by the African monthly Zonk for giving his unknown actors, a wonderful opportunity to show their talents. Apart from the shows in Bantu Mens Social Centre, the play was also staged amidst church walls in the townships, to black audiences and in the White suburbs. Fugard was refused permission to see even the productions he directed. During the run of No-Good Friday Fugard established friendship with important directors like Barney Simon and Tone Brulin. Not only to the actors, but to the people (both blacks and whites) of Sophiatown, it offered a scope to see themselves and their problems on the stage. Although the play has its own technical faults, as observed by critics -like heavy plotting, unlimited characters etc, the play brings out the shaping mind of Fugard as a dramatist with social concerns. The characters apart from representing the troubled people of South Africa become potential images if Willie, Tobias, Rebecca and Guy stand as the victims, Shark and Watson stand as the wicked political images of the cruel exterior of South Africa. The repeated use of the fairy-tale image with its reference to the impossibility of comfortable life speaks about the predicament of the life of the blacks in South Africa under the pressure of the cruel racist law. Fugard does not present this drama as a mere piece of entertainment. It is a realistic document about the sorrowful living of the black people of Sophiatown who suffer from inter-and intra-racial oppression. Fugard recognises that to be black in South Africa is to be poor, and that black existence is imbued with the struggle to find release from the cycle of poverty and the mean quality of life indigence creates. (Albert Wertheim:) It provokes us to think and Fugard makes his observations and statements come alive through the characters he brings on to the stage. As observed by Sheila Fugard19, the germinative ideas of a nascent playwright got fortified in his later plays like The Blood Knot, Sizwe Bansi Is Dead, The Island, Master Haroldand the boys. Fugard incorporates his intellectual and individual stances of rebellion in Willie the black protagonist. Through him, he voices out his feeling, which necessitate the reason for opposition against the dreadful forces like gangsterism which bear the impact of several cruel racist laws; but according to Nkosi, the play had very little concern with the politics behind the chronic violence and gangsterism in the ghetto. (Vandenbroucke,Russell). Nkosi feels this as a limitation. On the other hand, white writers like Alan Paton and Fugard had observed moderation in depicting their conditions. As analysed by Albert Wertheim it was their moderation that drew world attention to the outrages of apartheid. The final speech of Willie is universal in its appeal, as it explains the reasons for the birth and growth of such evil forces within a society. By making the apartheid tragedy ACT on the stage, Fugard has achieved the theatrical and political meaning of two words acting and imagination. Although Fugard sets many of his plays in South Africa and more specifically in Port Elizabeth, he is not writing specifically South African tragedy, for he uses his South African setting and this presentation of South African life under apartheid rule to define a tragic situation imbued with meaning far beyond the geographical boundaries of South Africa.21 (Albert Wertheim) The play is not restricted to South Africa alone; it appeals to the living conditions of all common people who live in poverty ridden slums and ghettos of all parts of the world. As observed by Albert Wertheim, the play is set against a realistic background-it is a statement against oppression, a feature that is found everywhere in the world. REFERENCES Schadeberg,Jurger(ed).2002. Intervies, Johannesburg 15 March 2002:105-108(Transcript) Mattera,Don.1987.Gone with the twilight: A Story of Sophiatown. London,Zed Books. 3.Derek Cohen, Beneath the Underworld: Athol Fugards Tsotsi, World Literature Written in English, Vol. 23, No.2, (1984) 273-84. 4. Stephen Gray, The Coming into the print of Athol Fugards Tsotsi, Journal of Commonwealth Literature, Vol. XVI, No.1 (1981) pp 56-63. 5. Ibid.P.56 6. Athol Fugard, No-Good Friday, Dimetos and Two Early Plays, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1977. All subsequent references are to this edition. 7. No Good Friday, p 144. 8. ibid, 146. 9. ibid, 152. 10. ibid, 152. 11. ibid, 154. 12. ibid, 155. 13.Modisane,Bloke.1996.Blame Me on History, Goodwood,Western Cape: A.D.Donker 14. ibid, 155. 15. ibid, 160. 16. Albert Wertheim 17. No Good Friday, p 155 18. Mattera,Don.1987:50 19. Edward Roux, Time longer than Rope, 2nd ed. (Madison: University of Winconsin Press, 1964) p. 320; Quoted by Mbulalo Vizikhungo Mzamane, Sharpeville and its Aftermath: The novels of Richard Rive, peter Abrahams, Alex La Guma and Lauretta Ngcobo, Ariel, Vol. 16, No. 2, April 1985, pp. 30-44. 20. Sheila Fugard, The Apprenticeship Years, Twentieth Century Literature, Ed. By Jack Barbera, Vol. 39, No.4, Win 1993, p. 408. 21. Mattera,Don 22. Albert Wertheim 23. Russell, Vandenbroucke, Truths the Hand can Touch, p. 24. Albert Wertheim, ************** b) NONGOGO (1959) Like No-Good Friday, Nongogo also, but in a different way exposes the travails of the black people in Sophiatown. It exposes the anguish of the women who ran shebeens for livelihood and who longed for decency, though impossible. If Willie of No-Good Friday gets ready to face death with existential courage, Queeny of Nongogo laughs in the face of indecency and shame after a stubborn struggle against them. Nongogo, like No Good Friday also deals with the external and internal aspects of the troubled individuals against the backdrop of troubled economic conditions and suppressive rule. The unique quality of Sophiatown was further enhanced by its shebeen culture. Although blacks were not allowed to drink in the 1950s, they were not stopped by the prohibition. The Sophiatown shebeens sold illegal booze, both store-bought European liquor as well as home brewed skokian. But the shebeens were not merely informal drinking clubs. They were homely places where everyone knew each other. As apartheid ceased to exist, intellectuals like Can Themba, Nat Nkasa and others used to spread circles of literature in these shebeens. As Anthony Samson recalls: The shebeens, however, were another story. Here was what Nat Nakasa called that noble institution, those hospitable homes. Here was a place outside of apartheid as the names reflected: Back Othe Moon, Cabin in the Sky, Little Heaven, The Sanctuary, Kind Lady.(Nicol: 1991:97) Modisane recalls how his mother, after the death of his father, was forced to become shebeen queen in order to keep body and soul together. Her customers, he remembers, drank for one reason only to get drunk, as for them, getting drunk was a purposeful destruction of the pain of their lies, a drowsing of themselves in this orgiastic expenditure. They were breaking out, escaping from themselves. (1986:39) The bad economic conditions forced the black women to take up beer-brewing and shebeens to support their families and to send their children to schools. Apart from the naturalistic portrayal, Fugards play focuses light on the hidden ugliness of evil economic backdrop. As observed by Gerald Weales (1978:) both plays deal with the enervating force of the black situation in South Africa, but they do not so directly as an agitprop would. As in the novels of Peter Abrahams we watch shebeens, drunkards, squalor, hunger, and prostitution- as results of oppression. Dennis Walder(1993:414) in The Genesis of the Township plays observes: The Sophiatown plays nevertheless reflected the aspirations, violence, and vitality of urban black people,offering a window into the world of the correspondent student, Shebeen Queen, Tsotsi (gangster) and rural migrant for predominantly white, liberal audiences.They may now also be seen to have helped to legitimate everyday urban black experience the experience of the majority of South Africans as a subject, for blacks as well as whites. Nongogo presents the conflict between hope and despair, the celebration of life in all its beauty and the devalued existence without virtues. As observed by Russell Vandenbroucke Nongogo is a play about the actuality of the past and forlorn hopes for the future (: 22). The conflict is the result of victimisation. The play has two acts-with the first act getting prepared for decency and respectability, the second act plays a dirge upon the death of these two qualities decency and respectability. The play as a whole exposes the guilt-racked victims of South Africa in both physical and psychological terms. Their physical destruction culminates in their psychological crisis, where their souls wail with the anguish for being the victims of the rough exterior of South African society. The play Nongogo exposes two individuals who experience such angst and a sense of guilt. Both of them are spoiled by social conditions of South Africa. Johnny is badly used by the masochistic, sex-starved mine workers and Queeny-is exploited by the carnal appetite of the South African masculinity, during her fight to eke out a living. Both of them dream for betterment -for a life of decency and respectability which remain to be dreams-the dreams of impossibility. Johnny and Queeny both stand as the physical images of destruction of the psychological self. Like La Gumas A Walk in the Night this play projects the brutalisation that has corroded the moral faculties of the poor.(1973:55) As Fugardxx himself observes, man is more concerned about hunger physically and mentally. Johnny and Queeny become the victims of the hunger of loins and of the poor conditions of the neglected lot. There are other characters like Sam, Blakie and Patrick, who make a parasitic living and work against decency; and who are also in a way, the helpless victims of the poor conditions which can not be bettered, and they in turn victimise their fellow beings-Johnny and Queeny and their dreams of better living for their selfish purposes. The process of victimisation here as in No Good Friday, is the result of both the internal and external aspects of South Africa. Queeny, a nongogo a woman for two and six- the proprietress of a shebeen gets enthused by the arrival and speech of an unexpected salesman Johnny at her door-step. His mode of address makes her feel that she should regain her lost sense of decency. His legitimate living makes her think of dispensing with her shebeen and make a cleaner life with a sense of decency and respectability which remain to be dreams- the dreams of impossibility. Her trust in Johnny encourages her to start a legitimate cloth-business. Her idea of legitimacy creates distaste in Sam, her business partner and her earlier pimp and Blackie, her attendant. With the help of Patrick, a way-ward drunkard, Sam and Blackie spoil the mind of Johnny by sowing the seeds of suspicion. Johnny and Queeny come face to face and compelled by Johnny, Queeny unwillingly digs into her past and in this process, hates Johnny for his inability to understand a womans heart. The play ends with Queeny re-opening the shebeen. Fugard has taken care in portraying the character of Queeny. Her desire for better life with a sense of decency and her despair for not finding it form the crux of the plot. If No-Good Friday presents the process of victimization on the physical plane, dealing with the death of Tobias and of Willie, Nongogo deals with the same process, on the mental plane, indicating the death of the self, when there is the sense of guilt and helpless acceptance of the past life of filth. The crisis of Johnny and Queeny, the victims of the South African society gets interiorized in Nongogo. As Robert M. Post observes, in other plays of Fugard too we find these victims(1985:3-16). Morris and Zachariah in The Blood Knot, Frieda and Errol in the Statements; John and Winston, the political brothers in The Island; Gumboot Dhalami in Tsotsi; Sizwe Bansi in Sizwe Bansi Is Dead; Boesman and Lena in Boesman and Lena; Piet in A Lesson from Aloes and the title character of Dimetos-all of them have been victims in various ways. Queenys curiosity in shaping her life as she had wanted gets shattered. She stands helplessly alone before her own life, a testament of time, as a victim of circumstances. Her disappointment as a living being against past, present and future life is made explicit through the use of two images indicating time the singing wall-clock and the wrist watch. Fugard very keenly exhibits the absurdity of human living against the unchanging nature of time in the South African context. Johnny and Queeny remain as the victims of their conscience. The two plays Nongogo and No-Good Friday exhibit the emotional involvement of Athol Fugard in the problems of the township. The pathetic predicament of man and woman in the South African townships comes alive on the stage. Fugard displays no political purpose in his portrayal of the characters in this play. His artistic involvement as a writer and his personal reaction as a liberal individual made him represent them in a realistic manner. As he observes No-Good Friday and Nongogo are inflated verse dramas by a liberally-informed white-but both the plays are in prose. (Quoted by Russell, Vandenbroucke, THCT, p.25) The gold mines stand as a contrasting back drop to represent the cruel exterior of South Africa. As in No-Good Friday, in this play too, we find the process of victimization. Johnny and Queeny stand as the victims of external conditions with a battered conscience and shattered inner self. Johnnys extreme craving for pure life makes him blind to his circumstances. He fails to treat Queeny as a human being like himself with a yearning for perfection and for a life of decency. Queeny dominates the whole scene with her knowledge of life and an awareness of the nature of men. Her shrewd thinking and her mature opinions about womanhood against the backdrop of her unfortunate murky past as a nongogo elevate her. She says: There is now. But there was a time I thought I had all I wanted when I got this. But when I had it that was the end. There has been times I never knew what day it was in hereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and I never needed to know. Id wake up and think is it Monday or Tuesday, be Friday? It did not make any difference. Giving it a name did not make it any different from the rest. (p.91) She exhibits a dignity in the climactic scene when she is found re-opening the doors of her shebeen. Her poor conditions had made her a nongogo; her desire for betterment made her think of the life of decency and respectability and the presence of Johnny had made her once again the Queeny of shebeen. Her resurrection as the proprietress of shebeen makes her a tragic figure. She bursts out: What do you think Ive been doing for five years? It had ended Johnny, it was dead and buried when you walked in here. But you wont let it stay that way, will you? Youd be worse than Sam, who just sighs when he passes the grave. Youve dug it up. Youve performed a miracle, Johnny. The miracle of Jesus and Dead body youve brought it back to life. The warmth of your hate, the breath of your disgust had got it living again. Im not too old . . . not too fat . . . even you looked at me like you never looked at another woman. Gods put a lot of streets Ive not walked, lampposts Ive not stood under, faces Ive not smiled at. (p.11

Library Disaster Prepared Handbook Essay -- Library Science

According to The Library Disaster Preparedness Handbook, â€Å"the most common calamities for libraries are surely water incidences† (Morris, 1986). Water damage can occur as a result of a leaks, burst pipes, and natural disasters. Of these causes, â€Å" natural disasters of great violence are the most damaging: these include flood, hurricanes and tornadoes (Morris).† Because water damage is such a threat to a library and its collection, it is imperative libraries have disaster preparedness procedures in place for preventing or minimizing flooding and water disaster damages. The Edgecombe County School district in North Carolina learned the hard way just how important disaster preparedness planning is and just how damaging water can be when Hurricane Floyd flooded two of their schools’ libraries. Their experiences can be used as an example, and future school library programs and media specialists, like myself, can use their insights to better plan for di sasters in the future. On Wednesday, September 15 1999, Hurricane Floyd made landfall in Edgecombe County as a Category 2 storm. Because water levels were already high from Hurricane Dennis hitting the areas two weeks before, the torrential rains that accompanied Hurricane Floyd caused rivers and creeks to overflow their banks. The Edgecombe Country School District was hit hard by this flooding. â€Å"When the water ended its inexorable climb to unprecedented levels, approximately forty percent of the land area of Edgecombe County was under water† (Egerton, et al., 2000). Two of their fourteen schools were totally flooded to the extent that nothing in them was salvageable. The two schools flooded were Pattillo A+ Elementary School and Princeville Montessori School. Pattillo ... ...ican Association of School Librarians. Another great resource for public school libraries is the Beyond Words program started by Dollar General which helps replace books lost in disasters through grant assistance. It is very important that a school library have a plan in place in the event of a disaster, and have plans for all types of disasters, like floods, fire, and bombs. By planning in advance, staff will know what is expected of them during and after a disaster. It will also help keep everyone on the same page, as everything descends into chaos and uncertainty. In a school setting it is also imperative that the administration be aware of the disaster plan as well. Including the administration in the planning process will reduce miscommunication in the event of a disaster and will ensure that everyone is on the same page during each stage of cleanup.

The Style of Beowulf Essay -- Epic Beowulf essays

The Style of Beowulf  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   Ursula Schaefer in â€Å"Rhetoric and Style† gives an overview of the history of criticism of style:    Examination of the poem’s rhetoric and style started out with investigating common Germanic features. On the other end of the scale, attention was given to a possible Latin influence on the poem’s style. Recently, there have been reconsiderations of authochthonous traditions linked mainly with the analysis of larger narrative patterns (105).    Beowulf ‘s stylistic features will be examined in this essay, along with the perspectives of various literary critics.    T. A. Shippey in â€Å"The World of the Poem† expresses himself on the subject of a point of style in the Old English poem Beowulf: â€Å"The poet reserves the right to say what people are thinking; he does not, however, regard this as ultimately important† (39). It is true that the reader is forced to draw conclusions, from the words and actions of the characters, about the thoughts of the characters. This is one of the many preferences of the author which contribute to the style or â€Å"how† writers say what they say (Abrams 303).    Joan Blomfield in â€Å"The Style and Structure of Beowulf† takes note of two important features of the poem’s style – the irony and the tendency to antithesis:    This tendency to antithesis, frequently verging on paradox, and the constant play of irony are but stylistic manifestations of those movements of the poet’s thought which shape the very stuff of the poem (Blomfield 58).    Antithesis abounds: The poem has a reference to the burning of Heorot included in the description of its first glories, and the prediction of family strife with Ingeld while yet all is well in ... ...oks, 1977.    Donaldson, E. Talbot. â€Å"Old English Prosody and Caedmon’s Hymn.† Beowulf: The Donaldson Translation, edited by Joseph F. Tuso. New York, W.W.Norton and Co.: 1975.    Magoun, Frances P. â€Å"Oral-Formulaic Character of Anglo-Saxon Narrative Poetry.†Ã‚   In TheBeowulf Poet, edited by Donald K. Fry. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.    Schaefer, Ursula.   â€Å"Rhetoric and Style.† In A Beowulf Handbook, edited by Robert Bjork and John D. Niles. Lincoln, Nebraska: Uiversity of Nebraska Press, 1997.    Shippey, T.A.. â€Å"The World of the Poem.† In Beowulf – Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.    Tharaud, Barry. â€Å"Anglo-Saxon Language and Traditions in Beowulf.† In Readings on Beowulf, edited by Stephen P. Thompson. San Diego: Greenhaven Press,1998.      

Children Dealing With Obesity Essay

Obesity is a sensitive issue for adults’ so one can imagine how a child with obesity is affected mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually; emotionally: children have low self-esteem, mentally: children are stressed, physically: children are overweight, and it affects their well-being altogether. This is why it is so important that mandating that Parent, Teachers, and the community is educated on Childhood Obesity. After closely evaluating the situation and speaking to various parents, physicians, and viewing the actions of the children it has shown that all children are not Obese because of bad parenting. Obesity in children can come from various medical problems in children such as a thyroid issue meaning that his or her metabolism is not functioning correctly, or a pituitary gland issue meaning that he or she is growing too fast. Childhood obesity can also be genetic meaning that the child can be prone to it because of family history; no matter what the issue or problem it is necessary that we as a community be educated and parents should involve themselves in their child’s activities as well. The National Academies (2015) website recommends that the Government, families, industries, communities, and schools should support the children by showing leadership and commitment in evaluating prevention programs, food intake, make the evaluation capacity stronger by having good quality interventions. Schools can begin by monitoring students by placing cameras in the school cafeterias, and also schools and families can monitor the amount of food placed on a child’s plate, making sure that the plates are colorful with adequate fruits, veggies, whole grains, and dairy, caregivers and families should also monitor physical activities and the consumption of water. According to The National Academies (2015), â€Å"There will be a greater likelihood of success when public, private, and voluntary organizations purposefully combine their respective resources, strengths,  and comparative advantages to ensure a coordinated effort over the long term† (Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity: How Do We Measure Up?). In order for this policy to be analyzed, the cameras had to be viewed, attestation, and possibly re-educate everyone. It seems to be working; the children are drinking more water, and eating healthier, and has included more quality physical exercise in his and her program. Parents are asking the right questions and getting more involved as well, parents are spending more and more time with their children as the teachers. Group sessions are working because the child has begun to speak up more, and is smiling and loving themselves more and more each session. Parents and teachers attended workshops to educate them in the maintenance and long-term prevention of obesity. One in five children are overweight, while one-third are obese that is why parents need to learn major factors that stimulate the development of childhood obesity. There should be some sort of consequences given if the stakeholders: being parents, schools and physicians are not willing to cooperate and get involved, possibly higher insurance premium until he or she cooperates, as for the teachers and or schools, begin by minimizing the school funds, because the schools funds are to educate and make sure the child is healthy and safe. In the conclusion the child’s lifestyle, nutrition, and environment needs to change for the better of the child. Parents need to be more educated on the illnesses that can and will develop unless these workshops are attended. It is understandable that organic foods and even most healthy foods and beverages are expensive and are not affordable, but parents can help by baking and not frying, by not supporting fast foods; schools can help by offering fruits instead of chips and junk food, offer milk instead of soda, and both parents and schools she push more water. References The National Academies. (2015). The National Academies Press. Retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11722&page=70 Shi, L. (2014). Introduction to Health Policy. Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.

The Life of the American Born

This paper examines the life of the American born, Tim O'Brien and affirms the way his life influenced his writing techniques. William Timothy, the first of three children, well known as Tim O'Brien is an American Veteran writer, born on October 1, 1946, in Austin, Minnesota, United States of America (Herzog 14). He grew up in Worthington, a small shielded community near the borders of Iowa and South Dakota. He described himself as a vivid reader when he was young and had a thrilling interest in books and magic trick were evident realities on his storytelling power. This can also be linked to his parents who were enthusiastic readers. In other words, O'Brien must have learned some reading secrets from his parents when he was young. Some of his short and electrifying stories include, â€Å"The things they carried† as well as other classic novels like the war novel, going after Cacciato produced in1978, which indeed made him known best for his writing experience about Vietnam War (Raymond 102). Worthington town similarly played a significant role in nurturing his thoughts while developing the artistic sensibility of his life as an author. He attended Macalester College in 1968 and awarded bachelor's degree in Political Science. During his time in the institution, he was elected and served as the president of the student's union in college. Contrary to his criticisms against war, Tim O'Brien was recruited into United States Army and then sent to Vietnam where he served for two years. Following his return from the military service, he resumed his studies and graduated from Harvard University. He then worked shortly as an intern, national affairs reporter at Washington Post up to May 1974. The war experience he gained from his two-year combat inspired his chief publication, titled If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me up and Ship Me Home. O'Brien's history clearly reveals the depression and misery wrecked on soldiers by the Vietnam War. His mythical work, the things they curried of 1990, (O'Brien 816) is a combination of memoirs and fictitious stories in which he used the philosophical concepts of truth to climax the distinctions between two realms of the facts and the fictions in a unique way (Conan 2010). He incorporated the metaphysical approach attribute in his writing that flavored the quality of his stories. In his story, he exposes the readers to the understanding about the distinction between the truth of a story, the truth of fiction and the happening truth, which is associated with the truth of facts. In confirming the same, he appreciates that a story truth is more associated with emotion, which are also connected with the feelings of the story of fiction. On that pedestal, he adds that the feelings would be more significant, and thus making the story more relevant. Additionally, O'Brien wrote numerous novels based on the war experience he obtained in the army of the United States. He was awarded the 1979 National Book Award for his works on Northern Lights published in1975 and Going after Cacciato of 1978. The novel discusses two brothers against one and another as foils where a brother joined the Vietnam war andanother failed (Raymond 99). Through this, the brothers learned to struggle and comprehend each one's values and motives. Following his extraordinary influence of Joseph Conrad's works, he modified Conrad's concepts of human aptitude for good and evil in his literary works. In his works, O'Brien propounded timeless matter of the subject and its thematic range. He believed in his introversive idea, that literary works not only focus on the current affairs but also anticipates what the future holds for humankind, (Smith 34). Nuclear Age, which was published in 1985 was the third O'Brien's novel of his literary works and describes much from his personal experience. His expertise in creating an amusing look at the thoughtful character, a young man who was raised under an atomic umbrella, and suffered severely from paranoia as a result of nuclear war. As the story continues, he finds solace in a hole he dug in his backyard attempting to overcome every thought and imagination, which made him uncomfortable. His creativity in writing approach of war blending fact and fiction is comparable to other technical war writers like Michael Herr and inspired eminent figures such as Truman Capote, Norman Mailer and Tom Wolfe. However, key elements of his works encompass the categorization and fascination of emotional subject matters. Owing to this traits, his fictional works are therefore considered to have made an immense impact on the readers of his novels. Other O'Brien's electrifying works are The Nuclear Age, published in 1985, In the Lakes of The Woods of 1994, Tomcat in Love of 1998 and July, July that was published in 2000, which took the world of literature with a storm. In a span of two years, O'Brien's short stories The things they curried, received the 1987 National Magazine Award Fiction. The novel was then nominated for 1987, best American Short story. The lake of Woods forms another interesting novel written by O'Brien and published in 1994. It took O'Brien's works into greater heights by agitating much on guilt, culpability, complicity and the moral courage, (Bates 265). He invents his character John Wade, who is also a Vietnam veteran, aspiring to run for senate position. He later lost slightly as charges on his involvement in the Lai massacre became popular during his campaign trail. O'Brien raises larger inquiries about the fallouts of war and its effects, which was realized after the end of the war, more so when the veterans returned home. He wore James Fenimire Cooper Prize from the Society of American Historians and was selected as the best novel of 1994 by Times Magazine.His most recent Novel, Tomcat in Love, O'Brien generated a Veteran Vietnam protagonist, Tom chippering through a love subject contrary to war. O'Brien describes this as a comic novel about a politically incorrect hero, who was sexy. He strongly believed that his lovers will love the book, and his fans, the so-called junkies, the people who appreciate his writings liked it. He alludes that this was his best book ever and it stole the hearts of many who could not do without reading the novel.In conclusion, O'Brien has won several prestigious awards in his many fictional works and worth being called a veteran in the writing field. His experience in writing the short story novels are highly acknowledged. He is a master of creative storytelling, a manipulator of literary form and one of the most challenging authors in his time with an ample content. His major contributions include the Nuclear Age, In the Lake of Woods, Tomcat in Love and July, July of 20000 More recently, he received $100,000 with the Pritxker Military Library Literature Award. Currently, he teaches at the Texas State University-San Marcos.

Report on Herbal Medicine Essay

1. Herbal medicine is the oldest form of healthcare known to mankind. Herbs had been used by all cultures throughout history, In 2735 B.C., the Chinese emperor Shen Nong wrote an authoritative treatise on herbs that is still in use today. 2. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 4 billion people, 80% of the world population, presently use herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care. indeed, about 25% of the prescription drugs dispensed in the United States contain at least one active ingredient derived from plant material. 3. Today, research confirms that the herb boosts the immune system by stimulating the production of disease-fighting white blood cells. 4. WHO notes that of 119 plant-derived pharmaceutical medicines, about 74% are used in modern medicine in ways that correlated directly with their traditional uses as plant medicines by native cultures. 5. Herbs take many forms like capsule, tablet, tea, tincture, bath, compress, poultice and ointment. 6. Li ke any kind of remedies Herbs have advantages and disadvantages you have to ask your Doctor before take any of it, Generally Herbs don’t have any serious dangerous on our health that’s the reason why millions of people use it around the world. Conclusion Scientific experts and users of the Herbs are divided about its benefits. However, Herbal medicine is considered to be safe. Recommendations 1. Any medicine – herbal or otherwise – has the potential to have a adverse effects (or side effects). 2. Herbal medicines can also interact with other medicines you are taking. This could result in reduced or enhanced effects of the other medicines, including side effects. If you are consulting your doctor or pharmacist about your health or are about to have surgery or an operation, always tell them about any herbal medicines you are taking. 3. As with all medicines, keep herbal medicines out of the sight and reach of children.