A Critique of A Good Man is Hard to Find good hard

A Critique of A Good Man is Hard to Find good hard Essay A Critiqueof A Good Man is Hard to Find She reached out and touched him on the shoulder. The Misfit sprang back as if a snake had bitten him and shot her three times through the chest. Flannery OConnors A Good Man is Hard to Find is the story of a familys vacation tragically ended by a murderer and his gang. After a meddlesome Mother/Mother-In-Law/Grandmother tries to insist that the family go to Tennessee instead of Florida, it was in fact through her own insistence that prompted the family stray from the main path in search of some false, lost treasure. This deadly decision caused the family to fall prey to the Misfit. Foreshadowing at the beginning of the story hints to the reader that while on their trip to Florida, this family is destined to cross paths with the Misfit. For example, Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people. Just you read it. Through OConnors use of characterization, symbolism and the theme that A Good Man is Hard to Find, OConnors point that societys morals and faith has crumbled is conveyed. OConnors use of characterization shows the breaking down of respect and discipline in American society. From past generations to present generations, this message can be understood. Grandma represents the past with her strong Southern Hospitality heritage. For instance, The old lady settled herself comfortably, removing her white cotton gloves and putting them up with her purse on the shelf in front of the back window. Her collar and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady. Later on she even states, In my timechildren were more respectful of their native states and their parents and everything else. People did right then. The grandchildren, however, are a product of where this gap between social courtesy and lack of discipline apply. In the beginning of the story June Star rudely comments to her grandmother, She wouldnt stay home for a million bucks, afraid shed miss something. She has to go everywhere we go. When John Wesley was asked by the grandmother what he would do if confronted by the Misfit his reply was, Id smack his face. In the end we found this to be very untrue. The Misfits character is again the result of the breakdown in humanity, family values and all of the values that have been lost in todays culture. The Misfit may have some social graces because he says politely, Yes mam, No mam, I pre-chate that lady, and apologizes to the grandmother for Baileys harsh comment, but there is some uneasiness about the morals his own father had as a role model. There is an undertone that the Misfits father had a darker side and had some run-ins with the Authorities. The Misfit explained to the grandmother, Daddy was a card himself. You could never put anything over on him. He never got in trouble with the Authorities though. Just had the knack of handling them. OConnors symbolism throughout the story represents faith (or lack of), and death. The fact that the family had strayed from the main path onto an unimportant side road, where they were killed, symbolizes how people often stray from Jesus and follow the wrong path spiritually. Even the towns name Toombsboro is a symbol of death. It was in this town that the grandmother thought the old plantation was. This was where she became sidetracked, again like her faith in Jesus. In the car, John Wesley and June Star were playing a game by guessing the shape of the clouds in the sky. READ: The New Age After the 1500s Essay The clouds represent the grandmothers superficial faith. She dressed herself with the purple spray of flowers just in case she died. It was as if she were taking death lightly. It was when .

Can politics ever be considered just for Augustine Essay

Can politics ever be considered just for Augustine - Essay Example The great influence that his teachings had and continue to have in the modern period can be attributed to his persuasive nature, since the was able to influence the basic processes through which the Christian church operates today; not only the catholic church but also the Eastern Orthodox and the Protestants. With this in mind, it would be prudent to ensure that the teachings of this man are studied so that it can be determined whether he considered politics to be just or not. If one considers Augustine’s teachings, one would come to the conclusion that he believes politics can be just because of his belief in free will. Free will, according to Augustine, is an essential part of the human connection with God (Elshtain, 2004). While this may be the case, he lived during an age where many individuals were often subjected into lifelong servitude and slavery. The latter people did not have the free will to be able to make their own choices in life and only had to submit to the wi ll of their masters, a fact which would not have been in agreement with Augustine’s beliefs. ... democratic system where the free will of an individual is what determined whether he participated in the politics of his society or not (Visser, 2010). The fact that many of the individuals who lived in the Roman society lacked free will because of the autocratic government that was in place, may have had an influence on the teachings of Augustine, who, despite not having been born a Christian, was among those who developed the doctrine of free will in the religious and political scene of the time. According to Augustine, free will existed because it was granted by God, so that in order for an individual to achieve it, it had to be granted by God (Valk, 2009). The fact that some individuals in the society did not possess free will was because God had not seen it fit to grant it to them and this ensured that they were not yet worthy of it. It can be said that those individuals who have the free will to participate in politics have been granted this privilege by God and since God is co nsidered to be just, then there is justice in politics. Free will is absolutely essential to human nature as this is what determines what individuals do with their live, whether good or evil. The ability to make this choice is among the most fundamental aspects of politics because it enables individuals to take differing viewpoints without necessarily having to see eye to eye on some matters. It was this teaching which came to be adopted by the protestant movement, especially the Calvinists, who accepted Augustine’s teaching that there is both free will and divine grace, and as such, the will of an individual is often predestined. One of the conditions which Augustine considers to be necessary for individuals to attain free will is the keeping and fulfilling of all the commandments of

Batman the Dark Knight (2008) and Religious Views Essay

Batman the Dark Knight (2008) and Religious Views - Essay Example Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) the District Attorney is threatened by this action. Going by the situation he approaches Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and the Batman. As there are very little that could had been done by being within the boundary of law, Batman is asked to bring back Lau from Hong Kong. The Joker brings in a series of terrorism in the city and Batman again had to don in his black cloak and fight against the terror. Instead of following the league and reprocessing the super hero cliche, Nolan tries to depict his two archetypal characters that are the Joker and the Batman with an emphasis on religious relevance. Religious Aspect The directorial aspect of Nolan resemble with the Buddhist understanding, where the evil deeds of the movie have been shown as an effect of various adverse causes and situation. Unlike other superhero movie evil is not created out of vacuum here. In fact the joker has been portrayed as a victim of severe emotional and physical child abuse. The Distri ct attorney who is the protector of law also breaks the law of the city when he asks the Batman to do something which remains unresolved by law. The absence of good has been constructed through actions in the movie. The emergence of Two-Face in the movie reveals the dichotomy in the human nature and that no single human being is either a white character-full of virtues or a black character-full of vices, they represent shades of grey. Two-Face has also been symbolized by the fact that despite the economic crisis in the city of Gotham, the mafias and the Joker are able to keep small army of people. The movie depicts the joker as the most non- religious person and the Batman is the religious person who thinks for the good of the human kind. Respecting humanity is the essence of any religion in the world and hence Batman can be regarded as the religious character despite some controversies which does not acknowledge him as a Catholic and denotes him rather, as a Catholic who has drifte d away. A religious person is expected to follow certain rituals like paying a visit to the church. The Batman does not seem to follow these rituals and hence might lead to a controversy when regarded as a religious character. However while diffusing the bomb the Batman says, â€Å"If I had the time or the right – I’d say a prayer†. Again, the character of Two-Face is regarded as non religious in traditional sense. Even this has been projected as a villainous character as a result of severe psychosis. The movie reveals how human beings are vulnerable and get more influenced by Satan than by God despite the religious beliefs of some characters. Also the importance of rituals and good deeds or actions can be controversial at times while commenting on a character’s religiosity. Analysis of the ritualistic aspect of the movie The three main characters can be analyzed in the context of rituals and religious beliefs. Harvey Dent or Two-Face who was initially wh ite turns black in the end when he is killed. Batman is represented in shades of gray while the Joker is depicted in black shade. The Joker does not believe in ethics or religion. On the other hand, the Batman, through his actions symbolizes godly deeds but he does not believe in rituals. When the Two-Face is cured from his psychosis state, he is seen to wear the Taoist symbol on his belt. This might give an impression of ritual which according to Nye, is more