...meaning of the color white. Because of this imagery, the formalist criticism can be used to further analyze the text. Formalism analyzes texts under the assumption that we will only understand a text within the writing’s own form. The imagery of the “whiteness of the whale” consumes the entire 42nd chapter of Moby Dick. Because white, in many cultures, is associated with beauty and goodness, Melville talks about the images of white marbles and pearls and how the whiteness these objects make them more desirable. Not only does white depict beauty but it is also a symbol of power and dominance. For example Melville refers to the color white as the “imperial color”, mentioning white man’s dominance over “every dusky tribe”. To further illustrate the “goodness” of whiteness Melville relates the color to the “innocence of brides”, and the divineness of the wild white horse. Another attribute Melville associates with whiteness is “holiness”, mentioning that all priests wear. The color white symbolizes many different positive characteristics throughout this chapter. Melville mentions the association between this color and traits like innocence, purity, and goodness. Immediately after discussing the goodness of whiteness, he identifies that the color can also have a negative connotation. The color white also serves as a serious contradiction in itself as it makes things that are awful and evil in nature seem pure and righteous. For example in animals such as the white shark and the polar...
Words: 510 - Pages: 3
...color white. Because of this imagery, the formalist criticism can be used to further analyze the text. Formalism analyzes texts under the assumption that we will only understand a text within the writing’s own form. The imagery of the “whiteness of the whale†consumes the entire 42nd chapter of Moby Dick. Because white, in many cultures, is associated with beauty and goodness, Melville talks about the images of white marbles and pearls and how the whiteness these objects make them more desirable. Not only does white depict beauty but it is also a symbol of power and dominance. For example Melville refers to the color white as the “imperial colorâ€, mentioning white man’s dominance over “every dusky tribeâ€. To further illustrate the “goodness†of whiteness Melville relates the color to the “innocence of bridesâ€, and the divineness of the wild white horse. Another attribute Melville associates with whiteness is “holinessâ€, mentioning that all priests wear. The color white symbolizes many different positive characteristics throughout this chapter. Melville mentions the association between this color and traits like innocence, purity, and goodness. Immediately after discussing the goodness of whiteness, he identifies that the color can also have a negative connotation. The color white also serves as a serious contradiction in itself as it makes things that are awful and evil in nature seem pure and righteous. For example in animals such as the white shark...
Words: 510 - Pages: 3
...Juxtaposition of White and Red What are colors? Why do we see them? How is it possible for our brain to make a connection with colors by having emotions? Color is part of the visible light spectrum and the reason colors appear is due to the pigment that is not absorbed by an object. The description of the reflection allows the eye to see the color and have the brain cells interpret the meaning behind that specific color. The effect of seeing and interpreting colors allows the human brain to cause an emotional response. Knowing that color is the base of how the human race judges and determines what to do next will help humans survive. A great example is when a tomato is bright red, our brain classifies it as ripe and ready for picking. But when the vegetable is green your brain convinces itself that the veggie is not ripe for picking to consume. When a teacher tells his/hers students to write an essay they are given a blank word document. The white page represents the new beginning of the student’s thoughts. Other times a blank page is represented as a thought that has yet to be composed, waiting for a start. Colors have various meanings in different cultures around the world. The most common representation of Red is evil or a sin. While White is commonly recognized as goodness and purity. Learning how dissidences of colors affect one’s emotion can help you show how you feel toward a loved one or help identify the meanings of color correctly. White: pure, new, seraphic...
Words: 1680 - Pages: 7
...If you commit yourself and your and life to God unconditionally you can rest assured, he will give you the grace and wisdom to handle every problem. The Color White and Psychology White represents light, purity or innocence, goodness, virginity, and considered to be the color of perfection. Ponder how white is traditionally worn by brides, to symbolize and convey the bride's virginity and purity. White is bright and can create a sense of space or add highlights to a small room. Designers often use the color white to make rooms seem larger and more spacious and can make a room feel cold, bland, and sterile. Rooms painted completely white can seem spacious, empty, and unfriendly. Hospitals and hospital workers use white to create a sense of sterility, goodness innocence, freshness, and simplicity. The color white represents a blank slate, symbolizing a new beginning or a fresh start; like a blank white page in your journal waiting for you to make an entry with the color of your choice. Through the expression of your thoughts, emotions, and feelings they represent a successful beginning and usually demonstrates a positive connotation signifying safety, purity, cleanliness, and...
Words: 1021 - Pages: 5
...White Privilege Karie R. Shepherd Ivy Tech Community College Abstract The study of sociology allows us to understand the relationship between people and other cultures along with racial and ethnic inequality. As we define culture by a set of norms and values, we can also study how these cultures can often change over time and attitudes towards racial and ethnic groups. Several concepts, such as prejudice, racial profiling, and white privilege can often change the way we think or view other cultures. These topics become more relevant as you read Tim Wise’s article “White Swim in Racial Preference” and force us to think about how these ideas are put into practice. How this short piece makes us initially feel or perhaps react to other cultures can say a lot about who we are as a person and our level of understanding and tolerance towards groups other than our own. As we study sociology we seek to explain social behavior and human groups and how social relationships influence peoples behavior. We also seek to understand how those relationships and behaviors can change and develop over time. To study sociology we need to look at theoretical ideas such prejudice, racial profiling and white privilege to gain more understanding of how society functions as a whole. Tim Wise’s article “Whites Swim in Racial Preference” speaks to the ideas that white privilege very much exists in the country and how the University of Michigan’s affirmative action sanctions essentially did nothing...
Words: 918 - Pages: 4
...White privilege otherwise known as white skin privilege is a term for societal privileges that benefit white people in western countries beyond what is commonly experienced by the non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. These privileges are unearned and are distributed based on values of the dominant group, which in the west is white people. According to McIntosh and Lee, whites in a society considered culturally a part of the Western World enjoy advantages that non-whites do not experience. This leads to the controversy over whether or not White people should be able to enjoy these privileges. The term denotes both obvious and less obvious passive advantages that white persons may not recognize they have, which distinguishes it from overt bias or prejudice. These include cultural affirmations of one's own worth; presumed greater social status; and freedom to move, buy, work, play, and speak freely. The effects can be seen in professional, educational, and personal contexts. The concept of white privilege also implies the right to assume the universality of one's own experiences, marking others as different or exceptional while perceiving oneself as normal. Some critics argue that the term uses the concept of "whiteness" as a proxy for class or other social privilege or as a distraction from deeper underlying problems of inequality. Others argue that it is not that whiteness is a proxy but that many other social...
Words: 286 - Pages: 2
...The White Man’s Burden 1. How is the black man described? a. The black people are described as being inferior. According to Rudyard Kipling line 8 they are”Half-devil and half-child”. He describes the black man as somebody who should be glad to be able to serve the white people and at the same time escape famine. “The White Man’s Burden” also makes it possible to prevent sickness (line 22). The black man ought not to have any aspirations (line 26). In the last stanza Rudyard Kipling says if the black man had tried to be a free man he would prefer to go back to slavery (stanza 4). 2. What must the white man do? b. The white man has to educate the blacks and suppress them because they are not able to handle their own lives. The white man has to look after the blacks. 3. What is the White Man’s Burden? c. The White Man’s Burden refers according to Rudyard Kipling to the very important job that the whites carry for the blacks. For example they teach them how to become real people like themselves. However, you can also interpret the phrase “The White Man’s Burden” as a burden of work that the black man carries out for him. 4. Analyse the illustration: d. The illustration shows a white man carrying a black man. In background there is a house which is situated on a hill. You also see a dead man in the foreground. To the left there is a ship. I reckon that the illustration should be understood literally. This is because it is closely related...
Words: 321 - Pages: 2
...long time ago, a child was born to a queen and king and she was called Snow White. When the queen died, the king married again. This new queen was wicked and hated Snow white. The queen gave orders that Snow White was to be treated as a servant. Snow White grew very beautiful and one day a Prince riding by, saw her at work and fell in love with her. The queen was beautiful too, and every day she asked her Magic Mirror, "Who is the fairest in the land?" and the mirror always answered, "You are the fairest one of all". But one day the mirror answered Snow White was the fairest in the land, and in a rage the queen gave orders to one of her Huntsmen to take Snow White into the woods and kill her. The Huntsman had a kind heart and couldn't do the deed so told her to run away. She fled into the woods where Seven little dwarfs lived. Their house was small and strange. Snow White entered the little house and finding it very untidy, started to clean up. Upstairs she found seven little beds. She was very tired and stretching out on one of the beds, was soon asleep. When the Dwarfs came home they were surprised to find Snow White and after some argument, decided to let her stay. She promised to cook and look after them. The Queen discovered where Snow White was living and disguising herself as a witch, took a poisoned apple and set out for the Dwarfs cottage. She gave Snow White the poisoned apple to eat and as soon as she bit the apple, she sank into unconsciousness...
Words: 364 - Pages: 2
...Topic: McIntosh, Peggy “White Privilege” The author made use of the phenomenon of male privilege to bring out the fact that white privilege is similarly denied and unconsciously protected. By describing how male privilege has rooted in our society, and how men denied this phenomenon by avoiding acknowledgement of the issue, the author explained the development of white privilege. According to the author, whites are taught not to recognize their privileges. They are disciplined in a way that they are unable to recognize racism as something that puts them at an advantage while as a result, put others at a disadvantage. They do not realize the existence of unearned skin privilege and therefore do not feel the need to stop it. By identifying the daily experiences granted by their skin privilege, whites can help themselves to reveal this distorted culture. They have to recognize the problem before they can lessen it and work to end it. The most obvious privileges are that white individuals are assumed to be affluence, civilized and morally neutral. The white community is perceived as a group of people who interact pleasantly and peacefully and that their country enjoys a widely represented state and its people enjoy many of its freedom. These perceived and unearned privileges are not only preserved from other people, they are also used as weapons to oppress others. However, even if white individuals do not approve the way which white dominance has been awarded to them, they...
Words: 508 - Pages: 3
...White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack Peggy McIntosh states that the privilege that Whites have is not seen as an advantage by them where as it is seen as an advantage by different races. Whites, as a race, do not take into account what they do not have to overcome in order to live life in the way that they do. This lack of acknowledgement of the domination that the White race has is closely related to the domination that males have in the US. If you are in this elite class you do not think of yourself as having more advantages, you just see others as having disadvantages. Unlike many individuals of the White race, McIntosh is attempting to place herself in the shoes of those that have a different skin. Her analysis of the factors that allow a White person to lead a life with less speed bumps is not all inclusive; however it does assist to paint a picture in the mind of the reader. Each of the 26 points may not fit in every sector of the US, although the most likely fit the majority of communities. When specifically we look at the African American perspective, it can seem that the world around them is not reflective of them. This melting pot that we call the US is still controlled by a dominate race, even though our population percentages grow smaller and smaller every year. McIntosh also references that the White races has an unearned entitlement and advantage simply due to the course of history and the mindset that it implemented since. When we speak of...
Words: 730 - Pages: 3
...White Privilege Racism has been prevalent since the beginning of time. Whites sometimes deny the existence of racial inequity unconsciously, not realizing that there is such a thing as unearned privilege. White males for example usually only think of themselves as males, whereas a Black man usually will always think of themselves as a Black male. Being the minority and part of societies out-group hinders those even if they are not being oppressed knowingly by their white counterparts, who should be educated and made aware of this unseen discrimination. Unearned Privilege Critical Race Theory Critical race theory examines society closely and partly signifies that racism is engrained in American society. Being White and part of the in-group is something critical race theory takes a look at, and is the other side of the coin of being racist, whether it is consciously or unconsciously. Whites in general are born with opportunities Blacks are not inherently given. It is a choice to be racist, but it is not a choice to choose your race, Michael Jackson excluded. The system of white privilege in North America has been long established, going back to when the Europeans came to this strange continent by accident. When the British and French set up colonies, they fought and oppressed the native americans, establishing dominance that carries on to this day, but not only with Native americans, but any other hyphenated group, ie African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Mexican-Americans...
Words: 1081 - Pages: 5
...with fair skin and blue eyes. She was so fair that she was named Snow White. Her mother died when Snow White was a baby and her father married again. This queen was very pretty but she was also very cruel. The wicked stepmother wanted to be the most beautiful lady in the kingdom and she would often ask her magic mirror, “Mirror! Mirror on the wall! Who is the fairest of them all?” And the magic mirror would say, “You are, Your Majesty!” But one day, the mirror replied, “Snow White is the fairest of them all!” The wicked queen was very angry and jealous of Snow White. She ordered her huntsman to take Snow White to the forest and kill her. “I want you to bring back her heart,” she ordered. But when the huntsman reached the forest with Snow White, he took pity on her and set her free. He killed a deer and took its heart to the wicked queen and told her that he had killed Snow White. Snow White wandered in the forest all night, crying. When it was daylight, she came to a tiny cottage and went inside. There was nobody there, but she found seven plates on the table and seven tiny beds in the bedroom. She cooked a wonderful meal and cleaned the house and tired, finally slept on one of the tiny beds. At night, the seven dwarfs who lived in the cottage came home and found Snow White sleeping. When she woke up and told them her story, the seven dwarfs asked her to stay with them. When the dwarfs were away, Snow White would make delicious meals for them. The dwarfs loved her and cared for...
Words: 627 - Pages: 3
...The White Tiger 1) The rooster coop is cages in the Delhi markets, with hundreds of hens and roosters stuffed in them. They can barely breath, and they emit a smell of terrified flesh. On top of the cage sits a butcher, showing of the organs of there recently murdered brothers. They smell the blood, and they see the bodies. They know they're next, but yet they don't do anything about it. The narrator tells that the exact same thing is done with humans in india. He compares the chickens living in a miserable condition, with the poor class in India. Ther're masters and there're servants. 99,9 percent of the Indian population is a member of the rooster coop. They are oppressed by the masters. They often get the chance to steal a black suitcase full of money, or something else full of value, and then they could just disappear and have a good life while being wealthy, but nobody ever does it. 2) The narrator doesn't describe the indians as honest people, but they are trustworthy because most of them are caught in the rooster coop, and nobody dare to break out of it. 3) The narrator indirectly tells that the police isn't credible. It is certainly not sure that they would give back the suitcase with the money to the right owners if it were in their custody. 4) The narrator doesn't sound very fond of the Chinese system. He has a bad attitude towards dictatorship, and describes China as a unpleasant place to live by saying: “(if you had something like the rooster...
Words: 647 - Pages: 3
...The White Tiger Summary The entire novel is narrated through letters by Balram Halwai to the Premier of China, who will soon be visiting India. Balram is an Indian man from an impoverished background, born in the village of Laxmangarh. Early on, he describes his basic story: he transcended his humble beginnings to become a successful entrepreneur in Bangalore, largely through the murder Mr. Ashok, who had been his employer. Balram also makes clear that because of the murder, it is likely that his own family has been massacred in retribution. In Laxmangarh, Balram was raised in a large, poor family from the Halwai caste, a caste that indicates sweet-makers. The village is dominated and oppressed by the “Four Animals,” four landlords known as the Wild Boar, the Stork, the Buffalo, and the Raven. Balram's father is a struggling rickshaw driver, and his mother died when he is young. The alpha figure of his family was his pushy grandmother, Kusum. Balram was initially referred to simply as “Munna,” meaning “boy," since his family had not bothered to name him. He did not have another name until his schoolteacher dubbed him Balram. The boy proved himself intelligent and talented, and was praised one day as a rare “White Tiger” by a visiting school inspector. Unfortunately, Balram was removed from school after only a few years, to work in a tea shop with his brother, Kishan. There, he furthered his education by eavesdropping on the conversations of shop customers. Balram feels that...
Words: 26039 - Pages: 105
...In The White Tiger, written by Aravind Adiga, tells the story of how the protagonist, Balram Halwai, managed to find success, becoming an entrepreneur in India, through the narrations in his letters to Wen Jiabao, the premier of China. Through the use of several literary devices such as characterization, setting, and imagery, the author illustrated how a simple man who grew up in an impoverished city as a lowly peasant was able to find success despite having known many whom were faced with the same struggles in life that remained in the slums of their nation that was ran by corrupt government officials. Balram grew up the town of Laxmangarh, a town home to many who live in poverty and unemployment where the opportunity to find work was highly...
Words: 993 - Pages: 4