“There is nothing in this world more valuable than one's dignity,” a teaching that is perfectly depicted in the odd tale of Al Condraj. In this story, the protagonist, Al, is plunged into a world made up of values that revolve around the perceived superiority of owning materialistic things compared to the importance of one’s own dignity. As a result, he steals a hammer from a store keeper and when he is caught, immediately loses all the dignity he owned. It is upsetting, and Al spends the rest of the story aligning his perception of the world as a place where if someone needs something, it being there is the right way of things-also represented by the garden-with the real world where if you want something, you have to pay for it, and pay something …show more content…
The parsley garden represents a world where Al and his mom are at home, at peace, and can be in control of their lives; they are their own masters within the realm of the garden where things are simpler, more peaceful, and fulfilling because it is theirs and they make the rules. His mother had created a world, in her garden, symbolising liberty, the liberty to feel as he wants and when he’s in the garden. In the garden he is reminded of the jeopardy his dignity is in and takes time to think, freely, about the importance of his dignity and how he finally decides that his dignity surpasses materialism, as shown by the following quote: “When he got home, he was too ashamed to go home, so instead he took a walk in the garden where he contemplated what was more important: the hammer or his humility… as he smelled the parsley garden, he didn’t feel humiliated anymore because he knew he had made the right choice.” (Saroyan 3). Outside that garden though, the world is different; the rules are made by the store owners, and everything is out of Al's control. He has no say in any matter; this is one reason he rejects the job offer at the
Personal experiences affect everybody. Just like in the stories “Abuela Invents The Zero” by Ortiz Cofer and “Home” by Anton Chekhov. Constancia and Yevgeny, from the stories, both have small problems that lead to dramatic changes in their values. Constancia values what her peers think of her and Yevgeny values work more than his son. The authors of “Abuela Invents The Zero” and “Home” have both shown how small moments can change a person’s values forever.
Specifically, the grandfather in this poem appears to represent involvement with nature because of his decisions to garden as he “stabs his shears into earth” (line 4). However, he is also representative of urban life too as he “watched the neighborhood” from “a three-story” building (line 10). The author describes the world, which the grandfather has a small “paradise” in, apart from the elements desecrated by humans, which include “a trampled box of Cornflakes,” a “craggy mound of chips,” and “greasy / bags of takeouts” (lines 23, 17, 2, and 14-15). The passive nature of the grandfather’s watching over the neighborhood can be interpreted in a variety of different ways, most of them aligning with the positive versus negative binary created by the authors of these texts. The author wants to show the reader that, through the grandfather’s complexity of character, a man involved in both nature and more human centered ways of life, there is multifaceted relationship that man and nature share. Through the also violent descriptions of the grandfather’s methods of gardening, the connection between destructive human activities and the negative effects on nature is
Kenan’s “The Foundations of the Earth” illustrate how arrogance undermines knowledge and individual power and humility enhances those qualities. In each story, characters with parochial worldviews encounter people who challenge them to change. Other perspectives are available if they are able to let go of their superior attitudes. For example, Hawthorne’s protagonist, Aylmer, believes he has the ability and right to create perfection. He views a birthmark on his wife, Georgiana, as evidence of a flaw that must be removed no matter what the cost. His assistant, Aminadab, (an earthy alter-ego) remarks, “If she were my wife, I’d never part with that birthmark” (Hawthorne 531). He does not say, “I’d let it be” or “I’d tolerate it”, but rather “I’d never part with it.” This interpretation is so antithetical to Aylmer’s that it cries for inquiry. “What is it that you are thinking, Aminadab?” or “What is it about this birthmark that I find so ugly that you would treasure?” Aylmer does not ask these questions. Arrogance shuts him down. One needs humility in order to consider alternative points of view. New ideas do not enter Aylmer’s mind and he does not develop. His arrogance culminates in the death of Georgiana. In the other two stories, however, the characters mature by humbly opening to diverse perspectives, thus gaining knowledge and individual power.
The similar symbols of the father figure, the "other woman," and the garden, in Death of a Salesman and Fences, are used to develop the similar themes of father-son conflicts, marital conflicts, and the need to leave one's mark of success on the world. The main difference is that while Willy plants seeds by himself to see them grow, Troy's garden is planted by Raynell, his "seed." By bringing Raynell into the world, Troy plants a seed that will grow to live out his dreams; the tragedy is that both Willy and Troy die before having a chance to see their seeds grow.
One man never gets to feel the sense of accomplishment that comes from doing things by or for himself. All will have been done collectively for him, thus something fundamental is missing from his life. This can be likened to the pride Equality 7-2521 feels after hunting and preparing his own food in the forest (Rand, 1946, p. 63). He finds happiness in doing things for himself. This idea can be found in many instances, such as while he is studying in the tunnel (Rand, 1946, p. 30). The invention he makes there becomes so important to him that he is willing to be beaten and later leave everything behind in order to protect it, and such is a testament to his desire for independence and strides toward acting on his own
Egalitarianism can be absurd and detrimental to American society. In the story, heavy weights are put on strong people, and grotesque masks are put on attractive women. Also, many other people who have an above average intelligence often listen to loud noises which render them from completing a thought (5-7). Harrison’s father, George, compares the noises to, “somebody hitting a milk bottle with a ball peen hammer.” Darryl Hattenhauer of Arizona State proposes that “The story satirizes the American definition of freedom as the greatest good to the smallest number.” Unfortunately, the sacrifice of the individual to the good of society doesn’t improve conditions for the above average, average, or below (Alvarez). Joseph Alvarez suggests that, “the result [of the] power vacuum [is] a ruthless central government created by legislative controls people’s lives, which have become as meaningless as if they were machines.” In addition, the American dream that is described as moving up social and economic class through hard work and education; turn into a nightmare (Hattenhauer). For example, Kurt Vonnegut infers that the ballerina who reads ann...
If I got lost in a desolate desert , I would survive because I value things that are essential and beneficial for survival. King Tut would have died if he got lost because he values items like gold and jewelry, whereas I bring the essentials. This is a good habit because money does not bring happiness into anyone’s life. It is the moments that they spend with their family that bring true happiness into their life. When people value material possessions greater than their own or their family's survival won’t live a happy life. This essay will include “The Necklace”, “Civil Peace”, and “The Thrill of the Chase”.
As the piece opens, a young Sedaris in a fantasy world contemplates his dirty money, saying “I’m thinking of asking the servants to wax my change… It’s important to have clean money — not new, but well maintained.” (1) Although the situation is obviously exaggerated for comic purposes, the exaggeration helps to reveal the idea of a dissatisfaction. Although in his alternate reality, Sedaris has all the money in the world, he is not happy with it. He has to clean it, wax it, make it better. This discontent with the purest example of something with extrinsic value, of which this version of Sedaris has a lot of, goes to prove that material and monetarily valued things are not keys to intrinsic happiness. Sedaris even acknowledges this, when he talks about the charitable contributions his pretend family makes, stating “The Inner City Picnic Fund, our Annual Headache Drive, the Polo Injury Wing at the local Memorial Hospital: we give unspeakable amounts to charity, but you’ll never hear us talk about it.” (2) There is an immense amount of irony in this declaration; all of these things associated with which the well off have to deal with, getting hurt while playing polo, and the occasional headache, are used in direct correlation with the ideas of generosity and giving. This helps
Set during a time when communism was quickly spreading through Vietnam, aspirations for an equal society were forming. This contrasts greatly to the social system evident in The God of Small Things. Narrated by the main protagonist Hang, a young Vietnamese women growing up in an age of turmoil during post-war Vietnam, Paradise of the Blind gives readers a deeper insight into the contrasting lives of those from different social classes. Through Hang’s memory the reader is shown the difficulties in her life which eventually leads to her becoming an exported worker in Russia. Chinh, Hang’s uncle and a communist party member often used his authority to attempt to waver the opinion of those around him, “The merchants, the petty tradespeople, they’re only exploiters. You cannot remain with these parasites,” by referring to the landowning classes as parasites, it shows his political view and his belief in class segregation. The metaphor Duong uses comparing the landowning class to ‘parasites’ emphasises the extreme disdain Chinh and many other communists at the time had for the landowning class. It is also ironic for Chinh to describe the landowning class as ‘exploiters’, as they have done no wrong. Chinh and other communist members are the real exploiters. This concept of class superiority and segregation is also similarly expressed in The
Cormac McCarthy’s novel All The Pretty Horses depicts the constant search for justice in a world plagued with injustice. John Grady, while never given the justice owed to him, never gives up on his search for a place wherein he can find justice. Through John Grady’s experiences we can more clearly view the idea that, even though you may never find justice in the world sometimes it’s more important to focus on your quest for justice than your outcome.
The garden is the vehicle in which the narrator reveals her reluctance to leave behind the imaginary world of childhood and see the realities of the adult world. The evidence supporting this interpretation is the imagery of hiding. The narrator uses the garden to hide from reality and the changes of growing up. When she no longer can hide from reality, she tries to hide from herself, which leaves her feeling disillusioned and unsure of who she is.
the modern garden. She interprets how we have the need to control and create what we consider perfect with our sciences and labs. While rules reign, sanitation demands, and socialization take control of the perfect scene for a pleasant environment, the unpleasant side of these malls such as their trash is kept out of the vision of the consumer. Most of these consumer products that are used to entice the population to enter into this heavenly place on earth became waste that is not entirely recycled
To Thoreau, life’s progress has halted. It seems people have confused progression with captivity driven by materialism. To Krakaeur, people are indifferent to pursing the sublime in nature. To Christopher McCandles the world around him is forgetting the purpose of life. People are blind to nature. In the eyes of these men the world is victim to commercial imprisonment. People live to achieve statuses that only exist because man made them. Fame, money, and monotonous relationships do not exist in nature; they are the pursuits of soulless fundamentalism. The truth is that people pursue meaningless goals, and people don’t want to hear or know how they are foolish. When exposed, reality is so unsettling that it seems wrong. Yet, to be free of the falseness in life is in essence the point of singularity that people realize if there is no truth in love then it is false, if there is no truth in money then it is worthless, if there is no truth in fame then it is undeserving. Without truth everything is a worthless pursuit of a meaningless glass ceiling.
Arthur Ashe once said, “From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however makes a life.” Such is the case in Nikolai Gogol’s short story The Overcoat. Gogol takes a man without a friend in the world and gives him a new overcoat. The new overcoat represents a new life and a new identity for the man and instantaneously he is much happier. The man, Akaky Akakievich, basis his “new life” upon the love that he gives to his overcoat, and what he feels it gives him in return. Before long, Akaky begins to care more about his beautiful coat and less about the people around him. Thus is the theme of the story. Often material things are more important in our lives than people, resulting in the emptiness of one’s heart and soul. One cannot be truly happy with his possessions alone. He needs more than that. He needs people his life, whom he can call friends.
Instead they rely completely on money to be happy. People often do not appreciate what they have, and they feel like they deserve better, and they complain instead of making the best of what they have. It is not necessary to be rich to enjoy life. Often those who have everything tend to live miserably. People can become too attached to money to the point that they forget about enjoying life and caring for their family. The theme of materialism is shown throughout the story of “The Rocking Horse Winner” to explain how being too attached to money can ruin people’s lives.