Reoccurring Themes In Literature

People tend to feel the most happiness in their daily lives rather than happiness over all. For instance, if someone opens the door for you, does something outrageous, tells a funny story or simply reacts kindly to you, you can experience happiness. Laughing at someones joke can cause you to feel happy even for just a moment. Another definition of happiness in our daily lives is self appreciation such as, getting that new raise, getting an A on a test or even getting into the college you want. These examples all cause happiness in different but still rather large ways. We seem to think that happiness is so difficult to come by, we focus so hard on what happiness is that we don't even realize the simple things in life that are truly making a difference. We can become significantly happy without even noticing. Although happiness seems like it’s hard to find it’s not all that difficult. What’s hard to come by is the feeling of genuine happiness ; genuine happiness is what people truly look for.

Often in literature there are common themes that occur throughout eras and genres to link two otherwise different pieces of writing. One particular example of this occurrance can be seen in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. Although these works have been written in very different time periods and use separate styles, there are two themes which link both stories and convey a very similar message. Strict societal roles and the treatment of women in patriarchal societies are prevalent ideas in both Shakespeare’s play and Atwood’s novel. These themes are approached and dealt with differently in each work, but ultimately convey the same meaning. There are some aspects of humanity that are

What is Happiness? Well, In Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley (great book by the way), the people that lived in this dystopian world, called World State, had a motto/goal that they believed that it provided them happiness; “Community, Identity, and Stability.” Which basically meant that you have no individuality, so that your community has stability. In addition to that, all they did was have sex and drugs which made them oblivious to how their “perfect” society is not so perfect. They also scientifically altered how humans reproduced, so instead of being born from the womb, people were being “born” from tubes, and in those tubes, they prepare you for the job or role you will be forced to do for the rest of your life. The best part? They use

There is no question that science and technology is as essential to functioning in an advanced society as soil is essential for a flower. In numerous communities, technology is so often an asset to be yearned for. We want to have the best smartphone, the best internet, the smartest home possible. Every piece of mainstream technology strives to make life easier, and yet it appears to be quite the contrary. Since the 1900s, we have gained dishwashers and automatic floor sweepers. Yet a question remains: have we truly become happier? As the prevalence of technology is on the rise in our own time, survey after survey, research after research shows that we are actually more unhappy with our lives. Suicide rates have skyrocketed ( Tavernise)

The philosopher Aristotle once wrote, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” This famous quote compels people to question the significance of their joy, and whether it truly represents purposeful lives they want to live. Ray Bradbury, a contemporary author, also tackles this question in his book, Fahrenheit 451, which deals heavily with society's view of happiness in the future. Through several main characters, Bradbury portrays the two branches of happiness: one as a lifeless path, heading nowhere, seeking no worry, while the other embraces pure human experience intertwined together to reveal truth and knowledge.

society is not content, not happy, and not satisfied, but nothing is done to reverse their

Is this the kind of happiness we are in fact choosing nowadays? Are we more willing to sacrifice our individuality for the sake of stability (re: collective, or job security) and happiness? What are you willing to sacrifice in order to be happy? Recall that in Brave New World, religion, history, art, family, and love were sacrificed.

When people are faced with opportunities to pursue happiness, individuals will change their morals and beliefs to fed their greed usually resulting in regretful actions. Individuals experience greed and envy in the world , evidently resulting in a demanding personality. We need to ern everything we want. In order to pursue personal happiness people will compromise the conditions of others.We tend to demand what we want without being concerned about other people. When we demand everything without the concern of others, our morals begin to change and we experience a shift in how we see the world. People are constantly changing their morals and beliefs in a negative way to get what they want. People always want to pursue happiness regardless of the effects they will have on the

In Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, the main goal of the world state is to keep everyone happy. The author portrays happiness as this powerful drug that influences people to be happy and have sex. I believe that this book suggests that we as a society need to find other forms of happiness for ourselves other than taking drugs and following others.

In Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, happiness does not really exist. The government controls the environment and the minds of the people to make citizens happy. The World State and the World Controllers believe that happiness and truth are opposites and don’t work together, so they picked making the citizens happy instead of allowing them to know the truths. Huxley argues that we as a population distract ourselves from the truth with technology and other means of diversion and that these things will ruin us.

When we look to define happiness, many different ideas come to mind. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary uses three definitions for happiness: good fortune, a state of well being and contentment, and a pleasurable satisfaction. In Brave New World, Aldus Huxley argues that a society can redefine happiness through the government’s manipulation of the environment and the human mind itself. The government accomplishes this by mind conditioning throughout the process of maturing, keeping a caste-based society, and obliterating problems. The government thus defines happiness as the absence of all conflict. This differs from happiness as the American society sees it: the ability to pursue and enjoy individual desires.

Attention Materials: Many times I have wondered what is true happiness. Is there such thing as true happiness? Can it even be attained if there is such a thing? Is it more of fulfilling desires, or satisfying psychological needs? Every person attempts to realize happiness in its fullest essence. It seems like today people are too busy trying to get rich. Nowadays it is believed that happiness lies in that new mansion, or a nice Ferrari. People are mistakingly assuming that wealth will bring to them a personal significance in which they will achieve happiness.

The British philosopher David Hume said: “ The great goal of all human endeavor is to achieve happiness.” Happiness is an ultimate goal of life and virtually everybody wants to be happy. Happiness is a psychological state of mind that the feelings of pleasure. Happiness is, after all, a state of mind. Happiness can be achieved by following measures including: psychological well-being, education system, living standards, government governance and politics, social position, and ecological environment wellness (Mankiw & Taylor, 2011, p. 8). Economic wealth is the net worth of firms, households, or nations, which are the value of all assets owned net of all liabilities owed at a period (Anderton, 2008, p. 203). It can be clearly seen that

There is a lingering question with happiness and its place in a modern day society, to what extent is happiness a healthy goal for a society? Yes, since happiness being a goal for a society makes resources like medical attention readily available and may being attention to figurative and physical diseases that plagues our society. But, basic needs such as the ones discussed in Maslow’s hierarchy may create issues in a modern day society due to it having a different definition from person to person. Happiness is a healthy goal for a society since it can bring attention to problems like diseases and it can promote good health, but the modern day assumptions about wealth materialism influence in happiness often conflicts with what is needed to live like housing, food, and water, versus what is wanted like jewelry, expensive shoes, or even media subscriptions. Happiness is a necessity that shouldn’t be neglected in a society, but certainly has changed and been thought of for many years.

When you hear the word happiness, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Do you think of material possessions like designer clothes and accessories, the newest iPhone with the highest possible storage capacity, or a shiny red supercar? Do you think the amount of money you have or your current financial status has an effect on how happy you are? Plenty of college students, myself included, would associate happiness with possessing items like these or just having a lot of money in general. In today’s society, one common belief about social class is that the richer and more money or things that one has, the happier this will make them. This belief is reinforced by countless advertisements we see and hear everywhere, whether that be on