Pietro DiDonato’s Christ in Concrete
Pietro DiDonato’s Christ in Concrete is a powerful narrative of the struggles and culture of New York’s Italian immigrant laborers in the early twentieth century. Jerre Mangione and Ben Morreale, in their historical work La Storia, state that "Never before or since has the aggravation of the Italian immigrant been more bluntly expressed by a novelist" (368). A central component of this "aggravation", both for DiDonato as an author and for his protagonist Paul, is the struggle to reconcile traditional religious beliefs and customs with the failure of that very same faith to provide any tangible improvement in the immigrants’ lives. Through Paul’s experience, we observe the Catholic institutions lose influence and effectiveness as Capitalist ones, manifest in Job, take their place. While doing this, DiDonato also illustrates essential aspects of Italian (specifically southern) Catholicism and the pressures placed upon it by the American environment.
The novel opens by introducing Paul’s father Geremio, his mother Annunziata, and Job. Geremio is a construction crew supervisor who struggles to improve his family’s condition, and even though he has been making progress, he still wonders how much more will be exacted from him. A religiously faithful man, he asks God for guidance: "Is it not possible to breathe God’s air without fear dominating the pall of unemployment? And the terror of production for Boss, Boss, and Job? To rebel is to lose all of the very little. To be obedient is to choke. O dear Lord, guide my path" (13). Geremio articulates the conflict he feels between Boss and Job, which rules his earthly life, and the struggle of his spirit. The pressures have not crushed his faith,...
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...ave either seen, survived, or know of. Yet, when they need help, there is nowhere else to turn. Paul doesn’t arrive at Job, doesn’t decide to dedicate his life to it, as his first choice. He only does so after other institutions, namely the Church, fail to provide assistance. As a result, Job naturally becomes the central all-powerful force in the lives of the laborers. It is to Job they go every day, and to Job that they dedicate themselves. As the Church failed to help them materially, it also often fails to help them spiritually beyond encouraging them to accept their plight as fate. Once arrived at this state, it is a natural consequence that Paul loses his faith God and the Catholic institution as they are supplanted by the Capitalist institution of Job. Though he resents and wishes to break free from Job, he sees no alternative, it is all that is left to him.
In Sarah Ruden’s book, Paul Among the People, Ruden strives to disprove modern society’s common belief that the apostle Paul was a man strongly against women and homosexuality. She makes the claim that he was actually fighting for more equality and love than what Roman society allowed in Paul’s time and even before his time. Ruden compares the words Paul wrote around the middle of 50 A.D. and into the early 60 A.D.’s against other popular literary works of the Roman first and second century B.C.in an effort to challenge contemporary negative thoughts regarding Paul. Despite the negative opinions that a majority of modern society hold about the apostle, Sarah Ruden does a remarkable job of refuting the claims that Paul was a misogynist homophobe by putting Paul in perspective inside the society that he lived in. She claims that Paul was offering equality and a better life for the people of his time. By doing this, Ruden attests that Paul was not the negative man that most people believe but that he actually fought for more equality and compassion than what he is given credit for by most people today.
In Paul’s true reality he has a lack of interest in school. His disinterest in school stems from the alienation and isolation he has in life. This disinterest in school reflects Paul’s alienation because of the unusual attention he receives there that he doesn’t get at home. In class one day he was at the chalkboard and “his English teacher had stepped to his side and attempted to guide his hand” (Cather 1). Paul, at the moment of being touched, stepped backwards suddenly and put his hands behind his back. In other classes he looks out the window during lectures and pays little attention to his teacher’s lessons. Paul, growing up without a mother figure in his life, is unaccustomed to any affection or care from his teachers that mothers tend to give. Therefore, his alienation is portrayed in his attitude toward school, and the fore...
Robert F. Kennedy's chilling account of his experiences with his brother, President John F. Kennedy over thirteen days in October of 1962 give an idea to the reader of just how alarmingly close our country came to nuclear war. Kennedy sums up the Cuban Missile Crisis as "a confrontation between two atomic nations...which brought the world to the abyss of nuclear destruction and the end of mankind."1 The author's purpose for writing this memoir seems to be to give readers an idea of the danger confronted during the Cuban Missile Crisis and to reflect on the lessons we should learn from it as a country, and for future members of government.
“He was neither hasty nor hesitant; he was neither reckless or afraid. He demonstrated toughness, restraint, and determination. He always exercised wisdom, analysis, and a keen sense of strategy; he was not only a leader but also a hero,” recall members of Kennedy’s former Administration when asked how well the President performed during the intense Cuban Missile Crisis. According to the contributors, President Kennedy’s leadership during the national emergency helped reduce tensions of the Cold War. (source: Cuban Missile Crisis: Evolving Historical Perspectives) Perhaps it was President Kennedy’s well-composed attitude and clear direction that led the Cuban Missile Crisis to be so successful and avoid a nuclear war that could have ended the world. Throughout all of the events that occurred during the Cold War, the Cuban Missile had one of the most crucial roles in the war and also in determining the fate of two remaining superpowers.
Morin, Karin Venable. "Mother Teresa." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. : Oxford University Press, 2008. Oxford Reference. 2008. Date Accessed 14 Mar. 2014
There are some traditional medicines that are used to help with Rheumatoid Arthritis such as a mixture of ufudu, sengaparele, and ishaba bark are boiled and then strained. The patient should drink it four times daiy to take away pain. There have been many tests done and it has been proven that in most pateints borage seed oil helps to relieve pain and swelling of joints. Blackcurrent seed oil also improves the tenderness of joints in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Paul believes that everyone around him is beneath him. He is convinced that he is superior to everyone else in his school and in his neighborhood. He is even condescending to his teachers, and shows an appalling amount of contempt for them, of which they are very aware.
After having his mother deliver a message to Agnes stating, “do not expect me again” (Deledda 81), Paul seeks to consume his mind with Antiochus and his desire to become a priest. As the village priest, Paul intend...
Robert Kennedy’s memoir, Thirteen Days, details the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis through his own eyes. How he himself perceived the action around him and his brother, John F. Kennedy, reacted as well. The Cuban Missile crisis was, to put it mildly, a huge effect on life in the United States. It was during these thirteen days that many people feared the world would come to an end through nuclear warfare. The Soviets were building missiles in Cuba and the United States was trying very hard to diffuse the situation. The plans that President John F, Kennedy set in motion in order to prevent this nuclear war showed us what kind of president he was. It is through these plans that we can see just what ideas play an important part in decision
From the outset of the story, the reader is shown Paul's thoughts. Through this the story tells us that Paul has a very active imagination. This is shown when Pauls says, "Then,
In ‘Paul’s Case’ Paul has created a fantasy world in which he becomes entranced, even to the point of lying to classmates about the tales of grandeur and close friendships that he had made with the members of the stock company. This fantasy falls apart around him as “the principle went to Paul’s father, and Paul was taken out of school and put to work. The manager at Carnegie Hall was told to get another usher in his stead; the doorkeeper at the theater was warned not to admit him to the house” (Cather 8). The fantasy fell apart further when the stories he had told his classmates reached the ears of the women of the stock company, who unlike their lavish descriptions from Paul were actually hardworking women supporting their families. Unable to cope with the reality of working for Denny & Carson, he stole the money he was supposed to deposit in the bank to live the life of luxury in New York. Only a person who felt backed into a corner would attempt something so unsound. After his eight days in paradise, he is again backed into a corner by the reality of his middle class upbringing, and the dwindling time he has before his father reaches New York to find him. The final way out for Paul is his suicide, for which an explanation would be “In the end, he fails to find his security, for it was his grandiose “picture making mechanism” that made his life so deardful.” (Saari). With all the securities of his fantasy life finally gone, his mental instability fully comes to light as he jumps in front of the train to end his
Paul believes that he was tricked into joining the army and fighting in the war. This makes him very bitter towards the people who lied to him. This is why he lost his respect and trust towards the society. Teachers and parents were the big catalysts for the ki...
Paul's father is a single parent trying to raise his children in a respectable neighborhood. He is a hard worker and trying to set a good example for his son. His father puts pressure on Paul by constantly referring to a neighbor, whom he feels is a perfect model for his son to follow.
Nathan, James A. "Chapter 9: The Kennedy-Khrushchev Letters: An Overview." The Cuban Missile Crisis Revisited. New York: St. Martin's, 1992. 281.
The conflict of this story is shown with Paul trying to deal with his father’s death in the Portrait of an Invisible Man, and his divorce in The Book of Memory. As Paul received the sudden news of his father’s death, he was taken back by the fact he actually passed away. Paul then made the trip with his wife to clear out his father’s possessions from the house, so they could pu...