In the novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, Jules Verne introduces the reader to a brilliant professor by the name of Arronax and the eccentric Captain Nemo who mans the Nautilus, a remarkable submarine. In the opening of the passage, you can make the prediction that Professor Aronnax is very intelligent, but he does not show it. To begin with, I believe Professor Aronnax thinks in a rather intelligent manner. However, he expresses his thoughts negatively instead of trying to use them positively to find the best solution for a problem. For example, in the story, Professor Aronnax and Captain Nemo engage in conversation. In their discussion, Captain Nemo asked, “So Professor, you think the Nautilus will not be able to float clear?” Professor …show more content…
In paragraph 17 it states, “I think we’re trapped, Captain.” Then in paragraph eighteen, Captain Nemo replies with, “Trapped! What do you mean?” In paragraph nineteen, Professor Aronnax sarcastically replies with, “I mean we can’t go forward, backward, or sideways. I think that’s the standard definition of ‘trapped’, at least in the civilized world.” In those few statements, Professor Aronnax seems annoyed that Captain Nemo would even ask him that. Further into the story, Captain Nemo wants to go further south. Professor Aronnax thinks that is a foolish so it dawned on him to ask if he, Captain Nemo, had already discovered the poll, which no human being had ever trod underfoot. Captain Nemo says, “No, sir, but we will discover it together. Where others have failed, I’ll succeed....” “I’d like to believe you, Captain,” Professor Aronnax went on in sarcastic tone. “Oh I do believe you! Let’s forge ahead! There are no obstacles for us!...” As you see in the quotations above, Professor Aronnax says there are no obstacles for him and Professor, however he knows there is very many obstacles they would have to surpass in order to find go to the south
All in all, “Hidden Intellectualism” is a pleasant journey through the nuances of educating future intellectuals, especially with Gerald Graff at the helm navigating as only a venerable ship captain can.
There it was; a large shining blue ship carrying loads and loads of cargo and supplies full with smiling sailors whose smiles turned into frowns as they saw our situation. I jumped up and down with delight but I realized that first our lighthouse men had to get out of this sea rat mess before getting on the boat. Le Gleo suddenly came up with an idea.
In Chapter 69, the narrator vividly describes the image of a recently captured, decapitated sperm whale bleakly floating about near the Pequod while sharks and birds feast upon its dead remains. Despite the degrading imagery of, “the air above vexed with rapacious flights of screaming fowls, whose beaks are like so many insulting poniards in the whale,” the whale has still, “not perceptibly lost anything in bulk...it is still colossal,” (257). In the spite of its crude carcass, there is still human wonderment in regards to the indisputable massivity of the whale. However, the whale is not considered to be enormous just because of its literal size, but also because of the long-lasting effect its dead body will have on future ship encounters. It is the duty of a ship captain to avoid steering a ship into dangerous territory--the most common of which would be large rocks near the shore. In the lines, “...the whale’s unharming corpse, with trembling fingers is set down in the log-- shoals, rocks, and breakers hereabouts: beware!”, (257), the sperm whale’s carcass is often mistaken for rocks and, so, it necessarily follows that, “for years afterwards, perhaps, ships shun the place; leaping over it as silly sheep leap over a vacuum…” (257). The paragraph continues with the lines, “there’s your law of precedents; there’s your utility of traditions; there’s the story of your obstinate survival of old beliefs never bottomed on the earth…” (257), which reinforce the idea that since the sperm whale is already seen as being frightening and mysterious, its dead body ensues the same kinds of paranoid, uneasy thoughts. So, although
This passage is out of letter three, paragraph three. I chose this paragraph because it sounded interesting and it plays a very important part of this novel. Mary Shelley wrote this novel during the Industrial Revolution. The characters in this passage approached the North Pole, challenging the Northern Sea in July. The Northern Sea is deadliest sea in the world. The navigation in the sea is only possible for three months of summer. The other nine months your life will be at risk and you may not even survive. Even the Native Eskimos don't travel during the nine months period of deadly winter. They camp near the Big Land to avoid traveling to the Northern Sea. Now a day, it is a very dangerous and risky adventure to take a ship to the Northern Sea. We are so much advanced in technology but still no one would want to risk their lives.
The novel, Lord of the Flies, was written by William Golding. William Golding was born on September 19, 1911. His literary ambitions began at the young age of seven. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Oxford University in 1935. His novels explore characters and situations. In Lord of the Flies, it is a time of war. A group of English schoolboys are on a plane, when they are attacked and they have to evacuate their aircraft. They find themselves on a remote island, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, without any adult supervision. A boy named Ralph takes charge and forms a crude society, with a democratic type of government. Then, a boy named Jack decides to break off and form his own society, with him being the leader, governing with a dictatorship type of government, causing Ralph’s society to crumble and fall apart. William Golding believed that the defects of a society could be traced back to the flaws of the human nature. These societies were very different from each other because the individuals were very different.
Looking at Lord of the Flies by William Golding, readers may notice both good and evil in each character. Golding wrote this novel to demonstrate that humans are evil and requires the constraints of society to maintain social order but Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s philosophy states that a person is naturally good but is corrupted by society. Taking place during World War II, Golding’s novel is centered around a group of British boys between the ages of six and twelve whose plane was shot down and were left to survive on an island. While on this island – away from the laws of England and the rules of the school – the boys had the freedom to act however their hearts desired but most of the boys became savage and violent proving Golding’s belief, that the evil of a person is kept in order by the restrictions of society, to be true. Rousseau’s belief is defined by the term the state of nature, which in this case, is hypothetical.
I do not therefore obey its laws, and I desire you never to allude to them before me again!" The narrator, Professor Aronnax, states, "This was said plainly. A flash of anger and disdain kindled in the eyes of the Unknown, and I had a glimpse of a terrible past in the life of this man" (73). Captain Nemo is outside of society, living deep in the oceans; he is the terror of the unknown. His ship, the Nautilus, is thought to be a sea monster, and the legend is talked about both in Europe and America, but the true nature of this "sea monster" is far more sinister because of the man that is at the heart of the beast....
Golding stated that humans were naturally evil and rules controlled them. Rousseau stated that humans were good, but rules from society brought out the evil in them. I really like both concepts, but I would have to agree with Rousseau. Humans try to prevent evil from happening, so it is kind of like karma. Evil gets back at rules and make humans evil. Golding is somewhat right, but I would have to go with Rousseau because not all humans are born evil. Some are born nice, some are mean, and so on so forth.
spend an unusual amount of time at the surface. It also states that the whales also
Throughout The Lord of the Flies, the author shows how different Simon is from the rest of the savages on the island. He is much more innocent and pure than the others and has a religious demeanor. Light, very commonly a symbol of holiness and purity, is used quite often during Simon’s “funeral”. In the last four paragraphs of chapter nine, “A view to a death”, Golding makes clear the use of light imagery to suggest the apotheosis of Simon.
A leader and a fatherly figure, the Captain serves as the men's compass and keeper of order. His firm navigational commands and calm demeanor make the men a “ready-to-obey ship's company” regardless of their lack of practical experience. Ironically, the Captain is also the most physically useless man on board. Injured from the sinking, the Captain is filled with a quiet despair over his own ability to survive. A hardened seaman, he believes in the idea that a captain should perish with his ship -- to live at sea and to die at sea. The Captain even clings to the dinghy upon being rescued as if he feels a sense of obligation to remain with his boat in the briny deep. Though distraught over the fate of his ship and crewman, the Captain takes solace in providing for the dinghy’s survivors. Occupied with the well-being of others, the Captain does not contemplate his purpose or circumstances in life; he uses his energy to protect his crew and vessel, finding a renewed sense of meaning in this lesser form of leadership. Even when a callous seagull attempts to nip his open wounds, the Captain gently waves the bird away, respecting its life. The Cook on the other hand, attempts to swat it with an
When a person becomes trapped in a situation that stems from an individual with greater authority, being manipulative can be a very promising method to escape. The Thousand and One Nights does a very good job of being a good example of someone in this situation that uses stories within a story to capture encapsulate the attention of the reader. Despite the many little stories that go into the text, the main story behind it all is about a king named King Shahrayar and how he goes insane after catching his wife having sexual relations with a slave. After he sees this happen, he realizes that he can never trust any woman again and none of them are trustworthy. By expressing his views on women, he decides to marry a different woman every night, then the next morning have them killed by beheading. This is an ongoing event that brings death to most of the women in the village. Soon after, the king’s Vizier’s daughter, Shahrazad, came up with a brilliant idea that will end up saving her fellow countrywomen and hopefully keep the king from murdering so many innocent people. Her method behind all this is by telling the kind a different story every night that leaves him on a cliffhanger, making him curious enough to keep her alive for another day to continue her story. Shahrazad keeps herself spared from the king because of her cunning, and compassionate personality.
In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, the sea is rendered as a huge symbol of empowerment. I believe that the sea is not only where Edna experiences her final awakening, but is paramount to the confidence to defy societal expectations that she has worked to build up over the course of the piece. Therefore, the sea’s importance in this piece can be seen as the epitome of her awakening, warranting it not only a symbol of empowerment, but also a symbol of freedom and escape. Not only is it important to recognize the symbolism of the sea, but it is also important to realize the implications that such a symbol has.
It wasn't a question of whether one loved or hated sailing-it was more a matter of whether one was, or was not, a sailor at heart. I think that's what Fred knew and what he was trying to say. And on a day which most would consider far from ideal for sailing, he helped me discover that I was a sailor.
For centuries, philosophers debating human nature passionately have been all trying to reach a concise conclusion when faced with certain questions; Are we nothing more but civilized savages bearing ill will that lurks beneath the surface? Or do we enter this world as gentle spirits who become lost and corrupt along the way? They are questions that have yet to be answered, yet their themes are still heavily explored throughout human history and appear in many of man kind’s artifacts, such as art and literature. One of these examples lies within the context of Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a story in which a band of young boys survives a plane crash and is marooned on a deserted island without adult supervision. They eventually form together under a chosen chief, named Ralph, and attempt to govern themselves, with ultimately disastrous results. The novel evokes the themes of two philosophers- Thomas Hobbes, who believed that mankind is essentially in a constant state of war and requires laws and government to dictate his behavior, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who believed that men are “noble savages” corrupted by civilization and the laws and government inherent in it. Based on the characters and plot in the Lord of the Flies, Hobbes’ belief is the correct one, as Golding depicts the boys slipping further and further away from civilized behavior and turning into savages.