Friday, August 21, 2020

Adventures Of Tom Sawyer Essay Example for Free

Experiences Of Tom Sawyer Essay I will always remember the time I went through with Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and Joe Harper on Jackson’s Island. We have for a long while been itching to become privateers. Since we have discovered the specific open door †Tom being chided by Aunt Polly and Joe Harper having been whipped by his mom for tasting acrid cream †we concluded that it is presently time to seek after our fantasy to turn out to be genuine privateers. In that manner, we will have the option to carry on with an existence of opportunity and popularity, and the entire town will catch wind of our names. The individuals who abused us will likewise feel frustrated about what they had done. Our meeting is Jackson’s Island, which is three miles underneath the town of St. Petersburg. We met there at 12 PM. That turned into the beginning of our lives as privateers of the ocean. Actually, I adored fleeing from home. I never needed to go to class any longer. I didn’t need to adhere to rules any longer. Also, as Tom guaranteed regularly, we will should simply to take, slaughter and get rich. So when 12 PM came, the four of us met at Jackson’s Island. Every one of us accompanied something taken. Tom brought taken ham, Joe had an uneven bacon and Huck had a skillet and some tobacco leaves. I brought taken matches from my mom’s cabinet. I figured that on the off chance that we would remain long in the Island, we would require fire for our every day needs. Tom praised me for bringing a few matches. Back then, matches are not ordinarily utilized in St. Petersburg. Not many individuals had them. We found a pontoon around a hundred yards away. So we chose to have some good times with it and obviously, Tom was the commander. He directed our privateer transport as we as a whole professed to be genuine privateers, utilizing terms we have gotten notification from mariners just as lines from books we have perused. We chose to settle in a virgin timberland around 200 yards over the leader of the island. There, we spread our effects and furthermore assembled an immense campfire. We cooked our ham, bacon and corn pone by simmering them in the fire. We ate and ate until we were so full. There was not at all like it. On the off chance that different young men in the town saw us that way, they would extraordinarily begrudge us no ifs, ands or buts. There was not at all like a pirate’s life. In the wake of eating, we set down on the grass and talked for some time. Tom began to reveal to us anecdotes about privateers †how lavish they are, and how rich and well known. We began to ask him numerous inquiries about turning into a privateer. He basically disclosed to us that all we needed to do was take things and murder others. Amidst the discussion, Huck Finn started to smoke tobacco! I in a split second tailed him with that action and smoked tobacco too. Tom and Joe essentially took a gander at us in astonishment. For quite a while now, they had needed to figure out how to smoke, however never had the chance. Just Huck and I could smoke. After much talking, we as a whole nodded off individually. That was our first night as â€Å"pirates†. Tom was the first to get up toward the beginning of the day. The primary thing we did was to peel ourselves off our garments and wash in the ocean. From that point onward, we prepared for breakfast. Joe started to cut bacon and would have cooked it, yet Tom and Huck requested that he pause. I was the person who got two or three sun roost and catfish! We in a split second cooked those fishes alongside the bacon and they tasted so great. At that point in the wake of eating, we set down on the sand for quite a while. Trouble began to sneak in, however no one set out to talk about it. No one needs to be blamed for being a chicken heart. I think Tom was beginning to feel pining to go home as well, yet he didn’t need to show his emotions. Our developing yearning to go home was hindered when we saw a ship pontoon a far distance off, shooting gun over the water. This is an indication that someone in the town got suffocated. Shooting guns over the water made suffocated individuals come up to the top. For some time we pondered who got suffocated, and afterward Tom unexpectedly had a splendid idea. We are the ones who got suffocated! The whole town was scanning for us. Our folks missed us, and different young men most likely found out about us. The young ladies we respected are presently discussing us as well! We spent the remainder of the whole day swimming, talking, eating and investigating the island. At the point when night came, everybody rested. At the point when I woke up in the first part of the day, Joe and Huck were all the while resting. Tom, in any case, was mysteriously gone. I took a gander at the spot where he dozed and found a note. I opened the note and it read this way: â€Å"If I don’t return by breakfast time, every one of my things are yours.. † Upon understanding this, I woke Joe and Huck and demonstrated them the note. We sat tight for Tom for about an hour yet he never came. Huck guessed that Tom felt achy to go home and returned to Aunt Polly’s house. In any case, Joe safeguarded Tom and said that he realized his companion could never do such a disfavor. Tom, as per Joe, knew the code of privateers and he is too glad to even think about quitting and return home simply like that. I advised Joe to begin preparing breakfast and if Tom stayed away forever when we had breakfast, every one of his things will be our own. Be that as it may, not long before we began to eat, Tom showed up significantly and entered the camp. He had some news for us. He had â€Å"spied† on St. Petersburg and found that the entire town was discussing us †the lost privateers. On the off chance that our bodies were not found until Saturday, our memorial service will be articulated that very Sunday. We right away felt like legends. At that point out of nowhere I had a splendid thought. Consider the possibility that we could make a rebound upon the arrival of our memorial service. Tom and different privateers enjoyed it without a doubt. Tom dozed until early afternoon and when evening came, we began to design our appearance at our memorial service on Sunday. That Sunday, while the whole town grieved for us and as the clergyman lectured his tribute for the â€Å"dead boys†, we were covering up in an unused exhibition behind the congregation as we tuned in to everything that was going on. Unexpectedly, we showed up to the group. Obviously, everyone invited us drastically. Our friends and family cried with euphoria. We were all the rage for a while and I will never at any point overlook it. It was the greatest day of our lives. Section 2: The Commentary The privateer young men drove by Tom Sawyer fabricated a network that they have altogether made among themselves. It is a network separated from the standard life they have known at St. Petersburg. We can securely say that Tom, Joe and Huck constructed their privateer network dependent on their youth creative mind. As youngsters in a straightforward town, where current industrialized America has not yet completely infiltrated, these three young men have a tendency towards vision. Their concept of an ideal life is absolute opportunity. Along these lines, they decided to imagine as privateers and mirror the pirate’s implicit rules so as to encounter the existence that they have constantly envisioned about. To them, getting away to Jackson’s Island is a greater amount of a break from the real world. In spite of the fact that they have sentimental visions as privateers in a free world, the truth remains that in the town of St. Petersburg, they are youngsters and they are not as ground-breaking as they guess themselves to be. Tom Sawyer is only a child who can get whipped by Aunt Polly whenever of day. He is an understudy who needs to go to class and study his exercises. He is a piece of society. So as we have expressed, going to Jackson’s Island is a break from the real world. The young men imagined that they can manufacture a network all alone †aside from society, authority and obligation. This idea is obvious in Tom’s opening considerations in Chapter 13: â€Å"Tom’s mind was made up now. He was desolate and edgy. He was a spurned, lonely kid, he said; no one cherished him; when they discovered what they had driven him to, maybe they would be sorry†¦Yes, they had constrained him to it finally: he would lead an existence of wrongdoing. There was no decision. † (Twain, 1876). In the network that the young men assembled, every one assumed a significant job. Tom was the pioneer since he was the person who gave the vision and understanding about the life of a privateer. So basically, he was giving guidance for every one of them. Nearly all that they did during their escape in the island was a result of Tom Sawyer’s creative mind †in view of what he read from books and his own contemplations and sentimental dreams. Joe Harper, in the interim was to a greater degree a supporter. He additionally executes Tom’s orders. It is obvious that Joe appreciated Tom for everything that he was. Joe once stated: No, Toms good 'ol fashioned, Huck, and damnation return. He wont abandon. He realizes that would be a disrespect to a privateer, and Toms unreasonably pleased for that kind of thing. Hes up to some random thing. Presently I wonder what? (Twain, 1876) Huck, in the interim, is an image of the free life that Tom and Joe have consistently yearned for. Huck didn’t need to go to class. He is a whithered stray, a drifter and he isn't a piece of society. Different young men begrudged Huck since he can smoke tobacco while most young men in St. Petersburg †even Tom and Joe †can't do that demonstration. In spite of the fact that Tom was the pioneer, we can say that Huck is the good example for the whole network they have worked for themselves. In the event that, for Tom and Joe, the island escape was a departure from the real world, it was an ordinary day for Huck. He was most likely used to going to better places without anyone else. The straightforward network of Huck Finn, Joe Harper and Tom Sawyer was like grown-up networks in that they have a solitary main impetus †the longing to carry on with an existence of opportunity. On the off chance that we take a gander at history, practically all networks began with that solitary main thrust. In some random network, there ought to be a pioneer, a devotee and an image of motivation. As these qualities are individually found in every one of our characters, we may state that Tom, Huck and Joe are an ideal exemplification of American vision. In spite of the fact that their deeds were appeared in innocent way, they speak to a more prominent measurement which mirrors the truth of grown-up life. As the adage goes, â€Å"Men are just young men who grew up

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Video Games as Stress Relievers

Video Games as Stress Relievers Technology Print The Link Between Video Games and Stress Relief By Elizabeth Scott, MS twitter Elizabeth Scott, MS, is a wellness coach specializing in stress management and quality of life, and the author of 8 Keys to Stress Management. Learn about our editorial policy Elizabeth Scott, MS Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on January 08, 2017 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on September 17, 2019 Emilija Manevska / Getty Images   More in Self-Improvement Technology Happiness Meditation Stress Management Spirituality Holistic Health Inspiration Brain Health Relationships View All Much has been written about video games, and quite a lot of it is negative. We have feared that video games are making our children less social and more violent, and making us all more stressed. Theres been significant research on the topic, and some good news has come out of it: Video games can actually be good for our stress levels!   Research on the Connection Between Gaming and Stress Most gamers report that playing video gamesâ€"even violent gamesâ€"is a way to relieve stress and enjoy playing with friends. However, much of the research conducted on video games comes with the presumption that games are stressful or even psychologically harmful.  While this isn’t the whole story, there is some evidence to support this assumption. Some studies show that a stressful in-game situation leads players to experience a stress reaction in real life.  Other studies have found that when people play violent games, they are more likely to act aggressively in laboratory-based scenarios. For instance, players who played violent games for 20 minutes were more likely to blast a loud noise at another subject when given the chance, which was considered an indication of aggression.?? Another study found that teens who played violent games experienced minimal increases in feelings of aggression, though the increases were barely detectable; teen girls experienced a slight increase in stress.?? What Research Shows About How Video Games  Help Relieve Stress Much of the research that has found a link between video game violence and aggression does not actually show a clear link between exposure to in-game violence and real-world aggression.  (For example, most people who are video game players are not walking around blasting strangers with loud noises after playing their games; this is something mainly found in lab settings where subjects are asked to do so.) Similarly, while there may be some stress responses triggered by games, overall self-assessments provided by gamers failed to show a link between problems with social life, academic behavior, work behavior, or physical reactions (stress), showing that, if there is a negative effect, gamers themselves are not aware of it and its effects on their lives. One study examined players as they played either competitive or cooperative games.  As predicted, there was a difference in stress levels after playing, and those who played cooperatively experienced a greater decrease in stress levels, but the difference was slightâ€"both groups experienced decreases in stress by playing the game.?? In addition, both groups retained positive feelings toward the other players, though there was slightly higher regard for those who were cooperative. This is another way in which video games can provide positive social experiences and a decrease in stress. Another study used a survey of 1614 game players to examine the use of computer games as a tool for stress recovery. Results showed that games are indeed used as a coping tool after exposure to stressful situations and strain and that this “recovery experience” is a significant facet of the gaming experience.?? Researchers also examined the relationships among work-related fatigue, daily hassles, social support, coping style, recovery experience, and the use of video and computer games for recovery purposes and found that people who more strongly associated gameplay with stress recovery used video and computer games more often after exhausting and stressful situations. In addition, participants’ level of work-related fatigue and exposure to daily hassles were both positively associated with the use of games for recovery. Participants with emotion-focused coping style showed a higher tendency to use games for recovery than participants with problem-focused coping style.?? The relationship between work-related fatigue and game use for recovery purposes was moderated by social support. The stress buffering function of video and computer games was more important for participants receiving less social support. These participants showed a stronger relationship between work-related fatigue and the use of games for recovery than participants receiving more social support. How We Can Use Video Games for Better Stress Relief Video games can provide us with a safe and fun outlet for developing our emotional awareness and coping skills. One study from the Behavioral Science Institute in The Netherlands studied proficient gamers who were playing Starcraft 2 to determine if their in-game coping mechanisms were related to their overall stress levels.  What they found was that several players who became upset during gameplay found useful coping strategies to handle their negative emotions.?? The most useful strategies were those that either sought a resolution to the negative feelings (either by problem-solving or by using personal coping strategies) or ones that sound out social support from other players.  ?? One key difference between those who coped well and those who were less effective copers was the ability to monitor their own feelings and internal statesâ€"what is known as interoceptive awarenessâ€"and then take steps to maintain a healthy balance, either by making beneficial decisions to change their situation for the better, or by seeking support. In fact, most games reward players for being able to manage their emotions and work toward solutions in the face of stress.?? In understanding what worked best for these gamers, we can use this information in our own lives: developing our own interoceptive awareness and using it to maintain emotional balance is a vital part of healthy coping.  Even more importantly, by playing games, we can provide practice scenarios for developing these skills in a way that is non-threatening and fun, which is one of the advantages of playing games. Another study also showed that action-based video games not only reduce stress but can sharpen cognitive abilities such as reaction speed. This can help gamers think more quickly on their feet and likely be more proficient in problem-solving, which can reduce stress in other ways as well.?? Overall, there is significant evidence that video games are not only fun, but they can be great stress relievers as well for many reasons. Recommended Video Games for Stress Relief Here are some recommended video games to help relieve stress. Casual Games These games can be picked up and played for a few minutes, and then put down again. They can include simple challenges, short matches of gameplay, or the ability to stop and save at any time. Casual games are enjoyable because they can offer a quick break, a challenging-but-not-stressful experience, and a change in focus. Some casual games include Animal Crossing, Tomodachi Life, or Pokemon X for the 3DS, or this list of casual games for the computer. Cooperative Games These games involve challenges that can be completed with other players.  There are several benefits to this. One of the  main benefits is that players can create a network of friends through the game, which can be comforting and may also be empowering.  We enjoyed playing games with friends when we were young, and this need doesn’t necessarily go away in adulthood. Another benefit of cooperative gameplay is that players can help one another, offering symbolic support and enabling one another to develop problem-solving skills. These positive experiences and “wins” can feel empowering and build resilience to stress. As subjects have reported, cooperative gaming can relieve stress and create positive feelings among players.?? These games can be played on handheld gaming systems, over the computer, or even via social media sites like Facebook. Games With an Explicit Stress-Management Component Some games were actually created to help players learn to manage stress more efficiently.  While these games aren’t necessarily as “mainstream” as some of the others, they can be especially helpful for stress relief. Some games train players in meditation while others can even train in biofeedback, helping players build skills in these powerful stress management techniques that can be used in virtually any stressful situation. Games that teach stress management skills are rare, but there are a few. An older game that teaches biofeedback is known as  Relaxing  Rhythms  by Wild Devine, which uses finger sensors to provide in-game feedback. There is also a brain-sensing headband known as  Muse, which provides feedback for meditation: you listen to nature sounds as you meditate, but once your mind begins to wander,  the atmospheric nature  sounds become more intense until you bring your thoughts back to the present moment. This is a  device  that seems to fall somewhere between game and tool, but can be enjoyable and more interesting to many new practitioners of meditation. One very promising game is called Champions of the Shengha, and it allows players to wear a sensor in real life and become more powerful in the game by remaining calm as they play it, facilitating mindfulness practice. (Watch a video here about how  Champions of the Shengha works.)   Champions of the Shengha is a remarkable game in that it encourages the practice of emotional mastery and allows players to become more powerful in the game as well as in real life as a result. Its ideal for teens and others who may have a difficult time learning stress management techniques like mindfulness, but love playing games. It is still in development  but should be available in the near future. Games That Build Skills These games can build brain power or specific abilities. The benefit is that  not only can they help to take your mind off of what is stressing you, they can help you to build executive function abilities that can help you to solve problems and stay organized in your regular life--abilities that can relieve stress! Skill-building games can be puzzle games (like crossword puzzles that you can play online or on a handheld game device) or they can be games that require quick thinking. This includes games like Brain Age, Brain Age 2,  Brain Age Concentration Training or Big Brain Academy, which can be played on the Nintendo 3DS;  WeBoggle, a Boggle game that can be played for free online; language-teaching games like My Spanish Coach, or any of a number of games that make you think quickly. Games You Really Enjoy Really, any game that you truly enjoy can be a stress reliever.  Virtually any game that you find to be truly fun can be beneficial by providing an escape from daily stress, a break from patterns of rumination, or a way to build positive feelings. Play, tune into your feelings during and after you play, and see what you enjoy the most! Video Games to Avoid Basically, if you enjoy a game, it is probably a good stress reliever for you.  Games with a strong social component, particularly a cooperative one, may be especially beneficial as stress-relief tools. (They can also be time-consuming or even addictive, so be careful about that.) Finding a game that doesn’t require a huge time investment and allows for casual involvement (rather than carrying a stiff penalty if you need to quit a game after a certain amount of time or play only for limited amounts of time) may be less stressful as well, for obvious reasons.   Ultimately, pay attention to how you feel during and after you play. Make adjustments based on your observations.

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Essay about Palestine And Isreal Conflict - 1388 Words

Territorial disputes over which religion should have control over the holy lands have been ongoing for about two thousand years with little to no resolution in sight. Everyday, on the news, there is a story about how there was retaliation over the killing of a Palestinian or Israeli. As a result of these more are killed leading to the cyclical pattern of retribution. This conflict has diminutive weight in the eyes of the people of the world since it has been carried on for so long. The argument for both groups is a claim that Jerusalem is the rightful possession of their religion and the key to the survival of their cultures. Promises for peace are frequent but never upheld by either side. As the everyday struggle for peace continues†¦show more content†¦In 1099 the crusades spread to that area and seized control of that land and created the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, which the Jewish people base their claims to owning the land. Then in 1187 Egypt defeats those in control o f the region and begins to reinstate Islamic control of the province (www.palestinecenter.org). Then in 1517 the Ottoman Empire expanded throughout the entire Middle East. Until 1917 the Ottoman Empire controlled the area, but since Turkey supported German during the First World War the lands were divided among Europe. Palestine, Jordan and Israel fell unto British control and they saw the idea of a Jewish homeland ideal. Because there had not been an established homeland for a group in the area since the Jewish people had almost two thousand years prior. It was not until the 1880’s when the first Jewish immigrations took place in an effort of preparation to eradicate the spread of malaria and make the swamplands once again inhabitable for the rebirth of Israel. Following their success in the clean up process there were more opportunities for employment and a safer place to live it enticed the immigration of Arabs. During the time that the Jewish settlers revitalization of th e area there was no conflict between them and the Arabs already present (www.masada2000.org). In 1923 the British government allowed forShow MoreRelatedThe Middle East Conflict1125 Words   |  5 PagesThe Middle East Conflict Wynell Henry University of Phoenix Com 156 November 24, 2013 The real differences around the world today are not between Jews and Arabs; Protestants and Catholics; Muslims, Croats, and Serbs. The real differences are between those who embrace peace and those who would destroy it; between those who look to the future and those who cling to the past; between those who open their arms and those who are determined to clench their fists  (William J. ClintonRead MoreQuestions On Al Osama Bin Laden976 Words   |  4 PagesSaudi Arabia refused his offer of assistance. In 2009, the group Jund Ansar Allah, inspired by Al Qaeda, became active in Palestine in an area known as Gaza. However, the group’s leader was killed by Hamas, a Palestinian organization with military power, in 2009. Hamas’ deviation from the Islamic legal system based on religious Islamic practices was the issue behind the conflict. In 2000, Al Qaeda was responsible for a suicide bombing of a U.S. Navy destroyer, USS Cole. The suicide bombings becameRead MoreSocial Con flict Theory : Social Identity Theory And Conflict1410 Words   |  6 PagesIdentity Theory and Conflict Theoretically significant to conflict is social identity theory. It allows â€Å"predictions to incorporate who is likely to perceive and act in group terms, to remain committed to the group in times of crisis† Turner (1999), Doosje Ellemers, (1999). Bar-Tal stresses conflict exists when an incompatible goal exists between two groups. The question of when incompatibility sets become important in understanding the cause of inter-ethnic or communal conflicts for instance, evenRead MoreEssay Pirates and Emperors by Noam Chomsky2692 Words   |  11 Pagesafter the horrific suffering faced by the Jewish race amongst others, the Zionist aim of establishing a Jewish state had further justification for attaining its objective. The primary issue in 1945 was of Jewish immigration to Palestine, the British opposed the immediate entry of 100,000 refugees due to political considerations, Jews saw the new government in Britain as having reversed on promises made earlier to the Zionists, and was no longer interested in creatingRead MoreDrinking Water and Irrigation Water Shortages in the Middle East2235 Words   |  9 Pages One would think there are enough conflicts to be had in the Middle East. The area is simply a breeding ground for turmoil, and has been for centuries. Of the many conflicts that revolve around the areas history, politics, religion, territory or ethnicity, one more can be added to the group: water. These societies all need water, but not all have the same resources to get to that water. What is the hotbed of vice in this situation is only a few of the countries in the Middle East have totalRead More islam in the united states Essay3208 Words   |  13 Pagesthe government and media. I believe that people running this country are Anti Islamic due to there view on things. Also this is a Zionist country, which is another reason that makes the media discriminate against the Muslim’s, due to the conflict with Palestine and other Muslim countries. The media has always portrayed Islam in a negative way. The reason the media is biased when it comes to Islam because they hate the Islamic structure and the beliefs. The majority of media conglomerate ownershipRead MoreManagement7125 Words   |  29 PagesWalid, â€Å"Finally Got my MTV,† www.arabianbusiness.com, November 22, 2007. 4 MTV Networks: The Arabian Challenge However, the tie-up with a local partner was not enough to guarantee the success of MTV‟s launch in the Middle East given the conflict between the hip-hop explicit music culture portrayed by MTV and the conservative social culture prevalent in the Middle East. Hence, before launching the channel, Samaha conducted an extensive survey of the region to understand what people wantedRead MoreMtv Arabian Challenge7403 Words   |  30 Pagesof resources. We believe that MTV is the beginning of a new era in television in this part of the world,†22 said Sayegh. However, the tie-up with a local partner was not enough to guarantee the success of MTV‟s launch in the Middle East given the conflict between the hip-hop explicit music culture portrayed by MTV and the conservative social culture prevalent in the Middle East. Hence, before launching the channel, Samaha conducted an extensive survey of the region to understand what people wanted

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Social Cognition And Interaction Influence On Society

Social Cognition and Interaction While analyzing the impact of the interaction of self and the society we see that the self generally influences the society. This is done by actions of individuals which lead to the creation of groups, networks and organizations of people. On the other hand society also affects and molds an individual with its shared values and collective norms which helps in giving an individual its identity and a role in the society. An example of this type of interaction would be when a person moves to different locality, that individuals preference and lifestyle changes as per the norms and practices of the society and likewise if a certain behavior is followed by that person then people in the society also get influenced by that behavior. Further concepts of self, awareness and self-schemas could be effectively used for self-development. It is said that what we think of ourselves, is what we make out of ourselves. Hence self-schema could lead to actions resulting in a state which we want ourselves to be. Generally if we create and idea of self and interact with others in the society, it gives an impression to the society about the way we think and the way we receive things from the society. Great leaders have a dream and confidence in them which is reflected in their actions and the interaction with the society. Hence it is important to be self-aware and understand self very clearly. Further self-concept refers to the act of holding ourselves when weShow MoreRelatedPSY201 Week 9: Social Psychology Paper Scenario859 Words   |  4 Pages1. The main factor that contributed to Sarah’s attitude towards her curfew was social cognition. Partying with friends was yet a new thing to her and she had been hearing of it from her friends but had never been to it due to the restrictions put by her parents. It was her curiosity to better know and understand her society and to see the things that she had heard of which actually made her break the curfew and go to the party. Moreover, there is also an underlying optimistic bias that influencedRead MoreThe Role Of Socialization On Our Development As A Human Being Essay1473 Words   |  6 PagesCognition plays a very important role in a person’s life. Cognition can be simply put as the mental capacities, associated to how humans can acquire, store, and retrieve information. In other words, cognition can be portrayed as something a person can recognize, understand, and feel. During class, we came across Dorothy Dinnerstien’s seven features of human cognition, which are; motivated, flexibly focused, structured, layered, affectively tinged, self-reflective, and social which has helped us understandRead MoreNeuroscience and Personality: Freuds Idea of the Conscious, Preconscious and Unconscious Mind874 Words   |  3 PagesIntroduction Neuroscience Psychodynamics According to Swartz and ONeill, personality can be defined as a complex and dynamic set of psychological characteristics, unique to one person, such as motives, behaviour and cognition. Wolpe argues that mental activities are partly in ones conscious and partly in ones unconscious, which is out of reach, this theory is the same as Freuds idea of the conscious, preconscious and unconscious mind (Wolpe, 1981). Psychodynamics according to Ccis.edu is a perspectiveRead MoreGuns, Germs, And Steel, Diamond Chronicles History1728 Words   |  7 Pagesand societies have developed at various rates and achieved different levels of progress over thousands of years, resulting in some societies being labeled as more advanced than others. More advanced societies experienced complex technologies, evident in their tools and innovations, and more refined cultural structures such as social class and government systems. Other societies experienced slower rates of development as they maintained rudimen tary lifestyles with simple technologies and social structuresRead MoreApplied Social Psychology On Psychology981 Words   |  4 Pages Applied social psychology 2 Applied social psychology is one way that psychologist can study our thought, feeling and belief, and how we function around each other, in our everyday lives, here are the five issues that I will be addressing in my literature review they are social influence, Attribution Theory, Group polarization, Cognitive dissonance theory, and Observational Learning. Social applied psychologyRead Moreconsumer1670 Words   |  7 Pages MR MATIKA ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Scan three adverts from a magazine or newspaper and outline the advertisement‘s effects on your affect, cognition and behaviour. DUE DATE: 24TH MARCH 2014 Advertising plays a pivotal role in the lives of consumers. Advertising moulds the attitudes of the person as well as of the society and they certainly influence behaviour of the customers. The customer has to deal with a vast amount of information and make a best choice, conclude and make vital decisionRead MoreThe Theory Of Social Psychology1551 Words   |  7 PagesSocial psychology seeks to identify and understand how society (i.e. family, community, sub groups, and peers, etc.) influences thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of the individual. Within the realm of social psychology, two prominent theorists emerge, Albert Bandura and Bernard Weiner. Both theorists have made great impacts within their fields, determining and describing cause and effect of social influences on the individual’s behaviors, but more importantly, how external contributors manifest intoRead MoreVygotsky s Theory And Development Of Higher Mental Functions898 Words   |  4 Pagesor innate ways that one would respond to their environment. Higher mental functions are defined as a more complex way of thinking or processing. In Vygotsky’s view, the potential for acquiring lower mental functions is biologically built in, but society and culture are critical for the developm ent of higher mental functions (McDevitt Ormrod, 2009). Nevertheless, while nurturing is a vital aspect to Vygotsky’s cognitive theory he did acknowledge that children’s own individual characteristics andRead MoreReentry Is The Process Of Returning1515 Words   |  7 Pagescontexts, including prisoners who finish their sentence and return to society, soldiers who return from war or combat training, domestic or international tourists, and people returning from expeditions. In order to fully understand the bigger picture of reentry, this paper considers reentry from various lenses and fields of discipline. More so, the psychological, sociological, cultural, sociocultural, and environmental influences within the context of reentry are also something to consider. This paperRead MoreEssay about ece353 final-Synthesis of Learning1361 Words   |  6 Pagesdevelopment. From the minute that a child enters this world from their mother’s womb they begin their life living in a profoundly social environment. It is not just soc ial because of the  ­Ã‚ ­people and other children that the child will interact with but also because of many relics that exist such as books, television, technology and much more. In this paper I will discuss social cognitive development, summarize the current knowledge that exist about it, analyze the applicability of my findings to the differentiation

Black House Chapter Fourteen Free Essays

14 AT THE TOP of the steep hill between Norway Valley and Arden, the zigzag, hairpin turns of Highway 93, now narrowed to two lanes, straighten out for the long, ski-slope descent into the town, and on the eastern side of the highway, the hilltop widens into a grassy plateau. Two weatherbeaten red picnic tables wait for those who choose to stop for a few minutes and appreciate the spectacular view. A patchwork of quilted farms stretches out over fifteen miles of gentle landscape, not quite flat, threaded with streams and country roads. We will write a custom essay sample on Black House Chapter Fourteen or any similar topic only for you Order Now A solid row of bumpy, blue-green hills form the horizon. In the immense sky, sun-washed white clouds hang like fresh laundry. Fred Marshall steers his Ford Explorer onto the gravel shoulder, comes to a halt, and says, â€Å"Let me show you something.† When he climbed into the Explorer at his farmhouse, Jack was carrying a slightly worn black leather briefcase, and the case is now lying flat across his knees. Jack’s father’s initials, P.S.S., for Philip Stevenson Sawyer, are stamped in gold beside the handle at the top of the case. Fred has glanced curiously at the briefcase a couple of times, but has not asked about it, and Jack has volunteered nothing. There will be time for show-and-tell, Jack thinks, after he talks to Judy Marshall. Fred gets out of the car, and Jack slides his father’s old briefcase behind his legs and props it against the seat before he follows the other man across the pliant grass. When they reach the first of the picnic tables, Fred gestures toward the landscape. â€Å"We don’t have a lot of what you could call tourist attractions around here, but this is pretty good, isn’t it?† â€Å"It’s very beautiful,† Jack says. â€Å"But I think everything here is beautiful.† â€Å"Judy really likes this view. Whenever we go over to Arden on a decent day, she has to stop here and get out of the car, relax and look around for a while. You know, sort of store up on the important things before getting back into the grind. Me, sometimes I get impatient and think, Come on, you’ve seen that view a thousand times, I have to get back to work, but I’m a guy, right? So every time we turn in here and sit down for a few minutes, I realize my wife knows more than I do and I should just listen to what she says.† Jack smiles and sits down at the bench, waiting for the rest of it. Since picking him up, Fred Marshall has spoken only two or three sentences of gratitude, but it is clear that he has chosen this place to get something off his chest. â€Å"I went over to the hospital this morning, and she well, she’s different. To look at her, to talk to her, you’d have to say she’s in much better shape than yesterday. Even though she’s still worried sick about Tyler, it’s different. Do you think that could be due to the medication? I don’t even know what they’re giving her.† â€Å"Can you have a normal conversation with her?† â€Å"From time to time, yeah. For instance, this morning she was telling me about a story in yesterday’s paper on a little girl from La Riviere who nearly took third place in the statewide spelling bee, except she couldn’t spell this crazy word nobody ever heard of. Popoplax, or something like that.† â€Å"Opopanax,† Jack says. He sounds like he has a fishbone caught in his throat. â€Å"You saw that story, too? That’s interesting, you both picking up on that word. Kind of gave her a kick. She asked the nurses to find out what it meant, and one of them looked it up in a couple of dictionaries. Couldn’t find it.† Jack had found the word in his Concise Oxford Dictionary; its literal meaning was unimportant. â€Å"That’s probably the definition of opopanax,† Jack says. † ‘1. A word not to be found in the dictionary. 2. A fearful mystery.’ â€Å" â€Å"Hah!† Fred Marshall has been moving nervously around the lookout area, and now he stations himself beside Jack, whose upward glance finds the other man surveying the long panorama. â€Å"Maybe that is what it means.† Fred’s eyes remain fixed on the landscape. He is still not quite ready, but he is making progress. â€Å"It was great to see her interested in something like that, a tiny little item in the Herald . . .† He wipes tears from his eyes and takes a step toward the horizon. When he turns around, he looks directly at Jack. â€Å"Uh, before you meet Judy, I want to tell you a few things about her. Trouble is, I don’t know how this is going to sound to you. Even to me, it sounds . . . I don’t know.† â€Å"Give it a try,† Jack says. Fred says, â€Å"Okay,† knits his fingers together, and bows his head. Then he looks up again, and his eyes are as vulnerable as a baby’s. â€Å"Ahhh . . . I don’t know how to put this. Okay, I’ll just say it. With part of my brain, I think Judy knows something. Anyhow, I want to think that. On the other hand, I don’t want to fool myself into believing that just because she seems to be better, she can’t be crazy anymore. But I do want to believe that. Boy oh boy, do I ever.† â€Å"Believe that she knows something.† The eerie feeling aroused by opopanax diminishes before this validation of his theory. â€Å"Something that isn’t even real clear to her,† Fred says. â€Å"But do you remember? She knew Ty was gone even before I told her.† He gives Jack an anguished look and steps away. He knocks his fists together and stares at the ground. Another internal barrier topples before his need to explain his dilemma. â€Å"Okay, look. This is what you have to understand about Judy. She’s a special person. All right, a lot of guys would say their wives are special, but Judy’s special in a special way. First of all, she’s sort of amazingly beautiful, but that’s not even what I’m talking about. And she’s tremendously brave, but that’s not it, either. It’s like she’s connected to something the rest of us can’t even begin to understand. But can that be real? How crazy is that? Maybe when you’re going crazy, at first you put up a big fight and get hysterical, and then you’re too crazy to fight anymore and you get all calm and accepting. I have to talk to her doctor, because this is tearing me apart.† â€Å"What kinds of things does she say? Does she explain why she’s so much calmer?† Fred Marshall’s eyes burn into Jack’s. â€Å"Well, for one thing, Judy seems to think that Ty is still alive, and that you’re the only person who can find him.† â€Å"All right,† Jack says, unwilling to say more until after he can speak to Judy. â€Å"Tell me, does Judy ever mention someone she used to know or a cousin of hers, or an old boyfriend she thinks might have taken him?† His theory seems less convincing than it had in Henry Leyden’s ultrarational, thoroughly bizarre kitchen; Fred Marshall’s response weakens it further. â€Å"Not unless he’s named the Crimson King, or Gorg, or Abbalah. All I can tell you is, Judy thinks she sees something, and even though it makes no sense, I sure as hell hope it’s there.† A sudden vision of the world where he found a boy’s Brewers cap pierces Jack Sawyer like a steel-tipped lance. â€Å"And that’s where Tyler is.† â€Å"If part of me didn’t think that might just possibly be true, I’d go out of my mind right here and now,† Fred says. â€Å"Unless I’m already out of my gourd.† â€Å"Let’s go talk to your wife,† Jack says. From the outside, French County Lutheran Hospital resembles a nineteenth-century madhouse in the north of England: dirty red-brick walls with blackened buttresses and lancet arches, a peaked roof with finial-capped pinnacles, swollen turrets, miserly windows, and all of the long facade stippled black with ancient filth. Set within a walled parkland dense with oaks on Arden’s western boundary, the enormous building, Gothic without the grandeur, looks punitive, devoid of mercy. Jack half-expects to hear the shrieking organ music from a Vincent Price movie. They pass through a narrow, peaked wooden door and enter a reassuringly familiar lobby. A bored, uniformed man at a central desk directs visitors to the elevators; stuffed animals and sprays of flowers fill the gift shop’s window; bathrobed patients tethered to I.V. poles occupy randomly placed tables with their families, and other patients perch on the chairs lined against the side walls; two white-coated doctors confer in a corner. Far overhead, two dusty, ornate chandeliers distribute a soft ocher light that momentarily seems to gild the luxurious heads of the lilies arrayed in tall vases beside the entrance of the gift shop. â€Å"Wow, it sure looks better on the inside,† Jack says. â€Å"Most of it does,† Fred says. They approach the man behind the desk, and Fred says, â€Å"Ward D.† With a mild flicker of interest, the man gives them two rectangular cards stamped VISITOR and waves them through. The elevator clanks down and admits them to a wood-paneled enclosure the size of a broom closet. Fred Marshall pushes the button marked 5, and the elevator shudders upward. The same soft, golden light pervades the comically tiny interior. Ten years ago, an elevator remarkably similar to this, though situated in a grand Paris hotel, had held Jack and a UCLA art-history graduate student named Iliana Tedesco captive for two and a half hours, in the course of which Ms. Tedesco announced that their relationship had reached its final destination, thank you, despite her gratitude for what had been at least until that moment a rewarding journey together. After thinking it over, Jack decides not to trouble Fred Marshall with this information. Better behaved than its French cousin, the elevator trembles to a stop and with only a slight display of resistance slides open its door and releases Jack Sawyer and Fred Marshall to the fifth floor, where the beautiful light seems a touch darker than in both the elevator and the lobby. â€Å"Unfortunately, it’s way over on the other side,† Fred tells Jack. An apparently endless corridor yawns like an exercise in perspective off to their left, and Fred points the way with his finger. They go through two big sets of double doors, past the corridor to Ward B, past two vast rooms lined with curtained cubicles, turn left again at the closed entrance to Gerontology, down a long, long hallway lined with bulletin boards, past the opening to Ward C, then take an abrupt right at the men’s and women’s bathrooms, pass Ambulatory Ophthalmology and Records Annex, and at last come to a corridor marked WARD D. As they proceed, the light seems progressively to darken, the walls to contract, the windows to shrink. Shadows lurk in the corridor to Ward D, and a small pool of water glimmers on the floor. â€Å"We’re in the oldest part of the building now,† Fred says. â€Å"You must want to get Judy out of here as soon as possible.† â€Å"Well, sure, soon as Pat Skarda thinks she’s ready. But you’ll be surprised; Judy kind of likes it in here. I think it’s helping. What she told me was, she feels completely safe, and the ones that can talk, some of them are extremely interesting. It’s like being on a cruise, she says.† Jack laughs in surprise and disbelief, and Fred Marshall touches his shoulder and says, â€Å"Does that mean she’s a lot better or a lot worse?† At the end of the corridor, they emerge directly into a good-sized room that seems to have been preserved unaltered for a hundred years. Dark brown wainscoting rises four feet from the dark brown wooden floor. Far up in the gray wall to their right, two tall, narrow windows framed like paintings admit filtered gray light. A man seated behind a polished wooden counter pushes a button that unlocks a double-sized metal door with a WARD D sign and a small window of reinforced glass. â€Å"You can go in, Mr. Marshall, but who is he?† â€Å"His name is Jack Sawyer. He’s here with me.† â€Å"Is he either a relative or a medical professional?† â€Å"No, but my wife wants to see him.† â€Å"Wait here a moment.† The attendant disappears through the metal door and locks it behind him with a prisonlike clang. A minute later, the attendant reappears with a nurse whose heavy, lined face, big arms and hands, and thick legs make her look like a man in drag. She introduces herself as Jane Bond, the head nurse of Ward D, a combination of words and circumstances that irresistibly suggest at least a couple of nicknames. The nurse subjects Fred and Jack, then only Jack, to a barrage of questions before she vanishes back behind the great door. â€Å"Ward Bond,† Jack says, unable not to. â€Å"We call her Warden Bond,† says the attendant. â€Å"She’s tough, but on the other hand, she’s unfair.† He coughs and stares up at the high windows. â€Å"We got this orderly, calls her Double-oh Zero.† A few minutes later, Head Nurse Warden Bond, Agent OO Zero, swings open the metal door and says, â€Å"You may enter now, but pay attention to what I say.† At first, the ward resembles a huge airport hangar divided into a section with a row of padded benches, a section with round tables and plastic chairs, and a third section where two long tables are stacked with drawing paper, boxes of crayons, and watercolor sets. In the vast space, these furnishings look like dollhouse furniture. Here and there on the cement floor, painted a smooth, anonymous shade of gray, lie padded rectangular mats; twenty feet above the floor, small, barred windows punctuate the far wall, of red brick long ago given a couple of coats of white paint. In a glass enclosure to the left of the door, a nurse behind a desk looks up from a book. Far down to the right, well past the tables with art supplies, three locked metal doors open into worlds of their own. The sense of being in a hangar gradually yields to a sense of a benign but inflexible imprisonment. A low hum of voices comes from the twenty to thirty men and women scattered throughout the enormous room. Only a very few of these men and women are talking to visible companions. They pace in circles, stand frozen in place, lie curled like infants on the mats; they count on their fingers and scribble in notebooks; they twitch, yawn, weep, stare into space and into themselves. Some of them wear green hospital robes, others civilian clothes of all kinds: T-shirts and shorts, sweat suits, running outfits, ordinary shirts and slacks, jerseys and pants. No one wears a belt, and none of the shoes have laces. Two muscular men with close-cropped hair and in brilliant white T-shirts sit at one of the round tables with the air of patient watchdogs. Jack tries to locate Judy Marshall, but he cannot pick her out. â€Å"I asked for your attention, Mr. Sawyer.† â€Å"Sorry,† Jack says. â€Å"I wasn’t expecting it to be so big.† â€Å"We’d better be big, Mr. Sawyer. We serve an expanding population.† She waits for an acknowledgment of her significance, and Jack nods. â€Å"Very well. I’m going to give you some basic ground rules. If you listen to what I say, your visit here will be as pleasant as possible for all of us. Don’t stare at the patients, and don’t be alarmed by what they say. Don’t act as though you find anything they do or say unusual or distressing. Just be polite, and eventually they will leave you alone. If they ask you for things, do as you choose, within reason. But please refrain from giving them money, any sharp objects, or edibles not previously cleared by one of the physicians some medications interact adversely with certain kinds of food. At some point, an elderly woman named Es-telle Packard will probably come up to you and ask if you are her father. Answer however you like, but if you say no, she will go away disappointed, and if you say yes , you’ll make her day. Do you have any questions, Mr. Sawyer?† â€Å"Where is Judy Marshall?† â€Å"She’s on this side, with her back to us on the farthest bench. Can you see her, Mr. Marshall?† â€Å"I saw her right away,† Fred says. â€Å"Have there been any changes since this morning?† â€Å"Not as far as I know. Her admitting physician, Dr. Spiegleman, will be here in about half an hour, and he might have more information for you. Would you like me to take you and Mr. Sawyer to your wife, or would you prefer going by yourself ?† â€Å"We’ll be fine,† Fred Marshall says. â€Å"How long can we stay?† â€Å"I’m giving you fifteen minutes, twenty max. Judy is still in the eval stage, and I want to keep her stress level at a minimum. She looks pretty peaceful now, but she’s also deeply disconnected and, quite frankly, delusional. I wouldn’t be surprised by another hysterical episode, and we don’t want to prolong her evaluation period by introducing new medication at this point, do we? So please, Mr. Marshall, keep the conversation stress-free, light, and positive.† â€Å"You think she’s delusional?† Nurse Bond smiles pityingly. â€Å"In all likelihood, Mr. Marshall, your wife has been delusional for years. Oh, she’s managed to keep it hidden, but ideations like hers don’t spring up overnight, no no. These things take years to construct, and all the time the person can appear to be a normally functioning human being. Then something triggers the psychosis into full-blown expression. In this case, of course, it was your son’s disappearance. By the way, I want to extend my sympathies to you at this time. What a terrible thing to have happened.† â€Å"Yes, it was,† says Fred Marshall. â€Å"But Judy started acting strange even before . . .† â€Å"Same thing, I’m afraid. She needed to be comforted, and her delusions her delusional world came into plain view, because that world provided exactly the comfort she needed. You must have heard some of it this morning, Mr. Marshall. Did your wife mention anything about going to other worlds?† â€Å"Going to other worlds?† Jack asks, startled. â€Å"A fairly typical schizophrenic ideation,† Nurse Bond says. â€Å"More than half the people on this ward have similar fantasies.† â€Å"You think my wife is schizophrenic?† Nurse Bond looks past Fred to take a comprehensive inventory of the patients in her domain. â€Å"I’m not a psychiatrist, Mr. Marshall, but I have had twenty long years of experience in dealing with the mentally ill. On the basis of that experience, I have to tell you, in my opinion your wife manifests the classic symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. I wish I had better news for you.† She glances back at Fred Marshall. â€Å"Of course, Dr. Spiegleman will make the final diagnosis, and he will be able to answer all your questions, explain your treatment options, and so forth.† The smile she gives Jack seems to congeal the moment it appears. â€Å"I always tell my new visitors it’s tougher on the family than it is on the patient. Some of these people, they don’t have a care in the world. Really, you almost have to envy them.† â€Å"Sure,† Jack says. â€Å"Who wouldn’t?† â€Å"Go on, then,† she says, with a trace of peevishness. â€Å"Enjoy your visit.† A number of heads turn as they walk slowly across the dusty wooden floor to the nearest row of benches; many pairs of eyes track their progress. Curiosity, indifference, confusion, suspicion, pleasure, and an impersonal anger show in the pallid faces. To Jack, it seems as though every patient on the ward is inching toward them. A flabby middle-aged man in a bathrobe has begun to cut through the tables, looking as though he fears missing his bus to work. At the end of the nearest bench, a thin old woman with streaming white hair stands up and beseeches Jack with her eyes. Her clasped, upraised hands tremble violently. Jack forces himself not to meet her eyes. When he passes her, she half-croons, half-whispers, â€Å"My ducky-wucky was behind the door, but I didn’t know it, and there he was, in all that water.† â€Å"Um,† Fred says. â€Å"Judy told me her baby son drowned in the bath.† Through the side of his eye, Jack has been watching the fuzzy-haired man in the bathrobe rush toward them, openmouthed. When he and Fred reach the back of Judy Marshall’s bench, the man raises one finger, as if signaling the bus to wait for him, and trots forward. Jack watches him approach; nuts to Warden Bond’s advice. He’s not going to let this lunatic climb all over him, no way. The upraised finger comes to within a foot of Jack’s nose, and the man’s murky eyes search his face. The eyes retreat; the mouth snaps shut. Instantly, the man whirls around and darts off, his robe flying, his finger still searching out its target. What was that, Jack wonders. Wrong bus? Judy Marshall has not moved. She must have heard the man rushing past her, his rapid breath when he stopped, then his flapping departure, but her back is still straight in the loose green robe, her head still faces forward at the same upright angle. She seems detached from everything around her. If her hair were washed, brushed, and combed, if she were conventionally dressed and had a suitcase beside her, she would look exactly like a woman on a bench at the train station, waiting for the hour of departure. So even before Jack sees Judy Marshall’s face, before she speaks a single word, there is about her this sense of leave-taking, of journeys begun and begun again this suggestion of travel, this hint of a possible elsewhere. â€Å"I’ll tell her we’re here,† Fred whispers, and ducks around the end of the bench to kneel in front of his wife. The back of her head tilts forward over the erect spine as if to answer the tangled combination of heartbreak, love, and anxiety burning in her husband’s handsome face. Dark blond hair mingled with gold lies flat against the girlish curve of Judy Marshall’s skull. Behind her ear, dozens of varicolored strands clump together in a cobwebby knot. â€Å"How you feeling, sweetie?† Fred softly asks his wife. â€Å"I’m managing to enjoy myself,† she says. â€Å"You know, honey, I should stay here for at least a little while. The head nurse is positive I’m absolutely crazy. Isn’t that convenient?† â€Å"Jack Sawyer’s here. Would you like to see him?† Judy reaches out and pats his upraised knee. â€Å"Tell Mr. Sawyer to come around in front, and you sit right here beside me, Fred.† Jack is already coming forward, his eyes on Judy Marshall’s once again upright head, which does not turn. Kneeling, Fred has taken her extended hand in both of his, as if he intends to kiss it. He looks like a lovelorn knight before a queen. When he presses her hand to his cheek, Jack sees the white gauze wrapped around the tips of her fingers. Judy’s cheekbone comes into view, then the side of her gravely unsmiling mouth; then her entire profile is visible, as sharp as the crack of ice on the first day of spring. It is the regal, idealized profile on a cameo, or on a coin: the slight upward curve of the lips, the crisp, chiseled downstroke of the nose, the sweep of the jawline, every angle in perfect, tender, oddly familiar alignment with the whole. It staggers him, this unexpected beauty; for a fraction of a second it slows him with the deep, grainy nostalgia of its fragmentary, not-quite evocation of another’s face. Grace Kelly? Catherine Deneuve? No, neither of these; it comes to him that Judy’s profile reminds him of someone he has still to meet. Then the odd second passes: Fred Marshall gets to his feet, Judy’s face in three-quarter profile loses its regal quality as she watches her husband sit beside her on the bench, and Jack rejects what has just occurred to him as an absurdity. She does not raise her eyes until he stands before her. Her hair is dull and messy; beneath the hospital gown she is wearing an old blue lace-trimmed nightdress that looked dowdy when it was new. Despite these disadvantages, Judy Marshall claims him for her own at the moment her eyes meet his. An electrical current beginning at his optic nerves seems to pulse downward through his body, and he helplessly concludes that she has to be the most stunningly beautiful woman he has ever seen. He fears that the force of his reaction to her will knock him off his feet, then even worse! that she will see what is going on and think him a fool. He desperately does not want to come off as a fool in her eyes. Brooke Greer, Claire Evinrude, Iliana Tedesco, gorgeous as each of them was in her own way, look like little girls in Halloween costumes next to her. Judy Marshall puts his former beloveds on the shelf; she exposes them as whims and fancies, riddled with false ego and a hundred crippling insecurities. Judy’s beauty is not put on in front of a mirror but grows, with breathtaking simplicity, straight from her innermost being: what you see is only the small, visible portion of a far greater, more comprehensive, radiant, and formal quality within. Jack can scarcely believe that agreeable, good-hearted Fred Marshall actually had the fantastic luck to marry this woman. Does he know how great, how literally marvelous, she is? Jack would marry her in an instant, if she were single. It seems to him that he fell in love with her as soon as he saw the back of her head. But he cannot be in love with her. She is Fred Marshall’s wife and the mother of their son, and he will simply have to live without her. She utters a short sentence that passes through him in a vibrating wave of sound. Jack bends forward muttering an apology, and Judy smilingly offers him a sweep of her hand that invites him to sit before her. He folds to the floor and crosses his ankles in front of him, still reverberating from the shock of having first seen her. Her face fills beautifully with feeling. She has seen exactly what just happened to him, and it is all right. She does not think less of him for it. Jack opens his mouth to ask a question. Although he does not know what the question is to be, he must ask it. The nature of the question is unimportant. The most idiotic query will serve; he cannot sit here staring at that wondrous face. Before he speaks, one version of reality snaps soundlessly into another, and without transition Judy Marshall becomes a tired-looking woman in her mid-thirties with tangled hair and smudges under her eyes who regards him steadily from a bench in a locked mental ward. It should seem like a restoration of his sanity, but it feels instead like a kind of trick, as though Judy Marshall has done this herself, to make their encounter easier on him. The words that escape him are as banal as he feared they might be. Jack listens to himself say that it is nice to meet her. â€Å"It’s nice to meet you, too, Mr. Sawyer. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about you.† He looks for a sign that she acknowledges the enormity of the moment that has just passed, but he sees only her smiling warmth. Under the circumstances, that seems like acknowledgment enough. â€Å"How are you getting on in here?† he asks, and the balance shifts even more in his direction. â€Å"The company takes some getting used to, but the people here got lost and couldn’t find their way back, that’s all. Some of them are very intelligent. I’ve had conversations in here that were a lot more interesting than the ones in my church group or the PTA. Maybe I should have come to Ward D sooner! Being here has helped me learn some things.† â€Å"Like what?† â€Å"Like there are many different ways to get lost, for one, and getting lost is easier to do than anyone ever admits. The people in here can’t hide how they feel, and most of them never found out how to deal with their fear.† â€Å"How are you supposed to deal with that?† â€Å"Why, you deal with it by taking it on, that’s how! You don’t just say, I’m lost and I don’t know how to get back you keep on going in the same direction. You put one foot in front of the other until you get more lost. Everybody should know that. Especially you, Jack Sawyer.† â€Å"Especial † Before he can finish the question, an elderly woman with a lined, sweet face appears beside him and touches his shoulder. â€Å"Excuse me.† She tucks her chin toward her throat with the shyness of a child. â€Å"I want to ask you a question. Are you my father?† Jack smiles at her. â€Å"Let me ask you a question first. Is your name Estelle Packard?† Eyes shining, the old woman nods. â€Å"Then yes, I am your father.† Estelle Packard clasps her hands in front of her mouth, dips her head in a bow, and shuffles backward, glowing with pleasure. When she is nine or ten feet away, she gives Jack a little bye-bye wave of one hand and twirls away. When Jack looks again at Judy Marshall, it is as if she has parted her veil of ordinariness just wide enough to reveal a small portion of her enormous soul. â€Å"You’re a very nice man, aren’t you, Jack Sawyer? I wouldn’t have known that right away. You’re a good man, too. Of course, you’re also charming, but charm and decency don’t always go together. Should I tell you a few other things about yourself ?† Jack looks up at Fred, who is holding his wife’s hand and beaming. â€Å"I want you to say whatever you feel like saying.† â€Å"There are things I can’t say, no matter how I feel, but you might hear them anyhow. I can say this, however: your good looks haven’t made you vain. You’re not shallow, and that might have something to do with it. Mainly, though, you had the gift of a good upbringing. I’d say you had a wonderful mother. I’m right, aren’t I?† Jack laughs, touched by this unexpected insight. â€Å"I didn’t know it showed.† â€Å"You know one way it shows? In the way you treat other people. I’m pretty sure you come from a background people around here only know from the movies, but it hasn’t gone to your head. You see us as people, not hicks, and that’s why I know I can trust you. It’s obvious that your mother did a great job. I was a good mother, too, or at least I tried to be, and I know what I’m talking about. I can see.† â€Å"You say you were a good mother? Why use â€Å" â€Å"The past tense? Because I was talking about before.† Fred’s smile fades into an expression of ill-concealed concern. â€Å"What do you mean, ‘before’?† â€Å"Mr. Sawyer might know,† she says, giving Jack what he thinks is a look of encouragement. â€Å"Sorry, I don’t think I do,† he says. â€Å"I mean, before I wound up here and finally started to think a little bit. Before the things that were happening to me stopped scaring me out of my mind before I realized I could look inside myself and examine these feelings I’ve had over and over all my life. Before I had time to travel. I think I’m still a good mother, but I’m not exactly the same mother.† â€Å"Honey, please,† says Fred. â€Å"You are the same, you just had a kind of breakdown. We ought to talk about Tyler.† â€Å"We are talking about Tyler. Mr. Sawyer, do you know that lookout point on Highway 93, right where it reaches the top of the big hill about a mile south of Arden?† â€Å"I saw it today,† Jack says. â€Å"Fred showed it to me.† â€Å"You saw all those farms that keep going and going? And the hills off in the distance?† â€Å"Yes. Fred told me you loved the view from up there.† â€Å"I always want to stop and get out of the car. I love everything about that view. You can see for miles and miles, and then whoops! it stops, and you can’t see any farther. But the sky keeps going, doesn’t it? The sky proves that there’s a world on the other side of those hills. If you travel, you can get there.† â€Å"Yes, you can.† Suddenly, there are goose bumps on Jack’s forearms, and the back of his neck is tingling. â€Å"Me? I can only travel in my mind, Mr. Sawyer, and I only remembered how to do that because I landed in the loony bin. But it came to me that you can get there to the other side of the hills.† His mouth is dry. He registers Fred Marshall’s growing distress without being able to reduce it. Wanting to ask her a thousand questions, he begins with the simplest one: â€Å"How did it come to you? What do you mean by that?† Judy Marshall takes her hand from her husband and holds it out to Jack, and he holds it in both of his. If she ever looked like an ordinary woman, now is not the time. She is blazing away like a lighthouse, like a bonfire on a distant cliff. â€Å"Let’s say . . . late at night, or if I was alone for a long time, someone used to whisper to me. It wasn’t that concrete, but let’s say it was as if a person were whispering on the other side of a thick wall. A girl like me, a girl my age. And if I fell asleep then, I would almost always dream about the place where that girl lived. I called it Faraway, and it was like this world, the Coulee Country, only brighter and cleaner and more magical. In Faraway, people rode in carriages and lived in great white tents. In Faraway, there were men who could fly.† â€Å"You’re right,† he says. Fred looks from his wife to Jack in painful uncertainty, and Jack says, â€Å"It sounds crazy, but she’s right.† â€Å"By the time these bad things started to happen in French Landing, I had pretty much forgotten about Faraway. I hadn’t thought about it since I was about twelve or thirteen. But the closer the bad things came, to Fred and Ty and me, I mean, the worse my dreams got, and the less and less real my life seemed to be. I wrote words without knowing I was doing it, I said crazy things, I was falling apart. I didn’t understand that Faraway was trying to tell me something. The girl was whispering to me from the other side of the wall again, only now she was grown up and scared half to death.† â€Å"What made you think I could help?† â€Å"It was just a feeling I had, back when you arrested that Kinderling man and your picture was in the paper. The first thing I thought when I looked at your picture was, He knows about Faraway. I didn’t wonder how, or how I could tell from looking at a picture; I simply understood that you knew. And then, when Ty disappeared and I lost my mind and woke up in this place, I thought if you could see into some of these people’s heads, Ward D wouldn’t be all that different from Faraway, and I remembered seeing your picture. And that’s when I started to understand about traveling. All this morning, I have been walking through Faraway in my head. Seeing it, touching it. Smelling that unbelievable air. Did you know, Mr. Sawyer, that over there they have jackrabbits the size of kangaroos? It makes you laugh just to look at them.† Jack breaks into a wide grin, and he bends to kiss her hand, in a gesture much like her husband’s. Gently, she takes her hand from his grasp. â€Å"When Fred told me he had met you, and that you were helping the police, I knew that you were here for a reason.† What this woman has done astonishes Jack. At the worst moment of her life, with her son lost and her sanity crumbling, she used a monumental feat of memory to summon all of her strength and, in effect, accomplish a miracle. She found within herself the capacity to travel. From a locked ward, she moved halfway out of this world and into another known only from childhood dreams. Nothing but the immense courage her husband had described could have enabled her to have taken this mysterious step. â€Å"You did something once, didn’t you?† Judy asks him. â€Å"You were there, in Faraway, and you did something something tremendous. You don’t have to say yes, because I can see it in you; it’s as plain as day. But you have to say yes, so I can hear it, so say it, say yes.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Did what?† Fred asks. â€Å"In this dream country? How can you say yes?† â€Å"Wait,† Jack tells him, â€Å"I have something to show you later,† and returns to the extraordinary woman seated before him. Judy Marshall is aflame with insight, courage, and faith and, although she is forbidden to him, now seems to be the only woman in this world or any other whom he could love for the rest of his life. â€Å"You were like me,† she says. â€Å"You forgot all about that world. And you went out and became a policeman, a detective. In fact, you became one of the best detectives that ever lived. Do you know why you did that?† â€Å"I guess the work appealed to me.† â€Å"What about it appealed to you in particular?† â€Å"Helping the community. Protecting innocent people. Putting away the bad guys. It was interesting work.† â€Å"And you thought it would never stop being interesting. Because there would always be a new problem to solve, a new question in need of an answer.† She has struck a bull’s-eye that, until this moment, he did not know existed. â€Å"That’s right.† â€Å"You were a great detective because, even though you didn’t know it, there was something something vital you needed to detect.† I am a coppiceman, Jack remembers. His own little voice in the night, speaking to him from the other side of a thick, thick wall. â€Å"Something you had to find, for the sake of your own soul.† â€Å"Yes,† Jack says. Her words have penetrated straight into the center of his being, and tears spring to his eyes. â€Å"I always wanted to find what was missing. My whole life was about the search for a secret explanation.† In memory as vivid as a strip of film, he sees a great tented pavilion, a white room where a beautiful and wasted queen lay dying, and a little girl two or three years younger than his twelve-year-old self amid her attendants. â€Å"Did you call it Faraway?† Judy asks. â€Å"I called it the Territories.† Speaking the words aloud feels like the opening of a chest filled with a treasure he can share at last. â€Å"That’s a good name. Fred won’t understand this, but when I was on my long walk this morning, I felt that my son was somewhere in Faraway in your Territories. Somewhere out of sight, and hidden away. In grave danger, but still alive and unharmed. In a cell. Sleeping on the floor. But alive. Unharmed. Do you think that could be true, Mr. Sawyer?† â€Å"Wait a second,† Fred says. â€Å"I know you feel that way, and I want to believe it, too, but this is the real world we’re talking about here.† â€Å"I think there are lots of real worlds,† Jack says. â€Å"And yes, I believe Tyler is somewhere in Faraway.† â€Å"Can you rescue him, Mr. Sawyer? Can you bring him back?† â€Å"It’s like you said before, Mrs. Marshall,† Jack says. â€Å"I must be here for a reason.† â€Å"Sawyer, I hope whatever you’re going to show me makes more sense than the two of you do,† says Fred. â€Å"We’re through for now, anyhow. Here comes the warden.† Driving out of the hospital parking lot, Fred Marshall glances at the briefcase lying flat on Jack’s lap but says nothing. He holds his silence until he turns back onto 93, when he says, â€Å"I’m glad you came with me.† â€Å"Thank you,† Jack says. â€Å"I am, too.† â€Å"I feel sort of out of my depth here, you know, but I’d like to get your impressions of what went on in there. Do you think it went pretty well?† â€Å"I think it went better than that. Your wife is . . . I hardly know how to describe her. I don’t have the vocabulary to tell you how great I think she is.† Fred nods and sneaks a glance at Jack. â€Å"So you don’t think she’s out of her head, I guess.† â€Å"If that’s crazy, I’d like to be crazy right along with her.† The two-lane blacktop highway that stretches before them lifts up along the steep angle of the hillside and, at its top, seems to extend into the dimensionless blue of the enormous sky. Another wary glance from Fred. â€Å"And you say you’ve seen this, this place she calls Faraway.† â€Å"I have, yes. As hard as that is to believe.† â€Å"No crap. No b.s. On your mother’s grave.† â€Å"On my mother’s grave.† â€Å"You’ve been there. And not just in a dream, really been there.† â€Å"The summer I was twelve.† â€Å"Could I go there, too?† â€Å"Probably not,† Jack says. This is not the truth, since Fred could go to the Territories if Jack took him there, but Jack wants to shut this door as firmly as possible. He can imagine bringing Judy Marshall into that other world; Fred is another matter. Judy has more than earned a journey into the Territories, while Fred is still incapable of believing in its existence. Judy would feel at home over there, but her husband would be like an anchor Jack had to drag along with him, like Richard Sloat. â€Å"I didn’t think so,† says Fred. â€Å"If you don’t mind, I’d like to pull over again when we get to the top.† â€Å"I’d like that,† Jack says. Fred drives to the crest of the hill and crosses the narrow highway to park in the gravel turnout. Instead of getting out of the car, he points at the briefcase lying flat on Jack’s knees. â€Å"Is what you’re going to show me in there?† â€Å"Yes,† Jack says. â€Å"I was going to show it to you earlier, but after we stopped here the first time, I wanted to wait until I heard what Judy had to say. And I’m glad I did. It might make more sense to you, now that you’ve heard at least part of the explanation of how I found it.† Jack snaps open the briefcase, raises the top, and from its pale, leather-lined interior removes the Brewers cap he had found that morning. â€Å"Take a look,† he says, and hands over the cap. â€Å"Ohmygod,† Fred Marshall says in a startled rush of words. â€Å"Is this . . . is it . . . ?† He looks inside the cap and exhales hugely at the sight of his son’s name. His eyes leap to Jack’s. â€Å"It’s Tyler’s. Good Lord, it’s Tyler’s. Oh, Lordy.† He crushes the cap to his chest and takes two deep breaths, still holding Jack’s gaze. â€Å"Where did you find this? How long ago was it?† â€Å"I found it on the road this morning,† Jack says. â€Å"In the place your wife calls Faraway.† With a long moan, Fred Marshall opens his door and jumps out of the car. By the time Jack catches up with him, he is at the far edge of the lookout, holding the cap to his chest and staring at the blue-green hills beyond the long quilt of farmland. He whirls to stare at Jack. â€Å"Do you think he’s still alive?† â€Å"I think he’s alive,† Jack says. â€Å"In that world.† Fred points to the hills. Tears leap from his eyes, and his mouth softens. â€Å"The world that’s over there somewhere, Judy says.† â€Å"In that world.† â€Å"Then you go there and find him!† Fred shouts. His face shining with tears, he gestures wildly toward the horizon with the baseball cap. â€Å"Go there and bring him back, damn you! I can’t do it, so you have to.† He steps forward as if to throw a punch, then wraps his arms around Jack Sawyer and sobs. When Fred’s shoulders stop trembling and his breath comes in gasps, Jack says, â€Å"I’ll do everything I can.† â€Å"I know you will.† He steps away and wipes his face. â€Å"I’m sorry I yelled at you like that. I know you’re going to help us.† The two men turn around to walk back to the car. Far off to the west, a loose, woolly smudge of pale gray blankets the land beside the river. â€Å"What’s that?† Jack asks. â€Å"Rain?† â€Å"No, fog,† Fred says. â€Å"Coming in off the Mississippi.† How to cite Black House Chapter Fourteen, Essay examples

Friday, April 24, 2020

The Metamorphosis Essay Example

The Metamorphosis Essay . Groups of three identified in the book: The number three plays a considerable role in the story. The story is divided into three parts. There are three doors to Gregor’s room. His family consists of three people. Three servants appear in the course of the story. Three lodgers have three beards. Three Samsas write three letters. The clock chimes three times. Gregor appears 3 times outside his room. Three women imitate Mr. Samsa as he thanks the Lord. Three family members had to work after Gregor’s metamorphosis 2. In the book, The Metamorphosis, Grete’s behavior changes dramatically as she becomes cold hearted and uncaring. In the beginning of the story Gregor’s younger sister is the only one who seems to understand that Gregor is suffering and she â€Å"weeps in her bedroom. † She demonstrates that she cares about her brother by bringing him his favorite food â€Å"milk. † She is the only one in the family who is courageous to enter Gregor’s room to clean it. However, by the end of the book she is so exhausted by her job that she does not even bother to look in to his room. Grete has come to detest her brother to such an extreme that he refers to him as if he were an animal and exclaims, â€Å"we must get rid of it,† so she rejoices when she finds out about his death. We will write a custom essay sample on The Metamorphosis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Metamorphosis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Metamorphosis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In the end of the story, her parents â€Å"see their daughter become more and more vivacious [for] she had blossomed into a lovely and shapely girl. † Her parents view her as the link that will help them resolve their financial burdens by marrying a rich man. The servant (Ana) becomes so terrified with Gregor’s appearance that she resolves to quit her job as does the cook. The â€Å"plead mercifully to be dismissed,† and demonstrate gratification when they are allowed to leave. They both leave a bigger burden for the family creating a metamorphosis in the role that the family plays in their own house. Their absence obligates the women in the family to perform difficult tasks. Another change occurs in Mr. Samsa and Mrs. Samsa. The family who was accustomed to a lifestyle that was envied by lower class individuals is taken away from them as all three family members have to sacrifice their possessions to survive. The father who used to â€Å"lay on the couch† and â€Å"read his newspaper† has to go back to work. The mother who was enjoying her luxurious life sacrifices her pride as she is forced to sew individual’s underwear. The parents who are supposed to be enjoying their lderly years in accommodation must now input all of their strength in order to provide the family with enough money just to â€Å"pass by. † 3. Through the peculiar events in the story the author helps the reader understand that capitalism harbor work-related obsessions and increases rates of stress related diseases. After Gregor becomes a bug the mother and the sister become the main providers for the family. Gregor’s parents owned a big debt, and he used all of his strength to become the best worker and would devote all of his time in accomplishing the demands from his job. However one day, exhausted from all his work he discovers that he has become an insect and he feels trapped because he ran too hard to meet the demands of business. The author is trying to explain how capitalism imprisons people driving them to become individuals that scurry on the ground and eat whatever is available. His irreversible illness leads to his death, but his family continues to be affected by capitalism. They become heartless individuals who place more emphasis on money than on helping Gregor. They become so cold hearted that they do not demonstrate that they love each other anymore. Instead of mourning Gregor’s death they view it as a blessing from the heavens because he is just a reminder of the consequences of capitalism. The sister â€Å"found a job as a salesgirl† and the mother â€Å"would be sewing fine lingerie for a fashion boutique† while still being responsible for maintaining a spotless home. So, the cycle continues as the family’s priority is meeting their financial needs. Therefore, capitalism drives people to become obsessed with their work, separates family, affects the daily activities including the eating habits, and creates unrecognizable creatures trapped in the claws of their work. . The story can be viewed as an attack on political and personal tyranny through the description of the Chief (Gregor’s boss). Gregors boss at work is the great symbol of everything wrong with tyranny. He sits behind his desk, talking down to his employees. Gregor knows that if he calls in sick for the first time in five years, his chief would come in person to call him lazy. The Chief Clerk is the Chiefs mouthpiece. He himself arrives at Gregors house when the former is late to work and thus throws the entire family into disorder. When Gregor does not unlock his room, the Chief Clerk ells Gregor, in front of the family, that he is under suspicion of having stolen money and that his work is very unsatisfactory, though this isnt true. The story also attacks personal tyranny because according to the author when a man controls himself and drives himself too hard the man becomes imprisoned. In the story Gregor feels like he â€Å"c[ould] not move† because he had been trapped by his activities to such an extent that he had become like a bug. He crawled from place to place to accomplish his tasks, but he never worried about the things that distinguish humans from animals. He felt that it was more important to make a sale and bring money for his family than to increase the bond among family members through love. Therefore, personal tyranny created an animal out of Gregor. 5. The story, The Metamorphosis, is a biblical allusion to Jesus. In the story the main character Gregor transforms into a â€Å"beetle† with â€Å"six legs;† an insignificant insect. When Jesus came to earth he had to abandon his perfect supernatural state to transform into a human body full of imperfections and insignificant in comparison to his perfect previous state. In the story, Gregor becomes despised by his own family members how attempt to kill him. Gregor’s horrifying state serves as a painful reminder to the family of the consequences that come when a person becomes too involved in his job, so they hate him for it. Jesus was despised because he was perfect and humans were reminded of their sinful state, so they could not stand his presence. Gregor’s father roles â€Å"the rotten apple in his back† and â€Å"pushes him into the room. † The bible relates how Jesus’ family was ashamed of him and would make fun of him because they did not believe that he was God’s son. As Jesus’ death approaches his burden increases as he realizes that he has to carry the sins of the world in his back and take them to the cross. In the same manner, Gregor’s believes that he â€Å"is a burden for his family† and his appetite decreases. Both Jesus and Gregor die with an empty stomach, and with great grief. Gregor sacrifices his life to provide his family with â€Å"such a life in such a beautiful department. † Jesus gave his life so that people could live a happier life by getting to know God through him. Like Gregor, Jesus back was whipped by the Roman soldiers who despised him because he claimed that he was the â€Å"King of the Jews. Gregor’s death occurs in â€Å"March† which is the same time that Jesus was crucified on the cross. Gregor dies when the clock â€Å"chimes three times† and according to scripture Jesus died at three p. m. Therefore, the story is an allusion to Jesus life which is represented through t he main character Gregor. 6. Gregor’s transformation represents how everyman is in our society today. Due to human’s desire to expand their economic status they become too involved in their work to the extent in which they neglect their own family members. Gregor like many men places more emphasis in accomplishing job and making his boss happy than in doing anything else. Even though he â€Å"hates traveling, worrying, and meeting temporary acquaintances that never become more than that† he believes that his job has come to represent who he is. His identity is no longer Gregor, but salesman. Today, many individuals identify themselves through their jobs, rather than expressing who they are as individuals because they have made their jobs their priority. When Gregor becomes an insect he scurries in his room eating â€Å"whatever† he can â€Å"find. † In today’s society there is a big problem with society since many people often eat whatever they find on the road that will be easy and fast to consume, because they do not want to waste precious time to do their jobs. For many people today their job is more important than their health. In the story the chief clerk claims, â€Å"we men of business-fortunately or unfortunately- very often simply have to ignore any slight indisposition since business must be attended to. He expresses how many people feel today that personal illness is unimportant, what is important is that an employee wastes important company money, but business should be attended to at all costs. This is the fundamental crisis that Gregor, as so many human beings in the modern age, must face. This crisis is the conflict between freedom and ones responsibility to oneself on one side, and guilt and the demands posed by society and family on the other. Both sets of values are essential for human beings, but the clash between them is often obscured. Perhaps this conflict is obscured for the best, because there seems to be no way out of it. One cannot be free without guilt, yet one cannot fulfill ones obligation to others and remain true to oneself. 7. Toward the end of the story Grete makes a speech which becomes the climax of the novel. She refers to Gregor as if â€Å"it† because she refuses to accept the idea that he is her brother. Grete insists that the â€Å"creature† cannot understand them though the family has never tried to find out. She is certain that Gregor is persecuting them and wants to drive them out of the apartment. She has changed from the tender loving sister that brought him milk to an ambitious young woman who does not care about anything but money and her economic status. Internally she has filled her heart with the desires that are acceptable by society which accepts the degrading of human characteristics through a job. In the end of the story, when the family is discussing their future plans, the parents â€Å"upon seen the daughter becoming more and more vivacious realized almost in unison that lately, despite the sorrows that left her cheeks pale she had blossomed into a lovely and shapely girl t was high time they found a descent husband for her at the end of their ride the daughter was the first to get up stretching her young body. † Grete through her hard work has come to be like the leader in the family. Her desire to strive and her ambition to lead a more prosperous life makes her parents feel that she is the family’s only hope to continue with a life that can be just as comfortable as the previous one. She undergoes a â€Å"metamorphosis† that unlike Gregor’s will benefit the family and accommodate them in a place where they will enjoy a luxurious life, and leave behind the pain and sacrifices they once had in the apartment. . Identify and discuss the possible symbolism involved in the following: a) The Picture In the story Gregor â€Å"clung to his picture, refusing to surrender it. † When his family is taking the furniture out Gregor is trying to remain calm by explaining telling himself that it was not a major concern, yet he feels extremely uncomfortable. When he sees the emptiness of his room he clings to the picture of the woman in furs representing love interest for Gregor and desire to keep something from the lifestyle he once led. He dedicated the best of his years to his job in order to provide his family with the finest lifestyle. In consequence, he is unable to raise his own family and never finds a partner. The way he clings on to the woman in fur represents his desire to be with someone, but never being able to do it. The picture was like Gregor’s escape route that made him forget about his loneliness and he finds comfort through a companion that despite its inability to speak does not flee in terror from his presence. He feels that by holding on to the picture he will have some evidence of the luxurious life that he once had, but is unable to prove due to his appearance. Gregor feels that he is able to keep a piece of his past belongings then his hope of returning to normal will not perish. b) Father’s Uniform The uniform is a symbol of economic order. The father looks â€Å"as if he were ready for service at any moment and even here only at the beck and call of his superior. † Due to the family’s financial condition he has to reincorporate to the work force and has lost his own volition. The fact that he wears his uniform even at home represents that he is a slave to his job even at home. The only part of his uniform that is polished is the brass buttons which represent his absorption into the dehumanizing capitalist system. They stand out in his dirty uniform which symbolizes the degradation of the individual human core behind a job that is admired by society yet demolishes individuals personality. Just as humanity decays behind the demands of an exhausting job the uniform becomes covered with greasy stains behind the shining brass buttons. In the uniform, Mr. Samsa sleeps â€Å"in extreme discomfort yet quite peacefully. † The uniform causes discomfort and loss of individuality. Therefore, the uniform also represents how an individual by ignoring his own humanity and sacrificing himself entirely to the economic order can feel â€Å"at peace† at the cost of no longer being human. c) Gregor’s transformation One of the most insignificant creatures for human beings are the insects. If a person calls another individual â€Å"fly, ant, or insect† it is the same as stating that they are not important. Gregor’s transformation into an insect represents a reflection of his pre-existing feeling of insignificance. Gregor becomes despised by all of the humans that surround him including his family. Insects are repellent and filthy, and are viewed as something for the exterminator to take care of. Gregor’s transformation causes repulsion all around. He is not simply feared and loathed but he actually evokes disgust in others. Therefore, Gregor’s transformation symbolizes the degrading state that comes when an individual becomes too involved in their job they lose their human characteristic; because they are driven by ambition they do not realize what is truly important. His job has demanded so much from him that Gregor is unable to continue working because he has given everything he had to offer. What is left of him is unusable, so everybody despises him. d) Gregor’s Big Boss In the story the big boss is tyrannical and Gregor would gladly have quit his job if it had not been for his parent’s debt. The big boss â€Å"sits behind his desk, talking down to his employees. † He symbolizes the main controllers of capitalism who push humans to work hard until their strength is absolutely gone and then hire other employees to destroy their life in the same manner. Whenever they feel that a person has served their best they begin to threaten them and create false accusations in order to fire them from their jobs. . Kafka is able to make something that is impossible seem plausible by including details in the story that humans can connect with. For example, Gregor’s metamorphosis becomes reasonable through the internal conversation that he has with himself. He says, â€Å"Oh what a strenuous profession I’ve picked! Day in day, day out on the road. Is a lot more stressful than the work in the home office and along with everything else I also have to put up with these agonies of traveling † He expresses his hatred for a job that makes him travel a lot, causes stress on him, and makes him lose awareness of who he truly is. The reader can identify himself with Gregor’s situation since many people today feel that they are insignificant like bugs due to their loss of identity created by a job that they despise. The story also seems rational due to the sequence of events that follow Gregor’s transformation. For example, the mom â€Å"faints† when she is exposed to Gregor’s presence and the father become irate. Society views females as weak and males of bad tempered therefore their reactions seem very plausible to the reader. The fact that the family is worried about financial burdens helps the reader believe that the story is possible as well. The distance that exists among family members also serves as a detail that helps the reader believe that the story can be true. 10. The story, The Metamorphosis, is can be interpreted as biblical allusion to Jesus. There are several episodes that occur throughout the story in which the reader is reminded of Jesus death. For example, when Gregor’s dad roles â€Å"the rotten apple in his back† the story is alluding to the way that Jesus was whipped by the Roman soldiers who despised Jesus. Gregor’s dad repudiates his son’s appearance and attacks him. Mr. Samson represents the people who despised Jesus for being different. Gregor dies when the clock chimes three times, and according to biblical interpretation Jesus dies at three pm. According to the bible Jesus did not eat anything before he died, and Gregor decides to starve himself because he feels that he is a burden to his family. The charwoman â€Å"tried to tickle him† but when she saw that this had no effect she â€Å"poked him. † The way in which the corpse is violated reminds the reader of the way in which Jesus body was mutilated by the Roman soldiers after his death. Gregor’s death occurred in late March, which is the time in which Jesus was executed. Therefore the story can be interpreted by some to be a religious allegory by connecting it to Jesus death. 11. Grete represents and emerging artist who despite the obstacles that are placed before her she able to develop a skill that helps Gregor gain his human characteristics despite his physical condition. In the story when Gregor hears the violin he us touched in a completely new way. Kafka explains, â€Å"Gregor, drawn to the playing, had ventured a bit further out, so that his head was already sticking into the parlor. Only a true musician has the ability to capture the audience’s attention to the extent of having the desire of leaving their comfort zone. Though Gregor is literally an insect he is the only one who understands and feels the redeeming power of art. When he hears the violin his past and his love for his sister come back to him. Art saves him from his apathy remindin g him of what he has been missing his family. Unlike the insect Gregor in whom music bring out the best it is the other in failing to appreciate art, that are something less than human. 12. The economic effect on human relationships explained makes the story universal. Many families throughout the world view the person who provides for their financial needs as a source of income rather than a family member that needs love. In the story Gregor loses his identity because he has become imprisoned by his job. When he is no longer able to work he is neglected and despised. Once the family begins working they also have a difficult time communicating with each other. The evenings became â€Å"usually very hushed† and they would eat dinner â€Å"in silence. Many modern families throughout the world are unable to share dinner and converse with their family members due to demands of their jobs or school work. Some children view their over-working parents as a means for obtaining their materialistic desires rather than their dose of love and care. The exhaustion as a consequence of a dehumanizing job and the belief that people are valuable as long as they earn a salary kee ps anyone who works isolated from others and unable to establish human relations with them.