Self-Determination in The Odyssey Self-determination is a strong characteristic that Odysseus portrays in The Odyssey. The three traits that Odysseus portrays as evidence of his self-determination are: endurance, perseverance, and courage. Odysseus, like most humans, has his doubts of confidence, but seems to overcome them. Odysseus sometimes doubts his courage and passion for living. He shows this as he asks, "but Circe, who will be my pilot on this journey?"(100). Here, Odysseus questions his ability to lead his crew onward. He then overcomes this barrier and triumphs with self-confidence. Zeus thinks that Odysseus is courageous and gallant. He therefore commands that, "Odysseus shall go forth upon his homeward way, not with gods' guidance nor with that of a mortal man; but by himself..." (45). This is ironic because later on, Odysseus receives help and is presented challenges from the gods. Without the interference of the gods, Odysseus would have sailed home ten years before. To be courageous, you must contain great wit within the walls of your heart and the cells of your brain. There is no better example of this than when " I [Odysseus] then formed the plan within my daring heart of closing on him, drawing my sharp sword from my thigh, and stabbing him in the breast..." (85). Here the Cyclops faces his doom at the hands of Odysseus' guile. Although Odysseus displays guile, other's does not fool him. Now, although courage is a strong and important aspect it is nothing without endurance or Stamina. This aspect is represented when,"... I [Odysseus] by swimming forced my way through the flood, till at your coast the wind and water brought me...but I turned back and swam until I reached a stream where the ground seemed most fit...[then] gathering my strength, I staggered out, and the immortal night drew near" (67). By not giving up and refusing to join his crew some of his crewmembers in the hall of Hades, Odysseus endures what we would wake up crying from. If Odysseus had lacked this quality, the novel, The Odyssey, would have had a great deal less pages to read. Odysseus often fools and deceives his enemies into their own dreadful doom by using the guile that he is so renowned for. Without endurance, he would have no nerve to beguile his foes while not being disillusioned by them. Odysseus receives inspiration and motivation as he is told ".
In The Odyssey, Odysseus portrays an important trait to the story, perseverance. His perseverance really stands out as something that he has and always will have. On his long journey home, he never gives up and just stays where he is, no matter how tempting. He always manages to push through and keep getting closer to his goal of returning home. An example of when he does this is when he is faced with the challenge of getting past Skylla and Kharybdis. He knows that either path will kill at least some of his men and possibly him, but he knows he has to keep going. "And all this time,/ in travail, sobbing, gaining on the current,/ we rowed into the strait---Skylla to port/ and on our starboard beam Kharybdis, dire/ gorge of the salt sea tide." (Homer, 12. 301-305). In O Brother, Where Art Thou, Everett also showed his perseverance. While trying to get back to his wife, he also faces many obstacles that he must get through. There were many people and things keeping him from where he was going, but he pushed through and got there anyway. His greatest obstacle to get through was when he came upon the sirens. He went down to the river and the sirens got the men drunk enough to fall asleep. While asleep, Pete was turned in by the sirens, but the other men hadn't been turned in yet. They woke up and were forced to get out of there as fast as they could with a frog they thought was Pete. Delmar wanted to stay and try to change Pete back but Everett told him they needed to persevere and keep going, and they did. Another trait that both of these men show in their stories is their cleverness. Odysseus show...
The forties and fifties in the United States was a period dominated by racial segregation and racism. The declaration of independence clearly stated, “All men are created equal,” which should be the fundamental belief of every citizen. America is the land of equal opportunity for every citizen to succeed and prosper through determination, hard-work and initiative. However, black citizens soon found lack of truth in these statements. The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the murder of Emmett Till in 1955 rapidly captured national headlines of civil rights movement. In the book, Coming of Age in Mississippi, the author, Anne Moody describes her experiences, her thoughts, and the movements that formed her life. The events she went through prepared her to fight for the civil right.
Coming of Age in Mississippi is the amazing story of Anne Moody's unbreakable spirit and character throughout the first twenty-three years of her life. Time and time again she speaks of unthinkable odds and conditions and how she manages to keep excelling in her aspirations, yet she ends the book with a tone of hesitation, fear, and skepticism. While she continually fought the tide of society and her elders, suddenly in the end she is speaking as if it all may have been for not. It doesn?t take a literary genius nor a psychology major to figure out why. With all that was stacked against her cause, time and time again, it is easy to see why she would doubt the future of the civil rights movement in 1964 as she rode that Greyhound bus to Washington once again. The events that had occurred to her up to the point of the end of the book could clearly have disheartened anyone.
Coming of Age in Mississippi is an eye-opening testimony to the racism that exemplified what it was like to be an African American living in the south before and after the civil rights movements in the 50's and 60's. African Americans had been given voting and citizen rights, but did not and to a certain degree, still can not enjoy these rights. The southern economy that Anne Moody was born into in the 40's was one that was governed and ruled by a bunch of whites, many of which who very prejudice. This caused for a very hard up bringing for a young African American girl. Coming of Age in Mississippi broadened horizon of what it was like for African Americans to live during the 40's, 50', and 60's.
Anne Moody’s Coming of Age in Mississippi glimpse into the past is an exemplary look into Black life in Mississippi after the turn of the century. Mississippi, being one of the hardest slave states in the American south, and still just as arduous, if not more, after the reconstruction and clearly throughout the Civil Rights Movements. Moody, elegantly describes her life and those close around her. This essay will explore Moody’s account and how she carefully and meticulously expressed the details her life. Also, this opinion piece will prove how the behavior, culture and actions during Anne Moody’s time is still alive and well today.
The Coming of Age in Mississippi is an emotional real life experience. Which explains vivid events that Anne Moody had lived throughout her civil rights movement. She was one of the persons that was involved and supporter of the movement in Mississippi and New Orleans, and Canton. Anne Moody was happy she was going to meet Martin Luther king a well speaker and supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. She was happy that she attended the March on Washington she described the people what she was wearing the artist that attended the event. Saying what a group of men held banners that said Bury Jim Craw. She compares her life in Canton where she couldn’t get much sleep and wishing she could dream like Martin Luther King. It’s been a hard process
As if growing up wasn't turbulent enough, Anne Moody grew up during a crucial time in American History. It was during this time that race and civil rights took center stage in her home state of Mississippi. Young women face many physical and emotional changes during their teenage years, regardless of when and where they grew up. However, for Anne Moody, and other young black women, there was the instability in race relations to deal with as well.
Anne Moody had a difficult childhood due to her family living in a rural county in Mississippi marked by extreme poverty and racism. Having to work at a young age to support her family, she experienced the social significance of race through her interactions at school and with her employers such as Mrs. Burke. Becoming a participant and an observer of her surroundings, Moody is able to grasp the role that racism, as well as the notion of black inferiority, plays within the South. Mrs. Burke, a well known racist, develops a tense relationship with Anne,
There is a few bits of thoughtful laughter in hamlet. A good example is Hamlet himself being a person who says some very smart things but is just completely insane. Most things he says takes some thought to convert it over to english we know and love today, but after you get that out of the way and think about the statements some they become entertaining. He states many things about others but never seems to think of how they see him. He completely makes himself look crazy without even the thought of it coming into mind. This adds to the unknowing stance that Hamlet has in the story. He is aware of everything around him but he is not yet aware of himself.
...t certain to drown him, but with the minor help of a Sea Nymph, Odysseus was able to survive and successfully reach home. Not only was Odysseus able to overcome the disfavor of gods, but also was also able to come out victorious when the situation called for his demise. This can be seen after he fought the monster Skylla. Against such a large monster, certain death is almost guaranteed, but despite the loss of all his fellow men, Odysseus himself was able to survive. Despite this loss, Odysseus himself was able to survive the odds, something only a hero can accomplish. Towards the end of his journey, Odysseus was able to defeat the suitors, despite being greatly outnumbered. It seemed as though the loads of bloodthirsty suitors would slaughter Odysseus, Telemachos, Eumaios, and Philoitios, but Odysseus was not deterred. Despite pessimistic talk from Telemachos,
If Odysseus chose to do something differently, the gods would not have intervened and trapped him. This is a very prominent example of how fate is not necessarily out of one’s control in Greek mythology. Homer leans towards the fact that despite the gods having the ability to change things, we have a large role in our lives as well. But once Zeus lightened up and commanded Calypso to release Odysseus to go home, she tries to convince him to stay with her by offering immortality. Odysseus declined and left. The gods might have known he would never stay on the island but Odysseus still came up with the answer by
Fa’amu and Fofoa. It is said that one Samoan woman’s life is very much like the next. At the time of her visit to Samoa, Mead, a graduate student was only 23 years old. She was barely older than the girls she interviewed and lovingly called her “merry companions”. The vision recieved while reading “Coming of Age in Samoa” is that it is a place of nearly stress free living. The children pass through adolescence without the many pressures put upon teenagers in an industrial America: ...adolescence represented no period of crisis or stress,but was instead an orderly developing of a set of slowly maturing interests and activities (95).
The challenges that Homer give the protagonist is all a test of character. Odysseus continues to pass the obstacles with flying colors, but his arrogance is the one flaw that is in dire need of correction. Some of the many challenges Odysseus overcomes on his voyage home is defeating the Cicones, surviving the Island of the Lotus Eaters, outsmarting the Giant Cyclops, saving his men from Circe, Traveling to Hades, passing between Scylla and Charybdis, escaping Calypsos’ Island and many more. Odysseus survives these obstacles and uses his smarts to escape near disaster. Often times he was the only one to survive these things and his crew often lost their lives due to their own stupidity. “‘We left the island and resumed our journey in a state of gloom; and the heart was taken out of my men by the wearisome rowing. But was our own stupidity that had deprived us of the wind.’”(P127 L75-79) Odysseus shows how he is an extraordinary man by being much smarter than his crew and the men that follow him. As a part of this stripping of Odysseus, Homer shows that Odysseus is a collective symbol of Everyman. On the one hand Odysseus is a great warrior, who is extremely intelligent, noble, and a great man. Although he has many god- like qualities he is still human. He shows that he is human and like every man, because of the fact that he still has major flaws. The
Odysseus defeats great monsters with the help of his men and the gods. Homer added Greek mythology to the epic poem because that is the main belief of the people at the time. The people believed that the gods and the fates controlled what happened in their lives. Odysseus’s story reflects this belief. His accomplishments are based on the help of the gods, or what the fates wrote into his life. He defeated the monsters and overcame the struggle because that is what was supposed to happen in his life. Odysseus could make his own choices, but his journey is made easier when he listens to the gods and their
In Homer’s The Odyssey, many happenings interfere with Odysseus’ journey to return home to his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus. Self-determination is a strong characteristic that Odysseus portrays in The Odyssey. The three traits that Odysseus portrays as evidence of his self-determination are: endurance, perseverance, and courage. Odysseus, like most humans, has his doubts of confidence, but seems to overcome them. Out of this great tragedy, he has become a greater man to regain his kingdom and live a long life. He learns that without his determination he would have never returned to his home. Nature played a key role in how the story played out. Nature can interfere and impede human progress but that nature cannot conquer mankind so long as men are willing to face hardship and accept the consequences of their struggle.