...A FAMILY MAN by V. S. PRITCHETT from Bradbury, Malcolm, ed. The Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories. New York: Penguin. 1988. Late in the afternoon, when she had given him up arid had even changed out of her pink dress into her smock and jeans and was working once more at her bench, the doorbell rang. William had come, after all. It was in the nature of their love affair that his visits were fitful: he had a wife and children. To show that she understood the situation, even found the curious satisfaction of reverie in his absences that lately had lasted several weeks, Berenice dawdled yawning to the door. As she slipped off the chain, she called back into the empty flat, 'It's all right, Father. I'll answer it.' William had told her to do this because she was a woman living on her own: the call would show strangers that there was a man there to defend her. Berenice's voice was mocking, for she thought his idea possessive and ridiculous; not only that, she had been brought up by Quakers and thought it wrong to tell or act a lie. Sometimes, when she opened the door to him, she would say, 'Well! Mr. Cork', to remind him he was a married man. He had the kind of shadowed handsomeness that easily gleams with guilt, and for her this gave their affair its piquancy. But now - when she opened the door - no William, and the yawn, its hopes and its irony, died on her mouth. A very large woman, taller than herself, filled the doorway from top to bottom, an enormous blob of pink...
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...marriages, marriages based on spite, the real love between and man and a woman, and greed. Marriage is seen by their society as a contract for an easy life. For this reason, marriage is highly important to them but it isn’t always based on true love. For the men and women in that era had different reasons for marriage but all are based on the same point of not living a hard life. Elizabeth Bennet saw marriage from a different viewpoint than her sisters and her close friend...
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...Hammurabi’s Code being just or unjust. It can be shown that these laws are just in many different categories, such as family laws, personal injury laws, and property laws. There were many problems in Babylon at the time. Due to these problems Hammurabi’s Code is split into three categories. The first category of laws are family laws. An example of a family law is, “If a son has struck his father, his hands shall be cut off.” (Document C) Many people believe that these laws are cruel and unjust. In this time period, these laws would be the best way to keep order because the loss would be great if you misbehaved. When a son strikes his father, it is...
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...It is rare that a man is ever all good or all bad. This thought plays a vital role in The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Jurgis Rudkus, the main character of the novel, has this particular trait. He is not entirely bad or good and this is known as being ambiguous. The Jungle is largely based on Jurgis and his struggles through life and how he changed to fit the situations as they arrised. He is a kind loving man but as he learns the hardships of his new life he faces his fair share of demons and struggles to remain the caring man he came to America as. Throughout the story, Jurgis is seen as hard-working, honest and proud man which are all desirable traits. In the beginning of the story Jurgis and his family come to America in hopes of getting rich. Jurgis is an honest working man willing to give everything he has to support his family. For...
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...Slinger Francisco aka The Mighty Sparrow I must begin by saying how heartbroken I was on reading the suffering and mistreatment my people ordained back in the days of Slavery. Coming from a family that is mostly comprised of African descent individuals; it makes me sad and in utter repugnance. It's funny how life back then still influences the way my people think and approach their education, family, and general lifestyle. Slavery has definitely placed a scar on the mentality of not just the black community but of all races that have been a part of this. To me the black man went through the most because he was taken away from his land by fellow men or by the white man without having any say. The differences between the Africans and the Indians are that the Indians were brought here voluntarily; on the other hand the black man was violently brought here to be slaves. The “Black” man therefore was stripped of his family, pride, love ones and home. When one hears about slavery; the mind automatically thinks of the white man abusing the black man. There is so much more to slavery than just the inhumane acts that the African man was victim of. It was stages of torture that has the black man the way he is today. Slavery has definitely marked the black community when it comes to family life. Most children of African descended parents end up being a part of a single mother home. According to the article written by (Wilson, 2002, p.3) a census was done in Barbados which came...
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...An abandoned farmhouse located on a desolate country road is where a big, tall, godly man and his family once lived. The size of the man’s shoes and the extra length on the bed give clues about the size of this man. His family consisted of a woman and a child, because the rooms in the house were decorated with a woman’s touch, and the yard had a sandbox made from an old tractor tire. The fields full of large stones make them unsuitable for farming. The man failed to provide for his family. Money seemed scarce for the family, homemade food items were left on the shelves in the cellar. A crisis happened here, because the family left in a hurry. Evidence of their personal items are left abandoned at the farm. The man’s shoes left on broken...
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...boy or “don’t you even start crying, you’re a man and men don’t cry.” These are some of the sentences a young American boy would hear from his father, being a man who has no space for emotions. Most of these ideas stem from the military concept of what an American man should be like. In the military a man should show no fear, be a leader in addition to being aggressive and wise. The thought of a man having feminist symptoms or showing emotions, threatens the American concept of masculinity. Men overindulge in being more aggressive or violent. Secondly, men fear showing signs of weakness or emotions by leading aggressiveness towards the abuse of other women using violent activities. The military concept has shaped American manhood for the worst. Today many American men are becoming frustrated with the idea of what it means to be a man and trying to find their own identity. Many have fallen into depression; question themselves if they have fulfilled their desires of being a man. In the book “Manhood in America” by Michael Kimmel, the author discusses the roles and struggles that American man faces and how the American manhood roles have changed over time. In Temporary About Myself, Kimmel uses different articles to discuss the responsibility of a man and touches on issues of masculinity...
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...Raisin in the Sun is a play about the inward and outward struggle of an African American family. Outwardly struggling because of race, inwardly struggling with individual dreams. The Younger’s each had their own ways of trying to achieve their goals and reach their dreams. Yet one stood out among the rest, Walter Lee Younger, he had very strong ideas on ways to make the family better. In this journey, we see Walter was misguided, disconnected, and eventually hitting bottom. Walter Lee Younger, a 35-year-old man, fairly lean and quite nervous. Just by the tone in his voice you knew whether or not he approved of you. Living with his family in a run down apartment, he dreamed of being able to give to his family the same luxuries and necessities as a white man. Walter was a man with misguided dreams. When you hear Walter talking about himself, you hear a man trying to convince himself that he can rise above the hardships of this world. His idea of being the man his family needs is by providing, not only for necessities, but luxury items for his wife, Ruth. Yet an inward turmoil goes on, as he describes himself as a volcano, internalizing his regrets and pipe dreams. He’s so obsessed with getting material possessions for Ruth, that he doesn’t realize how he actually treats...
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...history of the Bosket Family. The family had a lot of history that interweaved with the larger social history of America. Therefore, there are multiple questions that must be answered when discussing Fox Butterfield’s book, All God’s Children. The first question that must be answered in order to discuss All God’s Children must be about the historical and cultural forces. These were the cultural and historical influences that produced the criminal behavior in the Bosket family. There were many different factors that came into play throughout the history of the Bosket family. One of these examples is that someone must fight and be “bad” in order to gain respect or to be considered a man. After all, this idea of being “bad” actually became almost like tradition for the men in the Bosket family. The Bosket family only knew how to be bad men. Every man in the Bosket family had a reputation, and each one of the men wanted to keep their reputation. The men in the Bosket family would fight because all they really had was their name. Therefore, these men almost needed to maintain their tough guy images in order to feel good about themselves, but also to keep their reputation. Another part of the history of the Bosket family, and really a lot of different families is the self fulfilling prophecy idea. For the self fulfilling prophecy idea, the younger generation is expected to do as the generations prior to them. Consequently, for the case of the Bosket family, the men were expected...
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...Raisin in the Sun is a play written by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted March 11, 1959. This play is written about an African-American family that is living in Chicago in the midst of prejudice times and are barely holding on. From start to finish, we see the characters change not by choice but because they realized they had to. The genre of the play is definitely a tragedy that ends with a turn of events to create a happy ending. The tone of the play is not consistent for the most part. The Younger family struggled for most of their lives and as many did the Youngers faced prejudice obstacles, especially when it came to trying to better their lives such as Beneatha tries to do by going into the medical world. The main protagonists in A...
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...the rest of my life” (McCourt 258). Mr. Hannan is the man Frankie helps deliver coal because he Mr. Hannan has a bad leg. When Mr. Hannan says this to Frankie he gives him something no one has ever given him before, satisfaction from doing well. His own father or mother has never rewarded him with any kind gratification for nothing anything right or well. This makes Frankie insanely happy, the happiest the reader has seen Frankie yet. This interaction of satisfaction marks where Frankie forms a better image of men in his life. He goes back to childish behavior of wanting to jump up and down but does not because having this job makes him want to be a man so he contains himself. By Frankie wanting to do this the rest of his life allows the reader to infer that he wants to be different from his father and hold a job. “I want the job. I want to bring...
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...The key element in the play, “A Raisin in the Sun” is the theme of choices. Family members make decisions without talking to one another about it, causing disarray and argument. Without telling anybody, Ruth puts a down payment on the abortion of the child she is pregnant with, which the reader/audience discovers in the second scene. Lena spends $3500 getting a new house for the Youngers in a predominantly white neighborhood, with no discussion. Even though his family is against it, Walter Lee invests his money in opening a liquor store with a friend. The last person, Beneatha, struggles to choose who she will marry; someone who can support her financially, or a man who can help her get in touch with her culture. Though the Younger family...
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...living in a world where you and your family are looked down upon. Imagine living in a world where you were treated different because of the color of your skin. Imagine living in a world where you were forced to watch the white man is more dominate than you. Well, Walter Younger and his family lived that life. A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a story about an African American family who lives in a time where racial discrimination was in major effect, it made life a living hell for black families. She explains this though the life of Walter Younger and his family. First, White and Blacks were segregated. Due to the racial discrimination, Walter and his family were not the richest people. Jobs available to African Americans were limited. Walter He worked as a chauffeur. Lorrain Hansberry grew up around the time when racial discrimination was very affective. She gives an idea of what she had been through. She does so by giving Walter this poor trait. A job that one would take only if it was your very last option. Mama, Walter’s mother, is expected to get a big check in the mail from her husband’s life insurance. With this money, she plans on buying a new house. She wants a house in a white neighborhood. At first it seemed risky, but in reality, it was a huge step for their family to start fresh. The author wants us to know that this money was life changing. With this huge check coming in, it was important for their family to take on some new opportunities. Around...
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...The Brook’s family had so much wealth and money, they had every advantage money could buy. They could buy 3 houses if they wanted too. The family had a father, mother,daughter, and son. They were a very happy family, coming from my perspective since I’m their neighbor. Everything was going fine until one night the family was eating dinner and they started acting very strange. Very strange. They called me to see if I was near the house making noise. I told them I wasn’t but they kept calling me over and over again. Once everything settled down it got very quiet. A few seconds later I hear screaming from next door in the Brook’s house. Paralyzed with fear I didn’t want to go in the house. I was afraid I might get killed. Next thing I...
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...One December night, a long, long time ago, a family sat around the fireplace in their home. A golden light from the fire filled the room. The mother and father laughed at something their oldest daughter had just said. The girl was seventeen, much older than her little brother and sister, who were only five and six years old. A very old woman, the familys grandmother, sat knitting in the warmest corner of the room. And a baby, the youngest child, smiled at the fires light from its tiny bed. This family had found happiness in the worst place in all of New England. They had built their home high up in the White Mountains, where the wind blows violently all year long. The family lived in an especially cold and dangerous spot. Stones from the top of the mountain above their house would often roll down the mountainside and wake them in the middle of the night. No other family lived near them on the mountain. But this family was never lonely. They enjoyed each others company, and often had visitors. Their house was built near an important road that connected the White Mountains to the Saint Lawrence River. People traveling through the mountains in wagons always stopped at the familys door for a drink of water and a friendly word. Lonely travelers, crossing the mountains on foot, would step into the house to share a hot meal. Sometimes, the wind became so wild and cold that these strangers would spend the night with the family. The family offered every traveler who stopped at their...
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