AMISTAD
Amistad is a recreation of the true story about a 1839 slave revolt on a small Spanish schooner, La Amistad, ironically the Spanish word for "friendship." Spielberg does a great job in recreating the Amistad revolt that spurred a series of trials beginning in the lower courts of Connecticut and ultimately ending in the Supreme Court. Events following the revolt raise controversial questions about slavery and freedom. This case not only marks a milestone for Abolitionists in their fight against slavery but it also questioned the natural laws of our Constitution.
Leading up to the trial of the Africans, Spielberg illustrates the horrors the slaves endured as they were captured and taken from their homes. It is very distressing to see the cruelty that was imposed on the slaves as they were captured. The slaves were shackled and chained, then packed in an unsanitary, overcrowded slave ship, and exposed to inhuman treatment, on the Portuguese slaver Tecora as it makes its way through the Middle Passage towards Cuba. Although a third of the slaves died aboard the Tecora before it reached it's destination, those that survived the trip were eventually auctioned into slavery in Havanna, Cuba..
The revolt on the slave ship Amistad resulted in the deaths of the captain and cook of the ship. The Africans did spared the lives of two Spaniards who were needed to help navigate the ship back to Africa. The Africans had control of the Amistad for only a short time before it was seized by the U.S. Army, capturing the Africans and forcing them to face a trial, on charges of murder and mutiny. This trial marked the beginning of a court case that dramatically challenged our judicial system.
The Abolitionists play a big part in the outcome of this trial. Abolitionists to enhance strong public emotion against slavery, begin publicizing the horror stories and brutalities of slavery. They felt sorry for the slaves and with the help of Edward Tappin, an abolitionist leader, they secured the services of an attorney Roger S. Baldwin of Connecticut to defend the Africans. What amazed me, is that even with odds against the Africans, as the judge in the trial, Andrew T. Judson was an opponent of slavery and he was also under pressure by President Van Buren to send the Africans back to Cuba, justice prevailed for the Africans.
In Ken Kesey’s novel, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, he engages the reader with Nurse Ratched’s obsession with power, especially against McMurphy. When Nurse Ratched faces multiple altercations with McMurphy, she believes that her significant power is in jeopardy. This commences a battle for power in the ward between these characters. One assumes that the Nurses’ meticulous tendency in the ward is for the benefit of the patients. However, this is simply not the case. The manipulative nurse is unfamiliar with losing control of the ward. Moreover, she is rabid when it comes to sharing her power with anyone, especially McMurphy. Nurse Ratched is overly ambitious when it comes to being in charge, leaving the reader with a poor impression of
A half – Indian named Chief Bromden begins telling the reader about his experiences in an Oregon mental hospital. Head of this hospital is Nurse Ratched, also known as Big Nurse, “(…) a stern, controlling woman who behaves with a serene confidence”. She is the antagonist of the novel, manipulative and dictatorical, using any method to assert her power over the patients. In comparison to Randle Patrick Mac Murphy, the protagonist, she “(…) represents ideas of sexual repression, authoritarianism and conservatism” . The nurse and her new patient, who was admitted to the hospital by the state work farm for observation, are in every way opposed to each other - she demanding control, he revelling freedom.
Nurse Ratched is a former army nurse who works in the ward, she has manipulates the men in many ways. One way is having the patients “spy on each other” making them write things down, they think she would want to hear, or know. Bromden described Nurse Ratched as having the ability to “set the wall clock to whatever speed she wants”, a metaphor for her control, showing how the patients lose track of time. Nurse Ratched acts authority on the ward shows controls how superior over the person who would normally be her Superior, such as, Dr. Spivey.
In the novel, setting is important towards the interiors, as the vast majority of the novel is set within the closed, confined space, the interior, of the mental institution. The Institution is there for “fixing up mistakes made in the neighbourhoods.” It is important as it is only in a confined space such as a mental institution, where Ken Kesey can achieve the dark, foggy atmosphere of conformity and oppression that the Big Nurse and the Combine exercises over all the patients of the Institution. The institution is a place under the strict control of Nurse Ratched, and it is only in the hospital where she can exercise her calculated control.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, written by Ken Kesey in 1962, is a book about a lively con man that turns a mental institution upside down with his rambunctious antics and sporadic bouts with the head nurse. Throughout the book, this man shows the others in the institution how to stand up for themselves, to challenge conformity to society and to be who they want to be. It is basically a book of good versus evil, the good being the con man R.P. McMurphy, and the bad being the head nurse, Nurse Ratched. McMurphy revitalizes the hope of the patients, fights Nurse Ratched's stranglehold on the ward, and, in a way, represents the feelings of the author on society at the time.
Author Ken Kesey effectively reflects the social climate of the 1960s in his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. By creating a fictitious mental institution, he creates an accurate and eye-opening mirror image of repressive modern day society. While its’ both a microcosm and exaggeration of modern day society, Kesey stresses society’s obsession with conformity, while demonstrating that those individuals who reject societal pressure and conformity are simply deemed insane. However, Kesey infuses the power of the individual in his portrayal of the charismatic outlaw Randall McMurphy, and proves that it only takes one to defeat the restrictions of a repressive society.
In July 1839, fifty-four African captives boarded the Amistad and head to the Americas. During their journey, they were able to break free of their chains and take over the ship. Despite their best efforts to sail back to Africa, they were once again captured and put on trial in the United States. Due to the current progress of the abolishment of slave trafficking, all that were captured on the Amistad were set free. However, this was not the fortune of millions of slaves both before and after the Amistad. Thousands of slaves died before making it to the Americas. Due to the cruelty and sanitation issues of the ship, those who did survive the grueling journey had to do so in unlivable conditions. The victims of the Middle Passage suffered ruthless treatment throughout their journey across the Atlantic Ocean.
During this era where war and communist spies were prominent, the American Government was in a “Big Brother” state; meaning that they were watching over the people very closely. As a result, numerous innocent citizens were investigated by the CIA and accused of being anti-american (2facts) . While writing his novel, Kesey was able to incorporate this theme through his characters. Nurse Ratched, better known as “The Big Nurse”, represents the controlling and all-knowing state that the government was in during this era. Nurse Ratched would accuse and
Both, “The Interesting Narrative Life of Olaudah Equiano” and “Amistad” are important stories about slavery in pre-civil war america because they both address the issues of slavery. These gentlemen in the story made a difference in the slave trade. In “The life of Olaudah Equiano”, Olaudah was sold on a slave ship that came to the Barbados. Olaudah worked for his freedom, and in the end became efficient in American language. He worked his way to the free life and in the end it worked out for him, although it leaves scars on his soul. In “Amistad”, Cinque is a slave that leads a revolt on a slave ship after escaping. When they get to america, Baldwin, a lawyer that is representing the slave and the former president Adams helps free the slaves.
...hat afternoon. They found him guilty because they wanted to find him guilty. Unfortunately in the south in the early part of the nineteenth century blacks did not have a chance. They did not have a chance of finding a decent job, an education, a fair trial, and most importantly they did not have a chance to have much of a life.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest remarkably demonstrates the individual’s battle to maintain a sense of uniqueness from society. In the novel, McMurphy fought to save the patients of the asylum from the efforts of Nurse Ratched (society) to take their self-respect and force them to sacrifice their individuality. Life is full of contradictions and people who maliciously force ideas upon others of what is normal and acceptable. While McMurphy won the battle against Nurse Ratched, it was not the war; society still threatened the world in Kesey’s novel as it threatens the world of dreams and possibilities
“As I stare through the floor of an unknown vessel into an everlasting sea of clouds I ponder on what I had did to be in this situation or would I ever reunite with my family or will the gentleman beside me make it through the night.” The realization that slavery caused many families, lives, and individuals to be destroyed is gruesome. Through the memoir of Olaudah Equiano, the first-person accounts of the treatment of enslaved and free Africans is revealed, which helps him in the battle against African enslavement.
First, let's consider the situations in which genetic testing would be beneficial to patients. Genetic testing for diseases that are preventable or treatable could allow individuals to alter their lifestyles so as to treat the disease or reduce their risk of developing the disease. For instance, the E2 version of the APOE gene, which is found on chromosome 19, has been linked to heart disease (Ridley, 1999). Individuals who have two copies of the E2 gene are particularly sensitive to high-fat and high-cholesterol diets. Therefore, a genetic test to determine whether a person has the high-risk version of the APOE gene could inform a person of future health risks, thereby allowing the person to change his diet to help prev...
12 Years a Slave is a very iconic movie about Solomon Northrup and his being kidnapped into slavery. Northrup was a free man, a professional violinist, and a farmer. After being drugged, he was shipped away from his family and forced to work in New Orleans. During his slavery, he was forced to pick cotton and endure many hardships for 12 years. Eventually, he was freed and returned to his family. The people who captured and enslaved him served no punishment for their crimes since blacks were not allowed to sue white people at that time. Solomon was stripped of all his rights not only as a human, but also as an American and was illegally put into slavery for 12 years.
...rtunities; The Glass Menagerie holds up the 1930s family crisis of excessive demands in Tom’s family during the recession while in Fences the 1950s family crisis of racial discrimination is presented by Troy Maxon. The difficulties bought by Great Depression in making the wants into reality are demonstrated by Tom in The Glass of Menagerie. The racially segregated society of 1950s is highlighted by the novel Fences trough the struggling life of Troy Maxon and his family. Both the novel shows the struggle caused by social problems in fulfilling their needs and their outcome. The poor families still today does not have the same advantages as the rich resulting in failure to achieve their American Dream. In addition, we argue to be living in an equal society but the differences still exists and how much we try to overcome this bitter truth it tries to be coming back.