odysseus selfishness essay

“Sonny’s blues” takes place in Harlem where two brothers struggle to escape the reality of their life. “Sonny’s blues” is not told by Sonny, but by his brother the narrator who prefers to keep his name anonymous to let the reader interact more easily. The analysis of this short story reveals a narrator of an Afro-American community who wanted to be part of the white culture but in vain, because he was confronted to tragic events, such as his brother’s imprisonment at an early age for drug dealing

Tragedies bring forth unity despite diversity. "Unity in diversity is the highest possible attainment of a civilization, a testimony to the most noble possibilities to the human race. This attainment is made possible through passionate concern for choice, in an atmosphere of social trust." (Michael Novak). When we try to recognize our common passivity, it may be frightening at first, but it can inspire us to put forth acts of affection, warmth and give birth to the desire of standing united to support

The mother-daughter relationships represented in Amy Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Club are influenced by many existing factors. Lena St. Clair, Ying-Ying St. Clair’s daughter, is a Chinese-American adult who lives with her forceful husband, Harold. Ying-Ying is a Chinese mother who travelled to America to live a better life after experiencing many hardships in China. Throughout the novel, the relationship between Lena and Ying-Ying is represented as weak and distant. These characters are prevented from

Selfishness within the heart is what leads the mind to engage in self-indulgent actions. The more self-absorbed the person, the less likely one is to put anyone above themselves. Though, through certain circumstances in life, trials and tribulations can humble the selfish heart and bring it to humility. In the short story We Live in Water, written by Jess Walter, the theme of selfishness is demonstrated through the struggles of a greedy, self-seeking man who is met with crisis that allows him to

In a time when the influence of society outweighs all and protagonists follow either righteousness or selfishness there are many similarities and a lot of contrast. In The Hunger Games directed by Gary Ross there is Katniss Everdeen who is righteous in her own way at a time when the entertainment of society ruled all. Then you have “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson where the traditions of society rules all including Tessie’s egoistic way of thinking. In both “The Lottery” and The Hunger Games

Machiavelli’s world is full of fear, distress and cruelty. Which implicated that you needed to possess these traits to become a strong figure. As someone gets stronger it is hard to stray away from egoism. In our world today, we do not admire fear or selfishness in our leaders. Therefore, we do not reflect those bad traits like the followers of “the prince” most likely did. Yet, we still have wrong in the world. Egoism can be spread by many things. The long for superiority can feed your ego and alter your

of guilt since the quote uses words like “hot” and “dusty”. She doesn’t find clarity with her ideas, and feels that the only person that matters is herself. Although she is somewhat aware of her insecurities, she tries to forget by pushing her selfishness onto other people. She is so confident that she isn’t insecure that her true feelings are hidden. She still dismisses the fact that going to her grandfather is the right thing to do and continues to express this when she is with her parents.

Service in love often has a positive connotation which suggests a profound love, whereas possession generally receives a negative connotation suggesting a superficial love. However, Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare explore in depth the roles of both possession and service in love and reveal to their readers which one is ultimately the superior way to gain love. The stories of “The Knight’s Tale” and The Tempest are different thematically, yet the thread which unites them both expresses similar

shares his experiences and stories of selfishness and how it affects the world around you whether it may make sense or not. Although he begins to get a bit over bearing as he describes what Gods reaction would be it allows the audience to truly recognize their mistakes and the mistakes of others. By using logo and pathos Louis successfully shares that a world of selfishness is dangerous and not in the common good for everyone. The true solution to selfishness would be to restrain yourself from acting

In "The Death of Ivan Ilych" by Leo Tolstoy, he shows how the majority of society is selfish. Tolstoy suggests how even though there is so much selfishness in society, there are some exceptional people who do not follow social conventions and are the prime example of how people in a society should be. This paper will argue that being selfless is important in society and that people should deviate from individualistic behavior and concentrate more on the collective behavior. Through this careful