Delusions of American Society Exposed in Mind the Gap by Meredith Oakes
Mind the Gap, by Meredith Oakes is an ironic play that reflects many of the more undesirable traits of human nature. The play is set in the London Underground, a more or less universal setting. The two main characters are Ginny, the mother, and Lawrence, her son. The tone of the play is set within the first page and the characters are established quickly as well.
In Mind the Gap, Ginny and Larence are riding on a train to get to the psychiatrist's office. He is rebellious and does not want to go or at least, if they have to go, he laments and whines for a car. ("I told you to take the car.") He is being taken to the psychiatrist because in Ginny's eyes, he dresses like a slob, slouches, and sits around. The mother considers appearances to be very important and she is concerned that the son does not live up to her expectations. As they head towards Brixton, arguments ensue and human instinct takes over. The three main points in this play are hypocrisy, irony, and society's emphasis of materialism.
Oakes establishes the tone of this play in the first page, when she differentiates between the two different voice volumes of Ginny. This is symbolic in that Ginny is also somewhat two-faced (hypocritical) about her son's behavior. As she switches between the two voice ranges, Emma (a minor character) comments and asks why they are going to Brixton. When Ginny masks the real cause of them going to Brixton, it mirrors how people in life want to feel accepted by society. They feel that they must conform to the social standards set in precedence. Anything different and people become afraid of what they do not know. Now at days, people are...
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The nature of this poem is almost satirical in its mocking truth of the lacking side of human nature. In doing so, Mind the Gap can be compared to the absurd play, The Sand Box and the biting one-act of Baby With the Bathwater. The ironies of this story point out the delusional flaws of American society. People are usually in denial of criticisms concerning themselves. Other people's faults are often times so clear to others but their own faults are masked or nonexistent in their eyes. Human nature is a combination of both good and bad. Oakes does a superb job of emphasizing the "bad" side of humanity. Humans are flawed and sometimes, a hero does not exist. In this play, there were no heroes either. However, Oakes is able to transcend that fact and concentrate on the main point of the play: the hypocritical, self-conscious nature of mankind.
The United States and cultural myths pertaining to this country have been a topic of discussion for many years. Stephanie Coontz’s “The Way We Wish We Were”, David Brooks’ “One Nation Slightly Divisible” and Margaret Atwood’s “A Letter to America” are all essays about different American cultural myths. Each author focuses on a different cultural myth that pertains to the United States. They explain how these myths are thwarting a realistic view of America. As well as changing the perception of the country as a whole. The major cultural myths of America among the texts are about “ideal families”, “ideal lifestyles, and a “ideal country.”
The ethical life of the poem, then, depends upon the propositions that evil. . . that is part of this life is too much for the preeminent man. . . . that after all our efforts doom is there for all of us” (48).
The Beatles were first introduced live on the television to Americans on the Ed Sullivan show on February 9, 1964. They became a very popular band in the sixties, and even after the band split, John Lennon still continued to write and play songs that influenced the world and became one of the world's very important histories.
Beatlemania was undoubtly , result of the music that Beatles gave to the World. It was also a product of brilliant work by people who surrounded the band. However,it is quite clear that the World was ready and waiting to undergo many changes .As a result of its perfectly timed arrival on a hystorical scene , Beatlemania was eagerly embraced by young post -war generation thus becaming the igniting force and the vessel for future changes in society, much more than Beatles themselves or anyone else could have predicted. It’s legacy lives.
"GUN CRIMES." Crain's Detroit Business 7 Jan. 2013: 0020. General OneFile. Web. 7 Mar. 2013
the usual folder. It determines the way we frame everything . . . the attitude
People will journey far and wide, traverse the entire continent, suffer all manner of pain and suffering, if they believe that, in the end, they will be rewarded. That is why it comes as no surprise when people from other countries struggle to get to America, believing the ancient tale of "the American Dream", convinced that they will finally make it big in this land of riches. But they find out it is not like that.
In the beginning of Achilles’ life, the Greek goddess, Themis, prophesized that he would either die young and famous in battle or live a long nonexistent life without battle. His mother, Thetis, took this as a death omen and placed Achilles in the magical waters of the Styx River. She did this to help him be immortal but did not account for the area that she held, his ankle, to be left vulnerable (Claybourne). This beginning to his life leads him to believe that he was better than anyone else because the gods protected him. It is him believing that he is superior that leads to his fatal flaw of being egotistical.
In Buddhism, one seeks salvation from pain, which is caused by desire; so one seeks a state of absence from desire. This is achieved through meditation and the "Noble Eightfold Way of mental and moral discipline: right views, resolve, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration." It is a timeless state, and is spoken of as "becoming Brahman" and entering into Nirvana. The absence of desire necessitates a certain amount of separation from the world and a constancy of mind that is not found in the normal clamor of daily life.
...y the governess brings him up, but also to “all the rest.” These equivocal words refer to the initiation to sex by the governess, which is reinforced by Mile’s pointing out that she “knows what a boy wants!” After Mrs. Grose and Flora leave Bly, the two are once again alone, faced with a tyrannical and silent environment leaving the governess thinking they epitomize “some young couple…on their wedding night.”
Whether the smell is horrible and nasty, our nose will still tell us. “Can you not be decent” (par.10); this passage in the poem explain to us that our nose smell everything because of the way they were made. It’ not about having manners or being disrespectful it’s just natural that our noses smell stuffs and sometimes put us in unwanted situations. When I begin to read this poem, I wonder why the author will only talk about his nose, but after reading the whole poem, I understood that this poem can represent many other aspects in our life such as gossip. Moreover, people gossip all the time and no matter the situation or the setting, they will continue gossiping. Gossips have being ruining people’s reputation, but gossip has not and will not lose his role in this society. In short, gossip becomes part of the human nature. Moreover, I can see this poem related to my life because although I don’t like gossip, I think I do gossip from time to time.
Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is known as a complex developmental disability. It is a wide-spectrum disorder. This means no two people have exactly the same symptoms. It is “characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors.” (Autism Speaks Inc., 2014)
Two of the main characters, Jack and Algernon, strive to be "Ernest" and "Earnest" in the play, yet they both deceive others to escape lives which they grow tired of. They both hope to marry the girls that they love, yet they are starting the relationship based on false pretence and lies. It is ironic that they both call themselves "Ernest," a name that suggests honesty and sincerity, yet they both create stories to escape something or the other. Jack creates a brother called "Ernest" in the city that he uses as a scape goat' to leave his prim and proper, respectable country life, whereas Algernon creates a friend by the name of "Bunbury" to escape his aunt's high class society parties. He shows his lack of interest in such social events when he tells Jack.
The popularity of the Beatles proves time and time again to be nothing short of eternal. Like any great works of art, the Beatles’ records carried and still do carry an ageless brilliance that continues to captivate new generations of listeners. Their records are still heard heavily today on the radio, continue to sell in immense quantities, and are forever remembered through the covers done by pop and rock artists in present day.
The Beatles were an English rock band that was founded in 1960, in the city of Liverpool. The band consisted of members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The Beatles are regarded by many as the most influential rock and roll group in history, even though they experimented with multiple genres, and had achieved critical acclaim and massive commercial success in the 1960s. Their first single, which launched their career, was “Love Me Do” in 1962. By April 1964, the Beatles had twelve singles on the Billboard Hot one hundred singles chart, which lead to Beatlemania and the ‘British Invasion’ of the United States. During the Beatles tenure in the rock and roll industry, they released a total of twelve records, before t...