The end of the eighteenth century was a dangerous time to be a child living in England; common folk everywhere were struggling to get by. Parents could not afford to feed and care for their children, so mothers and fathers had no choice but to sell their sons and daughters. Unfortunately, the career that children were forced into was chimney sweeping, which had a terrifyingly high mortality rate. The poem, “The Chimney Sweeper”, written by William Blake, tells the heartbreaking story of a child who is sold into chimney sweeping at a young age and leads a devastating life. After reading Blake’s poem about the sweepers, one may begin to wonder how it was possible for children to be treated so poorly, and how the king of that time could allow conditions for his people to get so bad. Thomas Paine shared his opinion on the caste system in his work Rights of Man. Paine explains that there are plenty of people that have lived undesirable lives for the king who are not acknowledged in politics, like the common folk who have been let down by the flawed caste system, including the chimney sweepers and other laborers. Because of the immense inequality taking place during this time, simply through birthrights, it becomes an important topic to focus in on. The works of Blake and Paine together give the audiences a new point of view on England’s political system at the end of the eighteenth century. These works protest the push away from the establishment and a push towards representing
James E. Faust once said, “Unfortunately, some of our greatest tribulations are the result of our own foolishness and weakness and occur because of our own carelessness or transgression.” In To Build a Fire by Jack London, a man is on a journey to get to his camp but the problem is that it is seventy degrees below zero, and he is travelling only with a dog to help him. The man, unfortunately, dies at the end of the story from frostbite after falling into an almost frozen creek and not being able to make a fire in order to warm himself up. One cause of his death is the man’s arrogance. The second cause of his death is his carelessness and hasty decisions. The man makes terrible decisions leading to his death, it is not nature’s fault.
Fences written by August Wilson is an award winning drama that depicts an African-America family who lives in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania during the 1950’s. During this time, the Mason’s reveal the struggles working as a garbage man, providing for his family and excepting life as is. The end of segregation began, more opportunities for African American people were accessible. Troy, who’s the father the Cory and husband of Rose has shoes fill as a working African America man. He is the family breadwinner and plays the dominant role in the play. Troy’s childhood was pretty rough growing up on a farm of 11 children. Overtime, he realizes the change of society. He builds a friendship fellow sanitation worker, Jim Bono while in the penitentiary. Troy planned to build a fence around his house to control the number of people on his property. The fence also plays a symbolic role throughout the drama. These motives and characteristics control is what makes Troy the friend, father, worker, and husband he is today.
Growing up I was always told “be a leader, not a follower” and “treat others how you want to be treated”.As a child i thought these were just words i would recite to me dad every morning not knowing that he was teaching me to stand out, in others words, marginality. assimilation on the other hand is something most of us try to avoid nobody wants to be “just another one” and playing by someone else’s rules. In the three works “The Fire Next Time”, A james Baldwin photograph, and “Para Teresa” i found evidence of marginality and assimilation for all different kinds of worldwide issues toda. I’ll explain.
"Between the world and me” is basically a letter Coates writes to his 15-year old son, Samori. The style and structure of the book borrows largely from “The Fire Next Time” by James Baldwin which has an epistolary structure and an elliptical style. At a glance, the texts seems like they were not meant for the general public as the tone of book insinuates privacy and intimacy. However, this is not the case. As a matter of fact the appearance of privacy is deceptive and he uses the letter form to give him a larger scope to illustrate the emotional complexity of black life in America. Some parts of the text portray characteristics of a faithful letter while some indicate that Coates is speaking to larger audience. One of the moment which shows that it is a personal letter is revealed after the non-indictment of Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown as Coates addresses his son one on one: “…You stayed up till 11 pm that night, waiting for the announcement of an indictment, and when instead it was announced that there was none you said, “I’ve got to go,” and you went into your room, and I heard you crying. I came in five minutes after, and I didn’t hug you, and I didn’t comfort you, because I thought it would be wrong to comfort you. I did not tell you that it would be okay, because I have never believed it would be okay...” In another moment, he appears to be speaking to the general public and rallying his black counterparts against black supremacy: “…Perhaps our triumphs
“Some people build fences to keep people out...and other people build fences to keep people in” (61). In the play, Fences, by August Wilson who displays how fences symbolize different situations to represent different characters. The story takes place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the 1950’s, and in the play fences gives an outlook of providing an obstacle or barrier that is intended to keep something out or in. It shows through the protagonist character, named Troy Maxson and his wife Rose in which later they both realize the aftermath of the process of building a fence became the opposite of what they didn’t intend to happen.
James Joyce’s 1914 collection of 15 short stories The Dubliners has the continuous theme of money which further dwells into the idea of class systems, how colonies became a dichotomy, and how in the end, the colonists were nearly the same. Since Joyce writes these stories in the early 20th Century, there has been a large history behind colonization and the life that comes with it. In using everyday examples or little segments of the average day, Joyce expresses the idea and components of the class system in Dublin which shows the distinction and yet the similarities between the impoverished and the well to do.
African-Americans during the middle of the twentieth century were treated differently than those of the white population. Fences, a play by August Wilson, demonstrates the frustration of white dominance during a time when African-Americans were secluded from society. The Maxson family are the main characters of the play, showing the life they lived in their black tenement in Pittsburg in the 1950s. The setting demonstrates the drama of their struggle, frustration, rebellion, and the predicaments that unfold. Slavery has been eliminated from America for some time prior to the setting of this play, but it still shadows and presses upon the African-American community in Wilson’s play. August Wilson’s play Fences, shows the racial segregation and injustice displayed in America through out much of the middle of the twentieth century.
Racism is no new concept, even in this day and age. For centuries, the topic of racism has been prevalent, within the confines of the United States especially. James Baldwin, author of The Fire Next Time, writes of his experiences and thoughts of racism throughout his life in the previously mentioned book. Though published in 1962, Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time greatly relates to the U.S even to this day. Baldwin shows a different side of racism that one might have never thought—while keeping a sense of hope for the future intact. In the first essay dedicated to his nephew, Baldwin says, “[…] and we can make America what America must become,” and it mustn’t become anything without trying (Baldwin 10).
One of the points that is consistently brought up in Toni Morrison’s Paradise is that of the all black town “Ruby”. Paradise uses the setting of Oklahoma to discuss how many black towns are shaped by past history and religion. While the town in this novel is fictional, there have been real all black towns in the United States, and it seems that these towns influenced many aspects of the town Ruby, which is why it is so easy to imagine that the story could actually be real. Many authors have written in general about the novel, and specifically about the town within it.
If one desires the lifetime euphoria of moving on, one must endure the short term pain of accepting the truth. The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney tells the story of Alex Patrick, a junior high student who is raped at Themis Academy. Alex remembers nothing, and must fight to find out the truth about the night she spends with Carter Hutchinson. With the support of her friends, flashbacks of that night, and help from the student justice system, The Mockingbirds, Alex is determined to seek justice. It is through the principal character of the novel, Alex, that the reader is able to identify the character trait that pushes her to discover the truth. As Alex seeks help from the student justice system, the reader is able to see how they help her reveal the truth through their allusions to To Kill A Mockingbird. Furthermore, as the protagonist of the story resolves the conflict within herself, the reader is able to see how she develops and grows into a person that is able to accept the truth that has been revealed. In The Mockingbirds, Daisy Whitney reveals it is not until one comes to accept the truth of a traumatic event, is one finally able to make the decision to move forward in all aspects of their life.
In the play “The Glass Menagerie” of Tennessee William, he wrote a drama play to emphasize readers about the life is at a standstill the Wingfield family. Through of the Wingfield family, he uses many symbols which represent many things, but the important main symbolization is fire escape that shows three main characters; Tom Wingfield, his fire escape is the way out of Amanda and Laura. Amanda Wingfield, hope gentlemen callers to enter their lives, and Laura Wingfield, who wants in her own world by collecting unicorn animals. They express successfully in the play by using the fire escape portrays each of characters as literal exist from their own reality.
In “To Build a Fire”, the author Jack London uses three fires to express the overall theme of pride. The unnamed man goes on a journey in freezing temperatures which leads him to make stupid decisions. The first fire the protagonist creates restores his pride he has in himself. London states, “for the fire was beginning to burn with strength”.
In the short story, “To Build a Fire,” Jack London puts a tragic twist on the classic tale of wilderness survival. The author’s use of imagery and detailed sentences leave readers yearning for the warmth of fire alongside the characters. The story takes place in the Yukon during the Great Klondike Gold Rush, where the author himself spent a very influential part of his young life. London’s style of writing is an exaggeration of his own experience while mining in the arctic north. In this story, Jack London writes about an inexperienced man and his dog’s struggle through fatal weather conditions.
In Shel Silverstein’s poem “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” he explains how adults should act as children so they can enjoy life to the fullest. Because the description in the poem emphasizes the world in which children live in and does not mention the adult’s point of view, the children represent that people, specifically adults, need to take a step back and have the imagination of a child in order to find joy and passion again in their life. He uses literary devices in the piece in order to send the message that people take life too seriously and later regret not taking the incentive of enjoying themselves. By adults taking the role of a child, they forget all of their problems and enter a stress-free world, where finally, they can truly live life.
Home is about a Korean War veteran named Frank Money who needs to save his sister from dying. The story starts with Frank describing a scene from his childhood with his sister. They were in a field with horses he describes the horses being beautiful and brutal, but on the other side some men were burying a dead African American in a hole. When Frank becomes an adult he is soon committed to a mental hospital after his time in the war. Frank soon gets a letter stating that his sister was in danger and could die if he did not hurry to save her. Then he remembers his family being evicted and not being able to take any possessions. Frank then escapes the bastion of the