"Alas, with the years all this fine contempt began to fade; for the worlds I longed for, and all their dazzling opportunities, were theirs, not mine" (38). The veil keeps blacks down. It prevents them from living out their full potential. He criticizes Booker T. Washington's notions of "separate but equal". Du Bois believes that separate is inherently unequal, because it automatically grants one race privileges over the other.
Benn Michaels' argument has a major weakness, because what he is asking America, that is to ignore racial differences, is so far fetched that it would never be able to happen. I believe that Giroux's argument is flawed simply because he comes down so hard on the people who want diversity gone. He wants diversity to be there for the
He uses scientific reasoning to back up his findings. He shows the constant theme of how humans can’t get enough of anything verses the higher animal that can be satisfied. We see the highest animal is not how much you can take, but the ability to know when to stop. That’s seen clearly here, “[B]ut the earl wantonly destroys what he has no use for, but the anaconda doesn’t. (Twain 181)” Twain goes on to confirm his second find by saying “[T]he passion of revenge is unknown to the higher animal.
The society in Robert Bolt’s A Man For All Seasons is one where self-advancement, expediency and pragmatism are more effective means of survival than acting solely in compliance with personal morals and principles. The demise of Sir Thomas More is, in effect, the demise of true morals and loyalty in the society. The Act of Supremacy simply highlights the corrupt nature of the society and the irony that a man of such admirable traits cannot survive while remaining true to himself, ultimately a martyr, renders him ‘too good’ to live and function in society. As More’s morals and sense of self are so closely intertwined “a man’s soul is his self!”, he feels that if any man compromises his own self in betraying their morals and perjures himself then “he needn’t hope to find himself again.” He would not be able to live at peace with himself if he perjured himself and swore to the oath, and hence has no option but to die. “ While More’s humanness is certainly apparent, particularly his idealism- he sees extending his silence to his family as “only a life-line” and is sure he will be safe in the “thickets of the law”- “we shan’t have to use it but it is comforting to have, is nowhere near the questionable traits of expediency and self-advancement as displayed by Richard Rich, his supposed “friend” who ultimately perjures himself to provide fabricated evidence to lead to More’s death “He said ‘Parliament has not the competence.’ Or words to that effect.” More, however is “more sorry for your [Rich] perjury than my peril”, further highlighting his true integrity and the fact that he is above the other members of society- he is thinking of Rich’s soul when he is about to be sentenced to his death, which he knows has been unfairly issued “the law is not an instrument of any kind.” Once realising that in the corrupt society that the court won’t “construe according to the
By victor claiming he can produce life, it lowers the potency of the soul itself and belittles its creation - this is blasphemy and would have been outrageous for the Victorian’s as it was seen as taboo to promote science and challenge religion. Sutton¹ says that this idea “Gnaws at the autocracy of the soul, by sporting with the possibility that man is capable of ‘making’ himself…” “Gnaws” implies that both Victor and Dr Jekyll are trying to explore deeper into the world of science in an attempt to achieve something powerful, but it connotes that this is deemed a negative thing. “Autocracy” refers to absolute authority or power, which in this case is associated with God, so if the soul can be replicated by one such as itself then this lessens its absolute authority. Whilst creating the monster, Victor gathered body parts from other dead being’s, which brings the question of where then; does the monster’s consciousness come from? This is clearly a deliberate denial of God.
His stance is against this proposition and feels Philonous would agree with him. However Philonous disagrees and a battle of wits ensues in which Philonous systematically destroys Hylas’s views of materialism. Philonous spends the rest of the Dialogues making the case that his idealist view is the most commonsensical view in the world. His goal is to prove that, not only is his theory simpler and better supported by the evidence, but it is even immune to
Mill later struggled with the concepts of utilitarianism because it was too unemotional and failed to capture or understand the ‘higher’ pleasure of happiness without pain. Bentham’s theory failed to acknowledge the complexities like emotion. However, Mill did not reject Bentham’s ideas of pleasure fulfillment; he created a more complex version of utilitarianism, yet one that still embraces the most basic premises of Bentham and of his father, James Mill. Mill defines utilitarianism as a theory based on the principle that "actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness." Mill defines happiness as pleasure and the absence of pain.
T. I. tells him story of how he went from rags to riches but he does not focus on only the materialist things. My favorite song by T. I. is “Ready for Whatever”. The first line of the intro is what sticks out the most to me, “Hate the price of fame 'cause it costs too much.” I feel like he’s saying all artists have to portray I “certain” image just for their fame. He’s saying he’s wants to be different in the sense of not having to compete with the next artist just so you can keep your name. The first verse really tells what he’s talking about in the song, “Even though my head in the clouds, I'm planted on the pavement.
A Hapless Hero Arthur Miller demonstrated in Death of a Salesman that tragic heroism still possible in the modern world, but the tragic hero or tragic heroine should be of noble birth or hold an important social position, be basically virtuous, and desire to do good. However, Wily Loman is not a tragic hero because he is hapless rather than heroic, his personal tragedy that comes from his lack in ability to admit his errors and learn from them. Instead, he fits Miller's description of the pathetic character, one who "by virtue of his witlessness, his insensitivity, or the very air he gives off, is incapable of grappling with a much superior force," (Miller1). The definition of a tragic hero is a condition of life that allows an individual to find the route of self-realization and discover to the fullest extent of his or her capabilities. This insight only occurs when an individual bravely endure the "total examination of the 'unchangeable' environment" (Miller1).
Disobedience: A Double Edged Sword Somebody once said: "Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust." Ever since the human race fell into his first sin, man has been rebelling against immoral obedience and. However, the first steps of transforming into a full human began with a simple step of disobedience and with it came the responsibility for one’s own acts. Nowadays, our society raises us to believe that obedience is good and disobedience is bad.