"The budding rose above the rose full blown," writes William Henry Wordsworth, elevating the process of emerging, changing and evolving over those already developed, established and matured. While Wordsworth’s remark regards a rose, the statement also accurately describes Katherine Mansfield’s protagonist in The Garden Party. The narrative focuses on a wealthy family from New Zealand, jaded by elite lifestyle and prominent social standing. The youngest daughter, Laura, "the budding rose" of the story, seeks to break the constraints of upper class society, causing her to be both more mature and compassionate than other members of her well to do family.
Laura’s internal struggle, the main conflict of Mansfield’s story, is one of identity, and she oscillates between imitating environmental influences and reacting to them in a manner that is unique to her individual personality. Throughout the course of the story, the pendulum of her conscience swings to converse sides, causing her actions to be inconsistent and without allegiance to either her family’s upperclass exclusive ways or to her inherent qualities of equality and empathy. This varying behavior causes critics to dispute over Laura’s "true" personality, motives and objectives. While some critics believe that her sympathetic efforts are an attempt at rebelling from the expectations of her class, others believe that she is an empathetic individual without a supportive family. Another group of critics believe that the story presents only the initiation of Laura’s kindness, suggesting that she will continue to flourish into a compassionate person on the outskirts of upper class society; others refute this view, stating that The Garden Party portrays the extent of Laura’s d...
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Carnegie, Rockefeller, Morgan, and Vanderbilt all had something in common, they were all “Robber Barons,” whose actions would eventually lead to the corruption, greed, and economic problems of Corporate America today. During the late 19th century, these men did all they could to monopolize the railroad, petroleum, banking, and steel industries, profiting massively and gaining a lot personally, but not doing a whole lot for the common wealth. Many of the schemes and techniques that are used today to rob people of what is rightfully theirs, such as pensions, stocks, and even their jobs, were invented and used often by these four men.
There are many instances of irony in the short story "One's a Heifer" by Sinclair
Robert Fulton, Edward K. Collins and Samuel Cunard are a few political entrepreneurs, that Folsom tells about. All three of these men worked in the steamboat industry and received federal aid to run their businesses. Also, they all had high prices for passenger fair and mail postage. Unfortunately, Cornelius Vanderbilt, a market entrepreneur, defeated Fulton, Collins and Cunard.
A "robber baron" was someone who employed any means necessary to enrich themselves at the expense of their competitors. Did John D. Rockefeller fall into that category or was he one of the "captains of industry", whose shrewd and innovative leadership brought order out of industrial chaos and generated great fortunes that enriched the public welfare through the workings of various philanthropic agencies that these leaders established? In the early 1860s Rockefeller was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, who came to epitomize both the success and excess of corporate capitalism. His company was based in northwestern Pennsylvania.
Let us first look at Mr. Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie was a mogul in the steel industry. Carnegie developed a system known as the vertical integration. This method basically cut out the ‘middle man’. Carnegie bought his own iron and coal mines (which were necessities in producing steel) because purchasing these materials from independent companies cost too much and was insufficient for Carnegie’s empire. This hurt his competitors because they still had to pay for raw materials at much higher prices. Unlike Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller integrated his oil business from top to bottom. Rockefeller’s system was considered a ‘horizontal’ integration. This meant that he followed one product through all phases of the production process, i.e. Rockefeller had control over the oil from the moment it was drilled to the moment it was sold to the consu...
During the Gilded Age, several Americans emerged as leaders in many fields such as, railroads, oil drilling, manufacturing and banking. The characterization of these leaders as “robber barons” is, unfortunately, nearly always correct in every instance of business management at this time. Most, if not all, of these leaders had little regard for the public or laborers at all and advocated for the concentration of wealth within tight-knit groups of wealthy business owners.
George M. Pullman is best remembered for his contributions to the railroad industry through the invention of his Pullman Cars. The cars sold well and the railroad industry flourished with this new invention. Although the success attached to his name, not many people know the real truth behind this robber baron. His greed for money took him to extreme measures as his workers were seriously mistreated and put under strict
Industrial development of the late 18th century (around 1865-1900) is often characterized by it’s affluent, aggressive and monopolistic industrial leaders of the likes of men such as Andrew Carnegie, William H. Vanderbilt, and John D. Rockefeller. Due to their ruthless strategies, utilization of trusts, and exploitation of cheap labor in order to garner nearly unbreakable monopolies and massive sums of wealth, these men are often labelled as “robber barons”. At the same time, they are also often referred to as “industrial statements” for their organization, and catalyst of, industrial development; not to forget their generous contributions to the betterment of American society. Therefore, whether or not their aforementioned advances in industry were undertaken for their own personal benefits, one cannot ignore their positive effects on America. Thus, one can conclude that not only were the captains of industry both “robber barons” and “industrial statements”, but that that these two labels, in fact, go hand-in-hand.
The Airline Industry is a fascinating market. It has been one of the few industries to reach astounding milestones. For example, over 200 airlines have gone out of business since deregulation occurred in 1978. Currently, more than 50% of the airlines in the industry are operating under Chapter 11 regulations. Since 9/11, four of the six large carriers have filed for and are currently under bankruptcy court protection. Since 9/11 the industry has lost over $30 billion dollars, and this loss continues to increase. Despite the fact that the airline industry is in a state of despair, JetBlue has become the golden example, a glimpse of what the industry could be.
Another factor that clearly brings out the theme is the fact that she claims that orderliness of family roses is her pride. However she may not necessarily be that orderly as depicted in the development of that story. The author of the story Shirley Jackson uses the author and her ambiguous cha...
Among the many changes during the Gilded Age, large corporations became powerful forces in American society. New technologies in communication and transportation allowed for a national marketplace and fueled industries including the railroad and telegraph grids. The wealth of this expanding industry became increasingly concentrated in the hands of a relative few. Often by gaining a monopoly in their respective markets, these “Robber Barons” amassed wealth and notoriety, making names for themselves that remain recognizable even today like Carnegie, Vanderbilt and Rockefeller. In 1890, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was passed to combat these large trust-based monopolies as the power of the large corporations invited abuses of government and individuals (America’s Library).
Social and internal dialogue is representative of the enculturation process that Laura and Miss Brill have been exposed to. Both of Mansfield’s short stories represent a binary: Laura’s realizations of...
Tolman, Kelly. “Cask of Amontillado Irony.” The Cask of Amontillado. n.p., 21 May 2011. n.pag. Web. 6 Nov. 2011 .
...by and The Garden Party the themes are apparent throughout the introduction. In Araby the setting begins in a state of darkness introducing the main theme of light and darkness. Similarly, the beautiful setting described at the beginning of The Garden Party establishes the upper-class ranking of the Sheridan family, demonstrating class distinction. Although the two main characters are from different classes, the family backgrounds of each provide information which helps to further develop their themes respectively. The struggles which both characters face demonstrate character development and contribute to the themes of the stories. Both short stories prove to be literally effective in that they disclose the main themes at the outset of each story. Although the themes may alter over the course of the stories, they are clearly defined in their respective introductions.
Lorcher, Trent. “Irony in ‘The Story of an Hour’.”Bright Hub Education.N.p., 17 Apr. Web. 17 Mar 2014