To conclude, Maya’s Still I Rise offers inspirational value, urging others to think more highly of themselves. Literary techniques are used well, providing us with an accurate way of understanding her thoughts. – Hargreaves
14/2/2003
No Struggle, No Progress
Frederick Douglass
M.R. Hargreaves
A man found the cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as though it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further. Deciding to help the butterfly, the man took a knife and sliced the remaining bit of the cocoon.
The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body (which would contract in time). Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly…
What that man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening was a way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If we were allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!
No Struggle, No Progress is edification upon this philosophy. A struggle can be a physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual process. As humans, we appreciate more what we have to ‘fight’ for and take for granted what is ‘given’ to us. Through this poem, we learn appreciation through working progress and struggle. No person is born knowing how to walk, for if we did it would be power without concession – contradictory to what was expressed in No Struggle, No Progress. Omnipresent are struggles in life.
Through struggle we become stronger; sacrifices made are concessions demanded for liberty. This verse teaches us to fight for what we want – especially in this poem, freedom. Oppression can only be overcome by sacrifice, suffering, labour, and blood. Do injustice and tyranny, call for our lives? Can one endure a life of suffering? In death, are our struggles over? Douglass both explicitly and implicitly asks these questions.
Frederick Douglass focuses primarily on struggles for liberty, yet this approach can be applied to any aspect of life. In life we need struggles; they may not be for freedom, but for simple progression through life. One willing to struggle is certainly more adept at life.
Douglass employs literary comparative techniques such as metaphors, cleverly comparing our struggles to reaping profits (crops) without plowing (the ground), rain without lightning, and the ocean without the pervading sound. We can visualize the “… awful roar of the waters … thunder and lightning” and the essence of human nature, struggling against the tormenter.
In the end, No Struggle, No Progress offers us the realization that to get anything in life, be it liberty or the ability to walk, we must struggle. Should our ‘cocoon’ be cut for us, we would not gain strength from overcoming obstacles, and without that resistance we would end up weaker. This poem provides reassurance that anything worthwhile is worth a fight. – Hargreaves
14/2/2003
Signs of Racism
Rajiv Kapur
M.R. Hargreaves
Signs of Racism offers a glimpse into what racism means today. Historically, racism was more prevalent, more obvious, but actually less disparaging to the victim than it is today. You see, SoR underlines the fundamental reasoning that quiet, subtle jabs with racist remarks are more pestilent. The subjugated can overcome overt oppression because none ‘can respect his oppressor.’ Kapur offers us a number of examples of what the signs of (subtle) racism are; many of which may not be obvious to readers.
SoR provides proof that the antagonistic sentiments of racists are due in part to not one, but several factors – each offering a very convincing argument. Kapur provides signs that at first may appear benign, are actually deeply motivating factors of malevolence to people of other races. SoR makes it quite clear to all, that racists do not feel compassion for members of the race which they are displaying their ‘subtle’ partiality.
Racism is shown to stem from an individual who needs to maintain (albeit, an imaginary) position of supremacy. A racist will use all means possible to subjugate the victimized race. A racist feels no remorse or sympathy for the impact his racist actions have on the victimized. The overall aura of all the signs projects a racist of hatred and heartless sensibilities.
SoR is not an impartial piece of literature. Kapur provides us with the views of a person afflicted by subtle racism. Consequently, we see the views of the victim and not the racist expressed. This position is espoused by the majority of the world, and so is readily accepted. (That might be an interesting concept for a book, though – Hatred of the Bigot.) This partiality does not impair his writing, however. On the contrary, the lifetime reality Kapur was familiar with (covert racism) supports his subjective reasoning.
The description (or rather, oblique explanation) of a racist was also emphasized in SoR – a racist is a racist regardless of ‘religion, intelligence, cultural level, social status, benevolence towards members of their own race or social motivation.’ The stereotype of a racist is abolished. Kapur argues that racists come from all races and all backgrounds; the fundamental trait all racists carry is HATRED. Hatred is the underlying factor that is apparent with racial prejudice.
SoR affords the reader with a brief writing, abundant with the veracity of today’s racism. What racism means today, the essential signs of racism, and the fact that anybody can be a racist despite most people’s stereotypical ideas, are topics covered in SoR. Rajiv Kapur carries his message in a very concise manner, not dawdling upon one matter but providing a reasonable introduction to the world of subtle racism. – Hargreaves