Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Of Mice and men Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and men Essay Memories? Yeah, Ive had plenty, seen men come an go on this ranch, so many I cant hardly remember them, but two stick in my mind like it was only yesterday, but must be near on twenty years ago oh Im Slim, I lead the mule team, sure does beat busting a gut bucking barley now where was I? Yeah, thats right these two guys Came in one Friday, Boss was sure mad cos they were late. Youve never seen such an odd pair George, he was small, neat, quick witted but Lennie, my was he huge! Funny thing was his name was Small! He was like a great bear and he wasnt too clever either. Funny how he and George strung along together. Anyway, they come in Friday, Boss had been given us hell all mornin! I was out on the fields when they came out. Candy was with them and seemed to be showing them around the barn. Lennie seemed excited bout somethin. George came over and introduced them, Hi, Im George and this big fella here is Lennie. Lennie then tried whispered something to George but I heard every word, George, George, ask him bout dem dogs, please George? George looked a bit embarrassed. Candy tells us you got some new born pups. If theres one goin spare, you reckon Lennie could have it? George asked. Yeah sure you can Lennie, I said Come by the barn later and you can pick one out. He went all shy, with a smile from ear to ear, almost like a little kid. Lennie came down to the barn after he had finshed buckin, he sure was on hell of a worker, and he picked out his Pup. I tried to explain that he shouldnt be taken out of the box , but the big bastard didnt take no notice of it, ha, gawd he must have been the stupidest guy I have ever met. Now where was I oh right, so Lennie had got his Pup an it must have been dusk so we all headed back to the bunkhouse, and little did we know how much was gonna happen that night. We sorry my throats a lil dry, could ya pour us a drink? Cheers. Ah, thats better. Anyway, me and George were headed back to the bunkhouse and I started talkin to George bout Lennie, He sure is some worker, aint he? I mean when you said he were a good worker, I thought you meant he just didnt complain, but by golly, he must have beat every bucker on the ranch, with one hand! George chuckled. If only he wasnt so stupid I could be livin a dream. He said and looked in to the stars. So, how come you travel with him, I mean I aint never seen no-one that looks out for anyone as much as you look out for him. He looked a lil taken back by that but he simply answered, I promised his aunt I would look after him, an by god Ive had too. But he will do anything I tell him too, George started to smile, I once told him too jump in a river, and I knew he couldnt swim but he still did it and nearly drowned cos o me. Ever since then I havent done anything to him that might hurt him. He stared into the ground, almost as if he regretted doin that to him. I broke the silence, So, how come youve ended up here? I asked. He didnt want to tell me, I could tell by his face, but I think he new that he could trust me. You wont tell no-one, will ya? He asked Course I wont I replied Well He started off, We were working in weed, and Lennie was settin under some trees havin a break cos we had finished our morning load in an hour and a half. He smiled with a great sense of pride, Then one of the bosss daughters came over and started talkin to him, and the stupid bastard ended up touchin her dress and the dumbass didnt let go. The daughter ended up shoutin Rape, rape! everyone looked over and saw a girl strugglin with a guys hands all over her. I literally had to smack the big guy to get him off her. We then had to run for a lives. We ended up squatin in a river in some reeds. They went straight past us an never saw us, but there still after us. Luckily I think thats about 100 miles away, thank god. He sighed with relief. Lennie then brought this puppy into the bunkhouse, George, George look at da puppy, Slim gave it to me. George turned aroun and went psycho at him, Lennie, you dumb bastard! You gotta leave the pup in the box with its mum other wise your gonna kill im! Do you wanna kill him? Do ya? Lennie cowered away into the corner. Of course not George. Ill put him back straight away now, He ran out, an nearly hit his head on the top door, ha. Candy then cam in the bunkhouse. He was an old guy, busted his arm and had to stay there, or so he said. He came in with his dog, which wouldnt be so bad, but the old thing stank. Carlson, one of the buckers, offered Candy an option, You should shoot that old dog, Candy. I mean hes no good to any of us. Candy looked at his dog, I couldnt shoot him, Candy said, Ive had him since he was a pup Why dont I shoot him then? Carlson asked, Ye, Ill take him out to the forest and jus shoot him in the back of his head. He wont feel a thing, I swear. Your probably puttin him through more torture keepin him alive than shootin him. A tear was wellin up in Candy. This pup was his only friend. Candy relented and Carlson took the dog and you then heard a shot in the distance. We all looked at Candy, he was starin at the wall. I offered him a new puppy but he didnt answer. Crooks, the niggah entered and told me tha Lennie was messin with the pups. George looked at me and told me to kick him out if hes causin trouble. I went off and made sure he werent doin nothin stupid. Well stupid even for him. I was in the stables, makin sure all the pups were alrigh after Lennie had been messin with em, when Curley came stormin in, shoutin something bout his wife. I didnt want notin to do with it so I went to the bunkhouse but he kept on about how his wife is always sneakin off without his permission, and how he suspected me of havin an affair with his bitch. Ha, if I ever had an affair, it would be with Marilyn Monroe rather than that tart. I went into the bunkhouse and he still wouldnt let it drop so I said to him, Curley, I would never even think about touchin your bitch, cos I dont like that type of tart. All then men a fallin bout laughin and joined in with havin a lil dig at Curley. Sadly though, Lennie was smiling about something, he was in his own lil world, but Curley saw him an thought he was laughin at him. What are you laughin bout you yellow bellied bastard? Curley was squarein up to him and Lennie didnt know what to do. You bastard! Curley smashed the poor fella round the face and knocked him over. Lennie just stood up and did nothing bout it. He looked at George and was screamin at him to make Curley stop. I knew George didnt want no trouble so he kept quiet, but Curley was smashin Lennies head in. Then suddenly George screamed, Get im Lennie! Get im! Then Lennie switched, he grabbed Curleys hand and just squeezed, looked as if he was killin the bastard. George was smackin im tellin im to let go but he wouldnt budge. Lennie had im about 2 ft off the ground. We had to pull the big fella off of Curley. I went over to see Curleys hand and Lennie had jus disintegrated the bone, twas jus skin, not a bone in it. I knew that George and Lennie would get their asss busted for this so I thought Id have a heart to heart wit Curley, I said, If this gets out, Lennies gonna get canned for it. But your reputation as a tough guy will be ruined as well. Now if you say your hand was caught in a machine, then we will say that too, but if you dont, we will ruin your reputation til nobodys gonna be scared o you, you got that? He nodded his head, whilst screamin, and I told the guys to take him to doctors fast. That, thank God, was the end of that night. The next day, notin too much happened. We went into town and Candy, Crooks and Lennie stayed at the ranch. Thankfully that was all that happen that day. Next day was the horseshoe tournament. I never used to be that good at them, but they sure were good fun. Crooks did tell me that Lennie was looking at his pup, but not doin anthin to harm em. We had jus finished the tournament and George went to get som water. He came back, but didnt look to good. I was jus gonna ask him if hes alrigh but then Candy came out of the stables waving his arms bout screamin that somthin had happened to Curleys wife. We all went to see what was wrong, and it werent a pretty site. She was layin on the hay, at first ya thought she were sleepin, but then ya noticed her neck was bent in a bad way. Curley didnt look much sad, more angry then shouted, Im gonna kill the son o a bitch! Everyone started to get agitated and some people started shoutin, Lets get im, and Ill go get ma gun! George had gone real pale and Curley said to im, Your gonna stick wit me, so I don think you were involved, alrigh? George nodded. Curley told Crooks to get all the horses ready, seemed like it were a search party. Well it was but not the usual search party, it was more o a search an kill sorta party. Me, Curley, Carlson and George headed south whilst the others headed west, jus in case. I knew George knew where Lennie was, an we strayed away from Curley and co.. We ended up near this river and George said hell go in alone. I stood by some trees an saw everythin that happened. George went up to Lennie, pulled out Carlsons luger and told Lennie to look out toward the horizon. Lennie was smiling talkin to himself I think, George looked hesitant but found som courage and pulled the trigger. Lennie fell down the bank, and jus lay there. George walked over and didnt look to good. Curley and Carlson came over, makin up som story to tell the others. But I knew that George didnt wanna have to shoot Lennie, so I went and had a chat wit him. I simply said, It had to be done. He looked at me, and seemed glad that someone had said that to him, but still looked troubled. We got back to the ranch an everyone wanted to know what happened. Carlson was leading the story, and half of werent even real. The next couple o days was hard on George. He seemed to be in a completely different world, starin into space. He did get over it though, took him a couple o weeks, and he turned back to the ol George. God, that weekend was the longest weekend I have ever had.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Views on the role of Nick as a narrator in the Great Gatsby have Essay

Views on the role of Nick as a narrator in the Great Gatsby have varied greatly. How do the views of Arthur Mizener and Gary J. Scrimgeour relate to your own view of Nick's function in the novel? Published in 1925, and written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 'The Great Gatsby' is a brilliant and scathing illustration of life among the new rich during the 1920s; people who had recently amassed a great deal of wealth but had no corresponding social connections, or a sense of morality. Nick Carraway is the narrator of the novel; he rents a house on Long Island next door to Jay Gatsby, the title character. Gatsby is in love with Nick's cousin Daisy, who is married to an obnoxious man she does not really love, and he has no strong feelings towards her either. Her and his extramarital affairs are set against the background of the extravagant parties that Gatsby is famous for throwing, while Nick struggles to reconcile his attraction to a lavish lifestyle with his feeling that a moral grounding is missing. The writing style throughout 'The Great Gatsby' is terse and the book at times is depressing, with an overall message of hope and the American dream, discouraging. The story is told through the eyes of an active, biased, participant. Nick Carraway has a special place in this novel and has many functions. He is not just one character among several, it is through his eyes and ears that we form our opinions of the other characters. Nick is both within, yet outside the occurrence of events as he is friends with Gatsby and related to Daisy, but is still not involved fully in all that occurs, even though somebody else often tells him about it. Often, readers of this novel confuse Nick's stance towards those characters a... ...atsby is Nick's opinion. Gatsby's dream and the purity of his vision is the 'great' part, rather than the wealth. In one sense, the title of the novel is ironic; the title character is neither "great" nor named Gatsby. He is a criminal whose real name is James Gatz, and the life he has created for himself is an illusion. By the same token, the title of the novel refers to the theatrical skill with which Gatsby makes this illusion seem real. Fitzgerald has created a most interesting character in Nick because he is very much a fallible storyteller. When an author unsettles an accepted convention in the art of storytelling by creating a narrator like Nick, it draws attention to the story as fiction. Ironically, in doing this, he has created in Nick a figure that more closely resembles an average human being and thus has heightened the realism of the novel.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Race and Crime Essay

Are minorities continually being unfairly arrested, tried and punished as a result of racial discrimination or do minorities just commit more crimes? In order to determine if disparity or discrimination is the cause of current over representation of minorities in the criminal justice system we have to study race, ethnicity and past discriminatory judicial practices. Are the historical discriminatory practices and past laws the cause of the systematic imbalance of power in relation to race, class and discrimination within our society that leads to more crime among minorities today? There are many theories on why, how and even if race discrimination plays a significant role in explaining the current arrest and incarceration rates of minorities in the United States. Social strain theory, because it also involves the most restriction to important social aspects of society is the one I most agree with. In my experience restricted access to social and cultural capital is the cause for higher than expected crime rates among our citizens who lack these two important aspects of crime control. The inability to achieve success based on societies’ definition causes stain and alternative ways of thinking to achieve that level of success, which is sometimes outside the confines of the law. The term race has traditionally referred to the biological differences of mankind. The differences that distinguish us by the color of our skin, hair texture and certain physical features determine what race we are. Some experts contend that race is just a social construct and people are classified and labeled by the culturally dominant group in that society. This type of classification system tends to imply that one race is inferior to another (Walker et al pg 6). The term minority is used for any race that is less in numbers than the race in power. Currently in the United States the â€Å"majority† is considered to be Caucasian and the â€Å"minorities† are African Americans, Hispanics, Arab Americans, etc. There have been many historical examples of minorities being unfairly treated within the confines of our judicial system. â€Å"Race discrimination and social and economical inequality have a direct impact on crime and criminal justice† (Walker et al, pg 78). In the southern states during the 1800’s barriers were created in the laws to separate nonwhite persons from the majority, white persons called the Black Codes. These codes created a legal line of separation stating where blacks could and could not go in public, what land they could own and how they could earn a living. The term, Color Line encompassed everything involving what water fountains and bathrooms â€Å"coloreds† could use and where they could stand or sit in public spaces. The Jim Crow laws of the 1900 were also racist laws and actions that deprived African Americans civil rights, claiming blacks were inferior to the whites and were lower class people. â€Å"The colored sign was the most visible mark of inferiority imposed upon African Americans by the Jim Crow laws† (Davis PhD). The punishment for breaking these laws and codes were mob lynching, serving prison time on chain gangs and debilitating debt imposed by sharecropping attempts to make a living (Davis PhD). Previous laws and codes set the stage for economic inequality of minorities in the United States. Income, wealth, unemployment are the standard measure of economic inequality. â€Å"All of these measures indicate deep and persistent inequality in society generally and with respect to race and ethnicity† (Walker et al pg, 79). In order to determine if race discrimination has the major contributor to minority over representation in the criminal justice system we must rule out the idea of disparity being the cause of overrepresentation. The concept of disparity in the criminal justice system refers to differences in say incarceration rates of a certain race but not because of systematic race discrimination. Disparity is a way to explain the high numbers of minorities as criminal perpetrators with legitimate factors. These factors could include, minorities commit more crimes, not because police officers, judges and juries are racists. Crime arrest and convictions could be solely based on legal factors. These legal factors include the seriousness of offense, mitigating circumstances and previous criminal records. These factors opposed to extralegal factors that include race, class, gender and lifestyle (Walker et al, pg 18). If arrest and conviction rates were based solely on legal factors with no weight given to extralegal factors, a high minority count would be considered disparity not systematic discrimination on part of the criminal justice system. To determine if only legal factors and not extralegal factors are the cause of an overrepresentation of minorities in the criminal justice system much more research needs to be conducted. If the cause of high incarceration rates is because of disparity instead of discrimination there is one theory I feel explains why there is disparity. The Social Strain Theory explains the causes of disparity among minorities that leads to higher rates of arrests and incarceration rates. â€Å"Robert Merton’s social stain theory holds that each society has a dominant set of values and goals along with acceptable means of achieving them† (Walker et al, pg 92). If success in life is measured by your social status, involving what you own, where you live and who you know then that is your personal goals for success. The ways to achieve this success are seen as hard work, education, self-control and as individual achievements (Walker et al, pg 92). If the American dream is not realized by a group of people because of societies inability to provide equal levels of educational and work opportunities to achieve success it results in what Merton’s calls social strain. Merton’s theory of social strain addresses the gap between what society views as success and a persons circumstances are for trying to achieve that success. (Walker et al, pg 92). Social strain helps to explain high rates of criminal activity among minorities because minorities are more likely to be denied legal opportunities to obtain the American dream by legal means. â€Å"The high levels of economic inequality experienced by minorities, together with continuing discrimination based on race and ethnicity, mean that minorities are far less likely to be able to achieve approved social goals through conventional means† (Walker et al, pg 93). In conclusion I believe minorities do commit more crimes today, but that is because of a history of discrimination and blocked opportunities to achieve social and cultural capital. The ruling class, the majority, because of past-institutionalized and systematic discrimination has created what we have today, a disparity among minorities involved in our criminal justice system. Therefore even though we have curbed contextual and individual acts of discrimination we have yet to address past discrimination in a meaningful way while still upholding the law. Bibliography Davis, Ronald L. F. Ph. D. California State University, Northridge. Creating Jim Crow. History of Jim Crow retrieved on June 2, 2011 from http://jimcrowhistory. org/history/creating. htm Lafree, G. & Russell, K. K. (1993). The argument for studying race and crime. Journal of Criminal Justice Education. 4, 273-289. Walker, S, Spohn, C, & DeLone, M. (2007). The Color of Justice: Race, Ethnicity, and Crime in America. Wadsworth Publishing Co.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Is Banning Tobacco a Good Idea

Is Banning Tobacco a Good Idea? As smoking is reported to be one of the main causes of cancer, governments all over the world are trying to find a sure-fire way to discourage people from smoking. Some of them consider outlawing the sale and the consumption of tobacco, like it was done with heroine. But is it actually a promising measure? Firstly, it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the aforementioned measures in the fight against heroine. Judging by frequent news reports about the incessant hunt after drug dealers, heroine sale and, consequently, consumption are flourishing despite the prohibition. The saying ‘The forbidden fruit is sweet’ has been characteristic of human nature since ancient times. It especially concerns teenagers, who are prone to question the existing order of things. The danger of being arrested only adds more attractiveness to smoking. If we intend to encourage people to give up smoking, we had better use an approach that would make people utterly disgusted by smoking. I believe that education is one of the ways to address this problem. Many people would argue that smokers are well aware of the dangers since they have been lectured about it hundreds of times. Dry facts can hardly convince anyone, but ‘seeing is believing’. One anti-smoking campaign will sti ck in my memory forever – nobody was teaching us why smoking is wrong, but near the entrance to the university there was a photo exhibition showing the effects it had on us. Needless to say, even the most inveterate smokers felt really uncomfortable on seeing them. All in all, prohibition policy hasn’t shown itself to advantage, so it is not worth introducing it if we want to do away with smoking. It is more advisable to focus on education and finding other effective ways to address the problem.