One step forward and two steps back

It always seems that when ever the world tries to go forward that someone always screws it up. The Germans are trying to get rid of all the tainted people like woman and children and men that where not of the Germans special race. Which consist of blond hair and blue eyes. They where also getting rid of anyone that was catholic or Jewish  In one part of the story it talks about how they hear a rabbi praying. “He has covered his head with a piece of rag torn off a blanket and reads from a Hebrew prayer book (there is no shortage of this type of literature at the camp), wailing loudly, monotonously.”(Borowski 696) One guy wanted to shut the man up but they decided that it was pointless he was fixing to die anyways. “Let him rave. They'll take him to the oven that much sooner.”(Borowski 697) It always amazed me that we had come so far since the 300 ab that it seems that we had gone back to when everyone were persecuting the Catholics  But the weird thing is that the Jews have been around forever. Its not just a random religion that has no point. The Germans make it seem like being anything but a “German” was wrong. I'm just glad we are out of that time and have moved forward since then. There will always be one person who will try to make us far back in the dark ages. But as long as we hold strong and keep in our faith then we to will overcome any trails that will be thrown in our path.

Terror in the 20th century

20th century literature is filled with realistic and historical events that shows the fight between humanity. The 20th century starts to change the way literature is written based on real life experiences and differences. War is a major theme to many literary works because so much war and conflicts were happening during the writer's time. Tadeusz Borowski writes his work from his own experiences, during the holocaust. His story of the concentration camps emphasizes the life and the people's behaviors in his short story, This Way For The Gas, Ladies And Gentlemen. This story gives great insight to the terror and disfunctional being of a debauched world, in order to become one whole empire, under the same belief and values. It was such a rapid and uncivilized change that it can such individualism to the world, as well as the way people looked at and to the world. It gave all humanity a reason to believe that the world is corrupt; it gave people the idea, whom had the most power, to fix and put into affect their own way to how the whole world of humanity should base their ways of life. The holocaust was such a destruction to the point that it gave the victims of the situation, a state of victimizing their own peer prisoners to whom they had an upper hand on. The victims started to hate and victimize other prisoners because of the ideas that were portrayed to be the only way, gave root to their own demoralizing of other prisoner's ways. Using Henri's feedback to his own statement, Borowski states, "Ah, on the contrary, it is natural, predictable, calculated. The ramp exhausts you, you rebel-and the easiest way to relieve your hate is to turn against someone weaker" (Borowski 702). His own exhaustion and hate for what has happened engraves his own mind to become the same evil to why he is a prisoner. The prisoners were stripped of everything to completely humiliate, demoralize, and dehumanize them into their deaths as uncivilized humans, incapable to living a truthful and their own way of life, so they start to believe. Describing the prisoner life, Henri states to Borowski, "Can't you see how uch easier life is becoming around here" (Borowski 696). They start to see the good in the camps and the way of the Germans, to believe in the good and see the bad around them from the different people in the prisons.

Desensitized...the devil's advocate

After reading Borowski's, "This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen," I found it horrifying to re-live the desensitized ways of the Nazi's. Representing the 20th century literature very well...with the psychological issues of Hitler...class issues...the need of the Nazi's to make the world culturally homogenized-anyone who is a Jew must go! The genocidal way that Hitler used to dispose of Jews is almost unbearable to read. Borowski says, "...inhumanly crammed, buried under incredible heaps of luggage, suitcases, trunks, packages...Monstrously squeezed together, they have fainted from heat, suffocated, crushed one another" (Borowski 700). Even the way they brought them in on the trucks was in itself a death sentence. What exactly did it prove? Did it help the world become a better place? I really have never understood the reason behind Hitler's motives...which I guess is a good thing. It would be scary to think you are riding a bus to the destination of death. Watching daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters walk into a gas chamber with no choice of turning back. And such a systematic way of operating the mass murders...these to the left...these to the right...you catch the next bus to the chamber. Borowski tells us that "[a]ll day, thousands of naked me shuffle up and down the roads, cluster around the squares..." (Borowski 695). The guards just sit around and wait on the next load of moaning human faces to comes rolling in on the trucks: "...the trucks have arrived, steps are being drawn up, and the Canada men stand ready at their posts by the train doors" (Borowski 700). I believe in this example of 20th century literature, the word 'desensitized' truly sums up the nature of the guards...being as how most of them were healthy Jews used for their muscle and left later to die: "I feel no pity. I am not sorry they're going to the gas chamber" (Borowski 702). I feel that this writing from Borowski helps the reader understand the morbid reality of what these people went through and what a waste of humanity took place.

    

The Metamorphosis of Grete

A theme that we've seen many times in the works we've read is the journey that people take from innocence  to experience. Gregor's sister Grete, much like Victor Frankenstein or Gulliver, is a prime example of how a person's innocence is often sapped by the grave reality of their situation. She initially takes on the eerie task of caring for Gregor with a sideways optimism, as he later notes she "ultimately had perhaps taken on such a difficult task purely out of childish high spirits" (Kafka 226). Although she is repulsed by him, she is still able to imagine him as Gregor; imagination is often lost on adults, as we see his parents unable to view the bug in the other room as their son. This connection between them is foretelling of her journey; as Gregor was also an innocent person who was obligated through no fault of his own to work off his family's debt, so too is Grete an innocent dragged into a dutiful role. Although she has good intentions by feeding Gregor and moving the chair for him, I think that perhaps it finally dawned on her that not being able to look at Gregor was a symptom of the fact that she was having a harder and harder time seeing him as her brother. This building confrontation erupts when he comes out of his room and scares the household while she plays the violin. The contrast of the peace of the violin set against the following outburst, is indicative of the fragile peace they had been maintaining. She finally breaks down, and I believe she is finally honest with herself, as she laments, "I don't want to speak the name of my brother within the hearing of that monster, and so I will merely say: we have to try to get rid of it.We did as much as humanly possible to try and look after it and tolerate it" (Kafka 237). This moment of honesty is refreshing, as now the remaining human members of the family are able to coalesce and set about resolving their situation. As the family rides in the carriage after Gregor's death, the first mention of warm sunlight is made, and Grete's parents note that she has become a beautiful woman, indicative of the internal change that has taken place, and so as the story closes, she rises up and stretches her arms, much like the wings of a butterfly emerging from her cocoon.

Could you imagine what the world today would be like if it was back in the 20 century? Would it be the same or different? Think about it....if we did not have the people that helped make a change, will the world still be the same like it was before. The story This way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen has me thinking could we as people today survive what these people had to go through. "Babies, hideous naked women, men twisted by convulsions" (Borowski 705). At this point, your family is no longer a family. Your not in control anymore, your family is seperated and you do not know where each other is. You know longer have a normal life or the life you always known, watching your children grow up. Now your worries are, are they alive. There was only two things that the people asked for: Water and air (Wasser! Luft! 706). We are lucky enough, we can just go to the kitchen and turn on the sink and we have running clean water. And these people not only fighting to stay alive as long as they can but they just want water and air. That is why after reading this story and know what I know now about differnt things, I do not think if these events occured right now that we would not know what to do. We would be just like the poor innocent people that had their life changed at an instant.

The Cold Hard Facts

It seems to me that one of the main differences between literature in the twentieth century and other periods of literature is that stories from the twentieth century are more realistic and out there. They deal more with the "flat-out truth". In the stories we have read before there seemed to be some kind of deeper meaning or point to the story, whereas in This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski, there is no point or lesson to be learned. We are just given the cold hard facts about what is happening. One of the quotes that stood out to me the most is when the narrator talks about deceiving people about the gas chambers. "It is the camp law: people going to their death must be deceived to the very end. This is the only permissible form of charity (Borowski 700)." This quote moved me because it makes lying to all of these people about the gas chambers a moral thing in the perverse system that they got going. Reading this story made me think about all the things that I have that I take for granted. These people were tortured physically and mentally for no reason at all. I couldnt imagine having to witness some of the things that these people did. The other thing in the story that moved me the most is when they talk about having to unload corpses. "I go back inside the train; I carry out dead infants; I unload luggage. I touch corpses, but I cannot overcome the mounting, uncontrollable terror (Borowski 705)." Knowing that people have lived through things like this makes my life seem very fortunate and every time I read something about the Holocaust it reminds me that I am very lucky.

Death of the Innocent.................

In the short story, This Way for the Gas, Ladies, and Gentlemen written by Tadeusz Borowski, he wants his reader to visualize how the innocent suffered without much hope. His setting is placed during the Holocaust which took place between 1933- 1945, where the German’s killed millions of Jews including women and young children. You can imagine how horrible this place was. In the short story as you read you see a small glimpse of hope when the Red Cross van is mention. He replies, “A Red Cross van drives back and forth, incessantly: it transports the gas that will kill these people” (Borowski 701). Normally when you see a cross it symbolize hope and truth, but during this point it symbolizes death for the people who do not know because it carries the gas that will expire their life. The Jews are forced to endure this act because the people who could help did not know or just did not care. Women was afraid to claim their own children because they could not phantom the abuse and torture they endured. He replies, “Pick up your child woman: the child runs after her [screaming], ‘Mama, mama, don’t leave me: so you’re running from your child, [the woman was choked to death] and thrown onto the truck” (Borowski 704). The mother was killed because she did not want to see her child suffer. How many of us today will die so we will not  be a witness to the suffering of our children?

This way for gas, Ladies and Gentlemen is about terror extermination camps. Like those in the time of Hitler, Adulf Hitler and Stalin. How they gas chambered their peoples is,  very similar to what is being, simulated here in this fictionalize short story. fantasy verse reality is the tone of this story. Borowski says, "The story's brutal realism and matter-of-fact tone convey as no passionate oratory could the mind-numbing horror of a situation in which systematic slaughter was the background for everyday life" (Borowski 694). This is a contrasting horror story with the writer assimulating fantasy and reality. Exterminating people as if it was the normal thing to do. Making suggestion with the notion that everything is accepted and expected. Again Borowski says, "Twenty-eight thousand women have been stripped naked and driven out of the barracks" (Borowski 695). They were in concentration camps stripped naked awaiting going to the crematoria. Seems like everybody is going along to become extermanated. No one is resisting being driven like cattle to a slaughter, housed in barracks seeing all around them, what was next and who was next. Once again this story is like whats unnormal is taken normal . Throughout this story is like a horrror movie being watch in a close tight seat. Yet in reality this type of  exterminating human beings has actually happen. I finish this blog just as i started it, sumarizing the over all description being suggested.

Dairy of a Madman was one of the most crazy and weird stories I have ever read. I would not have even read the whole story but as I was getting deeper in the story, it kind of had some things in the story that some individuals might encounter through their lifetime. As we grow up, we watch and learn from our parents. We pick up some of their traits like the way mom makes her stuffing for Thanksgiving or the way dad taught you how to be strong and defend yourself. But we also start believing in what they believe because that is all we knew growing up and that is the right way. So, that's how the madman felt when he came across the children in the street. "I have it! Their fathers and mothers have taught them to be like that!" (Lu Xun 245). The madman feels the reason why the children are staring and talking about him because they learned it from their parents. Just remember our children watch and learn from the parents so be careful what you might give off to your children. Cannibalism is the practice of eating the flesh of your own kind, that is what this story is all about. Throughout the whole story, the madman was trying to figure out why were the people in the community looking so gray and it felt like it to me they had a demen inside their soul. Finally he figured out that he was a normal human being that has not be corrupted by these people and they wanted to eat him. "To be eaten as soon as possible!" (Lu Xun 247). He figures out that his elder brother is a cannibal too. Its like when a family member or a close friend turns on you and you dont know which way to go. You just cannot believe that this person is on the other side. Now, for the future holds is in the children's hands. "Maybe there are some children around who still havent eaten human flesh. Save the children" (Lu Xun 253). The madman wants to save anybody especially the children that has not eating human flesh yet to see for generations to come that maybe they as a communtiy can stop cannibalism. The future is always in the hands of the younger generations to continue to make change happen in the world. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8tmgpOiWRw&feature=player_embedded#t=0s

Go to this link and watch the video on cannibalism. Warning it is very graphic!

Literature through time

Literature has created written history into the minds and way of life throughout time. The way people thought, grew through change, and lived through customs has generated who we are today, in a way that no human can explain why. Literature is a art that has expressed the mind in order to remember the pasts ideas and knowledge of what surrounded the writers during their era of time. The different eras of literature are accustomed to how the people in the world has innovated themselves and their society's expansions all around. The enlightenment period gives reason why someone acts by the way society portrays and demands each person to act, by sticking to a role formed and justified in that society. The enlightenment era, in literature, demonstrates that a means to the structure and beliefs in how someone should live and base their morals, are needed to be looked passed because their is more to living than what is expected for you to do. How the next best way to keep power and people together through different ideas and manipulation was for a purpose; but everyone that makes that society work deserves a voice and a right to the same things. In the text, What Is Enlightenment, Kant exclaims, "Thus the public can only slowly attain enlightenment" (Kant 106). The next era, Romantic era, focuses more on the individual self's perserverance or destitute physically or mentally for a societal preference based on a personal experience. The Romantic era shows a will to search for knowledge through exploration and to develop the minds and structure for a means. In the book Frankenstein, written around 1818, the character Frankenstein is telling his story in first person, as he reflects his past doings and thoughts while experience much of his story in nature. A new era is formed and is called Realism. Realism involves much death and questions the truths through the darker side of human nature. It holds the structures of gender roles and society's class system. Hedda Gabler was a women that came to control her society around her and soon realizes that nothing still doesn't change all in the end. At the end to her destruction, Hedda States, "But in your power. Totally subject to your demands-And your will. Not free. Not free at all. No, that's one thought I just can't stand. Never" (Ibsen 837)! Hedda couldn't stand the power men had in her society and so it lead to her killing herself  because she could not live in loneliness, no say, and no control. These eras structures the way literature is written and interpreted by the reader of the thoughts and way of life during the time they were written. It gives a huge insight to the question of why the were written the way they were.

Sickness

With this story we learn about a man who is the main money maker for the family.One morning this all changes.He changes into a cockroach and his family think that he is just sick but in reality he is not he is changing into some kind of bug.  The chief clerk can to see how he was doing, basically to make sure he was really sick and not faking it co miss out on work. When the chief clerk arrives at his home his sister is crying and Gregor doesn't understand why. He thought it was “Because he wouldn't get up and admit the chief clerk, because he was in danger of losing his job,and because the director would then pursue his parents with the old claims.”(kafka 215) All Gregor worries about is his family in the beginning. He worries about his sister not getting ready for the day and for his parents because they might get into a lot of trouble because of the claims they have against them.His sister stays by his door trying to get him to come out but its no use. Gregor is stuck in bed and cant get out. His father doesn't have a job and neither does his mother and sister. Gregor has became the foundation to his families life style because of his job. It surprises us when we see how his father acts toward Gregor. He has so much hate he throws a apple at his back which basically slowly kills him. But after he dies he his family takes no time into getting over him.

This is a story of the classical era, about an absurd idea of a, Chinese writer name, Lu Xun.
He was born into a Shaoxing family of confucian writers. Lu Xun had a traditional education and became a classical scholar. He grew up at a time when his traditional education was starting to fade away. Lu Xun and other chinese writers joined the era in traveling abroad for higher learning.
His father had died whom was the sole purpose of him holding on to his families, Confucian tradition. So Lu and others started traveling around the world, learning knowledge in different parts, of the world. Lu Xun was a revolutionary writer he wrote in the first history of Chinese fiction.
In the early nineteen hundreds their was a massive student strike, for the goverment not to sign a treaty. That would have allowed Japan to have control over a certain area in China. Lu Xun was not a political person, but it was in this time that he started writing his short stories. In the final days of his life, he became a political activist. Lu Xun says, "Diary of a mad man" (1918), Lu Xun's earliest story in modern Chinese, opens with a preface in mannered classical Chinese, giving an account of the discovery of the diary" (Xun 243). This story starts with a young boy becoming sick, and his father bringing him a human organ to eat, as medicine for his aliment. Who is surrounded by people that have a most unfamilar look on their faces all the time. He has a brother whom he learns later on in the story that is a cannibal. Also he had a little sister that died when she was five, but their was no burial. She had been eaten alive by his elder brother.These cannibal people that he grew up around, justified eating people base on, if they were good or bad people. This little boy wanted his people to change from being cannibals to normal human beings. Now he has found out why they have this strange look on their faces their cannibals. He's telling them if they don't change they were going to eat each other up eventually. He also believe that his mother knew that his elder brother had eaten his little sister. Once when this little boy was five years old or so, his elder brother told him that when parents are sick. That a son to be considered to be a good son , should cut off a piece of their flesh and boil it,and  give it to them. In my conclusion of this fiction story, i would like to share some factual evidence about cannibalism. It is the year (2012) and a NYC city cop by the name of Gilberto Valle, has been arrested for planning to kidnap, torture and rape, and eat one hundred women in NYC. Strange one would say, as our writer Lu Xun ends his alleged fictional story. I google cannibalism in Arkansas and i found that a heavy metal rock group. Came to Little Rock at Juanita's this past Saturday, their name is the cannibals. Woe! their hit songs are "butchered at birth", The walking dead, meat hook sodomy, Hacksaw decapitation, A Skull full of maggots, The latest is title Torture. In Mississippi they have cannibal attacks, Woe whats really going on! Fiction or nonfiction

The Rejection of Tradition in "Diary of a Madman"

              The act of cannibalism is the driving conflict behind "Diary of a Madman". More specifically, it is the threat of metaphorical cannibalization by the society around the Madman. What he perceives as cannibalistic nature in the surrounding people, he also recognizes as an attempt to restrain him (physically as well as mentally) from transcending their obsolete traditions. As his delusions progress, his focus falls on cannibalism as an albatross of society, and is compelled to change it. In this way, we can see the "cannibals" of our own society: the people who cannot leave their archaic ideas behind, and so choose to "consume" those who would change their way of life, rather than change. As he notes, "But all they'd have to do is give up that way of thinking, and then they could travel about, work, eat, and sleep in perfect security. [...] But what do they do instead? [...] Why they all join together to hold each other back [...] They'd rather die than take that one little step" (Xun 250). With or without context, this statement can be made about many traditions of both the Madman's society, and our own.

             There is a duality to this idea, in that often we miss the fact that we are closely related, if not in some way complicit, to this insecure protection of our old ways. In the story, the Madman believes his own brother to be a cannibal, and the irony is not lost on him in that regard, "Even though I'm to be the victim of cannibalism, I'm brother to a cannibal all the same" (Xun 247). Often times when we join a cause or decide to make a change, we find that some of the people closest to us are entrenched in the very values we seek to change. And so we are torn between our duty as individuals to grow and advance society, and our unwillingness to leave behind those who may be close to us, but cling to outdated beliefs.

You Only Live Once

I was very worried that I would have no ideas on what to write about after reading The Metamorphosis. I racked my brain all day at school and half the day at work trying to figure out how I could possibly relate to this story in any way.... and then it came to me. Although the events in this story were alittle on the random side, I think there was a message after all. I think basically it was trying to teach people to get out and get what they can out of life and not just sit around being miserable with their day to day routine. If you are feeling like there is something missing, then go out and do what you need to do to fulfill happiness. We can see from the beginning of the story that Gregor is not very happy with his job. He lets the reader know from the start that his work is tiring. "Oh, my Lord! he thought. If only I didn't have to follow such an exhausting proffession! (Kafka 211)" Gregor is obviously burnt out on work but keeps doing what he has to do to support his family. Not only is he an unfulfilled person, but his family is also unable to reach their potential because they are so dependent on him. Getting use to their same routine and settling has set them all back. It is not until the end that they get away from their boring life. "Then the three of them all together left the flat, which was something they hadn't done for months, and took the tram to the park at the edge of the city. (Kafka 241)" Unfortunately, it is with Gregor's sacrifice that they are forced to move forward with their lives. Gregor wasn't able to get enjoyment out of life because he spent it working and eventually his time was up and it was to late. This is where the lesson comes in. Do not just sit around wasting your life. You never know when your time is going to be up so get out there and make something happen because you only live once!

Change can mean Death...........................

In the story The Metamorphosis, written by Franz Kafka the main character was Gregor Samsa.  Gregos was strange but a normal person who stayed at home with his parents working for a living. He one day woke up from a distressful dream and realizes he has turned into a coach roach. Most people would have panic but for some reason Gregor did not. His life was such a routine he still thinks about work even as an insect he replies, “In any case, somebody will have come from work by then to ask for me, because the business opens before seven o’clock” (Kafka 213). When the father, mother, and sister found out about his transformation they were concerned. The father took it to another level. He was furious about his son being a coach roach. This frustration from the father caused him to be abusive toward his son.  Gregor father, “from behind gives him a truly liberating kick, bleeding profusely” (Kafka 220).   After this incident Gregor stayed in his room most of the time, this is the first incident. His mother and sisters feels sorry for him. His sister brings certain foods to his room so he will eat, which helps with his comfort level. The second incident with his father fear is when he throws an apple into the center of Gregor back. This apple logged in Gregor back caused his death, he died in his room. After his death life went on as though Gregor never existed. Sometime in life, what we fear keeps us from understanding the meaning of change.

Hedda Gabler

Social morality within Hedda Gabler dictated that a women should be content doing household chores and caring for men. The problem of Hedda Gabler illuminates the universal problem of woman in a society built by men.  Hedda, once the best catch in town, is a woman restricted by Victorian values and trapped in a loveless marriage with a boring, boring man. Her only solace is manipulating others, which she does about 94% of the play. Tesman's character brings up questions about gender roles in marriage and in society. This is what made the play so radical at the time, and so terribly relevant today. I feel that Tesman is like a woman trapped in a man's body, just as Hedda is very much like a man trapped in a woman's body. Tesman may be the breadwinner in the marriage, but we almost get the feeling that he would rather be the homemaker. At the same time, Hedda is so bored and unhappy in her role as the homemaker that she shoots herself at the end of the play. She longs for the purpose and sense of control over her destiny that men in society have. We could go on and on about the position of women in the world today, what’s changed since the 19th century and what hasn’t. Their are still a lot of gender roles that exist today like

most CEO's and leaders of countries are male, in Education (Teachers) and child care sector are female dominated. The list could go on and on.

 

 

 

 

Freedom at Last

Have you ever thought about living life on edge? Always looking over your shoulder, just to feel a sharp sting across your back because you went to far or you did not wake up in time to catch the shuttle to go to work. That is what slaves had to fear everyday. Just like women in the 1800s, slaves were not aloud to speak out or disagree basically they had no voice. If they dare to do these things, they would be punished. "There must be no answering back to him; no explanation was allowed a slave, showing himself to have been wrongfully accused" (Douglass 245). The slaves did not have the right to have an opinion, if so the master's would feel they were being questioned by someone who was lower than them and it was not their place to speak up. But there was one person that wanted more out of life than just being a slave, his name was Frederick Douglass. He wanted to learn how to read. "A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master" (Douglass 250). Slaves did not know how to read or write, let alone know how old they were at the present time. Once his mistress, Mrs. Auld taught him his ABC's , he saw a light at the end of the tunnel of maybe he could learn how to read and eventually he did. He was reading everything that he could get his hands on especially a newspaper. From then on, there was no stopping him. Time changed when he decided to speak at the anti-slavery meeting. "I spoke but a few moments, when I felt degree of freedom,and said what i desired with considerable ease" (Douglass 289). From that moment on he felt that there could be freedom at last and he can finally be noticed as a human. Frederick Douglass did not want to be an oridinary slave. He knew his purpose was to learn to see his way out of slavery. He knew what he was capable of, went after it and made a change in the world. That is why I am so thankful for people like Frederick Douglass that made a way for me to have a better life.

Know you position..................

                In the play Hedda Gabler, written by Henrik Ibsen, George Tesman character shows his wife Hedda Tesman is the one who wears the pants in their household. George Tesman is an intelligent person who was raised by his aunts and Hedda Tesman comes from a military family (her dad was a General).  They are not a good match from the beginning. Hedda new that George was soft so she took his kindness for weakness. She replies, “Yes, I did. And then when he went around constantly begging with all his strength, begging for permission to let him take care of me, well I see why I shouldn’t take him up on it” (Ibsen 802).  In the play George and Hedda have a group of friends with different classes. The one that stands out the most is Barack (the Judge). He and Hedda seem to be close, so close that her husband George never pays attention to them flirting with one another. Hedda says, “I am so bored: six whole months never meeting with a soul who knew the slightest thing about our circle. No one we could talk with about our kinds of things” (Ibsen 801).  A normal person will not allow their wife to indulge in a conversation with another man unless he is a duck (weak). Hedda showed no respect for George, she treated him as though he was the woman and she was the man.

Hedda Gabler

Hedda Gabler is a play written by Henrik Ibsen, during the literary era realism, that challenges society's morals from the use of a women to control the environment she is in. The literary era, realism focuses on the dark side of human nature and the truths which lie in between those natures. Higher classes, men, and women still have a separate role in their society in order to structure the realms in that period of time. In Hedda Gabler, Hedda gets away from her natural environment and then becomes part of a new social status and environment. She takes in all awareness to social means and turns to manipulation, control for power, and ambition to center herself right in the middle of all the action. From the jump Hedda takes control of the situation during conversation with Lovborg and Mrs. Elvsted, when Hedda says, "No, you don't, little Thea, not there. Come right over here next to me. I want to be in the middle between you" (Ibsen 813).  During the realism era women were struggling for power and a voice in society. As life got more complex then the more society became of order and power over that matter and energy as it became a patriarchy. Ibsen introduces realism in theater which gives a visual insight with the emotions, moral questioning, and truth behind people's condition. Hedda has a vision to better her life with beauty, ideas, and fulfillment to herself but through out the story she is still tied down to her status in life. Even though she has most of the control around her; it isn't until towards the second half of the play that the higher status judge character takes more control. Brack states, as he goes back and forth with Hedda, What if life suddenly should offer you some purpose or other, something to live for" (Ibsen 805)?

Game Over

The Hedda Gabler play took a slightly different turn than what I was expecting. Although I had guessed that there would be some kind of tragic ending, I actually thought things would end up working out entirely in Hedda's favor. Before reading Act Four, it was looking like Hedda would be the death of Testman, because he seemed to be very gullible throughout the play. Being gullible seems to be a weakness that usually ends up harming a character in the long run. Suprisingly, Testman lives and crazy Hedda ends up killing herself. Sooo not expecting that.
Their were two events in the story that caused Hedda to lose her power. The first let down for her occurs when she discovers that Eilert's wound was in a different place than she had expected. "That too! Oh absurdity! It hangs like a curse over everything I so much as touch (Ibsen 835)." The deal is sealed for her when Judge Brack reveals that he knows about the pistol and that him keeping quiet will be her only chance. "So I'm in your power now, Judge. You have a hold over me from now on (Ibsen 837)." This is really the last straw for her because until now she has had some kind of power over all of the other characters. Once she loses her control, the jig is up for Hedda!

This is a story written in an era, when Europe and Norway were like the opposite of each other.
"Ibsen showed Europe that the theater could be more than just spectacle, that it could be an art for addressing the most serious moral and social questions of the time" (Ibsen 778). Ibsen was born and raised in the rural part of Norway. He was not raised in the fine cities of Europe. Hedda Gabler was one of his most prestiges plays that he wrote. "Hedda Gabler is a play about the daughter of a general who marries Tesman, an aspiring scholar waiting for his university post" (Ibsen 780). As this play evolves at the very begining, one can tell that they both or opposite of each other. Tesman is what you would call as a square, slang for a dummy. He doesn't seem to realize that he's being taken for a ride, slang being used. They both came from two different back  grounds. Hedda is a cunning coniving ruthless woman, who will stop at nothing to get her way. Regardless to who ever she hurts along the way. This play shows how some people will do any thing for money, power and the ability to control others.Hedda is a con woman on the lose devouring every one that she comes in contact with. A con person is a manipulator that justifies their action on their needs. Therefore what ever they sense they need its fair game to them. Hedda is a born manipulator with inherit born skills. She uses them through out this entire play.

Be careful what you ask for.....

Throughout the literature we have read this semester, there seems to be a quest for change. Something sparks an interest in a character and, in most cases, the character can not go on without it.

 Just as in today's society, out characters became unhappy with there current situations and wanted to try something different. In the Fredrick Douglas narrative, Douglas seemed to be content with his life as it stood until he gained a glimpse of education. from that moment on he was set on becoming educated. Like many of the other characters, young Douglas had to be creative in his techniques to gain knowledge. This was mainly because traditional methods of learning were not available to slaves. He give examples of how he would challenge other boys in the city, "I would then make the letters ... and ask him to beat that"(Douglas 255). In his quest for knowledge, Fredrick was unaware of the consequences that awaited him. He didn't realize that the knowledge he obtained would expose the unjustness of society. 

In the wake of Obama's win, my mind goes to women's rights. Ol' Mitt, I feel, was ham-stringed by controversy surrounding women's right to an abortion and contraception in the weeks and months leading up to the election. Would he have won with the female vote? Definitely the popular vote. I think this shows an obvious disconnect with the voter base in the Republican party. How interesting that our readings would be over this very topic the week before the election. While we have made great strides to enact measures of equality in our society, we must not forget that this issue is still prevalent today. I wonder what the authors of Declaration of Sentiments would think of the issues important to us. Would they be proud that women finally have a voice or disappointed that they are still so underrepresented in business and government? I know that progress, particularly progress as it relates to human paradigm, is slow to change. I, for one, am proud to be living in a time when I can sit across from a strong independent woman and hear her speak her mind without fear of reprisal. To think that less than a hundred years ago Ms. Baldwin could not have been our professor gives me hope for the future. I hope all of you participated in the Democratic process because without it I fear we would not have had to consider what women think yesterday.

It's shocking looking at the expectations of standards set for women in the 19th Century. As a woman in 2012, reading about the role of women in the 1800's it's almost unbelievable how powerless women were in the 1800's. Expected to be submissive and dependant, most women of this time were seen and not heard. Stripped of their rights, according ot the Decleration of Sediments, Women's confidence in their own power was destroyed, her self respect ws lesened, and she was made to live a dependant and abject life (Sediments 52). The submissiveness of the woman back in the 18th Century and now are considerably different. Women were expected to stay at home and men were bread winners as displayed in the story "Punishment" when Dukhriam was angry about not being able to come home to a hot meal made by his wife because his wife had no means of fixing it and brought it to his attention that it was his not bringing bread home that caused him to be in the predicament (Tagore 894). Womens place in the 18th Century was in the kitchen and bedroom. Though it has undoubtedly changed, there are remnants of these traditional ways lingering today. Women are working now, but cooking and cleaning are still looked at as women jobs. Men are still looked at as the provider and bread winners, and women look for these qualities in a man. No matter how far we've come as women, a little 18th century will show up as we continue to meet the needs of our mate.

Doormats...NO MORE!

In the 19th century, women didn't have many rights...if any at all. It seems they were viewed in society more as a slave than an equal to man.  Men seemed to be afraid to give women a voice so they did the only thing they could do...keep them quiet:  "He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice" (Stanton 51).  During this time period women did what men told them to do and didn't think any different:  ...having in object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her" (Stanton 51).  Today as a married woman, we seemed to be viewed more as an equal...men and women complement each other with their strengths and weaknesses.  A married woman in the 19th century didn't have the option to even show her strengths:  "He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead....He has taken from her all right in property...He has made her, morally, an irresponsible being..." (Stanton 51).  Talk about getting knocked down and staying down...a female doormat for the man.  I appreciate the people in history who fought for what they believed in:  Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton,  Lucretia Mott, and many others who changed the course of history for the better.  With so many different quotes to pull from "Declaration of Sentiments", it's hard to just use a couple...so I will add one more:  "He has created a false public sentiment, by giving to the world a different code of morals for man and woman, by which moral delinquencies which exclude women from society, are not only tolerated but deemed of little account when committed by man"  (Stanton 52).  That honestly made me laugh out loud.  To think that women had totally different rules from a man...and even if a man did something immoral it didn't matter.  These days there are still a few old school thoughts about women, however, I do feel that women have certainly made a place in the world.  

Independence in Women

Looking back at what the world came from to now as we know of the world today. It made some big changes and there is still more changes to be made in the new future. But, I want to go back to the time where women really did not have a role in society. As bad as it may sound women were kind of invisible because they did not have a voice to speak out how they felt. "He has taken from her all right property, even to the wages she earns" (Sentiments 51). Not only did women have no right to be in the workforce and have a career. The earnings they earned from doing whatever they could to make money, they have to give their earnings to the man of the houshold. They dont even get to enjoy the earnings that they just worked hard for. "He closes against her all avenues to wealth and distinction, which he considers most honorable to himself. As a teacher of Theology, medicine or law, she is not known" (Sentiments 51). To look at the workforce of today, you see women becoming teachers, doctors, lawyers, running for senate or congress. Not only did women get degraded from all angles but one angle they got recognization for is their self-respect and confidence that women should have within themselves. "He has endeavored in every way that he could, to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life" (Sentiments 52). Women are more independent, have high self confidence, careers and they can have a voice an not get punished for it. It all happened because two women wanted to make a change and actually make a difference in the world to make sure women in the future had a better life.

The Life of women in the 19th century.........

During the 19^th century women had it hard. They were considered unequal to men and treated a bit better then slaves. Women had no choice in this era, because men held all the resources for their lively hood. In reading Declaration of Sentiments, written by Stanton you understand why this document was needed.  In the Declaration of Independence, the passage that is most frequently quoted is this: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. From the beginning in the Bible (KJV) most people read, it states, in Genesis 1:27- He created man male and female, which means equality. This is all women wanted in the 19^th century. Men were afraid of losing their position so he puts self doubt in the woman mind to control her. Stanton states, “He denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education---all colleges being closed against her” (Stanton 51). By keeping education from women, men can condition them in the way of their tradition, which is a woman, should stay home, cook, clean, and tend to the children’s. Also during this era women was forced into marriage and were stripped of their right to have a say so. Stanton states, “He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice” (Stanton 51). We were blessed to have women like Lucretia Mott, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton who believed in themselves and would not let the stupidity of men ego stop their purpose. Let’s not forget about Frederick Douglass who observed this during slavery who also gained his freedom and an advocate for women’s suffrage.

People Evolve... Life Evolves

Women have become more induced into society's innovations through time for the rights to equality. Influence and one's experiences exploits a domino effect into an unstoppable movement. For the betterment of a world, a stand from powerful, powerless, women educate the minds, of many unwilling people and unknowable minorities, to change the norm and power. A diverse integration on the move to change the way society is able to act, think, and live is becoming more and more changeable, as the inferiors try to portray a charge against superior's ideas. During an era where it was premature to evolve the manipulates; two women stand up for themselves and all of humanity through the power of knowledge and reason. It was great power in itself for Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Stanton to create an abolishing movement while Stanton also wrote a declaration herself, which was used in mocking, countering, and differentiating a "man's" Declaration. She wrote, "she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband, he becoming, to all intents and purposes, her master-the law giving him power to deprive her of her liberty, and to administer chastisement" (Stanton 51). Stanton is educated to speak about the debauched law and society to give men as much power over that of women and is of well being to re structure the form of humanity. She is trying to prove the nonhuman sacrifice of a women to a man while men look another way, as to not interfere with the natural state of man or conflict with what has always been taught as the way of life. She exemplifies the wrongs stating, "he has taxed her to support government, which recognizes her only when her property can be made profitable" (Stanton 51). She produces a change in a lot of people's thinking that gives more motivation to women to stand up and even develop more enlightened men. The rationality that grew to become the establishments to free and better thinking, which is a product to exempting a lot of  that is reasonable wrong and manipulated. This I believe made the people in our nation that much stronger from the ability to overcome produce a fight even though you know there is no right for you to do so by society's view but that of world nature's freedom to life.

Women's Rights...

After reading the Declaration Of Sentiments I was moved to blog about women's rights and how doing the nineteenth century women were deprived of all their human rights. To me they were on the same social class as slaves in a way. Although in every situation there is someone that no matter what their facing finds a way to rise above it all. I'm thankful for people like Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton for their selflessness stand. In an era when women had no voice they found  a way to speak out about the injustice against all women. They were able to create a movement for social justice and learned from anti-slavery societies how to organize a political protest. These women help the very first Women's Right Convention at Seneca Falls, NY in June 1848 and from that movement led to the demand of women's right, even though it took them another seventy years before the american women won the right to vote. Stanton wrote the Declaration of Sentiments that was modeled by the Declaration of Independence because it uses the language to argue the fact that all humans rather black, white, male or female has an equal right. Now before the movement took place women weren't given any rights and in the Declaration of Sentiments it said "He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead" (Norton 51). The significance of the quote to me meant that women didn't have any civil rights, and that the man was the ruler over her. In that era the men had even destoryed the womens confidence in every area of her life. The women was deprived from getting an education " He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a through education all colleges being closed against her" (Norton 51). She was allowed to attend church but was to be subordinate and be submissive. So as a women in the 21 century I appreciate the way that was paved for me by the pioneers of the pass and will exercise my civil right as a women to vote. I have to admit that I'm blogging in the middle of the 2012 Presidential Election and I'm very distracted right now so I'm going to end this blog and continue watching to see who will be the 45th president of the U.S.

Nature's Anthropomorphic Role in Rossetti's "Winter: My Secret".

Nature's influence on romantic era writing has been well-covered in this class. Nevertheless, it's role takes on a nuance in Romantic poetry in that Nature is often portrayed with human characteristics; more than just the scenery, it is itself a character. In Rossetti's "Winter: My Secret", Winter is given a female persona. This adds softness and depth to a season that is normally referred to with dense and dark lyrics. In fact the feminine Winter is rather playful, which is a change of pace from the winter we were introduced to in Romantic novels such as Frankenstein. Almost flirting with the reader, the tone of the poem is set by the playful disposition of Nature; and by using a season that is normally associated with , it makes the characterization all the more significant,

"I tell my secret? No indeed, not I:
Perhaps some day, who knows?
..................................................
You want to hear it? well:
Only, my secret's mine, and I won't tell" (Rossetti 492)

The words used by the Season are also a change of pace, and serve to add to the lightness of Winter's character. In regards to the wintery winds that normally we associate with words like "stinging" or "biting" or "stiff", Nature's light-heartedness again sets the tone:

"Come bounding and surrounding me,
Come buffeting, astounding me,
Nipping and clipping thro' my wraps and all" (Rossetti 492)

The diction here transforms the mood of the poem into something we're used to seeing from a springtime piece. By contrast, the traditionally light-hearted seasons are given heavy words: March is giving a "peck of dust" (Rossetti 492), and Summer is "languid" (Rossetti 492). The use of these words, combined with the softness of the feminine form, flips the traditional seasonal paradigm on its head.

This is a very interesting story, about how two women set out to voice their opinion.On the injustice of women at an anti-slavery convention.This was in the eighteen hundreds, when women were treated basically like slaves. Unfortunetly they where denied a chance to speak. This is what Stanton says, "The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward women, having in direct object the establishment of an absloute tranny over her" (Stanton 51). Since mankind was released from the holes of a cave. Mankind has treated his woman like a piece of property. Gradually over time, and experience mankind has come to realize that a woman is a gift from  the almighty God. Those of us that believe in God, has realize this truth. Some of us don't believe in God yet has allowed their women to have a vioce. I personally do believe in the almighty God that rules this world that we live in. Stanton further says, " He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men- both natives and foreigners" (Stanton 51). This was an anti slavery convention, that argued about whether it was right for women, to give their vioce on voting.Anti slavery means that they were against the system of slavery but not willing to allow women the right to vote. The Indians were conquered and abused, and denied the right to vote. Black people were kidnapped and brought here by force and denied the right  to vote. We all have finally broken the chains of being denied to some point. Finally in my conclusion of this great event. Everyone who has been denied justice must continue to persever these injustices.

..As a Woman..

          I appreciate the steps and boundaries the woman before me took in order for the woman of today to have equal rights. They were deprived from many different things. They had to have known that there was something better in store. Not only did the world treat then differently, but their spouses did also. “He has withheld her from rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men- both natives and foreigners “Declaration of Sentiments 51).” It’s easy for me to say, “Those men are crazy, it would be impossible for me to put up with that”. Let a man tell me I can’t do this or that. Humph! He surely will be put in his space in zero point five seconds. In my opinion I’ve already accomplished something man said woman couldn’t do. They said woman couldn’t join the armed forces; it was a MAN’s job. I’m a member of the biggest baddest fighting machines the US has seen, the United States Army. Anything a man can do, I can do better! Plenty of people said I wouldn’t last a week. Though I cried and struggled through the two mile, a year ago today I graduated basic combat training top of my class, but they said I couldn’t do it! I consider myself to have the power in anything I do. My grandmother didn’t raise me to wait on a man hand and foot, nor did I witness her doing so for my grandfather. I was raised with morals, confidence, and dignity. Yes, I believe in catering to my spouse, but don’t get it misunderstood, he knows his boundaries!

Douglass's Motivation

Frederick Douglass's drive is what progresses him throughout the story. He has an overwhelming desire to become more than what he is. He keeps his mind on his goals even when things look bad for him. It seems like the more he gets knocked down, the more motivated he is to get back up and keep going. Instead of getting discouraged and giving up hope, he pushes himself harder every time something tries to hold him back. Not being able to read is a slight set back for Douglass. Mr.Auld scolds Mrs.Auld for simply teaching Douglass three and four letter words and once he sees how upset Mr.Auld becomes over this, his eyes are opened to how important an education is for him. "These words sank deep into my heart, stirred up sentiments within that lay slumbering, and called into existence an entirely new train of thought... From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom."(250-251 Douglass) This part of the story really stood out to me because I think it is a turning point for Douglass. It pushes him to the next step by showing that having an education could help create a way out for him, and once he starts educating himself by reading whatever he can get his hands on, he realizes how wrong and unjust slavery really is. "The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers."(253 Douglass) Reading creates even more of a drive in him and allows him to see things that are hidden and kept away from the other slaves. Douglass's motivation is what makes him different from the others around him. His story should be an inspiration to anyone looking to overcome anything.

Fredrick Douglass

Fredrick Douglass was a renowned speaker, here in America. This is what Douglass said about his first encounter as a field hand: "I left Master Thomas's, house and went to live with Mr. Covey, on the first of January, 1833. I was now, for the first time in my life, a field hand. In my new employment, I found myself even more awkward than a country boy appeared to be in a large city. I had been at my new home but one week before Mr. Covey me a very severe whipping, cutting my back, causing the blood to run, and raising ridges on my flesh as large as my little finger" (Douglass 262). I can relate to that contrasting my own personel experience as a field hand for the first time in my life. My mother sent me to the field when i was about five years old. Mr, and Mrs taylor was my field drivers, they told me that this was Johnson grass, and that this was morning glory, and that this was her cotton. So learn the difference between them now, because if i come back here and see you chopping down her fine cotton, that she was going to introduce me to old glory. Well when she left i couldn't seem to distinguish any difference in either one, they all seem to look the same way. I was just a chopping and thinking to my self, I didn't come out here to chopp no darn cotton, but to be the water boy. Then out of no where i felt a sting like a whip or something, it was Mrs. Taylor lashing me with a belt, boy didn't i tell you that i was gonna introduce you to old glory? I scream moma, but moma wasn't no where to be found. Douglass further says,"Mr. Covey sent me, very early in the morning of one of our coldest days in the month of January, to the woods, to get a load of wood "  (Douglass 262). I will finish this blog with my opinion of what it must have been like to be made to do things that you don't really want to do. I didn't won't to chop cotton, and i was whipped for not being able to distinguish the difference between, cotton, Johnson grass ,and morning glory. Wow what a life!

"Religion-Indubitable Christianity"

 What did Frederick Douglass stand for? Frederick Douglass was a proud and strong black slave; he stood for Freedom, Truth, and indubitable Christianity. In Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, he wanted the reader to not just visualize freedom, truth, but the hypocrisy of Christianity in the south where slavery was robust.

Today most people see Christianity as the modern day religion, believing it will relieve them of their problems. In history we learn that’s not always the case. Christianity was occasionally used to control people who did not have a clear apprehension of it. Frederick Douglass begins to see and understand this as a slave. Frederic Douglass saw one of his masters beat a young black women slave and use a scripture quote to justify his action. Frederick Douglass replies, “I have seen him tie a lame young women, and whip her with a heavy cow skin upon her naked shoulders, causing the warm red blood to drip; and, in justification of the bloody deed, he would quote a Scripture” (Douglass 261). As time went on Frederick Douglass heedfulness becomes keen in the white man definition of Christianity. Fredrick Douglass believes Christianity is a faith for all people of color and not a tool to control but an inspiration to love and heal the broken boundaries of separation and slavery. He makes it plainly clear in his reply, “To be the friend of the one, is of necessity to be the enemy of the other; I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land” (Douglass 289).

As citizens of the United States we should have faith to love, respect, and unify one another no matter what color he or she is. If we are going to be a leading country of examples for others we can’t lead from behind.

Rising Above

In life, people can knock you down:  Knock you down, kick you, and leave you with a smile.  That seems to be the motives behind the slave owners in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave.  The graphic details of these people goes way beyond my level of thinking...I guess my brain just can't wrap around it.  However, Frederick Douglass gave us some valuable information about his life...a life that maybe needed to exist in order to appreciate what we have today and how we live today.  It seems as if he was given enough power to carry on through his pain in order to educate the world...an education that is so honest and pure. "Douglass casts his life as a long process of self-transformation--from an object, or an animal, to a free human being with a name" (Douglass 234).  This quote alone let us know of his inner drive to become someone...to go beyond the life he has lived and strive for something more.  We may not all like where we come from or how we live...what matters is the drive inside you to want to become more.  Douglass did not blame his life and his career as a slave, on the contrary he seemed to embrace what he went through to better himself and others.  "As in rags-to-riches stories, Douglass tells us how he makes a dramatic rise in social status and wealth through virtues such as perseverance  bravery, self-reliance, and determination" (Douglass 235)  "...self-transformation in which the illiterate and unthinking slave is prompted to recognize the injustice of his experience and to insist on his full person-hood, but Douglass reminds us many times along the way that self-transformation always involves a set of opportunities, and that under slightly different conditions, this slave might never have sought out his freedom" (Douglass 235).  This has been an encouraging story for me.  I choose not see this story as a story of hate...or black and white. I see a wonderful story or Resurrection from an old life to a new life.  That fits my life right now.  I was getting knocked down and I chose to make a change and start a new life.  And just knowing what Frederick went through as a slave and more, helps me to stay focused on what I need to do to keep my life going.

I still have hope...

I still have hope to believe that this is not my final destination in life. While reading Frederick Douglass narrative of his life this title stayed on my mind. This reading was priceless to me and very heart touching. I often wondered how Frederick Douglass kept his determination after being broken so many times. " Mr Covey succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, soul and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute" (Frederick Douglass 264). To me he wasn't a quote unquote normal slave in a way. Yes he had a hard life, but compared to alot of the other slaves in the beginning he was sheilded from alot of the whipping and harsh life of a slave. To be at this point on his journey he was finally pushed to the point of feeling like an animal. He was beat and whipped until he couldn't take it anymore so he decided to do something about it. To be an equal human or shall I say a freed human was all he was in search for. In this part of the story I almost felt like they had "tamed" him, but he had a turning point in the narrative that gave him hope. After all the beatings he fround the courage to stand up to Mr. Covey and show him he was a man. " This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood" (Frederick Douglass 268). This confrontation with Mr. Covey gave him the self confidence he needed to go on in search of his freedom.

The Significance of Graphic Violence in Frederick Douglass' Narrative

I believe Frederick Douglass' narrative of his life was written to move people to the point where they could not possibly condone slavery. With this goal in mind, a kind of scene that has not been present in enlightenment and romantic era texts emerges: the depiction of graphic violence. I believe that Douglass purposely details every moment so that the reader is confronted with the brutality of the slave condition. This is in direct contrast to Frankenstein, where murder is also common, yet described with little to no shock-value.

Douglass' description of his aunt's beatings at the hands Captain Anthony shock the reader as soon as the first chapter with a chilling description of his master's cruelty, "No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose. The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest there he whipped longest. He would whip her to make her scream, and whip her to make her hush; and not until overcome by fatigue, would he cease to swing the blood-clotted cowskin"(Douglass 238). The repeated references to the blood, and the senselessness of the beatings, combine to evoke a strong emotional response in the reader. Because of this desire to impact the reader with the brutality of the slave condition, graphic violence is an important part of Douglass' narrative.

The significance of violence's role in Frankenstein is, I believe, a foil of it's significance in Douglass' slave narrative. Several people are murdered by the bare hands of the monster, even Dr. Frankenstein's own bride is brutally killed on their wedding night. However, Shelley's description of the violent scene is very subdued in comparison to Douglass', "the deathly languor and coldness of the limbs told me, that what I now held in my arms had ceased to be the Elizabeth whom I had loved and cherished. The murderous mark of the fiend's grasp was on her neck, and the breath had ceased to issue from her lips" (Shelley 136). There are no references to blood, or even to the act itself, only the aftermath in which Frankenstein even states he "might have supposed her asleep" (Shelley 136), which is quite the contrast to the picture of violence painted by Douglass.

..A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste..

       "When I went there, she was a pious, warm, and tender-hearted woman. There was no sorrow or suffering for which she had not a tear. She had bread for the hungry, clothes for the naked, and comfort for every mourner that came within her reach. Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her to these heavenly qualities (Frederick Douglass 252)." Reading this narrative brought tears to my eyes. I kept thinking, "How could this lady, whom has a son of her own bare to teach me my ABC's and later come back and attempt to take it away." Mrs. Auld did a 360 and didn't have a care in the world. The narrative says that she was a warm and tender-hearted, anyone in her presence left happy, she gave them comfort. What better feeling than for a slave to be treated like a human- being! The mind is terrible thing to waste and so is the misuse of power and authority. "If I was in a separate room any considerable length of time, I was sure to be suspected of having a book, and was at once called to give an account of myself (Frederick Douglass 252)." During slavery time African Americans didn't have the right to read and write, education was a joke. Till this day you have some people who take life and their education for granted. For example, African Americans complain about how the police or "white officers" misuse their authority by beating and killing African American males. What are you doing to be arrested? We have the priviallege to futher our education, get better paying jobs, become CEO's, own businesses, and atc. What are we doing though, we're robbing, cheating, stealing, and even killing. What's the point of complaining when we aren't doing anything bout the problem. I'm a single mother of a one year old boy, whoms father does nothing. But I can guarntee you that my child will make something of himself. I'm not settling for less. Honeslty we need more fathers to step up and be apart of their son's lives, there is only so much a mother can do. African Americans want to be treated with respect and dignity but our actions say a totally different thing. These election debates have me afraid for my sons future. you have people saying, "Who Romney is gonna have us back in the slavery days." As long as I have breath in my lungs I never want to see my son out in the fields or being beaten or even eating slop. I say all of this to say that men like Douglas, Martin Luther King Jr, and others died for our rights, diginity, and freedom. We need to pick up our community and start putting the pieces back together. We have the necessary tools to futher education, obtain good jobs and many other wonderful things. We have to start somewhere. Lets start in our community.

"Nothing Is Right or Wrong, but Thinking Makes It So"

Fredrick Douglas became a prime example, to people's "knowledge," how any human being is able to render themselves above irrational forms of society. Fredrick Douglas, as a slave, was born into a debauched society where experiences and motives create a sustained, as well as an undeveloped mind into a world. His world coming in was all that he knew. Douglas did not have the knowledge of any outside world, instead the one he has never left. His experiences of the un familiar torment to the black race's: work, wrongs or rights, punishments, and deceiving ways were not to his knowledge; they were the way of life to the providence of a more prominent white superior, as I should say. From all the way to the beginning of time; humanity perceives the society they live in from the knowledge they intrigue from the more dominate beings in it. This creates the structure, that has brought upon humanity, that brings people together through: rules, morals, beliefs, ideas, needs, communication, and the willing to create new ideas and expand other forms from consistent and a want for knowledge. Knowledge is a power that evolves into many of things. The act from a more superior culture to know what they can actually do, from their higher way of life and the knowing of diversity and others cultural ways, dehumanize themselves because of the want for greater power. Also they dehumanize a less educated and progressed culture, in their own favor, in order to strip all of the mind for notorious want to a better social status and create work to produce more money for more powerful means.  It is how you receive that knowledge and use it that enhances your true social being through a contributing human way. Douglas explains his role as a slave through the inevitable disregard of human rights. His journey from disgrace and innocence to knowledge gives him different ideologies of the world in able for him to become a major leader and generate a movement to change the way of thinking and believing. Fredrick Douglas shows the discrimination from society, when he becomes of some knowledge, through the difference in Mr. Auld and his own views. Douglas states, "What he most dreaded, that I most desired. What he most loved, that I most hated. That which to him was a great evil, to be carefully shunned, was to me a great good, to be diligently sought; and the argument which he so warmly urged, against my learning to read, only served to inspire me with a desire and determination to learn" (Douglass 250). Douglass becomes his own greatness, as he realizes this knowledge of societies disgrace and the shielded ideas to the black people, that motivates him for the purpose to show and educate the wrongs of these people, only if he becomes knowledgeable of "knowledge." He discovers how strong knowledge is when he sees it become a monster within himself from learning all the people's wrongs, they so value, in his world. He demonstrates the agony of being apart of such a world to regretting the knowledge he had learned that turns to hate, despair, cultivation, ect.. During his set back, Douglass states, "I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out. In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity" (Douglass 254). This reminds me a lot of Frankenstein because the knowledge shows him the monster it can really be from becoming a reconciliation of the bad and hatred that can be seen and become of you that society has created. Douglass's thoughts brought him down in despair from the thinking that nothing could be done to change the social structures that have been engraved. He sees there are others who see as him which creates hope that breaks him out of his realm and as a minority/representative because of his knowledge. His pursuit for better and more will go to any length for the purpose of a change. In order to open the minds of a debauched, humiliated, and disgraced society, that has engraved the ideas of an irrational culture, needs to change the minds from ignorance to the knowledge of just "humanities being" that has created this nation social greatness!