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The possibility of evil essay
The possibility of evil essay
The possibility of evil essay
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People in similar circumstances can make reckless decisions. As children start to get older, they become more observant and curious, trying new things and making mistakes. But one consequence that some people struggle with is loneliness. Once people begin to feel lonely they will start comparing themselves to others, and changing who they are by taking risks, making reckless decisions, all for the sake of being popular. This type of behaviour is explored as a very common theme in many stories. In the short stories, “Celia Behind Me” by Isabel Huggan and “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson, both authors explore this theme through two similar characters who have fixed mindsets and believe that their actions will not impact the people
Melton McLaurin’s book Celia, A Slave is the account of the trial, conviction, and execution of a female slave for the murder of her “master” Robert Newsom in 1855. The author uses evidence compiled through studying documents from Callaway County, Missouri and the surrounding area during the middle of the Nineteenth Century. Although much of what can be determine about this event is merely speculation, McLaurin proposes arguments for the different motives that contribute to the way in which many of the events unfold. Now throughout the book the “main characters”, being Celia, her lawyer Jameson, and the judge William Hall, are all faced with moral decisions that affect the lives of two different people.
Celia, A Slave by Melton McLaurin tells a true story of a female slave who was sexually exploited by her master and the trial she faced as a result. At the young age of fourteen, Celia was brought to Callaway County under her new master, Robert Newsom. Celia later murdered Newsom, in an act of self-defense, and was placed on a trial challenging the institute of slavery and the moral beliefs of anyone involved with slavery in the South. The short life of the young Celia revealed a slave girl who had pushed beyond the ideal limit of a system that denied her humanity and threatened to erode the base of the antebellum southern society.
At times humanity are selfish for unreasonable reasons, which can cause suffering mentally and physically to those that are attentive about morality. The Renegade, by Shirley Jackson provides readers a narration that emphasizes society’s inhumaneness through the mindset of the protagonist Mrs. Walpole. Readers acquire background on the family that “They had not lived in the country town long enough…” (pg. 74), showing that she is still adjusting to the new environment. The author presents the readers with Mrs. Walpole’s point of view and attitude towards people by exploring the interactions she encounters with the other characters in the story. When her dog, Lady was accused of killing chickens Mrs. Walpole reaches to her neighbors for advice
Celia, a Slave was a factual interpretation of one isolated incident that depicted common slave fear during the antebellum period of the United States. Melton A. McLaurin, the author, used this account of a young slave woman's struggle through the undeserved hardships of rape and injustice to explain to today's naive society a better depiction of what slavery could have been like. The story of Celia illustrates the root of racial problems Americans still face in their society. Although not nearly as extreme, they continue to live in a white-male dominated culture that looks down upon African-Americans, especially females. McLaurin looks at the views of the time, and speculates the probabilities of this pre - Civil War era, the values of which still pierce daily life in the United States.
Throughout Marilynne Robinson’s works, readers are often reminded of themes that defy the status quo of popular ideas at the time. She explores transience and loneliness, amongst other ideas as a way of expressing that being individual, and going against what is deemed normal in society is acceptable. Robinson utilizes traditional literary devices in order to highlight these concepts.
The Book of Common Prayer offers an intercession for “our families, friends and neighbors, and for those who are alone.” We tend to put the alone in this separate category, but for Olivia Laing, “the essential unknowability of others” means that to be human is to be lonesome, at least sometimes. So why don’t we talk about it more openly? “What’s so shameful,” she asks, about “having failed to achieve satisfaction, about experiencing unhappiness?” This daring and seductive book — ostensibly about four artists, but actually about the universal struggle to be known — raises sophisticated questions about the experience of loneliness, a state that in a crowded city provides an “uneasy combination of separation and exposure.”
Being unwanted, unloved, and forgotten is one of the hardest things that one may have to cope with. In the book “Theories of Relativity” by Barbara-Attard Haworth, the poem “Behind her Tears” by Jessica Sanches, and the short story “The Ugly Duckling” by Hans Christian Andersen, all share a similar theme which is feeling unaccepted in one’s family, or community. The feeling of being unwanted crosses each and every mind at least once, and it impacts that someone’s life. They also try their hardest just to fit in, and they will always find a way through.
Alice Hindman and Enoch Robinson were two perfect examples of how a person can live a life full of illusions and loneliness. The main cause of their distorted lives was due to the inability of others to truly understand them. For example, Ned and Alice’s friends didn’t understand Alice and Enoch’s wife and art friends didn’t understand them. This caused them to make their own lives interesting, which they did by creating illusions, which also encompassed unwanted loneliness from Alice and Enoch both.
Leave me alone! It's a phrase often times used by teenagers around the world. During teenage years, many people fight to be left alone. They find comfort in being without the company of others. Many of them grow out of it and learn to deal with social interaction in a positive way. But some of them, don't. Instead they alienate themselves from society further. “The Hunger Artist”, by Franz Kafka, and “The Secret Society Of The Starving”, by Mim Udovitch feature the few people that prefer to stay in isolation. They illustrate the true extent that many are willing to go to be alone. They supplement each other. “ The Hunger Artist” helps us to see how far Anas, otherwise known as anorexics, are willing to go to stay isolated from a community that is their own.
Women who were enslaved during the slave period endured much suffrage. Not only were they the subject of chattel slavery, but some were also molested by their masters, for their own personal pleasure. In some cases, masters would pair “good breeders” together so their farm would benefit and they would have more slaves. This behavior would lead to force rape. The purpose of the book is to demonstrate how slavery crippled African American slaves from defending themselves due to oppression, particularly women. The trial of Celia, A Slave opens a gateway where people’s morals and actions were put into question after the death of her master. Themes such as gender oppression, chattel slavery, race, prejudice, revolt are some themes present in Celia,
The price of being lonely and frightened is nothing compared to the reward of of not being controlled by anybody but yourself. The book ‘Lord of the flies’ by William Golding explores the themes of loneliness and fright and reflects on Nietzsche’s quote and individuality and conformity. ‘Yassmin’s story’ by Yassmin Abdel-Magied, explores Yassmin’s insecurities and differences. They both texts that reflect on Friedrich Nietzsche’s quote and the idea of individuality and conformity and the struggle of being an individual. The two texts are about individuality and conformity and how these two things come to play in different circumstances. Individuality is when a person does not rely on a group of other people and control themselves and have their
Loneliness is usually a common and unharmful feeling, however, when a child is isolated his whole life, loneliness can have a much more morbid effect. This theme, prevalent throughout Ron Rash’s short story, The Ascent, is demonstrated through Jared, a young boy who is neglected by his parents. In the story, Jared escapes his miserable home life to a plane wreck he discovers while roaming the wilderness. Through the use of detached imagery and the emotional characterization of Jared as self-isolating, Rash argues that escaping too far from reality can be very harmful to the stability of one’s emotional being.
Nowadays, many well-known stories have touched the theme of isolation as it becomes the most prevalent problem that can not be easily resolved in people’s lives. As a matter of fact, both “Macbeth” by Shakespeare and “The Stone Boy” by Gina Berriault deal to some degree with the theme of isolation and emptiness. In “Macbeth” and “The Stone Boy”, Lady Macbeth and Arnold feel isolated because of the situation that does not give them the closeness they want, and they end up being not involved in the relationship they would like with their families even when reaches the very end of the story.
Although Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre are comparatively different, the characters are delicately crafted to unfold a captivating theme throughout each novel which embodies the idea of the social outcast. The Monster and Jane Eyre struggle through exile due to an inability to fit into the social norms presented by the era. The characters embark on a journey while coping with alienation and a longing for domesticity which proves to be intertwined with challenges. Character, developed as social outcasts are appealing and sympathized with by readers because of their determination to reach a level of happiness. The voyage toward domesticity, away from the exile of society which Jane Eyre and The Monster embark on
Following Morell’s definition of an anti-hero, or more precisely, of an unlikeable protagonist, we learn the benefits of using unlikely leads in our stories to make them more interesting, complex, unpredictable, and insightful (32). She explains how there is a ‘fine line’ in balancing traits that must be kept in order to make the reader feel captivated by the characters. Too much likeability, and the antihero becomes a hero. Too many negative traits, and they become too unlikeable to even relate to (43). Despite of this, there is an abundant number of combinations in character creation for unlikeable protagonists, since the traits we give them can be picked from two sets that are normally exclusive to villains and heroes, respectively. One of the most popular combos is of an antihero whose sense of duty guides all his or her actions. However, what is more interesting is seeing them betray (or adopt) this sense of duty. To understand why it works, this paper aims to explain the often misinterpreted definition of ‘a sense of duty’, and uses two ‘unlikeable’ protagonists as examples as they cycle in their use of moral duty throughout their respective stories: Dan Dunne, from the film Half Nelson, and Helen Farraley from Heathcock’s work Volt.