Freedom And Freedom In Molara Wood's Growing My Hair Again

A noticable interesting topic about the story is the way Liberty acts. It seems Ayn Rand, the author, has something against women even though she is a woman herself. The meaning of this is, the women out there that act like girls and only care about fashion and themselves is what is being spoken of. The literary element that is being focased on deals with this issue. This essay will focas on the story "Anthem" written by Ayn Rand containing the literary element of character.

In the novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin portrays an image where someone shifts from one phase to another one. We find the protagonist go through a shift from patriarchy to feminist resistance. As this story continues to unfold, Edna goes through feminist resistance where she doesn’t want to still rely on her husband anymore and want to live by her own rules. Edna Pontellier’s “awakening” takes place in Grand Isle and New Orleans during the late 1800s. It is an important factor of the book because during this time period women were fighting for their rights. Usually before this time, women would only stay home and follow the orders of their husbands. Women during this time period needed to stay home and care for the house and the children. They always had to live for their children almost are like a slave to their husband. Women would be often seen as a property and not an actual human being. In this novel, we find restrains at the beginning and later see the shift to wanting freedom of expression.

Throughout history, women have been brushed aside as the inferiors of men. From the time of the Greeks to the modern day world, men have been the dominant beings. Mary Astell, an English feminist writer, says, “If all men are born free, how is it that all women are born slaves?” She questions the societal norm of women in predetermined constrictive roles. This theme of a submissive and obedient female pervades many literary works, specifically those by Ayn Rand. Rand’s portrayal of women in her novel Anthem further drives the female into a position of inferiority.

Freedom and Liberty are explained in many ways and in “Chains” by Laurie Halse Anderson it is explained in the American Revolution by different types of people like Patriots, the rebels that are fighting against the king to become independent, the Loyalists that want to stay with the king of Great Britain, and the slaves. The slaves are working for both Patriots and Loyalists and they chose different sides but still have their own opinion like Isabel who is more on the Patriots side but still has here opinion on freedom. They all have their own interpretation of the words, “Freedom and Liberty” but they're all different. In the book Isabel is a slave with her sister Ruth, and is with a kind woman until she dies then she is sold to the

The poems ‘Still I Rise’ and ‘Unknown Girl’ both explore the way women are expected to behave in specific societies. ‘Still I Rise’ focuses on Maya Angelou’s refusal to accept racism and to allow “them”, white oppressors, to push her down. ‘Unknown Girl’ focuses on Moniza Alvi’s want to be accepted in a society where she belongs, but can’t call her own.

Oppression is something that all humans are faced with at some point in their lives. No matter how large that oppressing force may be, it is sure to have an effect on those in its path. Zora Neale Hurston, and Celeste Ng are two authors who wrote about how their characters live in the face of hardships and both show a dramatic change in their characters from beginning to end. Hurston writes about a young woman, Delia, living in the 1920’s dealing with an abusive husband in her short story “Sweat.” Ng’s novel Little Fires Everywhere follows two families living in a prim and proper town in Ohio in the 1990’s. Throughout these works, the characters are consistently challenged by cruelty of the powerful forces surrounding them, but more importantly,

Domination and authority over women are reflected by the male characters in Things Fall Apart, specially the protagonist Okonkwo, as he oppresses his wives and overly abuse his power as the male dominator. At the beginning of the novel Okonkwo displayed, this trait as the monarch of the household “He ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children” (Acebe, 10). In the Igbo community men were the domineering sex and ruled over their families especially their wives. They treated their wives with disrespect and continuously let women live in fear. As stated above, males being more powerful than women limit woman capabilities and let them fear their husband. Throughout the book the author gives a clear idea that within the Igbo culture they live in a patriarchy society and as proven above the males continuously withhold this dominate role in their household.

Throughout the history of mankind, change has remained a constant. Men and women continually strive to improve their lives and enact changes that enable them to better their quality of life. Our world’s history is compromised of these efforts by man to enhance society, through political, economic, and social changes, which are further documented through the cultural outputs of a society. The poets Roger Bonair-Agard and Gloria Anzaldua encapsulate the calls for change in a society through their works “how do we spell freedom – the weusi alphabeti method” and “El sonavabitche”, respectively. Though the two poets wrote on vastly different subjects, both authors employed literature as a medium for their call for activism in society and expressed discontent with the dominance of western culture over minority groups. Through their utilization of formal elements including imagery, diction, and narrator, both poets call for action to change the mindset that the imposition that American society holds over other groups of people.

Federal Judge Skelly Wright and James Farmer, saw the difficulty in change. Both of which knew which change comes a ton of backlash, and both of them knew in order to create change, you must speak out, and let others hear your voice. Skelly Wright had made the decision to desegregate New Orlean Schools which in this time period was racially something that was heavily disagreed on. While Farmer had almost been shot. Both of which had powered through this hate to become who they are today. These sources show that in order for people to create change, which can take a long time, they must speak what they feel, and ignore the backlash that might come to them.

Stepto analyzes the significance of the word choice and diction in Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise” and how Angelou’s title poem, reminds us of Brown's famous "Strong Men," that it is the discovery of that point which helps us define Angelou’s particular presence and success. The poetic and visual rhythms created by the repetition of "Still I Rise" and its variants clearly revoice that of Brown's "strong men . . . strong men gittin' stronger." (Stepto 313) Stepto later suggests Angelou’s word play and draws the reader’s attention to Angelou’s usage of the word ‘I’ “But the "I" of Angelou’s refrain is obviously female and, in this instance, a woman forthright about the sexual nuances of personal and social struggle.” (Stepto 314) I plan on using this essay to further examine diction and its importance in this

“Still I Rise”, written by African-American writer Maya Angelou, includes a character who rises “Up from a past that’s rooted in pain.” No matter what words are said against her, lies are told about her, threats are made towards her, or words are written against her, she takes the past and uses it to fuel her confidence. The way she writes creates a deep sense of pride and feeling, while giving the poem life and helping the audience realise that they, too can rise. The diction, literary devices, and theme help the speaker portray her feelings about the topic of oppression in her experience.

Theme: In a society that mistakenly values beauty and influences over individuality, one chooses to be in the known without any life consequences, thus causing one to sacrifice their true self and abandon their morals, and as a result it alters one as a person to be someone who they truly aren’t.

Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, depicts the life of a clansman of Umuofia, known as Okonkwo. Okonkwo was one of the wealthiest and respected men of his tribe. He gained respect as a great wrestler in his clan, and worked to surpass his father, Unoka’s image, which had been sullied by unpaid debts, and his work-shy attitude. Unoka was no man to Okonkwo, for Unoka had not taken any titles in his clan, therefore, he was nothing more than a woman in Okonkwo’s eyes. In such a patriarchal society being called a woman was disgraceful, and Okonkwo wanted nothing to do with anything womanly, and in turn he wanted nothing of his father, including any traits he carried, righteous or not. Okonkwo’s twisted view of masculinity and lack of compassion creates high expectations. When Okonkwo begins to see that his clan, family, and he himself cannot reach his expectations of strength, he will have nothing the turn to, but the noose that fate has made for him. The Igbo proverb “The thought that led a man to truncate his own existence was not conceived in a day” applies to Okonkwo’s suicide, which had begun with his twisted ideology of masculinity. The thoughts that led Okonkwo to commit suicide originate within his perception of weakness tied to his father; he sees this weakness in his son, in his tribe, and in himself. Okonkwo is disappointed in his son Nwoye for becoming so much like Unoka, he is ashamed of his clan for conforming to the views of the Christians, and he is

Okonkwo illustrates the use of gender roles and lack of feminism in his daughter, Ezinma and his regret of her being a girl (Achebe 137). Okonkwo’s desire for his daughter to be a man is problematic and represents the patriarch’s refusal to view women as equal to men. Throughout Ezinma’s life time, Okonkwo expresses his desires for Ezinma to be born a boy ( Achebe 137). He explictly states to himself that he, “wishes she were a boy,” because she “understands him perfectly” (Achebe 136). Okonkwo expands on this desire as he continue to express how Ezinma is his favorite among the daughters and that she understands the ways of his consciousness and his moods (Achebe 137) . Although these expressions are subtle, Okonkwo’s regret of Ezinma’s gender plays a role in the patriarchal induced gender roles that women are socially lesser than men. Society’s standards

This ideal is a part of the village that women aren’t of high value and important in the village of Umuofia. It states “Without looking at the man Okonkwo had said. “This meeting is for men.” The man who had contradicted him had no titles. That was why he had called him a woman. Okonkwo knew how to kill a man’s spirit.” This shows that being a women or being called a woman is a very bad insult that can “Kill a man’s spirit”. Unoka is Okonkwo’s father, who is much different from Okonkwo that he is a peaceful care-free soul and a musician but because of this care-free way of life, doesn’t provide for the family and is lazy. Unoka is a caring man and cared for his son in the book when Okonkwo had a bad harvesting month. Unoka consoled Okonkwo by saying “Do not despair. I know you will not despair. You have a manly and a proud heart. A proud heart can survive a general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride. It is more difficult and bitter when a man fails alone.” Obierika is Okonkwo’s best friend who is a compassionate friend that gives reasonable help to Okonkwo’s decisions and actions. One example of this is when Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna, Obierika tells him “And let me tell you one thing, my friend. If I were you I would have stayed home. What you have done will not please the