One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
While we can view One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, from a literal perspective, as a classic story of rebellion and deliverance, we must also view it as a metaphor for one man’s triumph over of “the establishment.” The old saying, “You can’t fight city hall” is challenged, which is represented by the patients rebelling against the hospital staff. Liberals are likely to view this novel as a powerful tale that glorifies the human spirit. Conservatives are more likely to perceive it as an advertisement for social disorder and chaos. I personally thought the book’s most powerful message was that human differences should be celebrated; not censured
I drew similar conclusions from Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. From beginning to end, this autobiography is laden with issues of racial prejudice that perpetuate self-doubt and insecurity. As early as the second page, Maya explains how she wished that she would wake up in a white world, with blond hair and blue eyes, claiming that being black was a living nightmare. There are blatant instances of racial tension throughout almost every adventure Maya experiences, including one in which “ the po' white trash children” confronted Momma in front of her store. This scene culminates with Maya’s insightful realization that in spite of the disparity of power between the po'white trash and Momma, Momma had triumphed by maintaining her dignity.
Eric Foner is able to dissect racial issues from an historical perspective, and show how these issues remained at the heart of the controversy surrounding the period of Reconstruction. By blending historical fact with such emotionally charged issues as race and polit...
... middle of paper ...
...ess wise than true, Who thee abroad expos'd to public view..."
Although part of the Puritan doctrine enforces a deep reverence for responsibility and honesty, at this point in the poem, Anne is solely blaming societal influences for her child's shortcomings.
Joann Robinson faced similar personal struggles and triumphs in a more modern time. A professor at the all-black Alabama State College, Robinson was active in every level of the Civil Rights movement, even before it had officially gotten off the ground. Subsequent to her distressing experience on the bus in 1949, she tried to start a protest but was shocked and disappointed when other members of the Women's Political Council to which she belonged brushed off the incident as "a fact of life in Montgomery." Fortunately, Robinson did not feel defeated by this insipid attitude, she felt inspired by it instead.
As an unabridged version of his other book, Eric Foner sets out to accomplish four main goals in A Short History of Reconstruction. These points enable the author to provide a smaller, but not neglectful, account of the United States during Reconstruction. By exploring the essence of the black experience, examining the ways in which Southern society evolved, the development of racial attitudes and race relations, and the complexities of race and class in the postwar South, as well as the emergence during the Civil War and Reconstruction of a national state possessing vastly expanded authority and a new set of purposes, Foner creates a narrative that encompasses some of the major issues during Reconstruction. Additionally, the author provides
Although some of Woodward’s peripheral ideas may have been amended in varying capacities his central and driving theme, often referred to as the “Woodward Thesis,” still remains intact. This thesis states that racial segregation (also known as Jim Crow) in the South in the rigid and universal form that it had taken by 1954 did not begin right after the end of the Civil War, but instead towards the end of the century, and that before Jim Crow appeared there was a distinct period of experimentation in race relations in the South. Woodward’s seminal his...
C. Vann Woodward’s book, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, has been hailed as a book which shaped our views of the history of the Civil Rights Movement and of the American South. Martin Luther King, Jr. described the book as “the historical Bible of the civil rights movement.” The argument presented in The Strange Career of Jim Crow is that the Jim Crow laws were relatively new introductions to the South that occurred towards the turn of the century rather than immediately after the end of Reconstruction after the Civil War. Woodward examines personal accounts, opinions, and editorials from the eras as well as the laws in place at the times. He examines the political history behind the emergence of the Jim Crow laws. The Strange Career of Jim Crow gives a new insight into the history of the American South and the Civil Rights Movement.
Medea was wronged by Jason, she was a loyal wife and mother who was betrayed by her husband and reacted in a way...
The thesis “The New View of Reconstruction”, Eric Foner reviews the constantly changing view on the subject of the Reconstruction. The postwar Reconstruction period has been viewed in many different lights throughout history but one fact remains true, that it was one of the most “violent, dramatic and controversial” times in US’s history (224). In the beginning of his thesis, Eric Foner talks about the way the Reconstruction was though as before the 1960 as a period of intense, corruption and manipulation of the freedman. After mentioning the old way of thinking before the 1960’s, Eric Foner reveals the reason for this train of thought, the ignored testimonials of the black freedman.
In Medea, by Euripides, the two main characters Jason and Media are forced to leave Lolkos and have taken refuge in Corinth. Jason has the possibility of establishing a position of standing in the community by marrying King Creon’s daughter. Medea is enraged by Jason’s betrayal of her and their two children and she vows to stop the marriage and exact revenge. In the play, Medea and Jason are set up as foils. Medea is completely dependent on the dominance of passion over reason. She is depicted as conniving, brilliant and powerful. In contrast, Jason is portrayed as a a character of little feeling; he is passionless, obtuse, witless, and weak.
Jason acknowledges that he will never become king if he stays married with Medea because of the greek’s being scared of her dark soul
The novel, which takes place in an Oregon psychiatric hospital, centers around the conflict between manipulative Nurse Ratched and her patients. Randle McMurphy, a transfer from Pendleton Work Farm, becomes a champion for the men’s cause as he sets out to overthrow the dictator-like nurse. Initially, the reader may doubt the economic implications of the novel. Yet, if one looks closer at the numerous textual references to power, production, and profit, he or she will begin to interpret Cuckoo’s Nest in a
Jo Ann Robinson born on April 17, 1912, in Culloden, Georgia is a well-educated woman that graduated from Valley State college and earned her M.A. in English at Atlanta University. As a minority and a woman from the south, she knew that in order to survive in a society that limited her rights and opportunity, knew that being well- knowledgeable and confident would get her through. As time passed, Robinson knew her determination would be tested which it did in 1949 when she had an encounter with a bus driver that verbally attacked her. This event strengthened her and made her realize to relinquish the idea of racial prejudice acceptable in society. It reflects in the primary source letter; she has become the face
After earning a master’s degree, she moved to Montgomery Alabama to teach at Alabama State College. In the the late 1940’s Robinson experienced racial segregation when she was yelled at for sitting in the empty white section of a bus. Robinson eventually went on to become the president of the Women’s Political Council and met with the mayor of Montgomery, William A. Gayle. However, the city wasn’t denied their demands to integrate buses so Robinson, MLK, E.D. Nixon and the local leaders get together to plan a boycott.
Euripides uses indirect/direct characterization of Medea, the plays antagonist, to help the readers understand a deeper reason for the things she has done, including kill her own brother and children. Through the use of the chorus, and other minor factors, we, as the audience, get to mentally interpret Medea’s side of the problems she and Jason undergo, and try to understand what she is going through and how she feels. Does she do it out of spite or out of revenge? Was she really in love with Jason, and was he worth killing all of these people she so deeply cared about? Although Medea is portrayed as the villain in the play due to her actions and rage, indirect/direct characterization from herself, other characters, and most importantly, the chorus, all reveal a deeper understanding as to why Medea did what she did and how she felt in the midst of all these problems she faced.
To provide detail, one day, during Angelou’s childhood years a group of white children came up to her grandmothers shop and was tormenting her as this was occurring many thoughts raced through young Angelou’s head “How long could Momma [her grandmother] hold out? What new indignity would they subject her to?” (Angelou 32). Even the white children abused their white privilege as they tormented and embarrassed a grown women in front of her own home showing how dignified the white people felt and how put down the African American people were. After the incident, Angelou broke down in tears of anger because there was nothing she could do about how she felt or treated and, situations like this occurred multiple times in the novel. Furthermore, even her brother Bailey was subject to the truth of how the white people felt when he saw a black man’s body being pulled out of the river and the white cop who was surveying the scene had no respect for the loss of a man’s life and simply tossed him into the car. This is another way Angelou expressed the theme of her book, racism, as she showed how the mistreated people felt and even sparked sympathy and guilt from here
Maya Angelou tells her story of coming to age from her perspective as a child until the age of 17, when she gave birth to her son. In the title and dedication of Angelou’s autobiography, Angelou relates her story to the metaphor of a caged bird as she encountered racism and oppression throughout her adolescent years and further relates it to a specific audience as she dedicates it to her son “and all the strong black birds of promise.” She uses this metaphor to illustrate her message of hope, that despite any situation, Black children can become strong, independent individuals and strive for success. Angelou provides detailed accounts of specific instances in her life where she overcame cruelty, and relates it to the metaphor of “strong black birds of promise.”
Medea has been exiled for three times: from her home country near the Black Sea, from Jason's homeland Iolchos, and now from the city of Corinth. We would naturally think that a woman like Medea, being exiled for many times, is the most vulnerable and most powerless woman. She has got no friend and no citizenship. At the time of Euripides, being an exile is not an interesting position that a person wants to be in. It is like a suicide. Most people at that time in Greece view strangers as barbarians with no intelligence at all. In addition, Medea is going to be an exile with two children. She is supposed to be in lots of trouble. On the other hand, Jason has won the princess of Corinth's love. He is going to be Creon's son-in-law. Jason abandon's Medea after all she has done for him. Jason doesn't fear Medea at all because he has support from Creon, king of Corinth. Jason is supposed to be more powerful than Medea. Jason is the son-in-law of the king and Medea is an exile. But, as Euripides suggests, what the audience expects doesn't come true at all.
Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were two English philosophers who were very similar thinkers. They both studies at Oxford, and they both witnessed the civil Revolution. The time when they lived in England influenced both of their thoughts as the people were split into two groups, those whom though the king should have absolute power, and the other half whom thought people could govern themselves. However Hobbes and Locke both rejected the idea of divine right, such as there was no one person who had the right from God to rule. They both believed in the dangers of state of nature, they thought without a government there is more chance of war between men. However their theories differ, Hobbes theories are based on his hypothetical ideas of the state