Comparing Cultures in Heaney's Opened Ground and Roy's The God of Small Things
Many authors use experience in their lives to influence their writing. In the cases of Seamus Heaney and Arundati Roy, the experiences in their life and the experience that their countries went through shape their poems and stories in unimaginable ways. For example, Heaney puts into his poetry many experiences that his country, Ireland, went through. These experiences include the rise of war in Ireland between the Catholics and the Protestants and also the influence that England has on the situation in Ireland. Roy on the same note brings into her story, The God of Small Things, experiences that India went through after British rule and the fear of communism that arose in certain parts of India after the British made India a free nation. Through both of these authors’ writings, readers can see the effect that English rule had upon both of the different nations and the aftermath of the English influence on both India and Ireland.
In Heaney's book of poetry entitled Opened Ground, Heaney shows the readers many different ways in which English rule and influence effected and changed the lives of different people in Ireland. For example, in Two Lorries, Heaney describes a man who is a coal deliverer and his love for Heaney's mother. As the poem progresses, we can see a metamorphosis in the lorry. As the political situation in Ireland escalates and war between different religious factions grows more immanent, the lorry changes from a man who falls in love with Heaney's mother to a raving political and religious war type man who needs to become involved in the skirmish between the religious groups and by doing this eventually blows...
... middle of paper ...
...e and have their morals and institutions put on them or become a communist nation and be told everything that must be done and not have many choices.
Both Heaney and Roy do a very good job to show and discuss how their culture and English culture have both effected and made their cultures what they are today. Heaney shows us that the English have given much of their culture and morals to many of the Irish but also shows us how the other people of Ireland were effected by English Rule. Roy also shows us how the English affected Indian culture and how Indian families were affected by both the English rule and how post English rule affected the lives of many people throughout India. With their own styles and writings, Heaney and Roy give us a good look into how both Indian and Irish cultures are today and how they were back in the time of English rule.
Translations depicts the cultural take over of Ireland by the British Empire, yet it cannot be said to be simply pro-Irish.’ Consider this comment. English Literature Coursework- ‘Translations depicts the cultural take over of Ireland by the British Empire, yet it cannot be said to be simply pro-Irish.’ Consider this comment on the play. The Cultural take over of Ireland by the British Empire is a central issue in Translations.
Stade, George, and Karen Karbiener. “Heaney Seamus.” Bloom’s Literature. Facts on File, Inc. Web. 30 Mar. 2014
Over the years, our nation has witnessed countless cases of police brutality. It has developed into a controversial topic between communities. For instance, deindustrialization is the removal or reduction of manufacturing capability or activity can lead to more crimes when people are laid off. Police officers are faced with many threatening situations day-to-day gripping them to make split second decisions; either to expect the worst or hope for the best. The police are given the authority to take any citizen away for their action that can ruin their lives. With that kind of power comes great responsibility, which is one main concern with the amount of discretion officers have is when to use lethal force. The use of excessive force might or
The “National Use of Force Framework” is the model that Canadian policing agencies follow when training future police officers (Butler, n.d., p. 6). This specific model has five steps that an officer should follow before resorting to the usage of lethal force (Butler, n.d., p. 19). One common guideline in police use of force is to apply the minimum amount of force necessary to achieve “control” of the situation (Butler, n.d., p. 14).
The community, although it is very tight and strongly bound by tradition and family, is also troubled and varied. The potato crop is failing, the maps are being changed for the convenience of the English, people want to move out of Ireland, (for example when Maire tells Hugh she wants to learn English for when she moves to America). Things appear to be at peace when we are put into this environment and everything seems well at first, but as we look further into it we can see things are much more deep seeded and dark than at first glance. For example, Doalty steals a piece of equipment from some English soldiers; this cheeky mischief seems harmless until we hear about some of the English horses being lead off a cliff to their deaths. Nothing is what it seems in this play, there are many more issues that lurk beneath the rather innocent surface of this seemingly simple, rural community; feelings of hatred and betrayal course through the bodies of many of the populous. What the English are doing is not right, nor is it fair. They have no right to change the identity of a people for their own convenience.
In 1801, the political Act of Union created a legislative bond between Great Britain and Ireland, bringing Ireland under British control as part of the “United Kingdom”. Within the poem ‘Act of Union’ Heaney draws upon the double meaning of this titular phrase to compare the long lasting effect of this lawful union with an act of sexual domination.
Similarly, Carmilla is caught in between the states of living and dead, “the features, though a hundred and fifty years had passed since her funeral, were tinted with the warmth of life” (Le Fanu, 92). This reoccurring theme of emotional, physical and mental limbo could be another example of Le Fanu’s use of displacement regarding the state of ‘in between’ felt by many Irish Protestants at the time. This Anglo-Irish aristocracy felt both in between Irish and English with regards to national identity and also felt caught in between the transition of changing times which brought with it an increase of power for Irish Catholics such as in municipal government (Killeen 2014 , 47), causing unease for the Anglo-Irish
In James Joyce’s Dubliners, the theme of escape tends to be a trend when characters are faced with critical decisions. Joyce’s novel presents a bleak and dark view of Ireland; his intentions by writing this novel are to illustrate people’s reasons to flee Ireland. In the stories “Eveline, “Counterparts”, and the “Dead”, characters are faced with autonomous decisions that shape their lives. This forlorn world casts a gloomy shadow over the characters of these stories. These stories are connected by their similar portrayal of Ireland. They clearly represent Joyce’s views on people’s discontent with Ireland.
If a law enforcement officer uses excessive force that is not necessary to get custody of a suspect or to prevent injuries or murders then that officer may be found guilty of using excessive force. There are three different examples that can explain when excessive use of force comes in to play. The first example is when physical force is used against a person who is already in the police custody and is not resisting at all. The second example is when a law enforcement officer is using a weapon against a person who does not have a weapon or a person whom a police officer should reasonably assume does not have a weapon. The third example is when law enforcement use force to intimidate a suspicious person or a witness into giving a statement. The excessive use of force by law enforcement can include unjustified shootings, severe beatings, fatal chokings, and rough treatment. Excessive use of force continues because of overwhelming barriers to accountability make it possible for officers to not get the punishment that they deserve and often they tend to repeat their
...differences as an ending. Thousands have died regardless of the side they represented. As a reader, this eye witness account in the book brings to life the troubles in Northern Ireland. Walking the streets and living amongst the chaos shows the severity of the situation. This segregation still lives on today in Northern Ireland with no clear end in sight. But one can not expect a four hundred year long feud to end abruptly. Progress has been made in modern time but both sides need full dedication to end the divide. To put aside religion, politics and other blockades in order to truly find what is best for their nation. Just like the old Irish proverb, you've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was. Forget what was in the past and by the elders so one can move on to a new united future whether it be united with Great Britain or Ireland.
The use of force by police officers has been a widely discussed topic over time. Whenever force is used, especially deadly force, it needs to be determined if the force was necessary. There are many cases in history where deadly force was used by police officers in different scenarios. Over the past few years, this has been a major problem in the U.S. and has caused a lot of speculation of the police. Media has also played a big roll in the judgment of deadly force. The media has the ability to influence people’s opinions and make them believe certain things to be true even if they aren’t. There are various charts and guidelines that help determine when use of force is necessary. Most often, use of force depends on the situation and the danger that may be present. Police officers get a lot of heat from the public about using excessive force/deadly force when it is not necessary, however the public may be misinformed in certain cases. It is essential to thoroughly investigate all cases where deadly force is used to ensure that it follows all police guidelines and their handbooks rules of using force. A suspects actions influences the actions police officers
Gul, Zakir, Hakan Hekim, and Ramazan Terkesil. “Controlling Police (Excessive) Force: The American Case.” International Journal of Human Sciences 10.2 (2013): 285-303. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
Heaney, Seamus. "Opened Ground, Selected Poems 1966-1996." Follower. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. 10.
James Joyce began his writing career in 1914 with a series of realistic stories published in a collection called The Dubliners. These short literary pieces are a glimpse into the ‘paralysis’ that those who lived in the turn of the century Ireland and its capital experienced at various points in life (Greenblatt, 2277). Two of the selections, “Araby” and “The Dead” are examples of Joyce’s ability to tell a story with precise details while remaining a detached third person narrator. “Araby” is centered on the main character experiencing an epiphany while “The Dead” is Joyce’s experiment with trying to remain objective. One might assume Joyce had trouble with objectivity when it concerned the setting of Ireland because Dublin would prove to be his only topic. According the editors of the Norton Anthology of Literature, “No writer has ever been more soaked in Dublin, its atmosphere, its history, its topography. He devised ways of expanding his account of the Irish capital, however, so that they became microcosms of human history, geography, and experience.” (Greenblatt, 2277) In both “Araby” and “The Dead” the climax reveals an epiphany of sorts that the main characters experience and each realize his actual position in life and its ultimate permanency.
Postcolonial authors use their literature and poetry to solidify, through criticism and celebration, an emerging national identity, which they have taken on the responsibility of representing. Surely, the reevaluation of national identity is an eventual and essential result of a country gaining independence from a colonial power, or a country emerging from a fledgling settler colony. However, to claim to be representative of that entire identity is a huge undertaking for an author trying to convey a postcolonial message. Each nation, province, island, state, neighborhood and individual is its own unique amalgamation of history, culture, language and tradition. Only by understanding and embracing the idea of cultural hybridity when attempting to explore the concept of national identity can any one individual, or nation, truly hope to understand or communicate the lasting effects of the colonial process.