Memories That Make Us Who We Are Comparing The Stepford Wives and Get Out - Literature Essay Samples

In today’s society, where people now desire to be unique and different from others, the concept of personal identity has become very important. One acquires their personal identity through the experiences they have and how they learn and respond to them. The novel, â€Å"The Stepford Wives† by Ira Levin and the movie, â€Å"Get Out†, by Jordan Peele, address the problems that arise when someone is stripped of their memories, and are left without a personal identity, or acquire a new one. Both Joanna Eberhart, from the â€Å"Stepford Wives†, and Chris Washington, from â€Å"Get Out†, face antagonists who do not regard their victim’s lives as equal in value to their own, whether it be because of the stereotype of women’s place being in the home, or racism towards black people. Both pieces of work utilize an investigative lead character to illuminate how despite one’s perverted fantasies of recreating themselves and others to creat e the â€Å"ideal being†, they fail to preserve the essence of what made their victim human: their memories. When recreating their wives to fit their idea of the perfect housewife, the husbands of the Stepford wives favor a pretty face and an obedient attitude, over making their wives have their own personalities. As Joanna is assimilating into the town of Stepford, she begins to notice differences in the wives of the men who are in the Men’s Association compared to those she has met outside of Stepford. None of the women lead lives of their own, instead their main objective in life is to keep their house clean and their husbands happy, while looking perfectly presentable doing so. It becomes clear to Joanna, and the readers, that this occurrence is more than a coincidence, when her friend Bobbie Markowe, who used to criticize the Stepford wives for settling into their role as a housewife, suddenly begins to accept and encourage the very same idea. When Joanna visits Bobbie to confirm her suspicions that she had in fact changed, she notices how, â€Å"Bobbie had seeed different; she hadn’t said the sorts of things she usually did, and she moved more slowly too,† (Stepford, 81). This dramatic change in Bobbie, leads Joanna to investigate further, and she quickly discovers the reason all of the Stepford wives seem so alike, and why Bobbie changed too: their husbands turned them into robots. Joanna was able to make this discovery, because when making their wives into robots, the husbands from the Men’s Association focused more on making their wives look human rather than having all of the qualities that make someone human, most importantly, their memories Without one’s memories, it is impossible for them to have their own identities. This explains why all of the Stepford wives lacked depth and originality, because life experiences and how a person learns from them are what shape their personality. And why Joanna was able to detect a change in Bobbie; Bobbie was who she was, because of her experiences, and they led her to defining herself as an independent woman with a life of her own. Once she lost her memories and became a robot, Bobbie lost her passion for having her own life, thus losing her sense of identity. Instead of maintaining their personalities, Bobbieand the other wiveswere programmed to believe, â€Å"It’s no disgrace to be a good homemakerand to be more careful about my[one’s] appearance,† (Stepford, 82). This shows how their husbands only valued their wives for their bodies, instead of their minds and don’t consider them as having as much values as a man has. Instead, they believe that a woman should be content in their outdated roles as homemakers, and if they don’t fit that role, they need to be replaced. Chris’s captors also ignore the effects of stripping someone of their memory, and instead view his body only as a vessel: an object that can be altered to fit their selfish needs. While attending his girlfriend, Rose Armitage’s, family get together, Chris notices that there is only one other black man at the party. Chris immediately notices the man’s style of clothes, for he is wearing a tan suit that would typically be worn by someone who is white, and older, which doesn’t suit this man who appears to be younger. Upon meeting this man, who claims his name is Logan, Chris notices how Logan’s word choice and style of talking does not align with the style of speech that he associates with black people. This being because how someone talks, is usually a reflection of how the people around them spoke as they were growing up, and Logan not using Black English Vernacular, suggest that he would have had to have been raised around primarily white people. Th e â€Å"whiteness† in Logan, becomes especially evident to Chris when he asks Logan what his view is on what it is like to grow up black and how he is treated by society. Logan’s inability to answer this question, raises Chris’s suspicions even more. Even though Chris is not yet aware of the operation where Logan’s brain was put into this man’s body, the Coagula process, he is aware of the differences between the man in front of him and what he considers a normal black person. The reason he can detect these differences, is because the experiences a black person has is entirely different from those of someone who is white, due to racism and discrimination among many other things. Without those memories, it is hard to mask the fact that Logan is a white man in a black man’s body. Chris soon finds out that his suspicions were justified, and that Logan went through the Coagula process. The antagonists chose black people specifically, because the y believe that being black would make them stronger, cooler, and more attractive; although from this description it seems like they idolize black people, it is actually only their body that they regard as valuable. They believe that with their â€Å"superior† white brains, they will be able to utilize a black person’s body, better than they can. The captors’ choice of women and black people specifically, sheds light on how these groups were, and still are, stereotyped and dehumanized. The â€Å"Stepford Wives†, takes place during the second wave of feminism, when women were demanding social and economic equality. Joanna and Bobbie are examples of women who supported this movement and desired to be seen as equals to men. Their husbands turning them into robot homemakers, could be seens as a metaphor for how some men reject this movement and try to maintain the inequality at any expense. By making their wives into robots, they silence their cries for a better life and prove that they only value them for their bodies. Similarly, Rose’s family disregards the right to life that all humans are entitled to, and believe that black people do not share this right. They desire only a black persons body, not their mind, because their racist views have led them to believe that the reason black people are at a disadvantage, is because of their â€Å"inferior† brains, which don’t allow them to reach their full potential. Both pieces of work utilize wh ite antagonistswhite male antagonists for the â€Å"Stepford Wives†to portray the advantages and sense of entitlement they have, which the protagonists lack due to being taught that they are not equal. This inequality allows for the antagonists to feel superior and believe that they are more capable of running their victims’ lives. But, seeing as how the antagonists are mere mortals, when they attempt to play the role of God and recreate human life, they are unable to entirely capture the essence of what made those people human.Without one’s memories, the facade of these recreated beings being purely human, begins to crumble. In both the â€Å"Stepford Wives†, and â€Å"Get Out†, the lead characters are able to detect the contrasts between the people who are presented to them as human and actual humans, before they learn of the transformation these people were subjected to. Although they walk and talk like a regular person, they lack the depth and individuality that is necessary for being human. These differences are due to not having their memories, or in the case of â€Å"Get Out†, having someone else’s memories. The similarities between how the robot wives act and those who have undergone the Coagula process, emphasizes the fact that the distinction between having a personal identity and not having one, resides in whether or not that being has their memories. Because even though Logan had blood running through his veins and a beating heart, without having those memories, Chris was able to notice the irregularities in how he spoke and presented himself, just as easily as Joan na did with the robots.

The Barbarie of Animal Testing - 556 Words

Animal Testing Every year in the United States more than one hundred million animals are poisoned, crippled, and abused in labs. Imagine being locked up in a cage your whole life and used against your will to be harmed in a number of ways (â€Å"11 Facts†). It does not sound fun does it? Just like us, animals are living. They feel pain and they suffer just like we do. I personally believe testing on animals is wrong because it is ruthless and barbarous, other methods exist today that could replace the need for animals, and these tests do not accurately foresee the results in humans. Firstly, animal testing is ruthless and barbarous. In 2010, the US Department of Agriculture recorded that ninety seven thousand one hundred and twenty three animals endured some kind of agony during some kind of experiment or test. These animals were not given any type of anesthesia for abatement. Animals and humans both feel pain in some of the same ways; in fact, their feedback in response to pain is essentially corresponding. For example, both humans and animals scream. The frequently used LD50 or Lethal Dose 50, experiment associates figuring out what chemical dosage will kill fifty percent of the animals that are being tested on. Secondly, other methods exist in today’s time that can replace the need for using animals, some of which can be more efficient and accurate. For example, there are profitable, available products such as Epiderm and ThinCert that is made from sheets of test

Exploring Racial Discrimination in the Case, Dunlap v....

The case, Dunlap v. Tennessee Valley Authority, explores the issue of suspected racial discrimination associated with disparate treatment and disparate impact caused by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) against a qualified, experienced boilermaker and foreman that is African American. Questions for the court to evaluate regarding this case include: Is this a case of disparate treatment and/or impact and was the plaintiff, David Dunlap, subject to racial discrimination? Finally, did the TVA use personal hiring practices that allowed for racial bias in the interviewing process? What are the legal issues of this case? The Court in the 6th Circuit was to determine if the plaintiff, David Dunlap, had met the burden of proof that his†¦show more content†¦The proof of discriminatory intent is not required and although the court concluded that TVA’s processes with interviewing had been manipulated to exclude African-American candidates in general, the court disagreed, citing the â€Å"lack of statistical proof demonstrating that a protected group was adversely affected thus establishing a â€Å"prima facie† case† (Walsh, 2010). Dunlap did not prove, within the evidence presented, that the procedures TVA used were practiced prior. Although the district court concluded that â€Å"TVAs interview process had been manipulated to exclude African American candidates† (Walsh, 2010), the court of appeals disagreed because it did not believe there was analytical data that blatantly prove how any protected group was impacted adversely. The court found that Dunlap can only challenge his specific interview processes and not an entire group. Explain why the plaintiffs disparate treatment claims succeed? The disparate treatment doctrine requires that any plaintiff must demonstrate that an employer has treated some group of people less favorably than others because of any protected classification to include their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. According to Walsh, â€Å"Three provisions required to prove disparate treatment are (1) the plaintiff must establish a prima facie case of racial discrimination; (2) the employer must articulate some legitimate, nondiscriminatory

Critical Review Of Carn By Patrick Mccabe Essay Example For Students

Critical Review Of Carn By Patrick Mccabe Essay Critical Review: CarnThe novel Carn, by Patrick McCabe, is a thought-provoking tale of people from a town inIreland. The town, Carn, goes through economic failure, complete industrialization and commercialrevival, back to total desolation. As the town changes, so do the main characters, Josie Keenan andSadie Rooney. Although they do not know each other at the beginning of the novel, after theindulstrialization of the town, their lives eventually intersect. All they want from life is to lead normallives outside of Carn. Even though Carn is now an industrial town, it holds bad memories and asense of imprisonment for Josie and Sadie. Both their lives become tied to the town of Carn. Sadieplans to move to England, but when she becomes pregnant she must stay in Carn and raise a family. A lack of options forces Josie to remain in Carn, the only home she knows. Eventually, Josiesdestructive lifestyle and the political conflicts between England and Ireland result in tragedy for bothcharacte rs. McCabe does an excellent job at developing the characters of Josie, Sadie, and thetown of Carn itself. He shows the futility of their hopes, which ultimately results in tragedy anddespair. The reader can relate to the characters, and by the conclusion of the novel, the reader willfeel as if s/he knows the characters personally. Josie Keenan lives a life without hope. The author does a good job of providing insight intoJosies life by informing the reader of everything that effects Josie from the beginning of her life, rightuntil the end. Living with an abusive father has made Josie believe that no one is good, and everyoneis only looking for what they can gain from others. The only kind words she has ever received arefrom her mother. Even this source of happiness is taken from her though, because her mother dieswhen Josie is young. She moves from an orphanage right into the working world, and into a worldof men. Because she does not have a strong father figure in her life, she looks for love else where. Men love her body, and she loves the control this gives her. Josie now that there nothingshe do with (49). She takes mens money and does with it as she pleases. She the bus to a town across the border where she on her own in a cafe listening to ajukebox and eating ice-creams (51). Soon, however, this pat h leads to destruction. Her whole lifebecomes devoted to drinking alcohol and pleasing men. She is disgusted with what she has becomeand tries to blot out her pitiful life with alcohol. She sees how awful her life is when The protectionof the drink and the drugs to wear off (145). The only good influence in Josies life is herlone friend Sadie. In the end, though, not even this makes a difference. An overdose of pills mixedwith alcohol kills Josie before Sadie can reach her. McCabe is very pessimistic, and he gives thisquality to his characters. Little by little, as the book progresses, Josie looses her mind. The authorallows the reader to see Josies thoughts, which aides in understanding a demented person. Theeffects of abuse, sexual exploitation, and alcohol are seen in Josies character. The reader feels pitytoward Josie and the outcome of her life. McCabe does an excellent job of characterizing JosieKeenan. The character of Sadie Rooney is also a sad and hopeless one. McCabe relates the readerto Sadie through stories of Sadies childhood dreams. When she was a child she loved ElvisPresley. She would have gone anywhere with him (23). Readers can identify with Sadies love ofmovie starrs and desire for a better life. As her life progresses, however, her hopes are dashedwhen she becomes pregnant and must raise a family in the town she hates, Carn. When she learnsof her pregnancy, she nothing and says, Thats it then (115). She is bitter, yet resigned tothe fact that nothing she planned ever came to pass. Nothing can affect her any more, because herlife is already terrible. Eventually, her husband becomes involved in a murder, and she is hated bythe people of Carn. McCabe gives readers a definite idea of Sadies views on life. Her life is awful,but she knew it would be from the very start. The point that the author is trying to convey to thereader is that all of life is bad, and there is nothi ng that can be done to improve it. He uses clearcharacterization to get this point across to the reader. The character of Sadie vividly demonstratesthis idea. .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2 , .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2 .postImageUrl , .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2 , .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2:hover , .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2:visited , .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2:active { border:0!important; } .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2:active , .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2 .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u1f72f919f820c94bd92bbe3b3b7b01a2:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: definition of contract in european law EssayCarn itself is a character. Although it is a town, it goes through a life cycle. Life for Carnbegins with prosperity, changes to ruin, becomes industrialized again, and then finally returns to dust. Carn effects the other characters in tremendous ways. The desolation that the other characters feelspawns from the desolation of Carn. McCabe makes the reader feel as if they have actually visitedthis town on the border of Ireland. After the reader travels there, they too can feel the emptinessthat results. The author characterizes the town through the words of other characters. Some believethat Carn is the best wee town in Ireland. I mean, you have everything you want here (61). Thatis the problem for many. They want to experience new and exciting things, yet they are restricted tothe commonplace in Carn. They can go Nowhere but Carn. Carnthe beginning and the end(62). Carn is the beginning and the end for both Sadie and Josie. It is Regular as clockwork(62). Nothing changes. Carn manages to get rid of the young ones (107). People feel trapped inCarn, and yet few can escape. It is analogous to an evil force that has a hold on everyone living in it. Even though Carn is the evil in peoples lives, life in general is the ultimate negative power. Carncannot escape the tragedies of life. Its moment of prosperity is ended, and all the characters returnto the sad, hopeless states that all people are destined to reside in. McCabe is an extremely talentedauthor to be able to give an inanimate object its own character, and to do it well. Carn is anexcellent example of a well-developed character. McCabes views of life are demonstrated by the lives of Sadie and Josie, and the town ofCarn. McCabes characters lives are replete with suffering and sorrow, and they all react with bitterresignation. Sadie, Josie, and Carn are resigned to accept their fates Sadies, involuntary life inCarn; Josies, debauchery and death; and Carns, economic desolation. Carn is very well writtenand is a wonderful book. However, not everyone will enjoy it. There is a considerable amount ofhistory involved in it, so people who enjoy history will benefit from it. It is also very depressing, soreaders who love happy endings will be disappointed with the conclusion of the story. For thesereasons I did not enjoy reading this book, however I do understand the literary merit that isdisplayed by McCabe. The story line and characters are well developed, and it is an interestingstory. I recommend it to anyone who is learning about the conflicts in Ireland, or to anyone wholikes to get to know fictional characters in a personal way. Book Reports