Love and Hate in James Cain's Mildred Pierce
Some may say that the character Mildred Pierce of the novel, Mildred
Pierce by James Cain, may be a good role model for an entrepreneur or a
single working mother. Some may say that she was hopelessly devoted to
her ungrateful daughter, Veda. Some may also argue that Veda was a
terrible daughter who lacked compassion, sincerity, and most of all,
respect. As true as that may all be, the candlelight glowing about the
flawless, sugar-coated heroine shall be blown out. Fluorescent lights,
please.
Mildred Pierce loved her daughter. Perhaps she had loved Veda too
much. One questions how a woman can love such a bitch - a coloratura
soprano. Could it have been another type of love? Mildred had an
exaggerated sense of self-importance. She felt the need for attention and
admiration from others, particularly Veda. Mildred Pierce took people for
granted or exploited them with an unusual coolness. Had Mildred Pierce
been a real person, and ever introduced to Sigmund Freud, the verdict
would be in. Mildred Pierce suffers from Narcissism. Another kind of
love, indeed! She simply had fallen in love with her reflection (as the
disorder was named for the mythological Narcissus, who fell in love with
his own reflection) - Veda Pierce, that is.
In 1991, Sophie Freud, granddaughter of Sigmund Freud, explained that
the narcissistic mother has a great investment in her daughters. The
survival of women greatly depends on loving, and whether she is loved.
Narcissistic actions are ambivalent. "In order to develop into a woman
[the narcissist mother believes] a daughter needs sufficient libidinal
resources to identify with her female partner [mother]..." (Fenchel).
Mildred Pierce fits the description. That must explain the sensual vibes
- but unfortunately Veda was not the type of daughter to want to identify
with her mother. Mildred's character ached for approval from Veda.
“Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred” (Hawthorne). As this sentence is read in the The Scarlet Letter, the reader will realize that the main theme of the book is the sentence above. Throughout the book, secret sin damages the lives, soul, and the integrity of the main characters. However, it could have easily been evaded through open confession of their sins. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s purpose in writing this novel is an attempt to influence the reader to openly confess their sins and never be ashamed of who they are. According to Levine, “even though we convey ourselves as saints, we are really sinners (Levine 64). The Scarlet Letter is a classic work of Hawthorne due to the themes it portrays and the relevancy to today’s society. By definition, “A classic is a work of art so universal that it has transcended the boundaries of time and place; it has survived the ‘test of time’” (Lazarus). In the highly symbolic novel, “The Scarlet Letter”, Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the effects of hidden sin and his characters’ ultimate release from guilt when they learn to own their sin.
Downs, S., Moore, E., McFadden, E., & Costin, L. (2004). Child welfare and family services: Policies and practice. (7th. Ed., pp. 319-363) Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne there are many characters who have committed sins. In Puritan community they followed the word of god and banned all sins. These sins in The Scarlet Letter were look as The Black Mans work meaning satans work. The sins committed were harmful and hurtful to people and their souls. Hester and Mr. Dimmesdale committed adultery with bearing a child named Pearl. But Roger Chillingworth committed the worst sin by using his gifts for evil.
It is true that we feel compassion, but can we truly forgive and forget?Never start with a question, but also not this one because your point is somewhat confusing. Do you want the focus to be on compassion or do you want the reader to question compassion? Hester, from ‘The Scarlet Letter ’, conceives a child through an affair, and her life after is full of struggles as she tries to circumvent through challenges to create a new life. Unfortunately, the life of repentance and dignity comes at a cost which she has to pay in order to earn it. This story relates to the ‘Crucible’ based on the famous Salem witch trials up close and personal. A trial that saw numerous people accused of witchcraft persecuted and executed by the colony. In a nutshell
Drunk driving is an issue that effects many people across our nation. People do not realize the affects alcohol can have on the body and mind that slow decision making while driving. This issue begins in the home. Children see their parents, or other adults figures, have a beer or a cocktail and get in the car. Thus, making it seem like it is acceptable to drink and drive. “One in three people will be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their lifetime” (MADD).
Schwarz, Alan. "An Entrepreneur Steps To The Plate." Newsweek 142.13 (2003): E26-E28. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
DUIs have blindly taken lives of citizens, and the punishment for this crime does not meet its destruction. In Mississippi, the first offense of a DUI carries only a ninety-day license suspension. Drunk drivers kill people every year. If DUI punishment became stricter, and careless drunk drivers paid the full consequence of their wrongdoing, the number of people killed by drunk drivers would decrease. Some argue that if the government strengthened DUI laws, it would have an economically negative effect on a city’s social drinking aspect; however, DUI laws would have a direct effect on repeated offenders and drinkers who disregard the law.
The Puritans, a religious group in New England in the early 1600’s, interpreted the Bible form a fundamentalist perspective and strove to attain a sinless society. Of course, people are human and sins are inevitable so the Puritans sinned and their perfect society was never achieved. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter develops the themes of sin, alienation, and love to provide valuable insights into the traditional beliefs of the Puritans and provide valuable and timeless moral insigts.
The concept of race is an ancient construction through which a single society models all of mankind around the ideal man. This idealism evolved from prejudice and ignorance of another culture and the inability to view another human as equal. The establishment of race and racism can be seen from as early as the Middle Ages through the present. The social construction of racism and the feeling of superiority to people of other ethnicities, have been distinguishably present in European societies as well as America throughout the last several centuries.
Wicked behavior is inside of all humans in one point of their lives. Some behaviors are more wicked than others, but the severity is determined by a matter of opinion. Three of the main characters of The Scarlet Letter are Hester Prynne, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. The three of them are said to have sinned; two in the same way and one in another. I believe that Roger Chillingworth has committed a greater sin than the sin of Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale for numerous reasons. It also appears that Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses the same opinion as I do.
There is knocking at a door late at night, and there a policeman standing at the door with information that a family member was in an accident that involved a drunk driver. This is one of those things people hear and believe that it will not happen, but it happens every day. Every 40 minutes, someone in the U.S. is killed by a drunk driver and in 2008, in Montana, 40 percent of all traffic fatalities involved DUIs (“Drunk Driving” 1). Drunk Driving affects everyone and people in Montana should look at what other states do to find ways to make the laws tougher and more enforced.
There is a need for the introduction and implementation of new drunk driving laws by the legislature, because presently the united States drunk driving laws are too lenient. The continuous rate of drunken driving fatalities makes a case that the united States drunk driving laws are too lenient and makes a call for stricter laws. According to Valenti “countries with strict drunk driving penalties have a far lower incidence of accidents than the United States (1). The United States being a first world country is weak in enforcing strict punishment for drunk drivers. Valenti is emphasizing on the fact that the united States need to improve their present laws and be firm in enforcing these new laws. There is a need for the United States to improve on their severity of its drunk driving penalties just the way the other part of the world have done and this is giving them a reduced rate of drunk driving fatalities. The claim of the leniency of the United States drunk driving laws is further stated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), this is a prominent body when it comes to the issue of drunken driving fatalities. It claims that the drunken driving laws are severe enough. “Despite great strides in awareness, education and enforcement in the last two decades the United States still has one of the most lenient drunken driving standards in the world”. (NHTSA of existing laws. There is a need for stricter laws to be introduced as the United States ranks behind the world when it comes to effort to combat drunk driving and more efforts need to be put in place by the implementation of harsher laws so as to reduce the high rate of repeat offenders and first time offenders.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”(Romans 3:23). Since the beginning of time guilt has existed, and in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, guilt illustrates itself through adultery involving Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale. Hester and Dimmesdale resided in New England during The Puritan Age and committed adultery while Hester’s husband was out of town. Hester’s sin did not go unnoticed, as her baby illuminated the situation. While Hester’s mister hid in the shadows, she was branded with a scarlet letter A for adultery as punishment for her sin. The scarlet letter was more than a piece of cloth over her chest; it was reminder to everyone around about Mrs. Prynne’s actions. Hawthorne uses biblical and spiritual allusions to argue that guilt causes individuals to change their lifestyles.
Nathanial Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, provoked many emotions throughout his entire novel. The emotions ranged from grief to anticipation. Each character played an important role in the novel and I believe that each character evoked a different emotion in the reader. Three of the characters in which Nathanial Hawthorne demonstrates this are Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and their daughter Pearl.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's works are notable for their treatment of guilt and the complexities of moral choices. "Moral and religious concerns, in short, are almost always present in Hawthorne's work"(Foster, 56). Given Hawthorne's background, it is not a stretch of the imagination to say that his novels are critiques of Puritanism. Hawthorne lived in the deeply scarred New England area, separated from Puritanism by only one generation. His grandfather had been one of the judges in the Salem Witch Trials. Personal issues include the various ways Hawthorne's family and specific events in his life influenced his writing. Readers can easily recognize how "Young Goodman Brown" incorporates facts about his Puritan ancestors. Father Hooper in "The Minister's Black Veil" may be symbolically paralleled to Hawthorne's ancestors, trying to hide a sin they have committed. His descendants' remarks on him in The Custom House introduction to The Scarlet Letter mix pride in Hawthorne's prominence and a sense of inherited guilt for his deeds as judge. Hawthorne's guilt of wrongs committed by his ancestors was paramount in the development of his literary career. He investigates human weaknesses through the time period of his ancestors. Generally Hawthorne's writings contained powerful symbolic and psychological effects of pride, guilt, sin and punishment.