Kurt Vonnegut - The Only Story of Mine Whose Moral I Know
"This is the only story of mine whose
moral I know. I don't think it's a marvelous
moral; I simply happen to know what it is : We
are what we pretend to be, so we must be
careful about what we pretend to be."
"Look out, Kid!"
-Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues
Vonnegut's work is rife with instances of lie become truth.
Howard Campbell's own double identity is a particularly strong
example, although Vonnegut's message is subtle. His actions were
an attempt to survive, but also an attempt to serve his country.
Campbell would no doubt have survived regardless - survival is
his special talent - but we aren't given any indication that he
would have become a cog in the war machine. In fact, the opposite
seems to be true. When approached by Major Wirtanen, his contact
with the DOD, he protests that he is not political and will not
help the war's progress. He was not an anti-Semite, and does not
become one. Furthermore, in at least two passages in the novel he
makes reference to a true self that he kept hidden. Campbell's
"we are" in his moral cannot be just a reference to personality.
Instead, we must take a less psychological view. Campbell
pretends to be a man who incites other men to hatred. He becomes
that man. It is in Campbell's actions and their effects, along
with his societal and legal persecution, that we find the lie
that becomes truth. As Mr. Campbell was not the only propagandist
at work in Germany in World War Two, it is for the most part
impossible to determine what measure of war and genocide guilt he
deserves. Nor can we say that he helped win the war in the sense
that those who stormed the beaches at Normandy did. But as he
became his lie to the Germans, he becomes his lie to Israel and
In Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, he retells the story of a young man named Chris McCandless by putting together interviews, speaking with people who knew him, and using letters he writes to his companions. Chris McCandless also known as Alexander Supertramp is a bright young man and after graduating from Emory University with all honors, he abandons most of his possessions and travels around the west, making long lasting impact on whomever he meets. He then hitchhikes to Alaska where he is found dead. In chapter 14 and 15, both named “Stikine Ice Cap”, Jon Krakauer interrupts the boy's story and shares his anecdote of going to Alaska to climb a dangerous mountain called the Devils Thumb. Krakaure’s purpose is to refute the argument that McCandless is mentally ill because many others, like Krakauer have tried to “go into the wild” but they are lucky to survive unlike McCandless. While describing his climb, Krakauer exhibits through the descriptions of and uncertainty about personal relationships.
What does it take for one to achieve the American dream? What kinds of struggles does one need to overcome to achieve their goals in life? In the classic novel The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, you can follow the Joad family in the pursuit to their dreams and the difficulties they faced and overcame. The Joad family faced numerous conflicts including; men, society, nature, and him/herself but overcame many to keep pushing them towards their dream; to go to California and find a better life.
In conclusion, Jackson’s story is one warning of the dangers of blindly following tradition and the randomness of prosecution. The author indirectly hints to the true nature of the lottery through the use of objects, settings, and symbolism. The residents of the village learn from a young age to essentially disregard reasoning when carrying out the Lottery in order to preserve tradition. Throughout the story, the villagers do not dare cross the line of questioning the ritual because that is all they know. Just like in real life, most do not question the significance of tradition until it is often too late. The lottery is an extreme example of what can happen if traditions are not examined critically by new generations.
To a first time reader, Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery” seems simply as a curious tale with a shocking ending. After repetitive reading of Jackson's tale, it is clear that each sentence is written with a unique purpose often using symbolism. Her use of symbols not only foreshadow its surprise and disturbing ending but allows the reader to evaluate the community's pervert traditional rituals. She may be commenting on the season of the year and the grass being “richly green” or the toying with the meanings of the character's names but each statement applies to the meaning and lesson behind her story.
The peak in risky behavior occurs at about age 17. The rates of risky behavior continue to rise, with a significant increase occurring in the past two decades. Risky behavior in adolescence can have both positive and negative effects. Positive effects risky behavior has during adolescence are individuation, self-determination, and it can create peer acceptance. The tendency to partake in risky behavior during adolescence can be contributed to rapid development of the emotional brain while the cortical areas continue to develop slowly, the need for sensation seeking, beliefs of invulnerability, and deviant behavior demonstrated by
... killing an individual is needed to ensure a prosperous crop is not only disheartening but also a scary idea. This is behavior that is thought to be barbaric and a thing of days long past. The Lottery is a very surprising story with many themes all of which are important. The ones previously addressed are the ones that occurred more than others and also seemed to bring more to the meaning and interpretation of the story.
Albert Camus has his own toolbox of literary devices when it comes to accentuating the theme of The Stranger, one of them being his unique sense and use of secondary characters. Whether major or minor, every character in the book serves a purpose, and corroborates the theme in some form of fashion. Camus describes his secondary characters as foiling Meursault in one aspect or another, and thus, shining light on Meursault’s characteristics. Whether through close connections like familial relationships (Maman) and friendships (Salamano, Raymond, and Marie), or through bonds as distant as people he briefly converses with (Chaplain), or even so much as complete strangers (Perez and unidentified lady at the restaurant), characters that Meursault encounters foil and therefore, emphasize many aspects of his nature. Furthermore, because Meursault aptly embodies Camus’s ideology of Absurdism, emphasizing Meursault through secondary characteristics simply highlights Camus’ doctrine and theme of the book.
'The Lottery,'; written by Shirley Jackson is a story that takes place in a small town of approximately three hundred residents. Every year on June 27th the townspeople congregate in a giant mass in the middle of town, where the 'lottery'; takes place. This lottery is a ceremony in which each family throughout the town is represented by a tiny white piece of paper. The family representatives, who are the heads of the household, take turns drawing from a box that contains these three hundred pieces of papers. On one of the pieces of paper there is located a black dot, marked the previous night by Mr. Summers. This black dot indicates the 'winner'; of the lottery.
In the highly acclaimed novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the main question which is really pushed and provokes the most thought is: What does it mean to be part of a community or society? Steinbecks simple answer to this high level question is this: To be part of a community or society means having someone there who cares for you. This answer is shown in many examples scattered through the pages of the book, and seems to be the main reason that some characters are even in the book in the first place.
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Though the basic concept of decision making may appear simple to most, several factors affect how the brain processes emotions into rational actions. First, environment affects a young adult’s view on what is acceptable in society to handle difficult and controversial situations. Rolf E. Muuss explains in his work Theories of Adolescence that “environmental influence stimulates, modifies, and supports growth” (113) in order to emphasize that the atmosphere one is in has a direct correlation with decision making capabilities. The surroundings and family structure one lives in and observes throughout the stages of development have permanent effects on personality, decisions, and futures of that individual. Although many adults may try to understand the thoughts behind a teenager’s irrational actions, few comprehend that the biological age rarely matches the mental age in the adolescent stage of maturity. John E. Horrocks explains that “mental age is an index of the developmental level in intellectual function that a child has reached at a given time” (443). The judicial system should take into consideration the rate of the brain development to see if the guilty pe...
Roger and Tina come to therapy without their children. From an experiential therapist standpoint, the best method at this point would be to have Roger and Tina engage in emotionally focused couple’s therapy to help uncover the negative feelings they each feel toward one another. In heated moments, it is important for the therapist to intervene in the discussion and to reflect on what Roger and Tina are feeling. This will help defuse the situation and the therapist can help guide them to focus on their experience, rather than on what the other is doing wrong (Nichols, 2013). This is important so that the therapist can build a collaborative and effective bond with both parties (Swank, 2013). Discussion of specific issues in their relationship
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is an unconventional story about a village annual tradition. The story narrates how villagers gather to celebrate the lottery. Although “The Lottery” is a yearly custom, the way it is setup, carried out, and the grand prize makes “The Lottery” unrealistic.
The lottery is a symbol within itself in the story. The lottery symbolizes how the villagers support cruelty and violence but also compassion among each other in order to keep a tradition. In the beginning, the village seems to be a great environment to be in because of the children enjoying their time playing outside. As the story progresses, the lottery and its purpose are introduced to the readers which allows them to understand the true meaning of the lottery tradition. The stoning of the lottery winner shows that the villagers are
Re-introducing myself to a task that I have taken advantage of my entire life proved both frustrating and time consuming. Writing has always been done with at least a pencil hasn’t it? Apparently not, and I realized that as I set out to “create” a non-technological way to write. The new way of writing I created, although effective, took quite a bit longer than I had anticipated. Thinking of an idea for this project was easy; it was putting that abstract thought into concrete form that proved difficult. Armed with the best of intentions I set out to create a project equivalent to Egyptian hieroglyphics carved on the tops of pyramids. I soon realized that I set my goals a bit to high so I began scratching a few words into a piece of tree bark with a rock. When that proved not as interesting as I wanted, and certainly not as aesthetically pleasing, I moved to plan B: creating my own ink by boiling grape peals. The ink was a deep shade of purple (and smelled like wine); I was sure it would write just like ink from a pen and I would have a beautiful project.