Waiting for the Barbarians by J. M. Coetzee Essay Example for Free

Waiting for the Barbarians by J. M. Coetzee Essay All this erotic behavior of mine is indirect: I prowl about her, touching her face, caressing her body, without entering her or finding the urge to do so. But with this woman it is as if there is no interior, only a surface across which I hunt back and forth seeking entry. Is this how her torturers felt hunting their secret, whatever they thought it was? pg.43. One of the central figures in J. M. Coetzees Waiting for the Barbarians is the barbarian girl. The Magistrate finds the girl maimed and nearly blind after being interrogated and tortured by the ruthless Colonel Joll, and takes her in. The Magistrates relationship with the girl revolves around his search for the girls significance; he questions her about her torture, he attempts to understand her through her physical surface, and tries to use her as the key to unlocking his own meaning. Ultimately, the Magistrates treatment of the barbarian girl mirrors her treatment by Colonel Joll; they both use her as a tool in their respective searches for knowledge. The parallels between Joll and the Magistrates behavior towards the barbarian girl can be seen in the selected passage. The Magistrate is going over his conduct towards the girl in his head, and expressing some puzzlement as to the motivation behind his actions as well as over their lack of fruition. He puts effort into making romantic gestures towards her, but does not sleep with her, nor does he really want to. He seems to want something from her, but is unsure about what that is or how to go about getting it. This makes the woman seem mysteriously full of meaning and yet impenetrable to him, in more ways than one. His last thought is to compare his search for meaning in his relationship with the girl to her torturers search for an elusive secret from her. By describing his own behavior as indirect, we get a sense of the Magistrates own lack of clarity towards the subject. He makes erotic overtures towards the girl, but he makes them indirect[ly], implying that his goal is not to seduce the girl but what his true intentions are remain unclear, even to him. The Magistrate does not understand his fascination with the barbarian girl. This can be illustrated on pg. 40 where  he asks her not only why she is with him, but also, why do I want you here? He tries to analyze his relationship to the girl and use it to somehow get a better understanding of who he is. However, his philosophical questions get few answers from her, and none that satisfy him. He focuses his interest on her scars and what transpired during her torture sessions, questioning her incessantly. He bathes her and massages her with almond oil, paying special attention to her injuries. Using his hands to feel all over her body, repeatedly he tries to recreate in his mind the whole of what she was like before the torture, the whole of the person she is and was. Yet it seems to him as if she has no interior, only a surface across which I hunt back and forth seeking entry. Because he cannot find her interior, or the meaning that she holds for him, he blindly searches the physical surface for meaning. The Magistrate tries to interpret his own meaning through the girls body. Like the wooden slips covered in barbarian characters that the Magistrate polished and pored over for so many hours, her oiled body becomes a text to decipher his own meaning. When she grudgingly reveals some of the torture methods used on her, it does not bring her and the Magistrate any closer together, neither does it bring the Magistrate any closer to understanding her; interestingly enough, it functions to give the Magistrate more insight into Jolls character and his relationship to him. Her scars are like the ugly truth of the Magistrates quiet complicity in the atrocities committed in the name of Empire that he must bring himself to reconcile with, by looking at them and feeling them over and over again. Once the Magistrate begins to realize the role he had in facilitating the acts of torture, and how horrendous they truly were, he also begins to see the similarities between Joll and himself. The verbs the Magistrate uses to describe his own actions towards the girl in the selected passage, such as prowl, hunt, and even seeking create an image of a furtive predator rather than a lover. This is a manifestation of the guilt he feels for his part in her injuries. But we do not get a real sense of threat or danger from the Magistrate because he states that this hunter is non-invasive: he does not enter her and has no urge to do so. Even the phrases touching  her face, and caressing her body, which normally would invoke intimacy, when put in the context of prowling give the impression of a hunter thoroughly examining the pelt of its prey. It is easy to make the connection between this image and the image of the Magistrate examining the barbarian girls broken ankles and scars. Joll and the accomplice torturers are also referred to as hunting the girl; while Joll was aggressively searching for a secret he never found, the Magistrate hunts for how to figure her out and enter her surface, which he also fails to find. However, they both hunt for some sort of meaning from this girl, suggesting Jolls use of her is similar to the Magistrates use for her. Joll tortures her to try to get secret information about an impending barbarian offensive attack (which turns out to be nonexistent information in the first place). However, he still hunts the truth from her until she is left blinded and crippled. The Magistrate presses for details of her torture, harasses her with philosophical questions, and engages in his cryptic washing and oiling rituals while searching for meaning through her body. In his various ways he also tries to hunt out meanings from the girl, and he comes to realize his relationship to the girl thus mirrors that of Jolls. They both use the girl as a means to some desired end of knowledge, whether it be a secret of war or a secret of why. Furthermore, the Magistrate comes to see his mirroring of Joll might not just end with the barbarian girl. The girl ultimately serves as the interface for the Magistrate to see the parallels between himself and Joll. It is significant that the Magistrate takes up with the girl only after Joll has discarded her- the fact that the Magistrate must have overseen her arrival with the soldiers was a recurring thought of his. However, he had no interest in her until after Joll had left her permanently handicapped. The Magistrate eventually comes to see that his attempt to connect with the woman was an attempt to retrace Jolls footsteps; to understand the man  and his actions by putting himself into an intimate relationship with the barbarian girl. But he also does this to distinguish himself as different from Joll; he regretted he could not engrave [himself] as deeply (p.135) on her as Joll had, but he wished to leave the mark of his pseudo-loving on her rather than the marks of pain and torture she had from Joll. The relationships the barbarian girl has with Colonel Joll and the Magistrate are similar in that both use her as a tool in their respective quests for knowledge. Joll tries to coerce her into saying something to justify an attack on the barbarians, while the Magistrate tries to use her to interpret himself and his role in the Empire, but they both believe that she is the key to unlocking some truth they seek. They both use the girl for their own purposes, without any regard for her as a person, and Joll treats her very cruelly. The Magistrate cares for her physical well-being, but he does not truly attempt to get to know beyond her surface, and only attempts to understand her through what function she serves in his life. Eventually he realizes through his relationship with her how many parallels exist between him and Joll. The girl stands between the two men as a one-way mirror that they both use, but gradually becomes two-way for the Magistrate, allowing him to see the Joll alter ego mingling with his own reflection. Coming to accept this also means collapsing some of the distance that he had mentally established between himself and Joll, and likewise accepting a certain share in the responsibility for all the atrocities committed by Joll in the name of the Empire.

Reactions to Hooks’ Feminism is for Everybody Essay -- Essays Papers

Reactions to Hooks’ Feminism is for Everybody I am not a feminist simply because I was raised in a feminist household. I am not a feminist because I am an independent, educated woman. I am not a feminist because I am a bitter female, nor because I am a â€Å"woman scorned.† I am not a feminist because I hate men, nor because I am a lesbian nor because I like to listen to the Indigo Girls. To the contrary I love men and I am not a lesbian. While I agree with hooks that â€Å"feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression† (viii), I believe that her definition of â€Å"feminism† states the goals of the movement rather than actually defining the term itself. In my mind, feminism is a synonym for equality. I am a feminist because I believe in the equality between men and women, plane and simple. No hidden agenda, no gimmicks, no tricky explanations. Sounds like an easy enough concept to comprehend. So why then is feminism such a misunderstood and feared notion? Why has this â€Å"ismà ¢â‚¬  in particular become the new f-word of pop culture? Equality is a word commonly associated with American culture; it is a long-standing theme of our history. This does not make a great deal of sense to me. After all, America was established on the premise that all MEN are created EQUAL. The term â€Å"men† is very specific as is the rest of the wording of the Constitution. It is doubtful that the founding fathers of our country meant this to include men and women or else they would have stated exactly that. It is only in the latter half of the past century that this equality was extended to include the fair treatment of all peoples, regardless of race, gender, or ethnicity. America was first settled in large part by religious outcasts seeking a saf... ...y personal movement. hooks encourages her readers to demand alternatives to patriarchal, racist, and homophobic culture, and to imagine a different future. Her book literally speaks to everybody, asking readers, whether they are feminist or not, to take look at feminism in a new light, to see that it touches all lives. No longer will people (men or women) have the excuse that feminism is â€Å"too complex† to understand, nor will they be able to get by on third-hand knowledge (as hooks refers to on vii) of the topic. As hooks intended, I finally have a book to hand to all of my friends (both male and female) who gave me strained looks because I lived on Mt. Vernon last year or because I am more than willing to admit that I am proud to be a feminist. hooks shows that feminism—far from being an outdated concept or one limited to an intellectual elite—is indeed for everybody.

Wait Till Next Year Summary

Wait Till Next Year, by Doris Kearns Goodwin, is a personal memoire of Goodwin’s life growing up in Rockville Centre, New York during the 1950s. Goodwin talks about multiple members of her family, including her father, Michael, her mother, Helen, her two sisters, Charlotte and Jeanne, and her best friend while growing up, Eileen. The memoire includes many memories of how she and her family were affected during the atomic bomb and McCarthyism. Also in her story, she highlights the good and bad things about growing up as a suburban child. Goodwin has great memories about her neighborhood. She had many memories of her school, church, and time spent with her favorite team, the Dodgers, which were all positive. She said, â€Å"Our street†¦was common land – our playground, our park, our community† (Goodwin 55). Goodwin talks about her neighborhood as similar to that of a safe heaven. Her neighborhood was a little piece of heaven that always stayed the same. She was very close with her friends. They all attended the same school, grew up and played together. School was as well a positive memory Goodwin had and was a very important part of community as well. Goodwin recalled her time spent in school and said, â€Å"I threw myself into high-school affairs with unprecedented zeal†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Goodwin 245). Goodwin enjoyed being involved being in activities and the people that were involved as well. Though, her friends from school were not the same denomination as she was. Religion was another factor in the community. Goodwin was catholic and many of her friends and other members of the community were protestant. Catholicism wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but it wasn’t the contemporary way of life for Americans in the 1950s. She very excited to start her life as a catholic, including her first mass and communion. Though school and religion were highpoints in Goodwin’s life, her true love was her favorite baseball team, the Dodgers. The Dodgers were the base of her family and kept many of her friendships alive like Johnny, a boy she meet at the beach, and Eileen when they were separated. Goodwin attended many of the games at Ebbet’s Field, listened to the games on the radio, and watched them on the television. Many of the people in the community liked the Dodgers as well, but there were some who liked teams from the Yankees to the Giants. Even though there were different team choices throughout the community, baseball was a thing everyone enjoyed. Goodwin remembers most where the events within the community with the people she was surrounded by. Goodwin’s memories of the 1950s were very positive, however the family life made growing up somewhat negative. During most of Goodwin’s life, her mother suffered from different illnesses that would cause problems in the household. Most of the time, her mother, Helen, was too sick to have company over, which was very stereotypical during that time. When television came around, the family would host gatherings. When Helen was asked if she could have more gatherings Helen would reply, â€Å"but I simply can’t do it. Even now, I am so exhausted just from having everyone here that I’ve got to lie down for a little while† (Goodwin 122). Goodwin’s sister, Jeanne, took many roles that Helen could not because Helen was so sick. Goodwin stated that, â€Å"For as long as I can remember, she was a surrogate mother, looking out for me, taking care of me when my mother was sick† (Goodwin 37). Goodwin would recall many stories of Jeanne doing tasks that their mother would do. This made her Goodwin feel embarrassed, which is where the negative memories came in. She loved her Jeanne dearly, but the fact that her mother couldn’t stand up for herself and do what a mother in the 1950s was supposed to be doing. Helen died in 1958. This only made the bad memories worse. The death of her mother led to Goodwin leaving her community and her father becoming an alcoholic. Her family’s problems made the times she spent growing up in the 1950s faint. While there were good and bad memories going on throughout Goodwin’s life. There were specific historical events that led to different views on her childhood as well. The atomic bomb ended when Russia made their own. The bomb drills and the knowledge about the bombs made growing up difficult for Goodwin, though it did turn out positive. After she realized that the stores of her community were connected below the ground, she came up with the idea for the whole community to survive. The community could set up a system where they all worked together to move everything they needed into the basements that were connected as quickly as possible. Her plan excited her and she loved challenges. She was able to turn the threat of the bomb into action. Another event that left a major impression on Goodwin was the idea of McCarthyism. Television was broadcasting a lot about the trials, so the mothers of the neighborhood were always updated. Goodwin and her friend created the McCarthyism trials, which her similar to the ones on television. Her friends would accuse each other of saying certain things, so the trails always ended in tears and pain. Eventually, the trials ended, but the damage of those memories were enough to make chapter in her life a bad one. The historical events in the 1950’s affected a lot of children growing up in that time. It led Goodwin to have positive and negative memories. Growing up in the 1950s was neither a great experience nor awful one for Goodwin. She has a sense of community that is very present in her memoire. There were many things that highlighted her young life. Even though her family life was tough, she got through and made her stronger and the good and bad memories that she had while growing up made her into what she is today.

Affirmative Action Keeping minorities down for 30 years....

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The subject of affirmative action in college admissions has been hotly debated since its inception. Although affirmative action was originally supported by the vast majority, that same majority is now starting to wonder if there is a better way. Commonly asked questions include: â€Å"Is affirmative action still working?† and â€Å"Is there an alternative?† The answers to each of these questions will provide insurmountable evidence that affirmative action in college admissions no longer fulfills its intended purpose and that the only viable alternative is to focus more attention on primary schooling for the underprivileged. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The most common question that arises in contemporary debates over†¦show more content†¦Billingsley, goes a step further and says, â€Å" . . . there are three kinds of racism: the David Duke and Adolf Hitler brand based on hatred, the Archie Bunker strain based on ignorance, and, last but not least, the racial bigotry born of patronization.† By its very nature of benefiting one race over another, affirmative action failed in its primary goal of eliminating racism in college admissions. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Additionally, affirmative action policies also failed the secondary goal of providing a helping hand to disadvantaged minority students. Some will point to the increased numbers of minority students as evidence to the contrary, but does increased representation of the disadvantaged mean that they are any less disadvantaged? Not at all, there are simply more minorities present. Richard Rodriguez describes the influx of disadvantaged stude nts to university life like this, â€Å"Cruelly, callously, admissions committees agreed to overlook serious academic deficiency. I knew students in college then barely able to read, students unable to grasp the function of a sentence† (Rodriguez 154). Affirmative action policies are guaranteeing the college experience for students that are ill-equipped to reap theShow MoreRelatedWhy Is Affirmative Action Such a Divisive Issue?2126 Words   |  9 PagesAFFIRMATIVE ACTION: WHY IS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION SUCH A DIVISIVE ISSUE? Affirmative Action: Why is Affirmative Action Such a Divisive Issue? 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