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Social darwinism theory
Weaknesses of social darwinist theory
Social darwinism theory
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The theory of Social Darwinism avows that biologically superior humans endure, while genetically inferior individuals die out. Author Frank Norris, a proponent of Social Darwinism, asserted that one should remain within his inborn social class. In his view, if one acts contrary to his inherited societal state, then Social Darwinism will level him back to his innate societal class. Frank Norris expressed this theory in his novel McTeague. Through his conceptualization of Social Darwinism, Frank Norris illustrated the downfall of Trina and McTeague, Maria and Zerkow, and the prosperity of Old Grannis and Miss Baker.
Despite their white European ancestry, McTeague and Trina changed their financial status too abruptly, which ultimately led to their demise. For
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Zerkow, a Jew, marries Maria based on a financial fallacy. As Maria’s memory of the gold dishes depletes, Zerkow’s lust for the gold dishes intensifies. Maria’s continual denial of her fictitious family affluence infuriates the Jew, and he eventually cuts her throat. The downfall of the marital union results from Maria and Zerkow’s biological inferiority. According to Norris, Zerkow’s and Maria’s marriage, biologically speaking, is naturally bound for catastrophe.
Contrary to the previous examples, the union of Old Grannis and Miss Baker exemplifies proper integration of wealth and lineage. While the other characters in the novel attempt to fill prevailing voids in their lives through monetary means, Old Grannis and Miss Baker fill their void with authentic love. The fulfillment of this void comes when Miss Baker brings Old Grannis a cup of tea. Norris portrays the prosperity of Old Grannis’ and Miss Baker’s union, as a result of their biological superiority. The elderly white European couple possesses a genetic disposition for opulence and material
It’s like Tom Outland’s death stirred up turmoil for the family. Everyone became at odds with each other. Before Tom died, Mrs. St. Peter had a grudge of jealousy towards him because of the bonding relationship he and her husband, Professor, St. Peter had formed. Rosamond and Kathleen have a grudge against each other because both girls were fond of Tom but Tom loved Rosamond. Tom left all his money and inventions to Rosamond and it was a large sum that provided her with the enablement to live comfortably. Kathleen feels like Rosamond flashes the money in her face and finds it preposterous. ““I can’t help it, father. I am envious. I don’t think I would be if she let me alone, but she comes here with her magnificence and takes the life out of all our poor little things. Everybody knows she’s rich, why does she have to keep rubbing it in”” (69)? The Outland holds bitterness and unresolved
In Cold Sassy GA, the town is filled with gossip surrounding the town’s newest newlyweds. Will Tweedy finds himself eyewitness to it all. Grandpa E Rucker Blakeslee has ‘tied the knot’ with the young milliner, Miss Love Simpson. With it being only three weeks after the death of his last wife, the family and town alike are shocked. Confused but curious about it all, Will observes what it means to be husband and wife and what it really means to love. Puzzled by the secrets shared between the two, he tries to figure out just why Grandpa Blakeslee asked Miss Love for her hand in marriage and why she even agreed. While Grandpa Blakeslee is experiencing his second adolescence, Will is trying to make it through his first. When Will gets hit by a train and is still alive to tell about it, Grandpa Blakeslee gives him a lesson on God’s Will. And Will starts to realize not everyone interprets things the same way. When the mill child, Lightfoot crosses Will’s path his heart skips a beat. With all Will’s new found attractions and desires he decided to try his luck with the girls. That’s when he experiences his first kiss, and also his first heartbreak. After the innocent Uncle Camp kill’s himself due to Aunt Loma’s constant criticism, Will starts to question how he treats people. He starts to wonder if maybe he helped his uncle pull the trigger. Soon after that Grandpa Blakeslee’s store isn’t doing all that well. Two unidentified strangers come and rob Grandpa Blakeslee blind, in the process beating him up ‘something awful’. With his weakness effecting his immune system, he catches a bad case of pneumonia and soon passes away. But not before Miss Love could tell him what he had been waiting to hear his whole life…. He would soon have a son to carry on the family name. Not at all scared of death or the unknown, Grandpa Blakeslee orders a letter to be read concerning his funeral and remains. But to everyone’s surprise he orders the cheapest and lowest class funeral and orders himself nothing, but a wooden box. Wanting no one to mourn over him and everyone to know that he was dead...
This essay will contrast a good and evil concept between two different stories. There is an obvious distinction that stands out between the stories; however they are similar in one way. In A Worn Path (Eudora Welty) and A Good Man is Hard to Find (Flannery O’Conner) the one thing that sticks out, is the main character in both stories. The main character in both stories being the grandmother. Grandmothers are of course an important part of the family. In each story we have a grandmother of a different race, appearance, and attitude. In each story the grandmothers take different journeys, but there is one thing they both face being treated disrespected. We live in a world in which the grandmother resides with the family and helps to take care of the grandchildren. In the world today things are different and times are still hard if not harder. We live in a time when respect is no longer earned. Now days it seems as if respect is not as important as it was in earlier years and it is evident in these two stories.
The granny and the misfit are two completely opposite characters that possess two different beliefs. The grandmother puts herself on a high pedestal and the way she calls the misfit ‘a good person’ based upon his family background gives the reader an idea of what the grandmother acknowledges to be considered as ‘good’. Self absorbed as sh...
Adam provided land and a home for Cathy, believing that she would be happy with him. However, that wasn’t the case. Cathy considered her marriage with Adam as an “accident” and plans “not going to stay here [Salinas Valley]” (Steinbeck 157; 173). Cathy’s original ambitions were “protection and rest”, her “money was gone”, and she needed shelter; therefore, leaning towards Adam being the only man who was able to provide that for her (Steinbeck 117). On the other hand, Daisy desired money from Gatsby as she is described with a voice “full of money” (Fitzgerald 120). Including her depiction has the girl dressed in white in a “white palace” like royalty (Donaldson). Because of these intentions that their interests had and their failure to see the truth underneath their fantasies, it leaded to their different…not-so-happy
A more thorough investigation of The Great Gatsby is necessary to uncover a well-disguised theme by Fitzgerald in this work. Upon a simple read through one would probably not notice the great similarities of Jay Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson, but the two characters seemed to have the same agenda for their lives. While Gatsby took the route of acquiring money at all costs to join the upper class of society and to be acceptable in the eyes of a woman, Myrtle chose to make her way up in society at the cost of her marriage by attaching herself to money. The underlying question is who had the most success.
From the first interactions with the young children, the governess's infatuation with their uncle, her employer, eventually proved to be her own failure in every fashion. In talk with the head maid, Ms. Grose, the governess explained her meeting with her employer and how she had fallen in love with him on their first meeting. Ms. Grose then began to explain that that was the nature of the her employer, to draw a women he could entrust his estate to, and that the governess was not the only one so taken by him to leave the infatuated governess without further communication.
Social Darwinism is a late 19th century term used to describe the application of British naturalist Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection to social and political conditions. Late 19th century sociologist Herbert Spencer tried to capture the essence of social Darwinism with his phrase “survival of the fittest”. This essentially meant that the strong would rise to the top while the weak simply died out. Social Darwinists eschew social responsibility and compassion, instead believing that some people are more fit to survive than others. Many social Darwinists advocated that the government should maintain a laissez-faire, or hands off, approach when it came to regulating economic competition and alleviating social inequalities. Social Darwinism was used to justify the consolidation of the majority of wealth by a minority of Americans. The term allowed people to rationalize capitalism, imperialism, racism, and even eugenics. The wealthy believed in social Darwinism because it allowed them to justify their oppressive business tactics and low wages for their labor force. Politicians believed in it because it allowed them to justify imperialism, or expansion of the nation. Affluent Anglo-Saxons believed in social Darwinism, believing themselves to be the superior race, and used it to justify ...
...s with all of the parties and the pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure in an era of change. The novel shows the relationship of Gatsby and Daisy as a symbol of this pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure. The reader sees the pursuit of wealth through Daisy wanting Gatsby and Tom, both of whom have money. The pursuit of power is shown through Daisy’s decision of Tom over Gatsby as Gatsby is seen as a lower social status with little power compared to Tom who has tremendous power. Pleasure is seen through the extramarital affairs of Tom and Myrtle as well as Daisy and Gatsby. The Great Gatsby, through Tom and Daisy, reveals the human condition of the pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure through these examples and shows that the “American Dream” is not possible in a life where one’s surroundings are pushing him/her towards a life of wealth, power, and pleasure.
Lawrence’s “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” is pervaded by the idea that relationships between classes are highly influenced negatively by society. Connie is having this very sexual and passionate relationship with her gamekeeper Oliver Mellors who is of a lower status to her. To many reader’s surprise, Mellors is a man who, as one critic quotes, “remains impervious to the pettiness and conventional society” suggesting this to be a reason for Connie and Mellors relationship to be so strong compared to that of, for instance, Othello and Desdemona and Daisy, Tom and Gatsby’s relationships. In Shakespeare’s “Othello”, Desdemona and Othello’s relationships are highly influenced by others and the people around them. This influence eventually leads to death with society still intact. In “The Great Gatsby”, Fitzgerald uses the strong symbolic image of money and American society to show how people can get carried away and lose touch with the reality of relationships. Daisy is surrounded by a society she doesn’t like living with Tom and she is unable to get away from it, while Tom has another women that he is hiding. The idea of hiding is also suggesting that the society doesn’t see it as a correct thing to do, yet Fitzgerald appears to go against this. Another theme of “The Great Gatsby” is the idea of new and old money and how that affects who society thinks you should be with. Society in all...
The Grandmother defines ‘good’ as having the same values that she does: material wealth and appearances. The Grandmother said she would have done well to marry Mr. Teagarden because he was a gentleman and ... a very wealthy man. In this part of the story Grandma covets the wealth and the status that Mr. Teagarden could have provided. In The Melancholy Tyrant: Democracy and Tranny in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the author Mark Mitchell uses psychological criticism to analyze the characters and their relationships with each other. “The old lady’s concerns remain perpetually focused on herself, for as soon as The Misfit consoles her she looks at him and inquires, ‘You wouldn’t shoot a lady, would you?’ The presence of children, her grandchildren, and the obvious danger to them makes this inquiry chilling in its solitary concern. The family is so disintegrated that the natural affection of a mother for her child or a grandmother for her grandchildren seems to evaporate when a real threat presents itself,” (Mitchell 214). The Grandma’s definition of good leads her to value money, material comforts, and appearances ove...
...g this news for the first time and is astounded and angry. Aunt Gertrude, though shrewd and unlikable, also realizes the attraction between Patrice and Natalie, and tells Patrice that he is marrying the girl he loves to his Uncle. Her awareness on this subject may be rooted in her hate for Patrice and her desire to destroy him because her son can never be as loved as Patrice, but that does not alter the fact that she feels and notices the love between Patrice and Natalie.
Most people believe that Social Darwinism is a term that can only be applied to people’s race, and for most well known social Darwinism theories this is true. The basis of these theories is always revolved around the term survival of the fittest. Darwin works on what to do with animals and how animal species have adapted to challenges thrown at them by nature.... ... middle of paper ...
Miss Brill is advanced in years. She has been coming weekly to the gardens for “‘a long time’” (100). Furthermore, the two young lovers describe her as an “‘an old thing”’ (100).
Aubery Tanqueray, a self-made man, is a Widower at the age of Forty two with a beautiful teenage daughter, Ellean whom he seems very protective over. His deceased wife, the first Mrs. Tanqueray was "an iceberg," stiff, and assertive, alive as well as dead (13). She had ironically died of a fever "the only warmth, I believe, that ever came to that woman's body" (14). Now alone because his daughter is away at a nunnery he's found someone that can add a little life to his elite, high class existence; a little someone, we learn, that has a past that doesn't quite fit in with the rest of his friends.