Morals and values learnt in Under a Ramshackle Rainbow Essay -- Engli

Morals and values learnt in Under a Ramshackle Rainbow " Under a Ramshackle Rainbow", is a very deep poem in which the poet uses dark and morbid images and symbols to get across morals and values to the reader. The underlining theme of the poem is how one should treat their surroundings and what the consequences to their actions will be. From the immediate start of the poem, a creepy and eery atmosphere is created by casting a dark image in the reader's mind. ' A dead tree. On a rotten branch sit two wingless birds.' The words 'dead' and 'rotten' show the sincerity of the issue. The mentioning of two wingless birds is very significant as they portray the poet's first message to the reader. The wingless birds basically defy their objective in life. Birds need wings to fly and without wings not only do they not have their freedom, but they have no means of survival; they cannot avoid predators or catch prey. Therefore death is inevitable. After only reading the first two lines the reader may feel confused to why the birds are wingless and why their habit is in such an unusual state. The ending to the first stanza clarify the confusion. ' Among leaves on the ground a man is searching for his hands. It is fall. By this, the poet is explaining the cause of the dead tree and the wingless birds. When saying that the man is ' searching for his hands', it is made clear that the search is a pointless exercise as the reader is told that it is fall and therefore the pile of leaves would be extremely deep. Although the man still has his site, he does not have his hands which are essentially needed to search through the leaves. The poet uses this description as it is symbolizes man searching ... ...re successfully receiving compensation for man's behaviour is secured by the last line of the poem. ' The ants gather on the shore. ' It is as though the ants represent nature and are the audience that witness the death of the man. After reading " Under the Ramshackle Rainbow" the reader understands perfectly, the aim of the poem. The aim of the poem is to get across a message that one should respect their surroundings and instead of neglect or abuse them, giving back to them what you take. If one should act in greed and only take from nature, they will have to suffer the consequences. The aim of the poem is put forward effectively by using methods such as patheticfallacy, irony and dramatic twists. The poet also uses enjambement to give the poem a more distorted rhyme and structural appearance that emphasises the destruction and ruin of the poem.

Aldous Huxleys novel, Brave New World. Essay -- English Literature

Aldous Huxley's novel, Brave New World. In Aldous Huxley's novel, Brave New World, John the Savage is a combination of the two societies in which he exists. He is also an outsider in both. By having such a removed character, Huxley is able to create the perfect foil that brings out the flaws within the societies. As an outsider, John sees some of the paradoxes that exist in the New World. Upon coming to the New World, John sees religious influence in certain objects and customs although Mustapha Mond says that religion has become unnecessary. Mond claims that the society is "independent of God," (p. 233) however there are still strong undertones of religious sanctity and ritual within the society. In essence, the sign of the T that is made with reverence is the same ritual as crossing oneself with the sign of the cross. The symbolism of the T in accordance to Ford may be in honor of the assembly line and efficiency that produced the Model T. The very act of crossing oneself with a T over the stomach, as opposed to the heart, implies that the act is performed in homage to greed and desire. Another seemingly religious act is the usage of the word "Ford." As with the T, the word "Ford" is connected to Henry Ford and is used as a term of expression or blasphemy. The word is used throughout the text in the exact same context that the old society uses "Lord" or "God." And, it just so happens that the word "Ford" rhymes with the word "Lord," which further relates the two sayings. Within the New World, the rites of the Solidarity Group resemble the Christian communion rites. The President begins the ceremony, as would a priest, with a hymn and begins passing the communal cup of soma along to the members of th... ...ery change is a menace to stability" (p. 224) and one "can't make tragedies without social instability." In a world like this, there seems to be no hope for change. Even though The Controller admits to Helmholtz that "I like your spirit as much as I officially disapprove of it," (p. 229) it is a private admiration that will never have the courage to let itself be known to the obeying public. By trying to preach to the new society about freedom, John became a martyr in a society where there should be no martyrs. John essentially fulfilled his desire to be sacrificed when he realized that "they might be killed if he didn't help them, and that he might be killed if he did," (p. 214). Essentially, John became a figure similar to Jesus Christ in a society that refused to admit His presence. Sadly, the cost of a life was not enough to change a stubborn society.

Aristotle and the Realm of Ethics

An examination of the Nichomacean Ethics is a task that contains the dichotomy of examining Aristotle’s simple, basic definitions along with the great complexity that is present in the underlying meaning behind the simplicity. Aristotle believed the ultimate goal of a human being was (is) to seek happiness and that only a virtuous person can truly achieve happiness.   The acceptance of these notions centers on the perception of the definitions of â€Å"virtue† and â€Å"happiness†. In Aristotle’s words, â€Å"We are now in a position to define the happy man as one who is active in accordance with complete virtue.†Ã‚   In other words, happiness without ethics is a near impossibility.. Eudemonia is a particularly complex situation when trying to understand the importance of it in regards to ethics because eudemonia generally refers to â€Å"happiness or pleasure.† Unfortunately, as the history of human behavior has shown, there will be those individuals who derive their happiness from actions that can be somewhat harmful to people. This type of behavior is, essentially, a pleasure principle based on perversion as opposed to one that is based on ethical behavior. So, it becomes important to separate Eudemonia from perversion or anti-social behavior in because, ultimately, while there may be some pleasure present in such conduct, this does not lead to overall happiness because there might exist a situation where such behavior leads a person down a road of a damaged life. Drugs may bring happiness, but this will exist only for the short term. Ultimately, they will lead to a damaged life that is devoid of happiness. As such, the happiness that Eudemonia  represents must not be transitional happiness, but happiness that is everlasting. In order to achieve this, the happiness must be based on ethical approaches to the pursuit of happiness. Ultimately, virtue breeds ethics and a disposition that is virtuous will further perpetuate ethical behavior. The reason for this is simple: a person who acts with purity can not act unethically as a lack of ethics and a preponderance of virtue are, essentially, mutually exclusive. A disposition of virtue will, in effect, cancel out any unethical or immoral behavior. Now, a virtuous person can also be a person who is rife with internal conflict. To seek happiness does not mean that the person will achieve happiness no matter how hard he or she tries. Often, there will be conflicted internal struggles that pit virtue, honesty and â€Å"the good life† against the frailties of the human psyche and soul. This internal conflict often will eat away at the ability to achieve happiness. However, if a person lives a life that is ethical, a great deal of conflict and stress will be removed from a person’s life. This, in turn, will allow the person a semblance of happiness or, at the very least, a lessoning of conflicting tensions that prey on the mind. Prescribing to a balance of ethics and happiness hinge on the need for virtuous actions and, while this is not possible all the time, it is possible a great deal of the time and can be achieved if an individual concentrates on it enough. This is a core tenant of Aristotle’s principles of ethics, ethical behavior and virtue.