Henry Rider Haggard sets out to create an epic tale of courage, a breathtaking drama that attempts to capture, within its limits, the universal spirit of adventure. He appeals in particular to the proverbial young male that seeks an audacious inspiration in life by which to model his own. He entices his readers because his motives lie simply in his desire to entertain, to delight, and to enthrall anyone with a prolific imagination. However, this purely entertaining account of an eclectic and adventuresome trio clearly manifests its motives by the simple elimination ambiguity, leaving little or nothing to the whims of infinite interpretation. As it is, everything within the novel seems to have the intention of being taken “with a grain of salt.'; Haggard knew his audience, a pretentious and nationalistic society bent on world domination or at the very least determined to reduce the rest of the world to nothing more than a means to meet their desires. And with these precepts in mind, Haggard creates a fantastical tale, taking heed of what is socially acceptable and what is not, all the while maintaining western superiority over the rest of the world.
“The fact of the matter is, that I thought that the best plan would be to tell the story in a plain straightforward manner…I cannot help thinking that simple things are always the most impressive, books are easier to understand when they are written in plain language, though I have perhaps no right to set up an opinion on such a matter.'; (Haggard 6).
In this introduction/disclaimer, Allan Quatermain as our narrator, comes clean with his intentions, providing a stabilizing retrospective for the ensuing epitaph. He seems well aware of the vague line between words intended for fiction and those intended for controversy. And by designating the jolly old Quatermain as narrator, Haggard vicariously endear himself to his readers by exuding a simple humility in light of his grander than grand exposé, all the while disposing of the pretense intrinsic to most literary works. Haggard, due to the relative sensitivity of his subject matter, has no desire to have his novel the target of unwarranted and unwanted social and literary criticism. In that, he makes certain that he reaffirms his intentions of entertainment rather than controversy.
In addition, despite Haggard’s prevalent use of juxtaposition throughou...
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... complexion Twala is described as “Twala the One-eyed, the Black, [and] the Terrible'; (Haggard 118), not coincidentally the only true “Black'; among them. The plot is action-packed, carried along by one dramatic scene after another in which we as readers are witness to amazing feats of strength, bravery, and guile, leaving little or no time for readers to dwell much on any aspect of the novel except the plot. Haggard even goes so far as to implement a divisive source of comic relief in the form of Good, whom we see deified by the Kukuanas, who delight in the sight of his “bare legs,'; “transparent eye,'; “half-haired face,'; and “vanishing teeth'; (118 Haggard). By the end of the novel we see all strings tied, imparting a sense of conclusive triumph without controversy. Haggard’s audience gets exactly what it wants, the black evil doers are vanquished; peace, justice, and tranquility are returned to Kukuana land; our deserving white and pseudo-white heroes are the benefactors of the plunders of Solomon’s fabled mines; and we as readers are left thoroughly entertained.
Work Cited
Haggard, H. Rider. "King Solomon's Mines." 1989. Oxford, New York:
Oxford World Classics 1998
This story was not only riveting, but also one that kept me on my heels for almost the entire time that I was reading it. Stephen B. Oates, a prize-winning author of thirteen books and more then seventy articles, is currently a professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Some of his best novels have been 'With Malice Toward None: The Life of Abraham Lincoln,'; 'Let the Trumpet Sound: The Life of Martin Luther King. Jr.,'; and 'Rip Ford's Texas.'; His writing is riveting as well as courageous. His willingness to get to such length to capture the mind of the reader and hold them in suspense has earned him several awards throughout his lustrous career. Some of the awards that Oates has received are the Christopher Award and the Barondess/Lincoln Award of the New York Civil War Round Table. His work has gained worldwide notoriety and is currently translated in four different languages: French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Although, Chris McCandless may be seen as stupid and his ideals uncanny, he gave up everything to follow his heart he escaped the world that would have changed him, he wrote his own tale to feel free, and he left a conformist world to indulge in true happiness. How many people would just give up their lives, family, material goods, to escape into a world of perfect solitude and peace; not many and Chris was one of those that could and he became and inspiration. “The idea of free personality and the idea of life as sacrifice” (187).
McQuade, Donald, ed. The Harper American Literature. Harper & Row Publishers: New York, 1987, pp. 1308-1311. This paper is the property of NetEssays.Net Copyright © 1999-2002
Wright grew up in the Jim Crow South where everything about his life was socially and culturally inferior to the white masses. In Bloom’s Modern Critical Views Richard Wright, Qiana J. Whitted wrote about Wright’s life as a kid, shedding light on how his grandmother forced him to partake in religious in order to be saved from “religious execution” (123). It was this type of religious interpretation held by his grandmother, that was a “cultural marker” for Wright, reminding us, “that in his life, as in his writing, Richard Wright wrestled with his faith” (122). This struggle can be seen in Wright’s male character, Big Boy, in Big Boy Leaves Homes. Big Boy and his friends go to swimming creek where they see and are saw by a white woman. With the woman, was a white man who shot at Big Boy and his friends. Big Boy wrestles with Jim over the gun and ends up shooting and killing him. In panic, he runs home to retell the story of the murder he committed and the ones he witnessed. As he tells the story, his father sends for some of the religious members in the community. During this time Big Boy’s mother calls out several times for mercy, “Lawd Gawd in Heaven, have mercy on us all!” (36). The religious community members become a fist around Big Boy and come up with a plan for saving his life. In the midst of this Big Boy experiences an internal conflict with his actions and how they look in the eyes of God.
Twain portrays the complete lack of moral fiber in the King and the Duke through their cons and deceit. On numerous accounts, the King and the Duke lie to others exclusively for self-serving and wicked motives. From the first meeting with the King and the Duke, Huck knows that, ?these liars warn?t no kings nor dukes at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds? (ch. 19), knowledge obtained via the utter disregard for others in the King and the Duke?s scams. Huck?s use of ?fraud? (ch. 19), for instance, highlights the duo?s use of fabricated personas to rob others of their possessions, acts of such low ...
Moving from school to school, as he cannot seem to thrive in any one place, Holden is mesmerized by the ducks of the Central Park lagoon. He even asks a cab driver, “Well, you know the ducks that swim around in it? In the springtime and all? Do you happen to know where they go in the wintertime, by any chance?” (Salinger 91) Holden’s repeated mention of his question of the ducks gives insight into his thoughts. It shows genuine innocence through spirit of inquiry. Holden’s curiosity of the Central Park ducks also portrays a parallel between the ducks and himself. Holden looks to the ducks, as he may see personal habits of his reflected in them. The ducks themselves never change, though their environment does, just as Holden never changes, as seen through his repeated expulsions from academies, but his environment
In James Baldwin’s 1952 novel “Go Tell It On The Mountain” the characters in the novel each embark on a spiritual journey. Baldwin has dedicated a chapter to each member of the Grimes family, detailing their trails and tribulations, hopes and aspirations, as each one’s quest to get closer to God becomes a battle. I have chosen the character John because I admire the fierce struggle he endured to find his spirituality. I will examine how he’s embarked on his quest and prove that he has done it with integrity and dignity.
The Code of Ethics is an important part of a Social Workers career, by giving them basic guidelines, principles, standards, and values/morals for which they should follow. By following these guidelines a Social Worker can keep their work at a professional level and learn to keep work out of a personal level. This Code of Ethics has been set forth by the National Association of Social Workers, and is mandated in the field of practice (NASW, 2008).
The national association of social workers code of ethics serves six purposes and was designed to guide social workers conduct. Social workers are known to be competence,
In this analysis, we will be looking at just how Flannery O'Connor accomplished this seemingly impossible task, non-didactic Christian fiction, by examining elements of faith, elements of style, and thematic elements in her writing. While secondary sources are included for perspective, I have focused primarily upon Miss O'Connor's own essays and speeches in my examination of the writer's motivations, attitudes, and technique, most of which are contained in the posthumous collection Mystery and Manners. Unlike some more cryptic writers, O'Connor was happy to discuss the conceptual and philosophical underpinnings of her stories, and this candor is a godsend for the researcher that seeks to know what "makes the writer tick."
In Mark Twain’s “The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg”, the concept of good and evil is put to the test. Twain tells the story of a stranger, whose visit to the town of Hadleyburg does not precede its reputation of honorability. The stranger plays a cruel prank on the greedy people of the town and sets into motion a series of events that expose the town residents for the deceivers they really are. “The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg” is a story that questions the idea of keeping up appearances and confirms the myth that the truth will always prevail.
The novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain has been called many things, over the years, by critics and scholars. Along with the plethora of criticism about its’ depiction of slavery and its’ use of the word “nigger”, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered by many to be the father of all American Literature. This high praise is puzzling, considering all its’ faults coupled with its’ unsatisfying ending. However upon a deeper examination of the text itself a parallel emerges among The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the classic Greek epics. In both novels an epic journey is employed by the author to provide a moral education to the main character, as well as shaping the plot and adding meaning to the story as a whole. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the physical journey is what makes the book a classic, it not only provides a moral schooling for Huck, and it is a safe sanctuary for Huck and Jim against the ills of 18th century America.
The following ethical principles are established on social worker’s six core values of the NASW’s Code of Ethics that included service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. These ethical principles set the ideals that all social workers should pursue to their practice.
The National Association of Social Workers. (2008). Code of Ethics (English and Spanish). Retrieved July 7, 2014, from http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code /code.asp
Anderson makes effective use of fantasy to teach a moral lesson. He builds up the story in such a way that the reader does not care for the validity of the incidents. The moral lesson is that the proud and the disobedient must suffer.