Exploring An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

Exploring An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge The short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge has received more critical attention than any other single work written by Ambrose Bierce. This is most likely because of the way the story combines into one text the best components distributed among much of Bierces fiction such as narrative, plot, imagery, the exposure of human-deception, and a surprise ending (Stoicheff 1). In An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Bierce differentiates between internal and external worlds and illustrates that the mind can create its own realities and escapes. He does not tell the reader that Farquhar is hallucinating, but instead expects the reader to evaluate the story and realize the impossibility of events described in the final events of the story. With such literary techniques, Bierce opposed many of the literary trends of his day in both his journalism and his fiction. He believed any view of life which ignored the unconscious processes of mind could not call itself realistic (Davidson 2). Bierc es works reflect his obsession with ironic, unnecessary, and strange death, as well as his cynical, disillusioned attitude on the meaninglessness of life (Habibi 2). He detested war and saw firsthand the absurdity and insanity of it. This emerges as a connecting theme in several of his writings. His protagonists are usually antiheroes and they make conscious decisions based on flawed thinking, which ultimately lead to tragic predicaments (Habibi 2-3). Bierce is known for his use of literary elements and skillfully uses third person narrative, a quickly paced plot, realistic detail, and blends fantasy and reality to lead the reader into believing in Farquhars escape. Therefore, the reader is unable to interpret Farquhars true fate until the very end of the story. Bierce cleverly chooses to write this story in third person narrative. By using third person narrative, the author is able to do a variety of different things to capture the readers attention and keep them guessing. He most likely chooses this course of action to convey to the reader the main characters feelings and emotions and to conceal his death. This perspective, often called limited omniscience, tells the story from an observers standpoint (Samide 1). By definition, this narrator knows all things important in the story, even a characters own thoughts. Therefore, the reader is able to get a more in depth look into how the main character is feeling, as well as tell the reader the outward world of the story (Samide 1). In this story, the author chooses to focus on the mind of only one main character, Farquhar, and enters it extensively throughout the course of the story. At any given time, the narrator may also move in and out of the chosen characters mind and thoughts, or inform the reader about what is happening in the outer world of the story. Because the author chooses this point of view, it is difficult for the reader to know Farquhars escape is unreal until the last line of the story, when the narrator emerges from his mind to tell the reader Farquhar is dead (Samide 1). Bierce skillfully forces the reader to believe in Farquhars hallucinated escape and therefore, is able to surprise the reader with Farquhars death. It enables Bierce to take the reader inside Farquhars mind to demonstrate how emotional confusion alters not only the way the mind interprets the reality of a situation, but also the way it perceives the passage of time. Bierce also uses a rapidly paced plot to keep the reader from figuring out the surprise ending. He quickly paces the plot in order to distract the reader from closely examining Farquhars unlikely escapes from death. Before the reader has time to consider the likelihood of a broken neck from the rope or some other injury, Bierce has Farquhar struggling not to drown. He sinks deep into the water, his hands still tied together and the noose still wrapped around his neck. So instead of thinking about his broken neck or suffering from another injury, the reader focuses on his new problem of drowning. Then, somehow, Farquhar is able to free his hands from the rope and slips off the noose. But again, the reader is relieved that Farquhar escapes drowning that he does not fully examine the likeliness of this escape. Then, Farquhar bursts to the surface of the water for air and must start dodging bullets, diverting the readers attention once more from the previous escapes from the ropes and dr owning (Samide 3). Therefore, by using a rapid paced plot, Bierce is able to distract the reader from examining the likeliness of the escapes by creating new diversions, making it more believable for the reader. Another literary device Bierce uses in An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is the element of imagery. Bierce relies heavily upon imagery throughout the story, centering on sight and sounds to make his tale more convincing. Bierce goes to great lengths to describe the opening sequence in terms of its military arrangement. He provides vivid images of group formations and soldier stances such as a single company of infantry in line, the barrels inclining backward against the right shoulder, the hands crossed upon the stock, at parade rest the butts of the rifles on the ground (Bierce 72). These descriptions show Bierces past military experience in various wars and battles, giving the story a sense of realism. Also by using such realistic details, Bierce is able to make Farquhars escape more believable to the reader. After the first round of shots from the soldiers, when he hears the captain give orders to fire, Farquhar dives deep into the water. Some of the bullets, still warm from the g uns, spiral down into the water beside him (Samide 3). One lodged between his collar and neck; it was uncomfortably warm and he snatched it out. (Bierce 75) These few examples of realism lead the reader to believe that Farquhar is really escaping. When he comes to the surface again, the current has taken Farquhar out of shooting range of personal weapons, but he must now worry about the cannon being used. The first shot misses, but sprays him with water. The second shot is a much better shot that will surely hit him, but suddenly, the current whirls him around a bend in the river and throws him up on the bank, out of aim of the cannon (Samide 3). While the rapid series of dangers has caused the reader to consider the probability of each escape, the authors use of imagery and realistic detail convinces the reader that he is out of danger and is now on his way to finishing his escape by losing himself in the dense forest and getting back home to his wife and family (Samide 3). The res t of the story goes on to describe Farquhars long trip home. He continues on his journey through the forest and finally arrives to the gate of his own home. He sees his wife and she holds out her hands in joyous welcome. As Farquhar reaches out to embrace her, he feels a stunning blow to his neck, sees a blinding white light, hears a sounds like the shock of a cannon-then all is darkness and silence (Bierce76). At this point in the story, the limited narrator moves out of Farquhars mind and returns to the objective world on the bridge, revealing to the reader the shocking last line and revelation that, all along, the escape was Farquhars hallucination (Samide 3-4). Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek Bridge. (Bierce 76) One of the literary elements Bierce uses that he is most known for is his blending of fantasy and reality. Bierce mixes the external world of death with Farquhars internal world, resulting in the success of his hallucination. Farquhar, in his mind, is imagining his incredible escape when he is actually dying. Bierce skillfully uses metaphors and similes in order to secretly describe the true fate of Farquhar. For example, Bierce uses the pendulum not only as a significant metaphor for time, but also as a simile for Farquhars body, which swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek Bridge (Bierce 76). Farquhar is conscious of motionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ of a vast pendulum because his body literally traces, and therefore senses it. Similar intrusions of other objective stimuli into Farquhars experience occur throughout the rest of the story. The sharp report of the firing gun, its slightly later dulled thunder, and the alleged explosion of the cannon that was cracking and smashing the branches in the forest beyond are all Farquhars hallucinated revision of the sound of his own neck breaking. Bierce successfully emphasizes the association, describing the literal event of Farquhars neck breaking as occurring with sound like the shock of a cannon. Farquhars sensation of rising rising toward the surface of the water is the dreamers understanding of the slight bounce the body experiences after reaching the extremity of its flexible rope; the feeling of almost drowning in the creek modifies the fact of strangulation itself; the horribly aching neck and the uncomfortably warm bullet impossibly lodged between his collar and his neck under the water reinterpret the pain of hanging; the counter-swirl that spins him around in the current refers to the twisting at the end of the rope; the projecting point which concealed him from his enemies transforms the bridge now above him; the sensation of his own tongue thrusting forward from between his teeth into the cold air registers its grotesque protrusion during strangulation; the inability to feel the roadway beneath his feet is a similarly accurate feeling, dutifully revised into an understandable fatigue, thirst and numbness near the end of his narrative of escape (Stoicheff 3). Thus, a key element in the story is the distention of time and the blending of fantasy and reality. The reader is left with a range of reactions: the element of surprise, the promise and loss of hope, the tragedy of death, the ultimate coherence of objective reality, and acknowledgment of Bierces carefully constructed deception (Habibi 1). Bierce skillfully blends the third person point of view that conceals Farquhars death until the very end, a rapidly paced plot of narrow escapes from death that distract the reader, concrete details that make the final escape seem real, and the technique of blending fantasy and reality (Samide 4). Bierces usage of narrative, plot, imagery, and blending of fantasy and reality make it hard for the reader to detect Farquhars true fate until the final line of the story. In An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Bierce distinguishes between the internal and external worlds of Farquhar and shows the reader that the mind can create its own realities and its own escapes. He expects the reader to evaluate the story and realize on his own the impossibility of events described in the final events of the story (Davidson 2). Bierce purposely uses these elements of fiction in order to create a suspenseful ending that connects with the central theme of the human need to escape death. Work Cited Welty Bierce, Ambrose. An Occurrence at Owl Creek. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. 9th ed. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009, 71-76. Samide, Daniel E. Anatomy of a Classic: Ambrose Bierce Cleverly Used Some Key Literary Tools in Crafting His Civil War Tale An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. The Writer May 2005:42. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 5 Apr. 2010. Habibi, Don Asher. The experience of a lifetime: philosophical reflections on a narrative device of Ambrose Bierce. Studies in the Humanities 29.2 (2002): 83+. Academic OneFile. Web. 11 Apr. 2010. Davidson, Cathy N. Ambrose (Gwinett) Bierce. American Short-Story Writers Before 1880. Ed. Bobby Ellen Kimbel and William E. Grant. Detroit: Gale Research, 1988. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 74. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 10 Apr. 2010. Stoicheff, Peter. Something Uncanny: The Dream Structure in Ambrose Bierces An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Studies in Short Fiction 30.3 (Summer 1993): 349-357. Joseph Palmisano. Vol. 72. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 10 Apr. 2010.

Moral Actions Essay -- Philosophy Essays

Moral Actions Honesty and deceit. Compassion and Neglect. Benevolence and malevolence. All these represent the extremes in the spectrum of morality. From the general societal viewpoint, the former represents the attitudes which should be admired, rewarded and emulated, while the latter represents the attitudes which should be abhorred, punished and discouraged. Now philosophers, not being satisfied with leaving things well enough alone, endeavour to discover why this is so. Why do we admire acts of kindness? Why do we loathe acts of malice? It is generally thought that the crux of this question of morality has to do with the magnitude of selfishness accounted for in the acts and thoughts of individuals. If we can think of selfishness as an empirical property, honesty, compassion, and benevolence are acts and attitudes that involve much less selfishness than their moral opposites. This realization, of course, does not answer the question we are considering, it merely pushes it back one metaphysical level. So the revised question should be this: When is selfishness morally acceptable, and when is it not? Nietzsche, in proposing that selfishness is, in a sense, completely free of moral blame at all, comes to a conclusion that is completely opposite to the rest of the philosophers that we have studied. We shall see that Nietzsche is probably on the right track, and that selfishness is a faulty gauge of the morality of an action, and that morality is simply an illusory concept created by the individuals of society to prevent harm to themselves. We have all seen it before. The African savanna. A cheetah. A pack of grazing gazelles. The cheetah stealthily approaches toward the pack of grazing gazelles. N... ... of when selfish acts are morally permissible, we have first established that all sane actions are selfish in origin, and therefore, selfishness cannot be used as a measurement of morality. Secondly, the standard of morals which we use to gauge themorality of an action is based on our own selfish desire for personal power. As established by Nietzsche, actions done in the pursuit of personal power are natural, and therefore, from our own viewpoint, these actions are never objectionable. It is only when seen from another's perspective that these actions can be seen to be despicable because it threatens their personal pursuit for power. Therefore, the actions that others find objectionable are the actions performed by us that do not involve stealing personal power away from another. In this case, there is no definite set of morals that one can measure their actions to.

Fasting, Feasting Style Essay

Point of View The novel is written in the third person limited point of view. This means that the author tells the story from an objective position, as if viewing the story’s events without benefit of any thoughts or feelings coming directly from the individual characters. The author presents the chain of events in the story and then interjects what the characters may be thinking or experiencing based on their reactions, facial expression, and tone of voice. This point of view is especially pertinent for the content of the novel, which revolves around the issue of repression, especially for the female characters. The women are not allowed authentic voices in their homes or their societies. So the author restricts what the reader can know to mimic the repression experienced by the characters. Genre A speedy, intense narrative switching point of view and tense as needed. There are many unheralded transitions from scene to scene and flashback (15-63) is used to excellent effect. Threads of the story are left unfinished only to be taken up again later in the novel and given a deeper significance (see Anamika’s or Aruna’s story). General Vision or Viewpoint Think well about this question from a couple of standpoints. It might be easy to dismiss Uma’s world as oppressive to women and to the servant underclass and to decide that life could not be a fulfilled experience in such circumstances. You might think that Uma’s life is a tragic injustice; that she is used and misused by a patriarchal family and society. You might see Arun as a narrow-minded, judgemental outsider unable to adjust to a culture different to his own and whose life is quite unfulfilled. But this might be to miss the humour and love that is invested in daily living. In India people have a warmth and a variety to their lives that is enviable. 1. Read these notes taken from different sources on the web. Do you agree with what they say? Does the point of view used by Desai make you sympathise with a certain character? Explain the use of point of view and provide quotations to support your ideas. Themes Family Life Although the novel has action in two separate countries and has many characters, there is the central theme of family life that unites them all. In India, the immediate family has great importance; but the extended family also has an impact on the characters’ lives. This is evidenced by the coming together of family members for securing bridegrooms and making wedding arrangements for Uma and Aruna. There is also huge family support and involvement related to times of sorrow, such as the coming together after the death of Anamika. The rituals for both these happy and sad occasions are marked with tradition and purpose. These elements seem to be sorely lacking in the Patton household in America. It is understood that the time period of Arun’s stay with the Pattons encompasses only three months and does not represent a comprehensive look at the Patton family. Themes and issues Suffering Human suffering is depicted frequently in both parts of the novel. Uma is made to suffer by her parents and men who take advantage of her. The unusual thing about her is her response to this suffering. She seems to maintain optimism throughout her ordeals. Anamika’s terrible life and the abuse she suffers may illuminate your discussion of suffering as would the plight of Melanie who suffers mental illness and bulimia and is a sad example of American youth. Loneliness The plight of Arun in America will yield many examples of loneliness as will Uma herself who despite her large extended family keeping her busy she seems quite isolated. Loyalty/Betrayal  You might advance the notion that Uma and Anamika are betrayed by their parents in that they treat them very badly when it comes to marriage and relationships. Both girls are seen as burdens to be disposed of and you could say they were betrayed. Similarly, Melanie’s plight is so ignored by her mother that the word betrayal might not be too strong. 2. Can you think of other themes in the novel? Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. Provide quotations to justify your choice. 3Example of an analysis of passages Do you agree with him? Can you find more examples of how Desai uses X to  create Y ? Now analyse the following passage. 4 Questions 5. Poetry Pied Beauty Gerard Manley Hopkins Follow this link: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/gerard-manley-hopkins 1. Listen to the poem and read it at least twice. Hopkins was born in 1844, and died just 45 years later, in 1889, but in this relatively short life he wrote some of the most startling and original poetry of the whole 19th Century. He was a deeply intellectual and religious man, and became a Jesuit priest in 1877, the same year in which he wrote ‘Pied Beauty’. Throughout his life Hopkins was deeply fond of the countryside and its beauty, in which he could see the work and power of God. In ‘Pied Beauty’ he expresses his delight and astonishment at the sheer diversity of nature. What do the things Hopkins describes have in common? How does Hopkins celebrate diversity? How does the image of the chestnut link the physical with the spiritual world? How is the human world linked to the physical world in the poem? How are both the physical and the human world linked to God? Comment on the following compound nouns /verbs: ‘couple-colour’, ‘fresh-firecoal’, fathers-forth’. Comment on the use of sound in the poem and the effect it creates. Comment on the rhythm (metre) of the poem N.B. it is irregular). How does it contribute to its meaning? Annotate the rhyme scheme. What comments can you make on its effect? The poem begins and ends in a symmetrical way. Why? What is the effect of the short final line? In what way are the first and second parts of the poem the reverse of each other? What is the effect of delaying the verb ‘fathers-forth’ to the beginning of the penultimate line? Examination Question: How does this poem seek to convey the ‘glory’ and grandeur of God for Hopkins? After reading the poem, write in paragraphs a summary of what you think the poem is about and your analysis of it. You can work in groups (not more than four in each group) and hand in your work to Carolina, please. What does Curnow’s reading of his poem adds to your appreciation of it? 2. Read the following which will help you to analyse the poem. Entrapments at Home and Abroad in Anita Desai’s Fasting, Feasting T. Ravichandran Assistant Professor of English, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur Anita Desai’s Fasting, Feasting, as it is implied in the title itself, is a novel of contrast between two cultures, the one, Indian, known for its pious and longstanding customs representing ‘fasting,’ and the other, American, a country of opulence and sumptuousness epitomising ‘feasting.’ The plot unveils through the perceptions of Uma, in India, and of Arun, in America. Both of them are entrapped, irrespective of the culture and enveloping milieu, by oppressive bonds exercised by their own parents, MamaPapa. They are just MamaPapa or PapaMama but remain nameless throughout the novel. Yet, this namelessness does not indicate their anonymity but signifies their universality. They are the prototypical parents found everywhere in the middle-class families of India, who discuss, plan, plot, control, govern the activities of their children, be it marriage or going abroad for studies. And in their over-domineering concern, they tend to ignore the inadverte nt possibility of entrapping their own offspring. Thus, they do not give contingency to the fact that perhaps their children too can have a life to call their own. May be even their own preoccupations, their own priorities, maybe an agenda for themselves that goes beyond what they actually want for their children. The novel beings with a snapshot of MamaPapa in a contemplative mood: â€Å"The parents sit, rhythmically swinging, back and forth. They could be asleep, dozing—their eyes are hooded—but sometimes they speak.† That is when a sudden deluge of ideas hit them and they order their eldest daughter, Uma, to carry out them without delay. Uma is asked first to inform the cook to prepare sweets for her father, with neglectful impatience she states that she has been already asked to pack a parcel to be sent to her brother, Arun, in America. While she comes literally running on her toes, she is entrusted with an additional job of writing a letter to their son. Somewhere in the middle of the novel, the reader understands that it is the usual scene that goes on in the household of MamaPapa. â€Å"All morning MamaPapa have found things for Uma to do. It is as if Papa’s retirement is to be spent in this manner—sitting on the red swing in the veranda with Mama, rocking, and finding ways to keep Uma occupied. As long as they can do that, they themselves feel busy and occupied† (133). In th is manner, living under the demanding rule of MamaPapa, Uma is repressed, suppressed and is imprisoned at home. The first part of the novel tells us in a flashback how she became a reluctant victim of entrapment at home. The second part of the novel shows how her brother Arun, who leaves his home for higher studies feels trapped by the very education that is meant to liberate him. Usually, at home, it would be an oppressive atmosphere even if one of the parents is overpowering. With regard to Uma, both of her parents appear to have merged into a single identity MamaPapa/PapaMama, as if they have a â€Å"Siamese twin existence†(6). Hence, whenever MamaPapa say something, and whoever says it, it comes with double the intensity and power that it cannot be defied at all. â€Å"Having fused into one, they had gained so much in substance, in stature, in authority, that they loomed large enough as it was; they did not need separate histories and backgrounds to make them even more immense†(6). Despite a slight variation in the roles they have chosen to play, Papa’s of â€Å"scowling† and â€Å"Mama’s scolding†(10), in terms of opinion, they never differed from each other. Therefore, if one refused there would not be any â€Å"point in appealing to the other parent for a different verdict: none was expected, or given†(14 ). Furthermore, the women are not allowed for outings usually, but when Papa feels that the women laze around the house too much, then they would be taken to the park for walk. On one such occasion, Uma gets easily distracted and fails to keep pace with her Papa. Though Papa is far away, and she is left in the company of Mama, she would not dare attempt  to buy some eatables on her wish though it is highly tempting: â€Å"Uma finds saliva gathering at the corners of her mouth at the smell of the spiced, roasted gram but decides to say nothing† (12-13). In the end, Uma is blamed for being â€Å"slow† when all the while Uma could not reconcile herself as why they are hurrying just to go back home. Likewise, the children are not allowed to have any sense of privacy even when they have grown-up. They are not allowed to shut any doors in the household. For this meant secrets, especially nasty secrets, which are impermissible: â€Å"It meant authority would come stalking in and make a search to seize upon the nastiness, the unclean blot†(15). MamaPapa also decide which of their children should have education and how much of it. As far as Uma is concerned, a pleasant escape from her claustrophobic conditions at home is her school-going. The convent school for her is â€Å"streaked with golden promise†(20). Hence, she always goes early to the school and later finds some excuse to linger there for longer time. Conversely, she feels deprived during dull weekends when she is left at home: â€Å"There were the wretched weekends when she was plucked back into the trivialities of her home, which seemed a denial, a negation of life as it ought to be, somber and splendid, and then the endless summer vacation when the heat reduced even that pointless existence to further vacuity†(21). Regardless of Uma’s verve for convent education, she is forced to stop going to school when Mama gives birth to the third baby, Arun. Even as Uma shows disagreement, she is coaxed, cajoled and finally threatened to accept her Mamaà ¢â‚¬â„¢s decision: ‘But ayah can do this—ayah can do that—’ Uma tried to protest when the orders began to come thick and fast. This made Mama look stern again. ‘You know we can’t leave the baby to the servant,’ she said severely. ‘He needs proper attention.’ When Uma pointed out that ayah had looked after her and Aruna as babies, Mama’s expression made it clear it was quite a different matter now, and she repeated threateningly: ‘Proper attention’ (31). Later, Uma looks forward towards her marriage to give her the much-needed relief, yet, unfortunately, she returns home frustrated after a deceitful marriage and subsequent divorce. Back at home, she gets a rare, job offer  through Dr. Dutt, but MamaPapa refuse to send her. When Dr. Dutt persists on taking Uma for the job, Mama lies of an illness for which she needs Uma to nurse her. In like manner, when Uma receives an invitation for a coffee party from Mrs. O’Henry, MamaPapa refuse to send her to the party because of the apprehension that Mrs. O’Henry might ensnare her and convert her into a Christian nun. Reduced thus to a baby-sitter at her earlier days and an unpaid servant for her self-centred parents for the rest of her life, Uma finds no escape from her entrapment. Uma experiences, however, a brief repose of happiness and freedom once when she is allowed to accompany her ailing aunt, Mira-Masi, on her pilgrimage. During her stay at night in an ashram, Uma finds a strange link of her life with the barks and howls of the dogs: At night she lay quietly on her mat, listening to the ashram dog bark. Then other dogs in distant villages, out along the river bed and over in the pampas grass, or in wayside shacks and hovels by the highway—barked back. They howled long messages to each other. Their messages traveled back and forth through the night darkness which was total, absolute. Gradually the barks sank into it and drowned. Then it was silent. That was what Uma felt her own life to have been—full of barks, howls, messages, and now—silence (61). At this juncture, one is reminded of Anita Desai’s characteristic way of making her internally turbulent protagonists find expression by association with external surroundings. Thus, for instance, in Cry, the Peacock, Maya’s feelings of isolation and longings are coupled with those of the crying of the peacocks. Still, one locates a kind of sublimity in the agonised inner cry of Maya when it is likened with peacocks. When Uma’s pain is related to the barks and howls of dogs, the poetry of Maya’s anguish is to be seen in sharp contrast to that of the excruciating poverty of Uma’s entrapment. Catering to the whims and fancies of MamaPapa, but keeping her remorse selfcontained, at one point of the novel, Uma feels utterly friendless and alone, even when she is at home and surrounded by her MamaPapa. In desperation, she thinks of writing a letter to a friend to share her grief but it only ends up with the realisation that she has none to confide with: She could write a letter to a friend—a private message of despair, dissatisfaction, yearning; she has a packet of notepaper, pale violet with a pink rose embossed in the corner—but who is the friend? Mrs. Joshi? But since she lives next door, she would be surprised. Aruna? But Aruna would pay no attention, she is too busy. Cousin Ramu? Where was he? Had his farm swallowed him up? And Anamika—had marriage devoured her? (134). However, it would be wrong to presuppose that Anita Desai shows Uma’s unattractiveness, clumsiness and dullness of mind as causes for her entrapment. Uma’s polar opposite, her graceful, beautiful and brilliant cousin, Anamika’s confinement is more poignant. While Uma’s failure in her school exams pressurises her to stay at home, Anamika does so excellently in her final school exams, that she wins a scholarship to Oxford. Yet, Anamika lives in a patriarchal society that considers higher education to be the prerogative of males, and marriage as the major preoccupation of females. The scholarship obtained is used only as a means to win her a husband who is considered an equal to the family’s prestige. Anamika’s parents are unperturbed by the fact that he is so much older than her, so grim-faced and conscious of his own superiority, and is â€Å"totally impervious to Anamika’s beauty and grace and distinction† (70). But it is Anamik a, who starts another life of entrapment the moment she enters her in-laws’ house. Anamika’s husband is a typical ‘Mama’s boy’ to the extent he could be a silent witness to his mother’s beating of his wife regularly. Anamika, who won a scholarship to Oxford, spends her entire time in the kitchen cooking for a very large family that eats in shifts—â€Å"first the men, then the children, finally the women† (70). After a miscarriage, which followed a brutal beating, and the belief that she could not bear more children, finally, the family ties her up in a nylon saree, pours the kerosene over her, and burns her to death. Here again Desai is not implying that the un-burnt brides and the well-settled ones may live a content life. In this regard, she portrays the story of Aruna, Uma’s smart and pretty younger sister who makes a discreet choice and marries â€Å"the wisest, †¦ the handsomest, the richest, the most exciting of the suitors who presented themselves†(101). Aruna’s marriage to Arvind who has a job in Bombay and a flat in a housing block in Juhu, facing the beach is just a like a  dream-come-true. Yet to live that dream-life fully she transforms hersel f and desperately seeks to introduce change in the lives of others. She cuts her hair, takes her make-up kit wherever she goes, and calls her sister and mother as ‘villagers’ once they refuse to accept her sophisticated and flashy style of life. For that reason, she avoids visiting her parents’ home and the rare occasions of her short visits are spent in blaming the untidiness of the surrounding and the inhabitants. Even she goes to the extent of scolding her husband when he splits tea in his saucer, or wears a shirt, which does not match, with his trousers. In this way, Aruna’s entrapment is different from the rest. She has liberated herself from the customs and dominating home rules that bind the rest of the characters like Uma and Anamika. Yet, in negating those codes, she ensnares herself in her mad pursuit towards a vision of perfection. And in order to reach that perfection she needs to constantly uncover and rectify the flaws of her own family as well as of Arvind’s. When none other than Uma sees through the entrapment of Aruna, she feels pity for her: Seeing Aruna vexed to the point of tears because the cook’s pudding had sunk and spread instead of remaining upright and solid, or because Arvind had come to dinner in his bedroom slippers, or Papa was wearing a t-shirt with a hole under one arm, Uma felt pity for her: was this the realm of ease and comfort for which Ar una had always pined and that some might say she had attained? Certainly it brought her no pleasure: there was always a crease of discontent between her eyebrows and an agitation that made her eyelids flutter, disturbing Uma who noticed it (109). While Uma, Anamika, Aruna present the female versions of entrapment in Fasting, Feasting, Arun pictures the male version of it. Unlike his sisters, right from his birth, Arun desists eating the food of his family which is symbolic of its values. Much to the dismay of his father, he shows his preference for vegetarian food. Simply because it revolutionised the life-style of his father, Arun can not be forced to eat non-vegetarian food. This, of course, is a cause of disappointment for Papa: Papa was always scornful of those of their relatives who came to visit and insisted on clinging to their cereal-and vegetable-eating ways, shying away from the meat dishes Papa insisted on having cooked for dinner. Now his own son, his  one son, displayed this completely baffling desire to return to the ways of his forefathers, meek and puny men who had got nowhere in life. Papa was deeply vexed (32- 33). Nonetheless, Arun cannot fully come out of the clutches of Papa, especially, in terms of his education. And ironic enough, it is education, which instead of offering the desired autonomy, paves way for Arun’s entrapment. Papa, in order to give â€Å"the best, the most, the highest† (119) education for his son, takes charge of Arun’s life from his childhood. Although Arun’s school examinations are over, Papa cannot allow him to go to his sister’s house in Bombay during holidays, since he has planned that time for taking up entrance examinations and preparation for sending applications to go abroad for ‘higher studies’. However, in the eyes of Aruna, her father’s manic determination to get a foreign scholarship for Arun, is actually on account of his unfulfilled dreams, which he tries to impose on his son. That is why, when the letter of acceptance from Massachusetts finally arrives, it stirs no emotions in Arun: Uma watched Arun too, when he read the fateful letter. She watched and searched for an expression, of relief, of joy, doubt, fear, anything at all. But there was none†¦. There was nothing else—not the hint of a smile, frown, laugh or anything: these had been ground down till they had disappeared. This blank face now stared at the letter and faced another phase of his existence arranged for him by Papa (121). As a reviewer rightly observes, â€Å"With a deft touch, Desai shows us that MamaPapa’s ambitions for Arun are as stifling as their lack of ambition for Uma, †¦.† From America, Arun’s letters come just to indicate his endurance and survival. His messages are diluted, and are devoid of any emotion and substance. â€Å"The most personal note he struck was a poignant, frequently repeated complaint: ‘The food is not very good’† (123). The ties, though invisible, are so overwhelming that even in a country that feasts on individuality, Arun fails to manifest his identity as an individual. Caught in the prison house of his own family’s food habits, he can neither nourish the alien food nor develop a sense of belonging with Patton’s family that  shelters him during his vacation. The smell of the raw meat being charred over the fire by Mr. Patton for steak or hamburger is loathsome for Arun. Conversely, Mr. Patton fails to understa nd why Arun really refuses to eat a good piece of meat. While Mrs. Patton symphathises with Arun, and gives him the vegetarian food items, particularly tomato slices and lettuce on bread, Arun finds them detestable too. Because he thinks that â€Å"in his time in America he has developed a hearty abhorrence for the raw foods everyone here thinks the natural diet of a vegetarian† (167). Hence when Mrs. Patton, quite satisfied with her job of a host, watches him eating with pride and complicity, Arun ate with an expression of woe and a sense of mistreatment. How was he to tell Mrs. Patton that these were not the foods that figured in his culture? That his digestive system did not know how to turn them into nourishment? (184-185). Where Mrs. Patton’s daughter, Melanie, bluntly says she finds the food revolting, and refuses to taste it, Arun has to helplessly eat it. Melanie, however, suffers from bulimia—a disorder in which overeating alternates with self-induced vomiting, fasting, etc. Her bulimia, along with her mother ’s frenzy for buying food items to fill the freezer, signifies the consumerist society that she hails from, where excess becomes the malady. This seen in contrast to Rod, the fitness fanatic, who spends all his time and energy in jogging, baffles Arun who wonders that â€Å"one can’t tell what is more dangerous in this country, the pursuit of health or of sickness†(204-205). He apprehends that like Melanie, who eats, vomits and lies on her vomit most of the time, the people of her country too, go through an inexplicable pain and a real hunger. Yet he cannot reconcile his mind to the unanswerable question: â€Å"But what hunger a person so sated can feel?†(224). Anita Desai, in portraying the stories of entrapment in Fasting, Feasting, presents one version after another; each contributing together to a master version, and each simultaneously subverting the other towards an open and contingent version. Accordingly, in the story of Uma, we find her unattractiveness leading to her eventual entrapment. Yet, if we pass a final verdict on this account, we would be proved erroneous since Desai presents the versions of Aruna and Anamika, Uma’s appealing sister and charming cousin, respectively. Beauty cannot offer them escape from entrapments; in truth, it is rather their good looks that victimise them. Further, if we think again that it is Uma†™s lack of  education that has led to her entrapped situation, Desai presents us the subversion of Anamika, where foreign scholarship fetches her an equal match but fails to provide her the required escape, it suffocates and kills her literally. In like manner, if as Uma thinks, â€Å"A CAREER. Leaving home. Living alone† (130) would bring in the necessary freedom from entrapment, Desai presents us the story of Arun, who leaves home, lives alone for a career but feels the pangs of entrapment despite it. Also, in providing a male version through the story of Arun’s entrapment, Desai negates any feministic verdict based on the other female versions of entrapment that is likely to put the blame on the patriarchal, male-centred society. Thus, Anita Desai, often described as one of the finest writers of this country, has moved from her earlier, typical way of sympathising with her characters, females especially, to a different level of sensibility now. Where it would be easy to presuppose her overt feministic concerns in a novel like Cry, the Peacock, it would be unwise to approach her Fasting, Feasting with any such preconceived notions. Desai herself speaks out in a recent interview that she has been deliberately shifting her focus from female characters to male characters. She rather feels she needs to address and voice out themes which concern males too. She says: â€Å"Specially in my earlier work I found myself addressing the same things over and over again: very much about the life of women, specially those women who are confined to home and family, also the solitude from which a person can suffer even if living within a big family or surrounded by crowds. But after several years and several books I began to feel suffocated myself by the confinement of these subjects. I felt I was limiting the territory to such an extent that it created a kind of suffocation even for me. So I deliberately opened the doors, to widen the canvas, and started writing more about male characters and their lives, because I felt they had a wider experience of the world, and I could address a greater variety of experiences.† Finally, if we consider the male version represented by Arun and the female versions constituted by Uma, Anamika and Aruna as Indian versions, Desai offers American versions to counter them. The story, thus dangling between two countries and cultures shows to prove through the characters of Uma and Arun, and their counterparts Melanie and Rod, that attempts of escape from entrapments can only be temporary, illusory and self-destructively futile since entrapments through familial knots are ubiquitous, all encompassing and universal. And perhaps the salvation comes when one accepts entrapment of one kind or another envisioned as an inescapable fact of life. References 1Anita Desai, Fasting, Feasting (London: Vintage, 1999) 3. All subsequent page references are to this edition. 2Sylvia Brownrigg, â€Å"Fasting, Feasting† by Anita Desai. http://archive.salon.com/books/review/2000/02/17/desai/print.html. [9/15/2002]. Magda Costa, â€Å"Interview with Anita Desai, Lateral (March 2001). http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/users/sawweb/sawnet/books/desai_interview.html. [9/15/2002]. http://www.sawnet.org/books/writing/desai_interview.html

Essay on Group Bonding Gone Awry - 1460 Words

Group Bonding Gone Awry Im not going to lie to you--coming to MIT has been a continuous series of shocks for me. I expected what your average prefrosh would, but I did not realize that schoolwork here would be incomparable to high school work, that living without Moms dinners would create such a void in my life, and that its a good 25 degrees colder in Boston than Im used to. But if there was one big thing I was looking forward to in college, it was diversity. The high school I went to is 90-something percent Caucasian. The wonderful World Wide Web showed me that I had a drastically different racial diversity to look forward to at MIT. I should tell you why I was looking forward to diversity. As an Iranian-American†¦show more content†¦I believe we should all take pains to gain insight into global culture, and the more learned you are, the more capable you become of forming opinions and connections to the whole world. Naturally, I thought that more diversity at MIT translated to a warmer cultural environment. I figured that at MIT, students would be more open-minded and accepting of other cultures as a result of racial inter-mingling. I still agree with that to some extent, but its not quite the way Id imagined. Ive noticed that here at MIT, for the most part at least, students of the same ethnicity socialize primarily with one another. I dont mean to pick on any one group, but lets take my experience at Orientation. I met one girl who was Indian, and I met some of her friends, all of whom were Indian.Then I met another girl who was Asian, and when I met her friends, I realized that they were all Asian, too. As a result, even at this early stage of my college experience, Ive made friends with two different groups--one Asian, one Indian. Walking around, I notice people grouped by race in the dining halls and in the student center. Now Ill admit, I am interested in being a part of the Persian Students Association. You could say thats hypocritical. After all, how can I condone this racial grouping yet express the desire to participate in it myself? I would answer that being a part of an organization and making it a wayShow MoreRelatedThe And Space Travel Classes At The University3828 Words   |  16 Pagesthe fiftieth anniversary of this event, it was widely talked about amongst Astronomy and Space Travel classes at the University. Maria arrived to lecture late on Friday January 17th to find her professor deep in conversation about the first time a group of friends had traveled to space together.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"It was the morning of the big college weekend adventure to Uranus and Helena found herself, once again, fighting her anxious tendencies. Her strict gluten free, gelatin free, lard free, vegetarian dietRead MoreSSD2 Module 4 Notes Essay28478 Words   |  114 Pagesï » ¿MODULE 04 Cross-Cultural Competency Culture Culture is the pattern of action and the ways of perceiving, feeling, and thinking acquired growing up in a particular group of people Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism is the attitude held by the members of a culture that theirs is the only true, right, and best way to view and act in the world. Cultural relativism Cultural relativism is the idea that human behavior, ideas, and emotions must be understood in the context of the whole culture in which they occurRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesSolving Problems Analytically and Creatively 167 PART II 4 5 6 7 INTERPERSONAL SKILLS 232 233 Building Relationships by Communicating Supportively Gaining Power and Influence 279 Motivating Others 323 Managing Conflict 373 PART III GROUP SKILLS 438 8 Empowering and Delegating 439 9 Building Effective Teams and Teamwork 489 10 Leading Positive Change 533 PART IV SPECIFIC COMMUNICATION SKILLS 590 591 Supplement A Making Oral and Written Presentations Supplement B ConductingRead MoreProject Managment Case Studies214937 Words   |  860 PagesTool Company 15 Wynn Computer Equipment (WCE) 17 The Reluctant Workers 20 Hyten Corporation 22 Macon, Inc. 35 Continental Computer Corporation 37 Goshe Corporation 43 Acorn Industries 49 MIS Project Management at First National Bank Cordova Research Group 70 Cortez Plastics 71 L. P. Manning Corporation 72 Project Firecracker 74 56 CONTENTS Phillip Condit and Boeing 777: From Design and Development to Production and Sales 81 AMP of Canada (A) 105 AMP of Canada (B) (see handout provided by instructor)