I pick the “good and right” from Victor Hugo. In the book Les Miserables, Jean Valjean in the beginning was not the best man. He would steal food to try to help with his family, but he would always get sent to jail. He was in jail for a long time until he escaped. Jean Valjean went to the bishop’s house and stayed there. The next day he got caught stealing the silver. The bishop told him to keep it, but do only good and what is right. So Valjean later did that, he changed his ways and became a good man. Firstly, Jean Valjean helped Fantine out by finding Cossett. So he went off to go get her and protect her. He was always by her side and would not let anything bad happen to her because Fantine would not have wanted that. Secondly, Valjean helped
...vel FAHRENHEIT 451, the main character is influenced by many different sources. Bradbury writes of a fire fighter that has realized that the society he lives in isn’t right and makes the protagonist want to make a change. Guy Montag is influenced by a teenage girl that makes him realize the beauty’s of the world. Guy is also influenced by a fire that burns a woman alive. Montag steals a book from that fire and that is the beginning of when he begins his mission to find out why his society has become the way it is, and his greater mission of changing society so that everyone in it can think for themselves. Captain Beatty is one of the greatest influences in Guy’s life because of his knowledge, the information of Clarisse’s death and when guy is forced to murder the fire captain. Making Montag’s greatest influences, Clarisse, the fire on Elm Street and Captain Beatty.
The motion picture A Few Good Men challenges the question of why Marines obey their superiors’ orders without hesitation. The film illustrates a story about two Marines, Lance Corporal Harold W. Dawson and Private First Class Louden Downey charged for the murder of Private First Class William T. Santiago. Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, who is known to be lackadaisical and originally considers offering a plea bargain in order to curtail Dawson’s and Downey’s sentence, finds himself fighting for the freedom of the Marines; their argument: they simply followed the orders given for a “Code Red”. The question of why people follow any order given has attracted much speculation from the world of psychology. Stanley Milgram, a Yale psychologist, conducted an experiment in which randomly selected students were asked to deliver “shocks” to an unknown subject when he or she answered a question wrong. In his article, “The Perils of Obedience”, Milgram concludes anyone will follow an order with the proviso that it is given by an authoritative figure. Two more psychologists that have been attracted to the question of obedience are Herbert C. Kelman, a professor at Harvard University, and V. Lee Hamilton, a professor at the University of Maryland. In their piece, Kelman and Hamilton discuss the possibilities of why the soldiers of Charlie Company slaughtered innocent old men, women, and children. The Marines from the film obeyed the ordered “Code Red” because of how they were trained, the circumstances that were presented in Guantanamo Bay, and they were simply performing their job.
Robert Burns once said “The best laid plans of mice men often go astray” In other words, ideas do not always go the way they would like. Many would agree to this statement to be true. The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare prove this quote true. These authors used irony into showing that these characters smartest plans still go awry, such as George and Lennie’s or Romeo and Juliet’s did somewhat go askew, and this is also additionally shown by conflict and characterization by the authors.
First example is the catcher in the rye, it is a story about a young man who gets kicked out of prep school and has nowhere to go, considering his parents would be outraged
There are consequences to people who decide to write their own rules. The preceding are examples of individuals who had to obey the social norms of their surroundings. These characters chose not to endure the further challenges as a result of non-conformity.
rejects law-based morality and forms his or her own paradigm in its place. Each character
People rebel against leadership in their own ways, and for their own reasons. American author Henry David Thoreau wrote in his famous work Walden, “Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away,” (Thoreau Line 225). Thoreau wrote this passage in order to inform his readers that society should not judge people for rebelling against authority. On the contrary, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter represents how Hawthorne believes that rebellious people should be punished and should be recognized as rebels. The main character of The Scarlet Letter was charged with adultery, and was eventually forced to wear a scarlet letter “A,” which would mark her as adulterous for the rest of her life. Both of these authors had opposing views on the reasons for rebellion. Thoreau believed that rebellion was caused because a person could not follow the societal norms of the time, while Hawthorn believed that people rebelled because they could. An example of people rebelling just because they can is an example of why many of today’s teenagers disobey their parents’ best interests, much like Christopher McCandless from Into The
Jonathan Safran Foer once said, “Because sometimes people who seem good end up being not as good as you may have hoped.” Foer references to the belief that people who seem to be kindhearted have another side to their personality that may not seem to be as gracious as others perceived them to be. The idea of people having underlying components to their personalities has become a popular theme among literature as people tend to realize that the ones with a gracious exterior can end up being the most inconsiderate among society. An example of literature that affirms this belief of people with exteriors that contradict their personalities is The Maltese Falcon. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett is a classic example of detective fiction and
Griet, from Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier and Jean Valjean from Les Miserables are both expected to steal because of their low class, limiting their position in the eyes of their respective societies. In Les Miserables, Jean Valjean is branded as a thief, although he stole for his struggling sister's sake. He is then hounded by the police inspector, Javert, even after serving his sentence, because his low class makes people expect him to continue to steal. When he is under the persona of Monsieur Madeleine and revealed to be Jean Valjean, Fantine dies from shock (Victor Hugo). She would not expect a seemingly rich man like Monsieur Madeleine to steal, because of his high class as a mayor. However, if he was known to be Jean Valjean,
Dante Alighieri, an illustrious 13th century Italian poet, once said, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" (72). Indeed, many examples throughout history, society, and literature serve to typify this axiom. William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is the quintessential example of this adage. The play demonstrates that good intentions can result in negative consequences. Romeo's designs, honorable as they are, lead to demise for both him and other characters. In addition, the Nurse's desire for Juliet's happiness unintentionally alienates Juliet. Finally, Friar Lawrence's union of Romeo and Juliet and Capulet's arranged marriage of Juliet and Paris exemplify that laudable objectives can lead to chagrin.
In conclusion, Brutus is a true example of a tragic hero. He has a hubris that brings about a downfall from a high point in society; however, he also experiences an enlightenment of his mistakes after his downfall. Brutus is truly an honorable and sympathetic character that must studied on many levels to truly understand. He chose country over friend. He committed the only honorable betrayal possible. He killed his friend out of love; not love for himself or money, but out of love for his country and its people.
One example is Dally, Dally acted really tough and as though he didn’t care about anything but he actually really loved and cared about Johnny. “‘Oh, damnit, Johnny, don’t die, please don’t die...’ He suddenly bolted through the door and down the hall.” (Hinton 149) This supports the theme because it shows how Dally loved Johnny. “Dally had spent three years on the wild side of New York and had been arrested at the age of 10. He was tougher than the rest of us — tougher, colder, meaner.” (10) The gang thinks of Dally as a cold and bitter person. These quotes prove that Dally acted tough and cold but on the inside he loved and cared about Johnny a lot. Another example is how when Bob was drunk he just looked for trouble and to beat people up
Another author who also uses the role of innocence and corruption as a major theme is Ralph Waldo Emerson in his essay 'Self-Reliance';.
In his novel, Les Miserables, author Victor Hugo makes a strong statement about society being the cause for evil in man. Les Miserables is based on a poor man, Jean Valjean, who was arrested for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving baby. Valjean is sentenced to 20 years for his crime, and, when he is released, he is shunned for his past, which he has more than paid for. Society turns him out at every turn for his past crime, and will hear no excuses for his deed. With this scenario, Hugo shows the cruelty of a “civilized” world that would cause a man to suffer unending prejudice for stealing a single loaf of bread to feed a small child.
Secondly, we come to the element of Self-Sacrifice. This is also another widely used theme in Les Miserables. One such example of this element is with Valjean. He lets Marius and Cosette marry, and for a while, he seems all right with that fact. Later on however, he goes to Marius, and confesses to his past. He tells Marius his whole story, and thinks it best if he never sees Cosette again. Marius agrees…but allows Valjean the occasional visit. Only at the end, does Marius realize what a good man Valjean is…and by then it was too late. Valjean dies shortly after Marius and Cosette visit him to ask him to come back and live with them.