To be competitive is when a person or group has the will to win and desire to beat another. Within the hierarchy of the camp, guards and zeks are enemies, and the author of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, places the two groups side by side, juxtaposing the groups to present their differences. There are certain situations, however, where the guards and zeks unite to compete against a common enemy, their opposition to one another weaker than their strong desire to beat said enemy. Solzhenitsyn uses juxtaposition to establish the peculiarity of these occurrences, and to show how the desire to win and overcome allowed the two groups to put aside their differences and beat an enemy .He illustrates this in scenes such …show more content…
Like the guards and zeks, sweet and sour seem to be foils to one another, having no similarities or common goal. However, by stating “No more sweet or sour”, Solzhenitsyn illustrates that these two foils, though juxtaposed, are working together, however briefly. Solzhenitsyn uses anaphora to enhance this juxtaposition, placing “No more” and “No more” at the beginning of two consecutive sentences to further demonstrate how competition unites the two groups and ignores the notion of hierarchy if only momentarily. Solzhenitsyn goes as far as to refer to the two groups as “friends,” which brings to mind a united singular group, not the divided guards and zeks. Instead of guards and zeks being in opposition, the two columns are competing to get home-and this competitiveness- this desire to win, causes the guards and zeks to view the other column as “the enemy,” not each …show more content…
However, with the introduction of the race to beat the other column, Solzhenitsyn shifts the diction to “whole column,” viewing them as one complete unit that has the goal to “ ‘beat [the other column] to [home]!’.” “The column had one thing... on its mind,” boosts the shift in tone from opposing forces to that of a unit, the use of the singular “mind” to demonstrate how the common enemy united the zeks and the guards to act with a hive mind, though not in the negative way that is normally portrayed in literature (such as in the ants in T.H. White’s The Once and Future King). Within the structure of the passage the author demonstrates this hive mindset, with all sentences following being short, with no commas and less than six words, a hurried tone strengthening the idea of competition and the will to win being the driving force.By putting this scene into One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Solzhenitsyn demonstrates how the desire to succeed and rise above another can unite groups that would be otherwise in opposition to one another. In doing this, Solzhenitsyn attempts to teach a lesson to the Russians who are suffering under Stalin’s absolute dictatorship, that if instead of fighting against one another, they all turned to fight against
The protagonist views the world as a place where competition is alive and well. In
In Theodore Isaac Rubin’s essay, “Competition and Happiness”, he summits about how in today’s society its always the battle eat or be eaten. Therefore our parents always tried to get us involved at an early age to help with our self-development, well being, and health. Since our culture has made us believe that competition brings out the best of us. Yet, it simultaneously brings out a stressful, isolating, and paranoid ambiance at a very young age. I agree with Rubin’s notion since the use of our time and energy is determined by competition and limits our happiness because it weakens our sense of identity.
...avoids and resists many things that bring him closer to death or to violating his morals. Be it Aarfy, Colonel Cathcart, or war itself, Yossarian distances himself from the evil in question. Ironically, defiant as he is, Yossarian fails to break through the limitations of the syndicate and actually befriends its proprietor. Yossarian doesn't even attempt to do otherwise, for even he "sagged back in a contented stupor, his mouth filmy with a succulent residue" (22); Yossarian had become one of the men who "got fat and moved about with toothpicks in their greasy lips" (259). Therefore, even he who refuses to conform to other standards is corrupted by the sweet blandishments and innocent appearance of capitalism. The novel thus ends on the note that no one remains free from so powerful a force.
Shukhov is a likeable and yet somewhat naïve fellow who is just like everybody else. In fact, what really makes this book remarkable is not Shukhov himself. What makes it special is that, even though at first glance the story may seem to be about Shukhov, it is actually a tale of events and common occurrences that could happen to anyone. The book is not just a detail of one day in the life of Ivan, it is a relatable story of what could happen to anyone shoved into a Russian prison camp. Ivan’s life in the book is shown to be nothing more than a picture of the thousands of lives that were lost or destroyed in the Stalinist camps. Ivan Denisovich Shukhov is not one character, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov is the picture of “anyman.” Using the depiction of the beliefs, hopes, and need to survive that would arise in a common prisoner Solzhenitsyn creates a story of the victory of humane principles over corruption.
The unavoidable question is then, what has generated this state of affairs between these two human groups. Throughout the text one can sense that both parts have reached an impasse where everybody feels terribly bad towards the other group and where they all want to find the way either to inflict pain to the opponent or to protect themselves...
The oppression and invasion of the conquerors arouse, instead of crush, the desire of the defeated for freedom. These people, who have lived with the idea of a free rule of democracy, refuse to be chained down under the oppressive rule of the conquerors. It is for this reason that they strike back at their invaders. As said by Mayor Orden to Colonel Lanser of the aggressors, “ ‘The people don’t like to be conquered, sir, and so they will not be. Free men cannot start a war, but once it is started, they can fight on in defeat.
Dostoevsky’s St. Petersburg is a large, uncaring city which fosters a western style of individualism. As Peter Lowe notes, “The city is crowded, but there is no communality in its crowds, no sense of being part of some greater ‘whole.’” Mrs. Raskolnikov initially notices a change in her son marked by his current state of desperate depression, but she fails to realize the full extent of these changes, even after he is convicted for the murder. The conditions and influences are also noticed by Raskolnikov’s mother who comments on the heat and the enclosed environment which is present throughout the city. When visiting Raskolnikov, she exclaims "I'm sure...
As the narrator sits in the “Shreve High football stadium”, he thinks of the actions of two groups of individuals: “I think of Polacks nursing long beers in Tiltonsville, and gray faces of Negroes in the blast furnace at Benwood”. Furthermore, the two groups are later characterized as both “dreaming of heroes”. The diction of the sentence gives rise to a deeper understanding of the two groups. For example, the action of “nursing” the beer as opposed to drinking or sipping signals the group is using the alcohol to self-medicate, and further that they are taking their time with their “long beers” in order to save money. The concept of a desire to save money, yet also drink call to the idea that they would better numb their pain than even try to make a better life for themselves. The “negroes” having their faces described as gray thus absent of color is symbolic of their mundane lives, and lack of life or energy. Therefore, they are emotionally complicit in their conditions and giving up on fighting back. One may interpret the two groups “dreaming of heroes” as a positive nod towards hope, yet they appear to have given up. Thus, their action of dreaming signifies that escape, or becoming the hero, is out of reach, and more of a lofty desire than an attainable goal. Overall, their hopelessness fosters the idea of the
In the third stanza, the language becomes much darker, words like: anger, explode, and against make this stanza seem even more warlike than the first stanza.
Imagine you and you’re despised nemesis being asked how you felt towards each other. The speaker of these two passages talk about the other group other with such hate that their opinions become emotional and unproductive. However, the arguments of the “wackos” and the “brown lashers” are not completely distinct, on the contrary the arguments share common techniques.The author uses satirical words in both passages to highlight and show how similar their arguments are. This strategy is used to illustrate the unproductivity their arguments share.
A specific example of a man who tosses three girls out the window and then plunges to his own death serves to show us the horror of the situation. the poem then continues on to tell us of in humane conditions in Scotland. It ends by telling us about the slaves who picked and planted the cotton. The speaker seems to be telling us a story in order to inform us of what's going on in the shirt industry.Robert Pinsky doesn't have many obvious examples of diction in his work, although hints of it can be found. There is a simile in the first line of the tenth stanza.
...s; and then the gigantic niceness of the detail that pictures the mountains, pulled up by the tops, coming bottom side up toward them. In between we are forced to look away, to separate ourselves from the action, and see it as a spectator, not as a participator. In the grand finale of physical ridicule the rebels are again left exposed to laughter by the interrupted point of view. Never do they appear so ridiculous, not even as a timorous flock, as when they are caught isolated between the before and the behind.
"You keep lying!" screamed Raskolnikov, no longer able to restrain himself. "You're lying, you damned clown!" And he flung himself on Porfiry, who retired to the doorway, but without a trace of panic. "I understand everything, everything!" He approached Porfiry. "You're lying and taunting me so Ill give myself away-" "You can't give yourself away any more than you have already, Rodion Romanovich, old man. Why, you've gone into a state. Don't shout, I'll call my men, sir!" (Dostoyevsky, 34)
Whether the reader sees the satire or not depends on the reader themselves. Those who see this poem may not realize they're guilty of believing that the love and patience in stanza one exists. The presentation of this argument works because it seems sweet at first glance, logical when looked at again, and satirical when looked at against the views of the society.
...turmoil. For Marmeladov, this leads to his self-destruction as an alcoholic, throwing his life and the life of his family away in taverns; for Raskolnikov it causes him to murder two defenseless women, hoping to steal money that can be used to help others. Both these men mean no harm by their actions, but their cramped, isolated environment molds them into grotesque characters who seem to act not of their own will, but as though pulled through life by the forces of St. Petersburg.