Consequences of overshadowing authority in Miraim Toews’
“A Complicated Kindness”
The presence of overbearing authority figures in Miriam Toews’ “A Complicated Kindness” proves that when excessive stringency is applied, negative consequences are created within the target being “controlled”. The groups being influenced may therefor retaliate in acts of defiance or fall under domineer of their authority figures in which case it could represent religion, government and parental authority. This point is emphasized in the novel through events and behaviors by the characters such as social outburst perceived as “taboo”, acts of rebellion and search for “outlets”, the idea of “double life” and conformity within a community causing people to become less self-aware.
Due to lack of freedom and expression in East village in “A
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This demonstrates how a person can only take so much abuse before the irritability is too much and they need to lose their temper. To avoid theses outbursts, the people of the community find outlets to cope with irritations and by acting rebelliously.
A traditional consequence when it comes to strictness is retaliation through acts of rebellion or “outlets” to channel frustrations. In the novel, there are many acts of rebellion, and mostly all characters have some type of outlet. For example, to cope with the idea of where her mother and sister may be, Nomi says: “I use drugs and my imagination to block that question.” (Toews 54). It is then established that she considers these things as an escape; a way of grieving without publicly doing so since it would be considered an “outburst” which is frowned upon in her community. She is forced to shift her focus towards a “remedy” such as drugs, smoking her “Sweet Caps” (Toews 85) as well as music that will keep her quiet and maintain stability; stability being a
In these five paragraphs I will be writing about the book “Hotel on the Corner of Sweet and Bitter” written by Jamie Ford and five quotation that important and made up the theme for me. This book gives a feel a lot of different emotions. The first quote was “‘You are Chinese aren’t you,Henry? That’s fine. Be who you are, she said, turning away, a look of disappointment in her eyes. “But I’m an American’’(p. 60). This quote is important because it shows how Keiko believes even if her parents are Japanese she feels more American then Japanese since she barely spoke Japanese.
Aggressive individuals often act in ways that will result in having personal gain, rather than focusing what impact they have on others. Aggression is pervasive. It affects the rich as well as the poor, the upper and lower classes, it defines us. This means that most sole individuals will behave in certain ways to promote their well being, instead of how they affect others. Michael Crichton uses characters in Jurassic Park to portray the negative physical, social and intellectual impact they can have on society. This is evident in everyday life because society has molded individuals into looking out for their well being with no considerations of the impact that it has on others.
Everything is subject to something in the world, whether it’s living, nonliving, tangible or nontangible. Forces act upon things making them subject to others such as society, law, institutions, religion, self-expectations, etc. Those able to inflict those forces on others successfully without retaliation hold all the power. However, power does corrupt, there are rare occasions where power remains completely absolute, in fact it’s almost impossible. While forces are working to overthrow absolute power, forces are working to preserve power; therefore, the concept of ‘subject’s relation to power’ can always be going back and forth. The 19th century gothic novel, Dracula, by Bram Stoker, the poem “A Secret Life,” by Stephen Dunn, and Michael Foucault’s idea of “Panopticism,” work together to demonstrate the relationship between the subject and power.
America has not always been great, it has a dark history of slavery and racial discrimination, that are still present in the modern day. From the novel, Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, Dana is constantly summoned to travel back in time from 1976 to 1800s, to save and protect Rufus, a white son of a plantation owner, who later becomes the father who bores the child who later become Dana’s ancestor. Both the characters, Dana and Rufus struggle to accept each other’s differences of thought because of the difference in the timeline. The novel shows the problem of racial discrimination in both the timeline of 1800s and 1970s.
The world of Stephen Crane’s novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, is a dark, violent place. People curse one another openly and instigate fights over petty issues. The intense poverty of the populace leads to a feeling of general despair and creates a lack of self-confidence in each individual. People want to feel that they mean something. They want to know that their life does not go unnoticed. They desire power over others lives. The poor, who are constantly controlled by the rich, yearn for the opportunity to control their world. In a typical society these urges would be satisfied by successful careers and families but in the torn and impoverished world of Maggie people gain power and control only through violence and the moral desecration of others. This thesis will be shown through the fighting amongst the children, the violence of the household, and the family’s treatment of Maggie’s death.
Dave Barry’s “Road Warrior” is a humorous essay that discusses different types of “rages” that exists on a daily basis in American life. Barry begins by discussing road rage then goes into parking lot rage, and shopping cart rage. He explains that these rages are unnecessary, and how they just create violence in the world today. While Barry was writing this article he was living in Miami, Florida discussing the problems of road rage in the city. If anyone has ever felt road rage, or any kind of rage this is for you.
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, is a novel about an African American woman named Dana (born in 1950) who lives in 1976 California. She experiences weird headaches and dizziness one day and gets teleported to a river in the woods. She sees a boy drowning and rushes into the river to save him. The boy’s mother comes out yelling at Dana and then the father comes out with a shotgun just as Dana is sent back to her house. Dana kinda sees it as a hallucination and goes on shocked. Later she experiences the dizziness again and is sent back to a house this time. Then she finds out she is being sent to the past to help her relative Rufus from dying. Every time Rufus gets in trouble to the point of dying Dana is flung back in time to save him. But she is sent to the 1800s
Conflicts occur daily on school campuses, and according to Crawford & Bodine (1996), many conflicts that occur at school arise out of differences that include cultural conflicts, social conflicts, and personal conflicts. Such conflicts appear as a result of academic stress, bullying, fights between friends, discipline problems and other instances where students disagree (www.knowconflict.com, 2006). Feindler & Engel (2011) state that the “problems associated with the inappropriate expression of anger remain amon...
Often, too much power can go to that particular person’s head, and he/she can become corrupt. As readers have seen in literature, abuses of power are often harmful to the abuser and their subjects. Corrupted authority and abuses of power eventually lead to the collapse of society. This concept is shown many times throughout the novel Lord Of the Flies and the short story “I Only Came to Use the Phone”. Displayed through characters and actions, abusive power has dominated what should be morally correct in literature.
In other works of fiction where the oppressive circumstances of protagonists usually arise from failures of society and within the specific individual there is often an optimism to the extent that it is suggested that progress might eventually lift the individual or mankind beyond the scope of the type of situations depicted. In Washington Square', however, James' depiction of Catherine's tragedy could well be interpreted, at a universal level, as our susceptibility to the manipulative and domineering elements in human nature combined with those factors which drive us with passionate longing for another. Our hopes for an enlightened perspective of Catherine's situation diminish as she confronts an environment of emotional, psychological and motivational disregard and cruelty displayed in numerous situations of dialogue, interviews and conniving. We recognize, however, that Catherine's sufferings are intrinsic to human nature as she is depicted also as a protagonist who displays substance and a willingness to develop her perceptions of human behaviour at the cost of being isolated physically, psychologically and emotionally.
Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind. Henry James
Are you kind to everyone, parents, friends, peers, etc? Are they kind? Being kind or not plays a large part in community environments. According to CNTraveler Charleston, SC is currently the kindest city in the United States. It is likely that Charleston has a better community than here in Madison, WI. Being kind allows for better communication, and it also helps one to become a positive force in another's life. These are both very important factors in life. If one is a negative force in a friends life or even in a random person's life, one never knows how much that could hurt another.
Aesop once stated, “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” In this time period, many people around the globe only focus on their life, and they do not focus on lifting others up. Kindness is one word that can change lives, even when the person that shows kindness doesn’t even know the impact they are making. One act of kindness does not appear to be very important, but every act makes an impact. The world is full of hatred, war, and terrorism, but anybody can start to make a change. Some reasons that any act of kindness has an impact include other people needing positivity, the start of a chain reaction, and the benefit of other people in the world.
Kindness is the key to most everything. Being kind means taking the high road, even when someone has wronged you. It means serving other people, even under inconvenient circumstances.It involves looking for the good in others, and even helping them to see the good in themselves. Kindness is spreading happiness to make other’s day better and by making them smile. Kindness is defending those who are picked on by others, sitting by those who are lonely, and saying hi to someone in the hall. Kindness is being someone who wants to build up those around them.
In the world today, people need to treat one another with unselfishness. Being unselfish means that you are willing to put others and their wishes before your own. Today’s times are filled with injustices. But, unselfishness has the power to help overcome them. In people’s lives today, they need to live unselfishly because it can free people, unite people together, and bring justice and fairness to everyone.