Death in Life in Alfred Lord Tennysons Poetry Essay -- Alfred Lord Te

Death in Life in Alfred Lord Tennyson's Poetry Alfred Lord Tennyson, a Victorian poet, used characters from history and mythology for his poetry. Much of his poetry touches upon the subject of death and loneliness. For example, the Lady of Shallot dies when she looks beyond her inner world, Mariana lives in constant sadness over her departed lover, and Tithonus lives forever in an agony worse than death. With a background of melancholia, isolation or anguish Tennyson conveys themes of half-life and death-in-life by the use of uses imagery, symbolism and figures of speech. In the dramatic monologue â€Å"Tithonus,† Tennyson instructs the reader that immortality is not necessarily a desirable thing as Tithonus tries to convince Aurora to make him mortal again. In the poem, Tithonus asks Aurora to grant him immortality, which she does. Although in actual mythology Zeus grants immortality, it is immortality and not eternal youth that Tithonus receives. Therefore, he now â€Å"withers slowly† with a fate worse than death since many jealous gods â€Å"beat me down and marred and waste me.† Tithonus presents the natural cycle of life followed by death by describing how first, â€Å"Man comes† then he â€Å"tills the fields† and finally â€Å"lies beneath†. However, his â€Å"cruel immortality† prevents him from following the same pattern. The rhetorical question, â€Å"Why should a man desire in any way/To vary from the kindly race of man†¦as is most meet for all?† indicates his realization of the absurdity in asking for immortal life. His wish to be immortal like the gods can be interpreted as alluding to Adam and Eve’s desire for the knowledge of God. Anyway, as a â€Å"soft air fans the clouds apart† (personification), Tithonus sees the â€Å"dark world† to which he be... ...cument 1). Mariana lives in her own world, still believing that her lover will come, believing that â€Å"Old faces glimmer’d thro’ the doors,† and confounded by the â€Å"slow clock ticking, and the sound/Which to the wooing wind aloof/The poplar made.† As evident in these three poems, â€Å"Tithonus,† â€Å"Lady of Shallot† and â€Å"Mariana in the Moated Grange,† Tennyson often portrays the world as a sad place. Many times, like in â€Å"Tithonus† and â€Å"Lady of Shallot,† there is a conflict between wishes and desires. Also, Tennyson often uses the outer environment to heighten the emotions experienced by the characters. In short, Tennyson is able to convey his themes of half-life and death-in-life through the use of imagery, symbolism and figures of speech. Bibliography: 1. http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/tennyson 2. http://landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/tennyson/losillus1.html

“Night demonstrates the potential of man’s inhumanity to man” Essay

Elie Weisels â€Å"night â€Å" gives us a clear insight into the levels of inhumane behaviour which existed in the times of Nazi Germany from the Germans and even the Jews themselves. Elie also makes clear the great malice shown by some people, during a time where discrimination was a trend created by German propaganda – a situation which made any act of inhumanity acceptable. Nonetheless Night also shows us the way in which people are willing to sacrifice, purely for the survival of others. â€Å"Night† also demonstrates the nature of the human qualities by showing that even in the most inhuman and cruel circumstances, we can survive something like â€Å"hell on earth† Concentration camps showed us inhumanity on a scale previously unimagined. However the setting in place of such inhumane behaviour began some years before with the systematic dehumanising of the Jews by breaking down social structures and relationships and taking away their place in civil society. The novel shows that there is great inhumanity displayed from this personal journey of Elie Wiesel. The Jews were tortured every day for no reason at all other than for the SS officers’ own amusement. The SS officers treated the men as if they were animals, making them fight for food. Women, babies, old, sick, and handicapped were put into the crematoriums as soon as they arrived at the camps. The Germans stripped the Jews to nothing and took away everything close to them, separation from loved ones, isolation, transportation and the ruthless, cold actions towards them in the camps such as starvation and selections of the fittest. They killed people for no reason, with no remorse whatsoever. Tortures, being treated like animals, and being burned alive or killed were all things that led to the Jews feeling as if they were not human. As the treatment of the Jews gets worse, so do their own actions. After their time at Birkenau, the prisoners were in very bad shape. All were starving, but some more than others. At this point, one of the young men kills his own father for his ration of bread and is then promptly surrounded and killed by some of the more disgusted Jews who had seen the crime. While the justice administered by the other Jews is a sign of humanity hanging by a thread in the minds and hearts of the prisoners, the young man who killed his own father signifies as much of a tendency in the opposite direction. While some would argue that the  goal of survival could possibly justify the means, the effect the Nazis are having on the minds of the Jews cannot be ignored. Despite the relenting bleakness and horror of life in the camps, Elie Weisel survives with his emo tional insanity and survival remarkably intact. The critical things that helped people to survive in to camps included human connections, such as friendships and family relationships, hearing and making music and random acts of kindness from strangers. By doing whatever he needed to so he could survive, Wiesel’s identity had truly changed in the concentration camps. Elie survived the concentration camps for nearly two years. Even though he often claims that he wanted to give up, that he wished he would die, he still fought against death. He writes â€Å"our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions. We thought only of that. Not of revenge, not of our families. Nothing but bread.† This quote shows that, though Elie has lost his identity so much that he is almost like a wild animal, he has still managed to keep the instinct to survive. This endurance showed that he never was able to fully give up on life. He somehow pushed past the Nazi cruelty to live through malnutrition, torture, and sorrow. Even as his emotions shut down to the point where he could not cry for his dead father, he was shutting down so he could survive the experience of the death camps.

Honesty in Politics - 3356 Words

EnglishHonesty in American Politics The legendary tale often told to school children is that of George Washington the young boy, chopping down his fathers cherry tree. When young George was asked, who had chopped the cherry tree down, George impressed his father with his honesty when he replied, â€Å"I cannot tell a lie. I chopped down your cherry tree.† Although the fable is believed to be fiction, it accurately represented the honesty and humility of that great president. Today, few political and public leaders value such ideals as honesty. Due to the prevalent lack of truth in our government or in politicians, few citizens are able to gain much knowledge about their leaders. Holding an office in the United States government is a†¦show more content†¦Shouldn’t this rule apply to America’s leaders as well, if not more so? I believe so, because they are the leaders and voices of our country. The public has a right to know. When it comes to serv ing our nation, â€Å"incumbent leaders and prospective candidates† must come to the realization that the public needs to know anything and everything past and present, about them in order to choose candidates to lead our nation effectively (Berger 707). True ethics and honesty should simply be a matter of good politics. Many people, including the public and the media, have questioned whether there should be such ethics as complete honesty in politics. The ethics we have seen displayed by our nation’s leaders are poor. Ethics that allow for scandals, lies, and cover-ups should not be part of our government. When the time comes to keep citizens informed, the truth should be the most important element. What good is accomplished if the government continually lied to the public supporting it? â€Å"A nation living in and believing a sea of les cannot support its government if they do not know what is going on† (Siris 1278-79). The reality is that the Amer ican people have become accustomed to the fact that dishonesty exists in American politics. Nobody tells the truth, there is no morality, and sadly, no one expects any. The people might as well elect a psychopath into politics, someone without aShow MoreRelatedImmanuel Kant addresses a question often asked in political theory: the relationship between900 Words   |  4 Pagesin politics and how they ought to behave. Observers of political action recognize that political action is often a morally questionable business. Yet many of us, whether involved heavily in political action or not, have a sense that political behavior could and should be better than this. In Appendix 1 of Perpetual Peace, Kant explicates that conflict does not exist between politics and morality, because politics is an application of morality. 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Being a leader requires daunting tasks, adversary, and faith of a better future. A true leader will adapt and overcome utilizing creativity and problem solving skills. Their grit will be tested and tested again. A leader with integrity demonstratesRead MoreEssay on Campaign Finance Reform1003 Words   |  5 PagesCampaign Finance Reform The politics is a stage for many different characters of whom each is trying to convince their audience to give them the loudest cheer and the grand applause. Politicians who played the acts will do their best and sometimes will do everything to win the hearts of their audience and that means to win at all cost. 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