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God of a small thing short question
God of a small thing short question
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Some believe that boundaries are made to be broken, that lines are meant to be crossed while others believe that we should “ not move an ancient boundary stone set up by [our] forefathers” (Proverbs 22:28). Everywhere we look, we come across a moral boundary that we at least think we should not cross, but cross nonetheless. “As ye sow, ye shall reap” is a familiar proverb we have all heard at one point in our lives (Roy 31). But is it true? Do we really get what we deserve? And if so, who then decides what is right and wrong? Who draws the line? Who sets the boundary? In Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things, most of the characters cross a moral boundary, we see boundaries that are accommodated, confronted and even shattered. The boundaries are expressed in many ways; perversio...
In his book, An Imperfect God, Henry Wiencek argues in favor of Washington being the first true president to set the precedent for the emancipation of African-American slaves. Wiencek delves into the evil paradox of how a nation conceived on the principles of liberty and dedicated to the statement that all men are created equal was in a state that still preserved slavery for over seven decades following the construction of the nation. Washington’s grandeur estate at Mount Vernon at its peak had the upkeep of over 300 slaves 126 of which were owned by Washington. First, it must be understood that Washington was raised on slavery receiving ownership of 10 slaves at the age of 11 years old and that Washington was a man of his time. However, it must also be understood that Washington’s business with slavery was in the context of a constrained social and political environment. Weincek maintains that this does not exonerate the fact that Washington maintained slavery however; it does help to quantify the moral shortcoming by which Washington carried until his last year of life.
...are confronted with the question of moral absolutes, we are forced to wonder when and to whom justice truly applies. Hopefully, we will look at our world and our ideas of right, wrong and retribution in different ways, ways that will enlighten and enrich our lives, and the those of the an audience of readers 2,000 years from now.
A human being is a complicated entity of a contradictory nature where creative and destructive, virtuous and vicious are interwoven. Each of us has gone through various kinds of struggle at least once in a lifetime ranging from everyday discrepancies to worldwide catastrophes. There are always different causes and reasons that trigger these struggles, however, there is common ground for them as well: people are different, even though it is a truism no one seems to able to realize this statement from beyond the bounds of one’s self and reach out to approach the Other.
Neither law, nor philosophy, nor reason, nor spiritual counsel has prevailed against this primitive element in man’s nature [revenge]. The upward path of civilization, and it has been upward, is twisted by it, leaving grim milestones in appalling quantity. (Lewis viii)
Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things is a novel about how people’s pursuit of their own interests, influenced by the cultural and social contexts in which they live, ultimately determines their behavior. Through utilizing subthemes of self-preservation, the maintenance of social status/the status quo, and power, she portrays Velutha as the only wholly moral character in the story, who, because of his goodness, becomes the target of frequent deception. Roy argues that human nature is such that human beings will do whatever they feel is necessary to serve their own self-interests.
The boundary demands a perception of the cultural, political and social features that signifies enclave differences of the area. To behold ones vision for education and the future excludes all boundaries, they have no limit or territories. One only has to exceed the imagination and break all confines of learning. In its original and strictest forms, “Sensation and reflections are the boundaries of our thoughts.”(Locke) …But still his native country lies beyond the boundaries of the skies.”(Cotton)
In the today’s diverse society, people’s differences influence their roles in the community. Such traits like virtues, religion, culture, socioeconomic status, and gender contribute to societal variance. Although societal expectations alienate some from the community, people should accept others in the best interest of society; however, society must “draw the line” where tolerance condones physical harm upon innocent bystanders.
A large amount of ancient texts contain themes relating to violence, power, and war, while others, such as The Bhagavad Gita and Confucius’ Analects, focus on individual and collective development through a series of selfless acts. The two texts provide an in-depth system of duties and learning created to provide direction for the betterment of the self, as well as society as a whole. The Bhagavad Gita places a greater focus on the duties of individuals that must be fulfilled to achieve an enlightened state with the divine forces. Contradictory consequences are presented for those who choose to act in an egotistical manner and deny their duties. Confucius’ Analects, on the other hand, places its main focus on collective development and responsibility
Every society and culture has different ways of interpreting and defining occurrences by the way their own culture or society functions. “A society’s culture, consists of whatever it is one has to know or believe in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members”(Geertz 242). The rituals, customs, ethics and morals that are attributed to the cultures have caused these differences. To understand how the people of one culture interpret a situation or event, one must evaluate the attributes that a culture has. The criteria that an event is based on changes as one culture applies their own ideas to the given situation. Heroism and violation are two concepts that are easily misinterpreted depending on culture’s ideals. Since cultures have different attributes it is impossible for two cultures to exist and share a view of a situation or event.
The mutual commitment to society’s rules can be a major unifying force between two individuals in a relationship. Both of these entities know that society will look at them favorably for together conforming to the rules. Thus, they agree to commit to them. Consequently, this desire to conform to the status quo becomes a part of these individuals’ identities. It shapes their sense of right and wrong and influences their everyday actions. However, when one party falters in this commitment the obedient other feels cheated because the image and sense of purpose she/he derived from this conformity is now tarnished. Having lost a major part of their identities the obedient persons use the “shock and awe” tactic and commit an out of character act to force their transgressing partners to contemplate their wrong actions. This theme of “shock and awe” is exhibited in the actions of the character “Stevie” in Edward Albee’s play “The Goat, or, Who is Sylvia?” and N.S.A whistleblower Edward Snowden.
“God is a perfect poet” (Robert Browning). Everything which He does is closely linked. He creates the world, makes human, gives them a chance to live, helps them when they need, and challenges their belief in Him. His challenges can lead them to be a hero or a villain. Heroes and villains are two antagonistic poles. They parallel coexist in the life and create the balanced world. While heroes symbolize hopes and goodness, villains represent evil and hell on Earth. Although the meaning of them is quite opposite, a boundary between heroes and villains is so fragile. The reason why the partition object is not firm is because always having a hero and a villain exist inside everyone. Consequently, people have to choose a role which they want to be in their life. Obviously, most of people will want to be a hero; but if heroes’ actions are illegal, are they called heroes? Yes, they are still the heroes because their goal is creating a better life and law is not always right.
Judaism searches to find meaning in morality. “Nobody likes rules any more than they like stop lights, but without constraints, human relations would become as snarled as traffic jams” (Smith 188). Smith uses this simile to describe the human perspective of rules. It is in our nature to be social. We need interpersonal contact in order to keep our sanity. At the same time, it is quite ironic that an excess exposure to being around others socially can lead to chaos. Smith compares humans to cars driving on a road, life, and stop lights to moral laws. Without these stop lights to keep the driver and all the cars collectively, society will not be organized, and will no longer function properly. We need these stop lights, and without them, traffic
the laws of man and kept in check by society's own norms. The human struggle to
Arundhati Roy is an Indian novelist, activist and a world citizen. She became famous when her first novel The God of Small Things won the Booker Prize in 1997. Arundhati Roy has brought the issue of untouchability before the world through “The God of Small Things”. In this novel Arundhati has depicted the conflict that is not taking place between Touchable Hindus and untouchables, but it’s between Syrian Christians and untouchables. It shows that untouchables are not only facing suffering, torture and harassment from Hindus but also from other religious communities in this democratic India. The novel exposes the gap between the touchables and the untouchables; the exploiters and the
. . . The barber was not at fault in having refused to cut my hair. There was every chance of losing his custom, if he should serve black men. We do not allow our barbers to serve our untouchable brethren. (Here, Gandhi refers to customs of untouchability in caste systems in India.) I got the reward for this in South Africa, not once, but many times, and the conviction that it was the punishment for our own sins saved me from becoming angry.