Men’s Pride Essay Example for Free

Men’s Pride Essay In a story or a work of fiction, the characters are remembered by beliefs and personalities only they possess. These personality and belief make them stand out from all the other characters in the story. They do not have to be the lead protagonist or the main antagonist; rather, their belief or trait makes them the best in the eyes of some readers. In the case of two greatest works of fiction, â€Å"Epic of Gilgamesh† and â€Å"Othello†, it is the pride of the character and their belief in themselves that makes them stand out from the others. It is the pride and later the ability to set it aside and apologize for their deed. In the â€Å"Epic of Gilgamesh†, Gilgamesh, the great king stood out because he was the proudest of the proud. His belief in himself caused most of the misfortune that took place in the story. Only in the end did he realize his mistakes. The same may be said on Othello in the play that Shakespeare wrote. He was also proud, and this pride has caused as much misfortune in the story as did the trait of Gilgamesh. This also made him stand out from among the other characters. The Mighty Gilgamesh The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic that originated in Iraq. It is a Sumerian legend about a great King, who is like a God. He has a strength that cannot be equaled. He is also as powerful as their gods wherein neither man nor animal can defeat him. As such, the gods decided to create another being that can equal him. When Gilgamesh met this being, whom the gods named, Enkidu, Gilgamesh immediately liked him. They easily became friends despite the initial plan of the gods to have Enkidu kill Gilgamesh. Their bond was instantaneous. They started doing a lot of adventures together, even those that are forbidden and may offend gods (Hooker). Unfortunately, in one of their adventures a god was offended and as punishment for this, Enkidu died. After Enkidu’s death Gilgamesh was almost out of his mind and did more dim-witted decisions that caused misfortunes. However, despite what he saw, he did not apologize but rather remained proud. Only after all his adventures did he come to his knees and realized his mistakes (Hooker). From this short synopsis of the epic, it may be seen that at the very beginning, Gilgamesh already showed his pride and belief in his self. He was aware of his great power and the gift of strength that destiny has gifted upon him. The king of Uruk knew that none of his subjects can defeat him or defy him. As such, he lived by this knowledge and used it to his advantage (â€Å"Epic of Gilgamesh†). He was a proud and tyrannical king and he stood out because of this. Even though his arrogant actions caused the death of his best friend Enkidu, this did not erase the fact that he was a memorable character because of it. He was much known than Enkidu not only because he carried the namesake of the epic’s title, but also because he went against the society. He did not become what other kinds are. He was cruel to his subjects. He was almost an antagonist rather than the lead protagonist due to his pride. He made the story move by not conforming to the people’s expectations (â€Å"Epic of Gilgamesh†). However, despite the seemingly terrible character of Gilgamesh he should also be commended for being proud of himself. It should be noted that to stand up and remain proud despite other people’s constant prodding to become nicer is a hard task especially for a king. Even the gods were urging him to become kinder to his subjects but he never gave in. Also, it should be noted that his pride is his strength. Because of it, he was able to overcome other difficult tasks that saved his kingdom. Had he not been that arrogant, he would not have risked his life for the tasks that he was assigned to and he would not have been able to save his people. Furthermore, he would have committed suicide as a sign of apology for his actions. Thus, with this, the non-conformity and the trait of Gilgamesh made him a character that is very memorable. The Proud Othello Shakespeare’s â€Å"Othello† is about the moor Othello, whose life suddenly made a turn because of the envy of one of the other characters. The great Othello was promoted in his job and his first action was to appoint an assistant. Iago, who was expecting to get the job, was not chosen. Instead Cassio became Othello’s lieutenant. In his fury, Iago sought revenge against Othello and Cassio (Shakespeare). In order to have his revenge realized, Iago weaved lies in the lives of both Cassio and Othello, and even in the lives of other characters involved with the two. This twisted the story to the point that this not only caused Othello and Cassio’s death, but as well as other people whose lives were connected to them. Most of the people, including Othello, believed the lies that Iago told them. By the end of the story, Othello could no longer contain his guilt and killed himself and claimed responsibility (Shakespeare). From this short synopsis it may be derived that Othello’s life had been simple in the beginning. It was only made complex by the lies that Iago weaved in order to realize his revenge. Despite the fact that Iago’s characteristics may actually make him stand out, Othello still is the most memorable character. As in the case of the Epic of Gilgamesh, Othello stood out because of his pride and belief in himself. Being a moor, many would have contradicted his promotion. The society may dislike the fact that a man foreign of nature should not lead the army of Italy. However, because of Othello’s pride and confiedence, he proved himself worthy of the title (Black). To further prove that he was not like anyone else, an instance in the story told that most men try to use potions in order to attract the beautiful Desdemona. Desdemona’s father even believed that Othello did the same when he learned that Othello was sleeping with his daughter. But then, because of Othello’s pride and self-belief, he went against the society’s expectations. He was able to lure Desdemona without potions or magic (Shakespeare). Despite the seeming good results of Othello’s arrogance though, it should not be neglected that the same arrogance killed Desdemona at the end of the story. The inability to accept the truth caused him to kill her. This may be considered saddening as it was not entirely his fault. However, he was still the one who smothered her with the pillow (Shakespeare). Othello’s pride and belief in himself made him stand out from the crowd. He did not conform to the expectations that as a foreigner he cannot be a good soldier to their country. He also proved that he can get the woman he admires with sheer manliness and not through potions or magic. Even the fact that he got himself into trouble because of his pride made his character that is not like any other. He defied society’s expectations especially when he took his life at the end of the play. This was an act of remorse for rebelling against the expectations that he did not want to apologize for. He did not conform because it would have meant hurting his enormous ego. Conclusion From the given information, it may be concluded that the two characters in the two given pieces of literature, â€Å"Epic of Gilgamesh† and â€Å"Othello†, are characters that stood out from the crowd because of their pride and self-belief. Because of being proud, they could not afford to follow what other believed them to follow. They had to show their ability to decide for their own even though it may mean misfortune. They stood out because they went past the people’s expectations and proved themselves better than any other man. They had to act according to their will because of their pride which took great strength. More importantly, in the end of their tales, they showed remorse by killing themselves rather than apologizing which the society expects from them. Works Cited Black, Edward. 2009. â€Å"Oedipus and Othello: Pride and the Tragic Hero†. Lone Star College. 30 April 2009 http://northharris. lonestar. edu/30938/ . â€Å"Epic of Gilgamesh. † 2009. Mythmanhelp. 30 April 2009 http://mythmanhelp. tripod. com/id9. html . Hooker, Richard. 1999. â€Å"Gilgamesh†. World Civilizations. 30 April 2009 http://www. wsu. edu/~dee/MESO/GILG. HTM . Shakespeare, William. 2003. â€Å"Othello†. shakespeare-literature. com. 30 April 2009 http://www. shakespeare-literature. com/Othello/0. html .

COMPASSION FOR THE SOULS WHO INHABIT HELL :: essays research papers

Dante's Inferno is a 14th- century poem that seems calculated to cause the greatest possible pain to a 20th-century humanist, or to anyone who is attracted to Christianity because of its compassion and belief in the possibility of redemption. The God of the Inferno has precious little compassion and no forgiveness. He was the God who not only turned a blind eye to Belsen, but also exercised great ingenuity in constructing His own blood-chilling concentration camp, where sinners should suffer, not only during their brief lives, but for all eternity. What is particular about Dante's God is that He consigns sinners to their particular circle in Hell according to an immutable tariff of offences. No attention is paid to mitigating circumstances, or the idea of doing justice to the individual soul before the Divine Court. Hell, in short, was made on exactly the lines that the present Home Secretary would wish to impose on our present sentencing system. How do we reconcile the enjoyment of a great poem with what must seem, to many of us today, a repellent theology? Ulysses may best capture our own views in his speech to his sailors. He celebrates the dignity of man and says: "You were not bornto live as a mere brute does/ But for the pursuit of knowledge and the good". But such sensible humanism is, apparently, no better than the excuses of the gluttons and the adulterers. Ulysses is condemned as a thief and must suffer in Hell. In an admirable Preface to Robert Pinsky's translation, John Freccero deals with past attempts to enjoy the poem without revulsion. Coleridge advised us to "suspend disbelief" and enjoy the poetry without accepting the theology. Erich Auerbach suggested we separate "Dante's didactic intent from his power of representation", and held that the reality of the condemned characters overwhelmed their allegorical meaning. Perhaps we should simply remember how Dante suffered from the ruthless power-seeking and political intrigue in Florence and take Hell as an accurate picture of politics today. George Steiner, the distinguished critic and polymath, has suggested in his book In Bluebeard's Castle that the Holocaust is the Christian idea of hell made real and that the most knowledgeable guide to the camps is actually Dante. Robert Pinsky, the recently appointed poet laureate of the United States, was asked to comment on this notion in an interview in The Forward that marked the publication of the poet's acclaimed translation of Dante's Inferno.

Incarceration vs Rehabilitation

Incarceration vs. Rehabilitation Over the past few decades, American juvenile justice policy has become progressively more disciplinary, as shown by the increasing harsh nature of the tempers imposed on juveniles who have been judged delinquent or guilty, as well as by the marked increase in the number of states in which juveniles can be tried During the 1990s, in particular, legislatures across the country enacted statutes under which growing numbers of youths can be prosecuted in criminal courts and sentenced to prison.Indeed, today, in almost every state juvenile from ages 13 to 14 or less can be tried and punished as adults for a broad range of offenses, including nonviolent crimes. Even within the juvenile system, punishments have grown increasingly severe. It is generally accepted that intense public concern about the threat of youth crime has driven this trend, and that the public supports this legislative inclination toward increased correctiveness. And yet, it is not clear w hether this view of the public’s attitude about the appropriate response to juvenile crime is accurate.On the one hand, various opinion surveys have found public support generally for getting tougher on juvenile crime and punishing youths as harshly as their adult counterparts. At the same time, however, study of the sources of information about public opinion reveals that the view that the public supports adult punishment of juveniles is based largely on either responses to highly publicized crimes such as school shootings or on mass opinion polls that typically ask a few simple questions.For example, several surveys have found public support for rehabilitation as a goal of juvenile justice policy and also for agreements and programs that are alternatives to prison. One survey found that participants thought that school discipline, rather than imprisonment, was the best way to reduce juvenile crime. It is quite possible that assessments of public emotion about juvenile crime , and the appropriate response to it, vary greatly as a function of when and how public opinion is determined.An assessment of the public’s support for various responses to juvenile offending is important because policymakers often justify outflows for disciplinary juvenile justice reforms on the basis of popular demand for tougher policies. Disciplinary responses to juvenile crime are far more expensive than less harsh alternatives. Further, there is little evidence that these more corrective policies are more effective in deterring future criminal activity.

Caricom - 1012 Words

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is an organisation of 15 Caribbean nations (see chart N °1), 12 islands and 3 larger coastal nations in and around the Caribbean sea, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean , The Gulf of Mexico, The United States and South and Central America. This community was established by the Treaty of Chaguaramas which came into effect on August 1973 and which was signed at first by only 4 countries : Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. CARICOM was built in order to promote an economic integration and a real cooperation between its members, in order to coordinate foreign policy and in order to ensure that the benefits of integration are equally shared. Its aim was to take part in the international trade†¦show more content†¦Members are not equal at all, some are developed whereas others are poor, and the result is that there is a real tension between unity and division. As we studied in class, â€Å"some win and some loose†. For example, Trinidad and Tobago clearly is the leader of the group as a major regional supplier of energy, manufactured products and services to other countries. It is also a major market for regionally produced agricultural commodities and food products and continues to maintain its favourable trade position with the rest of the world due primarily to its strong merchandise account (trade in goods) performance. On the contrary, Haiti is one of the poorest country in the world and have other priorities than its neighbours to rebuild the country. Besides, CARICOM faces a geographic problem : the 12 islands are spread over 60 000 square kilometres which makes the access and the transport of goods very long and complex. As a result, the trade bloc is not efficient because of distance and costs of transport. There is also an administration problem : countries do not manage to prioritize. There are too many mandates, in every field, and none of them is respected or applied. 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