Extended commentary of The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy Essay Example for Free

Extended commentary of The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy Essay On the title: A thrush is a bird; plump, soft-plumaged, small to medium-sized, often inhabiting wooded areas. They feed on the ground or eat small fruit – but aren’t famed for their songs. Examples include a robin. ‘Darkling’ is an archaic word for ‘a creature of darkness’ or ‘in the dark’. Hardy uses it in its latter sense – the bird appears in a very gloomy scene, at the end of the day, at the end of the year (and century, for that matter). It also has negative connotations as well, however – for obvious reasons. Potential other implications: ‘darkling’ is perhaps used to create a diminutive form of the thrush (like a ‘duckling’). Other critics have identified the title as explaining, or preparing the reader for the unexpected advent of the bird half way through the poem, appearing into the scene from nowhere. Perhaps Hardy was attempting to use an antiquitated word to further demonstrate the bird is bringing joy to a dark land, and that there exists an enormous time difference between the new century and the old? Overall Structure: Hardy uses four regular eight line iambic stanzas; in either ‘tetrameter’ or ‘trimeter’, depending on the length of the line. This meter creates a poetic lilt, with alternate stressed feet. It seems very out of place in such a depressing poem we must question why this is. Does it reflect the hope expressed at the end of the poem, or prepares us for it? Or does it tell of an oddity within the persona; is his negative manner actually genuine – perhaps we shouldnt accept the persona’s judgment/emotions to the same extent as hed like us to? His choice of rhyme scheme and meter along with the harsh subject fail to match up. Themes: Time (passing of century), Isolation, Man and the Natural World. Difficult Language Notes: ‘Darkling’ – discussed above. ‘Illimited’ is an archaic form of ‘unlimited’. First and Second Stanza Notes: As usual, Hardy presents us with an image, this time of a landscape – a depressing one, at that. This poem was published at the end of the century – 31st December 1900 (Hardy was one of those people who believe that a century is complete when the hundredth year is over.) It is very cold and frosty and the day is growing to a close. It really is the end of a century. And Hardy presents us with a very clear image of death – he later personifies the Century itself as being dead. The first two stanzas are full of death-language: 1. â€Å"When Frost was spectre-gray†. A clear example of ghost imagery (‘a spectre’). This line is of interest on its own, due to the obvious personification of ‘Frost’. This is a good place to make a key note about the poem itself. Throughout, we discover a distinct Hardy-esque style; the environment is unpleasant and it demonstrates his usual antics in animism. Hardy develops complex (and often deeply personal) symbolic systems which deal almost exclusively with the natural world. The reader is made personal with non-human entities like frost and birds but avoids people – even the persona is a subject avoided in great detail. 1. Back with the ‘death imagery’, â€Å"The weakening eye of day†; a comment on the darkening sky – the day is dying. 1. â€Å"All mankind that haunted nigh† – haunted is clearly a reference to death and ghosts. Hardy is commenting on the lack of human life in his scene; they â€Å"had sought their household fires†. A further indication of the low temperature. Is it a hint that the world is ending? Or is that just a little extreme? In any case, note how the rest of humanity are seeking light in an otherwise dark environment. The second stanza contains an extended metaphor involving the dead century, but we need to examine the first stanza more before moving on. Hardy’s persona is leaning upon a coppice gate – a gate into a small woods or ‘coppice’. It is a highly ambiguous persona (another thing to explore), but he leans nevertheless. The scene is wintry, indeed, along with Frost, Winter is personified equally – â€Å"Winter’s dregs made desolate/ The weakening eye of day.† The dregs of the season indicate a very cold atmosphere; one without much colour. Clearly this has emptied the scene of any colourful sight upon which the â€Å"eye of day† weakens. The day is ending; thus dusk darkens the scene. â€Å"Tangled bine-stems scored the sky/ Like strings of broken lyres†. As before mentioned, the persona is standing in woodland, thus â€Å"Bine-stems† are tree branches. Hardy’s comparison of them to broken lyres is interesting. Lyres are a) harmonious in Classical literature and b) belong only in Classical literature. Hardy is clearly stating that the scene is not ‘harmonious’ or perhaps the ‘death-lament’ later mentioned isn’t. Or is it also a reference Hardy’s romantic passion for the past, that it was somehow better than the day in which he writes? Second Stanza Notes: The first four lines of this stanza deal explicitly with Hardy’s ‘dead Century’ metaphor. He imagines the land before him as â€Å"the Century’s corpse outleant.† Quite what ‘outleant’ means, I have no idea, (The OED has confirmed that ‘outleant’ is not, nor ever has been a word) but â€Å"his crypt [becomes] the cloudy canopy† (the cloudy sky) and â€Å"the wind his death-lament†. One need not explain it in any more detail; the implications are quite explicit. Hardy’s persona clearly didn’t approve of the past century, but had yet to indicate an emotional reflection on the future. He imagines England as a rotting corpse, essentially. However, note the use of the verb ‘seems’ – is all as it seems? However, Hardy goes on to write even more damningly of his persona’s scene. ‘The ancient pulse of germ and birth’ – the regenerative power of life, following Winter’s onslaught – ‘was shrunken dry and hard’. Nothing appears to be growing back – is this another indication of the end of the world, or certainly of an era. Hardy appears to be making the simple change of an arbitrary number into something quite different, and more serious. A degeneration of life itself. Indeed, â€Å"every spirit upon earth/ Seemed fervourless than I.† Very negative. Observe how silent the description is up to this point in the poem. There is an implied sound in both the death-lament and of broken lyres, but otherwise, the sound is non-existent. That changes soon. Here comes the VOLTA. Third Stanza Notes: â€Å"At once a voice arose among The bleak twigs overhead In a full-hearted evensong Of Joy illimited;† Hardy emphasizes a sudden change with the words â€Å"At once† – indeed, there are multiple changes which create this volta: * Note the sudden inclusion of sound – the thrush is singing! This breaks the poetic still (of death) which has held the poem so far. * The length of ‘sentence’ also changes. Note the semicolon at the end of these four lines above. Previously, each quatrain had completed with a full stop. Perhaps Hardy is opening up his poetic form to mirror the sudden movement in the lines themselves. The use of enjambment accentuates this. There are perhaps religious connotations with ‘evensong’. Much as Hardy may simply be again referring to the mundane fact that the bird is singing a ‘song’ and ‘eve’, we pray that the man is capable of higher minded comparisons. These vaguely religious nuances are maintained throughout the poem. The crucial fact is that the mood has changed, perhaps. â€Å"Of Joy illimited† suggests a pleasant image, which stands in stark contrast to the surrounding gloom. â€Å"An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small, In blast-beruffled plume,† Yet the mood is suddenly plunged back into the red with Hardy’s following lines. The thrush, which is, admittedly, a very odd bird to chose (not famed for their song), is an elderly figure in a storm – hence the ‘blast-beruffled plume’. In this otherwise grim situation, the reader’s immediate concern is whether the bird itself is going to survive at all! The use of â€Å"frail, gaunt, and small† mirrors the ghoulish imagery used in the first two stanzas – the thrush is alive, for certain, but perhaps the persona questions for how much longer? Note how the thrush is NOT personified. Every other element of the natural world takes an animated form, but not the bird! Why does Hardy do this? â€Å"Had chosen thus to fling his soul Upon the growing gloom.† Perhaps desperation is the key word in this stanza, but also hope. There is a powerful message in the face of this ghoulish bird; that, in spite of all the darkness and death, the thrush maintains his song. Stanza Four Notes: â€Å"So little cause for carolings Of such ecstatic sound Was written on terrestrial things Afar or nigh around,† Once again, Hardy’s use of enjambment allows for the lines to ‘bleed’ into each other – in a direct contrast to the poem’s former rigidity. Perhaps he is now gathering momentum for a change in mood? Yet, in terms of sense, Hardy appears to be doing the opposite. He states that the bird has no reason to be singing a joyful song amongst so much desolation. However, perhaps, by even considering such a fact, the persona’s own deep-rooted pessimism is beginning to shift away? On some key language points: * Note more religious emphasis: ‘carolings’ typically sing hymns at Christmas time. Hymns are definitely religious! * Perhaps there is an equally religious connotation which Hardy applies to his comments on the ‘terrestrial things’. If there is not any cause for singing about things on Earth, then perhaps, reciprocally, there is cause for celebrating the sky, or heaven? â€Å"That I could think there trembled through His happy good-night air Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew And I was unaware.† It is a rather ambiguous ending upon which Hardy chooses to conclude, but he achieves a sense of dramatic effect through it. The persona realises the presence of (a perhaps religious) hope, in the fact of utter desperation, but it is unintelligible to him. In an odd way, the reader is forced to consider whether the persona is being entirely accurate: * Can one be unaware of something, yet still able to write about it? * Does this tell us that the persona, as a Modernist, is able to perceive such an uplifting messages but unable to interpret them in such a way as to ‘release’ himself from the ‘dark’? Hardy himself was a modernist and therefore dwells upon an odd lot of ideas. Amongst them was ‘searching for hope/meaning to darkness and cruelty’. Despite being a realist, he was deeply influenced by Romantic notions (look them up) – perhaps this exploration is one of them? * The use of ‘blessed’ again implies a deified presence within the thrush’s message. Is the persona experiencing some divine inspiration?

Changes to Crime Rates in the UK

Changes to Crime Rates in the UK Crime has devastating consequences to the economic and social dimensions of any country. Unfortunately despite increased efforts to fight crime halting it seems to be impossible. Slack (2009) points out that official crime figures indicate that the country has the worst rate essentially for all types, or categories of violent crimes when compared to the United States and other countries that appear on the list of the most dangerous countries in the world. Hicks and Allen (1999, 5) indicate that the figure of homicides which include offences of manslaughter, murder and infanticide have doubled since 1960s however, the state that recorded crime fell considerably in the 1990s. They assert that the rising trend of crime that was reported began in 1954 seemingly declining starting 1992 when reported crime peaked. Nonetheless the British Survey reports show the 1990s estimates of unreported crime as standing at fifty six percent and thus making it unclear whether there was indeed a decline in the 1990s. Additionally the rate of crime might have not reduced since statistics show that the average prison population has been increasing since 1940s to approximately sixty five thousand in 1998. Nonetheless the police insist that the crime rates have been declining over the years starting that they did peak in 1995 but have steadily reduced since especially due to government efforts. Home office (2008) statistics also indicate crime rates peaked in 1995 but have since dropped by 42 percent. In 2009 police reports show that crime decreased by five percent when compared to 2007/2008 rates while BCS reports show no significant change in the rates. NIMS (2008) are however of the idea that the overall crime rates have been decreasing over the past few years although some years have experienced slight increases in the rates. In general from the reports it can be concluded that on average the rates of crime have slightly decreased. On the most recent figures, what percentage of all crimes recorded by the police do the following constitute: Murder? Rape? Theft? Car theft? 2008/09 provisional data by the police show 648 occurrences of homicide. This is the lowest recorded figure in the last twenty years. Attempted murders, whose figure stood at 621 in 2007/2008 decreased by approximately forty six incidences or seven percent in 2008/2009. While there was a decline in the homicide offences that involved sharp instruments by approximately 18 incidents, attempted murders that involved knifes rose from approximately 245 to 271 incidents. Generally, of all crimes that the police recorded in the period 2008/09 murder accounted for less than two percent of them. Police records also show that while sexual offences recorded a 4 percent drop women rape increased by 12,000 cases which translates to five percent. Additionally car theft accounted for thirteen percent of all the crimes committed in 2008/09 (Home Office 2009, 16). On the most recent British Crime Survey figures, what is the most commonly experienced form of crime? According to Home Office (2009, 16), British Crime Survey statistics present property crime as the most common misdemeanor experienced by individuals. Property crime accounts for nearly eighty percent of the crimes that were recorded by BCS. Nevertheless this current figure is still lower since the high or peak point in 1995. What is meant by clear-up rates? Tarling (2008, 148) explains that while crime rate refers to the total figure of crimes that the police recorded per 100,000 people, clear up rate is described as the percentage of crime recorded that is solved or detected by the police. Home Office (2009, 131) clarify that the clear up rates may not be definitive indicators or measures of the police investigative performance and thus need to be evaluated or interpreted with care. Give examples of variations in clear up rates between crime categories. What reasons might be given for these variations? According to Home Office (2009, 131) just like in the previous years there was a variation in the clear up rates for the distinct crime types in 2008/09. For instance there was a 95% clear up rate for drug offences but 11% for vehicle offences. Additionally while the clear up rates for burglary stood at thirteen percent, criminal damage rates stood at 14%, robbery at 21%, fraud and offences at 28%, sexual offences 31% and violence against persons 47%. One of the main reasons that have been given for these differences is the nature of crime. For instance drug offences which record the highest rate are easy to clear since they are relatively straightforward to handle; to deal with an offender in possession of such substances a warning may simply be issued to the delinquent. However the rates are much lower in offences against vehicles or burglary since the offences typically come to light much later or days after they have been committed and the offenders have disappeared from the crime scene. Crime mix and the methods that are put into use by the police to detect the various offences can also lead to a variation in the clear up rates. What is the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) and why is it important? The NCRS provides general rules and regulations for recording offenses and has been approved and adopted by police forces since 2002 in England and Wales. It requires that all incidents reports whether from witnesses, third parties or victims and whether crime linked or not need result in an incident report registration. The NCRS represents the government attempt to overcome crime recording variations and provide accuracy and consistency in data entry between police divisions and forces. It is also important since it is meant to provide reliable data that is used to measure and compare police divisions and forces performance creating room for improvements (Hallam 2009, 38-41). NCRS also allows a crime recording approach that is victim oriented allowing the forces to fairly serve the populace. Which groups in the population are most at risk of becoming victims of violent crime? The general characteristics of adults that are susceptible or are most at risk of being violent crimes victims has not changed over the years. Essentially the overall risk of one becoming a violent crime victim in the period within 2008/09 was reported as being approximately 3%. Reports also indicate that males were twice as likely as women to become victims of violent crimes. According to the BCS survey the figure for men that had fallen victim to such crimes a year before the analysis stood at about 4 percent compared to 2% for women. Therefore the risk is highest for men than women. In addition risk of facing violent crimes for men decreased as their ages increased. Risk levels were found to be less than 1% for men that were sixty five years and older while those aged between sixteen and twenty four had a risk calculated at 13%. Similar trends were observed in females although the risk rates differed, with those between sixteen and twenty four facing a risk of about 5%. The unempl oyed people risk of becoming victims to such crime stood at 7.6 percent while that of the employed people was recorded at approximately 3%. Unmarried males and females (7.6 percent), students (8.6 percent) and individuals with mixed ethnicity (7 percent) also showed a higher than average risk of becoming violent crimes victims (Home Office 2009, 47). In terms of age and gender, which groups in the population are most likely to be known as  offenders? Offenders are likely to be young and male in terms of gender. In half of the reported violent crimes the offenders were believed or found to be between sixteen and twenty four years of age. Additionally from eighty percent of the incidents male offenders were found to be the main culprits as compared to fourteen percent for their female counterparts. The probability of males committing crime was in fact higher for all crimes. As age increased it became less likely that individuals would commit an offense. While individuals between 16 and 24 had a 55% chance, those between 25 and 39 had a thirty percent chance while those that were forty years and older had a 13 percent chance of committing crime (Home Office 2009, 70). Compared with other countries, is the crime rate in England Wales high, low, or average? Reports by the United Nations and the European Union indicate that the UK has been ranked second based in terms of overall crime rates in the EU, with higher percentages of homicides than those in Italy, German, Spain and France (Slack, 2009). Furthermore the UK is fourth in burglary rates and fifth in robbery rates when compared to most of the western European countries. The UK basically records the highest absolute burglary figure in the EU actually with double the total number of offenses that are recorded in France and Germany. Moreover Britain has been named as the most violent nation in the EU. According to Slack (2009) there are 2034 offenses occurring in every 100, 000 people in the UK, Austrias figures stands at 1677, US 466, South Africa 1609 and Canada 935. The crime rate is therefore generally high when compared with the other countries (Slack, 2009). In comparison with other jurisdictions, is the use of imprisonment in England Wales low, high or average? The proportion or percentage of the population that is imprisoned in any country varies with the conviction rates, crime rates, prison sentences length and tendency to issue prison sentences as opposed to community service or fines. Despite the declining crime rates in the UK imprisonment rates have steadily increased leading to overcrowding in prison facilities. When compared to Japan, Australia, Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Belgium, Austria, France, Spain and Canada the use of imprisonment in the UK is high (US BJS, 2005). Nonetheless when the compared to the United States, Singapore and Portugal, England and Wales use of imprisonment is average. According to BBC (2005) in every population of 100,000, 726 were in prison in the US, 142 in the UK and 58 in Japan in the year 2005.

herody Free Essays on Homers Odyssey - Odysseus Is Not A Hero :: Homer Odyssey Essays

Odysseus Is Not A Hero A hero is "a man noted for his special achievements" according to the dictionary, but if you ask most people what a hero is, you will get the same general response. They will probably say "someone who does something for other people out of the goodness of his heart." Odysseus, who is the main character of the book "The Odyssey" written by Homer, would fit the dictionary's definition of a hero; but if you go deeper, looking at what people feel a hero is, he doesn't even come close. In the book, Odysseus does nothing out of the goodness of his heart. Even if Odysseus fought in the Trojan War, he is not a hero because he is self-centered and ignorant to other people's values and needs. There are multiple examples of Odysseus being self-centered, such as not taking people's advice. Odysseus was given advice from Circe that said not to try to fight Scylla even when she takes six of your men, but Odysseus tried to fight her and he lost three more men than the six he already lost. He also neglected to take the advice from his crew member, Eurylochus. Eurylochus told Odysseus not to send men to see what was on Circe's island and because he sent them anyway, they ended up being turned into pigs. Odysseus also neglects other people's lives when he takes action; such as when he tried to fight Scylla after strictly being told not to. Because of this ignorant action, he lost three more men on top of the other six. He also sacrificed men when he waited at the Cyclops' home for "gifts." Odysseus was very self-centered where real heroes are not. Odysseus also lacks the part of the hero profile which includes having a good heart. Odysseus definitely does not have this because he kills people without giving them a chance. Odysseus killed every one of the suitors in cold blood when most of them didn't commit a crime suitable for the death penalty. He also killed all of the maids who were raped by the suitors as if the had a choice in the matter. Odysseus also doesn't care about his crew members.

Animals are Valuable in Behavioral Research :: Behavioral Research Essays

From the dawn of time, when the first human killed an animal for food, or drove it from a fruit patch so that he could eat instead, there has been competition with animals for basic resources. Likewise, over the ages, humans have contemplated their relationship with animals. Ancestral societies worshipped the animals they used recognizing that the lives they took fueled their own lives. Further introspection on humanity's place in the world resulted in the development of codes of morality and ethics and subsequently the first modern religions. While biblical views of animals are primarily those of utility rather than of moral value, early scholars argued that animals should be treated kindly because animal cruelty represented a flawed morality and was ultimately detrimental to the moral development of humans. This view that humans may ultimately be judged based on their treatment of other lives exists to this day, and for many, is a strong argument for stewardship toward animals. Interestingly, advances in biology that began in the 1800's have provided some of the strongest arguments for imbuing animals with an enhanced moral value. By recognizing that the nervous systems of all vertebrate animals are very similar, it is assumed that activities that will cause a human pain or distress will likewise cause pain or distress to other animals. It is for this reason that current animal use regulations require the use of analgesics, anesthetics and sedatives for any procedures on animals that may cause more than momentary pain or distress. Animal experimentation is an essential component of biomedical and behavioral research, a critical part of efforts to prevent, cure, and treat a vast range of ailments. As in the past, investigators are using animals to learn about the most widespread diseases of the age, including heart disease and cancer, as well as to gain basic knowledge in genetics, physiology, and other life sciences. Animals are also needed to combat new diseases, of which AIDS is currently the most prominent example. As Miller (1985) pointed out in a trenchant defense of animal research in psychology, behavioral research on animals has laid the foundation for breakthroughs in the treatment of drug addiction, anxiety disorders, phobias, urinary incontinence, and ruminative vomiting. At the same time, behavioral researchers are drawing on animal studies to learn more about such major causes of human suffering as mental illness, and senility. Teaching machines and programmed learning have evolved out of experimental work on animals (Skinner, 1958) and are being used to increase the efficiency of instruction by the armed forces and by industry.

La Malinche Essay -- essays research papers

"La Malinche." Slave, interpreter, secretary, mistress, mother of the first "Mexican." her very name still stirs up controversy. Many Mexicans continue to revile the woman called Doà ±a Marina by the Spaniards and La Malinche by the Aztecs, labeling her a traitor and harlot for her role as the alter-ego of Cortes as he conquered Mexico. They ignore that she saved thousands of Indian lives by enabling Cortes to negotiate rather than slaughter. Her ability to communicate also enabled the Spaniards to introduce Christianity and attempt to end human sacrifice and cannibalism. Herself a convert, baptized Marina, she was an eloquent advocate for her new faith. As for the charges against her, they are in my opinion baseless. So let us visit this remarkable woman and examine the facts. All historians agree that she was the daughter of a noble Aztec family. Upon the death of her father, a chief, her mother remarried and gave birth to a son. Deciding that he rather than Marina, should rule, she turned her young daughter over to some passing traders and thereafter pro- claimed her dead. Eventually, the girl wound up as a slave of the Cacique (the military chief) of Tabasco. By the time Cortes arrived, she had learned the Mayan dialects used in the Yucatan while still understanding Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs and most Non-Mayan Indians. "La Malinche" did not choose to join Cortes. She was offered to him as a slave by the Cacique of Tabasco, along with 19 other young women. She had no voice in the matter. Up till then, Cortes had relied on a Spanish priest, Jeronimo de Aguilar, as his interpreter. Shipwrecked off Cozumel, Aguilar spoke the Mayan language as well as Spanish. But when the expedition left the Mayan-speaking area, Cortes discovered that he could not communicate with the Indians. That night he was advised that one of the women given to him in Tabasco spoke "Mexican." Doà ±a Marina now enters Mexican history. It was she who served as the interpreter at the first meetings between Cortes and the representatives of Moctezuma. At that time Marina spoke no Spanish. She translated what the Aztecs said into the Mayan dialect understood by de Aguilar and he relayed it to Cortes in Spanish. The process was then reversed, Spanish to Mayan and Mayan to Nahuatl. Bernal Diaz, author of "The Conquest of New Spain" authe... ...e was full of corpses. The dry land and stockades were piled high with the dead. We also found Mexicans lying in their own excrement, too sick to move." After the Conquest, Cortes, with a wife in Spain, arranged to have Marina married to a Castilian knight, Don Juan Xamarillo. Soon thereafter she disappeared from history. But she had borne Cortes a son, Don Mahin Cortes. While many other Indian women were impregnated by Spaniards, we have no record of their fate. Hence, if modern-day Mexicans are a blend of Spanish and Indian blood, Doà ±a Marina's son was the first "Mexican" whose career we can follow. He rose to high government position and was a "Comendador" of the Order of St. Jago. In 1548, accused of conspiring against the Viceroy, he was tortured and executed. In more recent times, the term "Malinchista" has been used by some to describe those who dislike Mexicans. But Doà ±a Marina deserves better. A fearless, loyal and determined woman, she was a heroine who helped save Mexico from its brutal, blood-thirsty rulers--and in doing so she played a major role in fashioning what is today one of the most dynamic societies in all of Latin America.

Hamlet’s Indecisiveness

Shakespeare wrote Hamlet and created his character as someone who would lead to his own tragic death. He had many flaws that lead to his eventual death, however there was one that he should have been able overcome. He could over come his indecisiveness, most people would be able to overcome it in their lives but Hamlet could not. In the play, Hamlet is supposed to be portrayed as brave and intelligent but looking deep into the play it is seen that Hamlet is more of a coward and an indecisive man through out most of the play.Hamlet doesn’t know what he is doing in his life because he can’t act upon his father’s murder. King Claudius kills Hamlet’s father, so Hamlet is in a confused as to how he will get revenge. He wants to do what it takes to avenge his father’s death. â€Å"Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder,† demands the ghost in (Act I, scene 5, line 23). The ghost tells hamlet he needs to kill King Claudius but Hamlet is to busy c onsumed in all the problems he has, that he doesn’t act at the right time.He had many chances to do something about King Claudius but didn’t because he was too indecisive about it. For example: when the King is kneeling paying Hamlet has a chance to kill him but he doesn’t. He talks himself out of murdering him, and instead makes a play to see if he is guilty. Hamlet talks to the actors of the play and decides to make them act out his father’s murder. The makes the actors act out exactly what the ghost had told him. â€Å"Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue.But if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as lief the town crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand thus, but use all gently, for in the very torrent, tempest, and whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness†(Act 3, scene 2, line 1). Hamlet decides his uncle is gui lty after seeing his reaction to the play and still doesn’t do anything about it. Hamlet never spoke up at the right time; he stayed quiet about everything.During the play, Claudius yells, â€Å"Give me some light. Away† and Hamlet was sure of his uncle's guilt (Act III, Scene 2, Line 152). Claudius was guilty and Hamlet should have taken advantage of Claudius being on the spot, but he didn’t. He went to go talk to his mother and gave time for Claudius to think what he should do. Hamlets indecisiveness cost him a lot. Most people can be decisive and make decisions when they are in favor of the person making the decision. Everyone has to make choices in their lives and they always do it in their favor.People lie and cheat to save themselves, but Hamlet cant do this. In this world everyone looks out for there own best interests and make decisions based on that. Its simple you need to be decisive to make decisions to progress in your life. Hamlet’s lack of b eing able to do this cost him his life. It not only cost him his life but others too. If Hamlet was able to act quickly he could have saved himself. In the end hamlet does get revenge but it’s at the cost of his own life, which could have been avoided.

Culture and Imperialism, a Review of Edward Said Essay

Edward Said remains one of the best selling and well known of the social and literary theorists that deal with identity and nation in the post-colonial global setting. This field is saturated with work dealing with culture and identity formation, post-modern â€Å"epistemic communities,† and most importantly, the relationship between context (ethnic, religious or economic) relative to the formation of such communities. There can be no question that the reading of Said’s book must take place within the context of the American neo-conservative drive to dominate the planet in the name of a vaporous â€Å"democracy,† or even â€Å"free markets. † And for this reason, it is important for the author to establish his view on the United States as a â€Å"conqueror† power primarily, as her early history can be reduced to the â€Å"settler mentality. † Transplants from the imperial center to the imperial hinterlands, for Said is basically the same as the slave societies functioning in the Carribean Islands, as his understanding of Austin shows. America is a slave power and a conquering power in that her development cannot be separated from the systematic pillaging of native traditions and lands. What makes America more interesting is her ability to absorb many traditions, and, from that, to create an identity in a rather counter-intuitive sort of way. Even further, the claim is that such an imperial power has the ability to create unity out of disunity; of creating an identity out of cacophony. Austria, Russia and the Ottomans are just three other examples of predatory powers creating unity out of disunity, or, even more strangely, creating the imperial idea precisely from the materials of disunity, both ethnic and religious. This kind of dialectic, i. e. identity from opposing elements, is central to Said’s concept of identity formation in the context of domination and exploitation. The central argument here is that identity formation has been poorly treated in the historiographic tradition both of the west and of the post-colonial world. Authors have tended to target the functional, â€Å"static† aspects of identity and culture, without understanding, as a whole, the nature of the social context. In other words, social and economic exploitation is as much a part of post-colonial identity as the more static elements of language. In his own ethnic identity, that of the Palestinian, Said can competently say that his own identity exists not in a vacuum, but as intrinsically part of the cultural formation deriving from Turkish, British and Jewish forms of colonial rule. Hence, there is no â€Å"Palestine,† as a cultural formula outside of the multi-ethnic scope of domination and violent colonialization. There is a culture, but it is a culture of â€Å"resistance,† a culture whose very formation exists in a matrix of humiliation. Hence, Said creates a dialectic of his own, following the more common Hegelian logical notion of the conclusion being manufactured though opposition. Identity, as a thesis, is a dialogue deriving from resistance to power. But even more, the antithesis, this identity formation derives at least in part from the â€Å"literary† (speaking broadly) production of the post-colonial center. In other words, after the experience of colonialism, the former metropole continues to dominate the subject peoples from the point of view of literature itself, in fact, a form of identity formation often overlooked in the historical literature. Lastly, as a synthesis, Said holds that a post colonial idea of identity of a formerly subject people is a creation whose final end is indeterminate, and even in general strokes, is vulnerable to critique. The synthesis here is itself an extremely pessimistic concept of identity that leaves the formerly dominated to be forever controlled by the mass-language modes of communication. Communication itself is a form of political power and colonial domination. It is a common idea, driving in modern times from Benedict Anderson and Eric Hobsbawm, that the â€Å"nation† or â€Å"ethnos† is a contrived entity. This does not negate its use as a variable in analysis, but it does show some light on the nature of â€Å"tradition† considered very broadly. In short, Anderson has famously made the argument that the ethnos is a â€Å"imagined community† where the individual envisions himself part of a heritage and a history he had no part in making, and cannot ever hope to â€Å"experience† as a single entity. It is a series of mental images rather than as a set of incontrovertible facts. Hobsbawm, for his part, holds that the ethnos or nation is the synthetic creation not merely of a series of images, but that these images are the direct creation of elites who have a specific interest in development a sense of â€Å"unity† among a formerly disunified people. Mass media, standardized language and an industrial economy are all necessary for such basic cultural standardization to take place. Hence, the idea of a nation, while still useful to the social sciences, remains an entity without actual substance; a monstrous creation rather than a natural growth (cf. 15-18). Said holds to these views, but of course, provides the reader with the more general and inclusive category of international exploitation. While this is a broad category, it remains concrete, since, given the identity of any specific ethnic group, close analysis of its history shows not a â€Å"development† of an ethnic â€Å"idea,† but rather a life of domination, exploitation and manipulation that has forced a hasty and uncritical sense of self that is itself a distortion and the worst form of image manipulation. It is â€Å"unnatural† to the extreme, and hence the global context is highly alienated, since the bulk of the human population subscribe (passively, to be sure) to a sense of self that is a mere reaction of the ethnic immune system (210).