Failing to Love Essay Example for Free

Failing to Love Essay In her story â€Å"Never Marry a Mexican† Sandra Cisneros introduces the reader to the complex issues surrounding the racial and sexual identity of a Mexican-American woman living in the United States. The story is about a Chicana woman and how she seeks revenge on a white lover who has rejected her by becoming the sexual tutor of his teenage son. Cisneros give life to the protagonist Clemencia and paints her as a character in a modern day to demonstrate the pervasive negative impact on Mexican-American women, especially on Chicanas residing within the United States. Clemencia, the protagonist of the story, thinks â€Å"Drew, remember when you used to call me your Malinalli? It was a joke, a private game between us, because you looked like a Cortes with that beard of yours. My dark skin against yours†¦My Malinalli, Malinche, my courtesan, you said, and yanked my head back by the braid† (192). Clemencia is a painter, but she must support herself in other ways too. She sometimes acts as a translator; however for Clemencia Spanish is now the â€Å"native† language. In this discussion of her occupation, Clemencia pronounces â€Å"any way you look at it, what I do to make a living is a form of prostitution† (181). She feels as though when she is not painting she merely sells herself to make a living, much like La Malinche had to do in her relationship with Cortes. Clemencia constantly allows herself to fall in love with unavailable men who are always married and always white. This pattern results from her mother’s constant advice, â€Å"Never Marry a Mexican†. Clemencia’s mother, a lower-class Chicana woman from the United States who married an upper-class Mexican man, felt inescapable discrimination by both her husband’s upper-class family and mainstream U.S. society for her dark skin color. Her answer to this was to marry out, and supposedly up, by divorcing Clemencia’s father and marrying a white man. It is because of this example that Clemencia never sees Mexican men as potential lovers. She explains: â€Å"Mexican men, forget it. For a long time the men clearing off the tables or chopping meat behind the butcher counter or driving the buss I rode to school every day, those weren’t men. Not men I considered as potential lovers. Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Chilean, Columbian, Panamanian, Salvadorean, Bolivian, Honduran, Argentine, Dominican, Venezuelan, Guatemalan, Ecuadorean, Nicaraguan, Peruvian, Costa Rican, Paraguayan, Uruguayan, I don’t care. I never saw them. My mother did this to me†(179). Here Clemencia is adopting the racist Anglo discourse by lumping all Latinos into one, unified group. Her discussion of â€Å"Mexican† does not distinguish between class and race; to her â€Å"Mexican† means busboys, butchers, and bus drivers. Mexican is no longer the nationality of the people of Mexico, but rather a class of servers who happen to be brown. Here Cisneros demonstrates how the racism of dominant society in America is often internalized and serves to separate the people of disempowered groups. Cisneros makes a strong statement against internalized racism by showing how Clemencia’s rejection of men of her own race and obsession with white men ultimately leaves her lonely. Clemencia comes to the frustrating, yet enlightening realization that the white men in her life have, like her, adopted the mantra â€Å"never marry a Mexican† when she remembers the conversation Drew and she had the last night they spent together. Clemencia recalls in an inner dialogue, how â€Å"we had agreed. All for the best. Surely I could see that, couldn’t I? My own good. A good sport. A young girl like me. Hadn’t I understood†¦responsibilities. You didn’t think? Never marry a Mexican. Never marry a Mexican. No of course. I see. I see† (186). Now Clemencia is now lost without a proper choice of lovers. Mexicans are out of bounds because she could never marry a Mexican, but she now realizes that white men are also out of bounds because they too could never marry a Mexican; they could never marry her. Cisneros is therefore demonstrating how internalized racism does not serve to differentiate certain ethnic Mexicans from others in the eyes of white society, and instead only serves to isolate such Mexican-Americans from the culture to which they are supposed to feel connected. By having Clemencia reject the roles of wife and mother and instead embrace the socially deviant mistress role, Cisneros demonstrates how women who refuse socially acceptable roles often must do so at the expense of other women. In an attempt to claim agency that she would otherwise be denied as a married Chicana in dominant, patriarchal society, Clemencia embraces the role of the mistress. The mistress, because of her strictly sexual nature, is traditionally regarded as a role that reinforces male dominance in heterosexual relationships. Through her role as mistress and her rejection of the role of wife or mother, she attempts to combat the patriarchal system of oppression and makes allowances for flexibility of gender-role expectations. However because the role of the mistress also depends upon there being another woman, the wife, who is betrayed by both her husband and the mistress, the mistress role does not combat the patriarchal system for all women. It does, in fact, reinforce patriarchal oppression of the wife/mother role. Clemencia seems to have little problem acknowledging her betrayal of other women. She candidly tells the reader â€Å"I’ve been accomplice, having caused deliberate pain to other women. I’m vindictive and cruel, and I’m capable of anything† (179). Therefore, in order to escape subscribed gender roles and claim agency in her sexual relationships, Clemencia hurts other women. Cisneros seems to be saying that â€Å"mujeres andariegas†, or daring women who reject the roles society expects of them, do not help to institutionally change society for all women but rather must betray other women in their search for personal freedom. Clemencia attempts to further com bat patriarchal gender roles in her sexual relationships the role of el chingà ³n. When describing sex with Drew, she says â€Å"I leapt inside you and split you like an apple. Opened for the other to look and not give back† (185). Here Clemencia not only takes on the man’s part by â€Å"leaping† inside, she also executes the violent actions attached to the verb chingar. Clemencia imagines that this sexual aggressiveness empowers her over Drew. She says â€Å"You were ashamed to be so naked†¦But I saw you for what you are, when you opened yourself for me† (185). To Clemencia, sexual relations are based on power dynamics, and in order to escape the passive feminine chingada role she must embrace the possessive, dominant, masculine chingà ³n role. Clemencia extends her embodiment of the chingà ³n role into her dealings with the wives, and even a son, of her lovers. More than once she had sex with a lover while his wife was in labor with his child. She confesses â€Å"it has given me a bit of crazy joy to be able to kill those women like that†¦To know I’ve had their husbands when they were anchored in blue hospital rooms, their guts yanked inside out†(184). Clemencia’s relationship with Drew’s son is another example of her fulfilling a sort of â€Å"vindictive sexual satisfaction†. She says of him â€Å"I sleep with this boy, their son. To make the boy love me the way I love his father. To make him want me the way I love his father†¦I can tell from the way he looks at me, I have him in my power†¦I let him nibble†¦Before I snap by teeth† (187). Therefore she seduces him not to satisfy the yearning of her body or hear, but rather to achieve sexual power of the son, which she perceives as giving her indirect power of his parents. Clemencia is ultimately left lonely without a lover, a connection to her culture, or meaningful female friendships. The reason for this lies in the world view Clemencia has inherited from her society. She perceives the world in black and white, in terms of inescapable binaries between which she must choose. She fails to become an acceptable marriage partner to Drew, she fails to escape being hurt by her lovers even as a mistress. Works Cited Never Marry a Mexican. Random House, Inc. and Vintage Books1991

What view of mankind does Golding portray in Lord of the Flies? :: Free Essay Writer

What view of mankind does Golding portray in Lord of the Flies? This essay will explore the psychology and thinking behind the characters and writing of the novel 'Lord of the Flies'. Overall, it will answer the question; 'What view of mankind does Golding portray in Lord of the Flies?' From soon after its discovery, if it was 'discovered' at all, the beast becomes more than just a thing on a mountain (its most predominant form), it becomes a major symbol of mankind, and its psyche. Throughout the story, the beast takes on many more forms than the previously mentioned appearance. Once as a 'beastie', seen in the forest by the smaller children. This actually turns out to be the creepers. Sometimes as a large figure that falls from the sky and lands on top of the mountain. This is simply a dead parachutist, but it is left alone by the boys (apart from by Simon, and one expedition by three boys), and is feared greatly by the inhabitants of the island. Lastly, as a pigs head on a stick. This is simply its physical representation, but its existence runs much deeper than this. This head is what is really wrong on this island, but only Simon finds this out, and his life is ended in a fit of excitement. Throughout the story, the beast, in whatever form it takes, takes shape as a small worry, develops into a growing fear, until it reaches a level almost equal to a deity of some kind. The sad thing about these children is that they never quite realise the beast is not a physical thing at all, and if it ever was, they should not have feared it. The only thing the beast was - that was truly fearful - was the hate, evil and ability to harm burning deep inside each and every one of the boys. The main purpose of the beast in this story is to display that without something to fear and respect (a primitive form of religion), then man can, and possibly will go crazy. The conch is the very first important discovery on the story, next to the discovery of two survivors. This discovery is so near to the beginning of the book that it becomes something close to not only Jack and Ralph, but also to the reader. It brings together all of the island dwellers right from the first gathering. The boys advance slowly into savagery, and at the same rate as this happens, the conch slowly loses its importance and democratic symbolism, the boys respond less to its calls, and soon enough, it only calls Sam, Eric, Ralph and

Media as extension of man

Marshall McLuhan is widely considered as one of the most important intellectual figure of 20th century and widely noted for his contribution on media culture and philosophy of media studies. McLuhan rose to international fame in 1960s when his work on mass media and its effect on social and individual behavior was published. . His remarkable observations on nature of simple things those have central importance in defining the cultural and behavioral outlook of society. In predicting the role of media, especially through modern revolution of electronic revolution and use of computers, views of McLuhan adopted futuristic tone in stating the extended role of medium itself as the message, from its earlier perception of just being a carrier of the message. He realized the importance of electrical processes in shaping and defining the reality of world, views that have been validated especially after computer revolution and increasing integration of world through internet as chief medium of communication and medium of message Medium as Message As a prelude to understanding the media as the extension of man, McLuhan puts particular emphasis on the importance of medium itself that is generally regarded as just a carrier of messages or information as playing the role of message. This implies that the medium through which the messages are being communicated is not an inert entity, rather it participates in the process by extending the role of man and contributes by adding further dimension in affairs with help of technology. In the context, McLuhan uses his famous example that dwells on nature and role of electric light. Light, as McLuhan points out, is not just a medium of information, but also complete information in itself. Although the general and common view puts actual significance on the content of the message that light visibly carries and ignores the role of light itself, the fact remains that it is the medium itself that defines the scale and nature of human association with the information (McLuhan, 151). McLuhan illustrates this by signaling out major corporations such as IBM, GE and AT&T who took time to realize the fact they are not in the business of producing machines and equipments but in the business of channeling information. McLuhan argues that media also similar and defining effect on social and cultural psyche of people. Notwithstanding the content that it carries, it’s the media that has transforming powers on the society and people. Thus McLuhan dispenses with the notion that media as a medium can be treated as a passive entity, unresponsive and non-participative in the entire process of information processing that it is facilitating in its capacity as a medium. A television, radio, or telephone engage people irrespective of the content that they deliver and thus extends the role of man through their technological inputs. Before the advent of electrical age, the age of computing and information technology there was ambiguity over the role of medium as the message. But with the instant speed and extent that electricity has provided, media as a medium has certainly become as the message and it contains the potential to institute change, alter the paradigms and establish new cults irrespective of the nature of the content that it carries and delivers. Assisted and buoyed by technology, media extends the role of man. Media as extension of Man Technology plays a central role in McLuhan’s theory of media as extension of man. The extension, as it is apparent, is the extension of the mental faculties, knowledge, approach and culture of the man in the changing world. The electric technology has helped man to grow his conscience and mental capacity to attempt to comprehend things on a far greater scale than ever possible. In words of McLuhan, the stimulation provided by electronic technology represents the final extension in role of man where creativity, knowledge, and consciousness will collectively grow and extend over entire humanity in affecting the extension of man. The role of technology is evident in the process as it’s the diligent pursuance of technology that has brought transformation of world into a global village. People are interacting with each other on changed scales and electric speed, by causing a rapid contraction of social and political forces to create an implosion that increases people’s sense of responsibility and acts on different groups of people to alter their previous positions and integrate them in the new order of things. Commenting on the expanding field of human desire of knowledge, McLuhan says that electric speed and reach has made concept of partial and incomplete knowledge an obsolete thing. Mankind now vie for wholeness, completeness and depth of knowledge, in conformation with the changing form of electric age over its pervious mechanical world. There is a renewed sense of finding out the world once again, armed by newly realized power of electric and computer technology and in its new extension, mankind doesn’t want to accept things in their previous forms. Rather it aims to overthrow imposed patterns and declare the individuality of things and events in totality (McLuhan, 149). The role of new technology in media has always created conflicts and challenges in the society until finally it extends the role of man and then overtaken by new emergent technology. McLuhan presents two strong instances of this fact (McLuhan, ). First when he quotes Alexis De Tocqueville, who was first to master the understanding of print and typography technology, to inform that De Tocqueville had predicted rise of America and relegation of England from their approach and reaction towards the new technology of print in media. England, burdened with its tradition of oral laws, did not fully accept the new technology of print and as such choose to ignore the power of new media. America on the other hand embraced the new technology and hence was benefited immensely by the uniformity and continuity that new technology of print culture had to offer thereby extending their role in the contemporary world. Taking this argument further, McLuhan theory can be stretched to further dimensions that a similar transition is taking place with the advent of new electronic mediums of computer and information technology. In fact, McLuhan himself states that to many people in the contemporary literate world the new media technology would appear as unsettling as the technology of print would appear to tribal natives of remote Africa. Thus the new electric technology guiding media in forms of television, computers, movies, information technology, Internet and mobile phones demands a similar extension of man over rudiments of past age of mechanical technology, detribalizing society senses through its blinding speed and seemingly infinite capacity to channel and process information. In a very pertinent analysis of the new emergent media, riding on electric and communication technology, McLuhan states the new media presents a possibility to completely overrule the cognitive, analytical and cultural traits of the societies it affects because this medium is made much more strong by having its content as another medium which is usually print or speech. The new media gives the power of vision, voice and interaction to an already potent media of print that it integrates in its own design, and in the combined synergy it overpowers the viewers who are left numb and awestruck (McLuhan, 114). The nature of the modern media also plays a very important role in extending the role of human mind and consequentially the whole society.   McLuhan presents his important and famous demarcation of mediums as ‘hot’ and ‘cool’ mediums. A hot medium as defined by McLuhan is one that involves high definition, high data processing, and requires little imagination on the part of viewer. On the other side a cool medium is one that is not high definition, has low amount of data and users have to apply considerable imagination and their own creativity to comprehend the whole picture. Thus categorizing media in these two categories, McLuhan points out that by this definition a radio is a hot medium and a telephone is a cool medium, a movie is a hot medium and TV is cool medium, a photograph is a hot medium and a cartoon is a cool medium. A very important feature of the hot and cool medium emerges by virtue of their definition. A hot medium demands little participation by viewers, in the sense that it is so complete in information that it leaves little for imagination. Similarly, the cool medium is involves a higher participation by people because it leaves many gaps to be filled by audience. Hot and cool media play very different role in affecting the psyche and culture of the society where they unfold. In this context McLuhan states that developed countries having specialized themselves with mechanical technology of past age face the fear of retribalizing by the new electric media whereas the less developed nations that encounter the new technology extend their role by detribalizing themselves. Thus the less developed countries in themselves cool medium, while the developed and highly urbanized western countries are hot medium. The role of media has extended the role of man by changing his very perception of world. While the preceding mechanical age was focused with expanding the horizons of world, rediscovering and redrawing the limits of human knowledge and hence affecting a cultural and knowledge ‘explosion’, the modern technology pushing ahead media has reversed the process by bringing everything together, thus affecting a kind of implosion where entire world practically faces itself through the media. People, willingly or unwillingly, have been clubbed together, sharing the same space with more and more people. The electric media, it can be safely said, thrown every one is every one’s else life. In what can be surely reckoned today as one of the most prophetic statements, McLuhan clearly said that the new electric media has a remarkable capacity to decentralize the functioning of society, a fact that is more than evident in our modern world. But writing in 1960s, McLuhan had predicted that whereas mechanical system requires some fixed centers of operation and hence lead to development of great urban centers, electric power would decentralize the social-cultural space by providing equal opportunity to every place and hence as any place, equipped by power of electric media can act as center. This change and extension of social roles is almost complete today as we can see that through a combination of electric mediums of computer, telephones, video conferencing, Internet, and electric power any room or place can act as the center of large operations. This is the power of new media that is implicit in McLuhan’s writing, transforming every one’s earlier role and nature of functioning. The nature of modern media, acting through computers, Internet and information technology, is all encompassing and sweeping, just in lines of its predecessor forms of media. The theatre, when it emerged took over written form of drama; movies took over all the novels and written work and TV took over the movies. Today computers are perfectly poised over to take over all the forms of media. Radios, Televisions and gramophones helped many hitherto obscured persons for example poets, artists, speakers, and writers to gain recognition world over. Today the power of information technology expands this role further by bringing further convergence of world as we see it. In affecting this convergence it is simultaneously delegating new roles to people that has the responsibility to interact and evolve in much closer proximity of every body else.                           

Magic in Harry Potter - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 936 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/04/04 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Harry Potter Essay Did you like this example? It is no secret that books have a way of impacting an entire world. Over the course of history, books such as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Secret Life of Bees, The Hunger Games, and Harry Potter have changed the lives of millions of people. These books have important lessons and morals that are crucial in the lives people build, even though others have challenged them. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Magic in Harry Potter" essay for you Create order The Harry Potter series is significant because despite people challenging its content, it has many themes in the book that has made a positive impact on its readers and the world they live in, influencing them to make a change and live better lives. Over the years, many people, have argued against the series, claiming it teaches demonic lessons and witchcraft. While the Harry Potter series does incorporate witchcraft into the storyline, it is not used in a way that influences children to practice it. Instead, it is used to emphasize the good moral lessons present in the series. J.K. Rowling uses magic to build a theme of good vs. evil, showing how the protagonist chooses good over evil. Good magic exists in Harry Potter, Rowling did not create a demonic lesson behind this fantasy world. The world of witchcraft and wizardry in Harry Potter is like other dimensions in other multiple famous novels. For example, Narnia is another universe in the Chronicles of Narnia book series. Harry Potter is just another example of a world created from fantasy and imagination. Rowling in no way tries to persuade readers to practice demonic witchcraft. The witchcraft in the series is used to teach readers life lessons and to positively inspire the m to be better. Despite what others say, the Harry Potter series is still important in shaping the character a young person strives to be. While the Harry Potter series is classified for the childrens section, the entire storyline is spewing with life morals that adults still need to learn. Some of these morals are simple while others are deeper, but both sides still greatly impact peoples lives. People will argue that the Harry Potter series influences anti-family themes, although a common theme portrayed in the series is, in fact, family. Harry finds the people he loves at Hogwarts, the wizarding school. Love is present within Hogwarts, whether it is through the teachers, friends, or siblings, and is the opposing side of evil that is present throughout the series. Love and family are used to fight against evil and can be seen in every character. Even though Harry never met his parents, his love for them helped him survive when evil tried to destroy good. Rowling uses love to show readers it is the most powerful tool in the universe and can stop any type of evil. It is the oldest form of good vs. evil. In another case, Lord Voldemort kills his father because he did not have love; he grew up in an orphanage and was incapable of love, feeling abandoned and unwanted. Since he was incapable of loving someone and was never even loved himself, he turned to power. This is not an anti-family theme, but just an example of how the absence of love, trust, and family can contribute to negative lifestyles. This is another way of how Rowling compares positive themes to negative themes in order to inspire readers. In a 2007 documentary, J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life, Rowling discusses how she chose to incorporate themes in the series that readers would find a personal connection. The series is used to educate readers on real life problems and inspire them to be better. Conflicts that occur in the series are parallel to problems that occur to real people in everyday life. For example, Lupins struggle with being a werewolf is supposed to reflect a person with AIDS and the struggles they deal with (A Year in the Life). Rowlings purpose is to connect to her readers, not negatively influence them. Death and depression, more darker themes present in the series, are used to emphasize the positive themes. Readers use the experiences from the characters to connect with their lives. By seeing how these characters deal with these real-life problems, readers are encouraged to deal with their own problems in an effective way. For example, violence is a reoccurring event people see and deal with, whether it is at home, in the news, or in the simplest form. Rowling uses violence as a reason to fight for the good side. An effective novel such as Harry Potter needs that conflict of protagonist vs. antagonist/good vs. evil, or else there is no structure and people lose interest. Rowling uses the evil parts of life to emphasize the good in order to encourage readers to do the same, to fight for what is right. Not only did Rowling create a legacy that changed the world of literature, she used it to solve real world problems; Rowling used her books as a gateway into making a difference. In other words, she created books that changed the world now she created a charity, Lumos, that will do the same. Lumos is an organization that helps orphanages and institutions for children around the world. Rowlings intentions were never to harm her readers, but to use the Harry Potter series to make a positive difference in their lives. Therefore, it is an important piece of art because it does not purposefully influence children to participate in negative actions, but instead can change their lives for the better and teach them lessons they can carry out through their whole lives.