Bonfire Of The Vanities Analysis

Jumping back into the past, Gregory Orr tells the incident when he and a group of five hundred of men, women, teenagers, and old folks assemble in Jackson, Mississippi. In Jackson for a peaceful demonstration, Gregory Orr and the rest of the group were arrested and taken away “to the county fairgrounds” (128, 1). Where they was beaten by officers of the law, Orr stated, “I emerged into the outdoors and the bright sunlight and saw them-two lines of about fifteen highway patrolmen on either side. I was ordered to walk, not run, between them. Again I was beaten with nightsticks, but this time more thoroughly, as I was the only target” (129, 2). Once freed from his captors, Gregory Orr gets in his car to head back north, but on his way back he was pulled over by flashing lights. Thinking it was the police; Gregory Orr pulled over and was approached by two white men. One of the white men said, “Get out, you son of a bitch, or I’ll blow your head off” (133, 3). The two white men takes Gregory Orr’s wallet and tell him to follow them, Scared for his life, Gregory Orr did exactly what the two men told him to do. After following the two men, Gregory Orr is back in jail in Hayneville. “Already depressed and disoriented by the ten days in jail in Jackson, I was even more frightened in Hayneville,” (136, 1) stated by Gregory Orr.

The Lizzie Borden case has mystified and fascinated those interested in crime forover on hundred years. Very few cases in American history have attracted as much attention as the hatchet murders of Andrew J. Borden and his wife, Abby Borden. The bloodiness of the acts in an otherwise respectable late nineteenth century domestic setting is startling. Along with the gruesome nature of the crimes is the unexpected character of the accused, not a hatchet-wielding maniac, but a church-going, Sunday-school-teaching, respectable, spinster-

Within today’s society, an individual’s morals determines how one is scrutinized, judged, and reprimanded. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams is a character with compelling moral principles. Abigail’s disoriented moral constitution allows the theme, the detrimental effects of mass hysteria, to be constantly reassured throughout the play. Through the egotistical, manipulative, and deceitful rhetoric of Abigail Williams, Arthur Miller is successful in conveying how the spread of misinformation can tear apart a small town.

In “Barn Burning,” the author, William Faulkner, composes a wonderful story about a poor boy who lives in anxiety, despair, and fear. He introduces us to Colonel Satoris Snopes, or Sarty, a boy who is mature beyond his years. Due to the harsh circumstances of life, Sarty must choose between justice and his family. At a tender age of ten, Sarty starts to believe his integrity will help him make the right choices. His loyalty to family doesn’t allow for him to understand why he warns the De Spain family at such a young age. Faulkner describes how the Snopes family is emotionally conflicted due to Abner’s insecurities, how consequences of a father’s actions can change their lives, and how those choices make Sarty begin his coming of age into

As the story continues, his sympathy for Bartleby’s predicament develops. Throughout paragraph 90, the lawyer discovers that Bartleby resides in the office and feels pity towards how Bartleby sustains such “ miserable friendlessness and loneliness.” Readers can acknowledge how the Lawyer struggles with maintaining the changing attitudes he feels towards Bartleby: “melancholy merge into fear” and “pity into repulsion” (137). The Lawyer intended to fire Bartleby for his refusal to work, but did not, for he feared of being portrayed as a “villain” (138). According to Jack Getman, the Lawyer has “become a different, more appealing person, one who is more responsive to the needs and rights of his workers” (Getman 738). It is evident that the Lawyer undergoes many changes in the interest of Bartleby.

The audience’ perceptions and understanding of texts depend on the way the composer represents them in relation to politics. Varying texts through their individual mediums offer perspectives on the way people manipulate and are manipulated by politics. Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is a manifestation of the anger that the composer experienced in his personal life through the accusations which culminated in the McCarthy Trials. His play thus allegorically represents McCarthyism through the Salem Witch trials and exemplifies the false accusations of the people and their injustice from the corrupt politics as well as the influential ideas of power and manipulation. In relation, Geoffrey Robertson’s nonfiction ‘Michael X on death row’ also represents the corrupt and self-centred nature of the politics and the process of manipulation as a facet to gain power and control.

“37 Who Saw Murder but Didn’t Call Police” (Gansburg), that was the title of a New York Times article talking about the horrific death of Kitty Genovese, a 28 year old bar manager living in Queens, who was raped and stabbed during a two hour window, from around 2:30 a.m. to the time ambulances arrived at 4:15, by Winston Moseley (Worthen). An estimated 37 people either heard or saw the events of that fateful night in 1964, but to Kitty’s demise, none had taken any sort of action(Gansburg). The murder of Kitty Genovese has sparked many psychologists to research and later create the term “Bystander Effect”, or “The Genovese Effect” (Merry).This Bystander Effect is also very prevalent in the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller less than a decade before the murder of Kitty Genovese. This paper will discuss Arthur Miller’s possible views on the Bystander Effect by connecting Mary Warren from The Crucible with the Kitty Genovese incident.

In the story Cohen makes use of the most trivial murder of 1836 to show the twisted societal accommodations of those who are considered privileged, hypocritical channelled views towards sexuality and legal codes exploitation with a mingling of tabloids journalism and mere politics. In her story Cohen brings out a really sensational fact that a place for women is determined by a man.

Throughout the story “Barn Burning”, author William Faulkner conveys the moral growth and development of a young boy, as he must make a critical decision between either choosing his family and their teachings or his own morals and values. The reader should realize that the story “Barn Burning” was written in the 1930’s, a time of economic, social, and cultural turmoil. Faulkner carries these themes of despair into the story of the Snopes family.

Alcoholism is a disease that not only affects the user’s behavior, but strains financial standing and social interaction (“Alcohol Problems vs. Alcohol Dependency”). Jeanette’s father in The Glass Castle, an undiagnosed alcoholic, would be the poster child for alcoholism in America with his many blatantly obvious symptoms. His relationships with the people around him, his finances, and his control over his actions and emotions deteriorate as the memoir develops. With this, Walls paints a very accurate account of alcoholism and its effect in America.

In the short video “Death by Fire” we learn of the story of Todd Willingham. We are presented with facts about a fire, which killed Willingham’s three children, which ultimately sent him to his death. The case begins in the small town of Corsicana, Texas. On December 13, 1991 Todd Willingham’s home was ablaze and his children were trapped inside. Neighbors say they witnessed Willingham outside, on the front porch screaming for his children and screaming for help. As the fire raged, firefighters arrived on the scene and were able to pull one of the children out of the home. Unfortunately all of the children died due to injuries they sustained in the fire. While the fire raged in the house Todd’s wife Stacy was out Christmas shopping and was unharmed. The attitude of Todd after the fire began to raise question with those who were close to him and also with investigators. The night after the fire, a local bar had a benefit to raise money for Todd’s family to help pay for the costs they would soon face. Many say that Todd became too involved with the festivities and seemed like he did not care his kids had just died. They say that Todd was bragging about how money would begin to roll in because people would feel bad for him. Having seen these things, investigators immediately labeled Todd as their prime suspect.

At first glance, the story “Barn burning” seems just to be about a tyrannical father and a son who is in the grips of that tyranny. I think Faulkner explores at least one important philosophical question in this story were he asks at what point should a person make a choice between what his parent(s) and / or family believes and his own values?

There are several ways in which William Faulkner's short story "Barn Burning" is indicative of literary modernism. It depicts a relevant historical period and is part of the frontiersman literary tradition (Gleeson-White, 2009, p. 389). The author utilizes a number of purely literary approaches that were innovative for the time period in which the tale was originally published (in 1932), such as employing a young child as a narrator complete with misspelled words and broken, puerile thoughts. However, the most eminent way in which this story embraces the tradition of literary modernism is in the author's rendition of dynamic social conventions that were in a state of flux at the time of the writing. Specifically, his treatment of race is the inverse of how race is generally portrayed in American literature prior to the early part of the 20th century. An analysis of this integral component of "Barn Burning" reveals that Faulkner's unconventional rendering of African American characters in a desirable social status particularly as compared to that of the Snopes clan is crucial to this tale's inclusion as part of the tradition of literary modernism.

Summary of central events: Mr. Snopes burns Mr. Harris barn because Mr. Harris charges him, “a dollar pound fee,” (515) for the return of his hog. In court the judge dismisses the charges against Snopes but warns him to leave the town for good and Snopes agrees to comply. The next day the family arrives at their new home. After Snopes tracks horse manure onto the expensive rug, the server instructs him to clean and return it. Snopes ruins the rug from improper cleaning and Major de Spain “charge[s] [him] twenty bushels of corn against [his] crop” (521). At the last court appearance the judge decides that Mr.Snopes has to pay Major de Spain 10 bushels of corn for the ruin of the rug. Because Snopes is upset from having to pay de Spain for

“An Alcoholic Case” is the story of a nurse who is assigned with an alcoholic case. Throughout the story, she struggles to take care of her patient, but at the same time is worried about his sanity. One comes to realize the cause of the patient’s alcoholism when the narrator states, “She knew there were three medals from the war in his jewel box...” and it becomes clear why the man is suffering so much (Fitzgerald 334). He had psychological scars because of what had happened to him while serving in World War I. Similarly, “My son the murder” is a short-story about Leo, a father who becomes