The Road By Aaron Bellam Essay Example for Free

ï » ¿The Road By Aaron Bellam Essay History has had little conscience when it comes to human suffering and struggle. The world has brought us murder, torture, and terror in the packages of war, politics, and everyday human relationships. Religious battles keep racism, greed, and suffering real. The positive is not always apparent when one looks at human existence. Aside from the physical struggle humans had to endure and overcome, emotions also challenge us in hard times. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, a story set after an apocalypse, takes the characters beyond physical challenges like cold and hunger. In their dystopia, the characters must also face their emotional struggles. As they journey across the dark, barren land, the boy and his father experience the feelings of desperation, fear and hope. The first emotion that urges the pair on in their journey is desperation. The father and son are desperate for many things; food, warmth, and not to be caught and raped by others. As well; the two are desperate to find and share with other good guys. The man and his emaciated bay have such a strong desperation to find food and food is so scarce that the pair finds â€Å"the bones of a small animal dismembered and placed in a pile, possibly a cat†. (McCarthy.2006.Pg26) This find is proof that other survivors have turned to alternate forms of food to try and give themselves energy for the trek. Warmth is another huge luxury that the father and his boy wish they had. After a find of supplies in an abandoned house, they ‘sat wrapped in the quilt naked while the man held the boy’s feet to his stomach to warm them. (McCarthy. 2006.Pg31). The man is obviously willing to do anything; he is determined to keep his son warm and comfortable, even if it takes away from his own comfort. Hiding from people looking to catch others to eat is a further element of despair the two are forced to cope with. Cannibals roam this dystopia. After finding people in a cellar, some with limbs chopped off, the son is left horrified. The man and the son are desperate to find other ‘good guys’ like them so that they aren’t alone. Moreover, there are many other emotions the trekkers are desperate for; however these four are some of the most pressing. Ironically, this ugly emotion helps to keep the two going. The second, and most important emotion that drives the father and his son forward, is Fear. The apocalypse has given the man and his son reason to be fearful of many  things: Strangers, Starvation, and being alone. The father is so afraid of strangers that every time they come across another person he becomes very hostile. When they came upon a traveler, they followed him, perhaps because â€Å"The traveler was not one for looking back. They followed him for a while and then they overtook him.† (McCarthy.2006.Pg161) The man has changed drastically since his wife le ft him, and he has become very protective of his son. Starvation is another fear that drives them forward; food is very scarce and when they find food they do what they can to keep people from taking it from them. When the pair sees an old man called Ely walking down the street the father says I see and â€Å"the boy turned and looked at him. I know what the question is the man said. The answer is no. What question? Can we keep him? We can’t.† (McCarthy.2006.Pg.164). After the death of his father the boy is discovered by a family that had been following them. Even though the man had taught him to be very cautious around other people, the boy was very lonely and feared having to travel by himself ,so after making sure that they were â€Å"good guys†; he asked them â€Å"are you carrying the fire? Am I what? Carrying the fire. You’re kind of weirded out, aren’t you? No. Just a little. Yeah. That’s ok. So are you? What, carrying the fire? Yes. Yeah we are.† (McCarthy.2006.Pg283/284), he decides to travel with the family. And while fear is one of the most important emotions the pair faces in the book it is also one of the most important that people have faced since we first developed emotions. And even though fear plays a big part in their movement forward there is still another that is just as important. The Third and final emotion that is expressed in the novel is hope. The boy’s character is a sign of hope to the father throughout the book. In the father’s view the boy is almost described as holy, â€Å"if he is not the word of god, god never spoke†, which gives the sense that the boy is precious to the man and that the boy is the father’s hope like a god is a religious person’s hope. The boy also gives a sense of hope to the reader. This is from his sense of goodness and innocence, the way he gave food to the old m an at the side of the road, which in this world the reader gets a sense that goodness and innocence is unheard of. This gives this bleak, horrific, world a feeling of humanity, a feeling that gives the destroyed world a future â€Å"Goodness will find the little boy. It always has. It will again.† In the road there is a repeated reference to ‘carrying the flame’ which is a symbol  of hope. It is a symbol that mankind will always live on throughout any circumstances. When the man dies he tells the boy the he is now carrying the flame which shows the man’s hope of a better future or merely a just a future for the boy. The food is a sign presented by Cormac McCarthy of hope, when the food is low the scene is shown grimly and when the food is plentiful. When they find the bunker full of food, page 146, the text is full of short sentences ‘Canned hams.’, ‘Corned beef’ which show the father’s joy and almost disbelief of how hopeful the future will be with this plenty. Other than the boy the father has hope in very few things. But one thing which is shown throughout The Road is the father’s sense of morals. The father always reassures the boy and himself that they are the good guys, because they aren’t turning to cannibalism, which gives them the hope to keep them going because they are, to the father, keeping goodness in the world alive, ‘carrying the flame’. In the father’s dream, page 2, the father and the son are holding a light, ‘Their light playing over the wet flowstone walls.’ Which could be interpreted as a reference to the ‘carrying the flame’. The mother is a character presenting hope that has been lost. The mother commits suicide as this is what she sees as the brightest option. The mother says â€Å"as for me my only hope is for eternal nothingness and I hope it with all my heart.† (McCarthy.2006.Pg58/59), this shows how the mother has lost all hope of a future and nothingness is better than life on borrowed time. The last paragraph in the road is full of hope for the boy and the earth’s future. Cormac McCarthy presents the theme of hope in many different ways. He shows the lost hope of people in end of the world situations, the mother and the cannibals. The hope for the future, carrying the flame and the last paragraph. The hope for goodness and generosity in the world, the father’s view of the boy and carrying the flame. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, a story set in a post-apocalyptic earth, showed the journey off a Man and his son: as they faced physical challenges, such as, Cold and Hunger, they also faced emotional challenges through Desperation, Fear, and Hope. This is a story that shows the perseverance of a man and his son, as they fight to survive.

Philosophy and Multiculturalism: Searle, Rorty, and Taylor Essay

Philosophy and Multiculturalism: Searle, Rorty, and Taylor ABSTRACT: John Searle opposes multiculturalism because he views it as part of a movement to undermine the concepts of truth and objectivity in the Western tradition. Richard Rorty disagrees with Searle about the relation between philosophical theories of truth and academic practices, but he is neutral on the issue of multiculturalism. Charles Taylor approaches the issue historically, defending multiculturalism as emerging from one branch of liberal political theory. I argue that the debate over epistemological and political issues has tended to obscure the educational benefits of multiculturalism. A multicultural curriculum works very well in fulfilling the traditional goals of education in philosophy. It can assist the teacher as Socratic "midwife" and "gadfly" in delivering students from their narrow and uncritical opinions and awakening them to a world of intellectual diversity. Thus, multiculturalism is not so much a recent movement as a new name for an old method of teaching. Philosophers have been slow to join the public debate on multiculturalism in spite of the important philosophical issues at stake. Notable exceptions are John Searle and Charles Taylor, who address the philosophical implications of the controversy over the curriculum in several recent essays. (1) Taylor defends multicultural education as a moral imperative of one branch of the liberal tradition, while Searle argues that a victory for multiculturalism would mean the destruction of the Western intellectual heritage. This paper will examine some of the arguments on both sides of the issue and propose an interpretation of multiculturalism as particularly significant for teaching philosophy. ... ...Recognition," in Multiculturalism. Amy Gutmann, ed. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994), pp. 25-73. (2) "Rationality and Realism. . .," p. 69. (3) "The Storm over the University," p. 112. (4) Richard Rorty, "Does Academic Freedom Have Philosophical Presuppositions: Academic Freedom and the Future of the University," Academe (Nov.-Dec. 1994), p. 52. (5) Ibid., p. 61. (6) "Rationality and Realism . . .," p. 71. (7) Richard Rorty, "Hermeneutics, General Studies, and Teaching," Selected Papers from the Synergos Seminars, volume 2 (Fall, 1982), p. 112. (8) "The Politics of Recognition," pp. 69-72. (9) Ibid., p. 66. (10) Ibid., p. 70. (11) Ibid., p. 73. (12) For an exception see Lawrence Foster and Patricia Herzog, eds. Philosophical Perspectives on Pluralism and Multiculturalism (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1994).

Assess Functionalists Explanations for Patterns of Crime and Deviance

â€Å"Assess functionalists explanations for patterns of crime and deviance. † The patterns of crime and deviance have proven to be a popular topic amongst sociological groups, arguably because it crosses over with many key ideas and debates discussed within sociology. Functionalists are just one of numerous groups who have thrown there hat in the ring by attempting to provide a definitive answer behind the patterns of crime and deviance. However, like all explanations in one way or another, functionalists have been subject to criticism.One of the most prominent functionalists to have lived, Durkheim, explained crime as a problem of modernity associated with the decline of mechanic solidarity, a society that is homogenous and in cohesion. In times of social change people may lose sight of the shared norms and values they’ve become accustomed too, creating a weaker collective conscience. Durkheim describes this state of ‘normlessness’ as anomie which is expr essed not just through crime but, also by suicide, marital breakdown and industrial disputes.Anomie is used to describe why some people become dysfunctional in society and turn to crime. According to Durkheim, society becomes more individualistic because of anomie as people resort to what they do know, themselves, therefore not looking out for their community which would have once been the norm. However, Durkheim doesn’t acknowledge that anomie may not always result in individualism and can lead to the exact opposite.For instance, some people have formed stronger ties to their religious group in reaction to the emergence of the new media, which has caused wide scale social change. Unlike most sociological theories of crime, Durkheim recognised that crime could be a force for good rather than always having negative repercussions. Too much crime and deviance can lead to uncertainty and disruption in society. However, a certain amount of crime can be viewed positively, helping t o promote change and reinforce values. Durkheim categorised crime using three groups: normal, universal and functional.Examples of crime that were beneficial to society are the Suffragette movement, Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man and Nelson Mandela forming the first black government in South Africa. Following on from the work of Durkheim, Merton developed ‘strain theory’ to reflect the strain between goals and means of achieving those goals. He listed five different forms of behaviour that could be understood as a strain between goals and means: Conformity (the individual continues to adhere to both goals and means, despite limited likelihood of success e. . the American Dream), Innovation (the individual accepts the goals of society but uses different means of achieving this e. g. criminal behaviour), Ritualism (individual adheres to societies means but loses sight of societies goals e. g. police officer enforcing the law, ignoring wh ether it’s just or not), Reteatism (individual rejects both means and goals of society e. g. depends upon drugs or alcohol) and Rebellion (individual substitutes societies goals and means with different ones e. g. religious fundamentalism).

Negative Effects Of Racial Profiling - 1573 Words

Abstract This paper will give a highly detailed view of the effects that racial profiling has on juvenile offenders while focusing on minorities. It will also illustrate researched statistics on diverse ethnic groups, environmental backgrounds, and how they correlate with the fear that stems from racial profiling. Details will be provided on how each ethnic group is directly affected by racial profiling, how stop and frisk laws are unequivocally bias towards certain minority groups, and how police frequent poverty stricken areas opposed to areas frequented by their counterparts. There will be direct references to cities, states, and the laws that govern them. There will also be direct and detailed explanation of these examples and how they†¦show more content†¦Institutional racism and delinquency can be correlated as a cause and effect issue. This is said because the police are more likely to arrest African American youth and the courts are more likely to punish them because of their race. Another way to view racial profiling would be through the use of structural racism. The general theory of structural racism holds that even though there is evidence that suggests racial bias does exist in the Justice System there is enough correspondence between official and self-report data to conclude that racial differences in the crime rates are real. If African American youth are arrested at higher rates for violent crimes it is most likely a result of actual offending rates rather than bias on the behalf of the Criminal Justice System. These different theories explore the various aspects of racism in the juvenile justice system from the courts down to police officers. They give very thoughtful and detailed explanations as to how and why racism has the ability to occur on numerous occasions. 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