Sexism

In the United States, we have mostly done away with the idea that women are incapable of doing many of the jobs normally worked by men. Sure, in some places you’ll find that this idea still, just like racism, can still be found. Sayings and phrasing of sentences have been puffed up and changed around so that everything can be “PC” or “politically correct”. We wouldn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings now, would we? What happens when somebody forgets to watch what he or she says, and winds up speaking exactly how he or she feels? Lawsuits ensue.

In some parts of the world, such as Iran, women are forced to cover themselves with long robes in front of strange men. Because of this ancient law or tradition, Iranian women cannot take part in international competitions. Twenty years ago the regime in place now made veiling obligatory for all women. In 2005 over eighty women registered to run for president. And all were rejected on the basis of sex.

In the United States we nearly had a female president just this year. Closer, at least, then any other attempt made so far. In many Latin American countries there are female presidents in office right now. Where you are can definitely determine the extent of sexism, if any, and why.

One major thing that contributed to a breakthrough against sexism in America was during World War I, when many men went off to fight, and women were forced to take up jobs. Women stepped up to the jobs their husbands, fathers, and even brothers left behind. They proved themselves just as capable of work as the men they filled in for and replaced.

Bruce Wayne, one of the wealthiest men in the world, spends his nights dressing up as the Batman, and beating criminals to a pulp with his bare fists. He breaks bones and laws, not caring how many, as long as his targets are brought to justice.

Batman terrorizes criminals in the night, but even though he is doing the city a favor, some citizens look on him with hatred. The Joker is a big cause of this hatred. Innocent people are being killed, and the Joker claims the killing will stop if Batman will simply reveal his true identity. If he does this, Batman becomes just a crazy man in a suit, instead of the symbol of justice that he is.

Even though Batman does not die in the story, he is a tragic hero because he puts himself through much suffering to save citizens that don’t appreciate him for it. This would be ok if they praised Batman, like Superman, or Spiderman are praised. Instead, he attends a press conference, where people shout out against Batman, expressing their hatred towards him. Batman’s greatest pain is when he goes to save Rachel, only to discover that the Joker sent him to the wrong building, and while Harvey Dent lived, Rachel died.

One could conceivably argue that Batman is also an anti-hero, because of all the laws Batman must break to do what he does. When the Joker tells Gotham City that citizens will die every day that the Batman does not turn himself in, the citizens turn on Batman. Basically, Batman does not receive the praise and thanks he deserves.

Underground Man's reasoning

The underground man is an interesting character, to say the least. He was once a social worker, but he quit that job when he inherited 5,000 rubles from a relative. 5,000 rubles is not that great a sum of money, but it is enough to live relatively comfortably.

He informs the readers, the readers that he doesn’t intend to exist because no one will read this book, that he is attempting to tell the truth because he is writing this for himself. He wishes to tell the truth as best he can. Even though he claims to be trying to tell the truth, he constantly tells us that what he just said was a lie. Not only that, but it constantly appears that he is actively trying to deceive someone. Perhaps he also lied about not lying to us? Nearly everything he gives us is immediately contradicted, because he can’t decide on any one thing. Any course of action he chooses never happens because following through with that choice would mean limiting himself to one course. One path. He hates this idea. The idea that “twice two makes four” is troubling to him, because he does not wish to be examined as a mathematical equation.

The age of enlightenment was in full swing, giving us reasons for everything. Even the way our minds work has been defined. The underground man resents this idea mostly because that would take away our free will. This limits us. He is very much against limits, which is why it is so hard for him to get anything done.

Underground partayyyy

The underground man has somehow managed to distance himself from his schoolmates. Zverkov, a childhood enemy of his, is going away to be married, and the underground man invites himself to the going-away party. Even though he realizes that he should not go to the party, he decides to go, simply because he shouldn’t. Zverkov made fun of him, for no apparent reason, and because Zverkov was rich, and popular, this made others, who had no quarrels with the underground man, insult him as well, in order to put them in Zverkov’s favor.

The underground man wishes to show Zverkov and his posse that they were wrong to shun him, and that he is a friend worth having, yet once at the party, they still seem to hold him in contempt. After telling us that he intends to impress them with his knowledge, Mr. Ferfitchkin calls him out on this and, the underground man denies it, saying that this is not the place for such things. He is not accepted by the group, and ultimately embarrasses himself by staying in their company.

Numerous times he adamantly decides upon a course of action, such as leaving them, yet because of whom he’s has revealed himself to be, he does the opposite. He wishes that at least one of them could show him the slightest amount of respect, but they pay him no heed. He grows more and more agitated as the night wears on, no one addressing him, all of them concentrating intently on Zverkov. He drinks a lot, and says stupid things, showing his feelings openly. His lashing out at them is not really a challenge, but a call to them. Why would none of them accept him? He wonders this to himself, yet he remains with them in the hopes that some time over the course of the evening one of them might at least acknowledge his presence.

Beowulf Vs. Luke

The hero’s journey does not always follow the same path. The greatest difference between Beowulf and Luke Skywalker is what age they come from. Both are supposedly from a long time ago, yet Luke lives on some futuristic world, while Beowulf lives in an age of Vikings and swords. In Star Wars, Luke’s heroic setting, we do not see our hero until a back-story has been revealed. This is also the case with Beowulf who only shows up after some background info and a short lineage.

Once the backgrounds of the stories have been provided for our heroes they finally make an appearance. In Beowulf we are told that our hero is the hero by the guard standing watch on the Danish shores. Beowulf is described as a strong man in a hero’s armor. His own armor. He tells people that he intends to help them with Grendel, their besieger, without weapons. He does so and sends the monster back to it’s cave, after ripping one of it’s arms off with his bare hands. He lives up to his reputation, and makes himself known well on this foreign land.

Luke’s journey is different in Beowulf’s in that Luke is asked to help save Princess Leia, whereas Beowulf must requested permission to go fight Grendel. And even after Uncle Ben begs Luke to assist, he tells Ben that he can’t go because he must help his Aunt and Uncle. Only after Luke returns his wrecked home is he willing to go with Ben to save the princess.

Both of these heroes undergo the steps of a hero’s journey, yet they follow different paths to get there

Rooster Cogburn

Rooster Cogburn is a large man, with an eye-patch. We’ve learned, so far, that he is a sheriff in this town. The first we see of him is unloading a cartful of prisoners that he has captured. They are led from the cart and, pausing a moment too long, one of them is roughly kicked from behind by Rooster Cogburn. By the time we really see much about him for ourselves, he has been given a reputation as a drunk. Despite this bad habit, he appears good at his job.

At least, he’s good at rounding up convicts. In the courthouse we learn that after only four years on the job, he has killed 23 people. He’s shot even more then that. He’s reckless and, even though he gets the job done, it’s not always done in the most professional way. It is clear that Rooster Cogburn is a dangerous man, and when he is prosecuted, the judge says something about him being sworn for life, or something along those lines, which leads me to believe that this is not the first time, or even the second, that he’s been at the witness stand. They’ve gotten annoyed with having to swear him in each time, so now he’s permanently sworn in. The girl wishes Rooster Cogburn to hunt down the man that shot her father, yet with the way the man handled the previous discrepancy with the girl’s father, it is doubtful that Cogburn will bring the man back alive.

Theme in Othello

Othello, Desdemona, Cassio, Rodrigo, and even Emilia are dead at the end of this play. Even Iago, the weaver of the lies that bring this body count, is supposed to be tortured and killed at the conclusion of the book. All this destruction is the product of Iago’s jealousy of Cassio. When Othello appointed Cassio as his general over Iago, who took it personally. This is what started Iago on his evil master plan, which consists of getting Cassio fired from his position as Othello’s Lieutenant, and Othello angry with Desdemona. Iago’s words are like poison in Othello’s ear. He plants ideas in Othello’s mind and allows him to believe they are his own. The Moor sees “proof” of Desdemona’s falseness in every little thing she does. It does not help her case when she pushes and pushes Othello to reinstate Cassio as his lieutenant. Unfortunately neither she nor Cassio know of Iago’s poisonous lies telling of their alleged affair. The Moor becomes more and more distressed as he sees more and more false proof of him becoming a cuckold. One reason Iago’s accusation of Cassio works is that Cassio is everything that the Moor is not. He is white so he is an insider, as opposed to Othello, who is the only dark skinned man we hear of in the play. One strange part of the play is that not only are Othello’s and Rodrigo’s motives fueled by jealousy, but Iago’s lies stem from his own jealousy of Cassio and anger at Othello for promoting Cassio over himself