Death Of Salesman By Miller Essays (1753 words) -

Death Of Salesman By Miller Thesis: In Arthur Miller's, Death of a Salesman, the character of Ben is used as a catalyst to fuel the development of the main character, Willy. The character of Ben in Arthur Miller's, Death Of A Salesman, functions as a catalyst to fuel the development of his main character, Willy. Miller uses Ben as an idealistic figure for Willy. Ben is the figure that Willy strives to be like throughout the story. By exploring Ben's character, we develop a better understanding of Willy's character. We learn Willy's personality and character by looking at Ben's actions and beliefs. Ben's personal morals become Willy's rules of life. Throughout the story, Willy strives to be like his brother. Ben's character allows us understand the importance of living one's life by their own rules. His character helps us to understand that we must play with the hand we are dealt. Life is too short to be playing someone else's hand. The contrast between Ben and Willy's characters allows the reader to recognize the importance of letting go of the past and not dwelling on mistakes made or regrets. Willy is so eat up with his brother's success and the idea of living his brother's life, that he loses control over his own life and reality. Ben appears but three times throughout the story, first in a flashback, second in a quasi-flashback where Willy has inserted him into a scenario that actually happened, and finally in a complete hallucination. Through a comparison and understanding of each of these occurrences, we are able to gain vast knowledge of who Willy Loman actually is. These flashbacks and hallucinations show how Ben's character is used as a device to Taylor 2 allow us to understand what is actually going on inside Willy Loman's head. The first time Ben appears is in a flashback within Willy's mind. This flashback is used as an interruption of Willy's feelings of inadequacy about his present situation. Willy has returned home from a selling trip, unable to concentrate and unable to keep his mind in the present. Ben appears as a scapegoat for Willy from his situation, a way for him to forget about his present condition and feelings. This flashback with Ben provides us with a large amount of information about himself, and thus about Willy. We learn first that Ben is a lot wealthier then Willy, and that while they are brothers, they did not grow up together. We also learn through the flashback that Willy idolizes Ben, though they have never been close. "Ben! I've been waiting for you so long! What's the answer? How did you do it?(Miller 1938)." Obviously, Ben has achieved what Willy wishes for. We find out that Ben has made a fortune by "walking into Africa." He has prospered by essentially using other people for what they can give him. "When I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by god he was rich(1939)." We learn a lot about the character of Willy because he completely believes that this is an excellent way to make money. He obviously does not believe that a person has to put in a lot of hard work to achieve success, and that in fact Ben's way is the way to go. The flashback also illustrates a fight between Ben and Biff. Ben says, "Never fight fair with a stranger(1939)." This shows us his morals and values, that you cannot trust people, and that you should always take Taylor 3 advantage of people you don't know. This also demonstrates the essence of Ben's character. He believes that you should take advantage of which you can and use it for your own good in any way possible. Since Willy believes that Ben is a good example of a success, he essentially believes in what he says and believes that his boys should follow this. We have prior evidence that Willy believes you should take advantage of people when he tells Biff not to worry about his math, that Bernard will let him cheat off of him. This flashback provides more then just basic character traits. It reinforces our view of Willy as someone who tends to stretch the truth. At first we are told that Ben pleaded with Willy to go to Alaska with him. Yet we soon see that this is not at all the case, in fact rather the opposite. The second quasi-flashback has Ben placed into a scene in Willy's mind,

Free Short Stories from Project Gutenberg

Free Short Stories from Project Gutenberg Founded by Michael Hart in 1971, Project Gutenberg is a free digital library containing more than 43,000 e-books. Most of the works are in the public domain, though in some cases copyright holders have given Project Gutenberg permission to use their work. Most of the works are in English, but the library also includes texts in French, German, Portuguese, and other languages. The effort is run by volunteers who are constantly working to expand the librarys offerings. Project Gutenberg was named after Johannes Gutenberg, the German inventor who developed movable type in 1440. Movable type, along with other advances in printing, helped facilitate mass production of texts, which fostered the rapid spread of knowledge and ideas in art, science, and philosophy. Goodbye, Middle Ages. Hello, Renaissance. Note: Because copyright laws vary from country to country, users outside of the United States are advised to check the copyright laws in their respective countries before downloading or distributing any texts from Project Gutenberg. Finding Short Stories on the Site Project Gutenberg offers a wide range of texts, from the United States Constitution to old issues of Popular Mechanics to charming medical texts like 1912s Cluthes Advice to the Ruptured. If youre specifically hunting for short stories, you can start with the directory of short stories arranged by geography and other topics. (Note: If you have trouble accessing the Project Gutenberg pages, look for an option that says, Turn off this top frame and the page should work.) 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Cold water may, indeed, be a luxury to the drunkard, but for someone who loves short stories, the real luxury is the chance to explore thousands of rich-but-almost-forgotten texts, to read with fresh eyes, to get a glimpse of literary history, and to form unencumbered opinions about what you read.

Politics and Beliefs Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Politics and Beliefs - Term Paper Example This essay discusses that according to Cloninger, for a certain group of people, ideology is important and performs four functions. The first function is it describes the surroundings and answers question why things go as they are. The second of these functions is the evaluation of the surrounding whether good or bad. The third of the functions of ideology is to give the person or group of people a sense of identity. The most important of the functions is the programmatic aspect where ideas are applied into actions. Political ideology is therefore a very important aspect of human nature. A political ideology according to Cloninger is like a revolutionary movement at first that will try to create change according to the goals in life as they wish. Gerring in Chris Livesey’s work entitled Power and Politics defined â€Å"Ideologies† (a set of related beliefs and values) become political ideologies when they â€Å"specify a concrete programme of actions† (such as pa rty manifesto). Mullins described political ideologies as a program of collective action for the maintenance , alteration and transformation of society†. Livesey stated that a conventional way to classify political ideologies is to view them as a continuous line (the continuum) with two ends: â€Å"left wing† parties including Communist and Socialist and â€Å"right wing† parties such Conservative and Fascist. Rummel also identified major political ideologies by illustrating a political triangle. ... They advocate the view that capitalism is a form of exploitation which unfairly concentrates powers and wealth among the few people only. Socialists believe that capitalism creates inequality in a society and does not work in the interest of the majority. According to Rummel (n.d.), libertarianism is the â€Å"political formula for those who opposed to state power.† Thus these are people who wanted to do as things their own way and support basic civil freedoms. Authoritarianism leans more on â€Å"the traditions and customs and central power lies in the hands of a leader who maintains such tradition and policies (Rummel, n.d.). Political Socialization Political socialization is defined as â€Å"the process by which political culture is transmitted in a given society. It occurs at both the individual and community level, and it extends beyond the acquisition of political culture to encompass the learning of more sophisticated political ideas and orientations. Political social ization is a lifelong process and a variety of individuals and institutions contribute to its shaping effect†(http://imej.wfu.edu, Political Socialization). This process of transmission is carried through the agents of socialization which include family, schools, church, friends and media. Family is considered to be the most important agent of socialization. Most likely, children will have the same political affiliation as their parents. Schools on the other hand also have vital effect on students’ political values through peer groups. Religion also affects a person’s values and ideologies through their moral teachings. Friends also influence a person’s value through sharing of thoughts and constant communication. Media

Sumatran Tigers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sumatran Tigers - Research Paper Example There are two major factors that have caused the Sumatran tigers to become critically endangered – agricultural growth and increased poaching. Sumatra has undergone extensive deforestation as a result of agricultural growth, especially in the production of palm oil. This has caused the tiger habitats to become limited to the Kerinci Seblat and Gunung Leuser national parks and some unprotected areas. Again, tigers that live in unprotected areas are at increased risk of poaching and killing as they frequently enter nearby villages in search of food. Since the 1990s, Sumatran tigers have been hunted for their bones which are an important ingredient in traditional Asian medicines especially to treat rheumatism. Tiger bones and other products of the tiger are also used in magical practices that are conducted in Sumatra and other parts of Indonesia. These products are used as â€Å"ingredients for prescriptions or as amulets to ward off evil spirits† (Shepherd & Magnus 11). I n fact, Indonesia has been identified as the major supplier of tiger bones and other tiger products from 1975 to 1992 in the South Korean Customs import records (Shepherd & Magnus 37). The skins and bones of Sumatra Tigers are also exported internationally. Tiger teeth and claws are also used to custom design gold pendants to cater to international tourists.Tiger skins and stuffed tigers are also in great demand in the domestic market with policemen, army personnel, government officials and business men as the primary customers.

Whitbread Analysis Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Whitbread Analysis - Case Study Example company has utilized cost leadership is in the use of the technology, particularly iPhone Apps, and Mobile websites to ensure that it cuts prices (Porter, 1985). In the same context, the company has managed to realize success in the cost leadership strategy through innovation. As such, the company has focused on a unique Christmas campaign, variety of foods including breakfast and new drinks such as hot chocolate. Another approach, which companies enhance cost leadership, is through seeking new opportunities. As for such, it is evident that Whitbread has been venturing into new markets in different countries (Lynch, 2003). The company is in a position to own a strong brand portfolio. Such is evident from its partner stores, which are Premier Inn and Costa, and they are market-leading performers. The mother company has many years of experience in the hospitality and restaurants industry. In addition, the company is focusing on providing new products in both local and international markets at affordable prices to ensure profitability (Worley, & Cummings, 2014). Costa faces the risk of overpricing its products because of its location in a lavish ending of the coffee products spectrum (Lashely 2010). In addition, most of the brands are still untested outside the United Kingdom market, with only a low number of Costa Markets and premier Inn outlets in the international market. Similarly, the company has not provided proper brand awareness in the saturated international market, which is a factor that might undermine its sales. Considering the store cutbacks and possible closure faced my many traditional retailers, the company has an opportunity to capitalize on the available high street retail price. In respect to expansion, the company has an opportunity to venture into new markets in Dubai, India and China among others. The company’s global economic progress remains unstable; however, there is significant uncertainty in the process of expanding into new markets

The Understanding Of Feminist Theories English Literature Essay

The Understanding Of Feminist Theories English Literature Essay A system of cultural and social assumptions that are presented as natural or common sense, presented as normative social structures but which actually uphold a particular point of view on the world, they are shifting through time, contingent sets of attitudes and dispositions. (Lecture handout) This shift through time relates to feminist theory being developed in writing over time due to the influence of previous feminist literature. The womens movement of the 1960s was not the beginning of feminism. It is an ideology already present in classical books. An example of one of these books is Mary Wollstonecrafts A Vindication of the Rights of Women which highly influenced her daughter Mary Shelleys novel Frankenstein. Other influences on this novel will be discussed in this essay. A feminist may view Frankenstein as a womans story of male creativity because it is a womans description of a mans creation. (Lecture handout) Frankenstein has been described as a Female Gothic  [2]  which is defined as the work that women writers have done in the literary mode that, since the eighteenth century, we have called the Gothic. (Moers, p.214) She intended Frankenstein to be the kind of ghost story that would curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart. (Moers, p.214) This is seen in the description when the mad scientist makes the monster: It was on a dreary night of Novemberà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feetà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦my candle was nearly burnt outà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsion motion agitated its limbsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips. (Moers, p.217-218) The adjectives dreary, lifeless, horrid, shrivelled and black create a dark image of the monster for the reader. The feelings described such as anxiety, agony and agitation of its limbs reflect possible negative feelings the reader may be experiencing as they read the description. The action described such as my candle was nearly burnt out and it breathed hard creates suspense to the mystery of this creature. These techniques show Frankenstein to have brought a new sophistication to literary terror and it did so without a heroine, without even an important female victim. (Moers, p.216) Mary Shelleys personal experience influenced her writing and a feminist may see the hideous description of birth as an addition to fear of female sexuality because his workshop of filthy creation is seen as filthy because obscenely sexual. (Lecture handout) Womens childbirth is metaphorically described in a hideous way in Frankenstein as shown in Frankensteins process, when he has decided to produce new life, is to visit the vaults and charnel houses and examine the human body in all its disgusting phases of decay and decomposition. (Moers, p.220) To examine the causes of life, he says, we must first have recourse to death. His purpose is to bestow animation upon lifeless matter, so that he might in process of time renew life where death has apparently devoted the body to corruption. (Moers, p.220) Death and lifeless matter must be looked at and used to make new life: Death and birth were thus as hideously mixed in the life of Mary Shelley as in Frankensteins workshop of filthy creationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦her myth of the birth of a nameless monsterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦which records the trauma of her lossà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦of her first babyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦who did not live long enough to be given a name. (Moers, p.221) A feminist may relate to the feelings of mothers guilt of abandoning her children as only women experience a mothers attachment to their child. Ellen Moers states that another personal female experience which influenced Shelleys writing was the absence of a mother since she was born and her fathers abandonment of her after she eloped. (Moers, p.222) I, the miserable and the abandoned. Cries the monster at the end of Frankenstein, I am an abortion to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I have murdered the lovely and the helplessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I have devoted my creator to misery; I have pursued him even to that irremediable ruin. (Moers, p.222) This reflects Mary Shelleys feelings of being miserable and abandoned through harsh imagery using words such as spurned, kicked, trampled. It also reflects her guilt over losing her children which are lovely and helpless and have suffered the same abandonment as the newborn is at once monstrous agent of destruction and pite ous victim of parental abandonment. (Moers, p.222) A feminist may consider all women to originate from Eve to identify who we are and the reason why we are separated from men into a different gender which triggered the separation of public-masculine world and domestic-feminine one. Frankenstein is heavily influenced by the evidence of marginalisation of fallen Eve in John Miltons Paradise Lost. Frankenstein Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come? the monster reports wondering, describing endless speculations cast in Miltonic terms.  [3]  These questions refer back to the story of mankind to identify who we are, what we were before we were alive and when we came into this world. Thus their questionings are in some sense female, for they belong in that line of literary womens questionings of the fall into genderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Gilbert and Gubar, p.229-230) Relating back to the point that Eve represents female fall, a feminist may read Frankenstein as a subverted version of Miltons Paradise Lost with the emphasis on the fall of the woman in terms of her creativity. Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar argue that Mary Shelley uses Waltons revelations in the novel to mirror her anxieties as a woman. Walton says: You are well-acquainted with my failure and how heavily I bore the disappointment  [4]  However, Mary Shelley also states in her introduction in Frankenstein that she had spent her childhood in waking dreams of literature; later, both she and her poet-husband hoped she would prove herself worthy of [her] parentage and enrol [herself] on the page of fame (xii). (Gilbert and Gubar, p.229-230) Both Shelley and Walton share the anxiety of failure as a writer. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it seems possible that one of the anxious fantasies his narrative helps Mary Shelley covertly examine is the fearful tale of a female fall from a lost paradise of art, speech, and autonomy into a hell of sexuality, silence, and filthy materialityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Gilbert and Gubar, p.231) A feminist may argue that female characters are just as important as male characters in literature which may be an argument for the equality of importance of men and women in everyday life. The female characters of the book have a significant role in the story: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Victors post-creation nightmare of transforming a lovely, living Elizabeth, with a single magical kiss, into the corpse of my dead mother enveloped in a shroud made more horrible by grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel (42, chap 5) (Gilbert and Gubar, p.232) Relating back to the subject of Gothic writing, Elizabeths character enables Shelley to further reveal her Gothic style through chilling imagery using words such as corpse, dead and grave-worms crawling. Though it has been disguised, buried, or miniaturised, female-nessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦is at the heart of this apparently masculine book. (Gilbert and Gubar, p.232) Although the book is comprised of mainly male characters, Elizabeths character is used to show Shelleys talent in writing which is the heart of the book. A feminist may see the character Victor as the cause of the fall of women as he symbolises Eve who represents all women who are tempted to do wrong unto the world and unleash Sin and Death. Victors curiosity also mirrors Eves curiosity: He is consumed by a fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature, a longing which -expressed in his explorations of vaults and charnel-houses, his guilty observations of the structure of human frame- recalls the criminal female curiosity that led Psyche to lose love by gazing upon its secret face, Eve to insist upon consuming intellectual foodà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Gilbert and Gubar, p.234) The secrets of nature is a sexual reference and the metaphors vaults and charnel-houses and human frame are metaphors for bodies and intellectual food refers to sexual appetite: For what Victor Frankenstein most importantly learns, we must remember, is that he is the author of the monster-for him alone is reservedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦so astonishing a secret- and thus it is he who is the true murderer, he who unleashes Sin and Death upon the world, he who dreams the primal kiss that incestuously kills both sister and mother. (Gilbert and Gubar, p.234) A feminist recognises the importance of books and reading to further womens education. (Lecture handout) The monster is the voice of Mary Shelley. Werters story, says the monster-and he seems to be speaking for Mary Shelley-taught him about gentle and domestic manners and about lofty sentimentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦which had for their object something out of selfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the monster explains to Victor that I thought Werter himself a more divine being that I had everà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦imagined. (Gilbert and Gubar, p.237) Mary Shelley reveals to her readers the importance of education and etiquette such as gentle and domestic manners to help men and women in their everyday lives. Mary Shelley considers Werter a divine being relaying the message that men are valued for their knowledge and can enable women to learn from them through their literature. A feminist may view Frankenstein as a separation of public-masculine world and domestic feminine one as males are taking the domestic role of womens childbirth in Shelleys alternative world. (Lecture handout) Mary Shelley creates an alternative all-male world in her novel. Frankensteins bride-to-be is transformed in his arms into the corpse of his dead mother- a shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel. (p53)  [5]  This description horridly describes the corpse intentionally as a representation of the death of all women. One of the deepest horrors of this novel is Frankensteins implicit goal of creating a society for men only: his creature is male; he refuses to create a female; there is no reason that the race of immortal beings he hoped to propagate should not be exclusively male. (Mellor, p.274) This separation of the public-masculine world and domestic feminine one helps us to understand the cultural background of the text in the time it was written in regards to peoples ideas on gender separation. (Lecture handout) The men in Frankensteins world all work outside the homeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The women are confined to the home; Elizabeth for instance, is not permitted to travel with Victor and regretted that she had not the same opportunities of enlarging her experience and cultivating her understanding (151). Inside the home, women are either kept as a kind of pet (Victor loved to tend on Elizabeth as I should on a favourite animal [p.30]; or they work as house wives, childcare providers, and nursesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Mellor, p.275) Men are seen to have more opportunities to expand their knowledge and develop their understanding and women are seen as pets or animals. Victor Frankensteins nineteenth-century Genevan society is founded on a rigid division of sex roles. (Mellor, p.274) We can see Mary Shelleys feminist views on the divide of the gender in the novel and the costs of it. Frankensteins obsession with his experiment has caused him to forget those friends who were so many miles absent, and whom I had not seen for so long a time (p.50) (Mellor, p.275) The bad result of the division is he ignored his friends and loved ones as he cannot do scientific research and think lovingly of Elizabeth and his family at the same time. (Mellor, p.275) Feminist theory of Frankenstein enhances my understanding of the text as it has shown me it could be read as a womans story of male creativity. The theme of gender is exposed throughout the novel in different ways. The description of birth or the hideous progeny of body reveals the fear of female sexuality of the time. Evidence of marginalisation is shown in the references to Miltons Paradise Lost as Eve is seen to be fallen. Also the separation of public-masculine world and domestic feminine one is seen through the characters roles in the novel. Mary Shelleys gothic style is seen as a subversive form of writing as no other woman before her was able to develop this style in an effective way. There is a strong encouragement to educate women through the importance of books and reading in the novel as Shelley used previous literature to write her novel. This is significant as feminist readings of Frankenstein can be used by other feminists to understand other novels the same way feminis t theory of Frankenstein has helped me to understand the text.

Stones from the River Essay -- Stones from the River Germany Essays

Stones from the River 1. Synopsis of â€Å"Stones from the River† Trudi Montag was growing up during the World Wars in Burgdorf, Germany. She lived with her father, Leo, and helped him run their pay library. When she was young her mother, Gertrude, went insane, and died at the asylum. Trudi could remember how her mother used to run away, and after her father carried her home, he would lock her up in the attic, to try to prevent her from escaping again. She always did escape, and Trudi usually found her outside, hiding under the stairs. Trudi would spend time with her mother in the attic, or under the stairs. In the attic, the two would play with the paper dolls Leo gave his wife, and Gertrude would teach Trudi how to escape from the attic. Under the stairs, Gertrude told Trudi of her affair with her husband’s friend, Emil, and how she fell off his motorcycle one day, and skinned her knee. Her knee healed, but the stones could be felt beneath her skin if she let someone try to feel for them. That very same day Leo got shot in the kn ee in the First World War, and had to come home, and would forever walk with a limp. Gertrude blamed herself for her husband’s injury, just as Trudi blamed herself for her mother’s death. Trudi was born a dwarf, a Zwerg, in German. Trudi felt that if she were a normal baby/child, then her mother would have never tried to run away. Trudi thought that it was her fault her mother went insane, and had to go to an asylum, where her mother died. Although Trudi’s father told her it was not her fault her mom died, she blamed herself anyway. Trudi and her dad became close, and would spend their time playing, reading, walking, or working in the library together. At the end of the book, Trudi felt a great lose when her dad died the day after his birthday. Ever since his friend Emil died, and Mrs. Abramowitz was taken away for being a Jew in WW II, Leo grew weak, and seemed to give up his will to live. Trudi hated the fact that she was a dwarf, and began to hang from doorframes in attempt to stretch her body. She would also tie her mother’s scarves around her head to keep it from growing at night and pray everyday to grow. She asked the town doctor how to make her grow, and even drank some â€Å"magic potion† from a man who said it would make her grow. Trudi had no friends in school, and every child made fun o... ...can prison camps, the Americans kept their prisoners close to starvation, with only two bowls of soup per day.† He said, â€Å"that the Americans said it was only fair because the Jews got even less food in the KZs.† In short, American prisoners almost starved because the Jews did, so it was fair. Do you agree with this? Why? 7. Trudi and many others risked their lives hiding Jews in their houses. If you were confronted with this situation, what would you do? 8. Frau Simon saved a little Jewish girl from being stoned by a group of boys. If you witnessed the same thing, knowing that protecting Jews was against the law, would you have done the same as Frau Simon? Why? 4. Open ended questions continued 9. What are your feelings toward the Nazis? If you were confronted whether or not to turn in your family members, as Helmut was, would you? Why? 10. After WW II had ended, many Germans said, â€Å"It’s not good to dwell on the things that were terrible.† â€Å"Nobody wants to relive those years. We have to go forward.† If you were told this, would you agree or disagree? Would you want to talk of the War, or never hear of it again? Why?