Midnight’s Children essay
Salman Rushdie's creation, Saleem Sinai, has a self-proclaimed "overpowering desire for form" (363). In writing his own autobiography Saleem seems to be after what Frank Kermode says every writer is a after: concordance. Concordance would allow Saleem to bring meaning to moments in the "middest" by elucidating (or creating) their coherence with moments in the past and future. While Kermode talks about providing this order primarily through an "imaginatively predicted future" (8), Saleem approaches the project by ordering everything in his past into neat, causal relationships, with each event a result of what preceded it. While he is frequently skeptical of the true order of the past, he never doubts its eminence; he is certain that everyone is "handcuffed to history" (482). His belief in the preeminence of the past, though, is distinctly different than the reality of time for the Saleem who emerges through that part of the novel that Gerard Genette calls "the event that consists of someone recounting something" (26) (Saleem-now, we can call this figure). Saleem-now is motivated to act not by the past, but instead by the uncertainty and ambiguity of the future. Saleem's construction of his own story is an effort to mitigate the lack of control he feels in looking toward the unknown future. To pacify himself he creates a world that is ordered but this world is contrary to his own reality.
Saleem spends much of his energy in the story setting up neat causal relationships between events in his past to demonstrate his place "at the center of things" (272). He carefully mentions his tumble into the middle of a parade for the partition of Bombay and then proceeds to propose that "in this way I became directly responsible for triggering off the violence which ended with the partition of the state of Bombay" (219). When telling us of his school-mate Cyrus disappearance from school and emergence as a great religious prophet Saleem quickly mentions the Superman comics that he had given Cyrus earlier, and attributes Cyrus' rise to prophetdom as a direct response to these comics. By viewing Cyrus' motivation in this way Saleem says "[I] found myself obliged, yet again, to accept responsibility for the events of my turbulent, fabulous world" (309). There is an obvious note of skepticism toward these most overt acts of placing himself at the center of things. At one point he asks himself "am I so far gone, in my desperate need for meaning, that I'm prepared to distort everything‹to re-write the whole history of my times purely in order to place myself in a central role?
Wrongful conviction is an issue that has plagued the Canadian Justice System since it came to be. It is an issue that is hard to sort out between horrific crimes and society’s desire to find truth and justice. Incidences of wrongful conviction hit close to home right here in Saskatchewan as well as across the entire nation. Experts claim “each miscarriage of justice, however, deals a blow to society’s confidence in the legal justice system” (Schmalleger, Volk, 2014, 131). Professionals in the criminal justice field such as police, forensic analyst, and prosecutors must all be held accountable for their implications in wrongful convictions. There are several reasons for wrongful convictions such as racial bias, false confessions, jailhouse informants, eyewitness error, erroneous forensic science, inappropriate, professional and institutional misconduct and scientific limitations that society possessed prior to the technological revolution (Roberts, Grossman, 2012, 253 – 259). The introduction of more advanced DNA analysis has been able to clear names and prevent these incidences from occurring as often. As well as the formation of foundations such as The Association of Defense for the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC). Unfortunately, mistakes made in the Canadian Justice System have serious life altering repercussions for everyone that is involved. Both systematic and personal issues arise that require deeper and more intense analysis.
Wrongful convictions in Canada is a very sensitive and disturbing topic that has created concerns as to why individuals are being wrongfully convicted. As people in Canada read about cases involving wrongful conviction, such as Guy Paul Morin, Rubin Carter and David Millguard, it often undermines their faith in the criminal justice system. Tunnel vision, the use of questionable DNA evidence, and eyewitness misidentification are the three main causes of wrongful convictions in Canada. Recognizing and addressing these concerns has led to a reduction in cases of wrongful convictions in Canada.
Throughout the world, there are many artifacts ranging from Literature, Music, Social Media, Fashion, Toys, Technology, and many other ones. Every single one of these artifacts has a special meaning to them such as, the Statue of Liberty which represents freedom. The National Museum and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum both contain many different types of artifacts that represent our history, as well as sharing a special meaning that can affect a person individually or even shape our society. "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" was a book written by John Boyne, which should be considered an artifact in the Holocaust Memorial Museum or the National Museum, because it represents the history of the Holocaust, as well as by symbolizing
“Selma” is an interesting documentary film that conveys the unforgettable, real story of the 1960s’ Civil Rights Movement in the United States. The 2014 film captures the riotous three-month protest in 1965 when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spearheaded a daring clamor for equal suffrage rights in an environment accompanied by violent opposition from agents of the status quo. The heroic protest from Selma to Alabama’s capital, Montgomery, prompted President Lyndon Johnson’s assent to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Act is believed to be among the most imperative gains for the agents of civil rights and freedoms in the 20th century America. Director Ava DuVernay ensured that "Selma" chronicles how Dr. King Jr, his family and supporters under the egis of the Civil Rights Movement brought about social change that has since then improved the American society by granting previously discriminated communities a political voice.
“All I had to do was to close my eyes for a second to see a whole world passing by, to dream a whole lifetime.”(83) Elie Wiesel chose a unique way to write his novel Night in order to draw attention to what was happening. Wiesel attempts to engage his readers by using diction, imagery, and organization.
Rosen, Jeffrey. “The Wrongful Conviction as Way of Life”. 26 May 2011. The New York Times. 12 July 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/books/review/book-review-convicting-the-innocent-where-criminal-prosecutions-go-wrong-by-brandon-l-garrett.html.
In the film, The Breakfast Club (1985), John Bender, the slovenly rebel at Shermer High School in Chicago, is serving a Saturday detention with four very different students. Right from the beginning, Bender exhibits the qualities of a destructive and thoughtless criminal, i.e., he taunts everyone else in order to hide his personal inadequacies. Whenever Bender is questioned by his peers about a personal issue, or whenever he cannot provide a clear answer to a question, he—albeit defensively— responds in a facetious and irritated manner. Bender demonstrated this when Andrew Clark, the “sporto”, told him that he did not count, and that “if [he] disappeared forever it wouldn’t make any difference.” Distraught from Andrew’s blunt comment, Bender sarcastically retorted, “Well, I’ll just run right out and join the wrestling team...” As time goes on, Bender slowly sheds his rough attitude and starts opening up his true self to the other students.
When a person's faith is also an alternative for their culture and morals, it proves challenging to take that sense of security in that faith away from them. In Night, Elie Wiesel, a Jewish student living in Sighet, Transylvania during the war of 1942, uses his studies in Talmud and the Kabbalah as not only a religious practice but a lifestyle. Elie and his fellow civilians are warned, however, by his Kabbalah teacher who says that during the war, German aggressors are aggregately imprisoning, deporting, and annihilating millions of Jews. When Elie and his family are victim of this aggression, Elie realizes how crucial his faith in God is if he is to survive the Holocaust. He vows after being separated from his mother and sisters that he will protect he and his father from death, even though as death nears, Elie gradually becomes closer to losing his faith. In the end, to Elie's devastation, Elie makes it out of the Holocaust alone after his father dies from the intense seclusion to malnutrition and deprivation. Elie survives the Holocaust through a battle of conscience--first by believing in God, then resisting his faith in God, and ultimately replacing his faith with obligation to his father.
Despite the prominence and success of over sixty innocence projects in United States, there is no literatures discussing how these organizations operate, what resources or factors contribute to their success and what challenges they much overcome (Krieger, S.A 2007). The Innocence Project’s groundbreaking use of DNA technology to free innocent people has provided irrefutable proof that wrongful convictions are not isolated or rare events but instead arise from systemic defects (Innocence Project, 2014). The innocence project is a nonprofit organization that is being run by attorneys w...
Gould, Jon B. and Leo, Richard A., One Hundred Years Later: Wrongful Convictions After a Century of Research (2010). Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 100, No. 3, 2010; Univ. of San Francisco Law Research Paper No. 2010-28.
Imagine waking up on a normal day, in your normal house, in your normal room. Imagine if you knew that that day, you would be taken away from your normal life, and forced to a life of death, sickness, and violence. Imagine seeing your parents taken away from you. Imagine watching your family walk into their certain death. Imagine being a survivor. Just think of the nightmares that linger in your mind. You are stuck with emotional pain gnawing at your sanity. These scenerios are just some of the horrific things that went on between 1933-1945, the time of the Holocaust. This tragic and terrifying event has been written about many times. However, this is about one particularly fascinating story called The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne.
This class, Social Work Theory & Practice was made to be able to introduce me to social work theories, ideas, and skills needed to work in the social work profession. This class main tool used was a book called A Brief Introduction of Social Work Theory by David Howe which discusses social work theories in a compressive and explainable way. This class is important to my higher learning because it break down the theories that I will need to use during my practice and a...
In criminal law the principle, presumed innocent until proven guilty is sometimes twisted and altered to presumed guilty until proven innocent in many wrongful conviction cases. Many factors go into the deliberation and reasoning behind an investigators, juries and courts verdict and occasionally their decision is actually wrong and an innocent person is locked up behind bars, to serve a sentence that they do not deserve because they are not a criminal. False confessions from an innocent suspect is very common in the interrogation room and by it is their own fault because they admit to being a part a crime they truthfully were not part of due to misleading questions or statements by the investigators. Another factor that could place an innocent person in prison is wrong scientific discoveries and false DNA evidence. Doctors sometimes misinterpret injuries and causes of death and this can really alter a case's outcome significantly. Finally, witnesses may report false sightings, or report something that they thought they heard but misinterpreted it entirely. More laws should be put into place to protect the innocent suspects, and to insure that nobody goes to prison that really does not deserve it and more citizens should be trained to accurately give a description of a suspect to decrease the wrongful conviction rate.
Recently, there is a spike of historical films being released lately. One of the films is an Academy Award nominee for “Best Picture,” Selma. The film, Selma, is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches. The film shows the struggles of the black community face with the blockage of their voting rights and the racial inequality during the civil rights movement. Selma is about civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. heading to the rural Alabama City, Selma, to secure the voting rights for the African American community by having a march to Montgomery. It shows the struggles from what the African American community had to endured during the 1960s. Selma shows a social significance to today’s current events, specifically
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas begins with little Bruno playing with his friends, running around around the marketplace acting as if he were an ariplane. From this we have an idea of how much Bruno knows of the war. He acts as if nothing is wrong in his normal life and plays as a normal boy in any other situation would. In later scenes, we see him obliviously act as if he were on a battlefield in a game with his friends just before he moves, which leads us to another topicc. The move. At his new house, he experiences a variety of new situations and he handles them a bit oddly from a German perspective. Firstly, he calls the concentration camp with Shmuel a “farm” and the Jews on it the “the farmers”. The only peculiarity that he can see from this is that they are wearing striped pajamas.