The Fires of Jubilee written by Stephen B. Oates is a book written about a young slave life from prepubescents to adulthood, or better yet a young smart boy to an older anarchy inducing man. The setting of the book takes place in Southampton County Virginia around the 1800’s. The main protagonist being a young slave called Nat Turner. The author very briefly gives details about Nat’s life as a newborn, mainly giving a brief summary of who his mother is. His mother was purchased to be a slave by a man named Benjamin Turner, a wealthy tide water planter.
Stephen B. Oates “Fires of Jubilee”; recounts the violent events of the Slave Rebellion led by Nat Turner, he will always be remembered as the slave who started the rebellion. He started the rebellion only after he thought he received a sign from God. The events took place in Southampton, Virginia in 1831. One of the leading parts during Nat’s rebellion was religion; during the 1830s slaves depended on religion in order to get them through their days. Each slave had different rituals and different beliefs that they lived by.
Near the end of Mary Downing Hahn’s December Stillness, a novel about a teenage girl named Kelly who tries to get to know and understand a homeless Vietnam veteran named Mr. Weems, there is a tragic event. Mr. Weems is killed in what seems like a tragic accident. However, even though his death was tragic, it was not an accident. He, like many other war veterans, was severely haunted by the acts which he and others had committed in Vietnam. Due to the trauma of the war and losses he suffers in the course of the book, it is clear that Mr. Weems’ death was not an accident.
The Interconnectedness of Loss Losing someone is inevitable. Because of that inevitability, people find it hard to move on and forgive. Because of that inevitability, conflicts rise and when comfort and unity is needed, it is not there. Because of that inevitability, people are influenced to do things, whether negative or positive, to ease the pain that they know they have to endure. Just like this, Saints at the River is also conflicted in a similar way.
The ethical stance one has as an adult is more often than not the result of the cultural conditioning that one received as a child; however, as one grows to adulthood it is necessary for one to examine one’s ethics. A way that people can be made to re-examine their values is by reading thought provoking texts such as Steven B. Oats’ “Fires of Jubilee. ”The book reviews the accounts of the life of Nate Turner, who lead a rebellion against the slave owners of South Hampton County Virginia. Fires of Jubilee strike one with the philosophical question of when if ever does one have the right to take another person’s life, while at the same time reemphasizes that it is man’s most essential nature to try and escape from any place or thing that would
In the short story “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien, the main character Tim O’Brien gets a letter notifying him that he has been selected for the draft; he is affected by this emotionally, physically, and he faces a moral dilemma because this war goes against what he believes in. Immediately upon receiving the letter O’Brien thinks, “I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, too everything. It couldn’t happen. I was above it” (1003).
A Psychoanalysis on The Wars In human history, war has greatly affected the lives of people in an extremely detrimental way which can be understood in Timothy Findley’s novel The Wars through a psychoanalytic approach in character development and their deterioration; the readers are able to identify the loss of innocence intertwined between characters, the search for self-identity in the symbolic and metaphorical aspect, as well as the essence of life. Those that are not able to overcome these mental challenges may develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or Rape trauma Syndrome, and sadly, some resort to suicide as the last option to escape their insecurities. However, soldiers are not the only ones affected by war; family members also face
Shame in the Face of the Public Consequences of crimes are often unfit or unjust, but public humiliation serves as a fit consequence to any situation. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Lydia Woodyatt’s “The Power of Public Shaming, for Good and for Ill,” and Herbert Wray’s “The Two Faces of Shame,” the authors convey the effectiveness of public humiliation. Public shaming is effective by impacting a person’s character through guilt and embarrassment. Public shaming became a way of reshaping human character.
The novel focuses on coping with the death and horror of war. It also speaks volumes about the true nature of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the never-ending struggle of dealing with it. In the
Wolf proposes the sane deep-self view states that for an individual to be morally responsible for some action they have committed, if and only if (1) this individual is able to control that action by their desires, as well as such desires are governed by their deep selves, and (2) the individual’s deep self is sane. Consequently, Wolf’s proposal evidently proves why JoJo cannot be held responsible for his actions committed. Hence, JoJo is an insane individual. For one to be considered sane, Wolf claims one must have an idea of what one is doing and to have beliefs/values that correctly correspond with the way the state of the world is. JoJo’s beliefs and values essentially do not match up with how the state of the world is and thus he is considered insane and is suffering
Throughout “Incarnations of Burned Children”, David Foster Wallace uses symbolism, diction and syntax to foreshadow the story’s ending. The subtlety of Wallace’s symbolism is not revealed until the baby’s life concludes. There are two major items that resemble a bigger meaning in the story. For example,the author constantly mentions a hanging door which symbolizes the child’s fate. The Daddy constantly tries to fix the door as well as his son’s fate.
Through the use of imagery, Yasunari Kawabata creates a still, quiet, and serene atmosphere in his short story ¨Girl Who Approached the Fire.¨ The story starts with the description of a lake: ¨The water of the lake glittered in the distance. It was the color of a stagnant spring in an old garden on a moonlit evening¨ (para. 1). The description of the lake compares its color to that of a static time unaffected by the world. Kawabata´s diction in the second sentence engenders the image of stillness in a uneventful area. The word ¨stagnant¨ leads to the thought of stillness.
“Insanity: n. mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior” (Hill). This definition describes the narrator, a sweet yet deadly man, of “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe seamlessly. (Appositive) A few prominent characteristics demonstrate the narrator’s insanity, and those include his motives, his actions, and his thoughts.
Unsoundness Of Mind.. Insanity is defined in many ways. It’s all up to the person and their point of view. The actual definition of insanity is “a mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior. Insanity is distinguished from low intelligence or mental deficiency due to age or injury.” (via http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=979) The narrator from the short story “The Tell Tale Heart” is a lot of things.
Fire symbolizes the compelling emotion of the characters, and fire is portrayed throughout the novel to capture the growing passion of specific characters. The two most significant occurrences of fires in the novel are both situated at Thornfield Hall; and both are caused by Bertha Mason. The first occurs at the end of Volume 1 (Chapter 15), when Bertha sets fire to Mr Rochester’s bed and clothes, and the second is at the end of Volume 3 (Chapter 10), when Jane learns that Bertha managed to burn down the whole of Thornfield by setting fire to what was once Jane’s bedroom; and she succeeded. Bertha Mason, who has no control over her feelings, is a pyromaniac. The inferno at Thornfield illustrates the danger of letting passion run wild.
