Beloved Essay -- miscellaneous

Beloved Everyday, people are faced with choices. Some of life’s choices are simple, such as deciding what to wear to school or choosing a television station to watch. Other choices, however, are much more serious and have life-altering consequences. Sethe, the protagonist of Beloved, and Sophie, the main focus in Sophie’s Choice, are mothers that are faced with choices that change their entire lives. While the time period and characters involved differ, the choices of Sethe and Sophie can easily be compared. First and foremost, Sethe and Sophie both make choices that lead to the killing of their children. In both pieces, the actions of the mothers cause the audience to think twice about the limits of maternal love. Sethe tries to kill her children to save them from a life of slavery. Sethe’s plot was unsuccessful, for only one daughter was murdered. To fully understand Sethe’s actions, the reader must realize that on that August afternoon in 1855, Sethe reaches for the handsaw to protect her children from Schoolteacher. Sethe wants to murder her other children, but they escape before she can harm them. Sethe truly believes that she is saving her family from the pain of slavery, and, as a result, her choice alienates her from the rest of her community. Nobody in the area wants anything to do with Sethe after the death of her daughter. Like Sethe, Sophie also attempts to spare her family from pain. She is also faced with a gruesome choice that ends up affecting the res...

The Reality of Married Life

John J. Robinson in his book â€Å"Of Suchness† gives the following advice on love, sex and married life. â€Å"Be careful and discreet; it is much easier to get married than unmarried. If you have the right mate, it's heavenly; but if not, you live in a twenty-four-hour daily hell that clings constantly to you, it can be one of the bitterest things in life. Life is indeed strange. Somehow, when you find the right one, you know it in your heart. It is not just an infatuation of the moment. But the powerful urges of sex drive a young person headlong into blind acts and one cannot trust his feelings too much. This is especially true if one drinks and get befuddled; the lousiest slut in a dark bar can look like a Venus then, and her charms become irresistible. Love is much more than sex though; it is the biological foundation between a man and a woman; love and sex get all inter-twined and mixed up†. Problems Almost everyday, we hear people complaining about their marriages. Very seldom do we hear stories about a happy marriage. Young people reading romantic novels and seeing romantic films often conclude that marriage is a bed of roses. Unfortunately, marriage is not as sweet as one thinks. Marriage and problems are interrelated and' people must remember that when they are getting married, they will have to face problems and responsibilities that they had never expected or experienced hitherto. People often think that it is a duty to get married and that marriage is a very important event in their lives. However, in order to ensure a successful marriage, a couple has to harmonize their lives by minimizing whatever differences they may have between them. Marital problems prompted a cynic to say that there can only be a peaceful married life if the marriage is between a blind wife and a deaf husband, for the blind wife cannot see the faults of the husband and a deaf husband cannot hear the nagging of his wife. Sharing and Trust One of the major causes of marital problems is suspicion and mistrust. Marriage is a blessing but many people make it a curse due to lack of understanding. Both husband and wife should show implicit trust for one another and try not to have secrets between them. Secrets create suspicion, suspicion leads to jealously, jealousy generates anger, anger causes enmity and enmity may result in separation, suicide or even murder. If a couple can share pain and pleasure in their day-to-day life, they can console each other and minimize their grievances. Thus, the wife or husband should not expect to experience only pleasure. There will be a lot of painful, miserable experiences that they will have to face. They must have the strong willpower to reduce their burdens and misunderstandings. Discussing mutual problems will give them confidence to live together with better understanding. Man and woman need the comfort of each other when facing problems and difficulties. The feelings of insecurity and unrest will disappear and life will be more meaningful, happy and interesting if there is someone who is willing to share another's burden. Blinded by Emotions When two people are in love, they tend to show only the best aspects of their nature and character to each other in order to project a good impression of themselves. Love is said to be blind and hence people in love tend to become completely oblivious of the darker side of each other's natures. In practice, each will try to highlight his or her sterling qualities to the other; and being so engrossed in love, they tend to accept each other at â€Å"face value† only. Each lover will not disclose the darker side of his or her nature for fear of losing the other. Any personal shortcomings are discreetly swept under the carpet, so to speak, so as not to jeopardize their chances of winning each other. People in love also tend to ignore their partner's faults thinking that they will be able to correct them after marriage, or that they can live with these faults, that â€Å"love will conquer all†. However, after marriage, as the initial romantic mood wears off, the true nature of each other's character will be revealed. Then, much to the disappointment of both parties, the proverbial veil that had so far been concealing the innermost feelings of each partner is removed to expose the true nature of both partners. It is then that disillusion sets in. Material Needs Love by itself does not subsist on fresh air and sunshine alone. The present world is a materialistic world and in order to meet your material needs, proper financing and budgeting is essential. Without it, no family can live comfortably. Such a situation aptly bears out the saying that â€Å"when poverty knocks at the door, love flies through the window†. This does not mean that one must be rich to make a marriage work. However, if one has the bare necessities of life provided through a secure job and careful planning, many unnecessary anxieties can be removed from a marriage. The discomfort of poverty can be averted if there is complete understanding between the couple. Both partners must understand the value of contentment. Both must treat all problems as â€Å"our problems† and share all the â€Å"ups† and â€Å"downs† in the true spirit of a long-standing life partnership.

Women in Indian Captivity Narratives Race and Gender

A genre of American literature has been the Indian captivity narrative. In these stories, its usually women who are kidnapped and held captive by American Indians. And the women who are taken captive are white women—women of European descent. Gender Roles These captivity narratives are part of the cultures definition of what a proper woman should be and do. Women in these narratives are not treated as women should be—they often see the violent deaths of husbands, brothers, and children. The women also are unable to fulfill normal womens roles: unable to protect their own children, unable to dress neatly and cleanly or in the proper garments, unable to restrict their sexual activity to marriage to the appropriate kind of man. They are forced into roles unusual for women, including violence in their own defense or that of children, physical challenges such as long journeys by foot, or trickery of their captors. Even the fact that they publish stories of their lives is stepping outside normal womens behavior! Racial Stereotypes The captivity stories also perpetuate stereotypes of Indians and settlers and were part of the on-going conflict between these groups as the settlers moved westward. In a society in which men are expected to be the protectors of women, the kidnapping of women is viewed as an attack or an affront of the males in the society, as well. The stories serve thus as a call for retaliation as well as for caution in relating to these dangerous natives. Sometimes the narratives also challenge some of the racial stereotypes. By depicting the captors as individuals, often as people who also face troubles and challenges, the captors are also made more human. In either case, these Indian captive narratives serve a directly political purpose and can be seen as a kind of political propaganda. Religion The captivity narratives also usually refer to the religious contrast between the Christian captive and the pagan Indians. Mary Rowlandsons captivity story, for instance, was published in 1682 with a subtitle that included her name as Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, a Ministers Wife in New England. That edition also included A Sermon on the Possibility of Gods Forsaking a People that have been near and dear to him, Preached by Mr. Joseph Rowlandson, Husband to the said Mrs. Rowlandson, It being his Last Sermon. The captivity narratives served to define piety and womens proper devotion to their religion and to give a religious message about the value of faith in times of adversity. Sensationalism Indian captivity narratives can also be seen as part of a long history of sensational literature. Women are depicted outside their normal roles, creating surprise and even shock. There are hints or more of improper sexual treatment—forced marriage or rape. Violence and sex—then and now, a combination that sells books. Many novelists took up these themes of life among the heathens. Slave Narratives and Indian Captivity Narratives Slave narratives share some of the characteristics of Indian captivity narratives: defining and challenging womens proper roles and racial stereotypes, serving as political propaganda (often for abolitionist sentiments with some ideas of womens rights), and selling books through shock value, violence and hints of sexual misconduct. Literary Theories Captivity narratives have been of special interest to postmodern literary and cultural analysis, looking at key issues: gender and culturenarratives versus objective truth Womens History Questions on Captivity Narratives How can the field of womens history use the Indian captivity narratives to understand womens lives? Here are some productive questions: Sort out fact from fiction in them. How much is influenced unconsciously by cultural assumptions and expectations? How much is sensationalized for the sake of making the book more  salable,  or better political propaganda?Examine how the views of women (and Indians) are influenced by the culture of the time.  What was the political correctness of the time (standard themes and attitudes that needed to be included in order to be acceptable to audiences)? What do the assumptions that shaped the exaggerations or understatements say about the experience of women in that time?Look at the relationship of womens experience to the historical context. For example, to understand King Phillips War, the story of Mary Rowlandson is important—and vice versa, for her story means less if we dont understand the context in which it took place and was written. What events in history made it important that this captivity narrative  is  published? What events influenced the actions of the settlers and the Indians?Look at ways in which women did surprising things in the books, or told surprising stories about the Native Americans. How much was a narrative a challenge to assumptions and stereotypes, and how much reinforcement of them?How did gender roles differ in the cultures depicted?  What was the effect on the lives of women of these different roles—how did they spend their time, what influence did they have on events? Specific Women in Captivity Narratives These are some women captives—some are famous (or infamous), some less well-known. Mary White Rowlandson: she lived about 1637 to  1711,  and was a captive in 1675 for almost three months. Hers was the first of the captivity narratives to be published in  America  and went through numerous editions.  Her treatment of the Native Americans is often sympathetic. Mary Rowlandson  - biography with selected web and print resources Mary Jemison:  captured during the French and Indian War and sold to the Seneca, she became a member of the Senecas and was renamed Dehgewanus. In 1823 a writer interviewed her and the next year published a first-person narrative of Mary Jemisons life. Mary Jemison Biography Olive Ann Oatman Fairchild and Mary Ann Oatman:  captured by Yavapai Indians (or, perhaps, Apache) in Arizona in 1851, then sold to Mojave Indians. Mary died in captivity, reportedly of abuse and starvation. Olive was ransomed in 1856. She later lived in California and New York. Olive Ann Oatman FairchildBook:Lorenzo D. Oatman, Oliva A. Oatman, Royal B. Stratton.  The Captivity of the Oatman Girls Among the Apache and Mohave Indians.  Dover, 1994. Susannah Johnson: captured by Abenaki Indians in August 1754, she and her family were taken to Quebec where they were sold into enslavement by the French. She was released in 1758, and in 1796, wrote of her captivity.  It was one of the more popular such narratives to read. A Narrative of the Captivity of Mrs. Johnson: Containing an Account of Her Sufferings During Four Years With the Indians and French Elizabeth Hanson: captured by Abenaki Indians in New Hampshire in 1725, with four of her children, the youngest two weeks old. She was taken to Canada, where the French eventually took her in. She was ransomed with three of her children by her husband some months later.  Her daughter, Sarah, had been separated and taken to a different camp; she later married a French man and stayed in Canada; her father died traveling to Canada to try to bring her back.  Her account, first published in 1728, draws on her Quaker beliefs that it was Gods will that she survived, and emphasized how women should behave even in adversity. An Account of the Captivity of Elizabeth Hanson, Now or Late of Kachecky, in New-England: Who, With Four of Her Children and Servant-maid, Was Taken Captive By the Indians, and Carried Into Canada Frances and Almira Hall:  captives in the Black Hawk War, they lived in Illinois. The girls were sixteen and eighteen when they were captured in an attack in the ongoing war between the settlers and the Native Americans.  The girls, who according to their account were to be married to young chiefs, were freed into the hands of Winebagoe Indians, on payment of ransom that had been given to them by Illinois troops who had been unable to find the girls.  The account depicts the Indians as merciless savages. As written by William P. Edwards, 1832 Rachel Plummer:  captured May 19,  1836,  by Comanche Indians, she was released in 1838 and died in 1839 after her narrative was published. Her son, who was a toddler when they were captured, was ransomed in 1842 and raised by her father (his grandfather). Fanny Wiggins Kelly: Canadian born, Fanny Wiggins moved with her family to Kansas where she married Josiah Kelly.  The Kelly family including a niece and adopted daughter and two colored servants went by wagon train headed for the far northwest, either Montana or Idaho. They were attacked and looted by Oglala Sioux in Wyoming.  Some of the men were killed, Josiah Kelly and another man were captured, and Fanny, another adult woman, and the two girls were captured. The adopted girl was killed after trying to escape, the other woman escaped. She eventually engineered a rescue and was reunited with her husband. Several different accounts, with key details changed, exist of her captivity, and the woman captured with her,  Sarah Larimer,  also published about her capture, and Fanny Kelly sued her for plagiarism. Narrative of My Captivity Among the Sioux Indians 1845  - published 1871Another copy Minnie Buce Carrigan: captured in Buffalo Lake, Minnesota, at seven years old, having settled there as part of a German immigrant community. Increased conflict between settlers and the native Americans who opposed the encroachment led to several incidents of murder. Her parents were killed in a raid by about 20 Sioux, as were two of her sisters, and she and a sister and brother were taken captive.  They were turned over to soldiers eventually. Her account describes how the community took back in many of the captured children, and how guardians took the settlement from her parents farm and cunningly appropriated it.  She lost track of her brother but believed him to have died in the battle Gen. Custer lost. Captured by the Indians - reminiscences of pioneer life in Minnesota - 1862 Cynthia Ann Parker: abducted in 1836 in Texas by Indians, she was part of the Comanche community for almost 25 years until abducted again—by Texas Rangers. Her son, Quanah Parker, was the last Comanche chief. She died of starvation, apparently from grief at being separated from the Comanche people which whom she identified. Cynthia Ann Parker  - from The Handbook of Texas OnlineBooks:Margaret Schmidt Hacker.  Cynthia Ann Parker: The Life and the Legend.  Texas Western, 1990. Martins Hundred:  the fate of twenty women captured in the Powhatan Uprising of 1622 is not known to history Martins Hundred Also: Written by Charlotte Alice Baker, 1897:  True  Stories of New England Captives Carried to Canada During the Old French and Indian Wars Bibliography Further reading on the subject of women captives: stories about American women settlers taken captive by Indians, also called Indian Captivity Narratives, and what these mean to historians and as literary works: Christopher Castiglia.  Bound and Determined: Captivity, Culture-Crossing and White Womanhood. University of Chicago, 1996.Kathryn and James Derounian and Arthur Levernier.  Indian Captivity Narrative, 1550-1900. Twayne, 1993.Kathryn Derounian-Stodola, editor.  Womens Indian Captivity Narratives.  Penguin, 1998.Frederick Drimmer (editor).  Captured by the Indians: 15 Firsthand Accounts, 1750-1870.  Dover, 1985.Gary L. Ebersole.  Captured By Texts: Puritan to Postmodern Images of Indian Captivity.  Virginia, 1995.Rebecca Blevins Faery.  Cartographies of Desire: Captivity, Race, and Sex in the Shaping on an American Nation.  University of Oklahoma, 1999.June Namias.  White Captives: Gender and Ethnicity on the American Frontier.  University of North Carolina, 1993.Mary Ann Samyn.  Captivity Narrative.  Ohio State University, 1999.Gordon M. Sayre, Olaudah Equiano, and Paul Lauter, editors.  American Captivity Narratives. D C Heath, 2000.Pauline Turner Stron g.  Captive Selves, Captivating Others.  Westview Press, 2000.