Loss of Innocence :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Innocence is usually associated with youth and ignorance. The loss of one’s innocence is associated with the evils of the world. However, the term â€Å"innocence† can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Similarly, the loss of one’s innocence can be interpreted in more than one way, and, depending on the interpretation, it may happen numerous times. The loss of innocence is culture specific and involves something that society holds sacrosanct. It is also bounded by different religious beliefs. Still, no matter which culture or religion is at hand, there is always more than one way to lose one’s innocence, and every member of that particular culture or religion experiences a loss of innocence at least once in their lives. In addition, the individual’s loss of innocence will impair him or her emotionally and/or physically.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Committing a crime of some sort will certainly cause an individual to lose his or her innocence with emotional scars and perhaps with physical scars. In Native Son, by Richard Wright, Bigger Thomas accidentally suffocates his boss’ daughter to death. Suddenly, Bigger feels a strength that had been dormant in him, a sense of control and power over another person. Although the murder is accidental, Bigger Thomas experiences a loss of innocence that enables him to kill others also, including his own girlfriend. Yet, with the power he believes he had acquired from his loss of innocence, he also obtains an abundance of guilt and fear. Bigger knows that he had performed a terrible act, and because of this he feels guilty. Also, he begins to fear that he would be caught. Bigger becomes very paranoid after the murder and ultimately is caught and executed anyway. The case of Bigger Thomas is almost tragic. His loss of innocence, an accident, causes him to become a d ishonest and dishonorable person. He is unable to forget the event and bears guilt and fear until he is executed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Knowing a victim of an unforgettable and unforgivable crime will cause a person to lose a type on innocence. However, witnessing the heinous violation of the victim is much stronger. After the witness sees and hears the exact event, it is nearly impossible to disregard his or her memory. This is true in the short story â€Å"In the Shadow of War.† The protagonist of the literary work, a young boy named Omovo, witnesses the killing of a woman.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” Essay Outline

1. Only recently did women begin to get recognized as equals to men and in some places they still are considered as inferior. Men are typically dominating and controlling, while women are more submissive. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, uses confining imagery, belittling dialogue, and stereotypical characters to demonstrate the gender roles in nineteenth-century America. 2. The imagery in this short story conveys the feelings of a person confined and trying to break free.Jane is a woman whose imagination is limited by the patriarchal society. a. â€Å"The windows are barred,† (Gilman pg. 8) there are rings in the wall, and â€Å"the floor is scratched and gouged and splintered† (Gilman pg. 11). i. She is staying in a prison, symbolic of the way society is a prison to her creative inner self. b. Through the barred windows, Jane can see the open country, which only makes her reflect on the freedom she does not have (Shumaker pg. 596). c.The wallpaper is an image of the barrier she must put up between the women society expects her to be and the women she wants to be. 3. The belittling and condescending way in which John speaks to Jane reflects the way that men dominated over women. a. John calls Jane â€Å"little goose† (Gilman pg. 10) as though she were a baby. John is superior to her. b. John calls her mental illness a â€Å"fancy. † He does not really believe she is sick and is only playing along the way a father would play along with his child’s imagination. . Finally evolves into John speaking in a calm, careful tone as to not frighten Jane when she finally goes crazy. 4. The carefully constructed character of a typical man and women show the roles society expects of John and Jane. a. The names John and Jane are carefully picked out to portray a standard man and women. They were very popular names back in the day and when an unknown corpse was brought in they were given the standard name John Doe or Jane Doe. b.The characters of the rational doctor and imaginative wife help portray assigned gender roles. Women are imaginative and creative, while men are rational and like common-sense things (Shumaker pg. 590). c. John was a physician and so was Jane’s brother. It was a man’s job and women are only good for household jobs. 5. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† was clearly written during a time when men dominated society and women were thought of as silly and imaginative. This short story demonstrates how some women had the feeling of confinement in a patriarchal society.

The Moses Had On The Jewish Religion - 1438 Words

Kathryn Paris Humanities -2223 Prof. Reagan Smith The Importance the Moses had in the Jewish Religion For us to really understand this we must start at the beginning. Moses was born in 1393 BCE he was the third child to Jocheved and Amram, he had a brother and sister Aaron and Miriam during this time the Israelites were enslaved. Due to the many decree handed down by the rulers of the time his mother had no choice to when he was 3 months old to place him in a basket and send him down the Nile river, because of a decree had been passed that all male Hebrew infants were to be drown in an attempt to control the slave population which the Pharaoh’s were getting concerned was growing much too quickly. While Moses was floating down the Nile†¦show more content†¦According to legend we are told that one day much later in his life, while tending to his father-in-law’s flock on of the sheep runs away and Moses chases after it. It is at this time that God reveals himself to him in the presence of a â€Å"Burning Bush† at Mount Horeb (Sinai) as it is well known. This is when Moses is told that he was needed to go back to Egypt and free his people from slavery, Moses was shaken and he even refused several times causing God to become angry at him but, and still God beckoned him to do this task. Finally Moses agreed, but Moses was worried as to how he would be able to accomplish such and enormous task. That is when God told him not to worry because he would be with him the entire way. Moses still had one big question for God and that is â€Å" Who is he that he could go to the Pharaoh and tell him to let my people go† and God responded â€Å"that we has his messenger and that he was to lead his children out of Egypt and out of Slavery† and that â€Å" He would be with him always†. Once Moses reaches Egypt he goes to see Pharaoh and tells him what God has instructed him to, but Pharaoh just ignores him and doesn’t believe that his God even exists, so Moses having brought one of his sons with him has him show Pharaoh just how real God is by turning his staff into a serpent, with this Pharaoh is not impressed and simply states that any good magician can do the same. Moses tells Pharaoh not to anger God and once more tells him to let his people