From dusk to dawn, and dawn to dusk

From dusk to dawn, and dawn to dusk,

It is you, who is on my mind,

Always, always, always, on my mind.

In the little crevice you hide

Not letting me remove you, stripping you from my thoughts.

Why? Oh, Why? Why will you not leave?

Just hide away, come back another time

A time when you are wanted, not now of all times

Free me from your hold, release me you Heathen!

Stop, no, do not forever leave me—I say Stop!

Return to me, oh please, just return to me,

What has happened what has changed?

I need you now, this time, this moment.

Why, why, oh heavens, why now of all times?

Why have you forsaken me at this time, this moment?

Oh Sleep!

Law Like Love by W.H. Auden

            In the poem, “Law like Love” by W.H. Auden, there is a clear difference between the conceptions of what “law” is shown as in the lines 1-34 and the lines 34-60. In the first half of the poem, “law” is clearly defined as something that is distinct to the person who seems to be explaining law. Auden shows this with the lines, “Law, say the gardeners, is the sun” (line 1), “Law is the wisdom of the old” (Line 5) and “Law is the Law” (line 18).  Auden uses the gardeners, elders and judges to exemplify how some believe that there are some who believe that they have a definite answer to things.

However, in the next half of the poem, the idea of “law” shifts to a more uncertain definition. Auden compares law to love, one of the most uncertain aspects of humans. This comparison is to show that there are those who believe otherwise; that nothing really has a definite answer. The second half of the poem is where the main idea of the poem really shines. “Law” is something that people create and is relative to people, that is why it cannot have a definite answer or meaning much like love is. Love is bizarre and strange and many people have tried to define what it is, just as they have tried to define what “law” is, yet there is no answer. That is what Auden attempted to portray in this poem by utilizing the different conceptions of “law”.

Clocks and Lovers Prompt

Clocks and Lovers by W.H. Auden

In the poem “Clocks and Lovers” by W. H. Auden, there is a clear and concise difference in the attitude of the clock and that of the lovers. The poem is introduced with the lovers first speaking. This gives the poem the initial presumption of being a beautiful love poem where the lovers state that “love has no ending.” That statement is reinforced by the diction chosen by Auden. Auden uses phrases such as “brimming river” and “salmon sing” which in themselves portray things of beauty. This leads us to believe that the attitude of the lover is optimistic. He feels as if his love has no bounds and is not constricted by the rules of time. However, as the poem continues it becomes the clock’s turn to offer a rebuttal to what the lover said.

 When the clock speaks, there is an evident shift in the tone and mood of the poem. It becomes more serious and macabre. The “whirring and chiming” of the clocks provides the image of a slow yet steady paced movement. Also when the clock says, “In headaches and in worry/ vaguely life leaks away”, it can be taken in two ways. The clock can be literally talking about life or it can be talking about love or in actuality it can be about both. But whichever way it is taken it holds the same meaning, that time is eternal; it is the only thing that can be eternal. This provides us with enough information to come to the conclusion that the clock’s attitude is that of a more “realistic” one and also a feeling of being more superior

The two attitudes, the optimistic one of the lovers and the “realistic” one of the clocks, are clearly depicted and differ in a manner supported by the imagery Auden provides. However, the reason for this drastic contrast is not only to add to the beauty of the poem but to add to the meaning of the poem as well. It shows that love clouds the mind into believing the impossible, the impossible being “endless” love because in the end time will time will remain while something like love will diminish either due to a death or “crooked hearts”.

One Art Prompt

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop

In the poem “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop, the narrator shows two distinct attitudes-- her attitude for the most part of the poem (lines 1-15) and her attitude for the last part of the poem (lines 16-19)—which differ quite a bit. For the majority of the poem, the speaker remains quite indifferent about loss. The very first line, “the art of losing isn’t hard to master” says many things about the speaker. The speaker judging from her tone and the lines in the poem has gone through many losses in her life “lost of door keys….places, and names and where it was you meant to travel”, “her “mother’s watch” and her “three loved houses”. All of these, from the smallest thing such as door keys to larger ones such as a lost vacation or a house, all of which had the same effect on her. Throughout the majority of the first portion, the narrator seems indifferent to her losses. She believes that though she has lost something, it was not detrimental to her.

            However as the poem comes to a close she seems to be talking about a significant other that she may have come in contact with. This is different than the rest of the poem because she is talking about her love for another human being rather than materialistic items such as a watch or a key or even a house. Also because the very last line “Though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster” shows that she actually feels like it is detrimental losing someone she loves. Whereas in the previous portion of the poem she clearly states “None of these will bring disaster” and “it wasn’t a disaster”. Her shift from being definite about something to being unsure of it shows the reader what can only be the effect of love. It shows that love can change the way one views things, such as the narrator’s views on losses.

Questions, Questions and More Questions

Aren’t the two stories The Metamorphosis and The Stranger quite similar? The events, the characters and the theme, don’t they seem to have something in common? Or do they? Shouldn’t you see for yourself if they do or do not? In The Stranger, didn’t the main character Meursault shoot a man? Throughout the whole event, did he even care at all that he killed a man? Did he even care that he could be sent to jail? Shouldn’t you now be looking at The Metamorphosis? In that story, wasn’t Gregor supposedly transformed into a bug? Was he really concerned about being a bug or was he more concerned about missing work? Wouldn’t it be more natural to be worried that you are a bug rather than worried about missing work? Don’t these two stories seem worlds apart? But in the end, doesn’t it just boil down to two stories about two men who do not seem to care about one of the most dramatic events of their life?

However, shouldn’t the real question here is should they have cared about any of that but then would it have mattered if they cared or not? If it did matter, what would caring have done for them? Wasn’t what happened inevitable? If they cared would they have been able to change anything? So wasn’t it better to not care at all? What if it was not inevitable? If they cared would they have been able to change the course of events that occurred? Although didn’t it seem like nothing could have changed what happened? Wouldn’t you like an easier wording such as is it better to care or not to care in their cases? Wouldn’t you say it was better not to care? If they cared wouldn’t that just cause more problems? If they cared, wouldn’t they freak out about the events? Wouldn’t freaking out just speed up the process to death because in the end both characters ended up dead? So if caring and not caring both end up to the same result, what does it really matter?

Crime and Punishment-PowerPoint

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BwwUy0UqROimNjYxYzZlZmQtZDQ5NC00NzI2LWJjZDItZjM5Y2M2OTkxZWE5

The Mystery of the Caves

          Throughout the poem “The Mystery of the Caves” by Michael Waters, there is a direct parallel between the imagery created of a male hero entering a mysterious cave and the narrator’s “domestic situation.” Waters utilizes the many aspects of being lost, such as being scared, or confused and also hope however small it may be, to compare with the narrator’s dilemma.

            A boy lost in a dark cavern symbolizes the narrator’s own confusion in trying to deal with his own personal predicament. Just as “the boy found it impossible to see/ which passage led to safety” the narrator does not know what to do in his situation. No matter what the narrator does, it does not provide closure for him and he is scared of the many outcomes that might occur. As a result, he becomes completely encumbered with fear similar to a child “hero” in an unknown cave with many dark paths.

            In almost every situation there is always a glimmer of hope and for the narrator that was symbolized with the “one yellow finger of flame.” The flame provides a type of light and warmth however it is small. The flame “wavered on his last match” and the boy tries to keep it going. This can symbolize the narrator trying to keep “sane” despite his parents’ constant arguing. He is trying to hold on to this small “flame” of sanity so that he will not become what his parents are. That is his hope that he is trying to hold onto.

            In the end the narrator worries that his childhood problems and fears will surface once again. He hears his childhood self who had suffered through his parent’s constant fighting. However, he knows that it is all over with he had survived and his hopes prevailed. He escaped the mysterious caves.

existentialism

            To me the whole idea of existentialism is a tricky situation. There are some portions in which I believe in, well kind of actually I am not 100% on any one thing, and there are other things that I completely just shut down, I do not believe in them and I find them to be absurd. I want to really talk more about the existential beliefs that I found to be interested in and well these are the ones that I lean a little bit more towards. I did a quick Google search of what existentialism is all about and came across this philosophy website, http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/existentialism.htm.

“There are things that are not rational” and “decisions are not without stress and consequences”. These are two of the concepts that existentialism takes into consideration. These concepts (the use of the word ‘concept’ rather than ‘belief’ is much more suiting but that is beside the point) are ones that I found to be truly and almost completely true. I would not, however, consider myself and existentialist. The second one, “decisions are not without stress and consequences” holds true in many cases, it is similar to one of the Newtonian Laws, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Whenever you do something there will always be some form of consequence, now consequence has such a negative connotation but it can be either good or bad depending on the decision and well stress is always and forever present, nothing is really stress-free.

The first concept, “There are things that are not rational” just completely amazes me because here they are literally just saying that there are some things that just cannot be explained so do not try to explain it. It just points out all of the ambiguous cases and says that they are supposed to be there. In other words, they answered a question that supposedly had no answers.

An Echo Sonnet: To an Empty Page

To an Empty Page a sonnet written by Robert Peck employs many literary techniques however the most prominent ones are the use of rhetorical questions and repetition of sound and diction through the echo. Peck uses these literary techniques to emphasize the Loneliness felt by the narrator. In fact the title itself, To an Empty Page, suggests that one is all alone in this poem.

The voice, or the main portion of the poem, encapsulates the speaker’s misery in a series of rhetorical questions. The purpose of that is to show the reader the pain and the hopelessness that the narrator is feeling.  The very act of asking rhetorical questions shows that the narrator is not expecting a response from anyone. However, at the end of each line, there is an echo that either repeats the very last word that was said or uses another word that is similar to how the last syllable in the last word sounded. The echo acts as a response to the question that the voice proposes. The fact that the echo is responding to the rhetorical question of the voice proves the loneliness of the narrator because the echo is actually just the voice itself. In other words, there is only one person speaking. The narrator is not expecting a response but when he does he starts to have a conversation with himself.

The use of these literary techniques enhanced the emotions felt by the narrator. They brought the emotions to life and allowed the reader to be absorbed into this bleak mindset of life. A depressing mood of loneliness was set originally however it showed the beauty of talking to oneself; that one must really come to grips with their own reality by themselves.

Sonnet 130

Sonnet 130 by Shakespeare is one of his more peculiar sonnets. Not only does he stray from the usual sonnet style of over-praising someone but he uses the widely known literary device of simile in a completely different manner. Shakespeare does this in a way that, at first, seems to insult women however his twist on the use of similes is a way to see women for what they truly are.

 Many poets use such a literary device to portray things in a more positive manner, such as “her eyes glittered like the shining star in the night sky” which over-exaggerates the features of a girl. One’s eyes cannot really glitter, that is only possible in a person’s relative perspective. Shakespeare looks at women in a more realistic view. He uses similes to describe a woman’s natural beauty not some falsified over-exaggerated “goddess” of a woman that no real women can compare.

He ends the sonnet with the couplet, “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare/   As any she belied with false compare.” Here he is comparing his love for this woman in her natural state to the “love” others feel towards women who are over-exemplified. The simile in this couplet is to show that women are beautiful just the way they are naturally and do not need to change themselves nor do they have to be compared to false deities to be loved.

Sonnet 39

The world is a difficult place to live in and sometimes it is too much to bear all together. Therefore, something is required to help ease the pains of living and that is where sleep is essential. Sleep is essential to a person’s life; not only does it enhance life it promotes good health. It brings ideas, sometimes two completely different ideas, together and sometimes interjects its own illusion to put in place a façade showing one’s life better than it really is. It also helps to alleviate the stress the world can place on one’s shoulders. That is the beauty of sleep that this poem captivates.

 Sleep allows for one’s imagination to roam free and allow one to conjure up ideas unlike those seen elsewhere.       Sleeping opens up the human mind to many possibilities. It is the time when the human mind truly roams free. Humans are free of all distractions and are able to these ideas during sleep. Some of the best people of the world use sleep to obtain their ideas that help benefit the world today. Studies show that a half hour nap allows the mind to perceive greater inspirations. This shows that while sleeping the mind is still being stimulated rather than shutting down like many people like to believe, which means that humans think more while sleeping than while awake.

 Sleep is an escape from reality, i.e. poor man’s wealth, prisoner’s release. It is the place where what you really have does not matter. Within a deep slumber, dreams take over and one’s ambitions take control of the dream world. Their dream world can then consist of whatever they want.  They could become the king of the world, they can have whatever they wanted to eat or they could literally have whatever they wanted. This world allows people to escape the harshness of the real world, which is necessary at times in order to live because sometimes a little bit of ambition is required rather than the cold harsh reality.

 Sleep relieves people of stress. The body gets worn down throughout the day and as one’s energy decreases, stress levels increase due to the lack of energy, which is not good for the body. Sleep allows for the body to shut down and recharge, mentally and physically. As aforementioned, it allows the mind to escape from reality which eases the mind from straining. Thoughts while sleeping are perceived in a more calming manner rather than the usual harsh, forced thought. No one wants to be stressed out or exhausted, therefore sleep is a necessity of life that one cannot do without.

According to the dictionary, beauty is something that is the combination of the qualities that are pleasing and impressive to perceive. The very fact that sleep can transport you into another world controlled entirely by your mind is something that is truly impressive. What one then dreams of during such a sleep can be quite pleasing if one so wishes. To go even further, sleep can even relieve the stress from despair and weary days. In conclusion, it is safe to say that Sonnet 39 by Sir Edward Sidney did an excellent job in portraying the beauty of sleep.

Crime and Punishment -- Revised Essay

Everyone allows their personal desires to get the best of them. Humans are selfish by nature. This is prominent in the novel Crime and Punishment. The main character, Ras, allows his inner most desires to control his actions. He does not stop to think about how it could affect other or even himself. In reality, his actions affect himself the most in a negative way rather than the positive way that he had hoped it would. This goes to show that humans act upon impulse based on their desires to get what they want.

            Money is a huge driving factor for everyone especially for those who do not have money such as Ras, in Crime and Punishment. However, it just pushes people like Ras to act on their impulses to get something they desire. At the start of the novel he is described as wearing tattered clothing and rags, things such that the poor would wear. In actuality, Ras is poor which is why it is not a big deal that he is wearing such clothing however he is in dire need of money so he pawns off some of his trinkets to a pawnshop. Pawning off goods is not such a bad deed-- even though his responsibilities are to work and earn an honest living-- especially if it is compared to what he starts to contemplate doing, which is murder. His one desire that is prominent in the beginning of the novel is to murder the Pawnshop lady and take her goods however it was not all about money. He hated the lady with a burning passion and learns that others do too. It takes several of chapters until he settles this internal conflict of whether or not he should kill her but he finally follows his personal desires and kills the lady. Once she is dead he rummages through her belongings and snatches some money and some trinkets. However he had left the door opened and the Pawnshop lady’s sister entered and he slaughtered her just as mercilessly. He had allowed his yearnings of committing a crime to easily obtain money get the best of him and murdered two people.

            After committing such a crime, Ras starts to feel horrible about it that he sleeps fitfully for several of nights. It would be morally correct to attempt to correct such a horrid mistake by confessing your sins or crimes to the proper authority however his fear prevented him from doing so. With his fear not allowing him to come clean, his conscience constantly attacks his mind, weakening it causing him to go mad in the eyes of some. That is what the conscience is for to remind you constantly that you have done something wrong. It is your moral obligation to listen to your conscience and right a wrong you have done. However, Ras was too preoccupied with trying to protect himself from punishment to obey his conscience.

            Many things have happened as Ras tries to fight with his conscience and one of them is that his mother announced that his sister, Dun, is getting married to a government worker named, Luz. Normally, if one hears that their sister is getting married one is usually excited and tries to like whomever their sister is marrying. For Ras, that was not the case. Due to his hatred of Luz after their confrontation in the Café which almost caused Ras to confess his murder and his love for his sister, or at least his attempt to show such love, he tries to break off their marriage. He is successful in breaking off the marriage however it was not the right thing to do because Ras had his own ulterior motives for the break-up. He acted in a way to rid himself of any threats and since his meeting with Luz at the Café, he saw him as an active threat.

            Why do humans act upon impulse like Ras has done? It is quite simple. Due to the fact that something such as “impulse” is the most primal of all instincts that humans have not lost, humans act upon such an instinct to protect themselves and obtain their raw desires. One can classify the actions taken by Ras to be savagely and selfish but one must also understand that he is human and humans are still animals. They will continually try to get whatever they want without yet thinking about the consequences. 

Hamlet Essay

The play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, envelopes many thematic elements however the most prominent ones are the ones of madness, and existentialism which is evident throughout Act 5 Scene 1. The first part of the scene with the clowns demonstrates “madness” and existentialism. When the clown is singing while he is digging the grave is a good example because when Hamlet hears this he starts to question the clown’s “sanity”. Just as well is when Hamlet picks up the skull and starts to play with it. But the major theme is of existentialism. Everyone from the Clowns to Hamlet question the existence of individuals and of their choices.

Here lies the water; good: here stands the man; good; if the man go to this water, and drown himself, it is, will he, nill he, he goes,--mark you that; but if the water come to him and drown him, he drowns not himself: argal, he that is not guilty of his own death shortens not his own life.

This was said by one of the Clowns to try to present the possibilities of what could have happened to Ophelia; if it was an accident or suicide. Then also with Hamlet as he plays with the skulls, questioning who they could have belonged to. Shakespeare ties in these elements to try to present the idea that everything fades and nothing is as strong as it seems.

In the beginning of Scene 1 of Act 5, there are two clowns, or grave diggers, who begin to discuss why they are digging a grave for a person who committed suicide, because in Christian belief one who has committed suicide has sinned therefore is not deserving of a proper burial. They believe that because she, Ophelia, was of the upper echelon she is allowed to have this burial but if she was a peasant she would not be allowed to have a burial. This shows that the clowns believe that one’s status follows you even in death. Later one of the clowns poses the question, “'Who builds stronger than a mason, a shipwright, or a carpenter?” The other clown responds with, “The gallows-maker, for that frame outlives a thousand tenants.” The second clown turns down the other clown’s response and when asked for the answer, he does not reply. This retort back and forth between the clowns as to who builds the strongest is to show that nothing lives on forever. This portion of the scene goes to prove the ambiguous nature the afterlife and if things live on.

As the scene progresses Hamlet enters and approaches the Clown who is digging the grave. As he walks he notices some skulls lying beneath his feet, and feels compelled to pick one up. He fiddles with the skull in his hand and starts to wonder who it could have belonged to. Hamlet comes up with several possibilities as to who the skull could have belonged to: a courtier, a lord, or a lawyer. This is a great breakthrough for Hamlet. He comes to the realization that no matter what you were or what you did while you were alive; when one dies they get stuck in the ground to rot just like everyone else. He then alludes to Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar mentioning that they were these great men of history yet they too were reduced to rotting in the Earth’s soil. So what does it matter what one does in this life if everyone is going to end up in the same place? He even mentions the lawyer saying, “Where be his quiddities now, his quillets, his cases, his tenures, and his tricks? Why does he suffer this rude knave now to knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel, and will not tell him of his action of battery?” In other words he is saying he is a sly man, one who has many arguments and tricks but where are they now that he has died? This shows that while dead, stature means nothing.

            Throughout this scene it is evident that existentialism is a major element. Furthermore it goes to show how life can easily fade away to nothingness. Ideas one may develop or even physical objects that one creates can just as easily fade with life. That is why when the clown, who first posed the question as to who builds stronger, was asked the same question did not respond because he knew that none of them builds the strongest and even their creations will fade away. The ideas and cases that a lawyer may have or the arguments and tricks that he may present will do him no good once he has died. And life is the most fragile thing; one slip or fall may cause the end of one’s life, whether they mean to end it or not. In the end, everything dies away and returns to its roots.  

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Grendel Chapter 9

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Grendel

            In many novels, there are protagonists and antagonists who are two completely separate people or two separate groups of people with their own separate resolve. However, in Grendel the antagonist and the protagonist are one in the same, Grendel, himself. Grendel shifts between being a protagonist and an antagonist throughout the story. Those shifts are caused by his confusion and his encounters with other characters. Grendel also had many things that he set out to do, a resolve to fulfill however that constantly changes as he changes back and forth from protagonist to antagonist. This is apparent throughout the story.

            In the beginning of Grendel, Grendel acts like a child learning of the harsh world of humans for the first time. At this point, Grendel has the innocence of a child which paints him as the protagonist of the story as he faces the “evils” of the worlds, the humans. Grendel not only has the innocence of a child but he has the ability to observe the world in such a careful way, different than that of most creatures, and see the “evil” and stupidity of humans and their actions. Grendel decides to just observe the behavior of man however, as time goes by, Grendel becomes confused especially when he meets the Dragon. The Dragon tells Grendel that his “purpose” was to push the humans to advancements in their society by killing and scaring them. He also adds that even if Grendel does not do this and acts in a “good” manner towards them, e.g., help them or at least try to help them, something else will just replace his role. Upon hearing this, Grendel becomes lost in his thoughts and accidentally encounters the humans when he realizes that the Dragon has enchanted him with a spell rendering him impervious to attacks from weapons. This realization that he could now go face to face with humans causes him to become more violent and attack in such a periodic manner thus shifting to be the antagonist.

            Grendel slowly reverts back to being the protagonist as the story comes to an end. His meeting with Unferth can be taken as a sign of his change back to a protagonist because Unferth tries to fight Grendel knowing that he will lose. Grendel noticing that Unferth is prepared to die decides to take pity on Unferth and lets him live. This shows a glimpse at Grendel’s more human side. The major scene was the encounter between Grendel and Beowulf. Grendel attacks Herot after seeing that the Geats have arrived and expected a simple victory like the last times he attacked however this time was different. Grendel manages to only eat one person before Beowulf catches and twists Grendel’s arm. Grendel becomes so frightened that he sees fiery wings sprout from Beowulf’s back, much like a demon. Beowulf then bashes Grendel’s head into the wall cracking his skull. Grendel bellows out that his defeat is merely an accident then dies. In this case, Grendel is the protagonist and Beowulf becomes the antagonist as the one who opposes Grendel.

            In conclusion, Grendel’s shifts back and forth from protagonist to antagonist not only show his indecisive and confused nature but his weak resolve as well. Throughout his travels as aforementioned he had a resolve but was never really able to fulfill it. For example, in the beginning he had the resolve to just observe humans not interact with them however that changed after his first meeting with man and the meeting with the dragon as well. Then he wanted to kill the humans in an orderly manner, only once a year at a certain time but that too changed with the coming of Beowulf. He was able to focus on his goal for a small amount of time before something else swayed him off his path. However, the ultimate failure of his goals and actions shows that he is played both the antagonist and protagonist role in this novel because usually it is the antagonist who fails but the protagonist who is the main focal point of the story.

Evil

Why does Evil exist in the world? That is one of the major questions of the world that bewilders many people. The problem with this one question is that it is such a vague question that there are no real answers as to why Evil exists. One can argue that Evil exists as God’s test to man and their faith. Others might say that Evil exists to balance out the Good, much like Yin and Yang; where one exists the other must as well. However, there are no real answers to this difficult question for these are all theories and speculations, so one cannot really properly define Evil. Nevertheless, individuals like to create their own reason to fill the void of the unknown, due to the fear of the unknown. I, for one, do the same but I like to think of it more in the scientific and mathematical point of view.

I do not believe in God so much but I believe in the Yin and Yang; that for one to exist, the opposite must exist as well. If good people exist bad people must exist. For how can you define what is good if you do not know what bad is? Without fear, how can there be fear? How can light exist without darkness? It is imperative to balance out the negative with a positive or vice versa. Take it from a scientific view point for example. In an atom there are positives and negatives, the protons and the electrons. Without either one, the other’s existence would be almost worthless. If there were no protons in the atom, the negatively charged electrons would have no point in reacting with other atoms because it would no longer have any properties to combine and form an entirely new property. Conversely, if there were no electrons the positively charged protons that are accumulated in the nucleus would constantly repel one another, following the law that like charges repel and opposite charges attract, and the nucleus would shatter with no atom remaining. Even in the world of science there are things to balance each other out; as aforementioned, the electrons and protons, and also for matter to exist anti-matter too exists. Through mathematics is it vague but the concept is similar to the scientific one. In math there are both positive and negative numbers and zero is considered a “neutral” number. Add a positive and negative number of supposedly “equal” values, e.g., -7+7, and you get zero. In laymen terms, everything must be balanced to achieve a neutral state.

So why exactly does Evil exist? No one really knows. Or rather there really is no answer as to why Evil exists; it just does. But people will constantly search for the nonexistent reason just as many people have tried to search for the meaning of life or some other unbelievably difficult philosophical question that has not been answered. As they search they will also develop many theories to answer the question but that will be enough to satisfy many because as long as people have something, whether or not they really believe it, to quell the fear of the unknown they will be fine and able to live out their life trying to find their purpose or fulfill the purpose they have already found.

Imperial Adam

            The mixture of religion and science is usually absurd, but the poem Imperial Adam by A.D. Hope does just that. In his one line, “The surgeon fingers probing at the bone” alludes to the fact that God is the surgeon and removed a rib from Adam to create Eve. Not only that, later on in the poem, he describes the sexual encounter between Adam and Eve in a savage and beastly way portraying them as mere animals; “He took her in his arms and there and then, Like the clean beasts, embracing from behind, Began in joy to found the breed of men.” I believe that Hope hints to the fact that science and religion can co-exist. Maybe some portions of the religious view on how life was created are true, such as how God created the animals and man. But that is where God’s actions halted and science came to play. Humans, then, evolved from their savage like form to the more sophisticated way they are today. It is the combination of the two theories of life rather than believing in each one separately. 

Invisible Man

        The Invisible man by Ralph Ellison portrays a man who feels as if he is “invisible” to society although he is clearly physically visible. In the beginning of his story, not including the preface, the Invisible Man feels as if society is there to help him; that it would be good to him. He graduated his class as valedictorian and he gave such a grand speech where he received praise from everyone, blacks and whites. However, after a long journey through life, he realizes that society is not necessarily good, it may seem good but it is inherently evil towards a select few groups, blacks especially. The novel goes through his life journey filled with disappointment and shows that he has come up with the conclusion that society is evil.

            If the Invisible man were a real person today, one might tell him to keep on trying to strive no matter how much society puts him down, but his views are completely justified due to the experiences that he had gone through. For example, in the beginning of the novel the Invisible man was invited to give a speech in front of some of the most respected white people of the community. However that was not the entirety of the situation. Those who invited him also forced him to enter a “battle royal” along with a group of other black boys to fight for money in which the narrator got beat up. Then, the narrator had to give his speech to a group of people who did not pay much attention, instead they sat there laughing and drinking. He was then given scholarship money to an all black college which made him believe that everyone was trying to help him succeed. However, it was not soon after that he was expelled and given several letters of “recommendations” so he could obtain a job to make the money to return to college. Even this was false hope in society because those seven letters did not boost him image but rather marred his image as a prospective employee. Later in his life, he had joined the Brotherhood, a group of people who were supposedly trying to better the image of the black person. During his time in the Brotherhood, he met a person Ras who told the Invisible man that the Brotherhood was not what he thought it was. At first he did not believe it but after a couple of years he finally recognizes that it was in fact a lie.

            Throughout his life, he was let down by society. Society had filled him with false hope and faith. How could anyone find good in society when all society did was let you down? That was how the Invisible man felt although he didn’t feel that way right away. As aforementioned he thought society was there to help him because as a boy he was praised and the white people would smile at him. In the end, though, he was just a transparent image; people had just looked right through him because of his race. He understands that he, being a black man, will never be seen on the same level as a white man, he will always be inferior and disregarded, thus becoming “invisible.”