An Analysis of Nadine Gordimers Short Stories Essay Example

An Analysis of Nadine Gordimers Short Stories Paper Death is something that affects everyone and is always reoccurring. Nadine Gordimer references death in her work frequently; breaking down boundaries and stereotypes. She opens her mind on paper and tells the world as it is. She talks about subjects that are taboo, and while doing this she makes us aware of its constant presence in our lives and the world around us. In her short stories, such as Loot and An Emissary, the contrast of life and death is a theme throughout each of the stories. She weaves stories about experiences that all come to an inevitable end. Life is a bunch of events that you build up for death to take it away. At the start of each story there is an unawareness of death being present. They only seem to be aware of the present, neither the past nor the future matters. The people in her stories seem to be only thinking of themselves and their actions. In An Emissary there is one setting where it is always summer or summer-like weather. This adds onto the lack of awareness of the presence of death, because winter is a symbol for death. I relate to these people because I often avoid the thought of death. We will write a custom essay sample on An Analysis of Nadine Gordimers Short Stories specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on An Analysis of Nadine Gordimers Short Stories specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on An Analysis of Nadine Gordimers Short Stories specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer When I actually stop to think about it I realize how much time I am wasting; this gives me anxiety, which in turn makes me block it out more. These stories made me realize that even the little things should not be held for granted because you could die at any moment. People have the mentality of trying to collect everything, even though death takes everything away. In the story Loot, we see that people are greedily taking what is not theirs, but their motives are meaningless in the end. Death takes hold of them and takes everything from them. Once again, I realize the consequences of greed and the habit of taking things for granted. The people in the story had an incredible urge to strive for more and if they had just cherished what they had, they would have had different consequences. This drive for possessing more inevitably brought them to their end. I noticed that in the middle of the story the characters go through realizations of their own. In the story Loot, the man who the writer was speculating found a mirror. I think this symbolism self reflection and realization. I think that character was trying to collect all these things because he was trying to lose himself. In the end, when he picked up the mirror, he found that what he was looking for is what he has been trying to avoid all this time. Its rather tragic that Nadine Gordimer decides to kill off this poor man that has just found self fulfillment. Her unconventional way of writing makes you unravel your brain and reflect upon things that you thought you knew. Nadine Gordminer put experiences in to perspective, with situations that have never occurred to you before. In the story An Emissary, there is the realization of death in the most peculiar situation. The characters notice death when they are in an intimate situation. This really contrasts the idea of death and the moods that death usually doesnt portray. Nadine bends the common definition of death and brings out a whole new meaning to it. In the finale, for both the story and the characters, everyone gets swept away along with their memories and possessions. In the story Loot, I find that Nadine was not only trying to have the ocean be the cause of the deaths but also have the ocean to be a metaphor for death. The ocean puts a black sheet over everything and wipes it from existents; exactly how death does the same thing. She also says how the ocean hides everything underneath it and I think this is also exactly what death does as well. In the story An Emissary, the end of the story becomes a circle to the beginning of the story. This, to me, represents the circle of life and how its always going to continue on the same path through different experiences. Death always is going to be there, no matter how hard you try to avoid it. These two stories really stuck to me because it made me question all my answers. It made me look at life in a different perspective. Nadine, as well, made me rethink what a short story is. I thought that short story was like a little story. However, she showed me that it is a reflection of another persons experiences. It doesnt have a good ending and unexpected things happen throughout it just like how life is. The definition I currently think of as a short story is that it is a little tidbit of life depicted on a piece of paper. A short story can teach us about things we feel and things we could have not understood before. The perspective of death has even changed for me. Now it is not necessarily a bad thing but a thing that I need to accept is going to happen. It really opened up how death can happen at any time, no matter the circumstances. Her stories made me think about what I have in life and what I should cherish. She also showed that every story has many sides and no one in the end is absolutely right. Her stories and the way her writing reflects on society today, makes the reader understand more about the world around him/her and propels him/her towards self fulfillment.

Things Fall Apart and Ibo Community Essays

Things Fall Apart and Ibo Community Essays Things Fall Apart and Ibo Community Paper Things Fall Apart and Ibo Community Paper Essay Topic: Things Fall apart Describe the marriage and family system of the Ibo, using as many terms discussed in class as possible. In the Ibo community, polygamy is an accepted practice. Okonkwo is a prime example of the typical male in the tribe. He has three wives total and many children. In the Ibo community, the more wives a man has the more masculine he is considered. The people of the community worship their ancestors very often. 2. Why did â€Å"things fall apart? † Things fell apart in the Ibo community because of the outside influences coming into their village and changing their culture. The Ibo had a lack of communication with the Christian missionaries. The religions of the two sides differed vastly and they could not truly agree on God or how to worship. The Ibo could not understand the Holy Trinity and they were being told that the statues of their gods that they believed were made by their one supreme god were fake gods. To prevent the community from falling apart, the missionaries could have accepted that the Ibo would not want to change their religion and left the community alone. 3. Was Mr. Brown (the initial missionary) ethnocentric? Why or why not? Mr. Brown was extremely ethnocentric. When he arrived to Umuofia he immediately told the people of the Ibo community that they were worshipping false gods and they must accept Christianity. He says that the gods of the village are incapable of causing any harm to him for the way he speaks about them. He accepted everyone into the church, even those who were outcasts of the community and did not pay attention to the rules of the villagers. 4. What, in your opinion, is the most important message in this novel? I think the most important message in this novel is that some things and some people just aren’t meant to change. There are some people that are so set in their ways that when others intervene, it causes extreme problems. When the messenger at the meeting near the end of the novel says that the meeting is over, Okonkwo kills him immediately because he is so frustrated with the way his people have handled the missionaries since they arrived.

United States International Childrens Emergency Fund Research Paper

United States International Childrens Emergency Fund - Research Paper Example UNICEF served that purpose adequately. â€Å"For the postwar period 1946 to 1950, the "emergency needs approach" meant swift action to meet the food, clothing, and health needs of children, particularly in Europe† (Nobelprize.org). UNICEF spent $112000000 to provide as many as five million children with different clothing articles in twelve different countries along with vaccinating eight million children to fight tuberculosis. UNICEF also distributed various kinds of facilities among these countries. Children were provided with meals on daily basis. From 1951-1960, UNICEF adopted the approach of long-range benefit along with meeting the emergency needs. Several campaigns were carried out in order to improve the children’s health in general and reduce their susceptibility to yaws, tuberculosis, malaria, and leprosy. In the same decade, UNICEF also formulated several provisions for the improvement of environment, and devised programs for education of mothers. In the 1970 s, UNICEF had been working for children’s well-being for quite some time and was all set to advocate their rights. In the 1980s, UNICEF played an important role in the attempts of UN Commission on Human Rights to formulate the â€Å"Convention on the Rights of the Child† (History.com), which was readily approved as the most effective human rights treaty in the whole history in 1898, after it was introduced to the UN General Assembly. UNICEF had played a decisive role in the enforcement of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Of all 184 member states of UN, United States and Somalia were the only two countries that did not approve the treaty. The two countries had different reasons for non-ratification of the treaty. Somalia’s government was not recognized internationally. Accordingly, it was not in a position to ratify the treaty. On the other hand, although US was an original signatory of this treaty, yet US had reservations on the effect of the treaty on the parent-child relationship and the national sovereignty. UNICEF – Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize: It was on 26 October 1965, when UNICEF received the Nobel Peace Prize (â€Å"UNICEF History†). Nineteen years after its establishment, UNICEF got this Prize for promoting brotherhood and unity among different nations of the world, which is essentially a fundamental condition of the Nobel's will as well as appearing on the stage of the world as â€Å"a peace-factor of great importance† (â€Å"UNICEF History†). Several events led UNICEF to this entitlement that include but are not limited to improved coalition among governments, various non-governmental agencies and private organizations and the people all over the world in general. This provided them with more opportunities that could be availed to upgrade the lifestyle of children everywhere in the world. Henry R. Labouisse, the Executive Director of UNICEF expressed what achieving the Nobel Peace Prize meant to the UNICEF in these words: To all of us in UNICEF the prize will be a wonderful incentive to greater efforts in the name of peace. You have given us new strength. You have reinforced our profound belief that each time UNICEF contributes...to giving today’s children a chance to grow into useful and happier citizens, it contributes to removing some of the seeds of world tension and future