Yukio Mishima’s novel, “The Sailor who fell from Grace with the Sea” (will now be referred to as “Sailor”) follows a sensitive 13 year old boy, Noboru, who is caught in the cusp between childhood and adolescence. He is searching for self identity in a time where traditional Japanese values are giving way to new, modern, Western values. From the beginning of the novel we see Noboru being confined in his room to prevent him from sneaking out to see the rest of the gang. The gang is a group of 5 other boys, all of whom are of the same age as Noboru. They all assert their own genius and seek to understand the “intrinsic order” of the universe through the demolition of the status quo. The gang is led by a boy known only as “the Chief”. He is a very intelligent, yet spoilt boy who is too often left on his own. He becomes preoccupied with “filling the emptiness of the world”. The only way he sees that the “emptiness” can be filled is by murder. The Chief tries to snatch away the gang’s sexual curiosity by showing them pictures of people having intercourse. He holds meetings every day after school where he affirms himself as both the judge and the jury of the court, he is the supreme power. I have studied the Chief closely and have found that it is his contempt for the mundane platitudes and the mindless complacency around him which drives him to extremes. To truly understand the Chief I had to go over his philosophy of the world, and people around him. I thought that the best way to portray what I had learned about the Chief was by writing a poem of the “majestic” moment that he realized that he had filled the “world’s great hollows” with the kitten’s blood. I often found myself shocked and disgusted by what he was says. However, ... ... middle of paper ... ...hat I feel “Sailor” does. The reader is shocked by the cold-heartedness of the gang- especially the Chief, and the extent to which they will go to achieve fullness and beauty in a world which to them is filled with emptiness and ugliness. At the very same time however, the reader is somewhat intrigued by the strength and genius of the group, and power of the Chief’s authority. The title which I have chosen for the poem is a combination of different aspects of the Chief’s philosophy, the impermissible quality of the sea, and the ability of blood to fill the “emptiness of the world”. I think by giving the poem such a title I am able to bring out the subtleties of the Chief’s philosophy and link together its two main theories. I hope that I have been successful in imitating Mishima’s style, and also showing my understanding of the novel through this poem.
This book also has the perspective of the police, which show the gang violence as a more black and white or good versus evil issue, and their militant approach to gang reformation. Jorja Leap holds a view that to stop gang violence, the same members that were once gangbanging need to divert the youth away from the same lifestyle.
The author shows the reader the sea just as the sailor does as death, but more than death
...He is still anchored to his past and transmits the message that one makes their own choices and should be satisfied with their lives. Moreover, the story shows that one should not be extremely rigid and refuse to change their beliefs and that people should be willing to adapt to new customs in order to prevent isolation. Lastly, reader is able to understand that sacrifice is an important part of life and that nothing can be achieved without it. Boats are often used as symbols to represent a journey through life, and like a captain of a boat which is setting sail, the narrator feels that his journey is only just beginning and realizes that everyone is in charge of their own life. Despite the wind that can sometimes blow feverishly and the waves that may slow the journey, the boat should not change its course and is ultimately responsible for completing its voyage.
Webster’s dictionary has several definitions for the meaning of gang. The definition that best fits for juveniles is a group of young people who do illegal things together and who often fight against other gangs, or a group of people who are friends and who do things together. (Webster’s) One of the problems met by law enforcement and other professionals is the lack of a consistent definition of a gang. Generally a ga...
...ces, and the most complex in intention, exhibiting a subtlety of presentation and density of implication which we have only begun to appreciate.” In other words, we have only skimmed the thoughtful and meaningful intentions of the Gawain poet. We have only started to appreciate and understand the poem. All in all, there is so much more to find within the piece, more lessons to be learned, and morals to be taught.
The story’s theme is related to the reader by the use of color imagery, cynicism, human brotherhood, and the terrible beauty and savagery of nature. The symbols used to impart this theme to the reader and range from the obvious to the subtle. The obvious symbols include the time from the sinking to arrival on shore as a voyage of self-discovery, the four survivors in the dinghy as a microcosm of society, the shark as nature’s random destroyer of life, the sky personified as mysterious and unfathomable and the sea as mundane and easily comprehended by humans. The more subtle symbols include the cigars as representative of the crew and survivors, the oiler as the required sacrifice to nature’s indifference, and the dying legionnaire as an example of how to face death for the correspondent.
The example in this movie is the leader of the Ax gang being able to bond all this criminals even from other gangs to him. An example is the crocodile gang joining up in the beginning with the Ax gang. The next theory in the film is Marx’s theory of crime. His theory states that everyone sees everybody as a rival to be exploited for personnel gain. This is relevant in the film with every conflict in the film Sing vs pigsty alley he sees them as an easy target for personnel gain by exploiting them. In the part of theory that crime serves who parasitically live off criminal function. This part of the theory is met by The Ax gang who live like parasites off the crimes the commit. The next conflict theory that we can see in the movie is Bongers theory. Bongers theory is crime is function of criminal thought and egoist societies are more likely to have more criminal activity over ultraistic society. This theory is shown in the movie by the egoist criminals the ax Gang vs Ultraistic society of pig sty alley. Since it is more of an egoist society in the movie that is reason why there is so much crime in the movie. The next theory is Quinney which is law is applied by visibility and degree of threat to perceived
Mishima, Yukio. The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. New York: Knopf, 1965. Print.
Gang power can be seen in many communication theories. There are several types of power that gangs and gang leaders fall under. An example of this would be referent and legitimate power. Referent power can be described as the role model power. We identify with this person and therefore try to be like them. Legitimate power comes from people who we believe should be in power, like children to teacher, law-abiding citizen to the police. Therefore referent and legitimate power go hand in hand, because of the organizational structure within the gang, a gang may "have officers much like that of a cooperation." (Internet Source 1) Generally "adults play leadership roles." (Internet Source 3) Also youngsters who have had severe prison terms are usually found to be the leaders of the gangs, thus being an example of expert power. The reason this is considered an example of expert power is because the individual possesses special knowledge in prison life, etc. By serving a prison term they can come back to the streets, "with more knowledge than ever could have been gained on the streets." (Internet Source 2)
Although a standard definition does not exist, gang delinquency can be defined as law-violating behavior committed by groups of youth and adults, that are complexly organized and that have established leadership and membership rules (Curry & Spergel, 1988). Gangs engage in a range of different crimes, but most significantly in violent crimes, as a means of upholding norms and values in regards to: mutual support, conflict relations with other gangs, and tradition (Curry & Spergel, 1988). They are organizations concerned with territory, status, and the ability to control behavior. For disadvantaged youth, who lack the opportunities to succeed in a socially acceptable manner, gangs effectively provide meaningful social and even economic structures. In gang membership, there is the opportunity to create personal identity, but there are minimal standards of acceptable status (Curry & Spergel,
• Mishima, Yukio. The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. Trans. John Nathan. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1965.
... Nature, including human beings, is `red in tooth and claw'; we are all `killers' in one way or another. Also, the fear which inhabits both human and snake (allowing us, generally, to avoid each other), and which acts as the catalyst for this poem, also precipitates retaliation. Instinct, it seems, won't be gainsaid by morality; as in war, our confrontation with Nature has its origins in some irrational `logic' of the soul. The intangibility of fear, as expressed in the imagery of the poem, is seen by the poet to spring from the same source as the snake, namely the earth - or, rather, what the earth symbolizes, our primitive past embedded in our subconsciouness. By revealing the kinship of feelings that permeates all Nature, Judith Wright universalises the experience of this poem.
Values of Gangs/Gang members are defined as collective ideas on the job whether in office or in the field about what is right or wrong, good or bad, desirable or undesirable in that specific culture/gang. Examples from the movie are being able to prove you are touch enough to be in the gang by getting jumped in, seeking revenge on another gang, and what illegal activity needs to be done for survival and respect earning reasons.
Hallswort, S. And Young, T. (2004) Getting Real About Gang. Criminal Justice Matters [online]. 55. (1), pp 12-13 [Accessed 10 December 2013]
Gangs have been in existence since the beginning of time. These kind of groups, or gangs, usually participate in several criminal and illegal activities that negatively affect society. These activities include theft, robbery, extortion, rape, and many types of vandalism. Gangs have increasingly became a problem society has often had to deal with. People wonder where and how it all started. It is in fact evident that gangs can change a person’s life in a negative way. Many fall into these bad steps by peer pressure or even movies. Being influenced by what the media projects, accepting peer pressure, and how a person is raised in the wrong household are all examples of how one is led into a gang. These groups have had many negative effects on society for many years. The impacts that gang membership lead to affect society are what people should be aware of.