Essay about Tradition vs. Modernity,Amy Kramer

Among other animal imagery, birds appear frequently throughout the story in times of crisis. The birds often foreshadow dangers that lie ahead. For instance, when Robert's team takes a wrong turn, "the fog is full of noises"(80) of birds. Then the birds fly out of the ditch and disappear. Robert and Poole know that "[there] must be something terribly wrong...but neither one knew how to put it into words. The birds, being gone, had taken some mysterious presence with them. There was an awful sense of void--as if the world had been emptied" (81). The birds return and when Robert nears the collapsing dike and "one of the birds [flies] up cut[s] across Robert's path" as if it is trying to prevent him from going any further. Robert does not heed the warning and almost dies in the sinking mud.

She does so by detangling an ideology that has transformed and manipulated the human interaction and the construction of societies and nations, installing itself like an extremely dangerous disease, almost impossible to disappear.

“Dadi’s Family” observes what a “traditional” family in Haryana, India is like and the issues / concerns the family faces in “modern” times. In the documentary "Dadi 's family", the film explores the concept of family and the roles that a woman play in life. The roles are daughter, sister, mother, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, and sister-in-law. These roles are portrayed to us via various members of Dadi 's family. In this family, we have Dada and Dadi (grandmother and grandfather) as the head of the family. We have the two older sons, Meherlal and Mohinder who are married to Darshini and Sita respectively. The youngest son, Rajinder gets married to Kanta in the film. Dadi and Dada also have two daughters Anguri and Saroj who aren’t shown too much in the film but are married in other villages.

In his poem “The Great Scarf of Birds”, John Updike uses a flock of birds to show that man can be uplifted by observing nature. Updike’s conclusion is lead up to with the beauty of autumn and what a binding spell it has on the two men playing golf. In Updike’s conclusion and throughout the poem, he uses metaphors, similes, and diction to show how nature mesmerizes humans.

inconsistency in her beliefs. Majorly, nearing the end of her life, she begins to regret all her deeds of which

unprivileged with her home. Her family, on the other hand, tries to escape Mango Street

child being the light that would bring about a new era. Her understanding of not being wanted

Probably the most notable use of birds occurs when after ten years, Sula returns to the Bottom accompanied by a “plague of robins”(89). The word plague indicates that the birds represent a wave of sickness that Sula brings alongside her. The citizens of the Bottom recognize the birds as a sign of evil, but choose to accept its wickedness rather than try to rid of the robins. “But they let it run it’s course, fulfill itself, and never invented ways to either alter it, to annihilate it or to prevent its happening again. So also were they with people” (90). Here, Morrison is comparing the townspeople’s feelings both towards the evilness of the robins and towards the evilness of Sula. They welcome Sula’s return to the Bottom the same way they they welcome the birds. Sula’s personal experiences with wickedness are also acknowledged through the robins as Sula

Hello. I am Anna Zhang. Today, I will discuss the motif of birds in Joseph Boyden’s novel: Three Day Road by sharing two quotes following with my personal analysis.

The story by Abani is set in an African background. It may be unfair to render the people as backward automatically, but their decision to act arbitrarily and against the wishes of the elders speaks of weakness regarding civility. Like the villagers in Jackson’s story, the bloodthirsty mob carries out an illogical and crude act with no regard for the life of the man they perceive to be a thief in the hope that the children will learn a valuable lesson.

The essay also explores the quality in humans to want to connect to nature; pigeons are a transition from nature to urban areas. Ballenger comes to a conclusion as to why we don't completely exterminate the species when he states, "'pigeon control' is a war that we will never win because we also battle our own conflicting desires: the

Finally, Jayanti’s first exposure to the world outside her Aunt’s house and the events that lead after, changes who she really is,

At the bird’s appearance and apparent vocal articulation, he is at first impressed, then saddened. He compares this evening visitor as only another friend which will soon depart, just as “other friends have flown before” (58). But the raven again echoes quite aptly his one-word vocabulary, thus leading the man on to think more deeply about the possibilities that exist at this juncture. Somewhere deep inside him, he has realized that it doesn’t matter what question he poses, the bird will respond the same.

The birds flew, flapping "their useless wings" as they hit the ground, dead. Wild beasts are becoming timid, from fright, and poisonous snakes were becoming "stingless". These animals are becoming food for the men, who are now, desperately, becoming savage scavengers. However, the animal food supply doesn't last long, and the men start turning on themselves. Humans were now capable of cannibalism, as survival becomes the only consistent goal: "men dies"…"their bones were tombless as their flesh". This is exaggerated even more as once faithful dogs have turned on their masters, devouring their flesh and sparing nothing. All except one dog, who "kept the birds and beasts and famish'd men at bay" from his master's corpse, not letting any scavengers touch them, until the dog succumbs to starvation and dies. This symbolises the demise of any last moral emotion that the world had left.

In today's world, the modern person is educated, independent and aggressive. To be a success, you must put forth your most competitive side and win it all. Nothing less will be permitted. This is the mindset of most business tycoons, stockbrokers and the like. However, on the other side of the globe, third world countries follow a more traditional lifestyle where the outlook on life is a little less malicious. In these countries, the society's idea of success is being part of a large family with prosperous crops and livestock. How is it that our society and theirs have both been successful? And why has the traditional way of life stayed so prevalent in such an industrialized world?