An analysis of “Night” and “Beloved” Essay Example for Free

An analysis of â€Å"Night† and â€Å"Beloved† Essay In the list of the most tackled themes for literary works, freedom and love probably top the list. The Novels â€Å"Night† and â€Å"Beloved† are some examples of the literary pieces which intertwine these two popular concepts. Basically, the books dwelled on stories of slavery and brutality which ultimately destroyed the lives of the fictional characters. In this paper, the researcher tries to examine how these books address the importance of freedom and love in terms of living a life of meaning and purpose. The Lack of Freedom Can Deny Worth Both literary pieces demonstrate that without freedom, a person can ultimately loose his sense of self, and thus stripping the individual of his love for himself and his worth as a human being. The lack of worth is often initiated by the perpetrators or those who enslave. However, through continuous exposure to maltreatment, discrimination, and intolerant violence, the enslaved may loose hope, and in the end – accept the fact that he and his life are indeed worthless and that there is no point of loving himself and his fellows. This is clearly shown in the first novel. In the beginning of the â€Å"Night†, the Jews who were brought to the Nazi camp found relief in caring for each other. They also turned to religion and their God at times when they feared for their lives. In particular, Eliezer excessively prayed seeking salvation, security, and purpose in his faith and believing that God would not let evil prevail. The Jews also tried to seek relief from supporting Zionism. To a certain sense, the captives tried to preserve their worth as a human being through loving and caring. (Wiesel) However, brutal experiences forced them to thwart their beliefs and their worth. They had to see babies that were burned in open pit furnaces. Such event is very demoralizing to people since babies are often regarded as symbols of pure and innocent lives which needed love, not brutality. Apart from that, they were also forced to watch the hanging of their fellow Jews, people whom they loved and cared for. Such experiences combined with the inhumane treatment of Nazis gradually led the Jews to believe that they were basically nothing but slaves – individuals who have no purpose in life but to serve the superior race. They were somehow, undeserving of love and life, which will only be wasted through unjustifiable and imposed death. In â€Å"Beloved†, the slaves were liberated but one can see that their liberation was probably too late in the sense that slavery already ruined their â€Å"sense of self†. Take the case of Paul D. As a slave, he was treated with utmost cruelty by the â€Å"school teacher†. When he tried to escape with Sixo, they were captured and Sixo was killed. Paul D was then subjected to humiliation when he was forced to wear an iron bit much like a horse. He also suffered from pitiless beatings and torturing of the ‘chain gang’. As a result of these inhumane treatments, Paul D often felt insecure and unconvinced of his humanness and manhood. (Morrison) In the case of Sethe, she was also treated as an inferior being that, as the school teacher notes, has â€Å"animal characteristics†. She was violated by men and even whipped almost to death, despite the fact that she was pregnant. As a result of these experiences, she felt a feeling of self-hatred for becoming a slave. Sethe also cannot find a sense of satisfaction or fulfillment in her own self. That is why she saw motherhood as the only chance for her to redeem her worth. Thus, she regarded her children, especially ‘Beloved’ as her â€Å"best thing. † By being so selfless to the point of martyrdom, it seems that Sethe did not possess any love for herself. Rather, every loving emotion is directed to her children. The Lack of Freedom Can Distort a Person’s Sense of Life and Love The two novels also showed that slavery can greatly alter a person’s view of living and loving. Basically, the lack of freedom can introduce seemingly irrational and unreasonable perspectives that are derived from sheer fright, panic and anxiety. In â€Å"Night†, the lack of freedom reduced the lives of the Jews as nothing but mere struggles for survival. Through the extensive â€Å"selection† process promoted by the Nazis, the Jews developed the idea that the fittest are truly the only ones who can live. This is demonstrated by the fact that those who were considered as ill and weak were quickly exterminated while the â€Å"strong† ones were used for labor. The idea of the â€Å"survival of the fittest† was further enforced by the scarcity of resources in the camp. There was too little food and water and this prompted the Jews to compete against themselves. What’s worse was that the competition even prompted the prisoners to lose their sense of love and respect for their fathers. As noted by one of them: Listen to me, boy. Don’t forget that you’re in a concentration camp. Here, every man has to fight for himself and not think of anyone else. Even of his father. Here, there are no fathers, no brothers, (and) no friends. Everyone lives and dies for himself alone. (Wiesel) In a sense, without freedom the lives of the Jews became â€Å"animalistic†. They lost their regard for familial relations along with the loss of their hopes to be free. Without freedom, they had no love; and without love, their lives seemed to have no meaning. Elizier further demonstrates this point through his narration of a son’s beating of his father because of a fight over food on the train to Buchenwald. (Wiesel) In â€Å"Beloved†, the most twisted result of slavery is shown through murder. In the story, the schoolteacher wanted to take Sethe and her children back into the barn where slaves were dehumanized. Instead of surrendering her children however, Sethe decided to kill them rather than forcing them into a life without freedom. Through this act, Sethe demonstrated that life without freedom is worse than death. She somehow equated death as the only way to escape slavery and achieve freedom. For her, the act of murdering her own children – cutting their throat with a handsaw – was an act of love. Paul D explained Sethe’s actions: She just flew. Collected every bit of life she had made, all the parts of her that were precious and fine and beautiful, and carried, pushed, dragged them through the veil, out, away, over there where no one could hurt them†¦Outside this place, where they would be safe. (Morrison) In conclusion, the two novels, â€Å"Night† and â€Å"Beloved† show that without freedom, individuals can lose their idea of â€Å"love† – both in terms of self-love and love for others. Continuous demoralization and dehumanization can ultimately ruin a person’s concept of love and life. Moreover, such acts can drain purpose and meaning in living. Works Cited: Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Knopf, 1987. Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Bantam Books, 1960.

The Government Denial of Agent Orange Claims Essay -- Vietnam Governme

The Government Reaction to Agent Orange Claims PREFACE United States involvement in Vietnam has been surrounded by controversy since the 1960s. Many felt that controversy would end with the withdrawal of US troops in the 1970s. The troops came home and were not welcomed with the fanfare that surrounded veterans of previous wars. Was the controversy surrounding Vietnam a â€Å"dead† issue now that the troops were home? The answer is no. The controversy continues to this very day. The issue of whether or not the US should have gotten involved with Vietnam is still undecided. The even larger issue, on the other hand, is that of exposure to Agent Orange. I have been interested in the controversy surrounding Agent Orange since I was in 10th grade. I knew nothing of the topic before that. In 1997, my uncle died of lung cancer. When he was first diagnosed with the disease, I had thought that it was because he owned a bar. I believed that the cause of his cancer was due to all the second- hand smoke he inhaled over the years (he had quit smoking in the 1970s, after 6 years of being addicted). However, I realized that this might not be the case when I overheard him talking to a doctor. My uncle wanted his disability benefits from the Army to go to his son while he was sick and after he died. So, I asked him about his and he started to tell me about Agent Orange. He was drafted in the Army and stationed in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967. His job was to deliver and clean the buckets that Agent Orange was stored in. He attributed his illness to his exposure to Agent Orange. The story of my uncle has motivated me to learn more on the topic of Agent Orange. However, because of the story of my uncle, I am bias in the way... ...mber 1993. New York State Temporary Commission on Dioxin Exposure, Dioxin Agent Orange: Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations. Albany: September 1983. Scheim, Rich, â€Å"VA to Take Vets’ Word on Agent Orange Exposure,† Courier- Express, November 3, 1981. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Veterans Affairs, Statement of John. F. Sommer, Jr., Director National Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission Before the Committee on Veterans Affairs, 14 July 1988. Veterans Administration, Worried About Agent Orange? Washington D.C., July 1, 1980 pamphlet. Vietnam Veterans of America, Agent Orange, â€Å"VVA Sues VA Over AO Comp. Rules†. Washington, D.C., December 1986. VVA Legal Services, â€Å"Agent Orange Settlement Upheld†, Agent Orange Claim forms, July 1983. Wolff, Leslie Patten, â€Å"Defoliant Manufactures Launch Counter-suit,† Buffalo Veteran, 1980.

Final Assignment

Additionally, it will show which changes will be made that will have a positive exult to our program not only now, but in the future as well. Readiness of our Leaders There are several leaders in this change the principal, H. O. S. T. Administration Migrant Education, Reading Teacher, several paraprofessionals, and our SST including myself. Together we identify the core elements and negotiate items in our change plan. The main change is to increase the time allotted students to do reading at our program.Program/practices for scale and sustainability Our program has and is having success in empowering students to grow al develop in a safe and caring environment. The area that can be improved the enriching environment, why? First, the program needs to have access computers in the area where HOST is located. Second because the student get computers time only three days out of the week and for 20 minutes a c while at HOST. Third, the students are given 30 minutes, but by the time t' go t o and from the computer lab, which takes them 10 minutes, they only 20 minutes at most.My personal feelings are that our children can benefit from having their own computer lab at HOST or tablets that they can access anytime they are in the aftershock program. Most of the students at our aerogram are of Hispanic decent some of them struggle in reading, comprehension and writing. I can only imagine what can be done to help them in those areas if we had our own computers or tablets. Our student have a 30 minute block in which reading is being implemented already, if v had reading and writing software on tablets Or Computers Our students cal reap the benefits. What is it?Why is it important? In order for our program to continue to empower students to grow and develop in a safe, caring, an educationally enriched environment feel that the students need more reading time. My thoughts are that if the students had tablets in our aftershock program to work with in reading that they would mak e rapid advancement in reading. The stakeholders that will approach are the principal at the school, since she is a person that commends a lot of power In other words when she speaks people listen, plus she knows other people as well that have that type of authority.Identifying the main change will assist us to determine whether or not all elements within this change are crucial. At this point our plan can be tweaked to fit the needs of our studs The need and wiliness of all stakeholders to relocate resources for the Ben f our change plan is amazing. In corporations or companies change is evitable and a must in order to stay in the game. The key to change is to b willing to listen to others opinions. How is it high quality and valued by stakeholders? This change is high quality because of the students that this change target!Most of the students are Engle sis Language Learners and struggle with comprehension. Some of them are behind in their level of reading and writing skills. What results are anticipated? This change will be enriching the students in that they will increase their level of reading, comprehension ND writing skills. The stakeholders will benefit because they will actually s the students progress. Non-negotiable elements of the program/practice There will be items in the change plan that is nonnegotiable in order to keep the integrity of the change.During our planning stages as a group we decided that reading and comprehension were nonnegotiable. These two items are non-negotiable since they are our focal point of interest. Without these two we would not have a need for the change plan. Scale and sustainability scores In order to define the scale and sustainability score of the change plan we ad to review the Scale and Sustainability scores located within the book â€Å"Leading Change Step-By-Step† by Jody Spiro. These results will let us know to what extent certain features have been merged into our program (Spiro, 201 1).Our results sho w that we have an all-inclusive plan, but not all stakeholders have bought into it yet. What this says about us is that we are good at working together and coming up with a plan. However, this does not mean that everyone agrees with it. There is still some resistance to the actual plan change. This of course is expected, since change is never easy, nonetheless a good way to get individuals on board is by communicating and educating them. Education & Communication: One of the best ways to overcome resistance to change is to educate people about the change effort beforehand.Being upfront with education and communication lets everyone have knowledge about the changes. â€Å"People tend to see things that are happening now as more urgent than those that will happen in the future. † (Weber, 2006). Sometimes individuals are afraid of something they do not understand, however once they learn how this change is to come or will be made they are not as afraid. It is only then that they will start asking questions once they are informed. This however is not a guarantee that they will accept the change right away, but now they are more ready to listen to what one has to say.The development of scale and sustainability strategies for the change strategy Creating an environment where there is open communication and providing them an outlet to speak about their concerns will minimize a lot of the resistance. Providing the team with a consistent and clear message will minimize resistance. If change my views or do not sound confident in my change plans, the message will be inconsistent. On the other hand, if I am consistent and clear; offering a clear vision and specific goals to achieve, the team will be focused and know what is expected of them.I will also make sure the â€Å"messages are communicated through the participants' ears† (Spiro, 201 1). Communication is a key element, for this element we scored a five. However, this needs to be on a continual basis i n order for the group to be informed throughout the school year. Communication is not something that happens last minute; it is something that is practice throughout with co- workers. In conclusion ‘Veneered you introduce change, you are sure to encounter barriers† (Drexel & Muskier, 2012). The best change leaders; will have a plan B for when things go wrong.Knowing your group, making sure you communicate with them and realizing you cannot make change happen alone will help your change effort become successful. Communication must be clear and consistent while your plan needs to have important feasible goals. Another area to be aware of is that the plan change is not written on stone and that there might be changes that will take place throughout the planning stages. What one might come up with at the end as a leader for hanger might be totally different than what one started with.

Summary On Crimes And Punishments - 1139 Words

Ingrid Nin â€Å"Licentious†. â€Å"Ill-directed†. â€Å"Barbarity†. These are only some of the words used by Enlightenment philosophe, Cesare Beccaria, to describe the manner in which the Old Regime handled the criminal justice system in his book, On Crimes and Punishments. As a proponent for enlightenment thinking, Beccaria published the text to â€Å"diffuse the knowledge of†¦ philosophical truths† (), like many philosophes did during the Age of Reason. He believed that through this â€Å"rational beings† would rise up and allow the â€Å"irregularity of proceedings in criminal cases†¦ [that have been] so much neglected throughout Europe† () to be call upon and criticized. For example, how the criminal case of a regular citizen would be treated completely different compared to that of a noble, due to his status in society. Not only that, but he also wanted to bring attention to the inhumanity that were the punishments that came along with all convictions that went through the Old Regime, such as torture and the death penalty. Overall, Beccaria believed that as an enlightenment thinker, he had the responsibility to expose the Old Regime for the good of society as a whole, and his critiques not only had an impact on the Regime, but on modern day society as well. The Old Regime was split up into three groups: the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners, who represented the majority of the population. According to Beccaria, â€Å"The laws†¦ are the only sum of the smallest portions of the private liberty ofShow MoreRelatedSummary Of Dostoevskys Crime And Punishment1398 Words   |  6 PagesIn Dostoevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment, there are many â€Å"illuminating instances† that present â€Å"casements,† displaying key openings that reveal deeper meanings embedded throughout the story. 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