A Thousand Acres and King Lear: A New Twist
When Jane Smiley wrote A Thousand Acres, she consciously made the story parallel to Shakespeare's King Lear for several reasons. The novel's characters and basic storyline are almost direct parallels to King Lear, but Smiley's dissatisfaction with the traditional interpretation of King Lear is showcased in her modern day version (Berne 236).
The story of the Cook family is almost a carbon copy of the saga of Lear's family. The ruler, or father, possesses so much power that he is driven to insanity. Both divide up their kingdoms and land, giving the largest portion to the most "loving" daughter: "In spite of that inner clang, I tried to sound agreeable. 'It's a good idea.' Rose said, 'It's a great idea.' Caroline said, 'I don't know.'" (Smiley 19).
In each family, one daughter, the youngest, rebels against her father's wishes and is not given any land.
Cordelia: Nothing, my lord.
Lear: Nothing?
Cordelia: Nothing.
Lear: Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.
Cordelia: Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty/ According to my bond; nor more nor less. (Shakespeare I. i. 89-94)
Shortly after giving up his power, the father realizes that he is nothing without it and appears to be slowly becoming insane. In both instances, the father, in a crazed moment, wanders off and puts himself in a life-threatening situation. In the end the youngest daughter comes to the fathers' rescue.
With so many basic plot similarities, Smiley manages to convey a new take on an old-fashioned story. At the end of King Lear, Lear traditionally is believed to be a changed man. Smiley doesn't buy into this common belief; therefore Larry Cook remains a static character throughout the novel. He never changes his attitude towards his possessions, his daughters and his land. Another difference that contributes to Smiley's new interpretation is the point of view from which the story is told. King Lear is told from a strictly male point of view. A Thousand Acres is told through the viewpoint of Ginny, Smiley's parallel to Goneril. Through Ginny's self-revelation, the reader is made aware of many circumstances that would cause a daughter to hate her father. Smiley believes that Lear's daughters must have had some reason for hating him. This is why, in her novel, she includes a childhood of incest.
How can people’s personal flaws lead to their own destruction? In William Shakespeare's King Lear and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the main characters, Lear and Frankenstein, both as tragic heroes, fall as a result of their own careless actions. Lear and Frankenstein had to die in order to come to epiphanies about their situations and the impact that their own actions have on their lives. Shakespeare and Shelley communicate that one must face a downfall in order to realize his own flaws and the truths of his reality.
In a Thousand Acres, appearance versus reality is a recurrent conflict throughout the book. Caroline is disowned when she disrupts Larry’s pronouncement to split the farm amongst his daughters. Larry from is presented as a prosperous farmer and a respected man within his community. In reality he is deceiving and ill-advised person who sexually molested Ginny and Rose. Caroline is ignorant of her father’s sins and is not in favour of Ginny and Rose. Ginny says to Caroline: “We did everything for you! We saved you from Daddy” (Smiley, 245), Caroline replies with, “Did I really have to be saved from Daddy? From my own father?” (Smiley, 245). Obviously, Ginny and Rose retain the presence that everything is satisfactory to defend Caroline from the anonymous harms of Larry. Smiley progresses the conflict of appearance versus reality through Caroline’s character. In comparison to the book A Fine Balance. The Prime Minister is perceived as a holy and spiritual man whom wants the best for the people of his country. When in reality he has psychotic tendencies, similar to Larry from the book a thousand acres. “Perfection lacks here with these undesirables in our nation” (Mistry, 345) this signifies his discrimination amongst the ‘chamaar’ untouchable’s class and Muslims in a private conversation with the deputy chief Sanjot Premi. When for the media, the prime minister is quick to spread false remorse and guilt amongst the deaths that took place in Gujarat, India of his planned genocide. The Prime Minister is pathetically deceiving and disgusting, people in society are prone to the way he dictates because it is deemed as the norm. “To gain a successful nation, we must let the undesired ones roam off to hell”. No one is prone to the discrimination and the extreme mindset of the Prime Minister other than the people that are close to him. In
Timothy Findley and Shakespeare use the theme of appearance versus reality in their texts: The Wars and King Lear. Characters in the novel and the play: Robert, Goneril, and Regan, intentionally appear to be something they are not in order to achieve a goal. However, they differ in where it leads them by the end, as in King Lear the characters die, unlike in The Wars where Robert cannot escape his true self and goes back to follow his personal morality.
Miltner, A. L. (2012). Technical Escort: Countering WMD for 70 Years. Army Chemical Review, 41-44. Retrieved from http://chemical.epubxp.com/i/98296/45
King Lear by William Shakespeare, and A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley are both fantastic tragedies that follow a similar story arc. Although King Lear was written in 1606, and A Thousand Acres was written in 1999, they contain the same essential elements of a tragedy. Jane Smiley modeled her novel after King Lear, focusing less on Lear’s story, and more on the daughters’ stories. The story-line of both is extremely similar: a father chooses to divide his land amongst his daughters, and everything following that is a disaster. King Lear and A Thousand Acres utilize the elements of unexpected suffering, suffering that extends beyond the protagonist, and society/status to mold their stories into classic tragedies.
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true” (Kierkegaard, Søren. Good Reads.com). This is a quote that can be deconstructed when examining Margaret Laurence’s The Stone Angel and William Shakespeare’s King Lear. Hagar and Lear are two individuals with similar characteristics and functions. The Stone Angel was published in 1964 and was one of Margaret’s best-selling novels. It revolves around an aging woman, who narrates the story of her present, along with flashbacks from her past. The protagonist; Hagar Shipley, is both selfish and bitter; however this is caused by a poor upbringing and isolation. William Shakespeare’s, King Lear was published in 1608. The protagonist; Lear, was also an aging, isolated and selfish man; however realizes his flaws and faults and endeavours to fix them. Both Hagar and Lear encounter different struggles and end their life with opposite views of themselves. They both share perceived worst moments in their life, along with a definite worst moment and they each experience an epiphany. Along with their similarities, they have remarkable differences, like their personality traits, their forgiveness of their loved ones and their end transformation. In order to truly grow and change, it is not about gaining insight into one’s flaws, but rather becoming selfless.
Clark, D. K. (1959). Effectiveness of chemical weapons in WWI. Bethesda, Md.: Operations Research Office, Johns Hopkins University.
Since the days of World War I trenches, men and women of the Chemical Corps have honorably served the needs of America’s Army. On the battlefield and off, courageous CBRN Soldiers have had an essential role in preserving our country’s freedom. As a Dragon Soldier it is important to know the history of the Corps (U.S. Army Chemical School, n.d.). Most of the Soldier’s in the Army think that Chemical Soldier’s are the ones you see that one time of the year for mandatory training; such as round robin type training or the CBRN gas chamber. However, as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq started there was a need for Soldier’s that had a certain mind-set. Those that could and would do things that were necessary at the time of war that other regular Soldier’s would not or could not do. Those types of Soldier’s are typically suited for life in U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). This paper is a brief history of The Chemical Corps, USASOC/Delta Force, and a Chemical Soldier who gave the ultimate sacrifice, SFC Mickey E. Zaun.
Knowing the history of chemical weapons and their devastating effects will help explain the reasoning for the development of weapons inspection team and why their success is vital to world peace. This paper will provide a small amount of history on chemical weapons, discuss the history of the weapons inspection teams and explain how the members are selected and trained. Incidents of the use of weapons of mass destruction will be mentioned which explain the reason for the development of the weapons inspection teams.
Kleber, B. (2003). The chemical warfare service: Chemicals in combat. Office of the Chief of
Lussier, Frances M. "Chemical-biological-radiological warfare (CBR)." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
The reading of “The Boat” by Alistair Macleod, and “Simple Recipes” by Madeleine Thein, both display many components that draw attention to different family dynamics, as well as how each member is tested when if comes to love.
King Lear is a play about a tragic hero, by the name of King Lear, whose flaws get the best of him. A tragic hero must possess three qualities. The first is they must have power, in other words, a leader. King Lear has the highest rank of any leader. He is a king. The next quality is they must have a tragic flaw, and King Lear has several of those. Finally, they must experience a downfall. Lear's realization of his mistakes is more than a downfall. It is a tragedy. Lear is a tragic hero because he has those three qualities. His flaws are his arrogance, his ignorance, and his misjudgments, each contributing to the other.
Absolute in every child’s mind is the belief that they are right, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Until children grow up to raise children own their own, a parent’s disputation only inflates that desire to prove. Part and parcel to this, as one may find out through personal experience or by extension, cruelty towards parents is a reflection of a child’s own inadequacy (whether in large or small scale). In this sense, King Lear is a story of children with a desire to break past their hierarchal status. Whether it is the belief that a woman shall take a husband, and with that guard her inherited land, or what role bastards truly deserves in a society that preemptively condemns them. Cruelty at the hands of children accounts for almost
Chemical warfare is the most terrifying and debilitating way to gain the advantage on your enemy or adversary. The use of chemical warfare dates back to World War I; although it is believed that Spartan and Greek armies used a type of chemical warfare dated back to 82-72 BC. Chemicals were used in combat during World War I. Some of the chemicals being used were chlorine, phosgene, and mustard gas. The Chemical Warfare in World War I began as the Germans used chlorine gas, and threw it into the trenches where the troops and most of the defensive positions were located. Nearly 33% of casualties during World War I resulted from chemical warfare. Only 25% percent were fatalities. At the end of World War I, the casualties resulting from chemical attacks multiplied to a devastating 1,240,853. A total of 91,198 died from injuries sustained from the chemical attacks (Service, 1953). Doctors had no cure or remedy this early in time. Throughout this informative research paper, in this history of I will be breaking down the history and origins of chemical warfare. The history of chemical warfare has changed the world. Our fears of chemical attacks in the future have increased and will continue to get worse.