There is said to be a thin line between the planning and the execution a sinister action, as the idea is what first drives the motion. This is the central theme of T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Hollow Men,” in which the men depicted find themselves on the brink of hell, suffering not from their actions, but from their conspiracy to act. Throughout the poem, it appears that the men feel that they have done nothing wrong. The title itself, “The Hollow Men,” indicates that perhaps there is nothing to these men at all—as if they have done neither good nor evil. The conspiracy that they appear to be contriving is not made clear in the poem. One can only assume, however, that is it of some evil nature in the way that there is so much attention drawn to it. In Part I of the poem, the men seem to be vehemently pleading innocent to the audience. They argue that their collaborations are harmless in the lines, “Our dried voices, when/We whisper together/Are quiet and meaningless/As wind in dry grass.” It’s as if they are trying to persuade their audience that their efforts were truly without any cruel intention, like a “gesture without motion.” The men seem to know deep down that they have committed a wrong in the way that they are fervently denying their guilt, as anyone ashamed of something well generally deny it more than usual. Yet this excuse of passive planning could never possibly emancipate them from a fate in purgatory. In t...
At first glance, Mad Men seems to be a mild television program about life in the glamorous advertising industry during the 1960’s. The astounding attention to detail in regards to costuming, set, and props can easily sweep the viewer away on a whirlwind ride to the land of nostalgia. It evokes a remembrance of simpler times that were uncomplicated by the ever mutating technologies of today. However, as the series progresses this tranquil façade is broken by the turbulent realities of the decade. Political turmoil and racial tension, hallmarks of the 1960’s, are abundant in season three of the series. Other issues such as homosexuality and divorce, though not as commonly associated with the decade, are also addressed. These topics, considered
During the 1950‘s suburbs such as Levitown were springing up all across the country, and the so-called American dream was easier to achieve for everyday Americans than ever before. They had just come out of two decades dominated by The Great Depression and World War Two, and finally prosperity was in sight. The need for women to work out of the home that was present during the war was no more, and women were overwhelmingly relegated to female-dominated professions like nursing, secretaries, and teachers, if they worked at all. Televisions became very popular, and quickly became part of the American cultural canon of entertainment. Leave It To Beaver is a classic American television show, encompassing values such as respect, responsibility and learning from your mistakes. But, at least in the episode used for this essay, it is also shockingly sexist to a modern viewer. This begs the question, what does the episode The Blind Date Committee1 say about the gender expectations of the 1950’s?
The readings “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving and The Monster by Stephen Crane are to amazing readings. However, these two texts represent violence and conflicts in different ways, which shows that although they have the same concept their tactic for this same concept is used in a different approach.
Like stated earlier, gender roles in the 50’s were very strict and narrow-minded. That being said, women were extremely limited in their role in society. First of all, women were expected to be homemakers. By homemaker, I mean the women w...
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820) by Washington Irving is a classic American tale that has evolved in contemporary media throughout the years. Irving has exemplified traditional American folklore in his characterization of Ichabod Crane, the protagonist of the tale. Ichabod Crane has remained an integral part of the tale in American contemporary media, being interpreted differently in both the film Sleepy Hollow (1999) and the television adaption Sleepy Hollow (2013). Ichabod Crane has evolved just as the story has, evolving from a fear-riddled schoolteacher to a dashing, revolutionary, time traveling hero, and throughout these adaptations he remains an exemplification of American folklore.
Advertising has become increasingly popular with television shows like Mad Men that have allowed audiences to gain a new insight into the growing art form during the 1960s. It helps that the show has featured strong female characters like Peggy and Joan. These strong females have had to work their way up the ladder in the advertising world during a time of change. However, these women have key character faults that seem almost improbable and lead viewers to believe that women have only been able to climb the advertising ladder through sex and deception. Furthermore, the notion women may only be able to achieve an executive role through less than desirable tactics have been reinforced within the storyline. However, this is not exactly the
At first glance, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving seems to be an innocent tale about a superstitious New England town threatened by a strange new comer, Icabod Crane. However, this descriptive narrative is more than just a simple tale because it addresses several gender issues that deserve attention. The pervasiveness of female influence in Sleepy Hollow and the conflict between male and female storytelling in this Dutch community are two pertinent gender issues that complicate Irving's work and ultimately enable the women of Sleepy Hollow to control the men and maintain order.
What if we lived in a world where a small piece of paper was considered the Angel of Death? Where your neighbors would turn on you in an instance because a small black box “prophesized” them to? When true human nature is shown before you are cast into the blackness of death? Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a short story in which villagers gather once a year with a black box to perform a lottery that decides just that. The head male of each family must draw till someone has the black dot that decides which family will draw next. The “winner” in that family is then stoned to death by everyone in the village, including their own family. The story has multiple hidden messages that are hard to distinguish from the text. Each message shows a side of human nature that most people believe they do not have. By using literary analysis, Shirley Jackson’s messages become
“The murkiest den, the most opportune place” (the voice or conscience thundered poetically), “the strongest suggestion our worser genius can, shall never melt mine honour into lust. Never, never!” (pg. 174-175)
How all occasions do inform against me, And spur my dull revenge! What is a man, If his chief good and market of his time Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more. Sure, he that made us with such large discourse, Looking before and after, gave us not That capability and god-like reason To fust in us unused. Now, whether it be Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple Of thinking too precisely on the event, A thought which, quarter 'd, hath but one part wisdom And ever three parts coward, I do not know Why yet I live to say 'This thing 's to do; ' Sith I have cause and will and strength and means To do 't. Examples gross as earth exhort me: Witness this army of such mass and charge Led by a delicate and tender prince, Whose spirit with divine ambition puff 'd Makes mouths at the invisible event, Exposing what is mortal and unsure To all that fortune, death and danger dare, Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great Is not to stir without great argument, But greatly to find quarrel in a straw When honour 's at the stake. How stand I then, That have a father kill 'd, a mother stain 'd, Excitements of my reason and my blood, And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see The imminent death of twenty thousand men, That, for a fantasy and trick of fame, Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause, Which is not tomb enough and continent To hide the slain? O, from this time
“In a simple allegory, characters and other elements often stand for other definite meanings, which are often abstractions” (Kennedy 234). Since everyone in the town is involved in the stoning, they do not view their sacrifice as murder, but as something needed to be done. “‘All right, folks,’ Mr. Summers said, ‘Let’s finish this quickly.’” (Jackson 259). The young boys in the town are excited about the lottery, but the girls stand off to the side because it is in a boy’s nature to be brutal, yet the women of the town seem just as excited as the boys, and the men calm down as the girls. “The boys’ eager and childish cruelty will turn into the sober reluctance of their fathers, whereas the childish apartness of the girls will become the grown women’s blood lust” (Whittier 357). Most people associate winning a lottery as coming into a large sum of money; but on the contrary, the winner of this lottery must pay with their ultimate sacrifice. “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (257). Jackson’s use of allegories is sublime, drawing her readers to the central
"The story ingredients include (1) violent death, (2) a physical or mental chase in which we identify with a pursued pursuer, so that (3) virtue appears menacing and indulgence deceptive, while (4) amorous badinage (or tormenting) proceeds and (5) hero and heroine are offered some dramatically plausible choices between good and evil and (6) 'greys are everywhere'" (24).
Madness and Fear in Assignation, Cask of Admontillado, Fall of the House of Usher, and Masque of the Red Death
Women have impacted history in ways that have changed the world, and have also changed the way that women are viewed today. Women, however, were not always viewed and respected in the way they are today. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and in Nuruddin Farah’s Gifts that women were treated completely different. Besides the social discrimination based solely upon race, and also the introduction of racism in politics, there were many different types of inequity living in European society during that time: gender-based sexism; a topic that is still an issue today, was a slow start for the suffragette movement in England, and the novel Heart of Darkness shows it: “It 's queer how out of touch with truth women are! They live in a world of their
The male American dream is most often interpreted as moving your family up in society by increasing your wealth. With this comes the need to purchase items that are on par with one’s income level and therefore showing off wealth and status. This need for items is not particularly because of usefulness or practicality but to distinguish oneself in society as a part of a particular class level, coming from the pressure to keep up with one’s peers. This film shows that society has taken over the definition of our needs and men no longer think for themselves but rather turn to see what others have and from that interpret what society sees as acceptable and standard. The male American dream can be interpreted as a never-ending cycle to prove oneself to others and appear to the standards that others define. According to Tyler Durden, “Advertising has us chasi...