A House For Mr. Biswas Essays (513 words) - Postcolonial Literature

A House For Mr. Biswas Ever since his birth, Mr. Biswas - the main protagonist of V.S. Naipauls A House for Mr. Biswas - never has an opportunity to develop a sense of self. He is always finding himself in situations that make him feel powerless. Due to this powerlessness he is always in situations where he is having people tell him what to do. He never has any personal power. Mr. Biswas realizes that with money and possessions a person tends to have more power in society. Indeed, for Mr. Biswas owning a house serves as a symbol which illustrates his ability to realize a self-identity and gain personal power to take control of his life. Mr. Biswas is caught in the grasp of feudalism. He is trapped in the rigid class structure that controls his society. He is always listening to others and never makes decisions about his own life or well-being. Mr. Biswas is a wanderer with no place he could call his own, with no family except that which he was to attempt to create out of the engulfing world of the Tulsis (40). Hanuman House is the paradigm of the feudal society. It has a hierarchy and very strict social structure. The Gods, Seth , and Mrs. Tulsi serve as the hierarchy and rulers of Hanuman House. Everyone else is just another face in the mob of people who work to benefit the Tulsis while sacrificing their own well-being. Mr. Biswas doesnt own anything that has much value. He has enough clothes to hang on a nail. By owning a house Mr. Biswas gains personal power - something that he never has- which allowed him to feel that he was important. He was able to live by his own rules , support his family, and do things for his benefit and not for the benefit of others. Mr. Biswas is now able to truly live by his motto: paddle your own canoe (107). This new found personal power allows Mr. Biswas to live a fulfilling life that he can be proud of. He never has to take orders from anyone ever again because he is the master of himself. The episode with the dollhouse is a symbolic of Mr. Biswas feeling of owning his own house. In Hanuman House everyone is supposed to be equal. Equality is a virtue in the Tulsi household. Nobody is supposed to challenge this idea because it is seen as disrespect to the Tulsi family. Mr. Biswas purchase of the dollhouse for his daughter , Savi, manifests his true feelings and aspirations. He wants the best for his family. This dollhouse is the epitome of his dream house. This house represents what he wants to own for himself. By owning this house Mr. Biswas is able to challenge the ideas of this feudal society. He conquers all of the obstacles that are placed in front of him by this rigid society. When Shama crushes the house into a million pieces this is a symbol of all of the obstacles that Mr. Biswas comes across. He is not going to let this dream of his be crushed because it isnt the way which is accepted in this society. He English Essays

A Birthday Remembered essays

A Birthday Remembered essays The main character in A Birthday Remembered is Ellen Simms. She is a woman of about 30, and she lives alone in a house in a small town. In the same town lives Tobie, who is somewhat like a daughter to her. Ellen has lived with another woman called Jackie. Tobie is the daughter of Jackie. Tobies father is called Roger. Roger and Jackie lived together until Jackie decided to leave him to live with Ellen. Roger was very angry with Jackie because she was leaving him for a woman. Ellen thinks, that it is more because Roger feels insulted, than he is sorry for losing Jackie. Jackie took Tobie with her when she moved from Roger, and so Ellen and Jackie had to raise Tobie. When Jackie gets sick and dies, Tobie is forced to move back to her father, where she still lives at the time of the story. Tobie will soon be 15 years old. She calls Ellen Aunt El, even though she is not her aunt. Roger is trying to make a carreer as a business executive, and he is apparently very egoistic. He does not ca re a lot about Tobie. He forbids her to do a lot of things that she wants to do. Roger is quite well off, so she could get money if she needed it, but Tobie has a job as a library page in her spare time because she likes to have her own money. Tobie has not told his father about her friend Warrick yet, because he probably would not allow her to have a boyfriend, and definitely not when she is only 14 years old. Tobie says about her father, that his main object in life seems to be to prove how much money he can make and keep. When even his own daughter can say this about him, it has to be true. Jackie also said: Rogers a miser at heart: he wants every cent I spend accounted for, yet hell go out and buy something outlandishly showy to prove hes got money. Ellens relationship to Tobie is very good. Jackie and Ellen raised her, until she had to move back to her father. Ellen is unsure of wheth...

Ban the burqa rhetorical analysis Research Paper - 1

Ban the burqa rhetorical analysis - Research Paper Example However, as one might expect, these alternative views do not appropriately reflect the views of the author herself. Rather, notwithstanding the well-articulated counter arguments and the issue of freedom and legality that they necessarily entail, the author constructs an argument for the complete prohibition at worst and discouragement at best of the burqa within society. As a means of quickly seeking to jar the reader’s attention from the rhetorical strength of those individuals who have come out against legislation banning the veil, Berlinski shifts to the isolated cases of sexual violence that take place in the lawless suburbs of Paris. As a means of distraction this is an effective tactic due to the fact that it instantly congeals the reader’s impression of Islam as naturally given to sexual violence, rape specifically, and depicts the male adherents as little more than sexually deviant thugs who are more than willing to cast aside all decency that a host culture, such as France, may have gifted them as a means of punishing those who dare to show a bit of self expression and freedom of strict Islamic tradition. As a function of shifting the debate from the broad to the specific, the author is able to convince the reader that her specific point of view is the most rational. This rhetorical approach is not unique; however Berlinski ap plies it masterfully. Right after eviscerating Islamic European culture for being broken, immoral, and unrestrained, Berlinski states, â€Å"Yet the burqa must be banned. All forms of veiling must be, if not banned, strongly discouraged and stigmatized† (Berlinski 2). The argument deviates further from the subject matter when Berlinski brings in the topic of gynecological examinations of girls within many of the recent immigrant communities within Europe. Although it is not the function of this author to make a moral judgment with regards to whether or not such a