Joe once thinks of selling his land to the Devine owning to the financial problems in raising his family. However, after much persuading by Ruby Archuleta and Charlie Bloom, a progressive lawyer who fights for the rights of the villagers, Joe decides to continue to work in his beanfield despite all the difficulties he has to endure. The Devine keeps on oppressing him by sending its minions to thwart Joe’s efforts to irrigate his beanfield. In one of the incidents, the Devine tries to accuse Joe for allowing his cow to graze the grass of the Federal Government, but fails miserably as Joe is advocated by the villagers who exculpate him from the acrimonious allegation. With the help of Charlie Bloom, Ruby and the villagers, Joe becomes the hero of the village, the leader who successfully suppress the evil land developer’s movement.
Corruption runs rampant in Packingtown, the town where Jurgis and his newly immigrated family work in the meatpacking industry. The Jungle’s heavy-handed symbolism alludes to the theme of corruption. For example, the animals represent the workers themselves; while the workers are the cattle, “each in a separate pen … leaving them with no room to turn around,” the wealthy capitalists are the “‘knockers,’ … watching for a chance to deal a blow” (Sinclair, 39). In other words, the capitalists are taking the workers lives
The McFarland community is widely made up of poor farmers who pick fields day and night in extreme weather conditions for minimum wage. Further, the runners also help their parents pick crops from a young age while also attending school. Coach White is astonished when he comes to know that they do not pay the farmers “by the hour. [They] get paid by the field.” (McFarland USA).
Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony is a multidimensional novel full of Laguna symbols and themes that are easily overlooked in a casual reading. Like many of the elements in this work, Josiah's spotted cattle can be interpreted in multiple ways: as cultural metaphors, spiritual representation, and racial mixing. Silko's depiction of the spotted cattle creates a strong metaphor that links them closely to the Lagunas, illustrating the animosity the Laguna tribe has with the white Americans. While at the same time drawing a close connection between Tayo and the spotted cattle.
These men worked hard herding, branding, and tending to cattle from sun up until sun down. However, over the years the image of the cowboy has been blurred by media. Often times when someone thinks of cowboys they think of a vicious gunslinger who is always looking for a fight. In reality, many cowboys could not even afford a gun. Regardless, throughout Kelton’s novel, The Day the Cowboys Quit, he was able to effectively portray the correct speech patterns, distinguishing characteristics, and lifestyle of the Texas
The novel concerns the disappearance of the cowboy in the wake of an increasingly urbanized American society, and the attempts of John Grady to resist it. He does this by heading southwest into Mexico, where he hopes to maintain a pastoral lifestyle. however, what John Grady discover there, is a world also subject to change. This modern catastrophe meant for a cowboy was his disappearance.
All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy, is set in Texas right outside of the Mexico border. The book opens with John Grady, a sixteen year old boy, attending his grandfather’s funeral. John Grady has grown up on his grandfather’s ranch, and now that he has died the mother is going to sell the unprofitable ranch. John’s parents are separated at this time, his mother longs for a better life off of the ranch while his father is a professional gambler. His father seems to have lung cancer, but this is not directly stated.
Instead of having a good paying job on an oil rig in San Angelo, John Grady still wants to search for his own country. Despite the ending of “All the Pretty Horses” is not a happy one, John is finally able to mesh his romanticised ideals with the real world. Even if the Earth does not provide for a place anyone, John decides to make his own place by refusing to back away from his ideals and instead chase after them. He would much rather attempt to live the life he wants, rather than adopt a life made for someone
The book is undoubtedly most known for exposing the meat industry as endangering the American populace, bringing food inspection to the “forefront of American consciousness”, and leading to the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act (Lerner). This is undoubtedly noteworthy- after all, it is the first exposé on the food industry and the well-deserved reason why the novel is so frequently mentioned in history textbooks. However, the true purpose of The Jungle is to serve as a “round of ammunition in the battle for social justice” and advocate the use of “individual progress put to use for the common good”, making it an important criticism of capitalism and a part of the Progressive Era (Napierkowski & Stanley). Because it exposes injustices which America has yet to remedy, there is relevancy to the text and, therefore, a need to read it in classrooms. The reformist nature of the times is effectively captured through Sinclair’s descriptions of the meatpacking industry and its unfair treatment of workers in a dramatized way that differentiates it from other muckraker texts (Bielakowski).
When thinking of the wilderness one might picture a scene from a camp site. Untamed dense forest, and endless jungle probably come first to mind and although this might be one meaning of wilderness, Mellor’s perception of wilderness and pastoral opens our thoughts on how we view the unpredictable and the known. In “Lure Of The Wilderness” by Leo Mellor, he shows the meaning of the unexplored wilderness and the surprises that come with the unknown, while humans try to tame what is wild and create a pastoral environment around them. Mellor’s writing helps understand hidden aspects in the short story “Wild” by Lesley Arimah, when Ada is blindsided with a plane ticket to visit her aunt in Africa. She travels to a place mostly unknown to her, besides the relatives living there.
In his 1995 essay “The Trouble with Wilderness,” William Cronon declares that “the time has come to rethink wilderness” (69). From the practice of agriculture to masculine frontier fantasies, Cronon argues that Americans have historically defined wilderness as an “island,” separate from their polluted urban industrial homes (69). He traces the idea of wilderness throughout American history, asserting that the idea of untouched, pristine wilderness is a harmful fantasy. By idealizing wilderness from a distance, he argues that people justify the destruction of less sublime landscapes and aggravate environmental conflict.
The reader gets to join McCandless in his adventure across the country as he invents a new life for himself. He embraces the ideas and morals of Thoreau and Emerson in his journey. In the book, a man by the man by the name of Westerberg discusses about how McCandless is not destroying his possessions and journey around the wild because the wild he is suicidal or unintelligent. “You could tell right away that Alex was intelligent… He always had to know the absolute right answer before he could go on to the next thing.”
The leader of which is known as Fletcher. He is the main antagonist of the entire story. Constantly trying to make deals with, or forcefully drive the settlers out of the valley and out of their homes. When Shane 's arrived in town though after Joe sent him to pick up supplies, Fletchers quickly realizes that with Shane being on
Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild investigates the life and adventures of Chris McCandless. The author provides information about Chris’ life to illuminate his journey. Krakauer also uses rhetorical appeals to defend Chris’ rationale for his journey. Through Krakauer’s use of pathos, ethos, and logos, he persuades the audience that Chris is not foolish; however, Krakauer’s intimacy with Chris and his adventures inhibits his objectivity.
McCandless and McCunn's ventures into the wild had similar intentions and strategies. Although, the outcome of their ventures were slightly different. Both men displayed a certain degree of common sense. They were both friendly, curious, responsible, educated and intelligent men. Having fairly average lives, with big aspirations for their future.
