...“As a mother, I say it would have been a terrible thing… But as a woman, I will tell you there is only once that you love that way.” These words are uttered by Katie Nolan to herself after being presented with her daughter Francie’s broken heart. In Chapter 54 of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the author, Betty Smith, introduces us to Francie’s first love and first heartbreak in the course of two chapters. After helping an engaged man named Lee around New York and being called his “best girl”, Francie is swept off her feet. However, she is soon met with agony and pain when she is sent a letter from Lee’s wife. Her first response is to call to her mother, Katie. Unexpectedly, Katie greets her with honesty and truthfulness, for she too can relate...
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...The Failure of a Mother What are the responsibilities of being a mother? And how do the actions of a mother affect her child’s future? In the short story, “The Rocking Horse Winner,” by D.H. Lawrence, we are introduced to a mother by the name of Hester, who lacks all maternal instincts and characteristics her children need and desire. Hester is a woman overwhelmed with greed and embraces a corrupt fixation of luck and money. Due to her materialistic and selfish needs, Hester fails her motherly duties of providing love, protection, and the ability to thrive to her children and ultimately, causes the death of her son Paul, who tried too hard to earn her affection by trying to prove he, himself, was not a failure. When the story begins, Lawrence gives a vivid description of Hester’s true identity, a mother incapable of loving; “Only she herself knew that at the center of her heart was a hard little place that could not feel love, no, not for anybody.” Although she was externally beautiful and sustained a lavish lifestyle, her standards were never met due to the fact that she believed wealth and happiness was the result of luck, which she did not have. She was more concerned with her persona perceived by society rather than the feelings towards her children. Many described her as a “good mother who adores her children;” however, “only she herself, and her children themselves, knew it was not so. They read it in each other’s eyes.” Hester’s son Paul was determined to please...
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...never loved her does she make the decision to leave, so that she can find closure and make peace with the memories she has of her mother.. This is only one example of how Lily’s foggy memory affects her present actions. Almost every decision that Lily makes throughout the entire book is driven by her need to make good with her past. To clarify, because Lily does not know the full truth about her mother, and is left only with one bad memory of her, she is motivated by the possibility of being able to reconcile with Deborah. “...and she would kiss my skin and tell me I was not to blame.” (pg.3), this quote proves Lily’s wanting to somehow rectify things with her mother. Wanting desperately for August (someone who was once close to Deborah) to love her, for example, is another way that Lily tries to make amends. Sue Monk Kidd’s novel “The Secret Life of Bees” tells the tale of 14 year old Lily Owens, a young girl who is constantly plagued by the memory of accidentally killing her own mother at four years old. The story is built upon this event which functions as the basis for many of the novel’s main themes and...
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...of the Deads. In contrast, Pilate is the embodiment of independent women, motherly love and Southern values in an industrialized capitalist North. She does not value social norms and rules and rejects adaption to it. Morrison describes Pilate as a character contradicting to standards in society by her outer appearance and her home at the outskirt of town. Her self-made earring, her short hairs, and her shabby outfits distinguish her from mainstream and express her uniqueness. Furthermore, her female-centered home where she earns her living by making wine indicates...
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...PHIL 225: Philosophy of Love & Sex Essay #1 (20%) Due Nov. 28 in class (no electronic copies accepted) 5% per day late penalty (late papers can be left in drop off box outside K201) Answer one of the following topics in an essay of approximately 1200-1500 words (4-6 double spaced pages, 12 pt. font, 1” margins). Avoid plagiarism by using your own words and making sure to cite sources properly using a well-known format such as APA or MLA. ** you must cite at least 2 peer reviewed sources not including our textbook (i.e. go to library) 1. Explain the philosophical and social/cultural significance of various mythological/religious narratives of the origin of love and sexual desire 2. Human desire is born of a wound/cut/separation in human nature. Discuss this statement with reference to Erich Fromm, Genesis and Aristophanes’ speech on love. 3. Discuss various religious, cultural, or philosophical arguments for or against homosexuality. 4. Discuss the views on Love by Erich Fromm (erotic love) and Harry Frankfurt. What do they have in common? How does each argue that true Love is different from lust/infatuation/falling in love AND motherly/charitable love? 5. Discuss the idea that universal love (Agape) is or is not (e.g Freud) the basis of civilization. 6. In Leonore Tiefer’s and Michael Ruse’s articles we have a couple of critiques based on pointing out that established ideas (i.e. that sex is a natural act & the Human sexual response cycle) have little or...
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...Cathers, Emil and Carl can be compared to one another through the theme of love. Carl and Emil are both round characters and you see many different sides to them thought the novel. Carl, who is a shy scronny teen in the beginning of the book comes back in the end as a developed man who seems to know more about him self and has his prioritys set. Emil, in the beginning of the book is too a small child whos cat climbed up onto a telegraphe pole and won't come down, but when he has grown up he is a smart, tall, athletic man, who goes out in life and accomplishes many great things. Carl and Emil are both very similar, but two big similaritys are there love to and from Alexandria, and there lovers in the novel. Carl and Emil have big part in the plot of O' Pioneers, especially with Alexandria's life. Both Carl and Emil are greatly loved by her and she shows that in different ways. Carl, who she has loved sense they were both kids, is her significant other."" The love she has for him is way different, and less extreme then she has for Emil. Never the less, with out Carl, Alexandria would be less of what she became and not as near as sucsessful. Emil on the the other hand, is Alexandrias pride and joy. She raised him like a son and showed motherly love towards him. When he dies Alexandria is sapped of life because of the extreme love she felt for him. Both Carl and Emil shape Alexandria's life with there love for her. Carl does it by helping her become the women she became to be...
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...connections in Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement As early as in Chapter One, McEwan introduces the theme of human relationships and love. The Tallises – Emily and Jack – have been married for years and their wealthy household gives off the impression of stability. However, they do not see much of each other – Jack’s job with the government keeps him busy in preparation for the coming war and he spends more time in London than at home. Emily’s sister – Hermione – is going through a divorce and is spending time in Paris with her lover. Later, we find out that the marriage of Robbie’s parents – Grace and Ernest Turner – is also unsuccessful: Robbie’s father has left the family when Robbie is six years old without any explanation and has never been heard from. The central relationship the novel follows – that between Cecilia and Robbie – is filled with as much passion as with confusion and despair: internal factors, their insurmountable emotions, and external factors, their stark class discrepancy, seem to draw the characters both near and apart until their end. In the course of the novel, other relationships also suffer detrimental effects: Lola fails to properly follow her motherly duties with her brothers which alienates them from her; she also comes across as domineering over Briony in her desire to play Arabella which pulls them apart; Jack Tallis renounces his love and support for Robbie after the latter is accused; and, most importantly, as a result of her part in Robbie’s disastrous...
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...In the play, “A Doll’s House,” by Henrik Ibsen, we see a man and a woman who have a seemingly wonderful life together in their home with their children. Soon into the play, we learn the strength of her love that she has for her husband through her actions. She proves her love for Torvald by forcing her father’s signature on the promissory note, stating that she would pay back every penny that she owed from borrowing money to move her husband south to Italy when he fell ill. Throughout this story, it is no surprise that Nora is deeply in love with Torvald, considering how much she has done for him and to hide her secret to protect his “manhood.” However, Torvald sees Nora as nothing more than a trophy wife, just a puzzle piece to the picture of a perfect family. In my opinion, I prefer the original play’s ending, where Nora ends up leaving Torvald, her children, and her entire life behind to start a new one. She feels she has become too alienated from religion and law and that for years she has lived for her husband and now it’s time she live for herself. This ending, rather than the ending where Nora decides to stay, makes the play. The entire play is just building up to this moment, when Nora, who has done nothing but love Torvald, retaliates and stands up for herself. “…I was simply transferred from papa’s hands into yours. You arranged everything according to your own taste, and so I got the same taste as you-- or else I pretended to, I am really not quite sure which--I...
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...family’s dignity and honor differentiates her from Abraham as a more believable character. Abraham’s character seems unbelievable because he is willing to kill his own son without questioning and hesitation solely because God asks him to. In Genesis chapter 22, God commands Abraham to take Isaac, Abraham’s only son, to the land of Moriah and offer him as a sacrifice to God. Hearing this supposedly shocking and inhumane order, Abraham does not question God at all. He appears to suffer neither mental disturbance nor sorrow of losing his only son; he simply accepts the order with unexplainable ease. Isaac was born when Abraham was one hundred years old, and Abraham’s wife, Sarah, was ninety years old. One would expect that Abraham cherishes and loves his late...
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...A consideration of the growth of the female of Hong Ying’s “daughter of the river” Name: Guokun He Student No: 5904913 Paper: Chin 343 Lecturer: Dr Haixin Jiang Brief outline: This essay takes <Daughter of the river> for an example to analyze the growth of the female in the early 1960s. <Daughter of the river> is written by Hong Ying and published in 1997. With raw intensity and fearless honesty, Daughter of the River follows China's trajectory through one woman's life, from the Great Famine through the Cultural Revolution to Tiananmen Square. From the perspective of content, the novel adopts autobiographical components based on the author's own life experiences, involving in the physical and psychological crisis of the protagonist. This essay will take different examples discuss the growth of female in the modern Chinese literature. outline: 1. Introduction Daughter of the River is a memoir of China concerning the growth of the female in the early 1960s written by Hong Ying. Born during the Great Famine of the early 1960s and raised in the slums of Chongqing, Hong Ying was constantly aware of hunger and the sacrifices required to survive. As she neared her eighteenth birthday, she became determined to unravel the secrets that left her an outsider in her own family. At the same time, a history teacher at her school began to awaken her sense of justice and her emerging womanhood. Hong Ying's wrenching coming-of-age would teach her the price of...
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...Love is natural, but it is not easy. Finding out the true meaning of love is one thing, but understanding it is another. Love is difficult. It is cruel, out of balance and weakened by betrayal, but it can also be kind, accepting and beneficial at times. In the revolutionary tragic play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the complicated impact of love is significant on the passionate, violent and often desperate lives of the citizens of Verona. The play emphasizes true love and its consequences between the main characters, Romeo and Juliet, as well as significant others. Shakespeare exhibits love in its many complex forms, demonstrating how true love has significant potential, but it requires heavy sacrifice. Romeo and Juliet are the star crossed lovers who take their own lives; their fate calls them to be together and the role of destiny is a powerful influence from the start of the play. Although the Capulet’s and Montague’s would not approve of their children’s love, Romeo and Juliet are convinced that they can overcome the hatred and feud; they are willing to shed their old lives to be together. Juliet is willing to go to any lengths to pursue her love interest, “Deny thy father and refuse thy name;/ Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,/ and I’ll no longer be a Capulet” (II, ii, 34-36). Juliet experiences a personality change throughout the play as the love she encounters towards Romeo encourages her to rebel against her family whom would not approve of the young...
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...Importance of Friendship In Lisa See’s novel Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, protagonist Lily, a young girl longing for love, is paired with a laotong, or old same, and begins an emotional relationship meant to last a lifetime. Snow Flower, Lily’s old same, influences the young girl’s personality and character through her actions. The inspiration from her laotong provides Lily with the confidence to take risks and live for herself, not others. As her old same, Snow Flower passionately loves Lily like no one had before, and in doing so teaches the young neglected girl to show affection to those she cherishes. Although a secondary character, Lily’s laotong, Snow Flower, provided inspiration and love that critically shaped Lily’s personality. Old sames forever, Snow Flower’s childhood actions shape Lily’s life by inspiring a usually timid and proper Lily to take risks later in life. In the beginning of their laotong relationship, Snow Flower’s ability to fly against the traditional ways presented to her encouraged Lily to do the same. Exhilarated by Snow Flower’s bravery, Lily often wanted, “to cling to her wings and soar, no matter how intimidated I was” (61). Snow Flower’s courageous ability to take risks and chances caused a hesitant Lily to covet her laotong’s perilous actions. Providing Lily with an example at a young age helped model Lily into a carefree woman, who tended to hesitate less when taking chances. After receiving an embroidered baby jacket as a gift...
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...Parental Love and Friendship What is Love? Love can be described in so many ways and there are several different types of love that are displayed throughout “Romeo and Juliet” such as unrequited love, romantic love, love of family honor, parental love, and friendship. However this essay will focus on the last two, parental love and friendship. Parental love is exhibited between Nurse and Juliet several times in the first couple acts because the nurse is like a second mom to her. Friendship is exhibited between several characters but this essay will focus on the friendships of the Nurse and Juliet and the relationship between Romeo and Benvolio. One may have specifically chosen the types of love, parental and friendship, because they are able...
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...The letter showed the motherly love and care she had for her son. Adams uses an encouraging tone to let her son know that he will have support while he face adversity. Through the letter readers understand how much love Adams have for her son and how much she want the best for...
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...As a son of a United States diplomat John is expected to owe his “existence” and to “add justice, fortitude, and every manly virtue which can adorn a good citizen.” The importance of being an American is greatly enforced through these eloquent sentences which indicates that Adam is not only speaking from a mother's perspective, but from an American perspective. Her patriotism leads a concept that one must honor their native country in order to improve their quality of life. Subsequently, Adam closes the letter as his “affectionate mother” similar to how she started it. The love and care a mother has for a child never dies. In the end, Adam creates a mother-son appeal through compassion and influential advice on how to learn from experiences, which can further the growth of John's...
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