Unattainable Equaility Depicted in Carson McCullers's Sucker

985 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Equality in today's society

Anomalies in Equality

Equality is something that people have been fighting for for a long time, but is it really the answer to prejudice and pride? In the story "Sucker" Pete and Sucker live together like brothers, but their relationship does not reflect that. Pete treats Sucker like property, instead of a person. The distance between them that is a result of Pete’s mistreatment of Sucker is eventually closed by a period of peace, a short time when they both discover each other and begin to function together in a loving and brotherly way. This balance is soon broken by an outburst of Pete’s. The fight causes Sucker to give up passionately following Pete and rethink their relationship. Suckers revelation leads him to become a more sociable person. Sucker trusted Pete to a fault, the fight is the solution to Suckers gullibility and mindless following because it forces him to grow up and away from his childhood idol, Pete. When looking at the situation briefly, it seems the answer is equality. Equality seems to solve Pete’s mistreatment and dominance over Sucker, and it would also prevent Suckers great change and the permanent tension between sucker and Pete that resulted. But is equality a solution, or a problem all its own? The cause and the solution to his problems both start with the mistreatment of Sucker and his inferiority to Pete.

Pete is dominant over Sucker. Pete and Sucker live together as if they are brothers, but they do not act as if they are. There is no equality in their relationship, Sucker is treated like a dog, and Pete acts like his cruel master. "Whenever I would bring any of my friends back to my room, all I would need to do was just glance once at Sucker and he would get up from whatever he was busy...

... middle of paper ...

...was perfect equality then your choices would not influence your life, because nothing is better than anything else. Life would become shallow and unfulfilling. Humanity needs someone to love and someone to hate.

Is there such a thing as equality? Can you truly look at a person and say they are your equal, or are we too judgmental? No, as humans we are doomed to see the flaws in others and ourselves. The only way to truly have equality is to either have perfection, or to discard individuality all together. Seeing flaws is the only way to improve both ourselves, and others. To have equality is to sacrifice progress. Someone has to be the weak one. Without weakness there is no basis for strength. Without flaws there is no preference, and without preference there is no love. Life would become shallow and unfulfilling. Humanity needs someone to love and someone to hate.

Show More
Related

  • Character Analysis Of Equality 7-2521 In Ayn Rand's Anthem

    1061 Words  | 3 Pages

    “We stood still; for the first time we knew fear, and then pain. And we stood still that we might not spill this pain more precious than pleasure.” (Rand 39). Equality cannot even pursue the woman he loves because of the rules of his Society.

    Read More

  • Use Of Ethos In Amin Ahmad's I Belong Here

    697 Words  | 2 Pages

    Decades ago, everyone was supposedly given the same rights. Now days, there are such issues as gay marriage, flags, immigration, racism. Doesn’t equality mean equal? The world gets offended at everything, but wants to continue to judge people based off of the

    Read More

  • Jeffrey Jerome Cohen's Monster Culture

    1146 Words  | 3 Pages

    Flawed, contemplative, and challenging are three descriptive words to describe equality, or the lack of it. The lack of equality is a “monster” according to Cohen’s fourth thesis “The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference.” Cohen’s fourth thesis explains how differences among people in regards to race, gender, culture, etc. create “monsters” in society, even when people do not want them to exist. According to “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen: “Monsters are our children. They can be pushed to the farthest margins of geography and discourse, hidden away at the edges of the world and in the forbidden recesses of our mind, but they always return.” This quote means that the monsters society creates

    Read More

  • Inequality In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

    571 Words  | 2 Pages

    Equality appears to be the ideal factor that can perfect a society. It eliminates the need to feel envious of any human or their qualities. Nevertheless, with impartiality comes lack of diversity and ambition. Inequality is the entity that provides individuals with the passion to strive for a better life. If everyone has already reached their full potential there is no purpose for living.

    Read More

  • Equality In The Outsiders

    338 Words  | 1 Pages

    A piece of literature that has a strong theme of equality was The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton. A character that definitely showed that was Dally. Dally was the tough guy of the group, a stone faced criminal. “Dally had spent three years on the wild side of New York and had been arrested by the age of ten” (Chapter 1 Page 10). This quotes shows Dally’s past and how he’s always been a thug and has known no other life. After the first few chapters Dally doesn't make many appearances but when he does they play a huge role. Every time Dally appears in the story he seems, softer. Towards the middle point Johnny and Ponyboy have to run away from the cops, so Dally brings them in tells them where to go and gives them whatever they needed to run away. Near the end of the story is where he definitely changed, after Johnny is hospitalized he is depressed because Johnny is really the only one he sympathizes for and cares about. This shows how vulnerable he is now with what happened to Johnny so how he would react to even more stuff happening to him is unknown. After the two gangs had their fight(s) Dally and Ponyboy speed down to the hospital to see Johnny but they were too late. By the time they got there Johnny was on his last legs and after a few words he died, sending Dally into an emotional breakdown. Dally bangs his fist on the wall yells at Johnny’s corpse and eventually runs away.

    Read More

  • Cicero And Cicero's The Defense Of Injustice

    776 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ensuring equality among the people promotes fairness and reduces conflict and jealousy. By treating everyone equally we maintain our respect and are able to work together better. The rule we create treats everyone the same and does not provide any special treatment to any specific person. As long as everyone does what is required of them they will obtain what is rightfully due to them.

    Read More

  • Quest for Identity: Equality's Journey in Dystopia

    794 Words  | 2 Pages

    Every story has a quest and every quest has a hero from which one of them included the unconquered, Equality, who starts his journey from birth in the dystopian society of Anthem. Equality faces many challenges throughout the novel to prove and gain his true identity in the society but it does not come without difficulty. He was born different and better than others but in the end this difference became his most dangerous enemy.

    Read More

  • Essay 2

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...s put upon people based on differences that actually play no role in how worthy a person really is. Those who died due to these inequalities gave their lives hoping for a better and fairer future for their friends and families.

    Read More

  • Anthem Essay

    759 Words  | 2 Pages

    The rules that Equality adopts his life to be as living in his own home. Equality lives in a home with a hundred other people. Now he lives in his home as a free man and not with other people. “I shall live here, in my own house” (Rand 99). Equality lives his life at a home that is not controlled by a higher power. Equality now instead of having a higher power control his livelihood, he can control his own life and live as a free man.

    Read More

  • Egalitarian Society Analysis

    1777 Words  | 4 Pages

    1. The idea of equality when referring to egalitarian societies is used to describe the fact that these societies have no formal division of power or access to resources as other societies might have. That is to say, no one group will have barred access to resources. Everyone will have access to food and other necessary resources. For example, in “Marriage and the politics of yams” by Annette B. Weiner, we learn that every single married woman in the Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea is guaranteed yams, which are both of monetary value and for sustenance uses, but some women will get more yams because they have more people tending yam gardens to them for whatever reason. All women will have access to the same resources, and some women and their spouses will have access to more plentiful resources, but no one is denied access based off class or rank. Therefore that is not to say there is no discrepancy among people within an egalitarian society. People can have access to more resources or possess more prestige as distinguished by age, ability and sometimes gender. However, nothing in egalitarian societies is decided by formal heredity. There could be leaders of the group that are in that position because they have proven they are a capable leader, and when they die their son or daughter could be considered for a similar position, however it is not guaranteed they will get the position. And it is also not guaranteed there will be a leader of any sort. The group could make all decisions if that’s how the society works. We see an example ability being able to elevate one’s status within an egalitarian in the article “Parent-Offspring Conflict in Marriage” by Polly Wiessner. In the article Wiessner discusses the facts that the parents i...

    Read More

  • Women as a Minority Group

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women have been treated unequally since the beginning of time. Just recently have things began to change for the better for women and the future of our society. The increase in women’s equality rights will take time, but some day women and men will be treated equally. This cannot happen until each of us is able to look at a person and just see another individual, not a male or a female, white or black, rich or poor… a person as just a person.

    Read More

  • Gender Equity in Education

    2931 Words  | 6 Pages

    Webster’s Dictionary defines equity as “freedom from bias or favoritism.” (“Merriam Webster,” 1996.) More specifically, “gender equity is parity between males and females in the quality, of life, academic, and work outcomes valued by our society.” (Sanders & Tescoine, 2002, p.99-115) To achieve gender equity in all aspects is the goal of these programs. The field attempts to create strategies and programs and then evaluate their success. People who evaluate this field would consider it successful when both males and females are given the same opportunities despite stereotypical gender qualities. They would like to see fewer job fields that are dominated by only one gender. (Sanders & Tescoine, 2002, p.99-115) In the 1960s, during the Second Feminist Movement, gender equity became a major issue that concerned feminists. (Bank, 1997, p. 4)

    Read More

  • Deontology Essay

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout history, wars over the meaning to equality have being expressed in different ways for the purpose to establishing one standard meaning of equality. The meaning to equal is a state of being equal. What it means to be equal between males and females is being treated with the same amount of respect based on qualification, skills, knowledge and the ability to acquire qualification, skills, and knowledge. The social and economic system has benefited greatly with the deontology theory in defining and developing gender equality. However, it has been a slow process. The meaning of equality between males and females has not always had a message of clarity. Miscommunication and misunderstanding of the meaning of equality between males and females has been responsible for tyranny. Happiness, fairness, and dignity has risen from social roles, poverty, and health reform that defined the message to the question of what it means to be equal and unequal among men and women using the deontology theory as this essay will demonstrate.

    Read More

  • Gender Equality: Men And Women's Equality, Inequalities, And Equality

    713 Words  | 2 Pages

    Its male dominating world, and equality can only be achieved if both the gender work together towards it. For examples, even if men’s want to be stay-at-home dads, they don’t get supporting network. They don’t know how to raise a child even if they desire due to society pressure. In sum, women and men has to work together and bring the equality 50/50 in every role and responsibility. There’s a very famous African proverb, if you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a family (nation). In other words, creating equal opportunities would help to reduce poverty, rise in economic growth, and control over violence and abuse

    Read More

  • Equality Between Men and Women

    1487 Words  | 3 Pages

    Equality is a concept mankind never is able to grasp correctly. Of course humans will always search for different solutions to create fairness, but factors such as human greed, ignorance of mass populations, and even biological aspects stagnates the process of equality. The oldest and most relevant discussion on equality lies with the difference of sex; man versus woman. Initially, men, because of their physical superiority, were given the prospects many women never even dreamt to have. Conversely, as time has progressed, women have fought this unfair treatment with demands of suffrage and similar rights to those of their male equivalents. Greatly enough, this generation has done an exceptional job in the challenge of overcoming sexism and inequality. However, will this search for equality ever end? When can we say we have created an equal race of men and women? The fact of the matter is that it is truly impossible to have equality between the sexes because of predisposed circumstances that are not easily controllable in the slightest bit.

    Read More

More about Unattainable Equaility Depicted in Carson McCullers's Sucker

Open Document