Conformity and Convenience in Friedrich Durrenmatt's The Visit

With the stranger dead, the people of the community help themselves to his cheques. Money begins to exchange hands as goods are bought and deals are made. The progress of economic development comes to the village. No one is afraid to dig up the money that they have saved because as soon as the cheques are cashed there will be no worries, and the town can continue to "prosper." But as every man meditates on their "two of these excellent billets," they begin to feel that "they were too rich to speak to each other" (71, 72). Conflict grows between one-time friends as they argue over what is to be bought and sold. Greed has come to town with the artist and his witch's money.

To begin, the warden informs Jimmy about his father death, Jimmy is left in disbelieve. “Just as well, because your family doesn’t want you to attend the funeral service (Baca 233).” Then, when Jimmy is released from prison he uncovers that his uncle Julian, called the warden, requesting that Jimmy dose not attend the funeral of Damacio Baca. Julian’s action is due to Damacio leaving Jimmy a twenty thousand dollars insurance policy for Jimmy, so he could a hire a good lawyer and defend his case. However his uncles took the money and spent it on a liquor license (Baca 235). Jimmy realizes prison is killing his humanity, he could not cry to grieve over his father’s death even though is emotions were genuine. Finally Jimmy honors Damacio by vowing that prison system will not break his sprite or stain his

In the play Hamlet there are many themes that were brought to our attention; Madness, Revenge, Mortality, Religion, Incest, Family, and Death. In this essay we will be discussing two of these themes that we found intriguing, the two themes are Death, and Revenge.

The relevance and significance of the revenge tragedy is in the way it explores human nature and forces audiences to evaluate ideologies such as revenge and justice. The concept of revenge is accompanied by moral conflict and Shakespeare demonstrates that by acting immorally society is likely to be riddled with corruption. Hamlet seeks to avenge the death of his father but struggles with the ramifications of seeking righteous revenge through an immoral act. The imposition of revenge instills the existential questioning on Hamlet as it contradicts his with his social expectation. His

In the modern society of today, the weak and innocent are constantly oppresed by the amoral, and within the story of, "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" the essence of this innocence is depicted through the character of Ms. Lucynell Crater Jr. By using her life, along with Mrs. Lucynell Crater’s and Mr. Shiftlet’s, Flannery O’Connell illustrates the human condition and how we often put our morals to the side for our own self-centered gain.

Dramatist, Edmond Rostand, in his play, Cyrano de Bergerac, illustrates the central character’s ceaseless honor conflicting with doubts within himself. Rostand’s purpose is to show that morality and principles are strived for until the end, emphasized with the inclusion of the white scarf. Rostand adopts a comical yet tragic tone in order to describe the situations where honor is seen at high value, but has the potential to accrue danger.

The play, "An Inspector Calls", uses moralistic irony to reflect on achievements made today. He reveals the weaknesses and wickedness not only in society, but in the individual characters; which I explain

The Case of Valentine Shortis by Martin L. Friedland, discusses the question of whether Francis Valentine Cuthbert Shortis is sane or insane. On March 1st, 1895, Shortis murdered two payroll clerks, John Loy, and Maxime Leboeuf, wounding another clerk in the small town of Valleyfield, Quebec. In this case the dilemma remains in the hands of the jury to decide if he committed this crime in his actual senses. There is sufficient evidence on both sides, Shortis seemed to have a troubled childhood and was sent to Canada by his father to become independent, and able to support himself. From a juror’s perspective, the majority of the evidence presented in this case, Valentine Shortis is most definitely sane and therefore guilty. Firstly, Shortis had a motive to commit this crime, his actions were not abrupt but he had the intention and came prepared. The who examined Shortis all state that his actions of irresistible impulse and he can be classified as morally insane, but he does not entirely fall under the definition of either of these diseases. Lastly, witnesses was brought forward to prove Shortis’ insanity does not exactly prove insanity, but rather the actions of a hot-headed youth who found joy in his reckless acts. These evidences all lead to one thing, Valentine Shortis is sane and fully aware of his actions.

In relation to the issue of revenge in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, all Americans are forced to question a

“You really are a special kinda stupid are you, what the hell is wrong with you!.” The young girl says. She sits down beside him, in tears. His face was swollen and covered in blood, it was as if he were run over by a car. Alfred looks down and sees a very elegant and stylish fedora, and inside was money, a couple thousand from the looks of it. Inside his hat neatly clipped and well hidden. He realizes that this man was a pimp, a gangster who uses women for profit. He didn 't understand why this young girl was infatuated with this man, who in his eyes is a despicable human being.

Frankenstein proves a quintessential ethical experience as it teaches that not only is absolute justice unattainable, but also it is undesirable as revenge most often serves as its motivation. She demonstrates that, because of their desire for revenge, both individuals and the courts fail to achieve

Some customs of retribution and punishment when viewed in an unbiased light take on new characters, almost respectful forms of civil obedience and respect. Take the case of Whyman and Hadigaddy, two men from all accounts clashing over familial and romantic notions, not unlike two gentleman may seek to settle with a duel with pistols.

The equivocal nature of temptation, the commerce with phantoms consequent upon false choice, the resulting sense of unreality ("nothing is, but what is not"), which has yet such power to "smother" vital function, the unnaturalness of evil ("against the use of nature"), and the relation between disintegration in the individual ("my single state of man") and disorder in the larger social organism - all these are major themes of the play which are mirrored in the speech under consideration. (94)

Differentiating between good and bad is often difficult when it seems that there is a necessary evil to obtain a specific outcome. Over the course of English 1302 the class has read several short stories, poems and even a play that have all had different plots and characters involved. While these diverse articles appear to have little in common there is a constant underlying theme to most of them. Regardless of if the story pertained to a village stoning, a murderous wife, an endearing husband, or a young teenage girl there remains a persistent dismissal of misguided actions or words that are justified to be the means to some sort of end. In “The Lottery”, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like The Sun”, and “Trifles” the authors reject the idea of right and wrong and instead focus on the complications and contradictions found in good and evil.

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies. At first glance, it holds all of the common occurrences in a revenge tragedy which include plotting, ghosts, and madness, but its complexity as a story far transcends its functionality as a revenge tragedy. Revenge tragedies are often closely tied to the real or feigned madness in the play. Hamlet is such a complex revenge tragedy because there truly is a question about the sanity of the main character Prince Hamlet. Interestingly enough, this deepens the psychology of his character and affects the way that the revenge tragedy takes place. An evaluation of Hamlet’s actions and words over the course of the play can be determined to see that his ‘outsider’ outlook on society,