Okonkwo's oldest son, Nwoye, yearns for his father's love and compassion and is deprived of the unconditional love a father should provide for his son, but is not provided because it would be perceived as weakness and therefore not manly.

Jeremy Gelbart Okonkwo's oldest son, Nwoye, yearns for his father's love and compassion and is deprived of the unconditional love a father should provide for his son, but is not provided because it would be perceived as weakness and therefore not manly. Nwoye's behaviors and characteristics such as laziness and sensitivity resemble Okonkwo's father, Unoka. Okonkwo loathed his father's to such an extreme that he swore to himself to become his father's antithesis. He receives many beatings from his father until Ilkemefuna arrives and teaches him a gentler form of successful masculinity. Nwoye becomes conflicted because, "Okonkwo encouraged the boys to sit with him in his obi, and he told them stories of the land-masculine stories of violence and bloodshed. Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent, but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell"(53). When the missionaries came to his village his hope and faith reawakened, but "it was not the mad logic of the trinity that captivated him. He did not understand it. It was the poetry of the new religion, something felt in the marrow. The hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul-the question of the twins crying in the bush and the question of Ilkemefuna who was killed. He felt a relief within as the

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Classics
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Who Do You Blame For The Tragedy Of Book IV Of The Aeneid?

Who Do You Blame For The Tragedy Of Book IV Of The Aeneid? In Book IV of The Aeneid a great tragedy occurs in the form of Queen Dido's death. The Queen is deeply in love with Aeneas due to Aeneas' mother, Venus, and his half brother, Cupid, ensnaring Dido's heart in the poisonous web of love to prevent her from attacking and killing Aeneas and his men. During Aeneas' stay Juno, Queen of the Gods and patron of Carthage, decides that she is going to lure brave Aeneas and the lovely Dido into a cave and unite them. Before this union Dido talks with her sister Anna about the vow she took never to love or marry another man. Anna persuades Dido to break this vow with Aeneas. After the vow is broken Dido stops looking after her city properly as she has become so enamoured with Aeneas and believes as her husband, as she now refers to him, "to hide her sins", will do it for her. However Aeneas is destined to build another city in Italy where another wife awaits him and Mercury reminds him of this when the messenger God comes to tell him to leave. Unfortunately Dido hears of his planned departure by cruel Rumour before he can tell her himself and she is desolate. When he refuses to stay she makes an elaborate plan to commit suicide and at the end of book we see the smoke coming off the funeral pyre Dido built for herself, where she lay dead from the sword wound she gave herself. The

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Classics
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Kafka's View of Society in The Metamorphosis

Kafka's View of Society in The Metamorphosis The point of this paper is to expose Kafka's view of society as revealed in his Metamorphosis. Namely, it suggests that man (as represented by Gregor Samsa) is reduced to an insect by the modern world and his family, and human nature is completely self absorbed. Kafka reflects a belief that the more generous and selfless one is, the worse one is treated. This view is in direct conflict with the way things should be; man (specifically Gregor) should be treated in accordance to his actions. Gregor should be greatly beloved by his family regardless of his state because of his great love of them. This idea is displayed in three separate themes. First, Gregor's family is only concerned with the effect Gregor's change will have on them, specifically the effect it will have on their finances and reputation. They are more than willing to take completely gratuitous advantage of Gregor; he works to pay their debt and they are happy to indulge themselves with luxury. Gregor is the soul employed member of his family and this is their primary interest when Gregor is transformed. Secondly, Gregor is penalized for his efforts to be a good son, and a good worker; his toils are completely taken for granted by both family and employer. The Samsa family is not interested in Gregor beyond their own needs, outsiders are reverentially treated. Thirdly,

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Classics
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To What Extent and in What ways are the characters of Creon and Antigone driven by Moral Imperatives or a Willful Impulse to Self Destruction.

Written by:- Rish Banerjee (word count : 1565) Antigone To What Extent and in What ways are the characters of Creon and Antigone driven by Moral Imperatives or a Willful Impulse to Self Destruction. Antigone is story of divine retribution and human imperfectness. In this tragedy a powerful king, Creon is brought down by the Gods because of his contempt against their divine laws and true justice is shown to triumph at the end. Creon makes the mistake of putting his personal views over and above the divine laws and fails in the eyes of the Gods. He makes the mistake of testing the Gods' power and the remaining story is basically the degeneration of Creon. After the 'crime' of Antigone, Creon is increasingly shown to be lone warrior in his cause and family and well wishers start deserting him. As the tragedy progresses Creon becomes increasingly more hostile and finally by the destruction of his own family he is justly punished by the Gods. Antigone on the other hand, is shown to be an instrument of Creon's doom as it is her death that sets of a chain reaction to the former. Antigone has two brothers: - Eteocles and Polynices', both of them fighting for opposite sides in the Theban war. Whereas Eteocles is fighting for the protection of Thebes, Polynices' is fighting to conquer it. At the end of the war and the beginning of the story it is shown that Thebes has won but both

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Classics
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The presentation of desire and frustration in Death and the Maiden and Antigone.

World Literature Assignment By Nikolas B. Hansen International Baccalaureate Higher English The presentation of desire and frustration in Death and the Maiden and Antigone. In the plays, Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman and Antigone by Jean Anouilh, the themes of desire and frustration are brought out by the authors, and are able to lift off the façade, uncovering the real truth and by doing this, allowing the reader to relate to the experiences and feelings of the characters and also explore deeper themes and ideas. Death and the Maiden is a story exploring the Pinochet regime in Chile. It deals with life after the regime and how one woman, Paulina, has to live with the memories of gruesome torture. The play of Antigone deals with frustration on another level, as Antigone refuses to let her brother lie dead in the dirt, despite the King's orders to the contrary and thereby causes a dispute within her family. In Death and the Maiden, Paulina is terrorized by the fact that the man who tortured her is in her house. It is logical and understandable that she would want revenge or to perform similar acts of torture on him. "It may be a teensy-weensy thing, but it's enough for me. During all these years not an hour has passed that I haven't heard it, that same voice..." shows how the memory of Dr. Miranda's voice l remained in her head and has tormented her throughout

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Classics
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Siddhartha Character analysis

Formula for Character Analysis Siddhartha By: Herman Hesse Formula for Character Analysis Clarification Sheet I. a) Siddhartha 1) Knowledgeable 2) Patient 3) Questioning 4) Enlightened b) Govinda 1) Follower 2) Intelligent 3) Spiritual 4) Loyal c) Kamala 1) Beautiful 2) Slender 3) Youthful 4) Materialistic d) Vasudeva 1) Wise 2) Old 3) Divine 4) Humble II. a) Siddhartha 1) Knowledgeable - "Siddhartha had long taken part in the learned men's conversations, engaged in debate with Govinda and had practiced the art of contemplation." (3) This shows that Siddhartha has attained much knowledge and is able to take part in the wise men's conversations. 2) Patient - "He ate once a day and never cooked food. He fasted fourteen days. He fasted twenty-eight days." (13) This shows that Siddhartha is able to be patient with his body as well as himself. 3) Questioning - "Siddhartha began to feel the seeds of discontent within him... He had begun to suspect that his worthy father and his other teachers... had passed on to him the best of knowledge... "(5) Siddhartha feels that this knowledge is not enough for him and that he must find a greater source of happiness. This causes him to start questioning his life. 4) Enlightened - "From that hour, Siddhartha ceased to fight against his destiny. There shone on his face the serenity of knowledge... " (136) After he

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Classics
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What skills does Odysseus possess which enable him to survive the adventures he has in Books 9 and 10?

What skills does Odysseus possess which enable him to survive the adventures he has in Books 9 and 10? In Books 9 and 10 Odysseus shows a variety of skills and weaknesses which both help and hinder him on his adventures. He manages to get himself out of many different situations where he encounters different types of challenges. At the beginning of Book 9 Odysseus and his men came to Ismarus, the land of the Cicones. They sacked the city and pillaged it. Odysseus wanted to leave as soon as possible which shows he is quite keen to get home and doesn't want to stay at the city for too long in case they get into trouble. But Odysseus's men refuse, which shows a weakness in Odysseus's leadership, while Odysseus and his men 'kept on drinking and butchering sheep and shambling crooked-horned cattle by the shore', which shows some of Odysseus's greed, the remaining Cicones went to get allies. They returned outnumbering Odysseus and his men and Odysseus lost 6 men from each ship. After the adventure on Ismarus Odysseus comes across an island where there are the lotus eaters. Odysseus showed he valued his life and that he was cautious at this point. 'I sent some of my followers inland to find out what sort of human beings might be there' this also shows a bit of cowardice as he might be sending his men in case there was danger inland. Odysseus's men came across the lotus eaters,

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Classics
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The role of deception in much ado about nothing by william shakespeare

Deception in Much Ado about Nothing Much ado about nothing is set in a patriarchal world where women's honour is very important. They have little to their name and no inheritance so they must protect their honour. The theme of deception directly links to the patriarchal society in Shakespeare's time as shown throughout this play. Deception is important to this play as it links also with many of the other themes such as love and marriage. It is repeated in many of the scenes and has both positive and negative effects. In act 4 scene 1 deception appears in the form of the friar, holy man, who plans to deceive everyone. In act 5 scene 4 Claudio is deceived and is made to believe he is marrying Antonio's daughter. In the fourth act, the friar conspires to trick Claudio into believing Hero is dead. He says, 'maintain a mourning ostentation and perform all rites that appertain unto a burial...' this shows that even a man thought to be holy and righteous can be deceiving in this play. He is trying to make Claudio feel guilty and make him fall in love with Hero again. However, Don John is the main deceiver in this play and is the cause of Hero's slandering. He make Claudio think Hero has deceived him. In the scene before even her own father thinks Hero has deceived him. Hero's reputation and the honour of her family is destroyed, she'll have to go to a nunnery because she has

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Classics
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What qualities does Odysseus show in Books 9-12

Helen Ryder What qualities does Odysseus show in Books 9-12? Throughout the Odysseus we see many good and bad qualities of Odysseus. Odysseus is known to be a great leader and these leadership qualities are presented in how he always looks out for his men. Although sometimes the advise he gives them is ignored and this reflects on the men's stubbornness. This behaviour is seen before the attack of the Cicones. Odysseus takes from Troy what he needs and is eager to leave. However, his men ignore this order and stay to celebrate. This stubborn behaviour leads to the loss of 6 men from each ship. However, the loss of Odysseus's men is very important in the Odysseys because it is important that he returns home alone. Another of Odysseus's good leadership ships is that he always makes time for the important ritual of sending them off to the underworld, 'I would not let the curved ships sail before each of our poor comrades who had fallen in action against the Cicones had been tree times saluted with a ritual call'. When Odysseus and his troops reached the land of the Lotus Eaters, there was a hard decision that Odysseus, as the leader, had to decide. His men had indulged in a drug which caused them to forget all thoughts of return. Odysseus knew that he was going against their own free will but using his own force he dragged the men back to the ships, as they wept on the

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Classics
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Explain how Shakespeare portrays men and women and relationships in Much Ado about Nothing

Explain how Shakespeare portrays men and women and relationships in 'Much Ado about Nothing' Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing is a play based around the relationships between men and women, and the way they are portrayed in the eyes of society. Throughout, trickery, deception and secrecy form a play based around illusions and the interference of others into the lives of the main characters. Shakespeare presents the audience with four main characters whose relationships and experiences of love are presented in very different ways, but which are held together with a common thread of friendship, loyalty and romance. Though the play was popular with audiences in Shakespeare's time, Victorian critics condemned the characters of Beatrice as coarse and disagreeable, and Benedick as a shallow man. The major characters are established early in the play- Hero and Claudio as being youthful and romantic and Benedick and Beatrice more experienced and cynical. The characters seem to illustrate different aspects of love which Shakespeare explores until, at the end of the play, all 'loose ends' fit together forming two lasting relationships. The paths they follow are in opposite directions and each one has its own merits. From the first scene, the attention is focused on the exaggerated relationship between small-minded Claudio and naive Hero, the obedient daughter of Signior Leonato.

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Classics
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