Use Irony and Magic Realism in One Hundred Years of Solitude

Use Irony and Magic Realism in One Hundred Years of Solitude In Marquezs One Hundred Years of Solitude, the realistic description of impossible events is an example of both irony and magic realism. Irony is the use of words, images, and so on, to convey the opposite of their intended meaning. Garcia Marquez employs irony on several levels. Sometimes a single word, such as a characters name, suggests something opposite to the characters personality: for example, Prudencio Aguilar, who is not the least bit prudent. Sometimes a characters style of speech is ironic. For example, in the chapter on the banana workers strike, the court uses very stiff, pompous language to state something that is ridiculous: that†¦show more content†¦The effect of irony is generally comic, but as we can see from these few examples, Garcia Marquez also frequently uses it to underscore a tragedy. Even the novels last sentence, which appears to be giving the moral of the story, is ironic. Why should the bloodlines condemned to one hundred years of solitude not have a second opportunity on earth? and how does any family get such a terrible condemnation? The real lessons of this book, if we are bent on finding moral lessons, have to do with the nature of power, of love, of solitude, but also of capitalist development and of literature itself. It is this reporting of fantastic, bizarre events in a perfectly straight, seemingly objective tone that is what has been called magic realism or the marvelous real, the technique, or attitude, most popularly identified with Garcia Marquezs writings. The two terms are similar in meaning, but they have a little different history. Magic realism, according to the Oxford Companion to English Literature (1985:606), is a term coined by the German writer Franz Roh in 1925, to describe works of art that are realistic in style but represent imaginary or fantastic scenes. More recently, it has been applied to the works of several writers of fiction, Garcia Marquez prominent among them, as well as Gunter Grass (Germany), John FowlesShow MoreRelatedEssay on 20th Century Latin American Literature3323 Words   |  14 Pagesnations we call Latin America† and today Latin Americans â€Å"extend their literature in the world†¦no longer concerned about whether or not they express America or their representative countries† (Martinez 1982: 64).However, translating literature from one language to another for the benefit of international audiences is a tricky political process, and the history of the evolving Latin American novel testifies to the wild dynamics of language and human identity in a cross cultural world. â€Å"It is a truismRead MoreMagic Realism in Como Agua Para Chocolate2382 Words   |  10 PagesMagic realism Magic realism (or magical realism) is a literary genre in which magical elements appear in an otherwise realistic setting. As used today the term is broadly descriptive rather than critically rigorous. The term was initially used by German art critic Franz Roh to describe painting which demonstrated an altered reality, but was later used by Venezuelan Arturo Uslar-Pietri to describe the work of certain Latin American writers. The Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier (a friend of Uslar-Pietri)Read MoreMetz Film Language a Semiotics of the Cinema PDF100902 Words   |  316 PagesChapter 9. Mirror Construction in Fellini s 8 1/2, 228 Chapter 10. The Saying and the Said: Toward the Decline of Plausibility in the Cinema? 235 Notes, 253 A Note on the Translation by Bertrand Augst When Film Language was translated, nearly twenty years ago, very few texts about semiotics and especially film semiotics were available in English. Michael Taylor s translation represents a serious effort to make Metz s complicated prose, filled with specialized vocabularies, accessible to a public unfamiliar

Police Brutality and Profiling - 1196 Words

America as a people gloat when it comes to our freedoms we think we have it better than every other country out there but the protectors of our freedom are becoming fear and hated because of the injustices committed by certain officers. Some say life of an officer is hard because they do not know if they will ever see their family again after they drive out of their house in the morning, others might say every officer knows what they were signing up for so they should not be pitied. Police officers face dangers everyday but profiling and racially motivated brutality is not justifiable and officers should be severely punished for committing these crimes. To begin with police officers faces more dangers than the average American citizen,†¦show more content†¦While the quote shows what officers will do to get home at night it also shows they might do the wrong thing to get home at night. Excessive force is generally beyond the force a reasonable and prudent law enforcement offi cer would use under the circumstances. Excessive force is the official police term, but people who say they have suffered beatings and witnesses to the scenes use more vivid terms. They remember fragile heads pounded on concrete. They tell of being pulled feet first from police cars while cuffed so that their unprotected heads hit the ground. They show their scars. They point to bruises where facial bones were broken or where police batons impacted soft belly flesh. (Stewart) Figure 1. Types of excessive force reported for brutality (Villa). The effects of brutality are just as brutality are just as bad as the excessive force. One Chicago man, hit repeatedly with a nightstick, has suffered seizures because of the beating in the six years since the incident (Stewart 61). Figure 2. Fatalities due to excessive force (Villa). Brutality does not only affect the people who were attacked but also the people who either saw, heard of, or know of the person attacked. When citizens get attacked by the very people who protect them, they will lose their sense of trust in the law. Once law enforcement no longer has the trust of the people they cannot do their job properly because no one would want to helpShow MoreRelatedPolice Brutality And Profiling1318 Words   |  6 PagesPolice Brutality and Profiling Police Brutality is a very serious problem that deals with our personal rights and it happens a lot around our world today. I want to focus this whole paper over this problem all over the world. Today there are many protests, stories, and first hand experiences with police brutality. One thing that makes this problem huge is how kids or civilians see law enforcement. According to one of my articles, natives or blacks were twice as likely to be killed by law enforcementRead MorePolice Brutality And Racial Profiling1343 Words   |  6 PagesThe use of police brutality and racial profiling is an unfortunate part of today’s society that needs to be addressed. Blacks are being stopped and searched by police officers in greater numbers compared to other races, and sometimes these situations escalate into violence. In the essay Blue On Black Violence: Freddie Gray, Baltimore, South Africa, the Quietism of Africana Christian Theology, author Darryl Scriven, a Philosophy profes sor at Florida AM University, reports that, â€Å"CNN reported thatRead MorePolice Brutality And Racial Profiling1902 Words   |  8 PagesPolice brutality refers to the intentional utilization of vituperations or extortionate force directed towards a country s citizens by the police force. This extortionate force may be physical or in form of psychological dauntingness. Police brutality is highly evident in many countries all over the world especially in the news where such cases are reported. It is optically discerned as a form of police malfeasance which involves sexual abuse, police corruption, erroneous apprehends, racial profilingRead MorePolice Brutality And Racial Profiling Essay2484 Words   |  10 PagesPolice Brutality and Racial Profiling Police Brutality is defined as the use of excessive force by police officers when they encounter civilians. Police officers are defined as people who are responsible for the prevention of crime. Brutality is defined as, â€Å"savage, physical violence.† Police brutality has been alive and well for many years, but a majority of the cases had been recently. Dating back to the times of the Civil Rights Movement and even before, minorities have been treated with littleRead MorePolice Brutality And Racial Profiling1868 Words   |  8 Pagesoften these days. Police Brutality and racial profiling. As a white male, someone who is a criminal justice major in hopes of eventually becoming some type of law enforcement for my career later in life, you may ask why I even care about this issue since it isn’t necessarily affecting my life directly. My response is simple, I am tired of seeing the hashtags behind these deaths and one death from police brutality is already too many. Everyone sees the subject of police brutality as something thatRead MoreThe Conflict Of Police Brutality And Racial Profiling858 Words   |  4 Pagesprominent conflict of African American males and police officials in Western nations, focusing directly on the American South. In the late 1920’s African Americans in the U.S.A, were hopeful that their struggle against racism was nearing a successful conclusion with the start of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People). For many years, especially for people not of colour, racism, racial discrimination and police brutality were â€Å"hidden† from the mainstream media. ThoughRead MorePolice Brutality Based On Racial Profiling1682 Words   |  7 Pagesothers; violence and brutality against innocent citizens is the key to getting the job done. For years, minorities have fallen victim to police brutality based on racial profiling, stereotypes and other unjustifiable reasons that has cost severa l innocent lives. The involvement of officers in police brutality against minority social groups causes tainted and negative views on policing and their overall duty to protect, when they are ultimately the aggressors in this case. Police brutality is a violent incidentRead MorePolice Brutality Of African Americans1405 Words   |  6 Pagesyears police brutality towards African Americans has increased. This violence has resulted in riots across the United States. The August 2014 death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri many Americans, some who are former Civil Rights activists, have spoken out against police brutality. Black Lives Matter states that the movement’s goal is to bring justice to the present unjust police killings of African Americans. Looking at prior cases of brutality and its connection to racial profiling, suchRead MorePolice Brutality1519 Words   |  7 Pagesfive centuries, black people have endured violence in many different ways. Today, police offic ers use deadly, excessive force that leads to inexcusable assaults, beatings and shootings. This demonstrates the governmentÐ ¢s role in initiating and prolonging racial suppression and provides the explanation for police brutality to become a federal crime(Black Radical Congress, 3). In history, racist violence, police brutality, has been used to suppress the racial blacks and to preserve power and privilegesRead MorePolice Brutality Racism1340 Words   |  6 PagesPolice brutality in America has been known to put fear in the lives of many Americans. Although police brutality is played out across all avenues of the media and many people see this happening, it yet does not change the fact that racism still exists in the justice system of America. People in positions of power yet have not done anything to rectify the situation and this has lead to the rise of â€Å"Black Lives Matter† movement. Numerous opportunities have been presented to officials to speak up about

Was the Reconstruction Period a Failure Free Essays

string(78) " medicine for the flow of refugees into the Department was almost impossible\." Was Reconstruction a failure? As the bloody Civil War drew to a close, the period of reconstruction began to take shape across the states. There were many questions aroused following the war regarding the physical re-building of the nation, demobilisation and most importantly what was to replace the pre-war norm of slavery? America’s position on the latter, was of course both vague, with differing opinions from the North to the South, these differences which should have been settled with the outcome of the Civil War meant the war on the battlefield had transgressed to one on a social and political level. However as Michael Les Benedict quite aptly states that ‘winning had been more important than figuring out what to do afterwards,’ which resulted in a sporadic reconstruction being forced by dissimilar motives. We will write a custom essay sample on Was the Reconstruction Period a Failure or any similar topic only for you Order Now When looking at how successful the Reconstruction period was in America one should consider the intentions behind such Reconstructing, this poses the question therefore of whether the period was one of rebuilding relations between the North and the South or between the slaves and citizens? This essay will look at therefore the attempt at creating an increasingly harmonious nation with the interruption of unstoppable de facto discrimination that made reconstruction a void period. When discussing the reconstruction some decide to begin with the Emancipation Proclamation where Lincoln addressed the nation on 1st January 1863; â€Å"I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free. This of course was the primary leap into the unknown, however as this was not passed through Congress and there only being a few states state’s emancipated renders 1863 as an ineffectual starting date for the Reconstruction period. However what was important during this time was the role of African American’s in the war which shaped their position in post-war America. ‘By the wars end, some 180,000 blacks had served in the Union Army. ’ Although there was severe dissatisfacti on over conscription, the opportunities offered in the army was the foundation for the move towards equality. Primarily it was an opportunity for Afro-Americans to prove their capability and ability to be disciplined; this allowed them to be seen as equals, as equal as possible as the time. ‘Although slavery was still legally intact, in the summer of 1862 General Butler began substituting a system of compensated labour,’ Butler’s recognition of military status of black soldiers was an example of the positive outcome of the war, and what impact It had on integration even though ‘most of the soldiers spoke scornfully of ‘niggers’’ there was an un-admitted truth that the war could not have been won without the help of the Negros. Learning from the military integration and flowing the passing of the 13th Amendment in 1865 saw the true beginning of the reconstruction period and as a result there was an increase of active participation of African-Americans in society. ‘Local leaders played such a variety of roles in schools, churches, and fraternal organizations that were bridges to the larger world of politics. ’ The primary source of involvement was through the parishes however Afro-Americans were soon able to work their way further as in 1865 John S. Rock of Boston was the first black lawyer admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court, this showed that ‘slowly the North’s racial barriers began to fall. ’ This positive change not only saw the increased integration of black’s within the judicial branch, however also in the executive, ‘among the ablest were Robert B. Elliott of South Carolina and John R. Lynch of Mississippi. Both were speakers of their state House of Representatives and were members of the U. S. Congress. ’ However such was short lived due to the ever increasing violence from the Ku Klux Klan; this shows that the restoration was limited to the North. As previously mentioned the 13th Amendment was a milestone in the road to freedom or blacks, however ‘the amendment closed one question only to open a host of others. ’ This was because although freed on paper and equal under the law, Afro-Americans were not quite regarded as equal under the eyes of society. The federal government therefore set up a protective organisation; the Freedman’s Bureau which meant ‘there was a freer attitude towards supplying money for plantation equipment, clothing, and food, including salt, bacon, and other necessities for the Negros. The was a successful outcome of the Bureau, however there was obvious weaknesses within the Bureau, commenting on the organisation, a citizen expresses that ‘it would have been wise if our statesmen could have received, digested and acted upon the answers these men [blacks] gave to their questions. ’ This suggested the nonchalant attitude the bureau had towards the emancipated slaves, r endering the establishment of a new life increasingly difficult without federal aid. Further evidence of the federals restricted willingness to give aid can be seen through their attitude as ‘for a while northerners regarded the proposed Fourteenth Amendment as an incredibly lenient settlement of the Civil War. ’ Prior to this the Civil Rights Act had been passed in 1866 which declared that ‘every race and color, without regard to any previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall have the same right. This shows that had the 14th amendment seen to be too radical then the importance of the Civil Rights Act had not been thoroughly enforced of accepted. ‘Years before the end of slavery, black abolitionist Charles L. Reason had predicted that emancipation would impose â€Å"severe trials† upon the freedman. ’ This prediction of course was one of great clarity as during the reconstruction period there was a general neglect of emancipated slaves and a re-establishment and maintenance of white supremacy. The neglect can be seen though the inefficiency to support the released slaves and their struggle during the reconstruction period, ‘finding employment and housing, food, clothes and medicine for the flow of refugees into the Department was almost impossible. You read "Was the Reconstruction Period a Failure" in category "Papers" ’ There was such little prospect for a freed slave that the result was to work practically how life had been previous to the 13th Amendment just without chains or to get involved with sharecropping which resulted in the increase of Tenant farming. Planters had no desire to further economic democracy, white or black, and no confidence that freedman could farm successfully independent of whites. ’ The lack of confidence in the freed man bears question to what it was really the Civil War was fought for. ‘In 1861, the restoration of the Union, not emancipation, was the cause that generated the widest support for the war effort,’ this supports the evidence that there was a lack of concern for the emancipated slaves, as this was not at the forefront of Americans objectives. Quite a profound contribution to the failure of the reconstruction period was none the less than the president at the time, Andrew Jackson. Following the assassination of Lincoln was the beginning of the end for the Reconstruction period as Jacksons interpretation of reconstruction was a reflection of his southern prejudices. Jackson excluded black’s from politics, in fact excluded numerous problems from his time in office; ‘Johnson had always believed in limited government and a strict construction of the Constitution. In Congress, he had moved to reduce the salaries of government workers, voted against aid to famine-stricken Ireland, and even opposed appropriations to pave Washington’s muddy streets. ’ This could either be described as laissez faire methods of rule or negligence. Although the Civil Rights Act did eventually get passed this was with no thanks to President Johnson, who during what was meant to be the restoration period vetoed it twice meaning its eventual passing through congress was due to an overall majority vote from his cabinet. The lack of the presidents intervention, or acceptance of the Sherman-Johnston agreement reflected the lenience accepted by the executive at the time as it was agreed that ‘the executive authority of the government of the United States not to disturb by reason of the late war so long as they live in peace and quiet. ’ This meant very liberal treatment of the ex-rebels of the Civil War. The leniency toward the de-mobilisation of the South meant it possible for ‘the same people, the same issues that had precipitated the great war to remain. This therefore making the restoration of slavery further possible, rather opposite to the original intentions of restoration, it was what Les Benedict described as the ‘death of the Confederate reconstruction. ’ ‘Laura Towne reported that the freedman would not believe that Lincoln was dead’ as he was the foundation for the emancipation of the slaves and one who had revolutionary visions at a time of prev alent discrimination. As previously mentioned, Afro-Americans were increasingly getting involved in positions and society; however this was not true to everyone and was definitely not on the increase. Cleveland County, North Carolina, counted 200 black members of biracial Methodist churches in 1860, ten in 1867, and none five years later. ’ There is a recurring trend of the laissez faire method of rule or negligence towards the Afro-Americans during the reconstruction period. Under President Ulysses S. Grant the state produced less forms of reconstructive policies to protect the black’s from a prejudice society. ‘He had won election in 1868 by urging, â€Å"let us have peace,† and he had not intervened in the South until Klan violence had forced his hand. This shows the executives turning a blind eye towards the violence and discrimination that prevailed throughout the reconstruction period. Not only was there negligence towards imposing protection for the emancipated slaves, but there were further restrictions implemented on their freedom such as the Black Codes; Sec. 3. ‘Every negro is required to be in the regular service of some white person, or former owner, who shall be held responsible for the conduct of said Negro. ’ This shows that although black slaves were meant to have been emancipated, there was always the clause of being emancipated under the control of the white man. The fact the white man had control over the emancipated slave made freed life sometimes harder than the days of slavery. Additionally although the 15th amendment was passed with the intention of enabling the emancipated the privilege of the vote, it was not long followed by the restrictive Jim Crow laws which had further implication into the post-Reconstruction period and into the twentieth century. The Crow laws not only made it impossible for makes to ascertain suffrage due to the Grandfather Clause, but enabled de facto segregation. The reconstruction period was not only a failure due to the legislation or lack of legislation, but the economic depression resulted in ‘the first great crisis of industrial capitalism permanently altering the nature of economic enterprise, and had profound political and ideological consequences. ’ This meant that due to economic hardship there was a decrease in sympathy towards the Negro who had nothing compared with the white man who had nothing. ‘By the end of 1874 nearly half the nation’s iron furnaces had suspended operation’ The reconstruction period was one that saw a plethora of legislative change, however not all for the better. There were many empty promises directed at the liberated slaves, however liberated is not the correct term to use. The emancipated slaves saw little to no improvement in their lives, and not only were the reconstruction a failure with regards improving relations between North and South; it was a failure with repairing relations between the slave and the citizen. The fact the reconstruction period was so short and its ending reverted back to previous times renders the reconstruction period a failure. There remained the underlying intentions, just lacked motivation to implement the reconstruction of the ‘United’ states. Additionally these intentions derived from a handful of just minded thinkers such as Lincoln, however there were too many, with great power who were not yet ready to accept the equality that was preached to clearly in the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th amendment. Therefore as there was such little actual change when reflected against how much legislative change at Washington makes the Reconstruction period a failure as perception, treatment and understanding of a different race did not improve. How to cite Was the Reconstruction Period a Failure, Papers

Interview with a Black Market Worker Essay Example For Students

Interview with a Black Market Worker Essay Underground Economy? Did you hear something about it? Underground Economy is also known as â€Å"black market†. In which services and goods are traded illegally. It is also considered as a subject of the informal economy, of which 1. 8 billion people worldwide are employed. Underground Economy is also the people who not pay any taxes to the government. Some examples of underground economic activities include sexual exploitation and forced labor, illegal drugs, tobacco, fuel, weapons, etc. people engaged in the black market usually run their business hidden under a front business that is legal. In my interview with Stella Marrie Sosmeà ±a, 20 years of age, she been a buko vendor for four years from now. This is her main source of livelihood. She never thought of the hardships she has been undergoing in vending buko like being in the streets for whole day and bearing the heat of the sun. According to her, she has to do this feed her three children of which the youngest is two years old. Sometimes she even tags along this kids to help her in her work. Form this she can earn 800 pesos a day. Despite this amount she is still happy for it because this can suffice the expenses of her children especially the daily needs and most important the everyday milk of her 2 years old child. She knew that this is only enough for their daily expenses. However she has to do this since she has to cope with all the needs at home and for children. Furthermore she still manages to save 200 to 300 pesos a day for emergency purpose in this type of work. Moreover she knew in the first that vending buko is not a permanent work. Especially if it at times you’ve got nothing to save for that day. At times you cannot meet your expectation especially if your goods are not sold out. However she understands that this is how it is to run a business. You have to set things right for your business to grow. You need to thinks of new trends in order to meet the changing needs of society. Creativity in running a goods to sell whether this goods are bought immediately so the business can run fast. She has to bear and know all this things so that the money, time and effort you have installed in your work would not be put to waste and most importantly for a brighter future for herself and for the whole family. They came from the province and thought of migrating to the city to live a rural life. According to her in the province you cannot succeed. Life there is really hard. There are no opportunities for work and to manage a business because the facilities needed are not provided. If there are, it is expensive which will make one to spend munch in starting a business. During my interview, its right and then that I know how hard their life all those years. Even though she is pregnant, she still working not knowing if what she gain from selling is enough for her children. I noticed ate Stella while I was interviewing her, even though she is tired in working, she still managed to smile sand always courteous to all the people around her. I then realized how lucky I am because I did not experienced those kind of hardship in life. I salute ate Stella for the reason that she is really sacrificing and working hard for her children. Its really worth buying her product (buko juice) because I know in my heart that I am helping ate Stella and her family.