Our Secret by Susan Griffin Throughout “Our Secret” Griffin explores the different characters’ fears and secrets and she gives specific insights into these “secrets”. Through examining others Griffin comes to terms with her own feelings, secrets, and fears. She relates to Himmler, Leo, Helene, and everyone else even though she is different than all of them. One fact that can be made about all of these characters is that they all represent humans and human emotion First, Griffin reveals that there
Perspective in the Essays of Susan Griffin, Richard Rodriguez, and Ralph Ellison (Our Secret, Extravagance of Laughter, The Achievement of Desire) Susan Griffin’s “Our Secret” is an essay in which she carefully constructs and describes history, particularly World War II, through the lives of several different people. Taken from her book A Chorus of Stones, her concepts may at first be difficult to grasp; however David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky say that, “Griffin writes about the past - how
Question 4 Susan Griffin said, everyone has a similar story to tell- the first man who attacked her may have been a neighbor, a family friend, an uncle, her doctor, or perhaps her own father. Myth 15 said that as long a child stays away from stranger they are in no danger of been assaulted. Which we find this myth to be untrue because Griffin was almost rape by a school mate a little older than her. It has been reported that 98% of assaulted by acquiesces and family member. Griffin argue that rape
Susan Griffin's "Our Secret" is a study in psychology. It is a look into the human mind to see what makes people do the things they do and in particular what makes people commit acts of violence. She isolates the first half of the twentieth century and in particular the era of the Second World War as a basis for her study. The essay discusses a number of people but they all tie in to Heinrich Himmler. He is the extreme case, he who can be linked directly to every single death in the concentration
Secret,” Susan Griffin tries to explain what could possibly lead an individual to execute such inhumane acts to a large group of people. She delves into Heinrich Himmler’s life and investigates all the events leading up to him joining the Nazi party. In“Panopticism,” Michel Foucault argues that modern society has been shaped by disciplinary mechanisms deriving from the plague as well as Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon, a structure with a tower in the middle meant for surveillance. Susan Griffin tries to
The topic of whether it is in the nature of living beings to be naturally good has been examined by several authors throughout previous centuries, for example, Susan Griffin. Using a humanistic perspective, Griffin’s chapter, “Our Secret”, from her book, A Chorus of Stones, approaches this topic and can reflect on her own life and feelings using other people’s stories about fears and their secrets. Combining her personal life stories, Himmler’s life narrative, as well as two sub stories, Griffin’s
Susan Griffin speaks about a girl, Laura. The way Griffin talks about her is a way of despair and sadness. Griffin talks about her as if she was close off by the world. As if she trained not to ask or wonder what is happening outside those four walls. Instead, she should go about her childhood and act like nothing is happening. Nobody is actually telling her the truth, it is affecting her without showing. This quote fits with the title Our Secret. As the answer to her questions would hurt her childhood
Exposed in Griffin's Our Secret Secrets are apart of every human being. Even children, in their earliest years in this world, learn how to bury secrets in their hearts. In Susan Griffin's "Our Secret," she explores the subconscious, aiming particularly at the dark secrets that lie in the abyss of the human heart. Griffin claims that the darkest secrets of each person are similar in the sense that these secrets are perverted and prejudiced thoughts. These concealed evils are so deeply imbedded
Truth has the power to set people free, to change lives- and to end them. The truth is typically feared and often concealed. In Susan Griffin’s “Our Secret”, the concealment of truth becomes a major theme in the advancement of the plot. It holds close the meaning of the title “Our Secrets”- referring to the truths the Characters concealed. Through examining others, Griffin comes to terms with her own feelings, secrets, and fears. The characters she uses represent humans and human emotion. She
Surviving the Slaughter: The Ordeal of a Rwandan Refugee in Zaire, and Susan Griffin, the author of “Our Secret”, are two females who explore the world around them and express their thoughts through their writing. Both women try to answer their own questions that have occurred to them, and these questions emerge throughout their works of literature. One such question is, “But is one ever really free of the fates of others?” (Griffin 235). Whereas, Umutesi asks, “What had led us to this extremity? What
The Fragmentation of Life Reading through the very beginning of Susan Griffin’s “Our Secret” felt like reading Shakespeare for the first time as a sticky fingered, toothless, second grader. It just did not make sense...my mind couldn’t quite comprehend it yet. Nothing in the essay seemed to be going in any clear direction, and the different themes in each of the paragraphs did not make sense to me. There was no flow – as soon as you began to comprehend and get used to one subject, she would switch
“Our Secret” by Susan Griffin and “Are You My Mother?” by Alison Bechdel both present the issues of how control over all aspects of childhood continues to affect the victim much beyond childhood. Childhood is a time where children definitely need guidance, but it is also a time where the child should make some of their own choices. Children are naïve and see life in a more creative way than adults do. The dreams of a child may be far-fetched, such as becoming an astronaut or becoming the doctor
new form and shape after awhile as we see in the essays “Our Secret” by Susan Griffin and “States” by Edward Said. These two reveal a more evident truth of a different use of language than it is customary to read just as it is seen in Michael Herr’s novel Dispatches, which is written in the style of “New Journalism” where real events are told in a story format or narrative to appeal to more readers. In that same fashion, Griffin and Said break from the a-typical mold of professional writing to better
and creates violence. In Susan Griffin’s book “Our Secret”, she effectively compares and contrasts Leo and Himmler to her reader by describing actions that took place in both character's childhood, teenage years , and adulthood, to aid her reader in understanding acceptance, as well as change in the course of a life. Leo and Himmler had mentors who raised them in a militaristic fashion, which lead them into a future of violence and cruelty. Griffin states that “In time we forget
A theme in “Our Secret,” by Susan Griffin that is developed through the character of Himmler, and the symbolism with the development of a cell is that if individuals hide constantly behind masks, they will struggle internally. The character of Himmler reflects how masks are developed at an early age, and how individuals start to hide behind them frequently in order to gain acceptance from others. However, by pretending to be something that a person is not, that individual starts to become frustrated
Reflection In the article, “Rape: The All-American Crime,” Susan Griffin writes about rape and how it is a part of our society. One point that I thought was interesting was when the author quoted Professor Menachem Amir, who stated, “Studies indicate that sex offenders do not constitute a unique or psychopathological type; nor are they as a group invariably more disturbed than the control groups to which they are compared” (pg.513). This quote is stating that most rapists do not have psychological
antagonist. Mythical creatures also allowed society to have heroes because with every evil monster there must be a savior to slay the hideous beast. Although many different monsters have been mentioned the Dragon, the Kraken, the Basilisk, and the Griffin were among some of the most popular and well known creatures. Dragons are very popular mythical beings because they are capable of flying, swimming, and walking on land. This makes a Dragons attack much easier because he can exploit the weaknesses
John Howard Griffin's novel, Black Like Me, and Barbara Kingsolver's novel, The Poisonwood Bible, describe journeys made by white Americans into black societies in the early 1960's. Griffin, a white journalist for Sepia magazine, took medication to darken his skin and entered the United States' Deep South to experience the plight of African Americans (Bain 195). His book is a true account of his experiences as a black man. Kingsolver writes of a man who, in many ways, made a similar journey
1993, p.71). Learning is situated in the context in which it is taught. In other words, the context in which something is learned is very important. The activity in which the learner is engaged in at the time of learning is also important (Griffin and Griffin, 1996, p.293). If the goal of a learner is to solve day-to-day life experiences, they must engage in such opportunities. In order to understand and gain knowledge, learning theories stress the importance of creating a relationship between
concentrates on interpreting signs. His ultimate goal is to explain how seemingly straightforward signs pick up ideological or connotative meaning and work to maintain the cultural status quo. In the book, A First Look at Communication Theory, Em Griffin presents the semiotics theory then later goes on to critique it. As for myself, I believe Barthes' theory is right in some ways and in other ways is not. In Barthes' theory he states that a sign has a signifier and a signified. The signifier