The Suicide Letter of a Young French Girl

The initial impulse of the French revolution was destructive. For those who lived through all, or even part, of these vast upheavals, the shock was overwhelming. Maximilien Robespierre was a proud disciple of the enlightenment and declared that no political writer had foreseen this revolution. Robespierre (1758-1794) was one of the leaders of the Committee of Public Safety, the effective governing body of France during the most radical phase of the revolution. The leaders of this revolution attempted, perhaps more than any other revolutionary leaders before or since, to totally transform human society in every way. (Supreme Being) Although Robespierre began with patriotic intent he still was the face of the Reign of Terror and was viewed as being a radical person.

There are times when we feel like we must be perfect in other to please others. No matter if we did the best we could, if it isn’t perfect, we felt like a failure. We want the approval that comes with perfectness but perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be our best. Perfectionism is not about healthy achievement and growth; it 's a shield. Perfectionism is refusal to accept any standard short of perfection. “Suicide Note,” by Janice Mirikitani, is about an Asian American college student who commits suicide by jumping from her dormitory window. This poem is read as the suicide note that was left behind by this young woman to apologize to her parent s for having received less than a perfect four point grade average and not being perfect in life. Her last thoughts and feelings were left on this note, describing why she did what she did. The pressure to succeed that this student felt from herself and her parents was far too much to overcome. Even though the girl worked really hard and did her very best, it wasn’t good enough in her mind and maybe in her parents’ minds to be worthy of her parents’ love or life itself and so her only option was death to atone for her sin of imperfection. Sometimes pressure to succeed that a student feels from herself and her parents is far too much to overcome.

The French Revolution is arguably the bloodiest period in French history, with men such as Maximilien Robespierre leading the country into a situation of state sponsored terror. Originally being quite a liberal thinker inspired by the works of Rousseau, Robespierre quickly gained a reputation for being a radical throughout the course of the Revolution, especially during the Terror. Early on terror was justified as a means to root out foreign and domestic enemies of the Revolution, however; once the foreign threat had been taken care of it became increasingly difficult for Robespierre to rationalize his use of terror to bring about a supposed Republic of Virtue. In his speech, the “Justification of the use of Terror” which he presented to

Beginning in 1789, the French Revolution was a time of rebellion, passion, betrayal, death, violence, and perseverance. Before 1789, King Louis XVI was taxing his poorest people heavily, whilst the rich were hardly taxed at all. The socioeconomic system in place at the time, known as the ancien regime, ruthlessly upheld the status quo. When the tension in France rose to a boiling point, fiery, young rebels to rose up against the Monarchy, the Ancien Regime, and the Clergy. These revolutionaries desperately wanted change, and they had three main principles around which their movement centered: Liberté, Égalité, and Fraternité. Liberty is the freedom to do as one pleases so long as one’s actions do not unjustifiably harm others. Equality is being considered the same. Fraternity is a sense of brotherhood and companionship. The goals of the French Revolution were initially achieved with alacrity, however they were abandoned with relative quickness as malcontented leaders quested for, and abused, power and authority.

“Never push a loyal person to a point where they no longer care.” Innocent people will end up doing desperate things for others just the way Conrad committed suicide because his girlfriend made him. Michelle, the girlfriend forced him to kill himself so many times till one day he finally decided too because he couldn’t take it anymore. The ”Suicide By Text” case has prompted many people to discuss social issues such as depression and emotional manipulation.

King Louis XVI and Marie Antionette were two people that should not have been ruling a country. King Louis was always gone on hunting trips and Marie Antionette spent every dime of French money. Once the Monarchy ran out money, they started to tax the Third, and poorest, estate. The third estate took up 97% of the population. 97% of the population was starving and the royal family kept spending large amounts of money until the people revolted. The people of France tried to reason with King Louis, but he refused to change his ways and kept taxing the third estate. When the people revolted, they stormed the Bastille and took all of the weapons they could. The people then went to the King’s palace and demanded he fix the way he was ruling before they killed him. The King didn’t listen and was executed along with his wife. Of the three kids that Marie Antionette had, the two boys died of Tuberculosis in jail and the daughter was sent to live the remainder of her life in exile in Austria. It may seem as though the people of France had successfully overgrown their monarchy and could begin a life of freedom, however this is not the case. The French had rushed into combat too fast and did not have a plan for what to do after they had killed their rulers. The right of Terror begins where Maximilian Robespierre beheads 40,000 people in the span of ten months for speaking against the revolution. In the end, Robespierre ends up getting

As more peoples blood is split to gain the rights not extended to them, the Terror grows becoming more and more gruesome. The French revolution began in late 1789 to obtain the rights that every citizen in born with. The motto of the French was liberty, equality, or death and the price to be paid for the civil liberties was blood. The revolutionary leader Robespierre and journalist Marat explained the more blood the better so that was what raged the people and started the Reign of Terror. Were the values expressed by the French Revolution necessary though? Even though, the French Revolution saw the Terror as a sign to create peace and restore a new France it was not justified because the extremities of the internal and external threats

Liberté, Egalité, and Fraternité were the main principles of the French revolution. However, it was a time where these three ideals would be twisted into nothing more than moral and physical violence. The revolution was ultimately a failure which spun out of control and began to murder itself. The French wanted Freedom from its absolutist ruler, but in turn saw themselves being governed by the devil. These citizens wanted a sense of brotherhood amongst their country, but saw their nation being torn apart by violence. Furthermore, the third estate sought to benefit from a new government that promised equality; however, the result was a further imbalance in an already corrupt society. Ironically, the gruesome reign of terror which was

The author explained how the French Revolution starts and also how choice made by the royal government affect the old regime which moved the country into different conflicts. For example, in chapter 1 “The

France was experience a great amount of change in the summer of 1793, when the Jacobins succeeded the moderates in the National Convention. With the radical Jacobins in power, the country was in tumult, and a Reign of Terror ensued due to a law of suspects that legalized local revolutionary committees. Because of this, thousands of people were killed by guillotine or other methods. Throughout the summer of 1793, the radical Jacobins’ control of the Committee of Public Safety instituted the Terror which was advantageous in it’s intended purpose, yet it was disadvantageous because of the enemies it created.

The published letter of the king’s reasoning for departure also served the public with rage, and, “equally significant for the future of the Revolution was the dramatic change in attitude toward the king…everything was transformed by the king’s flight.” (Tackett, 101) People in the streets of Paris were throwing out their portraits of the royal family and were seeing the king, the one they praised a week ago, as a deserter and conspirator to their newly-formed and praised government. The use of rumor and newspapers by members of The Cordelier Club also helped spread certain radical ideals in which prompted the idea of turning France into a republic, and of dissembling the monarchy and the king altogether. It was this power in the streets of Paris that would soon grow with every day after the king fled, as, “Outside the Legislative Assembly, however, the more radical revolutionaries had managed to hold the loyalty of most of the provincial club network, giving them a powerful propaganda tool.” (Popkin, 58) The National Assembly was still strong in its number of members favorable of this new constitutional monarchy, but it was in the streets and with the people that the actual aspect of the Revolution was shifting. Members of the National Assembly were getting restless

In this essay I shall try to find whether the Terror was inherent from the French revolutions outset or was it the product of exceptional circumstances. The French revolution is the dividing line between the Ancien Regime and the modern world. After France the hierarchy that societies of the time had been founded on began to change and they began to sweep away the intricate political structures of absolute monarchy, but however to achieve this was the Terror absolutely necessary? And was it planned/ or was it just the extraordinary circumstances, which the French had lead themselves into once they had deposed of Louis the

Suicide is a very important theme to the French Revolution as a whole. It had deep historical roots in the fact that it presented powerful political and social expression during the French Revolution. Suicide created a new link between sacralization and politics during the French Revolution. During the French Revolution, there were two approaches to suicide; the first was self-destruction and the second was the opportunity to change fate. Many revolutionaries like Jacques Roux used suicide as means to escape the corruption of other revolutionary groups or the hegemony of the state. However, suicides like Charlotte Corday’s were for the purpose of the seizing an opportunity to drive an accomplished fate. Because the middle and lower classes of society faced a relative deprivation, or were without basic rights of an individual, they would perform any means necessary to invoke change. From 1789-1793, to demonstrate the necessity for basic freedoms, people would commit suicide in demonstrative ways to express the importance of individual liberties in society.

Old Regime France in the late 18th century was a very unstable place and time. It was when people started to care about education and hard work rather than land and the church like during the Middle Ages. During this time people became more invested in trying to make society better. Many new ideas about government and humans were created during this time. This period known as the Enlightenment Era was a very new thing for France. This “Age of Reason” as it is known, made people criticize their society. The system of government in France was deeply flawed and people were beginning to see that. The system that controlled old regime France known as Absolutism was a type of monarchy were the king has total power and his reign is determined by blood. The king was always the first born son of the previous king. Absolutist kings could enact whatever law they wanted and could kill anyone for any reason, no matter how unjust. People that were related to the king were granted the title of nobility and had special perks and privileges. Philosophers like John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau all

The French Revolution began as an expression of rebellion against centuries of absolute rule in France. After an interim of experimental liberalism under the rule of Jacobins and Girondins and then the infamous reign of terror, the people of French were drawn to a man who promised them a return to stability, and  honor through the expansion of empire. France and it’s people had long yearned for this sens eof honour, it had seemed, and could finally sens eit in a lasting rpesence under the rule of their prodigious, unbeatable general, Napoleon Bonaparte. He would soon take the reigns of civil government as well and become yet another Absolutist ruler, yet this