Reaching for justice throughout human history has been one of the primordial dreams chased by most humans while at the same time, hunted as a mere fugitive by others in order to satisfy their appalling thirst for injustice. “Injustice anywhere is at threat to justice everywhere” as stated by Martin lather King, if one doesn’t fight for justice he/she might end up having to face the sad reality of injustice taking over everywhere. In order to not let such a thing take place we need to fight against injustice as one. Two literature works which embrace this idea are Common Sense by Thomas Pain and Letter to Any Would-be Terrorists by Naomi Shihab Nye. These two literature works as example of protest literature were very important in illustrating how crucial it was to fight against injustice because both works were effective in encouraging and helping the authors and their audiences share their ideas about a preoccupying topic while hoping at the same time to someday bring about an important social or political change.
Letter to Any Would-be Terrorists by Naomi Shihab Nye is protest literature, targeting possible would-be terrorists with the main goal of fighting the discriminatory injustice faced by Arab-Americans following the action of some individual Arabs after 9/11. In her letter Naomi Shihab Nye describes how proud she thinks Arabs should be about their origins and using that feeling and idea, exhibits as an example her own family’s living style to show to her audience the immensity and richness of the Arab community. She thinks Arab definitively should be proud of their heritage. She talks about her Palestinian father who has been defying the word terrorist from the Arabic community to her American mother, who as she stat...
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... for mankind.” In the end, Thomas Pain using this kind of message tried to show the necessity and importance that was to fight for their freedom.
Thomas Pain and Naomi Shihab Nye try in their protest literature to free their people days from the dark while whispering in their audience(s) mind the belief that if they today fight against the injustice which they are facing, they someday will all be able to look back at their life and wish that everyone could have had a life as fun as theirs because, they all as one by believing in injustice as not being source of as much proudness and happiness as their love for justice, they will all be able to reach in their hearts, and whole being the infinite limit of peace, justice and happiness and so will be at the same time, be able to exterminate the most hazardous and appalling human creation in the nature of injustice.
Civil disobedience spawns a major and widely debated issue by many who established by well-known intelligent scholars and many examples of civil disobedience become displayed. The acts of civil disobedience can be noted in major works such as Sophocles?s Antigone, King?s ?Letter from Birmingham Jail?, or even from Plato?s ?from Crito?. A specific claim exemplified throughout these works make that civil disobedience races in gaining popularity and should remain allowed, and continued to be seen as a solution to reform poorly established laws. A claim represented is, civil disobedience is right. Rhetorically, appeals such as credibility, logic and emotion can provide support for these claims.
Paine introduced his main claim by comparing the differences of a society and government within “Common Sense” (CS). “Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher” (Paine 4-5). Using juxtaposition, Paine is able to portray the British government as a form of oppression while society or the American colonies as a virtuous foundation. Government, according to Paine is a means of regulating societies’ sins. By portraying “society” as a form of prosperity, the reader gains an insight to his claim. Furthermore, Paine’s interpretation of society is a means of survival a way for people to work together and prosper. However, in order for Paine to persuaded the audience he relates to their reasoning. “Let us suppose a small number of persons settled in some sequestered part of the e...
Paine and Henry beautifully helped the struggle of freedom in 1770’s and used speech to bring the slight simmer of uproar to bubbling boil. These two revolutionaries will be forever known in history as the spearhead of the America known today. These highly educated men noticed that the proof in front of their audiences was not penetrating to their minds and they required someone brave enough to say what was unraveling rather than have it on their shores and to walk past. Henry and Paine had a proclivity to move people with graphic and thought-provoking works bursting with rhetoric and figurative language that awakened the souls of their diverse audiences to ignite the war for freedom.
Thomas Paine uses strong metaphoric language to help his audience make comparisons between the British, the war, and themselves. Paine starts the pamphlet with the phrases of “Summer soldier” and “sunshine patriots” to
...ty of people, in this case, the black population, to take action against the corruption and oppression occurring in society. They are charged with standing up and fighting against such wrong-doings which are evident in society.
A common example of injustice occurring right now in our own culture would be the glass ceiling. The discrimination and injustice minorities face in the workplace is immense and should be taken action against. However, instead, today’s generation does not want to take the next step and create a movement against this injustice. This generation has become so absorbed in technology that they believe everything can be done through speaking about issues on social media. Although, social media may not be a bad platform to begin movements, action must be taken beyond the internet in order the create a positive impact around the world. All in all, Wiesel is attempting to get future generations to stand up against injustice occurring all over the world in order to fix the issues the world
Martin Luther King Jr. speaks of “the appalling silence of the good people” and how the silence of the “good people” encourages the current situation and their good intentions don’t press for change or social justice. In Antigone, Hairspray, “The Boy Without a Flag”, and “Letter From A Birmingham Jail”, examples of social injustice and racial segregation issues can be observed and the influence and actions of the silent bystanders. The silent but well intentioned people in each piece of literature has the opportunity to support change and influence others but they don’t out of fear.
Justice is often misconceived as injustice, and thus some essential matters that require more legal attentions than the others are neglected; ergo, some individuals aim to change that. The principles of civil disobedience, which are advocated in both “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. to the society, is present up to this time in the U.S. for that purpose.
He talks about three possible ways to fight against oppression. He suggests the nonviolent way as the best option for oppressed in order to resist.
September 11, 2001 will be replayed and remembered in the minds of this American generation as one of the greatest tragedies on domestic soil. In one day, the world was dramatically altered; but in the days that followed, no group of Americans was affected more intensely nor uniquely than Arab-Americans. Once in a Promised Land, the 2007 novel by Laila Halaby, depicts the real world aftermath which assaulted one fictional Arab couple. Halaby's work accurately portrays the circumstances Arab-Americans found themselves in after the 9/11 attacks, highlighting several themes relating to patriotism, fear, and shame through her accessible characters and narrative stylings.
Political systems and their consequent removals during this time serve as a flashing indicator towards the power that exists in the mobilization of the people. The Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, and the Rights of Man and Citizen, serve as reminders of the revolutionary philosophical and political attitudes belonging to the writers of these revolutionary documents. Even now, the same attitudes of equality and freedom can be seen. Whether it be through movements for racial equality on school campuses, justice for those killed unjustly, or the prevailing ideals of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” for all races and genders, the resounding calls for people to support and affirm their brethren continue to echo (US
The debate between silently obeying the law and loudly resisting in the face of injustice is one that has existed since the birth of this country. Those who resist see the obedient citizens as ignorant of what goes on around them. On the other hand, those that are obedient see resistors as radicals. I believe that resistance, whether it be peaceful or violent, is justified. In this paper, I will refer to works by Frederick Douglass, Stephanie Camp, and Deborah Gray White to show that resistance is important to challenge injustices, whether it be slavery in the 1800s or inaction against racism at colleges in 2015.
I believed that Thomas Paine to banned slavery from earth , or he was known as “ anti slavery man”. “ My opinion is, that had it been eight months earlier, it would have been much better.” (Paine 133). He could make the American Revolution faster. However the fault, if it were one , was all our own.” (Paine 133) and he also said , “ If there must be a trouble let it be in my day , that my child have a peace.” (Paine 133) He struggled against the British because he didn 't want his children to suffer and he also wanted liberty and peace from his land. “ For though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire.”(Paine 133). In those words I could see that Paine spirit of liberty was to never die, he still fought for it even when he know he could not make it happen right away , but he still had
Martin Luther King and Henry David Thoreau each write exemplary persuasive essays that depict social injustice and discuss civil disobedience, which is the refusal to comply with the law in order to prove a point. In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” King speaks to a specific audience: the African Americans, and discusses why he feels they should bring an end to segregation. Thoreau on the other hand, in “Civil Disobedience,” speaks to a broader, non-addressed audience as he largely expresses his feelings towards what he feels is an unjust government. Both essays however, focus on the mutual topics of morality and justice and use these topics to inform and motivate their audience to, at times, defy the government in order to establish the necessary justice.
In his essay, “Resistance to Civil Government,” often times dubbed, “Civil Disobedience,” Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) argues against abiding to one’s State, in protest to the unjust laws within its government. Among many things, Thoreau was an American author, poet, and philosopher. He was a firm believer in the idea of civil disobedience, the act of refusing to obey certain laws of a government that are felt to be unjust. He opposed the laws regarding slavery, and did not support the Mexican-American war, believing it to be a tactic by the Southerners to spread slavery to the Southwest. To show his lack of support for the American government, he refused to pay his taxes. After spending a night in jail for his tax evasion, he became inspired to write “Civil Disobedience.” In this essay, he discusses the importance of detaching one’s self from the State and the power it holds over its people, by refraining from paying taxes and putting money into the government. The idea of allowing one’s self to be arrested in order to withhold one’s own values, rather than blindly following the mandates of the government, has inspired other civil rights activists throughout history such as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Both these men fought against unjust laws, using non-violent, yet effective, methods of protest. From these three men, we can learn the significance of detaching ourselves from the social norm; and instead, fight for our values in a non-violent way, in order to make a change in our government’s corrupt and unjust laws.