The Short Happy Life Of Francis Macomber

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Recommended: between ownership and sense of self

Would you rather have something or be something? Or have you ever stopped to think what the difference was between having and being? In actuality having and being are two totally different things and the purpose of this paper will be to provide evidence of the differences. Throughout this paper many different short stories and poems will be referenced in order to adequately describe the meaning of having or being. Some of these include My Last Duchess, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, Everyday Use, and The Destructors, The remaining portion of this paper will describe the differences between having or being set by examples from short stories and poems that have been analyzed.
Before moving on further into the discussion of the differences between having and being, this section of the paper is going to define each term. The term having is something you have or own. It is a possession that one contains within or on them. In addition, with the term having the feelings of happiness or pleasure can be brought forth. Also, there are single identifier words that describe having. These include I-it, mechanistic, conformity, and objects. These are all words that describe and give meaning to the term having. Now that there is an understanding of having, lets describe being. Being is defined as living as something. Being is an act of presence and not necessarily having any importance. Also, being is defined as someone or something that is generic in their own way. Identification words that describe to being include I-thou, organic, uniqueness, and presences. Now that there is an understanding of the meaning of both terms the next and remaining portion of the paper will provide the short story and poem examples.
As stated prior t...

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...he does not necessarily want the quilt but she wants to follow the heritage and ideas behind the quilt. The quilt has a white sense of heritage followed from a black tradition. This is opposite of Dee where she just wants to possess the quilt, but Maggie actually wants to be the quilt in a sense. Maggie wants to use the quilt like her grandmother did, and follow the same principles of her family. Both of these scenarios show and display the difference between having and being. Just is this story the quilt was a possession that Dee had to have, but Maggie wanted to be the quilt and follow its traditions.
In summary all of these pieces of literature exemplify the difference between having and being. Each story shows it in a different way, but in the end there is a clear difference between having and being whether it is objects, possessions, feelings, or traditions.

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