Fear In the Damp and Dark Gap
The usual signification of the French feminist's "gap" transformed by Jack Bushnell from silent entrapment to a meaning that signifies the "gap" as that which frees the other and allows for the generation of a voice of the other's own Circus of the Wolves. The famous masculine--self and feminine--other opposition will be freely utilized with the man and the circus representing the former and Kael and nature the latter. Gaps appear literally and figuratively throughout the text and with each appearance its meaning slowly, slowly, alters in the previously stated manner. Jack Bushnell says in a "Note from the Author" that the of the wolf (other) is "a natural world as distinct and separate from the human (self) world as possible." The place of the Other, in other words, is separated, banished, and excluded from the sphere of self. The circus and the man be self insofar as they confine, harness, and attempt to stand the beauty and wonder of the other by conforming the other into the mold and way of self.
Before going further, it should be noted that any appearance of anthropomorphizing the wolf is only that –appearance. It is the place of the Other that receives the essences of human and not Kael in and of himself. Since Kael occupies the place of the Other the anthropomorphic transgression will seem to apply to the wolf when no actual transgression has occurred. Still, however, Kael must come to sense his occupation of the place of the Other.
Kael falls into the gap constructed by his oppressors "...the damp and dark at the bottom of the hole frightened Kael." Kael's fear is of confinement and the discovery of himself as other...
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...e frees himself through the gap left by his oppressors. The man allows for Kael's escape. He has come to know the beauty and power of the other and can no longer confine it. By obtaining the knowledge that reveals the nature of the gap, Kael has discovered the means of utilizing the "gap" to the ends of freeing the other from the oppression of self. He has found the power of his own language, and its ability to take the self away from its world and into the place of the Other, Jack Bushnell has found in Kael a character that can infuse the gap with the emotive gynergy of other, thus disallowing its existence as a simple lacunary absence without voice. The place of the Other radiates its own incandescent brilliance, seething with the growing volume of the new choral power......O...
Circus of the Wolves, Lothrop, Lee, and Shepherd 1993
The Dangers of Fear Irish Playwright, George Bernard Shaw, once said, “The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.” Inhumanity is mankind’s worst attribute. Every so often, ordinary humans are driven to the point where they have no choice but to think of themselves. One of the most famous examples used today is the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night demonstrates how fear is a debilitating force that causes people to lose sight of who they once were.
According to the Justice Kagan, in the case of Florida vs. Harris, “we considered how a court should determine if the “alert” of drug-detention during a traffic stop provides probable cause to search a vehicle” (Kagan).
“Thus I fled, ridiculous hairy creature torn apart by poetry—crawling, whimpering, streaming tears, across the world like a two-headed beast, like mixed-up lamb and kid at the tail of a baffled, indifferent ewe—and I gnashed my teeth and clutched the sides of my head as if to heal the split, but I couldn’t.” (Grendel, John Gardner, pg.44) In this moment, Grendel’s mind is split between what he understands to be The world is callous and careless, blunt and belligerent; this he knows. However, with the artistic style and formation of the Shaper’s words, he is brought to tears and is captivated by his spiritual and emotional yearnings. Grendel is also overwhelmed with disgust and shame for himself and his vile habits.
Gardner plays Grendel as like a child when he first discovers the the new world. For example, Grendel announces, “ I played my way farther out into this world” (Gardner 16). This shows Grendel’s first look in the real world. He first thinks that this world is going to be a fine place to live. Unfortunately, Grendel explore more into the world and sees the “Burning eyes of the strangers” (Gardner 17). To explain, Grendel has never seen such people in his life, so he starts to rethink life. In other words, his exploration of the world of humans changes the way he perceives the creatures in the underground world. This mentally changes his self
Teresa De Lauretis defines the space-off as “spaces in the margins of hegemonic discourse, social spaces carved in the interstices of institutions and in the chinks and cracks of the power-knowledge apparati. And it is there that the terms of a different construction [...] can be posed (De Lauretis 232). This paper examines Angela Carter’s use of the space-off in “The Company of Wolves”. I begin by showing how Carter employs fairy tale convention in order to establish a fairy tale space, particularly in terms of gender norms and didacticism. I proceed to examine the ways in which she reveals aspects that are marginal to this space. Marginal, meaning that they exist peripherally, without supporting or contributing to the space, thus threatening the space and its place at the center, though they may never dismantle it. I finish by demonstrating how the elements come together in the creation of an alternative narrative.
Mowat uses the rhetorical strategy of Logos to try and convince the reader of his claim `that wolves aren’t savage killers by giving the reader evidence that is possible and without emotion. At the beginning of the book, Mowat goes into the “Lupine Project” with the mindset that the wolves are savage killers with no emotion. Mowat later realized when he finally made contact with the wolves that they were conservative and cared for each other. In the text Mowat describes an occasion in which he witnessed when “Angeline would nuzzle her mate... bumping him affectionately with her shoulders”(172). This shows that
Part Two of the novel shifts the narrative perspective to that of the she-wolf. After the famine is over, the wolf pack separates, and the she-wolf and three males travel together, until one of the wolves, “One Eye,” kills the other two. The she-wolf and One Eye travel together, then, until it is time for her to settle down to give birth to her cubs. Another famine comes upon the land when the cubs are still young, and all of the cubs die—except one: a gray wolf cub. This gray wolf is the strongest and the most adventuresome of all the litter. Yet early in his life, he learns how to snare food and along with this ability, he learns the lesson of the wilderness—that is, “eat or be eaten, kill or be killed.”
It has been said that the wolf is one of the most voracious and horrifying animals that exist in nature today. But, in all reality, is that actually true? One is unable to make an assumption such as this without a firsthand experience, or so that is expressed in In The Shadow of a Rainbow and Never Cry Wolf. Authors Robert Franklin Leslie and Farley Mowat make every attempt to convey the true nature of the wolf throughout their journeys, as they prove claims falsely accusing wolves, with documented evidence of complete vigilance. These works of literary nonfiction effectively refute anti-wolf claims made within them through being dangerous to the wildlife, dangerous to humans, and viciousness.
Bartky says that “femininity is artifice…a mode of enacting and reenacting…gender norms” (Bartky, 313) while Butler’s near famous statement concerns the idea that “gender is performative [and] it constitutes as an effect the very subject it appears to express” (Butler, 319). Going back to the example of women’s business formal, and even in some cases business casual, attire we can see both of these statements within the same issue. Women dress in these particular and uncomfortable ways because it is a social and gender norm for them to do so while it is also a costume that they are putting on in order to perform a certain role. Few women truly enjoy some of the material trappings forced upon us: heels are uncomfortable for long hours standing, most skirts offer low mobility, etc. Women are required to put on this costume though because they are required to perform to an adequate degree to the expectations around their gender, they must perform their gender for those around them in order to be considered effective at their
As a result of not receiving help when the bull was attacking him, Grendel develops a new theory: “I alone exist. All the rest, I saw, is merely what pushes me, or what I push against, blindly—as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back. I create the universe, blink by blink” (Gardner 21-22). Grendel’s questioning of his way of living marks a transformation of Grendel into a mature character who gains knowledge from his experience with the bull, concluding that the world revolves only around him. The utilization of ‘I’ portrays that his growing isolation from the absence of his mother during the bull attack is what permits him to believe that he is superior to everyone else and the only worthy creature to exist. This foreshadows his ultimate purpose in life which is to kill mankind. Grendel, as the creator of the world, holds the ultimate power to decide who will live, lacking the perspective that there is a higher force other than himself. In other words, the experience Grendel acquires from the bull attack enables him to mature and obtain insight on the truth of his
John Gardner’s Grendel portrays a monster searching for his purpose in life. The characters know the meaning of their lives, but Grendel tries to discover his role and what life has to offer him. Grendel discovers his identity through other characters’ actions and beliefs. In Grendel, John Gardner illustrates the contrasting views of each character to show their view of society and the influence they have on Grendel.
In Stage 3 the epigraph describes the students are choosing to reject the host culture and choosing to keep their wolf identification because they believe that wolf culture is far superior to human culture. The epigraph says that it is “common” that during this stage the students “reject the host culture” and “wonder how the people can live like they do” (p. 244). Students “may feel that their own culture’s lifestyle and customs are far superior to those of the host country” (p. 244). The students “withdraw into themselves” because they think wolf culture is more superior to the human culture (p. 244)
Sex is a natural, healthy part of our lives and we have the right to a proper sex education in schools. Sex education in schools have been a controversial topic since 1912, which is when teachers began to be trained on how to teach sex education. The main debate today is whether the sex education should focus on abstinence-only programs or comprehensive programs. Abstinence-only programs focus on teaching students that the only socially acceptable time to have sex is during marriage and abstinence is the only way to protect yourself from contracting STD’s and from becoming pregnant. Comprehensive sex education focuses on reducing the spread of STD’s and teen pregnancies by giving you the facts and information of the different forms of contraceptives that are available. Although America’s various cultures have different views of sex education, it’s important to teach students proper sex education in schools because there is hardly any
For the characters in Angela Carter's “The Company of Wolves,” danger lurks in the the grey areas, the ambiguous spaces between opposites. The plethora of socially constructed binaries—male and female, passive and active, innocence and maturity, civilization and wilderness, man and wolf—have the ability to be harmful and restrictive, but perhaps more worryingly, they create an ill-defined middle ground between where the rules are vague and fluid, which allows for dishonesty and deception, and Carter foregrounds the resultant proliferation of untruths as the real peril. One vehicle for clear and honest communication, however, is the narrator's changing characterization of the
In today’s society, many individuals are aware of the issue of teenage pregnancy and the high rate of sexually transmitted diseases among the youth. One can simply turn on their television and become quickly aware of the popular, yet controversial, discussion of teenage sexual activity in the United States through the news and shows like Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant. Almost ever, discussion about teenagers and their sexual activity refers back to Sex Education in the public school system. Many individuals would consider Sex Education to be the source and/or solution to the problems that occur as a result of sexually active teenagers in the United States. For many decades, Sex Education has been taught in public schools but also has been a topic of controversy. Proponents of Abstinence-Only Education argue that Traditional Sex Education should not just focus on teaching students about contraceptives and how to use them, but instead it should also help students develop and acquire the virtues of prudence and temperance, and teach students the importance of abstinence and the emotional risk that comes along with being sexually active at such a young age. Other people like to argue that Traditional Sex Education should be taught in schools because they believe that informing students about how to be safe when participating in sexual acts is very important. Abstinence-Only Education is the best form of Sex Education for students and should be taught in the public school system because it teaches students the importance of abstaining from sex along with helping them develop or acquire the virtues of prudence and temperance.