Elusive as it may be, the human race has, and will always, search for meaning. The need for this fulfillment is a fundamental part of the human condition for man and woman alike; however, gaining one’s definition is a mysterious and arduous task. The path to finding meaning is often treacherously opaque and deceptive, so when someone believes they have solved the riddle of gaining fulfillment, they are prone to advertise their findings. Based on the ideas presented though The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy, Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman, and The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, there is one truth regarding the search for meaning: meaning is not found though societies norms.
When searching for one’s meaning, the biggest deceptive pressures come from society. The deceptive pressures of society are detrimental. They are detrimental not only because they do not provide meaning the person is looking for, but they also cause a significant amount of collateral damage. This is seen most prevalently in The Yellow Wallpaper. In this story, a woman has a high level of anxiety. She then is treated for it by the popular treatment of the day. Saying “So I take phosphates or phosphites—whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, an am absolutely forbidden to ‘work’ until I am well again, Personally, I disagree with their ideas” (Gilman 1), she admits that she is letting society make decisions for her, even though she thinks their ideas are bad. During this treatment, she slowly loses her mind, and finally becomes insane. The woman in this story surrenders her freedom and sanity to society. She may have been alright...
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...sent different ideas of what meaning and how to achieve it, they agree on the point that it is not found by strictly adhering to the guidelines and ideals of society.
Works Cited
Frost, Robert. "1. The Road Not Taken. Frost, Robert. 1920. Mountain Interval." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Web. .
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel. New York: Perennial Library, 1990. Print.
Shelly, Mary. Frankenstein. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998. Print.
Tolstoy, L. N., Ronald Wilks, Anthony Briggs, and David McDuff. The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.
"The Yellow Wallpaper." Etext.virginia.edu. University of Virginia Library, 1997. Web. .
Zora Hurston’s novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” depicts the journey of a young woman named Janie Crawford’s journey to finding real love. Her life begins with a romantic and ideal view on love. After Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, soon grows fearful of Janie’s newfound sexuality and quickly marries Janie off to Logan Killicks, an older land owner with his own farm. Janie quickly grows tired of Logan and how he works her like a slave instead of treating her as a wife and runs away with Joe Starks. Joe is older than Janie but younger than Logan and sweet talks Janie into marring him and soon Joe becomes the mayor of an all African American town called Eatonville. Soon Joe begins to force Janie to hide not only her
This excerpt from Zora Neale Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were watching God, is an example of her amazing writing. She makes us feel as if we are actually in her book, through her use of the Southern Black vernacular and admirable description. Her characters are realistic and she places special, well thought out sentences to keep us interested. Zora Neale Hurston’s art enables her to write this engaging story about a Southern black woman’s life.
In, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author takes you on the journey of a woman, Janie, and her search for love, independence, and the pursuit of happiness. This pursuit seems to constantly be disregarded, yet Janie continues to hold on to the potential of grasping all that she desires. In, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author, Zora Hurston illustrates the ambiguity of Janie’s voice; the submissiveness of her silence and the independence she reclaims when regaining her voice. The reclaiming of Janie's independence, in the novel, correlates with the development and maturation Janie undergoes during her self discovery.
Walker, Kristen. "Feminism Present in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God." 7 February 2007. Yahoo Voices. 27 January 2014 .
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. Harper Perennial Modern Classics: Reissue Edition 2013
Appiah and Gates, 204-17. Hurston, Zora. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., 1990. Wright, Richard.
Hurston, Lora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1990.
Through her use of southern black language Zora Neale Hurston illustrates how to live and learn from life’s experiences. Janie, the main character in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a woman who defies what people expect of her and lives her life searching to become a better person. Not easily satisfied with material gain, Janie quickly jumps into a search to find true happiness and love in life. She finally achieves what she has searched for with her third marriage.
The struggle between happiness and society shows a society where true happiness has been forfeited to form a perfect order.
4. Hurston, Zora Neal. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper Collins, 1937. Print.
Hurston, Zora N. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1937. Print.
Leo Tolstoy, author of The Death of Ivan Ilyich, suffered numerous tragic losses such as his parents and his aunt, Tatyana Ergolsky who created a tremendous impact during Tolstoy’s childhood. Overtime, Tolstoy was cultured and for Tolstoy it was common within his community. During the 1840, Tolstoy developed a strong, eager interest for the studies of moral philosophy. In The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy suggests that although people can find happiness in materialism, they need spirituality during a crisis.
Tolstoy, Leo. “The Devil”. The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories.Trans. Richard Peaver and Larissa Volokhonsky. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. Print.
Human beings have been struggling to learn the meaning of life since the first day. Ideologies are born as human’s interpretation of the world and belief system, also an endeavor to seek the truth of human nature. Ideologies emerge throughout the periods of great changes: the Enlightenment, the English “Glorious” Revolution, the American Revolution, etc. They have become the motivations, the standards, and the roots to modern political systems. Their roots are the philosophies developed by famous philosophers throughout the time. However, as each ideology is developed, its own contradiction also grows, takes place in the realm of actions. This, in turn, shows contradiction as human nature.
Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken”. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 7Th Ed. Nina