Summary : ' Catch 22 '

Murder, one of the worst crimes a human could commit, is not taken lightly and most times the primary suspect is a male. In the 2 stories, “Lamb of the Slaughter”, and “The Landlady”, the reader learns just how murderous man’s counterpart can be. Roald Dahl, the author of these 2 stories, wrote “Lamb of the Slaughter” from the perspective of Mary Malony a loving housewife who gets terrible news, and wrote“The Landlady” from the perspective of Billy Weaver, a 17 year old businessman who stumbles across a Bed and Breakfast run by our next “Mistress of Death”. The reader will learn that even though these 2 stories are different in many ways, they still have plenty of similarities.

Does deviating from one’s gender norms inevitably doom one down a spiral of moral corruption? Tim O'Brien, author of “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” and Ernest Hemingway, author of “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, certainly seem to hold this view, as evident by the fates of the major female characters in their respective works. The deviance of the major female characters in both works appears to corrupt not only themselves, but also pollute their partners, causing them to suffer injury or harm as a result. The degree of injury ranges from negligible, like Fossie’s demotion and broken heart, to fatal, like the bullet that rips through Macomber’s skull. It begs the question, are these stories meant to serve as cautionary tales for their female readers, or possibly for their husbands, so they may recognize gender deviance and stop it in its tracks before their wives transform into Margot Macomber or Mary Anne Bell? This essay will analyze what such characters say about pervading views of women, both in society and in literature.

Robert M. Young highlights how Milo Minderbinder and Snowden are both significantly symbolic characters in the novel. He states “Milo does everything; Snowden does one: he dies. Milo is pure opportunist, Snowden pure victim.” Milo is a conniving and self-centered character, who is thoroughly explored throughout the novel. Snowden is only seen in short snippets and the circumstances of his death are rather enigmatic throughout the course of the story. Yet, despite the clear differences between these two characters, both of them touch the reader in intense ways. Milo’s meager and unsuspecting character is slowly lifted to reveal his avariciousness and manipulative ways. He is “capitalism incarnate” according to Young. However, with the same ferocity that the reader is enraged by Milo, they are melancholy and vulnerable over Snowden’s death. The reader feels Yossarian’s helplessness as he mutters

The narrator's childlike behavior represents how men would treat women as children which drove women to insanity.

With Snowden lying dead in his arms, the truth of war becomes even more frightening and real and Yossarian becomes truly paranoid. Without the focus that the scattered and repeated storyline of Snowden provides, one may not have been able to grasp its true significance.

In the shocking novel Of Mice and Men, author John Steinbeck portrays the corrupting power of women through seduction as an eager call for attention. This is shown through Steinbeck’s use of diction. The phrase “she had full, rouged lips” used to describe Curley’s wife emphasizes the inappropriate nature of the woman’s appearance. Since her lips are “rouged” Steinbeck suggests attention-seeking women to be swanky, deceiving men into their manipulative traps.

Johnathan yet to be married is moved by her beauty perfectly describing her as a “dreamy fear.” Kissed into a sudden sexuality, Lucy grows “voluptuous thrill her lips redden, and she kisses with a new interest. This, metamorphosing Lucy sweetness” to “adamantine, heartless cruelty, and her purity to voluptuous wantonness” (252), terrifies her suitors because it entails a reversal or inversion of sexual identity. Suddenly, Lucy is now toothed like the Count, takes the function of penetration reserved for males.

Sexual objectification is the act of treating a person as an instrument of sexual pleasure. Miller elucidates this by using milieu of the time period. This sexual objectification of women is mainly used by Willy with his mistress and also with the philandering Happy when he talks about women. This ideology that women are only good for the pleasure of men something that has been prevalent for centuries, stemming from the stereotype that women are objects and/or possessions for a man to exploit. Willy shows no respect to either his wife or his mistress. On his way back to Brooklyn, Willy tells his mistress to “keep [her] pores open” (1.39). This degrading statement gives insight on how Willy views women. He does not view women as people who have identities of their own, but objects that he can use for his own pleasure. Not only does this statement give insight on Willy’s views on women, but also how the mistress views herself. Her response to this statement was “Oh, Willy (1.39)”, and starts to burst out laughing. This depicts how in this time men treated women with no respect, and there were no repercussions. Linda never stood up to Willy in Brooklyn, and neither did his mistress in New England. Willy’s insolence towards women definitely rubbed off onto Happy. Happy, a philanderer, had an “If I want it, then I will get it” attitude towards women. This attitude is demonstrated when he states that, “...I don’t want the girl, and still I take it and- I love it” (1.25). This statement is the epitome of sexual objectification towards women. Happy doesn’t view women as people, but instead just as things that he can “take”.

Edward Snowden. This is a name that will be in the history books for ages. He will be branded a traitor or a whistleblower depending on where you look. Many Americans feel that Edward Snowden is a traitor who sold the United States’ secrets aiming to harm the nation. Others believe that he was simply a citizen of the United States who exercised his right to expose the government for their unconstitutional actions. It is important to not only know the two sides to the argument of friend or foe, but to also know the facts as well. My goal in this paper is to present the facts without bias and to adequately portray the two sides of the argument.

Immediately upon the men’s arrival from their hunting trip, Liz is filled with anxiousness and excitement. Once again Mrs. Smith and Liz fixed dinner, while the men waited in the front drinking whiskey and waiting to be served. After eating, in the stereotypical feministic world, the men went back into the living room while the women stayed behind to clean up. After everything was cleaned and everyone had their fill of the night, the Smith’s went to bed leaving Jim, Liz and Mr. Charley behind. Jim left Mr. Charley in the living room and headed to the kitchen where Liz remained.

Growing up, Snowden’s principles were deeply influenced by his father. An active member of the U.S. military through his work in the Coast Guard, he was trained to dutifully uphold the Constitution, and instilled this same ideal in his son (Harding, 2014).

Women are primarily objects of sexual pleasure for the male protagonists. Their characters are always filtered through the men's perspective, with the exception of the maid Bertha, Charlie’s maid, who at times makes fun at either of the brothers. (Perspectives on How Women Internalize the Ideal Beauty Standard, Year Unknown).

To take a closer look at John's weakness, his last marriage to Sally Lovelace first appears to be the one that will work out. When presented with temptation from a young woman once again, John makes a strong effort to resist. However, his efforts fail miserably and he finds himself unfaithful once again. “Two hours later when John found himself dressing in a dingy room in Oviedo he was mad-mad at his weakness-mad at Ora, though she did not know it as yet,” (Jonah, 199). This evidence does not suggest a natural urge, but a weakness. Examining sexual behavior in cultures is a large part of anthropological studies. John’s behavior in the novel suggests a sexual disorder such as nymphomania, a sex addict. If John is a nymphomaniac, he would have no control over his need to be with women. The reader must use their own anthropological lens to examine John’s true intentions in regards to his sexual escapades.

The ethical issues involving Edward Snowden’s case encompass key issues of morality. Snowden’s actions are to be interpreted as right or wrong based on the circumstances and personal reasoning. The preceding interpretation is this case in every ethical quandary. Once these issues are assimilated to the affected parties we begin to understand the larger picture of morality and ethical reasoning in Snowden’s case.

“I dreamed that a woman was coming into the room with a little girl in her arms, and that the child was chewing without stopping to take a breath, and that half-chewed kernels of corn were falling into the woman’s brassiere. The woman said to me: ‘She crunches like a nutty nuthatch, kind of sloppy, kind of slurpy.’ Suddenly I felt the anxious fingers that were undoing the buttons of my shirt, and I caught the dangerous smell of the beast of love lying on my back, and I felt myself sinking into the delights of quicksand of her tenderness.” (89-90).