‘Year of Wonders’ by Geraldine Brooks which is a historical fiction and circular structure form of text, explores the horrific ways the villagers in Eyam respond to a crisis by revealing the darker side of human nature. As the plague outbreaks, the villagers are faced with immense challenges and as a result some of the villagers are seen as selfish and uncharitable. “These times do make monsters of us all”. However Brooks also wants us to recognize that some are forced to show courage and compassion. Brooks contrasts a strong feminist theme and positions us to see their heroic gestures to the weaknesses of men as the villagers are faced with great tragedies.
In their day and age these characters would be judged by many factors including social and cultural backgrounds, crimes committed and personal traits. Both of these writers seem to conjure their audience into a state where it compels them to relate to certain characters. Lady Macbeth certainly loses or suppresses her feelings of cowardice. Throughout her appalling invocation to the spirits of evil to “unsex her”, proving her ambition to attain her goal. In Jacobean times women were seen as inferior and even in the Victoria era, thus she required external forces to crush her conscience to allow her to fulfil her ambition.
Year of Wonders “The plague will make heroes of us all, whether we will or no” ‘Year of Wonders’ by Geraldine Brooks explores the fearful and heroic way the villagers in Eyam respond to a crisis. As the plague outbreaks, the villagers are faced with immense challenges, as some are forced to show courage and compassion, whereas others are seen as selfish and uncharitable. Brook contrasts the strength of women and their heroic gestures to the weaknesses of men as the villagers are faced with great tragedies. It is made evident that the women in the novel are the powerful support network of the community. Anna Frith the protagonist of the novel is viewed as heroic as she is “a woman who has faced more terrors than many warriors.” (p.15) Anna is faced with the death of her husband Sam Frith and her children Tom and Jamie as she has “tended so many bodies, people I loved and people I barely knew” (p.8) This shows the beginning Anna’s strengths, as she deals with the bodies of those killed by the plague and shows her willingness and courage to help others.
Equiano’s narrative is relevant to twenty-first-century folk because it is a valid accounting of the human condition as it goes through mental and physical tribulations. The inherent nature of the average human psyche is to believe that the magnitude of existence revolves around its own specific point of view, for it is all we know and have known for literally all our lives. When humans hear of atrocities like the ones implanted on Equiano and his people, of course any decent person would feel sorrow at the misfortune of others, yet how deep does this sorrow sew? It is its intangibleness that makes human sympathy become evanescent. When we do not experience atrocities first-hand, we cannot entirely fathom their intricacy.
Lock, the lessons taught to these characters through their experiences were caused by social suffering. “Social Suffering results from what political, economic, and institutional power does to people and, reciprocally from how these forms of power themselves influence responses to social problems “( Kleinman, 1) An example of this would be Victor Frankenstein’s situation in which the institutional power of giving the spark of life to another being had led to his disaster. Kleinman also states that “Poverty is the major risk factor for ill death and health….” (Kleinman, 1) Thus, we see that Mathilde’s issue of poverty had led her to learn from the experience that she had faced which indeed led her to her lesson being taught, even if it was after 10 consecutive years. Her obsession of clothes and jewelries to delight the social world has backfired at her, in which she caused her own social suffering. Through Kleinman’s definition of social suffering, the Ancient Mariner had not only suffered through his experience of his lesson being taught, but he had taken his whole crowd along with him to suffer.
It is disappointing that it is not only you, but also all those who have hearts like doves, have suffered due to my weaknesses. Elizabeth: You are mistaken Reverend Hale. You put your heart to your work; it is the darkness of Salem that has manipulated you. There be no fault of your own. Hale: But my apology is in order.
Throughout the concerning chapters, Brontë allows the reader to explore their own interpretation of Rochester’s former bride, Bertha, through both the eyes of Jane and the description of the environment in which she inhabits. By creating an environment which has such a tense atmosphere, the reader is encouraged to develop their own opinions on whether Bertha Mason is an object of terror, or in fact, and object of pity. The initial and most obvious interpretation that we obtain of bertha is that we must perceive her as a frightening character in which we should fear throughout the novel. The first act of torment in which Bertha was to commit, was when she attempted to kill Rochester by setting fire to his bed in the early hours of the morning. The horror of the chapter begins when Jane hears a “demonic laugh” which she thinks is aimed “at the very keyhole” of her chamber door.
We see a variety of responses but it is the inability of the majority to understand the roots of the plague that prevents them from undergoing personal transformation. The religious dogma that is directed towards them leaves them ignorant and inflexible their own ideas about God and their place within society for themselves. This causes many to direct their devastation and fear to misunderstood characters that disagree with societal conventions. The crazed mob that accuses the Gowdies of witchcraft exemplifies the notion that faith blinds people to reality in ‘Year of Wonder’. Faith in God is easily converted into superstition amongst the ignorance of the uneducated.
Macbeth on the other hand cannot sleep and starts to see things. When Macbeth starts acting strange towards people, Lady Macbeth deceives everyone to hind their secret. When Macbeth kills Banquo and Lady Macduff, Macbeth’s guilt starts to go away because the evil and amount of power has taken over him. Lady Macbeth starts to feel guilty and is no longer able to sleep. She fears the dark, meaning she is afraid of evil and what has become of it.
Both authors illustrate the idea that because of oppression the victim develops a self-hatred that enforces a desire to change. Within The Bluest Eye, Morrison utilizes the Breedlove family as a prime example of people who desire to be anyone but themselves. Cholly, Pauline, Sammy and Pecola Breedlove have all experienced different devastating and painful moments in their life, but they all are unified by one idea: they are ugly. As the narrator explains, “you looked at them and wondered why they were so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the source. Then you realized that it came from conviction, their conviction.