Into the Wild: Comparing Sean Penn and Jon Krakauer

Perhaps he was a lazy man, or a peace-loving man or an ignorant man, but regardless of the reason he decided to be distant and quiet, his noninterference only served to exacerbate his daughter’s problems. He had opportunities to speak to his wife about her behavior when it was apparent that her actions caused suffering for their daughter. A case in point is the dinnertime scene when the wife serves only “small portions of steamed fish and vegetables, chicken with the skin removed,” then after dinner when everyone was still hungry she would tell her daughter “It’s because of you that we didn’t get enough to eat, that we’re going to bed hungry . . .” (158).

As the bright light of the screen shines against the grease hanging off of their fat lip, they fail to see their self-harming ways. This is the abuse of a tool that can bring information to people like none other. The Internet is a tool that dictates much responsibility; responsibility that many fail to handle and thusly turns them into a generation of lazy people. Though the Internet is a great tool, it can be abused to an unconstructive and self-destructive point. Everybody has experienced that moment at the dinner table where they were told by their technology-inept father to put away their phone.

"Author's Note." Into the Wild. New York: Anchor, 1997. N. Print. Krakauer, Jon.

Her brothers “gorge” on expensive food bought by their sister’s cavorting, but they ignore the lover’s very presence. If they looked at the lover, they would be forced to view the “elementary rules of society” which they break by dining together. Class is significant here because the lover is influential and affluent enough to indulge the family, but they still disregard him because racially they are considered above him. In addition, Duras reformulates colonialism through her focus on physical descriptions of racial bodies and skin. Though they come from different ethnic backgrounds, the lovers become a single person in the bedroom.

She shamed Antinous for not helping the man, because in Ithaca its is accustomed to provide the hungry and poor with food. The fact that Antinous “threw a stool” at Odysseus, and “banged his shoulder” appalled Penelope. The thought of doing such a thing was unheard of to Penelope since hospitality is a part of her way of life along with all other Greeks. The people of Ithaca from The Odyssey a... ... middle of paper ... ... master finally made it home. While Odysseus was gone, the suitors in Ithaca wanted to take over, but Penelope and Telemachus persevered.

As the dinner continues, it becomes quite clear that Enculpious, the narrator, begins to feel uncomfortable with Trimalchius' behavior. This begins to show us that the guests' value a certain code of etiquette and behavior from a host, by which Trimalchio is clearly not abidding. The dinner continues with the hosts' materialistic... ... middle of paper ... ...in fact an educated man insults the narrator as he notes his lack of understanding and offensive ignorance towards social norms. He boasted about having both a Greek and Latin library yet made many mistakes in speaking about literary pieces such as The Odyssey when in fact he clearly was not eloquently educated about them. For example, he asks what they know about the "12 labors of Hercules" and "the story of Ulysses and how the Cyclops blinded him" (Petronius, 43, 44) When in reality Hercules' labors are not described by Homer and the Cyclops did not blind Ulysses.

His sons failed in trying to curate a new business venture, and Willy got fired for trying having with his boss. It was during a dinner with his sons that all these events and emotions came to the forefront. The failure and materialism all led to this depression and Willy has now realized that his life was a life full of lies and illusions. The last flashback/episode that Willy has was at the dinner and this episode revealed that Willy had been cheating on his wife with a mystery woman. With the sons now infuriated with this newfound information, they leave their father alone at the dinner.

Malachy didn't bring home the wages like a good husband but he would leave his family waiting at home for their supper whilst he went down to the pubs and drank all the money. At time like these, Frank could see his mother was angry and upset and he hated his father when he did that to her. Malachy came home drunk so many times, Frank and his brothers knew exactly what was going on when he didn't come home at dinner time, they knew not to talk to him because he'd done the 'bad thing'. Frank constantly says that as he is the eldest son, he wanted to bring home the money his father never did and a number of times he thinks to himself that he wished he had a different dad. When Oliver dies, Frank gets very angry at his father for putti... ... middle of paper ... ...ound him.

From “Counterparts” Joyce uses Farrington to reveal how working fathers were in Dublin. Farrington is incompetent at work bringing nothing but disappointment to his boss. He also drinks as much he can to avoid his workplace and his rage created from the law firm. However, he takes that rage home only to beat his son who agreed to serve Farrington dinner once it is made. His first reaction to see his dinner will take a while to make is to become the abusive father Joyce witnesses typically in Dublin.

A victim of peer pressure, he tried such things as smoking tobacco, which he stole out of the butts of his uncle’s cigarettes, and eating meat, which was totally against his religion. The reasoning behind this was the misconception that the British are so powerful and able to control the Indians because they eat meat. To do this, Gandhi stole money from his family to buy it, and lied to them about why he couldn’t eat dinner at home. This was one of the turning points in his life, the point where he promised to himself to never indulge in such acts. As was accustomed in his culture, Gandhi was married at the age of 13.