The response from Rochester is out of the ordinary - he seems only to find her ‘singular’ and does not reprimand her for speaking impolitely. The general lexis used to first describe Rochester – words such as ‘heavy’ and ‘stern’ - rejects the conventional image of a Romantic hero, thus we are encouraged to read on and learn more about him. Rochester is mysterious, and throughout the
“It was unearthly, and the men were—No, they were not inhuman. Well, you know, that was the worst of it—the suspicion of their not being inhuman. It would come slowly to one. They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity—like yours—the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar”(Part Two Conrad). He has to choose whether to go with his personal decision, or go along with in the novel’s case, European’s society code of conduct.
Elizabeth is one character that has very few thoughts on money and social positions, and because of this is able to rely her own judgements on characteristics and personalities. Elizabeth’s misconceptions of characters are clearly shown with Darcy and Wickham. At the beginning of the novel she is anything but fond of Darcy and believes that Wickham is a good man. She then goes to state… “There certainly was some great mismanagement I the education of those two young men. One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it.” It this Elizabeth is stating that Wickham is basically evil and that Darcy is not.
The Gentle Meursault of Camus’s The Stranger (The Outsider) In Albert Camus’s The Stranger, Meursault, the protagonist, could be seen as immoral if he were judged on the basis of his actions alone. However, through Camus’s use of a first person narrative, we begin to understand Meursault as not an immoral man, but simply an indifferent one. Meursault is a symbol of the universe, and so in understanding him we understand that the universe is also not evil, but instead a place of gentle indifference. At first glance, Meursault could be seen as an evil man. He shows no grief at his mother’s funeral, worrying more about the heat.
Mr Earnshaw also helps the reader to recollect a rather dark image of Heathcliff as he describes him as ‘as dark almost as if it came from the devil.’ The use of the word devil creates strong imagery of a deeply rooted darkness within Heathcliff, which helps the reader to develop a strong image of a dark character, which is yet another quality of a Byronic hero. Another quality that Heathcliff possesses is a huge amount of passion which is conveyed in both his loving and hating manners. In the novel when Heathcliff’s character is associated with Cathy the reader is able to see the deeply
Pechorin represents the Byronic Hero. Identity in ‘A Hero of Our Time’ In Lermontov’s novel ‘A hero of our time’, the character of Pechorin in many respects is the embodiment of the Byronic hero and is often represented as the prototype of a superfluous man. He is possessed of extreme arrogance, yet has a deep insight into his own character and epitomizes the melancholy of the romantic hero who broods on the futility of existence and the inevitability of death. Although his existence throughout the novel tends to be interpreted as superfluity much of his actions reflect self-destructive intentions and therefore would show him to be more of a Byronic figure than a superfluous man. Throughout the narrative it becomes apparent that Lermontov’s depiction of Heroism is demonstrated more through Pechorin’s physical actions rather than heroism in an altruistic sense.
Not that life is bad, but that the physical pleasures and physical reality are less than divine. The best conditions include those that are free from distraction. While the ascetic priest is essentially denying life, he is actually preserving the life that he cherishes so much. The ascetic priest desires power and believes that “this life is an illusion”. Nietzsche says, in his second essay, the primary objection to ascetic ideals is that ascetic priests must deny the value of this life; he portrays it as a link to the next life, rather than appreciating life as an end in itself.
Although not necessarily influential upon his principles, his priestly status causes him to regret his actions. From this, the message that I received was that his occupation was more of a burden that overlapped with his desires; being faithful to God is difficult when you're a drunkard. Another theme that was presented in the book was how treason was viewed as a crime comparable to murder and thievery. The fact that one of the ideas focused on in the book is the hunt for the priest shows how heinous his crime actually was. It's a strange contrast to the life that I'm used to, seeing as we are protected by liberties that allow us to practice any religion we want without worry.
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).
The case for being a pacifist “There are many causes I would die for. There is not a single cause I would kill for.” ― Mahatma Gandhi “First, it must be emphasized that nonviolent resistance is not a method for cowards; it does resist. If one uses this method because he is afraid or merely because he lacks the instruments of violence, he is not truly nonviolent…. A second basic fact that characterizes nonviolence is that it does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding….The end is redemption and reconciliation. The aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community, while the aftermath of violence is tragic bitterness.” Martin Luther King, Jr Nowadays, pacifism is not popular.