Louise Lawrence’s science fiction novel Children of the Dust (1985) is an exceptionally well written piece of work that shows humanity in a futuristic setting. Humanity, as we know it, is a collection of humans or in this case, the whole world. Louise Lawrence explores some of the many things that makes up humanity utilising many different techniques to express her thoughts on humanity. The substories enable her to reveal some aspects of humanity in a fictional manner, thus, first story delves into the survival and resilience of humans, and through the use of a second perspective in the bunker, a different problem is revealed in morality of the natural hierarchy of people, and finally, linking back to the second substory, concludes with a final acceptance of the future. …show more content…
The effect is clearly shown with the use of characterisation on Laura and many other mutants revealed in the novel. Laura is revealed to have many different qualities of which humans have never possessed before in life such as consideration beyond human levels and how she perceives the world in her mind. The physical and mental adaptations are obvious to the audience and thus it can be seen that human nature has already adapted to the new world. Also, although vague, resilience and adaptation can be seen happening during the post apocalyptic war. Here, Louise Lawrence has conveyed one thing which she has tried to reach to the audience through the exceptional and extended use of characterisation throughout the novel. Thus, adaptation and resilience illustrates how this key part in human nature, which has been expressed a number of times, is the most strongly revealed in the
book remains a true testimony to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.
Emily St. John Mandel is the author of Station Eleven, a novel about a plague that destroys over ninety-nine percent of the human race and how their lives have changed afterwards. This morbid topic is approached in an interesting way as Mandel focuses on how culture and art can survive in such horror. Author Roy Scranton writes about how humans have succeeded in destroying our own lives by ignoring the warnings of global warming in his work, “Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene.”
According to psychology, the ability of humans to adapt to negative life situations and withstand stress and adversity is centered in a concept called resilience. An individual with resilience may experience the stress and pain that oppression and adversity brings; however, they are better able to control their negative emotions, rather than allowing these emotions to control their thoughts and actions. Resilience is not something people are born with or without, it is a trait that is developed. However, there are causational factors that contribute to the development of resilience. A few of these factors are: Having at least one close friendship and or having a
Often, we find ourselves facing dramatic events in our lives that force us to re-evaluate and redefine ourselves. Such extraordinary circumstances try to crush the heart of the human nature in us. It is at that time, like a carbon under pressure, the humanity in us either shatters apart exposing our primal nature, or transforms into a strong, crystal-clear brilliant of compassion and self sacrifice. The books Night written by Elie Wiesel and Hiroshima written by John Hersey illustrate how the usual lifestyle might un-expectantly change, and how these changes could affect the human within us. Both books display how lives of civilians were interrupted by the World War II, what devastations these people had to undergo, and how the horrific circumstances of war were sometimes able to bring out the best in ordinary people.
In her work, “This is Our World,” Dorothy Allison shares her perspective of how she views the world as we know it. She has a very vivid past with searing memories of her childhood. She lives her life – her reality – because of the past, despite how much she wishes it never happened. She finds little restitution in her writings, but she continues with them to “provoke more questions” (Allison 158) and makes the readers “think about what [they] rarely want to think about at all” (158).
The first one of these adaptations was conformity. This is the most widely practiced form of adaptation. Conformists buy into the conventional goals of society and they believe they need to work hard in order to achieve these goals. These people strive for success through hard work. Even if they realize that their aspirations may be a little high, they continue to follow social rules (Gomme, 2007) and “grin and bear it” (Winfree & Abadinsky, 2003) the legitimate way. If they fail to achieve their goals, they place the blame upon themselves and still strive harder to obtain
One brilliant man alone tore down the world, in an attempt to create the perfect people. Instead of creating his ideal world, he created utter chaos, where the number of healthy and living humans fell rapidly. After the complete disorder came to an end, destruction and damage were not the only remnants left behind. A new world was begun with the end of the human race and the birth of the perfect race, which was made up of creatures of flawlessness and excellence. Margaret Atwood tells a story of an end, revolving in the time of a society of the future. The previous society becomes shattered because of the decisions made, decisions that can be made today as well. Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake serves as a prediction for modern society through certain concepts in history, science and economics.
Throughout life, people are constantly learning to adapt culturally and politically, to the world around them. Overtime, we find it easier to cope with more changes more often, because we have learned to adapt quickly. We don’t all cope identically, some better than others. By using different strategies to cope, we make a difference in our life and the lives around us. In the three books, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a novel about a child in a small Southern town that is involved in a crisis of conscience. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse a story about a man searching for enlightenment, and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, about an African tribe member’s struggle with his own tribe and external forces. The three main characters all find
In “Out of the Dust,” a story told by 14-year-old Billie Jo, she describes her grief and feelings of lost hope including guilt from the accidental death of her mother and her mother’s unborn child. The accident crushed Billie Jo’s hope and her spirit, as well her father’s. It is a story of remarkable struggle where Billie Jo tries to find inner strength. She seeks the light through the Oklahoma “dust”. The “dust” is symbolic as it signifies a lack of life, dreams, and hope. Billie Jo takes the reader through her emotional of the journey that evokes compassion and empathy. The reader becomes part of the story and part of Billie Jo’s persona. Her journey embraces whom we are in the most profound sense of sadness and loss of her beloved mother. The story also guides us through the powerful enlightenment that defines the clearest explanation of the human spirit. In “Out of the Dust” Billie Jo demonstrates the power of forgiveness in herself and her father. These acts of forgiveness allowed her to move past the darkness and into the light. Her story gives the reader details on how the human spirit is philanthropic by nature and a lifelong process. “Out of the Dust” captures the essence of forgiveness including the transformations that occur during the process.
...der to surpass the stress experienced by the whole family. It is continuously staying strong and supporting each family member in the changes that might take place in order to respond to the internal and external forces. In brief, developing a resilient family does not solely depend on just those part of the family, everyone has a significant role to play in order for a family to cope with the internal and external stress they encounter. The article is truly useful in most of the situations Filipino families are experiencing right now. It would not only guide them but also mold those families to become stronger and have higher hopes and goals in life. Metaphorically, Understanding Family Resilience is similar to a guide for families to follow in order to have a stronger relationship, not just with those part of their family but also those part of their environment.
Resiliency is one concept that has never been the human races forte. Many things that happen in our current day and age require a great deal of perseverance and resiliency. People often will give in to the problems in their lives and learn to accept them, instead of persevering through them and working out the issues. The fact of the matter is, if you learn to persevere through problems, your life will be a lot more happy and pleasant to live. In Tennessee Williams’ play, “ A Streetcar Named Desire” suggests that you cannot give up on issues; you must be resilient to those issues and persevere to be happy.
According to Darwin and his theory on evolution, organisms are presented with nature’s challenge of environmental change. Those that possess the characteristics of adapting to such challenges are successful in leaving their genes behind and ensuring that their lineage will continue. It is natural selection, where nature can perform tiny to mass sporadic experiments on its organisms, and the results can be interesting from extinction to significant changes within a species. Human beings are no exception to biological evolution. Like other organisms around the world, humans have significantly changed over time and have developed all sorts of diverse characteristics.
In society, people react to adversity differently. They may choose to overcome those difficulties or they are unable to adapt to those adversity can cause them to suffer from loss of identity.
2 linda hutcheon, A Theory of adaptation, Ed. Linda Hutcheon. (New York; Rouledge,2006. Preface (pg
From the frozen tundra of the arctic north to the arid deserts of sub-Saharan Africa – humans not only survive, but even thrive in some of the most extreme and remote environments on the planet. This is a testament to the remarkable capacity for adaptation possessed by our species. Each habitat places different stressors on human populations, and they must adapt in order to mitigate them. That is, adaptation is the process by which man and other organisms become better suited to their environments. These adaptations include not only physical changes like the larger lung capacities observed in high altitude natives but also cultural and behavioral adjustments such as traditional Inuit clothing styles, which very effectively retain heat but discourage deadly hyperthermia-inducing sweat in Arctic climates. Indeed, it seems this later mechanism of adaptation is often much more responsible for allowing humans to populate such a wide variety of habitats, spanning all seven continents, rather than biological mechanisms. Of course, not all adaptations are entirely beneficial, and in fact may be maladaptive, particularly behavior adaptations and highly specialized physical adaptations in periods of environmental change. Because people rely heavily on social learning, maladaptaptive behaviors such as sedentarization and over-eating – both contributing to obesity – are easily transmitted from person to person and culture to culture, as seen in the Inuit’s adoption of American cultural elements.