The 1987 movie, Empire of the Sun, follows a young English boy by the name of Jaime “Jim” Graham that gets entangled in a war. He lives in Shanghai with his parents, up until they are torn apart once Japan invades. His father’s decision to stay in the country ends up splitting the family apart when they go to leave at the last minute. His journey hardens him and causes him to lose the childhood innocence he should have kept for a few more years. Throughout the film, events occur that change his life irrevocably. Similarly to Jim, the British Empire changes in ways that cannot be undone, even after the war is over.
Up until this point in time, Britain had many different territories all over the world making it the overall world power for around two hundred years. “During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Britain had dominion over so many portions of the Earth it was said, famously, that ‘the sun never set on the British Empire.’ Since the end of World War II, however, that sun has been steadily dipping toward the horizon”(Halloran). Eventually, the Empire just became too big and spread too far thin. When Japan invaded Shanghai there was not much military power there because of how many territories needed to be covered in wake of the start of the war. The English knew that the Japanese were there in the wait and seemed to not think that anything serious was going to happen. For example, in the movie, Jim is flying a toy plane around a field while his parents are at
S.C Gwynne writes about the history of the Comanche tribe during the United States’ attack on the natives of North America in his book, Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History. In this book he talks about the rise and fall of Comanches under Quanah Parker who was the last free tribal leader of the Comanches, and also goes in depth about the tribe itself and it’s growth over time. He details how the Comanches war with the white man essentially began and ended with Quanah Parker.
The Academy award winning movie Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 action packed, fanciful, thrilling space opera. Ably directed by George Lucas and distributed by Twentieth Century, Star Wars: A New Hope is among the most successful and influential films of all time. As well as, being selected to be preserved by the Library of Congress as part of its National Film Registry The first of 8 films in the Star Wars Saga is jam-packed with aliens, futuristic technology and supernatural abilities, such as the Millennium Falcon, Choobaka and of course, ‘The Force’.
There is a long shot of a man crouching in an alcove of a corridor. He
For many years, women have been oppressed and treated as property. The opinion of a woman did not matter, being obedient to her husband was all that is required. Even if they were obedient to their husbands, women were property and only for the pleaser and likening to the husband. Mariam did all the her husband required of her, however there was one thing should could not. Which was give her husband, Rasheed, a son or any child. In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Hosseini reveals the social issue of physical abuse and mental abuse by his use of imagery, diction, and dialogue.
Star Wars IV A New Hope is a science fantasy film written and directed by George Lucas. Fictional characters help us understand ourselves. Star Wars IV A New Hope teaches us about life and ourselves in many ways such as death,loss,pain and courage are experiences that we will go through during our lives.
A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khalid Hosseini explores themes relating to hardships and family, especially having to do with the oppression of women. This novel follows the lives of Mariam and Laila, two Afghan women whose interactions arise from their forced marriage to Rasheed, and the abuse they face together. Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of Jalil, a rich businessman, and his former housekeeper, Nana. Struggling with the stigma surrounding her birth and guilt following her mother’s suicide prompts Mariam to be unable to stand up for herself. Laila is quite the opposite and grew up with the desire for an education and the knowledge that she could change the world. After her parents and Tariq’s deaths, Laila is forced to set
To begin, Great Britain had a total of 12,740,000 miles of land in the year 1913, a year before World War One began. The closest country to Great Britains size was France with 4,440,000 miles of land. Great Britain was very confident and would try to overpower many nations, causing problems. (Document F) In 1917, Germany became upset with Great Britain because they were practicing imperialism. Germany created a cartoon symbolizing how they felt Great Britain was taking over the world. (Document E) Also, Germany was angry with Great Britain because they took over the seas. The seas were a necessity for every country to be able to trade during the war and still make a profit and receive military aid too. (Document E) By practicing imperialism, lines are crossed, causing problems that lead to World War
“Do or do not,” says Yoda, in the acclaimed science fiction movie Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, “there is no try” (Empire). This quote is perhaps the most famous of the character’s, and perhaps one of the most famous in the whole franchise. It highlights an idea that the scene perpetuates: the fact you intend to do something doesn’t matter, only whether or not it is done. This is not a perfect metaphor for the application of knowledge, but it fits in rather easily. Without an effect, an application, all you have is abstract knowledge – that trying that Yoda denies – and in that way value has been diminished. Two areas of knowledge which especially highlight the values and limitations of that claim are the natural sciences and religion.
Empire Falls, written by Richard Russo, encompasses several concepts of the American identity and what it means to be an American. Russo focuses on the small town life in New England, illustrating a compelling story while narrating the lives of several different characters. While these characters seem to be different at the surface, they actually share several similarities. The characters of Empire Falls share the same outlook of life. Despite the American freedom they have, they will typically follow the path of life that they were born into and never question why. Overall, Empire Falls is a town of acceptance, accepting ones place in society as it is. The citizens of Empire Falls do not question their path of life and simply accept the basic truth of their lives. This speaks volumes for our country. Are we a country that will simply accept our set path of life? Or rather fight for what we believe in, despite the negative connotations it may bring. Through extensive analysis of the protagonist Miles Roby and other important characters in the novel, we will begin to what it means to be an American through a different perspective.
Khaled Hosseini’s critically acclaimed novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, follows two women whose lives intertwine and their fates become connected. Laila is a young girl who falls in love with a man who she cannot be with and is carrying his baby when she marries Rasheed. Rasheed’s first wife, Mariam, is a lovely woman who becomes Laila’s companion in their mutual hatred for the abusive Rasheed. With alternating perspectives, Hosseini gives insight into both women's lives and relays the cruelties they are forced to endure, and how the brutality they face affects their lives, specifically Laila’s, whose motherly instincts allow her to endure much more than otherwise.
At the beginning of January in The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt, Doug Swieteck’s brother posts pictures of Holling playing Ariel the fairy all over the school. Holling is very embarrassed and thinks about changing schools. He tells his parents, “I’ve been thinking of military school,” I said, “In Alabama.” Holling is desperate to get away from the bullying. Similarly, Holling’s sister is angry at him for wearing yellow tights for the role and does not want to be affected by his actions. Soon a picture of Holling in the costume is taped to her locker. She does not want to be seen as the girl with a brother who dresses up in tights. She says, “ I didn’t care as long as it was just you. But it’s not just you now, is it? This was taped to
Colonization has always been present throughout the ages, and has certainly psychologically impacted those of the colonized region. Cultural confusion caused by colonization has resulted in the bafflement and unsureness of their cultural and political viewpoints. In the film “Empire of the Sun”, we see Jamie Graham, being born in China and having no knowledge of his place of heritage, England, while admiring Japan, the country attacking his homeland, China, which is the result of having cultural confusion resulted from colonization. We see his admiration of the Japanese, his nativeness towards the Chinese and his disregards of the English through his words when talking about the War. This results with a differed viewpoint of the war, with his Chinese nativeness, English disregards, and Japanese admiration, than his parents (who have a different viewpoint due to their birthplace. England). His cultural beliefs are quite confusing (hence “Cultural Confusion”) because in states in the beginning that the war (or so he thinks) is between the British/Japanese against the Chinese, but the British say that China aren’t even an enemy, the Japanese are. Thus, due to his cultural confusion, Jamie Graham’s standpoint on the three countries involved in the war, Japan, China, and England, has resulted in the complexity of his stance and thoughts towards the war.
Most of the movie is taken in Joel’s mind or his memory removal process. Starting from his nearest memory that they broke up till his last remaining memory of Clementine that they first met at a beach. I think the most possible reason the movie is called Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind is referring to the deepest memory (or say, soul) survived and reserved in their both minds that brought them back to the beach and met each other again. This title quotes entirely from Alexander Pope’s poem which know as describing a very contradictory mood from the unattainable love. So does it, the movie shows Joel wants to remove all memory of Clementine while he still loves her, but then during the process he changes mind and want to try his best to keep these memory which is the “spotless mind”. In my mind, the soul theory is the personal identity that the movie most engage. According to the soul theory, to have a same identical, it’s not necessary to have a same memory, but it’s necessary and sufficient to have the same soul. In the movie, though Joel erased his memory, he still has his soul which makes him fall in love with Clementine again, even in theory he can never love her then. On the other hand, this movie seems to intensely against Loke’s memory theory that sharing a memory of an experience is necessary and sufficient to be a same person. And I think the movie also presents its own personal identity that for one person to be identical to the other person, they should have
In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, main character Mariam is forced into exile after a horrific set of experiences. After her mother’s suicide, she is removed from her home and is later arranged to marry a random man she never met before. Before her departure, Mariam lived in a “kolba,” a small hut on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. With no other place to go, she disapprovingly lives with her father for a short period of time before being shipped off to her new husband. Her encounter with exile is almost unbearable, yet she endures and grows into a hardworking and respectable woman. For Mariam, exile is both alienating and enriching; it illuminates how withstanding life’s challenges and learning to overcome them with love will ultimately be beneficial in the end, no matter what happens.
The authors Khaled Hosseini and Kurt Vonnegut write novels of critical acclaim. Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns explores the life of Mariam and her struggles with her husband and society, however, she finds reason to fight through a religious tutor. Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five examines the life of Billy Pilgrim who goes through the bombing of Dresden and is kidnapped by an alien species, the Tralfamadorians, who have him apply a new philosophy. Using traditional techniques, Hosseini constructs Mullah Faizullah, the religious tutor, as a wise mentor. The persona of a hermit guru was used by Vonnegut as a non-traditional guide in the form of the Tralfamadorians in Slaughterhouse-Five. Hosseini uses foreshadowing and a comforting