Man's Inhumane Treatment of Men in Louis Sachar's Holes
The inhumanity that man shows to one another dates all the way back to the beginning of time. We read about it in the Bible, saw it during the Holocaust with the persecution of the Jews, and watched it on TV during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and still experience it today. In the book titled Holes (2002), by Louis Sachar, these actions are displayed once again. Man's inhumanity to man is a reality in society today and in the theme of Holes.
Holes is about a boy named Stanley who is sent to a correctional camp for boys called Camp Green Lake. The boys are required to dig one five-by-five-foot hole per day in the 90 degree weather in order to help build their characters. In doing this, Stanley discovers that they aren't just digging for character. They are digging to uncover something for the warden: a treasure. In his attempt to uncover this treasure, Stanley observes and experiences the inhumanities that go on at Camp Green Lake.
Sachar displays these everyday inhumanities in many different instances thr...
All members of society are subject to sociological rules and regulations that are often hypocritical. These hypocrisies, both concrete and unspoken, are the subject of criticism by authors the world over, utilizing various methods and styles to ridicule society's many fables.
Jones, Rhett S. "Nigger and Knowledge. White Double-Consciousness in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Satire or Evasion? Black Perspectives on Huckleberry Finn. Ed. James Leonard, et al. Durham: Duke UP, 1992. 173-194.
Over the 129 years for which the book has been in print, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been regarded with much controversy, for many different reasons. As it has progressed, the subject of this controversy has been almost constantly changing. This essay will explore some of the claims and explanations of the controversy, as well as a discussion on whether the book is even that controversial. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion about this novel, The main complaints seem to revolve around three core topics: Twain’s portrayal of Jim and other blacks, The extensive use of the racial slurs and racism, and the final chapters of the book itself.
As “The Blue Hotel,” “The Displaced Person,” “Bernice Bobs her Hair,” and In Dubious Battle demonstrate, the outsiders in each story, though instilling an initial fear in the eyes of society, experience a sudden and considerable downfall in the end. Each of these defeats, some more extreme than others, result from a clash of society’s fixed guidelines with an outsider’s challenge of these rules. Whether this rebellion against society constitutes a conscious or unconscious effort, and whether the punishment results in justifiable or unjustifiable consequences, one pattern emerges. The outsider instills fear in the mind of the community, and as a defense mechanism, society takes it upon itself to conquer the stranger, leading to his or her ultimate downfall.
Holes is a book about a boy named Stanley Yelnats who is convicted of stealing a famous basketball player’s shoes. His punishment for stealing a basketball player’s shoes is going to detention camp. Stanley believes that this all happened because of an ancient family curse or fate. This is true because both bad luck and fate led to detention camp where he turned his bad luck around once and for all.
After reading the two books for my world literature, of mice and men and the outsider I decided I will compare the two books on the topic choice; portrayal of society in the literature studied. This includes points such as: Meursault and Lenny not being accepted in society for who they are because they are different then others; another point would be there is a lot of violence within societies.
“hole” that the narrator refers to is the basement home that he discovers later in the novel.
Jones, Rhett S. "Nigger and Knowledge. White Double-Consciousness in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Satire or Evasion? Black Perspectives on Huckleberry Finn. Ed. James Leonard, et al. Durham: Duke UP, 1992. 173-194.
We build our own cages, and Stephen King does an excellent job expressing this throughout his essay. Society is indeed a messed up place. A place based on judgment. A place where we have an excuse and name for all of our inner demons. We all our mentally ill, but society will intend that we never find out.
Similarly, many of us today do not realize just how dehumanizing our own society actually is. Granted, we don’t live in coffins, but we do live in a deadly culture that increasingly undermines the dignity of human life. The corruption of sexuality, the dissolution of marriage, the breakdown of the family, pornography, abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, rampant consumerism, political malfeasance, corporate scandal, ecclesiastical betrayal, excessive individualism, the obsession with technology and biotechnology, and the desecration of the environment are just a few of the powerful forces that are chipping away day by day at what it means to be human. Ironically, most people have no idea that there is any other way to exist. Most simply assume that this is just the way life is. Few, if any, are asking whether or not we are witnessing the abolition of man.
The image of the girls working together to dig holes in the dirt begins with each girl digging her own hole, but symbolically the two separate holes become one, representing the merging of Sula and Nel into a deep and meaningful relationship. The imagery of a "hole" is used to describe the "whole" of Sula and Nel, indicating the completeness of the two when they are together.
Despite all the criticism, of racism and other questionable material for young readers, Mark Twain’s The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn is a superbly written novel, which in the opinion of this reviewer should not be remove the literary cannon. Twain’s novel is a coming of age story that teaches young people many valuable lessons and to some extend makes students reexamine their own lives and morals. The most common argument for its removal from the literary canon is that the novel is too racist; it offends black readers, perpetuates cheap slave-era stereotypes, and deserves no place on today’s bookshelves. However one must ask if Twain is encouraging traditional southern racism or is Twain disputing these idea.
...Claudia Durst. “Unfit for Children: Censorship and Race.” Huck Finn in Context: A Teaching Guide. Excerpt from Understanding Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996.
An important step to decrease an ageist attitude is to take a step back and recognize biases and preconceived ideas that one has about older adults (DeBrew, 2015). Recognizing biases in combination with furthering one’s education about the effects of aging and the specific needs of older adults will help increase compassionate care. To allow for effective interventions it is important that the nurse understand that illness and infection manifest differently in older adults than they do in the younger population (DeBrew, 2015). In addition, through ethnographic study it was found that when nurses spend time doing activities with older adults it helps strengthen relationships and sense of community between care providers and elderly patients (DeBrew, 2015). According to the article, “occupational therapists who worked with older adults felt ‘stigmatized’ by their peers because their work was viewed as less challenging and requiring less skill and intellect than caring for other populations” (DeBrew, 2015). To promote compassionate patient care it is important that nurses and other professionals get support from their peers to confirm that their work is not insignificant and looked down upon. Finally, include the older adult while creating the plan of care to show them that they are a valued part of their healthcare
Beyond the shield of civilization and into the depths of a primitive, untamed frontier lies the true face of the human soul. It is in the midst of this savagery and unrelenting danger that mankind confronts the brooding nature of his inner self.