Archives for 2004

In the play “Antigone”, Sophocles at first portrays Creon as a just leader. He has good, rational reasons for his laws and punishments. By the end of the play Creon’s hubris, or excessive pride, has taken over him, which leads to his demise. He does not realize how bad his hubris has interfered with his dealing of problems until Teiresias’s prophecy. By then it is too late. This is the path of a tragic character. The character has a hamartia, or tragic flaw. More often then not that tragic flaw is excessive pride, hubris. The character then goes through a peripetia, which is an ironic twist where the character realizes that things will not turn out the way he expected. Finally, the character has an anagnorisis, which is their epiphany that makes them realize their hamartia and see their place in the universe. Creon is the tragic character in the play “Antigone”.

Creon’s tragic flaw, hubris, causes his downfall. Creon will not listen to anyone. He is stubborn and his pride is so great, he can not bring himself to acknowledge that he could ever wrong. When Creon is talking to Teiresias, he thinks that he is being paid off. He does not want to believe he could be wrong about Antigone. Creon even says, “Whatever you say, you will not change my will.” Creon also has a self-righteousness and cockiness, a feeling a he is superior to all. “The State is King!” says Creon, which shows that he even thinks he’s better than the gods are. Creon has too much pride, and the gods do not like that. Creon’s hubris causes his downfall.

Teiresias’s prophecy reveals that Creon is doomed and can not escape fate. When Teiresias tries to make his sacrifice it won’t burn and the birds are fighting, which isn’t a good sign. This means that the gods are angry about something. He also says, “Think: all men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.” Creon has chances to make up for his wrongs and let Antigone free, but he chooses not to because of his pride. This also shows that Creon is doomed. Teiresias also says, “You should be able to yield for your own good.” This is one thing Creon can’t do. Creon is stubborn and reluctant to back down from his laws. He has to look like a strong, unyielding leader, which is a problem. A strong leader would also be able to recognize his faults, but not Creon. Teiresia’s prophecy shows that Creon is doomed and can not escape fate.

Creon finally realizes that his hubris has not let him effectively deal with his conflicts. Creon has his epiphany and even says, “I have been rash and foolish.” He finally acknowledges that he has let his pride take over for the worse. Creon also realizes that it was his fault Haimon dies. He would not listen to Haimon and take his advice. Creon almost seemed like he wanted Haimon to be angry so he put Antigone in the vault. He couldn’t see that Haimon was in love and Antigone was just trying to honor the dead because of his hubris. Creon also says, “My own blind heart has brought me from darkness to final darkness.” This shows he knows he didn’t use his brain top solve his problems. He was already heading the wrong direction with his pride and it finally was too much. Creon’s hubris has not let him effectively deal with his conflicts.

Creon goes through all the phases of a tragic character. His hubris doesn’t effectively let him deal with his problems. Teiresias’s prophecy is the peripetia and Creon finds out things won’t go the way he planned. Finally, Creon has his anagnorisis and realizes that his hubris has brought his downfall. Creon is truly the tragic character in “Antigone”.

There advantages and disadvantages of the Terror as an instrument of the French Revolution on the common folk had to be cautious, foreigners who were confused, and leaders of the revolution who should have concentrated the many other problems in France.

The Terror kept made common people fear for their lives. General Ronsin, a leader of the Revolutionary Army, said in a letter that during a rebelling in Lyon over 400 rebels were killed. This would serve as an example to anyone thinking of rebelling. A chart shows the percentage of people killed in France, and 68% of the people killed were peasants or part of the working class. Those two classes were the easiest to target because they were a majority and could pose a threat, not that they were likely to. Camille Desmoulins, a journalist, writes, “Could you make a single man perish on the scaffold without making ten enemies for yourself from his family or his friends?” This makes a good point that the government makes more enemies as they kill more people. The enemies the government made weren’t very likely to rebel, but they were accused of conspiring against the government and were killed. Public opinion collected by the government showed “that they acquit the innocent and punish the guilty, although murmurs are heard among the public at their judgments”, which showed that the people didn’t really agree, but couldn‘t do anything about it. One citizen thought that good people were imprisoned. Another citizen said, “The law is just, it strikes rich and poor indiscriminately.” He was really being sarcastic and meant that the rich were overlooked but the poor were watched very carefully. One last citizen said that “there is no section in Paris which is not dissatisfied with its revolutionary committee or does not seriously desire to have them abolished.” The Terror was a disadvantage for the common people.

The Terror made the foreigners confused, but it also made them intimidated. Charles James Fox, a reformist of Parliament, said “What a pity that a people [the French] capable of such incredible energy, should be guilty or rather be governed by those who are guilty of such unheard of crimes and cruelties.” He thought that it was wrong that people were being killed when there were better ways of dealing with their problems. William Pitt, who was British Prime Minister, said in a speech to Parliament, “Their efforts are merely the result of a system of restraint and oppression, the most terrible and gigantic, that has, perhaps, ever existed. …what rational prospect can their be of the permanence of their exertions?” He didn’t understand why France was doing this to itself. Britain and all the countries that were at war with France at the time must have been scared of being killed so they left the country, which was an advantage of the Terror.

The leaders of the revolution should have dealt with their other numerous problems and not worry about themselves. They kept themselves and higher ranked people safe during the Terror. A chart shows that nobles and clergy only made up 10% of the people killed during the Terror which proves that they were a lot safer off than lower ranked people in society. Maximilien de Robespierre said, “To good citizens revolutionary government owes the full protection of the state; to the enemies of the people it owes only death.” This means that the country was just ridding itself of its “bad people” to solve all its problems. Ironically, most of France’s good citizens were high ranked people in society. Louis Antoine de Saint-Just talked about how there were tons of problems in France and the Terror was the biggest problem. How could the government not realize this? The Terror was an advantage for the revolutionist leaders, but not for France.

There advantages and disadvantages of the Terror as an instrument of the French Revolution on the common folk had to be careful, foreigners who were puzzled, and leaders of the revolution who should have dealt with the numerous problems in France.

Equations

y1=.0001x+5|x>-7.5 and x<-4.5

y2=.0001x+7|x>-5.5 and x<-4.5

y3=x+12.5|x>-7.5 and x<-5.5

y4=-7.4cos(-1/1.75x-.25)|x>-4.5 and x<2.5

y5=-7cos(-1/1.9x+.8)|x>-4.5 and x<-.4

y6=-10x-7|x<-.28 and x>-.8

y7=.0001x+.85|x>-.85 and x<2.5

y8=‰(.5-(x+3.1)^2)+3

y9=-‰(.5-(x+3.1)^2)+3

y10=‰(.5-(x+2.6)^2)+1.25

y11=-‰(.5-(x+2.6)^2)+1.25

y12=‰(.5-(x+2.1)^2)-.5

y13=-‰(.5-(x+2.1)^2)-.5

y14=‰(1-(x+.5)^2)-5

y15=-‰(1-(x+.5)^2)-5

y16=‰(.75-(x+1.75)^2)-2.5

y17=-‰(.75-(x+1.75)^2)-2.5

y18=‰(.75-(x-2)^2)+4

y19=-‰(.75-(x-2)^2)+4

y20=‰(.75-(x+.25)^2)+3

y21=-‰(.75-(x+.25)^2)+3

y22=1/2x+7|x>.5 and x<2.75

In the book Of Mice and Men, it is evident that the friendship between George and Lennie is strong. They have each other and that makes them different from all of other characters. They are not necessarily stuck in the circle of all ranchers; they have a chance to go onto bigger things. The story takes place during the Great Depression. Finding a job and remaining optimistic was hard back then. Lennie and George work through the though times together and remain happy with each other’s company. Through this, Steinbeck reveals the theme that hope and companionship is necessary to survive.

Candy shows that companionship and hope are necessary to survive. His best friend and lifelong companion were his sheep dog. He grew up with him herding sheep when he was young. That dog gave Candy reason to live. He didn’t have much hope because of his age, but because Candy had a friend, he could live happily. Unfortunately, not everybody was so tolerable to the “dragfooted sheep dog, gray of muzzle, and with pale, blind old eyes.” The dog smelled so Carlson shot it, taking away Candy’s companion. This left Candy without a friend and much hope. He was down in the dumps until he heard George and Lennie talk about the farm that they are going to own one day. This brings Candy’s hope up and he has something to live for once again. He spends all his time planning how their farm is going to be and the jobs they are all going to do. He can’t stop thinking about it. Unfortunately, his dream is crushed when Lennie does a bad thing. Candy is once again just a normal rancher without hope or a real friend. He will live the rest of his life unhappy. Candy shows that you can’t survive unless you have hope and a companion.

Crooks also proves that hope and companionship are needed to survive. He even says it himself; “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. I tell ya a guy gets too lonely and he gets sick.” This is something that Crooks would know, because he doesn’t have any friends. He is black and living during the Great Depression, and unfortunatley there was intolerance for black people back then. He is also crippled, which doesn’t help. Crooks would take any friend he could get, even someone as crazy as him. That’s why he lets Lennie in his room, then he at least has someone to talk to, even if they don’t make any sense. Just being around other people that treat him equal makes him feel good. When he hears about George, Lennie, and Candy’s plan to buy a farm and live of the fat of the land, he gains hope. He thinks that he can escape the world he is stuck in and becomes optimistic for a short while. Curly’s wife immediately gets rid of any hope he had by reducing him down to nothing. When she yelled at Crooks, he “drew into himself.” After she’s done yelling at him, everyone leaves and he is back to being alone without hope. Crooks shows that hope and companionship are necessary to survive.

The fact that companionship and hope are necessary to survive is well demonstrated by Lennie and George. They have each other, which separates them from the other men. The other ranchers don’t have anyone “that gives a hoot in hell” for them. Slim says, “Ain’t many guys travel around together. I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.” There is a lot of truth in this, because there was competition for jobs during the Great Depression. Most men were just trying to do the best they could for themselves, as it was hard to find work and earn money at the time. It was also their instinct to compete and be wary of others that could challenge for their job. George and Lennie teamed up instead of turning on one another. Lennie was big and strong, so he could do hard work. George was smaller, but he was smart, friendly, and crafty, which George lacked. These characteristics paired together enabled them to find a job together and stay out of trouble, for the most part. Their companionship gave them hope. Since had a job and were making money, they had a dream of one day buying a farm of their own. This dream helped to keep them working together; thinking that one day their fantasy might come true. They came very close to accomplishing their goal, but their hopes were destroyed by someone without hope or companionship, Curly’s wife. Because Lennie and George had a friendship and hope, they had a chance.

All of these examples show that you need a friend and hope to live happily. George and Lennie had each other, and just having that company gave them a chance to go onto bigger things. They also always had someone to talk to, which Crooks lacked. Crooks wasn’t happy because he didn’t have and real friends. He was also black, which didn’t give him much hope of going on to greater things. Curly had his dog, which gave him company, and then he took part in George and Lennie’s dream of owning a farm. Unfortunatley for him both of these things that made him happy were taken away and he could not live a good life any longer. Companionship and hope are needed to survive.