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The use of violence in literary
The use of violence in literary
Violence in literature
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In The Overwhelming, Mizinga says to Jack, "One is defined by what one is against. And who. To struggle against these people, to fight for what is yours. To suffer and yet to struggle on: This is what makes life precious. And brings understanding (p 76-77)". Within the three novels that will be discussed in this essay, the aforementioned quote highlights the dilemma that each protagonist faces on his way from innocence to maturation (word choice). In The Overwhelming, the protagonist, Jack travels to Rwanda during the onset of the Rwandan genocide. In search of his friend, Dr. Gansana, Jack learns that the workings of Rwanda is nothing like his home country, and experiences firsthand the brutality that would occur over the following weeks. He must make a decision between his son and his friend, and ultimately chooses his son, leading to the death of his friend. The Innocent, by Ian McEwan, Leonard, a sheltered adult, travels to a post World War 2 German for work. He encounters games of espionage, and what can be called love. This connection takes him from adolescence to maturation, to the point where he inadvertently commits murder. Lastly, Native Son, by Richard Wright, tells the story of Bigger, an African American youth, who faces external strife from his immediate environment. In a racially discriminating America, Bigger commits murder and is freed. He goes from being inhibited and beaten down by his environment, to attain a sense of freedom. With this said, all these men encounter murder, whether the decisions made were deliberate or inadvertent. While their reactions are different, it can be seen that murder transforms their innocence or contributes to the loss of it.
In The Overwhelming, Jack Exley enters Rwanda with inte...
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...k man in America. While he also kills Bessie, she has less of an effect because she is African American as well. Despite this, Bigger still commits murder. Fletcher states, "You are liable for murder if (1) you act (2) intentionally (3) to bring about the death of (4) a living human being, and you are not acting in (5) self-defense or while (6) insane (Fletcher, 97)”. In Bigger’s case, he is guilty for both murders. The murder of Mary was accidental but he disposed of her body in brutal fashion. This fashion however was out of fear of being caught. Because of the racial difference, it was very likely that Bigger would get in trouble for being caught with Mary, if not worse, lynched. His murder of Bessie revolved around the fact that she may have given him away to the police. With this said, it is clear these murders revolve around the fear of being caught.
Readers develop a compassionate emotion toward the characters, although the characters are detached and impersonal, due to the tone of The Road. The characters are unidentified, generalizing the experience and making it relatable – meaning similar instances can happen to anyone, not just the characters in the novel. McCarthy combined the brutality of the post-apocalyptic world with tender love between father and son through tone.
In Harry Mulisch’s novel The Assault, the author not only informs society of the variance in perception of good and evil, but also provides evidence on how important it is for an innocent person experiencing guilt to come to terms with their personal past. First, Mulisch uses the characters Takes, Coster, and Ploeg to express the differences in perspective on the night of the assault. Then he uses Anton to express how one cannot hide from the past because of their guilt. Both of these lessons are important to Mulisch and worth sharing with his readers.
During the course of this work, many ideas and themes are portrayed and readers are able to view subjects that surround the main topic of racial injustice and intolerance. With the three main narrators, Minny Jackson, Aibileen Clark, and Skeeter Phelan, the audience quickly gains an insight on how racial inequalities affected everyone. These thoughts help to form a plot that can easily keep readers entertained throughout the novel. During the course of the novel, there are many points in the plot that decide the actions and events other cha...
In Book 3, “Fate”, Bigger is now convinced that he is going to die for the crimes he have committed. “They don’t give black people a chance, so I took a chance and lost. But I don’t care none now. They got me and it’s all over.” (pg. 356) This book reveals Bigger’s realization of what he has done and how it will affect him. We find out that he is sentenced to death and he will not live for long. For some odd reason, Bigger has a sense of satisfaction and security knowing that he will die. “Aw, I reckon I believe in myself…. I ain’t got nothing else…. I got to die….” (pg. 428).
Similarly, the book’s three leading protagonists ultimately possess a common objective, escaping their unjust circumstances in pursuit of seeking the “warmth of other suns.” For this reason, they abandon the laws of Jim Crow and the familiarity of their hometowns as they flee to a better life. In the process, they all assume a level of risk in their decisions to rebel against the system. For example, Ida decides to embark on a precarious journey while in the beginning stages of a clandestine pregnancy. Any number of unpredictable events could have resulted from this judgment, including fatality. All of the migrants shared an unspoken agreement that the rewards would far outweigh the dangers involved.
Bigger’s confession was coerced. State Attorney Dalton assures Bigger that he has no need for tactics and that the young man is as already caught so he might as well confess. Buckley warns Bigger that it will be better for him to confess. He describes Bigger as a wayward youth who has broken his mother's heart and surely, if he might escape the justice of the state, he would meet a far worse fate at the hands of the angry, frothing mob that is only growing. Buckley tells Bigger the police know that Bigger raped her and that he threw her body in an airshaft. Buckley suggests that Bigger's only way out is to confess, admit who helped him commit the crimes and settle for spending the rest of his life in a "hospital." Bigger confesses to the crime, denying his insanity and the existence of any accomplices. Buckley is joined by a "man with a pad" who records Bigger's confession and after they leave, Bigger is alone in his cell. He hears them joking outside the cell about how "easy...
In the book, Shattered, the book is about a teen who begins to mature as he ages. The main character is starting to become more mature after he gets a placement at a soup kitchen. He starts to realise that there are many problems going on in the society. There are many types of conflicts that are going on around him. The four types of conflicts going on in the book are Human vs. Society, Human vs. Self, Human vs. Human and Human vs. Self. The one conflict that is really making this story apparent is Human vs. Society due to the Rwandan genocide. The Human vs. Self, Human vs. Human, Human vs. Self are the other conflicts that are making this story interesting after the Human vs. Society conflict.
The central ideas of: Racial tensions, racial identity, and systemic oppression, all assist in revealing the author’s purpose. As Malcolm changes throughout the story, his wordhoard and usage of various terms changes as well as the structure of sentences. From half-sentences to long blocks of text, Malcolm’s status also affected the style and structure of his writing; If Malcolm was in a party, the structure would consist of small half sentences as opposed to if Malcolm was telling scenery of a bar in which he would use long descriptive sentences of the setting. Throughout all the chapters, the author was capable of placing vivid images and allowing the reader to experience all the problems and threats Malcolm had to deal
Bigger’s decisions had their own snowball effects. He decided to kiss Mary, decided to unintentionally smother her, and try to hide his tracks making him a murderer. Lying to the police made him a killer on the run. Forcing his girlfriend to have sex with him gave him a different person he had to get rid of. The racial pressure and control caused him to make reckless decisions without thinking about the consequences. He believes hes alone in life but by the end of the book he realizes that his actions not only affected himself but the people around him. He hurt his mother and he made his siblings lives more difficult. He let the fear of society influence his thoughts and actions. This created how his fate was going to be chosen. It became a vicious cycle for him. Every time the fear of society got to him he reacted impulsively therefore worsening his already set fate. In Native Son by Richard Wright, it displays how society influences everyone’s decision whether good or bad. It sets the standards which no one can achieve and sets fear in the hearts of everyone in the community. The fear of society controls and challenges Bigger into being a completely different person than who he truly
/6m÷illions of their very race, but also with the prisoner workers who were-and have been-relentlessly tormented by (the guilt of their actions) (their guilt). This (novel, story, event, etc..) will not soon be forgotten.
...olent incidences contrast in specific details and their fathers personas, both children lose their innocence and gain the experience and knowledge to question life and make logical decisions.
The simplest method Wright uses to produce sympathy is the portrayal of the hatred and intolerance shown toward Thomas as a black criminal. This first occurs when Bigger is immediately suspected as being involved in Mary Dalton’s disappearance. Mr. Britten suspects that Bigger is guilty and only ceases his attacks when Bigger casts enough suspicion on Jan to convince Mr. Dalton. Britten explains, "To me, a nigger’s a nigger" (Wright 154). Because of Bigger’s blackness, it is immediately assumed that he is responsible in some capacity. This assumption causes the reader to sympathize with Bigger. While only a kidnapping or possible murder are being investigated, once Bigger is fingered as the culprit, the newspapers say the incident is "possibly a sex crime" (228). Eleven pages later, Wright depicts bold black headlines proclaiming a "rapist" (239) on the loose. Wright evokes compassion for Bigger, knowing that he is this time unjustly accused. The reader is greatly moved when Chicago’s citizens direct all their racial hatred directly at Bigger. The shouts "Kill him! Lynch him! That black sonofabitch! Kill that black ape!" (253) immediately after his capture encourage a concern for Bigger’s well-being. Wright intends for the reader to extend this fear for the safety of Bigger toward the entire black community. The reader’s sympathy is further encouraged when the reader remembers that all this hatred has been spurred by an accident.
The whole reason why Bigger doesn’t see what happened to Mary as an accident is because it was what helped him apparently find a sole purpose; as if what happened was what needed to happen in his life. After the death of Mary, Bigger saw it as a way of giving the whites what they deserve as he slowly gained a high sense of invincibility and masculinity. Bigger’s motivation was the way he viewed white America. He convinced himself that his whole life was meant for him to accomplish that one thing. Even if it was by accident, it gave him a clear cut purpose he didn’t have before.
He has a dissociation with his emotions and does not have a sense of guilt when he does something wrong. He is fearful of the whites and this fear causes him to hate them. Olympia Duhart, the author of A Native Son’s Defense: Bigger Thomas and Diminished Capacity, wrote that Bigger would meet elements of the diminished capacity doctrine. Diminished capacity is not an insanity defense, but maybe more of a justification of Bigger’s actions in the moment when he killed Mary. In the moment, his judgement was failed him and he faced an emotional and mental disturbance. Duhart states that Bigger’s social surrounding is likely the cause for is lapse of judgement. This would also explain why Bigger was not remorseful after killing Mary. The environment he was living his basically desensitized him and filled him with anger. It is not just murder because it has a deeper more symbolic reason for its occurrence. Mary mad Bigger afraid an ashamed, whites in general made him fearful and angry. Mary Dalton told Bigger she wanted to help him, she wanted to tears down the wall between the two races. Wright wrote, “she responded to him as if he were human, as if he lived in the same world as she. And he had never felt that before in a white person. But why? Was this some kind of game?” This quote from Native Son shows Bigger’s confused response towards Mary and also the distrust he has towards
Was it not the unexpected presence of Mrs. Dalton which caused Bigger to suffocate Mary Dalton? Was it not his fear of the consequences of the white mans legal system which forced him to burn the evidence? Was it not the shame that Jan Erlone made him feel which encouraged Bigger to blame Jan for Marys murder? Is Bigger not a victim of his overwhelming surroundings that drove him, beyond his control, to taking such drastic actions? In Native Son there is an abundance of evidence supporting two schools of thought.