Law of the Jungle in Kipling’s “The Jungle Book”

There is a great number of different masterpieces of literature in the world. Each of them describes some peculiar phenomenon or event. The majority of books are devoted to human beings and their feelings and emotions. There are, however, some works that are devoted to animals and their touching allegiance to people. Being very popular, this issue has always interested in people. However, there are not many works that manage to combine the description of the life of human beings, animals behavior, and visions of nature, trying to show the authors way of reflecting the real world. One of these works is called The Jungle Book and is written by Rudyard Kipling. Devoted to the description of the life of a human being, the book, though, manages to combine this description with the visions of nature of the jungle and the laws according to which animals live there.

The main character of the story is a boy called Mowgli. The main peculiarity of this boy is the fact that he was raised by wolves and acts according to their code. In a certain period, this fact was taken as ridiculous and impossible. However, boys like Mowgli were found. That is why it is possible to say that Kipling created a very interesting story that could be based on some real facts. Mowgli can understand animals and communicate with them, following the rules accepted in the jungle. All these facts make him a unique character who is very interesting to people.

Having created his story in the form of a tale, Kipling romanticized the life of animals and human beings in the jungle. However, there is one very important aspect of the jungle that the author describes. It is the law according to which animals live. Kipling uses the term the law of the jungle to describe the existing set of codes according to which the community of wolves and other animals is structured. They all should follow it or they will not be able to survive. All rules which are described by this law are wise and created by generations of animals to guarantee their survival. The law of the jungle outlines the main activity of animals, their main food, and relations with other species. However, the Bandar-log does not accept these rules. They can be taken as rebels, who do not want to follow the majority. However, Kipling describes them as a primitive and disorganized tribe that is not able to guarantee its prosperity. Outlining this fact, the author wants to show the great importance of the law and norms which regulate behavior in society.

Being created by Rudyard Kipling, the term the law of the jungle became very popular, though having changed its main meaning. Nowadays, it is widely used in order not to describe some set of codes accepted in society, but to show a special kind of human attitude to the rest of people and his/their role in society. Everyone should take care only of himself/herself and be the strongest to survive incoherent society. This is the meaning of the term which prevails nowadays.

Besides, having read the book, it is impossible to remain indifferent. Having created an interesting and fascinating world, Kipling also introduced the new term which described the existence of animals in the jungle. The term the law of the jungle became the metaphor that is widely used nowadays.

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Food and Identity in Nguyen’s “Stealing Buddha’s Dinner”

Every culture has its own unique and distinct tradition which is a trademark of identification of every nation. Immigrates are away from their lands and tradition, they face cultural influences that are enforced by an external environment. This essay paper analyzes immigrates experiencing cultural adaptation of Stealing Buddha dinner written by Bich Minh Nguyen. In the book, the author has mentioned her experiences as an immigrant and cultural adaptation that makes her feel more like a native. Stealing Buddha dinner beautifully interprets experiences of immigrants adapting to other cultures for overcoming the discriminations and has several aspects to be discussed. Food is a trademark representation of every culture, highlight of this paper shall discuss the turmoil of Nguyen for knowing her denotation of cultural food that rather represented her in satisfying her internal confusion with his own identity with the references to the original text to provide a better understanding.

American Meat: False claims satisfying internal identity

Nguyen’s family immigrate to Vietnam and settled in Grand Rapids they lived hand-to-mouth, in a small sludgy apartment. Analyzing her situations and conditions and comparing living standards with her friend Holly Jansen. Contrary, Bich exerts to find a similar ground to the natives of Grand Rapids. After choosing the food that was eaten by the native, she finds herself cozy and satisfying resembling their mindsets and traditions. Though, Grandmother Noi feed Bich with bite-sized pieces; consequently, she had no idea about American Meat but pretended as is she knows. “If the girls at the recess talked about these thing that they had eaten the night before I would simple chime in, ‘me too’” (Nguyen 85) reflecting the quote we can determine, that Bich pretended to familiarize with American Meat but in reality, she never had an idea about it.

Bich was fascinated by the interacting environment, to attain similar coinciding grounds. “I would have invited her to my house. I didn’t have my own room, for one thing. And I was afraid, both of how my family would act around Holly and how she would react to being around them” (Nguyen 85) according to the quote w can assume how Bich tried to find familiar grounds of eating tradition enthralled this little girl, she found it herself internally satisfied because according to her consciousness this act of hers might make her more like her friend Holly Jansen. The separate room of Holly was a mutual influence on Bich, whereas, she didn’t own her separate room and had to share it with her family. She had already experienced one of her friends straying from the Buddha altars at her place, according to her the life standard they were living was inferior compared to her mates. For acquiring similar grounds, Bich always seeks for similar ground that linked her to the friend’s identity. According to the above-mentioned quote, we can analyze the confusion that Bich faced while interacting within her school’s friends circles and finds her comfortable even after making false claims.

Humiliation on the dinner table

Bich was an innocent immigrate who was far away from her mother, when she was only eight months, because of being away from her mother; she lacked consciousness in several phases of her life. After the trip to the cinema with Tara’s family, it was a wonderful and exciting experience having pop-corns, M&M, and her mother singing along with the Disney songs rapt the baby girl, all the glittery and beautiful Tara’s house seemed like a fairly land to her, as she was an immigrant she has had never been through such trips. Bich had a lot of experiences throughout, one of the humiliations she experienced when she was at her friend’s place Tara on the dinner table. Bich has had never come across a noodle plate as she discovered at Tara’s place. When the dinner arrived she took the fork and began to eat, Tara’s mother interrupted and said to Bich, “We pray before we eat” (Nguyen 120) this situation was degrading for Bich. As she arrived home, she asked demanded her stepmother to tell her the behaviors, rather than guiding her step mother neglected her saying “Well, it’s not what poor people get the eat” (Nguyen 120) and further when Bich emphasized her to tell manners, she answered her in a very weird manner saying “Don’t you know you are not supposed to sit there?

Don’t you know you’re not supposed to wait until other people start eating?” (Nguyen 120). Rather than correcting Bich stepmother blamed her that she was a refugee and this fancy food is not for refugees like her. According to the context, we can assume the way Bich was mortified as she was not aware of the table manners because she didn’t have an ancestor to guide her for the table manner. Through this situation we can analyze the importance of food as identification of one’s cultural identity, only a lack of table manners can turnout a situation into humiliation and how can one be assumed with the table manners. This situation and answers of her step mother enforced indirect pressure which developed a consciousness that she was inferior and reminded her that she was inferior. After coming across these situations the consciousness of Bich developed that she was inferior and the people around her were right, due to her immature approach and lack of guidance Bich tried to adapt all the possible things that were around her. Due to the lack of supervision deciding what was right and wrong didn’t matter, she tried to collect all the gems that surrounded her, she tried to adapt all the possible ways to gain her identity, where people treated immigrants with discrimination. According to the circumstances of the text, we can analyze the behavior of Bich’s stepmother; her weird answers to Bich enforced her to believe that her every act was erroneous. The dinner interruption and embarrassment developed the importance of food traditions given Bich, she thought choosing and eating food like others can supper her turmoil and confusion by providing similar grounds, she felt comfortable and indiscriminate.

According to the circumstances of the above quotes and context, we can conclude the importance of Food, every tradition has a distinctive pattern that reflects one’s cultural and traditional identity. Though Bich was an immigrant from Vietnam who was always treated discriminatively, because of lack of consciousness and supervision she was drawn towards everything matching her mind sets. According to the above discussion, we can analyze the glittering fantasies that diverted the consciousness of Bich towards the adaptation of the food traditions of the natives. Observing the lifestyles of her friend and comparing it to her lifestyle made her upset and depressed, she felt that she belonged to inferior grounds by adapting their food styles, she felt more satisfied and she felt more relaxed and comfortable. According to the context of this paper, we can also conclude the behavior of her stepmother who didn’t guide Bich in the appropriate ways but made her feel mediocre. A girl who was separated from her mother at an infant age without any acknowledgment of her traditions had no other option left in the city of strangers, by the alteration of their culture and right food she felt herself more gratifying in developing her gratitude and identity.

Works Cited

Nguyen, B. Stealing Buddha’s Dinner. New York: Penguin, 2008.

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“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou

The excerpt from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings tells about the memories of a little girl. Marguerite Johnson and her brother Bailey, abandoned by their parents, go to their father’s mother to Stamps, Arkansas. That is how children start living with their grandmother whom they soon begin to call Mommy. Mommy has a store in the city, which she has managed to make a successful one, so it “became the lay center of activities in town” (Angelou 7). Although the grandmother is relatively wealthy due to her store, they never waste any money. The excerpt firstly shows the life of the town and the Mommy’s store before the Depression and then depicts the same things during it. When the Depression came, and people in the town became not able to buy something in the store anymore, Mommy decided to exchange the goods for products such as powdered milk and eggs that people had in abundance. The passage ends with the description of Christmas when the children get expensive gifts from their parents and find out that they are alive and just do not want them.

The are many citations that help a reader to understand the difference between blacks and whites. As an example, while white people can buy what they want even relatively wealthy black people do not live wealthy enough. The little girl states, “I couldn’t understand whites and where they got the right to spend money so lavishly” (Angelou 48). When Mommy managed to keep her store successful during the Depression, and they still had enough money and food, children never got anything special like peanut butter and crackers, although they were given with enough milk and eggs.

The historical context of the passage becomes evident when the author mentions the Depression. And considering the citations provided above, the story focuses on the racial relations during this period. Admittedly, the time of the Great Depression was hard for all Americans but black ones suffered most of all. Racial discrimination became more and more common. Many blacks lost their jobs if there was a white person to give it to. The unemployment rates for blacks were almost twice as high as for whites. The situation was particularly acute in the South where the story takes place. One of the greatest problems there was a sudden decrease in cotton prices, which usually made people leave their homes and move to northern or western cities.

Works Cited

Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York, New York: Random House Publishing Group, 2009. Print.

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Solomon Northup’s “Twelve Years a Slave” Memoir

Northup’s life like before slavery

Being born a free person, Solomon Northup enjoyed all the privileges granted by liberty and managed to use many opportunities of his position as a free man. His father managed to educate him and, thus, he could read, write, and he even played the violin. Solomon married a woman he loved and could be regarded as a lucky man. He and his wife worked quite hard but their efforts were successful and soon they even were able to start farming. Solomon worked in the field and his farming was also successful, he succeeded to plant corn and oats. Northup was a respected person for his being laborious and talented. He was famous for his playing violin and he often participated in different celebrations. Northup later admitted that those times were very happy and they should have stayed at their Kingsbury farm to live such a prosperous and simple life. However, they moved to Saratoga Springs.

There they continued living their simple life. They had three children but, unfortunately, Solomon did not have the prosperity they enjoyed in Kingsbury. Solomon could not find a permanent well-paid job. It is remarkable that at that time he worked at a hotel and frequently saw slaves who came with their masters. Solomon saw them in neat clothes, quite satisfied with their masters. In a few years, he will see that a slave’s life is not that satisfactory (no neat clothes, no proper food). Of course, Solomon could not understand why slaves did not run away, but he saw a great fear of possible punishment that could be a good explanation. However, this job could not bring enough money, so he was trying to find something else. One day he was trying to obtain a job, he met two gentlemen, Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton, which were unknown to him. It is necessary to add that in the book Northup claimed that he was not sure whether these were their real names. These men offered him a job (he was to play the violin) and promised to pay him a dollar a day and three dollars for each performance. This was too tempting to refuse.

On top of that, Solomon thought it would not take him too long, so he did not even write a note to his wife. However, it was not that short trip. When they came to New York Brown and Hamilton persuaded Northup to go to Washington with them, since the season was approaching and it is possible to make more money. Before they left New York they told Solomon to get “free papers” since they were going to enter a slavery state and it would be much safer. When they finally arrived in Washington, Brown, and Hamilton gave Northup forty-three dollars which were more than he expected. Northup was ready to go back to Saratoga, but his new friends asked him to stay for another day. That day was the funeral of Harrison so the whole city was very crowded and excited. Brown, Hamilton, and Solomon were wandering the city and dropped in several bars. Brown and Hamilton were accustomed to visiting such places and drank quite a lot, they poured a glass of liquor to Northup as well. In the evening Northup felt “very unpleasant sensations” and the rest of the night he was unconscious: Solomon was drugged. When he regained consciousness he found himself in chains in some unknown place. He was shipped to New Orleans to be sold as a slave.

Slave life on the different plantations

The first misfortune of being a slave Solomon experienced when he was brought to William’s Slave Pen when he started telling him he was a free man. Solomon was called a liar, and a fugitive slave from Georgia, and after that, he was beaten heavily. This was the first time when he found out what a paddle and a cat were, the tools for torturing slaves. In this place, Solomon experienced the life of a slave who is to be sold. He had no proper bed; his wounds caused him a lot of suffering. Of course, the food (some pork and bread, and water) was brought twice a day but Solomon was thirsty and only drank water. Solomon spent some time in slave’s pens, during this period he was severely beaten, slept on a blanket which was his bed, almost died because of illness, and finally, he was sold to a man called William Ford who lived in the “Great Pine Woods” (Louisiana). This period of his slavery can be called quite smooth. He was not beaten; he even was praised for his intelligence and skills.

Mr. Ford was very religious and even read the Bible for his slaves. Of course, Solomon did not understand how a religious man could have slaves which contradicted the principles of religion. However, life was quite good since slaves have enough food, they could have rest. Of course, they slept in cabins on blankets instead of beds, but they had some clothes to wear and proper food to eat. They were not humiliated or tortured. Northup admitted that slaves were eager to do more for their master for his being so kind. However, soon he was sold to another man, Tibeats. This man had a very bad reputation for his cruelty to slaves. Being his slave Solomon was constantly beaten, humiliated, of course, he used to eat little, (some corn food which he could not eat because his body was constantly hurting because of beating). After an infernal period at Tibeats’ plantation, he was sold to Tanner who had a lot of slaves and a big plantation. Sometime later he was sold to Epps who resided on the plantation at Bayou Huff Power.

Epps was not that cruel as Tibeats but slaves had to suffer many misfortunes. For instance, the food was often rotten, slaves were beaten. The beating was a kind of motivation to work harder. Solomon had to fulfill very hard work with no rest and little sleep, moreover, he also had to watch the slaves who were to work, if Solomon did not do it properly he was punished. The life there was even worse than in previous periods because slaves did not have enough food and more than that the food they were given was rotten (worms got into bacon). Only severe hunger made slaves eat that. Very often slaves were to go long distances and such trips were very dangerous since slaves had to move on was it a day or a night, a sunny or stormy day. However, it is necessary to add that Solomon, due to his playing violin and other useful skills, could enjoy more freedom than the others. Sometimes he even could have some money, but even such fortune could not make him free.

Northup’s near-death experiences

Slaves were often at risk of death. Solomon was a strong man who could not be too patient and could repulse. This is why he was often beaten and had to suffer numerous pains. Northup’s life was very hard and dangerous during his being a slave. First, he thought he could die was when he was shipped to another slave pen. He had smallpox, and after a few weeks of struggle, he recovered. Another dangerous situation he found himself in was during his fight with Tibeats which led to several other dangerous consequences. Thus, after a fight (Solomon defeated Tibeats) Tibeats tried to execute Solomon. Northup was standing with a rope on his shoulders when he was rescued by a nobleman, Mr. Ford. So, he managed to escape the revenge of his filthy master, Tibeats. However, he got into another dangerous fight with this man who brandished an ax trying to kill Solomon. Fortunately, Northup escaped this danger as well. However, when he was sold to another planter his pains were not over.

For instance, when he was working for Epps he got very ill. His health collapsed gradually and got worse because he had to work hard and was constantly beaten which should be a good stimulus to work. One day Solomon could not come out of his cabin. Epps called a doctor since he decided it was too expensive to lose a slave, so it was cheaper to cure him. A doctor claimed that it was because of the climate did not think Solomon could recover since the poor slave was too weak. However, Epps invented his treatment. Solomon did not work but had to keep to a strict diet, i.e. he got just enough food to keep life in his body. Surprisingly, this treatment worked and Solomon recovered. However, the illness was not the only danger, Solomon suffered at that plantation. Epps was also quite a filthy man. He entertained himself watching his slaves dancing all night long.

He punished those who did not want to dance, his whip was constantly with him. Despite slaves’ tiredness and sleepless nights slaves had to work hard in the light part of a day. But when Epps was in a bad mood his entertainment was even crueler, he came to the slave’s cabins and bashed them up heavily. Of course, the life of a slave was very hard but Solomon risked even more because he tried to escape. Thus, once he asked a man who constantly went to the city to deliver his letter to his family. This was very risky because Epps could even kill if he knew that Solomon did try to deliver the letter. Unfortunately, a man who served Epps, Armsby, told about Solomon’s plan. However, Northup managed to convince Epps that Armsby was lying and he did not plan anything at all. Any attempt to say anything to strangers could result in severe punishment. However, Northup took a risk one more time and started communicating with a Canadian, Samuel Bass. They even made friends. Of course, they communicated secretly because if their friendship was revealed, Epps would punish Solomon. Being a quick-tempered man Epps could even kill Solomon. However, Northup was ready to risk his life to have a chance to see his family once again.

Northup’s escape from slavery

Of course, Northup, being once a free man, could not endure the position of a slave. He wanted to escape, to become free, and see his family. He never stopped thinking about this. Even when they were on a boat to New Orleans they planned their escape. However, the plan failed. Quite a lot of time has passed before he made another attempt to become a free person. He wrote a letter to his family and persuaded a sailor to send it to his family. The sailor did so, but Northup’s wife, Anne, could not rescue him because the exact place he lived was unknown. Of course, Solomon’s wife addressed Henry Northup, who was a lawyer and a son of the former master of Solomon’s father. However, they could not rescue Solomon at the moment. It was only after Solomon met Samuel Bass. Northup met this nobleman when he was working for Epps. When Epps was absent Solomon came up to Bass and they started communicating. A few times they became quite attached to each other.

Of course, Solomon knew that he could trust Bass. So, he asked Bass to send a letter to his family. Of course, Bass was faithful enough and kept his word. Eventually, Bass succeeded in sending the necessary information about Solomon to his family. After Northup’s wife received the letter she could finally rescue her husband since there was a law that if a free man was kidnapped and enslaved he was to be released after his status of a free man was proved. So, Henry Northup came to Louisiana and rescued Solomon with the help of local authorities. Solomon pointed out that officials were quite committed to helping him. For instance, Henry Northup addresses many officials who helped him to prepare all the necessary documents, and Solomon mentioned that even Senator Soule expressed his determination to solve such a situation. Henry Northup also addressed Mr. Conrad, Secretary of War, and Judge Nelson, of the Supreme Court of the United States, who “certified copies of the memorial and affidavits”.

They also gave Northup an open letter to officials of Louisiana where they asked to assist in solving the case. Fortunately, officials in Louisiana were also committed to regain justice and return liberty to a free man. The Judge and sheriff assisted Henry Northup in every possible way. So, Northup made the necessary agreements and took Anne to prove that a slave working for Epps is her husband, Solomon Northup, a free man. Thus, they came to the field where Solomon was working at the moment. Of course, Solomon said that he knew those people and Epps had to acknowledge that Solomon was a free person and could not keep him there anymore. After the necessary papers were signed Henry Northup and Solomon Northup immediately left for home. Thus, Solomon could enjoy all the privileges of liberty once again. Unfortunately, Solomon had to face some more problems after his rescue but he was a free man and that was the most important for him.

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Rupert Brooke’s and Wilfred Owen’s War Poems

“Dulce Et Decorum Est” – Wilfred Owen

In comparing and contrasting Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen, we will look at their various works and see the comparisons and differences, if any, in opinions about World War One. First, let’s look at Wilfred Owen’s poems. In Dulce Et Decorum Est, Owen reveals the horrendous nature of World War One. To strip war of it is perceived glory, the poet features the utter degradation of war as the predominant thought and brought up the point in the most disconcerting and yet effectual way possible by the graphical portrayal of an individual soldier anguished in agonizing death.

In the beginning, Owen introduces a dark, grotesque picture of a group of soldiers so wounded by the war that even the tired, outstripped bombs can barely pierce their exhausted consciousness. He makes use of similes like “like old beggars under sacks” to demonstrate the pathetic state of the soldiers and to make the readers feel antipathy at the war recruiters and propagandists who rushed the once robust young soldiers, into war. Owen also makes use of verbs to illustrate how the young soldiers had been robbed of their youthfulness and vivacity – they “limped on blood-shod”, they were “blind”, “limped on blood-shod” “drunk with fatigue” and “deaf” with exhaustion (Owen (a) np).

In this poem, Owen sees nothing enchanting, gallant, or nationalistic in war, where bodies are butchered; soldiers lose their ability to see and hear and to function as normal people. These similes and verbs make the reader feel sorry for the soldiers and angry towards the war propagandists and politicians who gave the false representation that the war was to bring reward and brilliance. The quote, “The blood comes gargling from froth-corrupted lungs,” gives the audience a distressing sight of the unbelievable pain that the soldier underwent before he died (Earl 63). Through this horrific description filled with strong imageries, the poet effectively exposes the horror of World War 1 at its worst.

“Anthem for Doomed Youth” – Wilfred Owen

Just like in “Dulce Et Decorum Est,” in “Anthem for Doomed YouthOwen is still against war and begins the piece by showing a grating picture of soldiers dying on the battlefield; he quotes “who die as cattle.” This analogy shows the poet’s disdain for the inhumanity of war by alluding that at war the soldiers have no more importance than cows being butchered. The “noises of the “monstrous anger of the guns” are the soldiers’ only “passing-bells” and “the stuttering rifles rapid rattle” are their only hopes.

Their only chorus is the “shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells.” By using metaphors like “monstrous,” “shrill,” and “demented,” the poet stresses the shocks of the battle and he tells that the weapons are in charge of their deaths” (Owen (b) np). The last line of the sonnet moves the focus from the battlefront to the homefront with “bugles calling for them from sad shires.” “And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds,” the closing line, shows the conclusiveness of death, and the acknowledgment that this happening will reoccur again. The poem ends gently with pictures of anguish and grief. From the two poems, we can hold that Owen had a rational viewpoint of World War One, we were against the war.

“The Soldier” – Rupert Brooke

In contrast to Owen, Brooke has a nationalistic viewpoint of war. Brooke in his poem, “The Soldier,” narrates in a blissful tone of a soldier opting to die for his own nation. In the beginning, Brooke tells of the soldier saying that the foreign land where he will die will forever be a territory of England. The 5th line moves to focus on from the “foreign land back to England where the soldier was born and brought up; the soldier touts his homeland and personify England saying, “her flowers to love, her ways to roam / Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day.” He has unconditional love for his nation and is willing to give his life in gratitude to his nation, which has given him so much, so that the nation may go on and her people may get peace and comfort” (Brooke (b) 25).

The poem gives glory to the boldness of the England soldiers who fought in World War 1. Brooke points out that warfares are not always started for the reasons that one’s government tells them; but there is a bigger picture to look at, which is often read at the commemoration services of soldiers.

During World War 1, soldiers weren’t always able to carry back the remains of their dead comrades, but there were vast grounds that were dedicated to the unidentified soldiers and there were only white crosses with names on them, but the names on the crosses did not essentially match up with the bodies that were underneath them. “The soldier says, “If I should die…forever England” (lines 1-3), this means that is if he dies in battle he will forever remain in that foreign field and since his dead body is there, it is like that part of the field belongs to England, because he belongs to England” (Brooke (b) 45). The poem shows the poet’s determination to go to war and worry about dying since sees the war as a worthy cause (Roy 51).

“Peace” – Rupert Brooke

In his other poem, “Peace,” Brooke says war is something that is life-giving. He makes use of the metaphors such as, “caught our youth, and wakened us from sleeping” to illustrate the way that war can bring back life and vivacity into a “world grown old, cold and weary”. He suggests that body functioning is made stronger by war “with handmade sure, clear eye”. Although Brooke’s point makes some sense, this is in contrast to Wilfred Owen who asserts that war cannot be life-giving given the human carnage brought by war. However, Brooke’s viewpoint of war can be said to reflect his personal experience of war; he fought in the trenches but succumbed from blood poisoning heading to his first battle. Brooke’s works demonstrate his naïve perception of the realities of World War 1 (Silkin 102).

Comparisons and contrasts

Rupert Brooke had an idealistic perception of World War One. In “The soldier” and “Peace,” Brooke glorifies and idealizes the war and thought it was an obligation for all young men to “Fall in” and join the army and also honorable for the soldiers to fight for their nation. On the contrary, Wilfred Owen had a realistic perception of war and thought it was horrifying that the soldiers succumbed to death over petty national issues.

Both Owen’s antiwar protests, “Dulce et Decorum est” and “Anthem for Doomed Youth,” show his bitter sorrow towards the war. Owen wrote “Dulce et Decorum Est” with the intention of portraying a realistic viewpoint of war and how many young men being recruited into the army endured suffering and even succumbed to death over minor misunderstandings over two potent countries. Owen highlights the horror and cruelty of war and does not at all advocate for war.

Conclusion

The two poets compare in that they both use their own knowledge and experience to demonstrate to the readers how soldiers face war and the effects of war on the soldiers. They are both successful in driving their individual opinions, though they both give very different images of War. Although the contexts of these four poems form their basis on the same subject, war, the poets try to express very different thoughts, opinions, and messages, through very different means. However, the difference between the two enables the readers to perceive the realities of World War One from two very diverse viewpoints.

Works Cited

Brooke, Rupert. “The Soldier.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Twentieth Century and After. Vol. F. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: Norton, 2006.

Brooke, Rupert. “Peace.” Warpoetry.co.uk. 2004. Web.

Earl, Martin. A Poet Goes to War. Bozeman: Big Sky Books, Montana State University, 1970. Print.

Owen, Wilfred. “Dulce and Decorum Est”. The First World War Poetry Digital Archive. 1999. Web.

Owen, Wilfred. “Anthem for Doomed Youth.” The First World War Poetry Digital Archive. 1999. Web.

Roy, Pinaki. “The Pities of War: A Brief Overview of the First World War British Poets and Poetry.” The Atlantic Critical Review Quarterly (International), Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010: 40–56. Print.

Silkin, Jon. Out of battle: the poetry of the Great War. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 1998. Print.

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“The Age of Empire: 1875-1914” by Eric Hobsbawm

The Age of Empire: 1875-1914 is a historical book written by Eric Hobsbawm. The author described the period as significant towards the development of our present global economy and politics. One important thing about the book is that the author divides historians of the 19th century into two groups: those who look forward for new explanations and ideas regarding the future and the present and those who look backward with great nostalgia.

Hobsbawm does this by expressing their opinions and ideas regarding the position of the world and its future (Hobsbawm 43). He presents some historians who consider the past as the determinant of the present. The historians consider the ideas of religion and history with nostalgia. The new forces that seem to take effect in the world amaze these historians.

On the other hand, the author presents the other group of historians who look forward for ideas regarding the present and the future. He does this by presenting their thoughts about capitalism, religion and imperialism. With such ideas, they are keen to study the present and project what might happen in the future. Some of the individuals believe that there will never be any significant wars in the future while others are non-optimistic. Instead, they are busy preparing for any wars and conflicts in the future (Hobsbawm 46).

I believe the author belongs to the second groups of historians who are anxious about the future. The author examines the past and present events thereby using them to explain the possible future to the readers. At the time, different nations and dominating powers were interested in new cultures.

The progress would have new impacts and developments in the future. Throughout the book, the author offers an analysis of the development of imperialism and capitalism, and then examines their roles towards the world wars (Hobsbawm 87). The author remains optimistic that capitalism would survive the global conflicts. It is notable that Hobsbawm is one of these historians who look forward for ideas and answers regarding the future.

Liberal Bourgeois Capitalism of the mid-19th Century

In the book, Hobsbawm has managed to distinguish between the liberal bourgeois capitalism of the 19th century. The author identifies the bourgeois capitalism as a movement that led to the development of aristocracy. However, this would be marginalized by the influence and power of the upper middle class. The bourgeois benefited from the new ideas of capitalism. As a result, they were able to control most of the affairs and activities in the society.

This capitalism became very strong during the industrial revolution. The force inspired the establishment of imperialism and global power (Hobsbawm 98). This would lead to colonialism with the West dominating the entire world. Afterwards, conflicts would develop thereby giving rise to the First World War.

Invention of Tradition

Hobsbawm offers an important argument regarding the invention of tradition. At the time of rising mass politics, the author identifies that different nations were competing for success and dominance. However, they wanted to do this while maintaining their unique culture and tradition. The idea of inventing a tradition would become a critical development in the age of mass politics (Hobsbawm 124). This was characterized by global influence and enthusiasm for empire. The Europeans nations were concerned about their unique tradition and identity. The only way they could promote the tradition was through establishment of global empires. This changes the politics of the world with many nations managing to invent and retain their traditions.

Works Cited

Hobsbawm, Eric. The Age of Empire: 1875-1914. New York: Vintage Books, 1989. Print.

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Black American Literature

Abstract

During the colonial period in America, Black Americans lived under oppression by their white colonial masters. They never enjoyed similar rights as the white American citizens. Blacks were denied the freedom of expression. Because of this, African American writers decided that it would be good to present their grievances through writing. This situation led to the rise of many African American writers who championed the rights of fellow blacks through the writings, which incorporated oral forms such as sermons, gospel music, spirituals, jazz, and blues.

The study will focus on the historical background of the Afro-American literature. The areas of focus will be the African American literary realism, modernism, naturalism, and neorealism. This study will be of significance to readers and academicians as it will provide them with general knowledge of the relevance of the African American slavery to the development of literature. It will also give the reader an opportunity to understand the significance of Black American literature in the liberation of African Americans from oppression.

Keywords: American literary realism, American literary modernism, modernism, American literary naturalism, slavery, mainstream realism, ghettoes, African American literature, slave narrative, spiritual narratives, romance, high and low art.

Introduction

Black American literature refers to the fictional and nonfictional works of Americans of African descent. The commencement of the preRevolutionary War marked the engagement of African Americans in creative writings, which were often reflecting the oppression of the black people by the whites. African American literature is rich in social insights that seek the identity of blacks within the American continent. The earliest writers sought equality in aspects such as human rights. The brutal conditions of slavery resulted in a certain genre of writing that was later labelled as the slave narrative. African American literature writers included novelists, short story writers, poets, and playwrights. They used different forms of writings from slave narratives to fiction. This essay provides insight into the Black American literature by looking into the subjects that describe its historical background including African American literary realism, African American literary modernism, and African American naturalism.

Historical Background of Afro-American Literature

For a long time, the blacks living in America have been undermined, disrespected, and mistreated by the white community due to their skin colour. Subjugation and slavery to black people were common practices between the mid-1700s and early late 1800s. This was expected considering the brutal transportation of slaves, especially from Africa, to America to work as black soldiers and cowboys in the farms of rich white men. Over the years, the inhumane treatment and discrimination that followed eventually became unbearable (Bell 105). African American leaders of the time began a resistance movement that aimed at calling off discrimination and provision of equal opportunities to the people of colour. Although this movement brought about some changes, the blacks still faced unequal distribution of power and their participation in political life was quite restricted. Inopportunely, the black community was unable to express its concerns over mistreatment and prejudice due to the lack of power in a chauvinistic nation.

With time, the rise of black writers paved way for self-expression through literary works. However, the English literary writers at that time still described them as brutal and ugly. This position was vicious and inhuman. The African Americans were not comfortable with this outlook; therefore, they resorted to indirect complaints (Bell 105). These complaints of slavery and brutality on the blacks led to the rise of a certain genre of writing known as slave narrative.

The black writers who felt that being undermined due their race and skin colour was not good opted to use writing to establish a place for themselves in the American community. The significance of African American literature cannot be underrated in a society that has come a long way of evolution. Many of their works are a reflection of the institutions of slavery in the US (Bell 105). Various ethnic groups of African origin were forced to merge into an identity named African American. Because of this, new forms of verbal expression emerged. According to Bell, Afro-American literature that starts with undisputed conventions about African cultural unity disseminates the unfortunate notion that literary traditions were a result of immigration and assimilation of a weaker race into the indigenous American society (103). Black literature was mainly dominated by nonfictional psychic descriptions prior to the peak of the slave narrative. These writings were advanced by people who had escaped from slavery (Washington 65). They composed stories about their fight for liberation in the face of a brutal white community. For example, Elisabeth Keckley, who was a slave, narrates how she obtained her freedom. In her narrative, she describes the cruelties that were subjected to her in the process of enslavement. She chooses to focus on a particular occurrence that “molded her character”, and how she proved herself worthy of her salt (Du Bois 42).

African Americans did not entirely forget their languages and cultures during the period of slavery in America. It is of the wrong opinion to say that African Americans arrived in the United States as hopeless pagans. Bell reveals that the native Africans did not overlook their motherland languages and traditions (99). Nevertheless, Africans in the United States had to struggle to learn how to communicate in a land where there were many people who spoke different languages.

The Harlem Renaissance greatly shaped the fictional and nonfictional works of the black people, which were inspired by the migrating writers from the North and settlers originating from the Caribbean Island and Jamaica. There was an explosion of the African American writing and expansion of subjects of black literature (Dickson-Carr 76). The most important subjects included the rise of African American writings, the reclamation of history, the resurgence of autobiography, the lesbian literature, and the rise of black grey literature. In the early days, the works of free slaves and blacks from the north had significant differences. While free blacks articulated their state of subjugation in varying literary forms, the blacks born in the north expressed each act of oppression through religious narratives. According to Dickson-Carr, the African American literature comprised tales, verses, and plays that showed the status quo of people from the African origin (76).

African American Literary Realism

Realism is a term that has been used to mean truth to the observed facts of life. According to Bell, it denotes the conceptions of pragmatism and denial of the unreasonable and unrealisable (77). Realism is not only a reflection but also a construction of social reality. African American literature was written by Black Americans and it exclusively talked about the black community. This literary position neglected the history of the black people who were interested in reading and writing about other people and not about themselves. Dickson-Carr asserts that African American literature is overly criticised for the representation of the blacks amidst a racist white community (12). It calls for open-mindedness to understand how literary works portray the image of the race while considering not only the resourceful choices and goals of black authors but also the prospects and capabilities of the readers.

Most writers of American literature imply that mainstream realism includes the period of time from the onset of the civil war to the new century, which focused on race relations to the south (Eastwood 76; Dickson-Carr 121). During this period, the African American authors wrote fictions that were keen to ensure correct representation and examination of the lives of their people. The main reason for this representation was to conserve the white audience. Therefore, the Black American authors decided to divert their attention from the mainstream realism, which never represented their interests (Diepeveen 23). This marked the beginning of Afro-American realism that promoted the image of their people in the face of the prejudiced white community. The African American writers including William Dean Howell, Pauline Hopkins, Chesnutt, and Paul Lawrence Dunbar among others decided to write fictions that provided a representation and exploration of the American way of life in numerous backgrounds (Diepeveen 25). The writings portrayed the black Americans as people who were deserving of equality with the Whites. Therefore, they decided to mix romance and realism, unlike the white American writers who dwelled in inequitable representation and tainting of the image of the black community. African American authors faced numerous critical and commercial expectations to portray their race in a realistic manner. According to Gates, black writers often suffered public criticism for exposing evading the partisan accountabilities that were assigned to them owing to their prominence in their race (8).

The African American literature is different from the kind of realism that was very popular at the end of the civil war and the First World War because it ignored the notion of romance. Instead, it used realism as a literary device. Before the civil war started, many Americans had requested that human rights be respected and slavery to be abolished (Link 17). Many critics suggested that realism was the same as realistic setting and there was no clear distinction between realism and naturalism. The realistic authors, therefore, used this language to create hatred towards black mistreatment.

After the civil war, America started to grow rapidly with the rate of democracy and literacy increasing. There were rapid growth and expansion of the industrial sector and urbanisation. The population base expanded due to immigration and there was a relative rise in the influence of the middle class created a suitable environment which enabled readers to read and realise the fast changes in the surroundings. Following this understanding, Link asserts that realism can be viewed an approach to visualising and handling the pressures of social change (18). It is a transitional mechanism that allows people to accommodate social threats while integrating new and universal norms into theirs.

The African American writers of the Harlem Renaissance used realism in their writings with a view of fighting against racism and discrimination based on skin colour. According to Link, the African Americans were deprived of various civil liberties from the right to own assets to the freedom of establishing a family (20). This situation compelled African American writers to use realism in their writings in a bid to create a picture that revealed the inhuman nature of the members of the white community. As a result, many readers believed that discrimination had reached alarming levels and began to champion for the rights of the Black Americans (18).

African American Literary Modernism

Modernism is defined as a movement of art (Eastwood 6). It created a distinction between high and low art. The rise of radicalism began in Europe and America between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This period was characterised by an abrupt change from the traditional way of viewing and interacting with the world. It developed at a time when African Americans were not allowed to own any property (Eastwood 6). During this period, only a few African Americans lived among the whites in the cities by sharing limited public space. During this period, racial ghettoes emerged. However, it was only the African Americans who occupied the ghettoes.

Improvisation was not an easy task for the African Americans. The act of improvisation was not luxurious but due to the conditions in which the African Americans lived, it was necessary to improvise. The ability to speak off the cuff was developed out of the counterculture of modernity that used what was available at hand to critique modernity from the inside. The African Americans and others who were oppressed in America were able to improvise within their communities while at the same time focusing these traditions on modern ways of thinking and being able to survive in the American soil. Because of this lateral thinking, the black community developed a new meaning in the general Americans lives, which subsequently influenced the change in their culture. It was highly believed that the Americas sought their uniqueness in their continued failure to live up their self-decreed, incomparable autonomous privileges (Eastwood 12).

During this period of modernism, the African American writers began to redefine and change literature using various models both from the European and American traditions. They were also able to use models from their distinctive forms. The poems and short stories during this tie represented creative writing and each of the writers had influenced the African American literature.These writers used spirituals, blues, and folktales within the traditional frameworks. For instance, Longstone Hughes’s used blues to redefine stanzas or Ariri Baraka’s recreation of the short story as a jazz composition (Eastwood 14).

The African American artists used modernism in their writings to convey the truth. They adopted the modern point of view in their writings because it displayed a strong sense of cohesion and similarities across genres and locations. The writers adopted modernism deliberately and self-consciously in their poems and songs; thus, they were able to convey meaning in ordinary language.

The authors’ awareness of racial matters could not be seen in their work during the period of modernism especially when they used the African American songs in their writings. Authors used music such as jazz was used for many different purposes among them being social contemporary and political protests. This shows that there is a perfect relationship between music and literature. The music clearly reflected the hopes of African Americans for finding a new life. They had a belief that someday they will be free of slavery and racial discrimination. According to Damon-Bach et al., modernism signified a need to redefine and change the views of the black community as inferior in the face of the chauvinist white culture (45).

During the period of modernist literature, it was the poets who exploited the advantage of the new spirit of the times and stretched the possibilities to lengths not previously imagined. It is through the African American speech that the difficulty of a language appeared as part of the larger culture. Most artists including Hopkins came up with new ways to look at rhythms and word usage. For instance, he invented unique poetic rhythms and came up with his words for things that according to his understanding had no appropriate description (Hill 112). This model of self-taught creative literature has been successful for many decades in spite of the fact that they got insights from within the settings in which they lived. These literary works were particularly important in influencing the minds of the white community to end oppression and encourage American brotherhood.

African American Naturalism

Naturalism means that the human behaviour is shaped and controlled by social conditions, heredity, and environmental factors (Link 33). Naturalism emphasises the fact that things can be explained by considering the forces of nature that exist in its surrounding. It focuses on those factors that had a relationship with the growth of science in the late 19th century. The scientific dialogue that reigned during this period led to the development and strengthening of literary naturalism, which, in many cases, brings out the limitations imposed on individual freedom. According to Link, the behaviour developed in human beings largely results from their interaction with the immediate surroundings in addition to hereditary factors (37). Thus, it can be said that the behaviour of humans is directly proportional to their surrounding milieu and the genetic influences.

As the African Americans were trying to comprehend the wretched processes of slavery, the literate African Americans who had abundant theoretical knowledge employed various forms of biblical hermeneutics directed towards their full freedom (White 10). The literate African Americans knew that the humanity of the African Americans was questioned. Therefore, they used religion to champion for the rights of fellow African Americans. According to White, African American secular convictions resulted from the unscrupulous experiences of slavery. Their inclination to religious beliefs was a significant approach to criticise and break the chains of discrimination and oppression in the United States (09).

The scientific dialogue during this time led to literary naturalism in the late 19th century. The African American naturalists were able to respond by criticising slavery and the effects of racism because of the slavery and the racial segregation that the African Americans in the American soil underwent. The African American literature is viewed as “a living dialogue of ideas”.

Many African American writers such as Wright, Ralph, Ellison, and James Baldwin made efforts to avoid rebellion, anger, and protests in demand for their rights. This is because they had been influenced by the philosophy of naturalism, which had helped them develop their versions of human rights (Link 38). They struggled to liberate their fellow human beings, both the white and black from the rules that were imposed on them. They believed that black people had a great impact on African American literary criticism (Link 38). Black writers such as Ellison supposed that literary naturalism was a burden on them. According to him, it was not a technique that could be used when expressing the African American reality. According to Baker Jr, African American naturalists took the responsibility of addressing legal and scientific distinctions as they became affected by political and scientific systems (128). The efforts of the naturalists in establishing distinctiveness of the black American society are still felt in today’s political climate in the US.

The Neorealism Movement (1970 to present)

Neorealism gives life description just as it is actually lived rather than giving an imagined likeness of the world. It emphasises the practical state of life, putting emphasis on actual activities instead of imagined theories. The African American literature over time was able to clearly bring out the picture of real life. The primary types of literature that was used included slave narratives and autobiographies. According to Dickson-Carr, “writings emphasised on the life of a society and the pressure of their community” (177). The reason why they were important was that they were based on certainty and were used mainly to talk about blacks in racist countries such as America. Today, African American neorealism focuses on giving a reflection of the lives of African American communities” (Dickson-Carr 745).

There was diversity in the African American literature during this period and all the genres were presented. Among the famous African American women righters in the 20th century included Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, and Gloria Naylor. According to the African American neorealist Dickson-Carr, “blacks are social beings and therefore they must not be separated from the social and historical contexts which develops their potential and highlights their relevance as individuals and giving them more hope” (177).

The most interesting types of neorealism in the contemporary African American Novel are critical realism which has a close resemblance to the poetic and social pragmatisms. They employ both regional and racial matters in a poetic manner. Critical realism is influenced by the radical struggle of the age of social change particularly in women’s rights movement, black power, and the black art (Baynton 57; Benston 112). Some contemporary African American novelists have explored the flexibility and appropriateness of critical realism for their sexuality, skin colour, and their class approach to reality.

Social realism is mainly used when referring to the general middle-class life manners and truth in the 19th century. Today, African American novelists have changed both critical and traditional social realism with a view of bringing about the awareness of the association between capitalism, racism, and sexualism in the American society. Their novels inspire the readers to develop the political courage to stand for their rights and create a better tomorrow for themselves (Conder 50). As a result, the African Americans raised their voices against racism, sexism, and slavery. Many of them took measures to escape from the social injustices in the American soil. According to Bell, many people of American descent were profoundly disheartened by the state of the indecency of both their political and social systems, a situation that compelled them to pursue the restoration of morality in the country (130).

The presence of the black community in the political arena of the US has improved significantly over the years. Indeed, the civilisation of political institutions and insistence on ending discrimination allowed African Americans to vie for positions in the legislature, executive, and judiciary. For example, Douglas Wilder seized the opportunity to be the first African American governor in the US in 1989. Elsewhere, in 1992, Carol Moseley-Braun was chosen one of the Senate executives (Hill 15). Nonetheless, the state of the black Americans still remains desolate due to continued equality and discrimination by some members of the white community. The US is predominantly ruled by the whites. This position leaves restricted opportunities for the African Americans to ascend to ultimate political power. Many of the citizens of the African descent still live in impoverished neighbourhoods while the white elites occupy in the leafy suburbs (Hill 23). Although their political life is quite limited, their economic stance is even worse. In this regard, the election of Barack Obama as the first US president of African descent was undeniably a remarkable success to the black African community.

The continued war against the oppression of black people in the United States is a representation of the insights of the literary works of African American writers (Hill 31). Recurrent Afro-American literature continues to present themes to fight racism, pursue black identity, and uphold a distinctive class of life in the American continent. The works of contemporary writers such as Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison play an important role in influencing the social and political status of black Americans.

Conclusion

The black liberation movement resulted from the continued social injustice imposed on the black people who lived on the American soil. In spite of the fact that the state was found on the philosophies of morality and egalitarianism, the white people failed to apply these principles to the African Americans. They felt that the African Americans were of an inferior race and did not deserve similar treatment as them. As a result, they subjected the African Americans to slavery and oppression. Because the African American did not have many options for self-defence, literature became the only applicable way in which they could use to defend their social situation. Novels, songs, and plays among other literary works gave a vivid description of the struggle of the African Americans for freedom from slavery and racism. It also gave a clear understanding of the kind of suffering that the African Americans experienced under the white man rule.

This literature has been given several different names which include Black American literature, Negro literature, coloured literature, and the African American literature, which came about as a result of the African Americans response to the lived reality due to segregation. African American writers provided insight into the anguishes that the blacks underwent in the days of slavery. It was clear that they were looking for their identities. The literary works of the African American writers such as poetry, autobiographies, fictions, and essay contributed it the forming of the African American literature. These forms of writings contained strong messages that attracted the attention of the readers. As a result, the black writer made change by affecting their social reality and the literature that had been produced in reaction to it. In this manner, African Americans witnessed a change from slavery and oppression to the present state. Although current political events taking place in the United States still reveal a certain degree of social and racial divisions amongst the American people, the significance of Afro-American literature cannot be underrated in the efforts to liberate the blacks from white oppression.

Works Cited

Baker Jr, Houston A. Blues, ideology, and Afro-American Literature: A Vernacular Theory. University of Chicago Press, 2013.

Baynton, Douglas C. “Disability and the Justification of Inequality in American history.” The Disability Studies Reader, vol. 17, no. 33, 2013, pp. 57-5.

Bell, Bernard W. The Contemporary African American Novel: Its Folk Roots and Modern Literary Branches. University of Massachusetts Press, 2012.

Benston, Kimberley W. Performing Blackness: Enactments of African-American Modernism. Routledge, 2013.

Conder, John J. Naturalism in American Fiction: The Classic Phase. University Press of Kentucky, 2015.

Damon-Bach, Lucinda L., et al. Separate Spheres No More: Gender Convergence in American Literature, 1830-1930. University of Alabama Press, 2014.

Dickson-Carr, Darryl. The Columbia Guide to Contemporary African American Fiction. Columbia University Press, 2012.

Diepeveen, Leonard. The Difficulties of Modernism. Routledge, 2013.

Du Bois, William Edward Burghardt. The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America. Oxford University Press, 2014.

Eastwood, Alexander. Strange Dwellings: Inhabiting American Literary Modernism. Diss, 2015.

Gates Jr, Henry Louis. The Signifying Monkey: A theory of African American Literary Criticism. Oxford University Press, 2014.

Hill, Lena. Visualising Blackness and the Creation of the African American Literary Tradition. Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Link, Eric Carl. The Vast and Terrible Drama: American Literary Naturalism in the Late Nineteenth Century. University of Alabama Press, 2016.

Washington, Mary. The Other Blacklist: The African American Literary and Cultural Left of the 1950s. Columbia University Press, 2014.

White, Carol Wayne. Black Lives and Sacred Humanity: Toward an African American Religious Naturalism. Oxford University Press, 2016.

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