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A Hope In The Darkest Of Times Analysis

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A Hope in the Darkest of Times Imagine living in a grand mansion in the center of once lively Moscow. Except twenty strangers live in your living room fighting over your expensive belongings. Also, none of it really belongs to you anymore. It now belongs to Communist Russia. This is exactly what happened to Yuri Zhivago and many other Russian families during the Revolution. Throughout the story, Yuri’s life changed from being an orphan living in the cold frontier of rural Russia to being apart of a wealthy family from the city center of Moscow. Everything changed as the Bolsheviks, a Communist cult who opposed and killed the Tzar, transitioned the country from a place of culture and beauty to a region of poverty and death. All in all, Doctor Zhivago was a story of great love and loss with many elements of symbolism including the use of the balalaika as a symbol of hope, the fall of wealth through the Gromeko family, and the rise of Communism through the analogy of Pasha and Stalin all of which highlight the horror of the time period and examine how Russians clung to hope in the darkest of times. The balalaika, a musical instrument appearing much like a guitar, exempting its …show more content…

Stalin, which literally means “steel”, is responsible for millions of deaths of his own people through the ruthless labor camps he created to punish those that did not comply to the Communist lifestyle. Pasha, better known by the people of Russia in Dr. Zhivago as Strelnikov, was a symbol of Stalin. His cold nature and absolute belief in the system mimic the likes of the Soviet Union’s “Man of Steel” himself. Pasha was willing to give up his life for the cause, which he thought was best for Russia. Much like Stalin, he rose through the ranks of the system and eventually became the leader of the whole

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Post WWl, Russia was still not industrialized, suffering economically and politically and in no doubt in need of a leader after Lenin’s death. “His successor, Joseph Stalin, a ruthless dictator, seized power and turned Russia into a totalitarian state where the government controls all aspects of private and public life.” Stalin showed these traits by using methods of enforcement, state control of individuals and state control of society. The journey of Stalin begins now.

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When it comes to wartimes at colleges, reflections from alumni often help one understand how real the changes that took place at universities actually were for those involved. In their book, “Hope at the crossroads: The War Years”, Nordstrom and Zuidema go into the depth of personal experiences to understand what it was like to live, work, worship, and study at Hope College during and immediately after World War II (WWII). When it came to life on campus, many things changed. Sororities became places for the girls to knit and sew for the Red Cross, programs were made to allow students to graduate a year quicker, and intercollegiate sports, including The Pull, were ended during these times in the 1942-1943 school year. Working on campus, at least

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896 Words | 4 Pages

By ravaging the countryside, the famine not only destroyed millions of innocent human beings-estimates range from 4 to 10 million-but also retarded by generations the natural evolution of Ukrainian nationhood. The traditional Ukrainian values of hope, individualism, and hard work disappeared. Fear, apathy, and alcoholism became the hallmarks of the collective farm. Cities of Ukraine remained bastions of Russification. In general, the traumatized survivors found themselves voiceless cogs in the huge bureaucratic machine that the Soviet union had become….”(Document

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Throughout Russia’s history, there have been many rulers that tried to manage their country in different ways. Even though, all of these rulers had their own unique ways of ruling, all of them were seen as terrible by the people. This eventually led to a tipping point for the Russian citizens and the Russian Revolution took place. The goal for these people was to gain freedom from their oppressive czar but instead, they got an even worse leader. Joseph Stalin was a leader of the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1953 and he was known for his ability to strike fear into people.

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777 Words | 4 Pages

A New York Cartoon really summed up how life was during the Cold War. This cartoon illustrated a nice day with a family sitting outside relaxing on the lawn. One of the people says, “oh, dear, I’d really be enjoying all this if it weren’t for Russia.” This cartoon proves that no one could be happy or focus with the constant fear of communism taking over or the Cold War to enjoy

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1274 Words | 6 Pages

He once again connects himself to the audience by telling about the things he has lived through, like world wars, revolutions. He also speaks specifically to Russians by telling them he has lived through the same tragedies as they have. Once he fully connected to his audience, he began to attempt to sway them. He speaks on the state of the world, and says “Today' s world has reached a stage which, if it had been described to preceding centuries, would have called forth the cry: "This is the Apocalypse!"(Solzhenitsyn 146) Which accurately describe the emotion of the time. Many people, especially in the Soviet Union, were scared for their way of life.

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The theme I chose to best represent these quotes is “Hope in the face of devastation”, because throughout all of the hardships the Jews endured, they kept their hopes up with their strong beliefs for salvation. The Jews tried to lift up other Jew’s spirits by telling them to be strong and to believe that they will survive. Strong beliefs in their ability to survive, helped the Jews to last in the concentration camps longer. The theme of hope even during all of the devastation surrounding the Jews is depicted throughout the novel.

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The nature of Russian society is characterized by a sense of idealism. Russia’s beliefs of the potential for an ideal future have been pervasive throughout history. In 1920, Yevgeny Zamyatin wrote the short story “The Cave” during the midst of the Russian Civil War, a time when nationalism was at an all time low and people were hoping for a brighter future. In contrast to the goals that sparked the revolution, Zamyatin argues that the Russian Civil War will result in a primitive and decimated society that is ultimately worse off than the society that existed prior to the rebellion.

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Hope Tricia Downing is a world class athlete who has the love and passion for cycling. Trisha was one of the best female cyclists in the country. Her luck then changed when she was struck by a vehicle while on a cycle trip one Sunday afternoon. Trish was rushed to the nearest hospital where she had learned that she suffered from a T-4 spinal cord injury during the wreck.

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640 Words | 3 Pages

“Anthropology has always called for a participatory experience, but in this ethnography, we are asked to become part of the action, sharing the risks as well as the rewards of success.” The novel, “The Uprising of Hope” written by Duncan Earle and Jeanne Simonelli, expresses the Zapatista journey to alternative development. Before we express the Zapatista journey to alternative development, we must know who and what the Zapatista’s stand for. First, all Zapatista’s have some sense of disjuncture from the past, a profound distrust of the government based on repeated betrayals, a hope and faith that life can change with sacrifice to the larger social cause, and a profound love of the campesino small holder lifestyle.

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This highlights the still present class system in Russia. Even though serfs had been freed they were still being treated as the lowest class, but in turn they were still free to vote and do everything any other free Russian citizen could do, in theory. Things were still unequal and life was hard for the serfs. Serfs who had recently been freed had no means for income and struggled to provide for their families. This arrangement worked in favor for the Russian government because the freed unemployed serfs would join the army and help Russia fight.

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1086 Words | 5 Pages

In the early twentieth century, Russia was undergoing large changes in society, government and economics, that would inevitably affect their future as a country. Before these changes could come around, there was hardships, labour, and a desperate need for a revolution. This all occurred during the rule of the Romanov family. Though the family ruled for three centuries, the last ever Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, deeply contributed to their fall and the end of their power. With a combination of his incompetence and inexperience of being a leader, the reputation he gained amongst his subjects, his neglection towards the people of Russia and his personal beliefs, Nicholas’ presence as Tsar had great effect on the decline of the Romanov dynasty.

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930 Words | 4 Pages

In the article, Hope Beneath Our Feet, edited by Martin Keogh, expresses all the tension that we face about where our world has come to. Each article in this book has a diverse amount of insight on personal responsibility. It teaches us several ways we could live a better lifestyle in this time of an environmental crisis. This book is a great way of helping others realize they are capable of so much more than they think. Martin Keogh uses the “Hope Beneath Our Feet” to represent our own possibilities as individuals.

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Joseph Stalin was and still is universally known for his harsh leadership in the Soviet Union. To examine the extent of his cruelness, World Civilization II: The Rise and Fall of Empires© 1500-present stated, "Stalin was not a communist; he was a sociopath. He enjoyed hurting people and ordering their deaths. In his time as dictator of the Soviet Union, he was responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of his people, and the cruel torture and imprisonment of millions more" (Sattler, 71).

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Today, my experience at Spirit of Hope was very beneficial and eye opening. I am astonished, how much the horses that we worked with have taught me things. Not only did these horses teach me things, they also solidified things I knew about myself. Some of which are being more assertive when dealing with a new “difficult” patient and to take time for myself; too often I put my time into assisting a patient that I don’t get time from a lunch break. This is dangerous to the patient and myself because I am not fully present; as I am thinking about merely the next time I will get a chance to eat.

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