Martian Chronicles Essays - Fiction, Science Fiction,

Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury's the Martian Chronicles is a futuristic story about space travel, invasion and planet colonization. Analyzing characters in this twenty-eight-chapter novel is extremely difficult because every chapter includes different characters, which are oriented to form the plot. Each chapter's characters are used to show the founding of the planet Mars, the colonization of it, the destruction of Earth and almost the whole human race, and finally the rebuilding of the human civilization on Mars. The story starts off in the year of 1999 and ends twenty-seven years later in 2026. Ray Bradbury doesn't just tell his story from the point of view of the space travelers and the colonizers, but from angry Martians who were trying to kill the humans or Martians later on who were just having a conversation with a human about Mars, also people seeing the great colonial change happen. Captain Wilder was the captain of the fourth expedition to Mars from Earth. The three expeditions before had failed because either the Martians tricked and killed the earthlings or the earth people were thought of as mentally ill and sent to a hospital on Mars. Later on in the story when there are towns on Mars, the very few Martians are not discriminated against because the people on Mars were kind people who were in search of new things and seeing Martians was rare. Luckily the minor human sickness, chicken pox, had killed off most of the Martians accidentally. Captain Wilder and his crew explored the planet and responded to Earth to say that the missions were successful, and with only a few complications. Captain Wilder with his Crew of Jeff Spender, Hathaway, Sam Parkhill, Cheroke, Gibbs and a few other men help begin to portray the theme of the story, by finding Mars and seeing that it was safe (this was in the beginning of the story, but in the last several chapters they are brought back as veterans of Mars when it is deserted). The theme is that humans are not a great race of colonizers, but they are really just destructive. All that was left for Earth to do was send the settlers to colonize Mars. Jeff Spender was a very quiet fellow; the crew called him, "the Lonely One." When Jeff reached Mars, he was outraged on how humans had killed this Martian race by a measly child irritation to some children. He left the group and learned as much as he could about their language and culture. Eventually Jeff became angry with humans because he knew what they would do to what was left of the alien culture when they colonize Mars. He said that unlike humans this race did not ask why we are here, they just enjoyed and basked in the rays of life. The Martian culture was magnificent and Jeff did not want it to be destroyed. Therefore his goal was not to let anyone colonize Mars. Jeff went back to Wilder's camp and shot Gibbs whom he greatly disliked because of his immature enmity towards the Martian culture. He then shot four more men who were eating lunch peacefully. Captain Wilder was a very serious and staid figure and also a good friend of Jeff Spender. Jeff thought that Wilder would understand his reasoning, but he was wrong. Wilder did not like that Jeff had killed his buddies and coworkers. Eventually after a long chase through the thin air of Mars, Wilder talked it over with Spender, but obviously they did not agree over this matter. This external conflict was solved and finished when Jeff was finally shot before he could stop the colonization of Mars by killing all space travelers. Captain Wilder's expedition was successful. After this mission was complete, Captain Wilder was sent with his crew to Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune for exploring. "I heard they had kicked you upstairs so you wouldn't interfere with colonial policy here on Mars," exclaimed Mr. Hathaway in 2026 after meeting up again with Captain Wilder. Captain Wilder had not changed since that fourth expedition to Mars; he was still the same serious and adventurous character, except a little older of course. Captain Wilder and his crew, Mr. Hathaway and his family, two other people left who did not go back to Earth and another family were the only people left on Mars. They were in charge of rebuilding the human race on Mars because the Earth was being destroyed in a twenty-year world war. Human civilization was starting all over again. This book is

The Vows Are AChangin Essay Example

The Vows Are AChangin Essay Example The Vows Are AChangin Essay The Vows Are AChangin Essay Christopher Solley-Mead Professor Julie Brinson ENGL11104 3 November 2013 These Vows Are A Changin An Examination of the Role of Marriage through Literary Analysis Marriage it is what brings us together today Princess Bride Its not a lack of love but a lack of friendship that makes marriages unhappy. Friedrich Nietzche You know its never fifty-fifty in a marriage someone always falls in love first puts someone on a pedestal first someone is Just along for the ride. Jodi Picoult If you want to start a heated, contentious argument, ask someone their opinion about arriage. Should homosexuals be afforded the right? Should persons be able to divorce on no-fault grounds, or should marriage be dissolved only under the greatest duress? Is marriage a purely religious institution, a sacrament if you will, or does it fall under the stature and design of the state? Few other topics find such disagreement. The purpose of this paper is to examine exactly what is marriage, from a legal and religious standpoint, and how it has evolved from the medieval period to that of the modern day. The other purpose is to examine specific literary eferences throughout different periods in time, and offer perhaps a glimpse as to why responses in type mirror what has changed in society at large. Marriage, in the classical view, finds its roots in the early medieval period of Europe. While it does extend roots to the late Roman era through Augustine, its true birth is a product of the death of culture within the civilized world. Augustine does provide the basis for classical marriage, that being procreation, fidelity, and permanence (Reid 462. Simply put, marriages purpose was noted as the production of linage, and to sustain that line a sustainable family unit was needed. Neither comfort nor convenience of the immediate parties was of importance, but rather the procreation of a progeny was the order (Reid 463. ) Of course, the need for progeny was to the father but as the wife had no claim beyond doweristic property, this is expected. Fidelity, mutual support and assistance were intertwined into this need; if one partner chose to dally around; the potential for other progeny could disrupt, and perhaps destroy the bonds needed to continue a line maturely. This is, again to say, that the husband may choose to dally, but should the wife be found with the stain of nfaithfulness, well, the result could destroy what was so carefully built. Permanence, closely connected with fidelity, existed more of a political status and of fundamental supremacy to not only the church, but to that of society as well. It was in the medieval period that a break in whom was bestowed the power to dissolve the bonds of marriage, that being the state or the church. Both noted that the power to dissolve said bonds were where one party failed to perform essential obligations of the marriage contract (Reid 467. Remarriage was seen as much as a detriment to marriage (468) in that it disrupted he society; the very questions of responsibility and loyalty that modern families face were simply avoided. Other issues, such as homosexual marriage, were simply not an issue as they could not fulfill the primary obligation of the marriage contract; there was no opportunity f or procreation. The Victorian/Gilded view of marriage carries over from that of Augustine; the purpose of progeny, structure and state/church control remains the forefront of the marriage agreement. Love, commitment and affection were desirable, yet, the device of marriage as a social mobilizer remained of paramount importance. We also see, as the world of industrialization takes hold: the lathe replaces the plow, the city replaces the farming community, and the family is replaced by the company. Marriage itself is placed into question. In the place of property, marriage allowed aforementioned social-stratification and solidification among the middle and upper class, yet the lower socio-economic rungs find marriage suffocating. It is also, as economic independence allows growth into Maslowian self-actualization among the upper classes, the burgeoning thought-school of feminism begins to question the ery nature of marriage as a restriction upon the feminine. Of particular interest is the means of which these initial treads occurred, through veiled literary references. Stokers Dracula, Chopins Story of an Hour and Wildes Lord Arthur Saviles Crime all address the issues immerging within the question of marriage. Each addresses this matter differently, each skirting the gaze of the censor Just enough to fire the crucible of social revolution. Of particular interest is Story of an Hour, Chopins three-page indictment of marriage as the death of self-actualized life. Her heroine, Louise Mallard, finds herself brutally removed from the bonds of Victorian matrimony, and in the place of mourning finds she awakened to the potential of life without his husband. Now, this freedom may be more than Just the emotions, as suggested by Chongye: although Mallard wanted to have a change, it seems that she has already experienced this through some affair, be it emotional or physical ith [Mallards] brother-in-law Richards (92. ) It is here that we see the beginning of the break-down of the marriage needs; for it is the wife, Louise Mallard, which feels the lack of commitment and fulfillment in her gainst the supremacy of men in the patriarchal Gilded Age society. Upon learning of her husbands death, Mallard finds herself free of ALL ties (406) and thus: [She] bursts into tears [of happiness]. (Chongye 93) It is as if the heavens have opene d to her, and she hears the world around her for the first time. Her affair with Richards, another man, could not bring about the life that singular existence offers, and thus it is when all ties to all men are removed that she is able to express such emotion. Now, is it the institute of marriage that changed, or is it the needs of the people and society? Is Mallard, the voice of Chopin so unhappy that is takes the death of her ties with mankind to become truly alive? What about Nina Harker, forced to remove herself from traditional society, and her husband, in Dracula? Hacker suggests that, there is a need to reorganize marriage to fit [new] economic and political institutions (153. So, perhaps marriage, as defined by Augustine, no longer provided a basis for societal structure. If this question existed at this point in history, would it not be so much more into the progression of social revolution within the twentieth century. As the Victorian/Gilded Age come to an end, and as the modern era began with start of a new century, marriage found itse lf on the cusp of questioning. Society found old ways no longer surviving, two great wars made sure of that. As the Roaring 20s came about, a distinct questioning of what were the roles of gender would remain, and which would require change. Daisy of Fitzgeralds Great Gatsby often refers to her marriage of that ofa bruised finger (175,) annoying and barely tolerable. Gone are the veiled references of happiness without a spouse in love; now love and companionship are that is required. It is society that requires marriage, as Delaney notes in her commentary on a publication of the era 🙠 Girls Own Annual 1927 demonstrates a distinct construction of womanhood at odds with the 1920s view. (29) Marriage was still noted as the stabilizing force[ ][that] improve[d] the moral state of the nation[ (Delaney 41) but it was no longer needed by the rebellious generation of the 1920s. Thus, is marriage still needed at this Juncture? Or more precisely, was the Augustan model of marriage; progeny, fidelity, and reliance still apparent and viable? Despite the metronomic return of pseudo-Victorian values uring the 1950s, the societal constraints that marriage afforded seemed no longer needed, or even desired. Divorce grew from on e in nine marriages in 1920 (Delaney 30) to nearly one in four by emergence into the 1960s. What had changed? Thus we return to the modern day, where divorce has risen to almost fifty percent, granted on the most frivolous of grounds; yet there are those who beg for the right to be miserable. Is the classic definition of marriage stated above serviceable, or is a major re-alignment required? This is the question that now stands before each state, and very well before our nations highest court. Definitions of state-driven marriage, to the benefit of social beneficiaries (Reid 476; et al. ) exist in Hawaii and Vermont. Adultery, while a crime-in-writing, no longer stands as the legal and societal pariah. Propagation is now nothing more than paying to be impregnated; so where does marriage stand? As this discussion continues to hamper other discussions, it is the beneficiaries, society or the couple themselves. Marriage can no longer be seen as the neat bow of life (Levenson 161), the happily ever after. Marriage may be a discipline and means of grace (Good 52), but that is no longer enough in the odern context. Thus, in order for society to move forward, marriage must be forced to adapt, and the Augustan laws that so shaped it for over a millennia no longer apply. It is with a new definition and a new status within society that it may regain a toehold into the realm of importance it once held, and provide status to those who have been too long denied. : Chase-Levenson, Karen. Happiness Is Not A Potato: The Victorian Cultivation Of Happiness. Nineteenth-Century Contexts 33. 2 (201 1): 161-169. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. Delaney, Lesley. Little Women, Good Wives: Victorian Constructions Of Womanhood In The Girls Own Annual 1927. Childrens Literature In Education 34. (2003): 29-45. A Academic search premier. web. 29 oct. 2013. Fritzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 2013. Print. Good, Deirdre J. , et al. A Theology Of Marriage Including Same-Sex Couples: A View From Tile Liberals. Anglican Theological Review 93. 1 (201 1): 51-87. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. Hacker, Helen Mayer. Marx, Weber And Pareto On The Changing Status Of Women. A American Journal Of Economics Sociology 12. 2 (1953): 149-162. Business source premier. web. 29 oct. 2013. LOWY, Dina. Love And Marriage: Ellen Key And Hiratsuka Raich? ¶ Explore Alternatives. Womens studies 33. 4 (2004): 361-380. Academic search premier. web. 29 oct. 2013. Maslow, A. H. A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-96. Accessed http://psychclassics. yorku. ca/Maslow/motivation. htm Web. 29 Oct 2013. Reid Jr. , Charles J. The Augustinian Goods Of Marriage: The Disappearing Cornerstone Of The American Law Of Marriage. BYU Journal Of Public Law 18. 2 (2004): 449-478. Academic search premier. web. 29 oct. 2013.