History as the Key to Unlock the Future in Omeros:Philoctete’s Healing, Achille’s Completion, and the Narrator’s Inspiration
“Time is the metre, memory the only plot” (129)
Derek Walcott forced the literary world to disagree with him when he denied that Omeros was an epic. Some critics suggest that, like his narrator, Walcott is not sure where his work belongs. Others suggest that Walcott denies its obvious genre in order to avoid being categorized. Regardless, Derek Walcott repeatedly says that the purpose of his writing is to wrestle with the duality within himself and that of the Caribbean islands, specifically St. Lucia. Despite occasionally downplaying the significance of any existence, Walcott utilizes a history/ time motif to explore history’s importance in forging an identity and the future (Bloom 135).
Set in St. Lucia, Walcott’s Omeros reveals an island possessing a rich past. St. Lucia, a former colony, has a history of ‘pagan’ religion and tradition, a different language, and an economic background based namely on fishing. Locals must try to reconcile their heritage prior to colonization, the influences of colonization, and how to create a new culture from the ashes of the others (Hogan 17).
Through most of, if not the entire epic, the island is related to a woman. At times the references are general and at times they refer specifically to Helen. These references take many forms including a nurturing nature and physical attributes. The significance of relating the island to a woman lies in a somewhat matriarchal past where women would hold the secrets to healing and have a close link to the intrinsic nature of the island. This is in contrast to the men, who are all in search of something, and while closely linked with the island, they shy away from tradition – cutting down trees, turning from the old gods, focusing on tourism and money.
Characters like Philoctete and Achille try to reconcile their knowledge of the old traditions with the new island, where tourism becomes a staple, as does the Christian religion. Others, including the Narrator, search for a place to belong. In the opening of the epic poem, Philoctete recounts to tourists the chopping down of a sacred grove of trees for canoes, replacing the old gods and values with a new God and varying values. This replacement, or at least shift, of the old with/ to the new runs throughout the epic following most, if not all, characters, each possessing a wound, which only heals upon some sort of reconciliation.
Even though they were both progressives, the two presidents had different paths in mind for the future of the United States. Their different perspective and priorities were evident in their speeches: New Nationalism by Roosevelt and New Freedom by Wilson. Wilson's New Freedom looked to the destruction of all trusts to promote economic competition and permit small businesses once again to flourish. While the federal government was to use its power on a one-time basis to bust all trusts, the federal government was to have no role in regulating business. Any regulation would have to be done by state governments. This contrasted markedly with Roosevelt's New Nationalism,...
Women form an important part of the folk epic, written by Homer, The Odyssey. Within the story there are three basic types of women: the goddess, the seductress, and the good hostess/wife. Each role adds a different element and is essential to the telling of the story.
Link’s book was published in 1979 and was written based upon privet manuscript collections, government archives from the U.S, Brittan, France and Germany, as well as newspapers. Link also reaches from monographs, biographies, and articles from numerous colleagues. (Link.pg 129) Each of these sources are solid and reliable sources, and were well used to put together a book packed with information on Woodrow Wilson’s life. Link uses many firsthand accounts from Wilson himself, but seems almost suspicious of accounts that were not presented first hand. Though Link is extremely selective in what he chose to present, the book clearly presents these facts, but has a very bias opinion of Wilson as discussed earlier. Link’s evidence, though selective, fits nicely in the monograph and makes the aspects of Wilson that he does cover clear and easy to read
Antigua was a small place. A beautiful island that gets a lot of tourist’s attention. These tourists effects Antiguans in so many ways. In small place, Jamaica Kincaid explained the effects of tourism and colonialism of English people on Antigua and how they affect the culture and education of Antiguans. This book “it is often seen as a highly personal history of her home on the island of Antigua” (Berman).
Here Rhys also shows how language is used as the resistance to post-colonial discourse: Christophine is wholly in control of their dialogue. Jean Rhys rewrites the history of the colonized in Jamaica and gives the voice to the colonized. More importantly, she rectifies the stereotypes that the westerns, especially the Orientalists imposed on the colonized. So to speak, like other Postcolonial literatures, Wide Sargasso Sea is a result of the interaction between the prototyped imperial culture and the indigenous cultural practices, and it successfully challenge colonial values and
The women in The Odyssey are a fair representation of women in ancient Greek culture. In his work, Homer brings forth women of different prestige. First there are the goddesses, then Penelope, and lastly the servant girls. Each of the three factions forms an important part of The Odyssey and helps us look into what women were like in ancient Greece.
Kincaid begins by pointing out to “you,” a tourist what is missing from Antigua in order to first make clear the reality that knowledge is not existent, valued, or accessible in Antigua. She illustrates “your” arrival, when she notes, “You are a tourist and you have not yet seen a school in Antigua, you have not yet seen the hospital in Antigua, you have not yet seen a public monument in Antigua.” But she abruptly interrupts this thought and continues in sarcastic and marked nonchalance, “what a beautiful island Antigua is—more beautiful than any of the other islands you have seen.” (3) Here, Kincaid demonstrates that knowledge is severely lacking or nonexistent in the land of Antigua by providing examples of physical manifestations of a well educated society that are not present. Knowledge is attained by learning information, data, and facts made available to children through education in schools. Knowledgeable people—educated children who grow up to be educated adults who have completed to several ambitious years of extra...
...ow Greek civilization was founded by women; they were the ones who gave birth to the heroes. Similarly, The Odyssey is a story created by women. The plot revolves around the actions of women. Athena orchestrates all the events. The seductresses, such as Circe, the sirens, and Calypso, attempt to stop Odysseus from reaching home. The helpmeets, such as Nausicaa, Arete, and Athena, aid Odysseus in his homecoming. The wise and virtuous Penelope is the object of Odysseus’ quest. Unlike Helen who forsakes her husband, Penelope remains faithful. Unlike Clytemnestra who assassinates her husband, Penelope patiently waits for Odysseus. She becomes a model of female patience and of female intelligence. Her craftiness is the only one which can match up to Odysseus’. The Odyssey presents a wide array of women and demonstrates the influence that women have in the life of a hero.
Women play an influential role in The Odyssey. Women appear throughout the story, as goddesses, wives, princesses, or servants. The women in “The Odyssey” dictate the direction of the epic. Homer the blind creator may have contrived the story with the aim to depict a story of a male heroism; but the story if looked at from a different angles shows the power women have over men. The Sirens and women that posses the power of seduction when ever they are encountered take the men off their course, and lead many to their death. The power women in the Epic pose can be seen from the goddess all to the wives. From The nymph Calypso who enslaves Odysseus for many years posses all the way back to Penelope who many argue is of equal importance to
"No man is an Island, entire of himself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the Main."
Friedrich Nietzsche’s On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense represents a deconstruction of the modern epistemological project. Instead of seeking for truth, he suggests that the ultimate truth is that we have to live without such truth, and without a sense of longing for that truth. This revolutionary work of his is divided into two main sections. The first part deals with the question on what is truth? Here he discusses the implication of language to our acquisition of knowledge. The second part deals with the dual nature of man, i.e. the rational and the intuitive. He establishes that neither rational nor intuitive man is ever successful in their pursuit of knowledge due to our illusion of truth. Therefore, Nietzsche concludes that all we can claim to know are interpretations of truth and not truth itself.
The issue both Presidents faced was whether or not to enter any of the world wars. Both president Woodrow Wilson and Roosevelt felt remaining neutral and not involving themselves in European affairs was the best solution. Wilson himself stated that “the United States must be neutral in fact as well as in name …” for entering the war was not something he or the American
The women presented throughout The Odyssey provide a respectable representation of women in ancient Greece in general. There are several women introduced in The Odyssey, all of various backgrounds and social classes. The most notable women or type of women in this epic include goddesses, Penelope, and the housemaids and servants.
This is connected to my subject of women roles in literature because even though the women in this story are very independent they are all gullible and insecure qualities, which flaw capabilities of being dominant or at least equal to men. Reading and comparing the Odyssey, Sakuntala, and Good Country People can see the changing role of women in literature. The women in all three works are highly valued by the men close
Sophocles’ Antigone is a text rich with layers of meaning. In this essay, I intend to uncover some of these layers in order to assert the extent to which Antigone is responsible for her tragic end. I will argue that the protagonist is responsible for her own actions – actions that by her own choice result in her death. The catalyst for said death, however, is the result of other characters and events. I will focus particularly on the edict of Creon and his role in the tragedy, as it is the juxtaposition of their beliefs, which results in both of their tragic endings. Throughout the essay I will analyse scholarly works on the subject, as well as the events in the text itself, in order to weigh the ultimate accountability of Antigone.