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impact of literature on culture
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Things Fall Apart and Citizen Kane
Okonkwo, the main character of Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe. And
Charles Foster Kane of Orson Welles Citizen Kane, both have value systems that
are incongruous with their cultures. Thus allowing them to be defeated by
society. These are two men with a great need for recognition. Their need for
something that was extinguished long ago. Okonkwos struggle to prove his
greatness in the face of those who knew his father. Charles Foster Kane's void
that must be filled. The relentless pursuit of respect, power. Okonkwo must
conquer the image of weakness inside him and his fear of powerlessness. Both
characters feel that their material possessions can earn them the respect they
"deserve". Charles Foster Kane is in search for something more simple than
respect, he seeks his life. The path that should have been followed was
dramatically altered, and his life took a completely new direction. " I could
have been a great man" he explains, if he only had the chance. The pride of
these men who have no faults in their own minds, but struggle to erase the
faults they know others can find. This essay will convey the value systems of
each character in their culture and the cinematic and literary techniques used
to magnify their presence in the works.
Charles foster Kane was a child that was very fond of his mother, as seen
in the first scene of the young characters life. Charles' father did not seem to
have any attachment to his son. Appearing quite ignorant, we can detect the lack
of a father figure in Charles' life. This first scene is recounted in the
journal of Mr. Thatcher. The man...
... middle of paper ...
...s choked on that silver spoon". The only love he had
he lost. Okonkwo's life deteriorated completely. Whether some aspects were out
of his control, he blames it on his Chi. What must be understood is that your
Chi is you, it is your conscience and your inner self. Okonkwo gave up his
battle because he knew that no one would follow him. Each character paved the
way to their misfortune, and suffered greatly because of their beliefs. In both
works things fall apart.
Works Cited and Consulted
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann
Educational Publishers, 1986.
Citizen Kane. Dir. Orson Welles. Perf. Orson Welles, Agnes Moorehead, Joseph
Cotten, and Everett Sloane. RKO, 1941.
Taiwo, Oladele. Culture and the Nigerian Novel. New York: St. Martin's Press,
1976.
when describing his father. At the beginning of the story he spoke as a child
Charles grew up in a wealthy family and had everything pretty much going for him. He was always full of curiosity coming up, always wanted to know how different things worked, and would try different experiments. "Charles always tried various experiments. One of these, after he'd read the New Testament account of Jesus walking on water, was an attempt to walk on water. He didn't use faith or magic, but science, with the help of a mechanical device he made out of two planks held together with hinges." (Josepha Sherman, page 16) Aside from the wealth they had poor health, in London there was pollution everywhere and all kinds of toxicants in the air. This caused Charles siblings after him to die before they reached to age of one. "Even so, the air wouldn't have been to clean, thanks to carelessly tossed garbage, horses in the street, and poor sewer...The Babbage’s decided that the wisest thing to do was send Charles away from London, out into the cleaner countryside." (Josepha Sherman, page 14) At the age of
In this essay, I have chose to talk about the movies, American Beauty and Thirteen from group #1. The two topics discussed in this essay from group #2 are identity and difference along with sexuality. The cinematic elements from group #3 that will be discussed are cinematography and costume use. In many ways, both these films portray similar content in terms of characters fighting battles with themselves and society in order to fit in. In American Beauty, Lester Burnham tries to free himself from his boring life and depression. On the other hand, Thirteen shows the struggles of Tracy Freeland, who tries to fit in at school. This results in her to go on a self-inflicting rampage with her supposedly best friend Evie. Identity and differences are displayed through sexuality with Lester and Evie in different types of way. Lester lusts over his daughters best friend Angela, while Tracy tries to experience sexuality in different types of ways following Evie’s footsteps.
occasion and beat the odds and become a better man, or he can follow in the footsteps
Orson Welles’ cinematic classic, Citizen Kane, is a film that centers on a group of reporter’s investigation into the meaning of Charles Foster Kane’s last word, “Rosebud.” Through their investigation of his last words, the team of reporters, is presented with an almost, but not quite, complete picture of “Citizen” Kane’s life. By assuming that the man’s last word was as grandiose as his life, the reporters miss out on the bigger, more holistic picture, which is Charles Foster Kane’s life. The reporters’ emphasis of attention on what turns out to be a small and trivial, although they never find that out, aspect of Kane’s life, make Citizen Kane a perfect example of the pitfalls of over-interpretation.
In The Odyssey some of the central values of early Greek society are honor, hospitality, faithfulness, and revenge. Honor continues to be an important element in epics as it is the most detrimental thing to strip from a man. As Odysseus voyages in attempt to reach Ithaca he is taken in by many foreigners he meets along the way, he doesn’t always remain consistent with his tasks and unfortunately allows a lot of time to pass during some of the hospitality he enjoys. Faithfulness is another central value that can be seen indefinitely in The Odyssey especially from queen Penelope that remains faithful to Odysseus throughout his absence. By the same token, Odysseus seeks revenge against the suitors and reclaims his land and his wife making revenge a prominent value in early Greek society.
In that regard, it was no wonder Odysseus’s is such an atrocious leader. A great example of Odysseus being disloyal is on Calypso’s Island. “…He lay with her each night, for she compelled him.” (892) This quote shows how Odysseus is disloyal to his grieving wife, and sleeps with a goddess daily. A leader cannot expect loyalty when the leader is notorious for being unloyal. “Now Circe, ‘loveliest of all immortals,’ persuades Odysseus to stay with her.” (903) This is another quote that shows Odysseus cheating on his wife, while his wife is at home is at home distraught over her missing husband. A great leader leads by example. By that philosophy, it should not be expected of Odysseus’s men to be loyal to him, when Odysseus cannot stay faithful to his own wife. Consequently, Odysseus is also extremely selfish, on top of being incredibly
Loyalty, as defined in the Odyssey seems to be the constant devotion to someone, the hopefully longing of their return and victory. Homer seems to value loyalty over many of the other human traits, as Eumaeus gets not only Homer’s famous “you” but his own book as well. The swineherd is not the only character that Homer uses to show loyalty, Penelope and Telemachus show unyielding faithfulness to Odysseus throughout the epic poem; as do many other characters even gods. Homer demonstrates the value he places on loyalty through the use of these characters with their devotion to Odysseus. Through the use of these characters Homer shows the value of loyalty by their loyalty to Odysseus.
_The Odyssey_ is believed to have been written by Homer and is infused with loyalty throughout the entire epic story. Odysseus is the most faithful, loving, and loyal husband, to Penelope, that any woman could dream of. Odysseus, in the beginning of his description of the trials and tribulations that he has endured, pledged his eternal loyalty to his ever-faithful wife Penelope. ?We are mortal weary and sick at heart/? [if only] now may I see once more/ my hall, my lands, my people before I die!? (Homer 7:233-240). Thought Odysseus did lie with the goddess his loyalty to Penelope held true. The ?Enchantress in her beauty? (Homer 7:274) enslaved the grand Odysseus to her will; yet Odysseus ?in [his] heart [he] never gave consent.? (Homer 7:276) The goddess offered Odysseus a choice, the ?promise [that he] should be/ immortal, [and] youthful, all the days to come? (Homer 7:275-276) or to continue his long continuous voyage to his queen Penelope. Because Odysseus chose to return to his devoted Penelope instead of gaining immortal life he has provided...
The relationship between Odysseus and Telemakhos is a blind love. That is because they never really got to know each other because Odysseus has been gone for most of Telemakhos’ life. One example of this blind love is when Odysseus hears about how the suitors are mistreating and stealing from Telemakhos. Odysseus gets so irate that he was then even more determined than ever, to return to his family. Telemakhos also exhibits the same kind of blind love towards his father. Even though people have told him that his father was dead, he never believed it. He felt that his father was alive and was willing to sacrifice his life to prove it. Telemakhos was inexperienced at directing a boat, but he was willing to try because he felt something inside of him that gave him the strength to go on. Thus, this relationship between Odysseus and Telemakhos gave both of them the courage to overcome the hardships ahead of them.
When a fire is ignited many things are thrown into to keep it burning, however the fire will bring down all the items tossed into it; eventually the fire will fade. When the fire fades, only one item will remain whole amongst the ashes. The way only the strongest items survive is related to life. Life is full of lessons, speeches, and dreams that will prove to be life changing, however only the strongest of those items with the deepest meanings will survive.
In conclusion, Laurie, who really has become Charles completely, has too much pride in himself and his actions which makes him arrogant. He is creative because he is bursting with different and colorful ideas although they may not all be benevolent and he loves attention; he always finds a way to take the attention and does not realize how much others mind his behaviour making him flamboyant. He demonstrates all these attributes throughout this story as he is telling his parents about Charles. Laurie’s parents do not see this about Laurie until the end of the story which up until that point; they believe that he is a quick adjuster, a wearer of bibs and corduroy overalls, when in fact, the son they are raising is now Charles.
this one letter in a circle can now sum up his life, that people just
Early on we are lead to believe that Charlie and his father are happy to see each other and have a good relationship with quotes such as, “I was terribly happy to see him again” and “ Hi Charlie, Hi boy!” But these attitudes towards father and son are short lived.
Truth and honesty are key elements to a good, healthy relationship. However, in Shakespeare's Sonnet 138, the key to a healthy relationship between the speaker and the Dark Lady is keeping up the lies they have constructed for one another. Through wordplay Shakespeare creates different levels of meaning, in doing this, he shows the nature of truth and flattery in relationships.