English Essay Essay Question: Is it possible to stay true to oneself in a world of corruption? The literary piece A Man for All Seasons, the infamous painting Death of Socrates, and a Oscar award winning film Schindler’s List have the same underlying theme of staying true to oneself in a world of corruption. Robert Bolt criticizes society by commenting on the corruption in the political and religious systems, which are supposed to be tools to provide justice for all individuals. Similar to Thomas More, Socrates is accused by Athenian government for corrupting the youth and is sentenced to death. In the movie Schindler’s List Oscar Schindler is a powerful man who is capable of corruption; however, he sacrifices his self to save the lives of Throughout the play A Man for All Seasons, the symbol of water communicates a significant idea of corruption. In the play, water, specifically the river, symbolizes corruption. During King Henry’s reign the Thames River was extremely dirty because all of the city’s garbage was dumped into that river. In act one, scene 5 King Henry says, “I happened to be on the river… Thomas, the river; my river” (1.5, 26). This quote indicates that King Henry symbolically belongs in the river, King Henry represents the corruption in England through the use of water in this play. Furthermore, Thomas More says to Roper, “He’s not the Devil, son Roper, he’s a lawyer. And my case is watertight” (2.3, 61). In this quote, More is ensuring Roper that corruption or political pressure will not influence him to forsake his morals and beliefs. However, the double meaning of this quote indicates that Thomas More will stay rooted to the law, which will ensure his safety because according the law More will not swear Act of Supremacy, which is why no one can lawfully harm him further. During this point in the play, Thomas More believes that the law will save him however, when King Henry started the Reformation by passing the Act of Supremacy, More refused to sign it. He believed that King Henry committed a crime in an Act of Parliament, which in unacceptable to the law of God. Throughout this era, Thomas More was the only individual that saw corruption fill the doctrines of the Catholic Church and political system, by sacrificing himself, Thomas More proved himself as an example of Christian
Serpico by Peter Maas is about how a man was a cop and stood by what he thought was right and wrong. It is about how in the 1960s there was a lot of corruption in the New York Police Department. It is about how a man deals with payoffs, shakedowns, drug dealers, etc. Serpico was one of those cops that couldn’t be paid off or be quiet with what has happened on the field. I have yet to read the whole book but I will discuss what I have read and the concepts that I understood.
The theme of The Catcher in the Rye is simple. J. D. Salinger uses this novel to draw a clear distinction between the purity of childhood and the wickedness attained when one reaches adulthood. Salinger uses multiple literary devices including diction, symbolism, tone, and even the title of the novel to drive home his ideas about the innocence of children and the corruption of the world.
his heart. She even tries to put a hex on his wife, Elizabeth Procter. When
A crucible has two definitions, one being a vessel in which metal is heated to a high temperature and melted for the purposes of casting, having been purified. An Alternative sense of the word may be as the focus of a baptism by fire, by which a metamorphosis in political, social, and cultural relations takes place, driven by agents of change. When a community presents a toxic environment which is seen to be flawed in major aspects of effective functionality, good may only triumph when certain individuals rise up against such a destructive system and refuse conformity in a dire attempt to reform the society for the better, despite the often tragic personal consequences. Thus the corruptness of a society can only be ameliorated by the personal sacrifice of such individuals who refuse conformity and choose to uphold their moral vision, despite the friction. This phenomenon is not only found in The Crucible, but it is universal; applicable to any culture during any era, and is a continually recurring theme in literature. It’s roots can be traced back to biblical stories, in which several of the first and most famous instances of this phenomenon can be seen in the crucifixion of Christ, in which Christ willingly died in order to change society and for the bettering of man kind, or in Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son despite the act’s complications. Other instances of this can be found in The Crucible with major characters such as Giles and John Proctor who act as the nonconformists, and it can also be seen in the case of Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher and Mohamed Bouazizi, the man who instigated the Arab Spring. These instances will be closely analyzed for their parallels and distinct similarities in distinct rel...
According to Aristotle, integrity can be defined as the “particular quality men acquire by constantly acting in a particular way”. It is the sense of honesty and rectitude, towards our moral and ethical principles. We’ve discussed at length how compromising integrity can damage our reputation, how people decide to act against integrity for personal benefits, and ultimately cause irreparable damage among followers. So is it really worth compromising integrity for a big paycheck? Is losing reputation worth the money? Throughout the essay, numerous examples of compromised integrity will be discussed focusing on the Aristotelian view of Leadership. The philosopher’s Seven Virtues will ultimately allow us to understand and reach to a conclusion regarding such doubts.
As the adolescents wail in their pretentious horror of a fictional bird, Proctor slowly realizes the conformation that Satan has entered Salem. Arthur Miller’s tragic allegory, The Crucible, shows the destruction of sinister Salem in 1692. The protagonist, John Proctor, a damnable farmer, has a lecherous affair with the antagonist, Abigail Williams, an ignorant and covetous juvenile. Satan mixes their interior motives to manufacture a catastrophic concoction. The ingredients of destruction consist of selfishness, immaturity, and corruption. The voracious desires of the natives of Salem lead to their evil and self-indulged intentions.
Ireland’s purpose is to show how Chaucer had a good example to show his final order to his audience. He establishes a reflecting tone for explaining the Wife of Bath’s sovereignty. This work is significant because of the comparison between The Wife of Bath’s Tale and Prologue. (Ireland 10)
The man who was once all about making money to satiate his own desire in becoming the richest man in the world found a new, greater motivation that helped him become a better person, that even Schindler himself became more self-motivated in becoming. You can see the phases of change Schindler went through and each time, he was always so determined and driven by something.
Corrupt individuals have been around since the beginning of time. The instinct to be selfish and insure one’s own survival was paramount during the being of our evolution, but some individuals hold true to that belief even to this day. For example, during World War II the United States developed a weapon of mass destruction. There has been much debate of the necessity of the use of nuclear weapons during the war. One scientist, Joseph Rotblat, resigned during the creation we he realized the moral obligation he had to stop the atomic bombs creation. His view was not congruent with the powers that be and he was fired and labeled a traitor (Hinde and Rotblat,
Arthur Miller’s 1953 play The Crucible and Alfonso Cuarón’s 2006 dystopian science-fiction film Children of Men both represent people and politics through an exploration of the concept of justice and conformity and non-conformity. Both texts represent people and politics in a unique and evocative way through their differing textual forms, contexts and techniques.
Known as a period of political scandal, many politicians engaged in bribes, lies, and abuse of power to further a political, social, and often personal agenda. The typical corrupt leader "will sell his vote for a dollar [...] turns with indifference from the voice of honesty and reason [...] his unalienable right may be valuable to him for the bribe he gets out of it" (166). Such politicians are an injustice to society because as they are elected by the people, they must act towards the betterment of the people, rather than for themselves. Furthermore, those who elect this politician to office merely underestimate their political and social responsibility because they "want the feeling that their own interests are connected with those of the community, and in the weakness or absence of moral and political duty" (167). Thus, under the control of the ruthless politician and the reckless voter, the true essence of democracy is
Through out history people have been influenced by what they want to hear and the way a current trend is happening. The evolution of mankind has drifted towards a different society than what we where born to sustain. We are emotionally driven human beings that want to feel accepted by the rules of society. Sometimes an individual can confuse actions or emotions towards trying to fulfill the standards society has imposed. I have analyzed two articles that incorporate how a society reacts towards integrity as well as honesty and the belief that an individual in order to be a part of society one must comply with the standards that are set. As I began to interpret what Stephen L. Carter explained in “The Insufficiency of Honesty” I examined they
Dobel (1999), reports integrity is a balance between personal moral commitments and capacities, obligation of office and political judiciousness. The person has the ability to use a self-conscious reflection, honesty and avoids
In “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, the river stands as a symbol of endlessness, geographical awareness, and the epitome of the human soul. Hughes uses the literary elements of repetition and simile to paint the river as a symbol of timelessness. This is evident in the first two lines of the poem. Hughes introduces this timeless symbol, stating, “I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins” (Hughes 1-2). These opening lines of the poem identifies that the rivers Hughes is speaking about are older than the existence of human life. This indicates the rivers’ qualities of knowledge, permanence, and the ability to endure all. Humans associate “age” with these traits and the longevity of a river makes it a force to be reckoned with. The use of a simile in the line of the poem is to prompt the audience that this is truly a contrast between that ancient wisdom, strength, and determination of the river and the same qualities that characterize a human being. The imagery portrayed in the poem of blood flowing through human veins like a river flows ...
When individuals hear about politicians and businessmen or bankers they think of corruption. Individuals consider most of these people of power to be liars. Generally individuals say such things as “they got to be in power by lying”. Lying when done right can get people things they want such as power and wealth. Receiving these two things give an individual more means to thrive in the society we live in. With wealth you can bend other people of power to give you power, or with power you can create means to make wealth. With these two things someone can become almost an unstoppable force leading individuals who have less ability than them. This essays purpose is to explain the extent on how lying can make an individual, more prosperous in our society. The ways of knowing this extended essay will target will be emotion, because emotions are what drives ethics and faith, because lying deals with people being faithful in other people and also how the individual lying puts faith in that their lie will work. The areas of knowledge this extended essay will touch will be Ethics, and (religious knowledge systems).