Essay on Shirley Jacksons The Lottery - Blind Obedience Exposed

Blind Obedience Exposed in The Lottery    The annual ritualistic stoning of a villager in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" parallels tradition in American culture.   This paper will inform the reader of the effect tradition has on characters in the short story "The Lottery" and how traditions still strongly influence people's lives in america.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Christian weddings hold many traditions and superstitions that seemingly defy logic.   Although most couples no longer have arranged marriages or dowries, fathers still give their daughters away during the services.   The bride and groom do not see each other before the ceremony, fearing that bad luck might come their way.   A friend scolded me because I had originally planned to marry at the top of the hour, and told me I should change it "just to be safe".   Society continues to hold these traditions and superstitions very dear because of cultural influences and the possibility of bad things happening.   In Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery", the annual ritualistic stoning of a villager parallels the traditions inherent in American culture.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The black box is a source symbol of tradition for the townspeople. The original box wore out many years ago, and a new box was built from pieces of the old.   This reflects customs in our own society.   For exam... ... time.   It is possible that they were simply afraid of what would happen to them if they changed or stopped the lottery.   Maybe they just went through the motions of the lottery without questioning why, or really giving it much thought.   Whatever the real reason, the tradition of the lottery continued.   I will also continue to uphold traditions at my wedding one-month from now when my father will give me away at half past the hour, and I will take great pains not to see my fiancà © before.      Work Cited: Jackson, Shirley.   "The Lottery."   Literature Reading, Reacting, Writing.   4th Ed. Ed. Camille Adkins. Orlando: Harcourt College Publishers, 2001. 315-322

Discuss the Theatrical Device Essay

‘Aadhe Adhure’ or ‘Halfway House’ has often been described as a cross between Naturalist Theatre and Theatre of the Absurd. Interestingly, both these elements actually undercut each other as theatrical movements and are said to have polarized western theatre. Naturalism argues for heredity and a global perspective on human behavior, which is said to develop out of the social environment in which a particular individual lives. On the contrary, Absurdism believes that there are no solutions to the mysteries of existence because ultimately man is alone, forced to perform repetitive actions in a world without meaning. This play has many elements of Naturalist theatre, including a linear movement, a limited time span, an in-depth psychological characterization and a defined beginning, middle and end. However, the opening line– â€Å"Once again, the same thing all over again†¦Ã¢â‚¬  firmly typecasts it as a part of Absurdist theatre, as from the start itself there is a hint at circularity of events and a hopelessness and banality defined by the repetition of the word ‘again’ in the short sentence. Mohan Rakesh borrowed a common device from the theatre of the Absurd and in ‘Aadhe Adhure’, for the first time in Indian theatre the same actor was used to play five characters. According to Rakesh, â€Å"The woman is the central character and I want the four men to be played by the same actor. What I want to indicate by that is that it’s not the individual who’s responsible for his situation, for he would have made the same choice no matter what, regardless of the situation. Any choice anyone makes has a certain irony in it, for things turn out the same regardless of the choice. † Though it was passed off by some critics as a gimmick employed by the playwright, its thematic relevance came to the fore when Rajinder Nath, contrary to his own views on the importance of the technique, directed the play using five different actors for the roles. The conclusion was felt to be severely lacking as the notion of inherent ‘similarity’ in all the men which underlines the climax of the play failed to have the same impact. Interestingly, though Savitri implies that it is beneath their appearance, that this ‘same man’ exists, the implication is only forceful for the  audience because of the simultaneous visual impact of one man playing different roles. According to Nath himself it was a powerful theatrical device â€Å"to show how according to one’s convenience the same man can put on different masks depending on the situation in which he is placed†. That the authorial view corroborates with this statement is clear from the prologue where the ‘Man in the black suit’ equates identity with fluidity and calls himself undefined. Each character, given a certain set of circumstances, can occupy the place of another. This also follows the assumption that there is no real development or evolution of character; the character at the beginning of the play will not be shaped differently by the situation, enforcing the idea of a universality of experience, that â€Å"things turning out the same regardless of choice†. The prologue defines the play as ‘amorphous’. The audience is told that there is a bit of each character in all of them. Those watching the play and even those outside the theatre. The characters are said to be people â€Å"you bump into by chance in the street† stressing the alienation of urban crowd from one another as the source of difference as well as similarity, since they are all nameless, faceless people who can easily get lost in a crowd comprising of the same. Therefore, one man can play five characters because they are, in essence, the same man. This likeness is reiterated by the naming of the characters in their dialogues, not individually, but rather as First Man, Second Man, etc. According to the Hindi version of the play, the Man in the Black Suit â€Å"has a look of civility with a touch of cynicism†; the face of the First man â€Å"expresses the helpless anguish of having lost the battle of life†; the Second Man is â€Å"self-satisfied and yet a little insecure†; the Third Man â€Å"projects an air of someone who is committed to a life of convenience†; and the Fourth Man â€Å"looks older, quite mature and shrewd†. They have different characteristics, lifestyles and manners of speech, yet according to critics Nita Kumar and N. S. Dharan, this device makes use of  the inherent notion of playacting which includes the concept of freedom; to pretend and be whatever one likes. Every man remains an actor and therefore, it is easy for him to put up a facade and to hide his interiority according to the demands of the situation. This concept is emphasized not by the fact that the same man plays all the characters, but rather by the fact that it is possible for the same man to play all the characters. Simply by changing his costume and facial expression, he manages to change into a different person entirely. Therefore, the assertion of the prologue of the interchangeability of these characters is understandable. The problematic element in the play arises out of the contention of the Man in the Black Suit that interchange of roles can take place not only between the men in the play but also between the man and the woman. This strikes a discordant note as, according to critic Arti Mathur, it negates Savitri’s gender-specific struggle against social constraints. One of the biggest contributions to the ‘sameness’ of the multiple characters is that they are all men. And men, by the patriarchal definition especially prevalent in urban middle-class India, have a certain societal role which leads to their convergence into one man. Irrespective of circumstances their position in society is defined while that of the woman is defined in relation to the man. However, the statement is not entirely wrong either as Savitri, as the breadwinner of the household is actually the ‘man of the house’. Every society has an economic base and a cultural superstructure, which is derived from the base. In Halfway House, the base has shifted and it is the wife who is economically independent, however, the tragedy of the ironically named Savitri lies in the fact that the superstructure has not shifted in accordance with the base. Mahendranath has not become the domestic centre just because of his confinement to the house; Savitri is still required to fulfill her ‘womanly’ domestic duties. She is defined by the context of what it means to be a woman and has internalized the patriarchal system. This is also made clear by Savitri’s contempt of what she believes is Mahendranath’s lack of manliness. She despises his dependency on herself as well as Juneja and constantly searches for escape routes through other, more suitable men. An element of unrealism is brought in, in which even the characters seem to be aware of an underlying similarity between the men, a device not available to them as characters. Askok’s sketch of Singhania leads Savitri to ask Binni if the portrait reminds her of someone, and on being asked, â€Å"Whom†, she replies â€Å"Your father. † This intermingling of the play and the outside elements draws attention to this device. There is irony in the fact that one of the ways in which these men are actually the ‘same’ is in their exploitation of Savitri. According to critic Veena Das, these characters are seldom all of a piece, they are the broken images of a decomposing society. Mahendranath is a self-described ‘parasite’ and is later shockingly revealed to be a former wife-beater. His inability to hold the position of the ‘head’ of the family has made him bitter and suspicious; suspecting his wife of illicit liaisons, which, although hinted at are never confirmed by the text. His ‘unmanliness’ makes Savitri lose all respect for him, till their marriage is reduced to a sham of public expectations. Singhania treats Savitri with condescension and his ‘favors’ are granted with an obvious air of patronization. His pompous manner and speech is calculated to make the listener feel inferior, a fact that is explicitly stated by Ashok. However, in Savitri’s eyes his position as her boss and his salary makes him ‘superior’ and she remains silent in face of his thinly-veiled innuendos and his humiliation positioning of her as â€Å"one of his child’s ‘aunties’†. His crude behavior is a caricature of the sexual exploitation that women have to deal with in work places. Jagmohan is introduced almost an antithesis of Mahendra. He is suave, successful, with a man-of-the-world air and is presented as the eleventh hour rescuer. He is the only outcome available to her from the â€Å"hell† that her house has become to her. However, this apparent proactive position loses much of its worth as it is weakened by the fact that she waits for Jagmohan to ‘fetch’ her. She overlooks his barbs at her expense and goes with him willingly, an act in defiance of society which is only rewarded by  rejection. Again, this seemingly perfect man is unable to provide her with emotional support or security. Her disillusioned return drives home the point that there is no escape route left available for her. The point of concern becomes the fact that though Savitri is an economically independent woman, her means of ‘escape’ from the house is linked to a man. Savitri, in her search for the â€Å"complete man† speaks in the language of patriarchy, as the concept of ‘masculinity’ is a derivative of society. Even though she is a ‘modern, independent’ woman, she is unable to cut off the suffocating patriarchal bonds of the environment in which she lives. The Fourth Man, Juneja is introduced onto the stage around this point. He gains the sympathy of the audience by showing kindness towards Kinni, a character who is almost absolutely neglected in the play. He comes as a voice of rationality; as an almost omniscient character. He seems to have intimate knowledge of both Savitri and Mahendranath, as well as their circumstances. His seems to be the projected authorial voice in the play. His looks and manner of speech is structured so as to make the audience favor his point-of-view and assessment of character. Juneja espouses the belief that to Savitri the meaning of life is â€Å"how many different things you can have and enjoy at the same time. † He lays the blame for the current situation of hopelessness squarely on her shoulder and her quest for the â€Å"complete man†. According to him the problem is not a social reality, but instead lies in the psychological realm. All of the men she encounters are incomplete and therefore her solution is multiplicity. Her way of filling her void is â€Å"excess†. And she is only attracted to men because, â€Å"they are not Mahendra. † According to Juneja, if she had married one of the men whom she is attracted to she would have still felt she had married the wrong man. Juneja brings in another element of unrealism by accurately recounting the encounter between Jagmohan and Savitri because â€Å"in his place I would have said the same†. Once again this brings forth the ‘sameness’ of these characters, as Juneja’s claim is validated by Savitri’s shattering  realization- â€Å"All of you†¦every one of you†¦all alike! Exactly the same. Different masks, but the face†¦? The same wretched face†¦every single one of you! † The tragedy of the realization is heightened by Juneja’s ruthless perusal- â€Å"And yet you felt you had a choice†¦? Was there really any choice? Tell me, was there? † In the above dialogues lies the greatest significance of that particular theatrical device. It brings out a clear dichotomy between the ideal and the real. What Savitri has been pursuing all along, the ‘ideal man’ does not in fact exist. The notion of her having had a ‘choice’ has been illusory all along; she is trapped in a world with no exit. The play shifts focus to lack of freedom for a female in urban, middle-class India. The tragedy is that Juneja’s speech provides a dual closure for Savitri; both in her search for the ‘perfect’ man who can â€Å"fill her void†, as well as an acknowledgment that she shall never gain satisfaction, and related to that, happiness. In naturalism, free will is not denied but is contained and confined within the environment in which the individual lives. Savitri’s free will is her ability to choose but the fulfillment of that choice depends on the context. Her freedom is linked to a man. She is free to choose which man, but it has to be a man. The illusion of choice arises from the four men and her ‘independence’ is related to shifting from one man to the other. In the prologue, the Man in the Black Suit had asked the existentialist question of ‘who am I’. This is now problematized, as the dramatic innovation of using the same man for multiple characters casts doubt on whether there is an ‘I’ at all. ‘I’ refers to individuality, the existence of a self different from the ‘other’, a projection that the men in the play are all different which is negated through Juneja’s speech. Savitri uses the language of social realism to justify her belief that she moves on to other men because Mahendra is not the right man. Juneja uses the language of absurdism to articulate that there is no ‘right man’; her search is futile because such a man does not exist. All the men in her life are essentially the same man and can only satisfy her for a limited period of time. Surprisingly, the text does not lead up to its realist conclusion; that she is trapped because of the prohibitions of the society in which she lives, a world in which a woman has no choice in her own destiny. It, in fact, veers from its apparent initial realist stance of ‘all men are the same in a patriarchy’ and seems to suggest that all men are the same only to Savitri. Halfway House has often been described as a woman-centric misogynistic play. â€Å"Even as the play builds up a dark vision of trapped humanity, it weakens the force of its statement by simultaneously cutting Savitri’s credentials. † (Nita Kumar). The play does not imply that if the only conditions were different or could be changed then Savitri would be able to escape from the ‘trap’, instead her sexuality is morally condemned, she ought not be able to escape. Juneja contends that all the men who had come into her life were different. They were individuals with their own diverse characteristics and, according to critic Veena Das, what made Savitri see them as parts of the same fractioned entities was her own â€Å"diseased imagination†. Juneja, in saying that all men are the same, is trying to define the essential nature of desire. Desire is always in excess of the individual and can never be completely satiated. The frightening aspect of desire lies in its limitlessness. All men are the same because they are looked at through Savitri’s desire, the fact that they will all eventually be unable to satisfy her is the reason for their ‘sameness’. Their amorphousness derives from the fact that they change in accordance with Savitri’s assessment of them. The transcendental nature of desire will always make her move on to other men and search for completeness. It seems to suggest that every being is half-incomplete, it is not a tragedy, but rather a fact of existence, and Savitri, in her search for masculine perfection and inability to accept this fact, is herself responsible for her ruination. Unexpectedly again, the play doesn’t build up even to the absurdist conclusion; it does not suggest that everybody in essentiality is like Savitri, because desire is universal, exceeding every individual. Instead,  the elements of Naturalism as well as Absurdism are developed only to lay the blame on Savitri’s inherent nature, which is considered responsible for the destruction of this particular family. She stands the last accused and the play ends before there can be any possibility of defense on her behalf. Interestingly, though certain relationships in life are deterministic, including that of a mother-daughter, sister-brother, etc, the same cannot be said about spouses; however, in this very context the language used by Juneja is the final language of containment, of absolute, rigid determinism. As earlier mentioned, the device of one man playing multiple roles is that of the actor and is not available to the character, and therefore it is significant that the visual of the play itself shows that nothing can be changed. Juneja’s speech corresponds to the structure of the play, which has to come from without and therefore indicates a concurrence with the playwright’s view. According to critic Kirti Jain, this device loses a little of its relevance in the actual stage performance as the focus of the audience is drawn primarily towards the clothes, mannerisms and voice of that one actor rather than the thematic import. However, there is no ambiguity on the fact that the nature of the play cannot be understood without a reference to this particular device. Through this, the area of thrust changes entirely from the ‘universality of human experience’, and the ultimate censure is not of society, or even the circumstances, but rather of Savitri’s desiring nature. Her lack of constraint and implicit sexuality stand accused as the essential reasons for what makes her home an incomplete, halfway house. Bibliography i. All textual quotes are from Worldview Critical Edition of ‘Halfway House- Mohan Rakesh’ ii. Halfway House: A House Divided by Nita N. Kumar iii. A Note on Indian Theatre by Kirti Jain iv. The Director’s Viewpoint by Om Shivpuri v. A Thematic Interpretation of One Actor and Five Roles in Halfway House by Arti Mathur vi. Lust For Life: A Study of Savitri in Halfway House by Naresh K. Jain vii. Halfway House: Absurdism of the Indian Middle Class by Bharat Gupt viii. Uncertain Circumstance, Undefined Individuals: A Study of Halfway House by S. G. Bhanegaonkar ix. Sexism and Power Games by Manchi Sarat Babu x. Halfway House: Some Stray Comments Only by Dilip Kumar Basu xi. There is Something in this House by N. S. Dharan xii. Halfway House: A Play of Incomplete Utterances by Veena Nobel Das xiii. Realism and the American Dramatic Tradition by William Demastes xiv. Mohan Rakesh, Modernism, and the Postcolonial Present by Aparna Dharwadker.

Y An Adverbial Pronoun That Replaces Prepositional Phrases

The French adverbial pronoun y is so tiny that you might think its role in a sentence is not very important, but, in fact, quite the opposite is true. This letter is extremely important in French.  Y refers to a previously mentioned or implied place; it is normally translated as there in English.   Using Y in French In French, the letter y  usually replaces a prepositional phrase beginning with something like à  , chez, or dans  (at, in, or in),  as demonstrated in these examples, where the English sentence or sentences are followed by the French translation:   Are you going to the bank today? No, Im going (there) tomorrow.   Tu vas à   la banque aujourdhui  ? Non, jy vais demain.Were going to the store. Do you want to go (there)?   Nous allons au magasin. Tu veux y aller?He was at Jeans house. He was there.   Il à ©tait chez Jean. Il y à ©tait. Note that there can often be omitted in English, but y can never be omitted in French. Je vais (Im going) is not a complete sentence in French; if you dont follow the verb with a place, you have to say Jy vais. Use Y to Replace a Noun Y can also replace à   a noun that is not a person, such as with verbs that need à  . Note that in French, you must include either à   something or its replacement y, even though the equivalent may be optional in English. You cannot replace the noun with an object pronoun, as exhibited in the following examples: Im responding to a letter. Im responding (to it).   Je rà ©ponds à   une lettre. Jy rà ©ponds.Hes thinking about our trip. Hes thinking about it.   Il pense à   notre voyage. Il y pense. You have to obey the law. You have to obey it. Tu dois obà ©ir à   la loi. Tu dois y obà ©ir.Yes, I attended the meeting. Yes, I attended (it).   Oui, jai assistà © à   la rà ©union. Oui, jy ai assistà ©.Im going to think about your proposal. Im going to think about it.   Je vais rà ©flà ©chir à   votre proposition. Je vais y rà ©flà ©chir. In most cases, à   person may only be replaced by an indirect object. However, in the case of verbs that dont allow preceding indirect object pronouns, you can use y, as in this example: Pay attention to him.   Fais attention à   lui, Fais-y attention. Y Dos and Donts Note that y usually cannot replace à   verb, as in these examples, which show the correct way to create this construction: I hesitate to tell the truth. I hesitate to tell it.   Jhà ©site à   dire la và ©rità ©. Jhà ©site à   la dire.I continue to read Balzac. I continue to read him.   Je continue à   lire Balzac. Je continue à   le lire. Y is also found in the expressions il y a, on y va, and allons-y, which translate into English as, there is, lets go, and lets go, respectively.

Social Media Applications Affect Our Privacy - 1396 Words

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The use of social me dia applications have changed the way we communicate with people, but it is important to understand the problems that rise from downloading these applications. Keywords: Social media applications, privacy, third parties, identity theft, teenagers, history, hackers. Social Media Applications and Its Effects on Privacy The use of social media applications has increased drastically over the years. As major technological companies focus on creating essential social media applications, more peopleShow MoreRelatedNegative Effects Of Social Media On Teenagers1147 Words   |  5 PagesEffects of Social Media on Teenagers Nowadays social media have become one of the important part of our lifestyle and has a great influence in our day to day basic activities. Getting more likes and having more followers has become one of the important part of people’s social life. Teenagaers spent most of their time checking Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and many more. 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Heart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad Essay - 1483 Words

Joseph Conrad, author of Heart of Darkness, intriguingly uses an unnamed narrator in his novel that clearly becomes of importance right away in the introduction. Conrad’s narrator chooses to speak of the historical period in which Roman colonization took over what we now know as Great Britain. By connecting a Roman colonization story to one almost 2000 years later talking about the Belgians in Africa, Conrad reveals one of his own themes in the novel. He proposes that the Romans and Belgians barbarous colonization methods are completely corrupt and it seems as though Conrad draws a clear connection to the two periods while hoping this major key to later tellings of the novel is picked up by the readers. Roman colonization easily foreshadows this story because of all the similarities. In the novella, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses the Roman colonization of Great Britain which is able to foreshadow later events of the Belgians and the Congo Free-State. 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In the Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad exposes the inhumanityRead MoreHeart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad1350 Words   |  6 Pagesyears, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad was a treasured classic, with many honourable themes and messages, as the author reveals the true nature of humanity by following an European sailor’s journey through the dark jungles of Africa and down the river Congo, all while watching as his own humanity changes. As society has evolved, however, Heart of Darkness has come under scrutiny, as the language is quite racist. Chinua Achebe, writer of An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of DarknessRead MoreHeart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad1329 Words   |  5 Pages Heart of Darkness is a novel written by Joseph Conrad. The setting of the book is in Belgian Congo, which was the most infamous European colony in Africa. This is a story about the protagonist Marlow’s journey to self discovery, and his experiences in Congo. 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European’s superior authority over African Americans is portrayedRead MoreHeart Of Darkness, By Joseph Conrad1306 Words   |  6 PagesWhat is the â€Å"horror† in Heart of Darkness, and what particular literary images develop that idea of horror in the novel? In Joseph Conrad’s, Heart of Darkness, there can be many literary images found within that develop the idea of horror. Heart of Darkness is noted for its horror within the Congo between the Africans and the Europeans. The horror in Heart of Darkness is a contribution of many ideas that are formed and contributed from the European colonists. The purpose of this essay aims to argueRead MoreHeart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad1076 Words   |  5 PagesWritten in the late 1800’s, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a novella about one man’s travel into the Congo Free State by way of the Congo River. The title â€Å"Heart of Darkness† actually holds two different meanings. Heart of Darkness is both a metaphor for a psychological â€Å"dark side† of man, and an allusion to Africa. The title suggests both a physical and mental reference. During the time the novel takes place, Africa was nick-named the dark continent because of how little the Europeans knewRead MoreHeart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad1149 Words   |  5 PagesIn his provocative novella Heart of Darkness, author Joseph Conrad sheds light on the primal nature in all men, casting a shadow—a darkness that is the result of being freed of societies norms. An in-depth analysis of Joseph Conrad and the work shows how well he is able to combine story elements to make an engaging read. Conrad is able to do this through his characters, such as protagonist Marlow, whose experiences through his journey shows him vividly, the violence and brutality even the gentlest

Desert Tortises Essay Example For Students

Desert Tortises Essay Desert tortoises are found on flats, alluvial fans, bajadas and rocky terrain. Historically, flat terrain has lent itself to human. Skewing population estimates towards this gentler terrain. But evidence exists that desert tortoises also frequent Rocky slopes, perhaps for protection from the desert heat. Soil friability, or its tendency to break apart, is another indicator of Tortoise habitat. Desert tortoises need soils they are capable of digging into for burrows. Plant species also play a major role in both defining desert tortoise habitat and their diet. Creosote bush, burro bush, Mojave Yucca and black brush generally distinguish desert tortoise habitat. At higher altitudes, Joshua tree and galleta grass (Pleuraphisrigida) are common plant indicators. Populations have declined recently in many areas due to two main human attributable reasons: the direct loss of Individuals and habitat degradation / fragmentation. Individual tortoises are lost due to poaching, collection for pets, military Activities, vehicular impact, livestock trampling, disease and raven encroachment. Habitat degradation and fragmentation occur Mainly through the spread of urban sprawl and livestock grazing practices. In addition to a recent encroachment by ravens due To the presence of garbage dumps, desert tortoises also face the threat of a deadly upper respiratory disease in the Western Mojave area. Sadly the desert tortoises population is only 20 tortoises per square mile. Biologists have identified research Needs and recommendations for funding, reviewed research proposals, developed a manual to educate and aid law Enforcement officials and developed a compensation policy for loss of desert tortoise habitat. Bibliography:

War and the Meaning of Home

Wendell Berry, an American author and farmer, was a devoted countryman as well as a person of place. Being the first son in a huge family, Berry realized that the attention and respect to the land you live in is important. He realized that love to land and native home is integral for many people, and he truly believed that his devotion to his roots could make him more humane. Wendell was greatly inspired by the land where he lived in and decided to stick to the old farming methods of using horses to plough instead of modern tractors.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on War and the Meaning of Home specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More At age thirty, he acquired a farm in his indigenous Henry County where he became a full time farmer and improved his teaching and writing (Kramer, A Farmer’s Gift, para. 1). In his works, Berry makes a wonderful attempt to compare a soldier’s attitude before and after w ar, analyze what aspects of war are able to change a soldier’s mind and principles, and explain why war has to be accepted as the merciless disperser only that negatively influence the current state of affairs. According to Wendell Berry, war plays a crucial role in the life of everybody involved. If a soldier leaves home for war, he has to consider whether or not he will survive, and how he will be welcomed upon his return. War has a significant characteristic to influence everything around and inside a person: his mind, his home, his relationships, and his existence. Berry has written approximately twenty-five poetry books, sixteen essays, and eleven novels along with a collection of short narratives. Berry devoted about fifty-five years of his life to the improvement of his publishing career, and as a result, he has become quite admired in the American publishing sphere. One of Berry’s more popular literary works is a short story called â€Å"Making It Home†, which is from a book called â€Å"Fidelity: Five Stories†. This particular story expresses many of the War related problems a soldier is faced with upon returning home. The essay that follows will clearly attempt to demonstrate how war and home are two things that cannot be separated from a soldier’s mind. Berry clearly explains himself by stating, â€Å"War is the great scatterer, the merciless disperser† (Peters, Wendell Berry: Life and Work, 17). From this, we can conclude that war has the drastic effect of devastating the homes that were left behind by the soldiers just as much as it has agonizing and devastating effects in the battlefield. Berry introduces the main causality of war as the death of a country because truth usually perishes during the process of diplomacy; however, the country remains to suffer the devastating consequences of the war long after it has ended. The aftermath of war on both the opposing and the attacking side is usually what brin gs out this relationship between war and home for the soldier.Advertising Looking for research paper on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Did we win? If we lost, how it is possible to return home? How do we as a nation pick up the pieces? Wendell Berry explores ways in which war and its considerable aftereffects feature the countryside in its quest for transition for the desirable land that is usually found in urbanized areas. War has the drastic effect of devastating the homes that were left behind by the soldiers just as much as it has agonizing and devastating effects in the battlefield. Soldiers usually have an assignment of going into a battlefield with predestined effects in their lives. Within a short period of time, soldier’s thoughts demonstrate how dramatic the changes can be and make him believe that â€Å"I am not a stranger, but I am changed. Now I know a mighty power† (Berry, Maki ng It Home, 97). A person is changed, and it is useless to think over possible reasons for such changes as it can be summed up with war only. War may change human life or even take it away, but Berry suggests considering the details of what may happen when a person comes back home after war, when almost all living principles are changed, and when the desire to continue living under after-war conditions disappears. After all the fighting and war is done, where does the soldier expect to go back? Moreover, this coming back is only applicable in the case of a draftee who has been lucky enough to survive these deracinating forces. In retrospect, what does this soldier hope to return to? Do they hope to return to a land that has been stripped bare by the great exodus that occurred during the war by the migration of people shifting to the opportunities that the war presented in the industrial cities? It is known that â€Å"war devastates the home front as surely as it does the killing fi elds† (Peters, Wendell Berry: Life and Work, 17). So then, in a soldier’s mind the following question surfaces: whether there is any purpose at all in re-uniting with people at home? Will they even be there and will it be the same as it was? The devastating and undesirable consequences of war and the impossibility to forecast what happens after the war and to be sure about personal understanding of the events is one more peculiar feature of war outcomes. World War II made many people chose to be urban dwellers instead of living in the countryside that had once had the potential of being lucrative. Many dwellers instead eclipsed the lush countryside that had once had the potential of being lucrative. Berry feels that â€Å"War†¦ in the outer darkness beyond the reach of love, where people do not know one another kill one another and there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, where nothing is allowed to be real enough to be spread† (Peters, Wendell Berry: Life an d Work, 19).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on War and the Meaning of Home specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This proved to be a constant issue Berry wrote about in his fictitious work. The Second World War was a representation of destruction, mechanization, and depopulation. Thus, many lost their loved ones in the war (Wendell, A Citizen’s Response to the National Security Strategy of the United States of America, 436). This therefore exemplifies the anxiety in a soldier’s mind about the fear of coming back to drastic changes, which seem to have no place for him/ her anymore. The cultural aspect of war makes it possible to nationalize a nation and develop another force that can retain or even change considerably the features which cannot belong to the existed requirements. The traditional neutrality of the American culture would be abandoned in the course of the two world wars. The school wa s approached as a repository for collective memories as a bodily expression of community culture (Peters, Wendell Berry: Life and Work, 22). Again, the effects of war become a reason to unify a nation’s interests and purpose giving a soldier a sense of purpose. On the flipside though, this creates an uncomfortable and unsettling feeling of obsoleteness upon the return home. A home is the place that remains to be a common ground where a good life can be achieved even after a war. In Making It Home, Berry demonstrates one of the happiest moments in the life of every soldier, the moment when he â€Å"has his place to which he can return† (Peters, Wendell Berry: Life and Work, 22). Art qualifies to be one of the lucky soldiers who survive the war. He has a place to which he can return – a utopia or reality. After three years of operating as an expendable cog, Art finally makes it and is able to come back home. Art travels by way of bus towards home. On his way home, he cannot even realize that now he is one of those who know nothing about his surroundings. Before he reaches his place, he is only separated by several creeks that he once knew by name: â€Å"It pleased Art to think that the government owed him nothing, and that he needed nothing from it, and he was on his own. Nonetheless, the government thought it owed him tribute. It wanted to praise him and the rest for their acts that it considered heroic as well as glorious. This is because the war was ending and their victory was glorious.† (Berry, Making It Home, 87) With the help of this quote, Berry tries to explain how the government accepts the idea of victory and compares it to the thoughts and attitudes of the soldier. Though government is an evident participant in the war, its representatives never fight the battle on the front lines. They may support soldiers and promise them many things; however, when the war is over, a soldier returns home. He is going home, and nothing ca n distract him except the idea of what is waiting for him.Advertising Looking for research paper on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is difficult to imagine how mane problems may bother a person when war is over, and Berry makes an attempt to define the most burning aspects; one of them is capital punishment with its possibility to infringe upon moral justice and disappear during times of war. He describes this so perfectly in Berry’s poem â€Å"The Morning’s News.† In this work, Berry makes one more attempt to evaluate the impact of war and its aftereffects. He tries to compare death by its design and introduces the tragic nature of war using the innocence of the nature and of the child. â€Å"I look at my son, whose eyes are like a young god’s,/ they are so open to the world† (Berry, The Morning’s News, 88). Berry is sickened by the killing that is done to human beings and he explains further â€Å"and I am sickened by the complicity in my race† (Berry, The Morning’s News, 87). In addition, he argues the following: â€Å"to kill or be killed in hot sav agery like a beast is understandable. It is forgivable and curable. But to kill, by design, deliberately, without wrath, that is the sullen labor that perfects Hell.† (Berry, The Morning’s News, 87) This ideas disturbs him to think how cruel a human being can be and has a connection to the fact that a soldier and, in some cases, a prisoner of war convicted of heinous crimes are sentenced to capital punishment. Berry critically wonders when peace will settle in the world for both him and his family. He ends up finding solace in how wild things conduct their lives: â€Å"When despair for the world grows in me/ and I wake in the night at the least sound/ in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be†¦/ I come into the peace of wild things†¦/ I enjoy the light of the stars.† (Berry, The Peace of Wild Things, 85) Berry feels some kind of freedom when he forgets the constant â€Å"war† he has to face with his conscience about the diffic ulties that are found in life. Christians were certainly confused about the writings in the scripture, and Wendell Berry brought understanding of the scripture and a definite guidance that sought to show environmental ethics that were brought out in the scriptures. Berry’s works â€Å"have revealed significant shifts in his religious thought and important intensifications of his commitment to religious foundations for an ethical life, his fiction invariably remains firmly secular with none of his main characters espousing strong religious beliefs† (Murphy, The Unforeseen Self in the Works of Wendell Berry para.1). The works of poetry that he has written best demonstrate what it actually means to inhabit a holy community where creation is forever taking place. His opinion about Christian ecology can be best obtained by interpretations of his poetry. The motivation that drives Wendell to write this poetry is to bring about emancipation to Christians from â€Å"failures and errors of Christian practice†. His purpose is to bring Christians to view divinity as something that exists in all features of the earthly population. People need to have something to believe in, and Berry finds Christianity as a powerful means to rely on. In an essay written by Berry, he brings out what the nature poems bring out. â€Å"It seeks to give us a sense of our proper place in the scheme of things†¦. Man, it keeps reminding us, is the center of the universe only in the sense that wherever he is, it seems to him that he is at the center of his own horizon; the truth is that he is only a part of a vast complex of life, on the totality and order of which he is blindly dependent. Since that totality and order have never yet come within the rational competence of our race †¦ the natural effect of such poetry is the religious one of humility and awe.† (McKibben, Wendell Berry and the Cultivation of Life: A Reader’s Guide para. 12) This attitude helps to explain why a soldier continues to serve their country zealously and protect his home wishing for the day when such senseless conflicts can resolved without resorting to such drastic measures. Wendell Berry clearly explains how war and home are directly linked in a soldier’s mind. His desire to evaluate the details of the event makes him more interesting and more intriguing. He makes a good attempt to focus on war times and the outcomes which are inalienable for people. According to him, war is a devastating event that ought to be avoided altogether. There are numerous reasons why wars begin, but the consequences it brings are far worse compared to the reasons why the war was fought in the first place. We must avoid these situations altogether. Such people like Berry show some possible ways to advocate peace in order to solve things and take measures to prevent the occurrence of wars. Works Cited Berry, Wendell. â€Å"The Hurt Man.† Hudson Review 56.3 (2003): 431-438. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. Berry, Wendell. â€Å"A Citizen’s Response to the National Security Strategy of the United States of America.† Orion. 2003. Web. Berry, Wendell. â€Å"Making It Home.† Fidelity Five Stories. New York and San Francisco: Pantheon Books, 1992: 83-105. Berry, Wendell. â€Å"The Morning’s News.† In David Impastato Upholding Mystery: An Anthology of Contemporary Christian Poetry. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Berry, Wendell. The Peace of Wild Things. 2010. Web. Brockman, Holly. Personal Interview. January/February 2006. Berry, Wendell. Interview. How Can a Family ‘Live at the Center of its own Attention?. The Southerner. Fearnside, Jefferson. Personal interview. Jul 2008. Berry, Wendell. Interview. Digging In. The Sun. Kramer, Kyle T. â€Å"A Farmer’s Gift.† America 200.13 (2009): 17-19. Web. McKibben, Bill. â€Å"Wendell Berry and the Cultivation of Life: A Reader’s Gu ide.† Christianity Toda 53.3 (2009): 63. Web. Murphy, Patrick D. â€Å"The Unforeseen Self in the Works of Wendell Berry.† Christianity and Literature 52.4 (2003): 580. Web. Peters, Jason. Wendell Berry: Life and Work. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky. 2007. This research paper on War and the Meaning of Home was written and submitted by user Maginty to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.