Words can have a profound, meaningful impact that may alter, shift, and even end lives. In “Create Dangerously”, Edwidge Danticat reveals how words crafted her reality and identity as a woman who lived through a dictatorship. “Create Dangerously” is a nonfiction essay and memoir that focuses on the impact of literature not only in dire times, but in everyday life. Through the use of detail, allusions, and vivid recounting of the past in her writing, Danticat reveals importance and valor of creating art in times where art is a death sentence, and how this belief shaped her identity. To introduce the conflict of this story, Danticat recounts the public execution of two rebels, Numa and Drouin, by the Haitian government. In doing so, …show more content…
Allusions to philosophers and other authors pepper “Create Dangerously,” reflecting how the people use the words of those that came before them to make the best of their own reality. The most highlighted philosopher within the paper is Albert Camus, by whom the title “Create Dangerously” was inspired. Not only does Danticat quote and speak of Camus within the essay, but tells of how the people of Haiti would put on his play quietly, quietly in the basements of their homes in secret, finding invigoration in the philosopher’s absurdist and poignant words. " 'Execution relieves and liberates. It is a universal tonic, just in precept as in practice. A man dies because he is guilty. A man is guilty because he is one of Caligula’s subjects. Ergo all men are guilty and shall die. It is only a matter of time and patience' " quotes Danticat in reference to “quietly, quietly.”. By picking this quote, Danticat draws parallels to the death sentences given to the people of Haiti by the dictatorship, including Numa and Drouin, perpetuating the consistency of Danticat’s message. Camus was part of a dialogue that was strikingly similar to that of the people battling the Haitian dictatorship. He himself opposed the Nazi regime by editing an underground newspaper in France (Kellman 2011). Danticat’s affinity for Camus’ work is made more palpable seeing the similarities in what they have faced through their lifetime. Inciting small forms of rebellion is a lifeline for those faced with domination, more specifically an autocracy. The overall theme of the story is the importance of literature, especially in times of oppression and pain, and how it can be used to aid the human
In the story, “The Killing Game”, Joy Williams, uses several diffenent types of writing skills to presuade the reader to see her views.
It is nine in the morning, Professor Chagnon informs me of the information and data we hope to collect today, the three main forms of violence that accrue in and out side of each village, “chest pounding, side slapping and club fights” (Chagnon, 118) Professor Chagnon instructs me to follow him with the camera and film equipment. The Professor stops as he watch’s two men pounding each others chests, I begin preparing my camera to talk a photo when a friend of Professor Chagnon come’s over to say hello Professor Chagnon greets his friend an introduces me, Professor Chagnon as his friends what ...
To read the Civil War diary of Alice Williamson, a 16 year old girl, is to meander through the personal, cultural and political experience of both the author and one's self. Her writing feels like a bullet ricocheted through war, time, death, literary form, femininity, youth, state, freedom and obligation. This investigation attempts to do the same; to touch on the many issues that arise in the mind of the reader when becoming part of the text through the act of reading. This paper will lay no definitive claims to the absolute meaning of the diary, for it has many possible interpretations, for the journey is the ultimate answer. I seek to acknowledge the fluidity of thought when reading, a fluidity which incorporates personal experience with the content of Williamson's journal. I read the journal personally- as a woman, a peer in age to Alice Williamson, a surrogate experiencialist, a writer, an academic and most of all, a modern reader unaccustomed to the personal experience of war. I read the text within a context- as a researcher versed on the period, genre, aesthetics, and to some degree the writer herself. The molding of the personal and contextual create a rich personalized textual meaning .
The representation of violence and ethnic oppression in Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers and Kassovitz’s La Haine (Hate) is shown through multiple scenes and themes throughout both films. Though set forty years apart, the violence of French police and ethnic oppression faced by non-French peoples are strikingly similar. One recurring theme falls under Manichaeism as defined by Frantz Fanon in his work The Wretched of the Earth. Fanon describes the term as a division between upper-class and lower-class populated areas. The division becomes apparent not naturally, but through the enforcement of the French police. There still exists a debate on the way the French government handles non-French peoples and whether it is too similar to the actions
As a viewer, the documentary’s intention to inform is more completely fulfilled by research conducted beyond the scope of the camera lens. Had I never written this paper, for instance, the reason for all the violence embedded within the subject matter would remain as enigmatic as the documentary itself.
Allison has had a bitter past full of moments which have scarred her personality. She uses these and writes about the world that few are willing to admit exists. Many find refuge behind their gregarious nature and take comfort in religion or other bodies. However, that does not change the facts of what the world is and how it got there. Allison exposes her audience to these facts, and in the process, she shares her own view.
The two essays, Splintered Literacies and Writing in Sacred Spaces, both revolve around the inherent “why” of storytelling. Each addresses a different facet, with the former delving into how the types and varieties of writing we experience affect our identities. Meanwhile, the latter explores the idea of thought concretization. Humanity developed writing as a tool to capture the otherwise intangible. Whether belief or abstract concept, the act of putting something in writing creates a concreteness, trapping the thought in a jar like a firefly. The thoughts and ideas we manifest onto the page or into the air give life to our knowledge, perpetuating its’ existence.
In the short story, In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka, we are introduced to a horrible device that is used to torture and execute prisoners. This apparatus does this by repeatedly writing the word of the supposed crime that the condemned person did into their flesh like a bizarre tattoo artist made of pain and blood. It is both sickening and fascinating to read the account of how this machine operates from the character named the Officer as he describes in gross details just what monster of metal does to someone. But, why would Kafka go to such lengths to write about these grisly details of blood and torn flesh? In this paper, we will see how the machine is many metaphors about how people can view the justice system and how it may seem unfair
Oppression is a theme often found in works that discuss our humanity, mortality and (of course) our freedoms. The binary of freedom and oppression will come into play in most narratives which reflect upon ethics, but we find this theme most prevalently in stories which examine the nature of law and justice, in addition to those which explore the distinguishing features of our humanity. Both the texts feature protagonists who are put on trail for crimes that they were, in one way or another, unaware that they had committed. Meursault in The Outsider shoots an Arab man on a beach in a haze of sensory turmoil, while Katharina in The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum has the misfortune to fall for a convicted murderer and is accused first of helping him make his escape and later of being involved with his criminal offences. Also common to both books is the corruption of facts, either because social powers (such as the law courts or the media) are unable to understand what our characters did, or do not want to either out of fear, or out of a dark lust for the events to become a sordid tale. In these cases we are faced not only with the oppression of the ‘victims’ of the story, but also the public in general, denied by their own desire access to the truth, and of course the warping and controlling of the truth itself.
One of George Orwell’s most significant goals as a writer was to receive recognition for his works. Orwell achieved his aim by projecting his political perspectives into fictional works such as 1984 and Animal Farm. His position against totalitarianism is strongly evident throughout his novels and even today Orwell’s works still seem relevant because of the fear of totalitarian governments perpetuated by the media and the recent democratic uprisings in the Middle East against dictatorial regimes. In this essay, I argue that Orwell’s reasons for writing, as he outlines them in his essay “Why I Write,” is to seek literary fame and he found that through incorporating political commentary into his writing; in doing so, Orwell successfully turns his political thoughts into a form of art. Using 1984 and D. J. Taylor’s article “Left, Right, Left, Right,” I will also discuss briefly how Orwell’s novels can apply to contemporary political situations.
The power of the written word has been utilized across the span of human history and the conflict between Bill the infamous novelist and Jean-Claude or the prisoner who is a writer of almost no renown is my focus here. In Bill we see a writer trapped by his success, a man who would have gladly traded his fame for ambiguity and the freedom it entails except that this would compromise his name and his legacy. The written word has facilitated all of Bill’s dreams while crushing him beneath the weight of their meaning to others. Jean-Claude is a prisoner of a Maoist extremist group in Beirut led by a man who believes they are the beginning of a “world revolution.” (233) Jean-Claude is introduced already imprisoned
Joyce Carol Oates, an American writer, holds a unique place in twentieth century literature. She won acclaim during her lifetime as a novelist and essayist and short story writer. The themes of Joyce Carol Oates are imposing and she portrays the social and psychological problems which are faced by the contemporary men and women in their day-to-day life. She is at her best in projecting the harsh and violent world of the present time. She presents a realistic sensation of life with a moral lesson to the reader. Joyce Carol Oates, like any other writer, selects out of the vast store of her experience. Daniel Hoffman says in his Harvard Guide to Contemporary American Writing, “Creativity thrived with alienation, some postwar writers insisted-or at least they held that the condition of alienation which had played a nurturing role in fostering modern art, literature, and thought was too precious a heritage to sell for an academic chair or a government post” (8).
This creates a despair, of hopelessness and of downheartedness. The woman, on multiple occasions, wrote down, “And what can one do?” This lets the reader know that women as a whole were very oppressed in ...
Since reading my first collection of literature, “Vistas in Reading Literature: Gold Level”, I fell in love with the art of writing. Persuasive argumentatives were fun to internally debate with. Informational essays of research opened my eyes of perspective. Philosophy taught me to paint thoughts and reason onto my empty canvas. Religious texts of the Bible enlightened my soul. Oratory put a mirror in front of me to display the reflection of humanism. Literature of the classical fiction genres performed their themes within my empty theater. Especially, prose and poetry. Those two sisters till this day are holding my hand as I walk through these years.
“Your Creative Power” was filled with trick and strategies to inspire other individuals on writing and how to put your ideas into words. Osborn’s most celebrated idea was the one discussed in Chapter 33, “H...