Of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and Men Essay Discuss the theme of exclusion in relation to one or more characters and how its presented in of Mice and Men In the novel, there is a strong link to the theme exclusion within the characters. Steinbeck presents this by describing the character in a certain way to make the reader aware of the social ranking and judgement, and does this by also giving the reader an idea of how the characters refer to each other and why this may portray exclusion and how. Crooks is a highly isolated and excluded character in the novel as the stable buck. We know as the reader that he is excluded from the moment he is introduced. This is first presented when Candy says â€Å"the stable bucks a nigger†. Using the term ‘nigger’ to describe the character tells us that there is a strong racial exclusion and that Crooks isn’t very socially high up. Steinbeck later then develops the exclusion of this character when Candy also says â€Å"the boss give him hell when he’s mad†. This just tells us that the Boss, who is much higher up than Crooks excludes him and makes his life ‘hell’. By this Steinbeck might mean that the Boss takes out all of his anger on Crooks because of his low status due to his race. He can be treated however by people that are at a higher status ranking than he is. In my opinion Crooks has the lowest social ranking and the most negative judgements compared to all the other characters who are excluded as even Candy refers to him simply as a â€Å"nigger†. Another character that is highly excluded is Curley’s wife. Right at the beginning of the novels George is describing Curley’s wife to Lennie listen to me you crazy bastard, he said fiercely. Don’t you even take a look at that bitch. I don’t care what she says and what she does. I see em’ poison before but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her, now leave her alone. † George is telling Lennie to stay away from her. Steinbeck uses an imperative where George is telling Lennie to ‘listen’ to what he is saying. Meaning itâ⠂¬â„¢s very important because he says it â€Å"fiercely† as he really wants Lennie to take on board what he has said. George is really quite horrible in that hes is describing Curley’s wife as a â€Å"bitch† and â€Å"poison. † There is derogatory language used here by Steinbeck to really ethicize how George is feeling. And they are insults, specifically to her. Steinbeck also uses slang from around the time that the book was written. George says that she is like â€Å"jail bait†. This is slang to describe somebody who gets other people into trouble, even by just going near them. Curley’s wife knows how all the other men feel about her nd she has ways of showing how she feels back. â€Å"she turned on him in scorn. â€Å"listen nigger†, she said. â€Å"you know what i can do if you open your trap? † for a moment she stood over him as though waiting for him to move so that she could whip him again she turned at last to the other two. † Here Curley’s wife is trying to seek attention from Crooks, Candy and Lennie. From this quote it shows e xclusion within all the characters. Curley’s wife is excluded as she is the only woman and nobody will speak to her. Also she gets no attention. The other three characters are excluded as all the other men have gone out from the ranch and they’ve been left behind. Steinbeck shows us that Curley’s wife reacts to how excluded she is as she has to turn to insulting people sp that she can feel above them and more powerful. Physically she also â€Å"stood over him†, to feel better about her self esteem and less worthless. An imperative is used to begin with also so she feels higher ranked than the men around her. Steinbeck represents her as a bully by being racist to Crooks and describing him as a â€Å"nigger†. But just let two of the guys get together an’ you won’t talk. Jus’ nothing but mad†. Here Candy and Crooks are being spoken to by Curley’s wife. She was speaking to Crooks, seeking for attention when Candy showed up and there was silence form both characters. She’s telling them that she has experienced things like this before obviously. As Curley’s wife says â€Å"the† guys it makes me think that she is describing them as objects and not as real people. We, as the reader can tell that she is getting more and more upset as we reach halfway through the passage. She shortens her words such as and to â€Å"an’ and just to â€Å"jus’†. This proves that she is losing her temper and patience as to why they will not talk to her. We can also tell this as her sentence structures are getting shorter as she goes on. This quote clearly promotes exclusion as nobody really wants to talk to Curley’s wife. This is because they believe that they will get into trouble if they do so. It also shows how much Curley’s wife is excluded. She’s being excluded from a black man and an old disabled man who are already excluded against.

A Comparison of Death Of A Salesman and Hamlet :: comparison compare contrast essays

A Comparison of Death Of A Salesman and Hamlet Willy Loman and Hamlet, two characters so alike, though different. Both are perfect examples of tragedy in literature, though for separate reasons and by distinct methods. The definition of a tragedy, in a nutshell, states that for a character to be considered tragic, he/she must be of high moral estate, fall to a level of catastrophe, induce sympathy and horror in the audience, and usually die, and in doing so, re-establish order in the society. Hamlet follows this to a "T". Death of a Salesman does not fall within these set guidelines but is still considered tragic for reasons, though different, somewhat parallel those of Hamlet's. Hamlet, a rich young price of high moral estate suddenly has his joyous life ripped away from him when his father, Hamlet Sr., suddenly passes away. Though originally thought to be of natural causes, it is later revealed to him through his father's ghost, that dear old dad was murdered by his Step-Father, and also his Uncle, Claudius. Vowing revenge upon his Uncle/Dad, Hamlet begins to mentally falter and eventually, is in such a wild rage that he accidentally kills Polonious believing him to be his father. Hilarity ensues. Ophelia, Hamlet's love interest, commits suicide/dies (that's up for debate elsewhere) after going slightly mad from the impact of her father's death, then Laertes, Polonius' son, arrives on the scene enraged and ready to kill Hamlet for what he's done, and just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, unbeknownst to Hamlet, Claudius has been plotting to kill him. Talk about your bad days. A duel takes place between Hamlet and Laertes where Laertes, using a poison-tipped sword, cuts Hamlet, thus giving way for his impending death. Hamlet eventually gets hold of the sword and kills Laertes, then kills King Claudius. Just as the play ends, Hamlet takes his last breath of air, appoints Fortinbras Jr. as the new King of Denmark, and dies. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman, a salesman who believed himself to be a powerful man, has his life unravel before him as he loses his job, his sanity and the respect of those around him.

Fast Food and Obesity Essay

In today’s society, fast food has become a large part of many American’s lives. With the rising numbers of obese people, it is hard not to draw a correlation between the increase in fast food and obesity. Most obese people don’t want to be obese and wish they could lose weight, yet they continue to struggle with their fast food intake and obesity. This is due to the advertising done on the consumers, the highly addictive food itself, and most importantly, how advertising and addiction combine with children to form habits that are kept once they become adults. These factors are the reasons that fast food restaurants are to blame for the rising obesity and health risks across America. The government needs to step in and place restrictions on these fast food restaurants so they will stop taking advantage of people’s weaknesses. So with that said, I actually disagree with Weintraub’s point. And that is why I believe that the fast food industry is at blame for this issue. Before we go into detail about how fast food companies are to blame for people over eating their food, it first must be proven that fast food is indeed the main problem causing today’s obesity in America. It is known to many people how the number of fast food restaurants in America has increased tremendously over the past several decades, but it is difficult to calculate by how much due to the lack of certain data. Also, it is difficult whether or not to categorize certain restaurants as fast food. Although, a good way to get a feel on the growth of the fast food industry is to take a look at McDonald’s, which has been America’s most popular fast food chain for decades. In 1968 McDonald’s open its 1,000th American restaurant. This number has increased to 13,800 restaurants in 2011, which really shows how much more fast food people are consuming compared to the past. Consider the increase of almost fourteen times in the number of McDonald’s restaurants, with the number of obese adults between the ages of 20 and 74 over a similar time period. From 1960-62 to 2005-06 the number of obese Americans almost tripled from 13.4% to 35.1%. These two extreme upward trends might make a convincing case that the extra fast food intake has caused the rise in obesity rates, and it may very well be a good indication, but it is far from  proof. Too many things have changed over the years, from the way the average American exercises, to the types of other food that people are consuming. Now that it has been established that fast food is the main cause behind the rising obesity numbers in America, it is time to dig deeper and show how exactly these fast food chains are at fault for this issue. A common topic when talking about people overeating fast food is addiction. When numbers are brought up about obesity and how often people visit fast food restaurants, people tend to ignore it and are categorized as fat people who are too lazy to cook their own food or break the habit of visiting fast food restaurants. However, people don’t realize the true addictive power that food can have on someone, especially fast food. While people try to use their willpower to stay away from fast food restaurants, they often fail due to the countless TV, radio, billboard, and online advertisements that draw them back in. Fast food advertising has been increasing over the years. In 2009, the American fast food industry spent over $4.2 billion on advertising. That might seem like an illogical amount of money to spend on advertising, but it lead to over $140 billion in sales, so these fast food restaurants must know what they’re doing. It is obvious that this tremendous advertising is leading to greater sales, otherwise these restaurant’s marketing teams would not be spending so much. As profit-seeking corporations, fast food restaurants cannot be blamed for wanting to advertise as much as they do, but that doesn’t mean that their advertising isn’t a huge problem in our society. Advertising clearly leads to greater consumption of fast food which leads to obesity and other health risks. Although fast food advertising as a whole is a huge issue, the far greater concern is the way children are targeted in today’s advertisements. In a 2007 report done by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, they found that the average child in America views 15 television commercials per day. This isn’t necessarily a problem as long as these commercial are composed of mostly healthy foods. This is such a huge problem due to children being more easily manipulated by food advertising. Their experiment discovered that children who viewed food advertisements ate 45%  more food than children who viewed non-food advertisements. Add all this up, and it comes to no surprise that in the last 30 years, the number of overweight and at risk children has more than tripled to 34%. It is clear that changes need to be made regarding fast food advertising, particularly involving children. Change needs to come soon as children will soon develop habits of high fast food consumption, which has our society pointed towards an unhealthy future. Efforts have been made in order to cause change, but it clearly hasn’t been enough. This is why the government needs to step in and regulate how much these restaurants are allowed to advertise. Not only does the government need to regulate the volume of advertisements, but more importantly they need to stop the fast food restaurants from targeting certain demographics. For example, not allowing advertisements on children’s television shows will decrease the wanting of food as often. As for what they are allowed to advertise, there definitely needs to be an emphasis placed on healthy food choices. Over the past decade, fast food restaurants have been offering more and healthier food choices or alternatives on their menus. These alternatives are most often salads, but also include grilled chicken sandwiches amongst other items. These so called â€Å"healthy alternatives† appear to be healthy, which is what the fast food restaurants are most concerned about. However, these alternatives are not always as healthy as they seem. With every passing moment, the over-popularity of fast food becomes more of a difficulty as it causes obesity numbers to skyrocket across the nation. Normally, the choices should ultimately lie in the hands of the people to choose healthier lifestyles, and decreases their reliance on fast food. However, in this instance, due to the validity of fast food addiction, along with too much advertising, and the cheap menu alternatives offered, people have been unable to make a change, and continue to head in the wrong direction. But until Americans take measures to mend the problems fast food has created, it’ll take some time for us to become a healthier nation.

Different Directors Perspectives in King Lear Essay

All texts can be read and understood, interpreted and represented in many different ways according to the views of the responder and their context. Many different interpretations of â€Å"King Lear† have been made, each valuing and highlighting different aspects and themes of the play. It is necessary for these interpretations to be made and adapted in order for â€Å"King Lear† to have relevance within the context of the society. Each interpretation of the text extracts and concentrates on certain ideas, issues, themes, values of the play, altering the way the play is received amongst audiences and critics. Shakespeares tragedy King Lear can be interpreted in many ways and many responses. The imprecision’s and complication of the play has led†¦show more content†¦The changeable use of voice by the actor in this production was used to show his volatile character. Critics of this early play comment on the straight-faced that Lear conveys while asking the question â€Å"which one of you, shall we say, doth love us most?† The replies from Gonerill and Regan are given an absurdist notion by the bizarre over-reactions. Their realistic language is contrasted to their two-faced body language. The plot of the play, from confusion to order was designed in similarity with the set. The stage gradually worn out until during the last scene it spears as an earthquake had struck. Lear’s costume also deteriorated at the same time with his character. He began the play in rich robe that distinguishes him as King however later his costume changed to leather and boots and by the last scene he was dressed in rags. This erosion of appearance conveys quick emotional, mental break down. Also Lear’s frustrated and dissatisfied facial expression made this more suggestive to the audiences own explanation. The storm scene in King Lear is one of the most involving scenes the play. During this scene Shakespeare gives the storm as a personality and it echoes Lear’s inner confusion. It allows Lear to grow a sense of human weakness and humbleness. Brook’s interpretation of the storm scene remains consistent with his simple Shakespearean techniques. Wobble boards and symbols are used for thunder andShow MoreRelatedReality and Illusion4098 Words   |  17 PagesReality versus Illusion Texts: Life of Pi King Lear Heavenly Creatures Blade Runner Pans Labyrinth Research Questions: 1. How does each character’s situation influence their perception or ideas of reality versus illusion? 2. What are the similarities and differences between the main character’s situation in each text? 3. What insights relating to reality and illusion can be gained from each text? 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