Hi Everyone:
As preparation for next week, write down your thoughts about how your book frames concepts like "corruption" and "evil" as they affect our culture. How are these concepts defined in the book (if at all), and how does the book explore our response to these concepts? How does the story compare or contrast with the story of Macbeth in how it handles evil and corruption?
In "The Great Gatsby" by Scott Fitzgerald, the idea of evil is embodied by the almost constant betrayal within many different relationships. Lying, cheating, and betrayal are all things that affect our culture everyday. The book frames these concepts well, and can be compared to Macbeth, as he betrays many people to gain power.
ReplyDeleteI read the book “A Clockwork Orange.” In the story, the entire city is taken over by evil, especially at night. The narrator, Alex, is one person committing evil acts. It doesn't really explain why the things that he does are evil. I thought that the book was more about how evil it is to take away people’s freedom and not let them make their own choices. Alex is given “The Ludovico Technique”, which takes away his choice to be evil or not. He is, in a way, corrupted with goodness. This is different from “Macbeth”. “Macbeth” is about how doing one evil thing can take over one’s life and corrupt them, while Alex was already very evil at the start of the book.
ReplyDeleteThe book I read was “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad. The book frequents in themes of corruption and paranoia. The story is told through Charlie Marlow and his travels into the center of Africa in a trading company exporting ivory. At first Marlow sees many natives in chains but people claim they are “criminals” but that is just an excuse to have enslavement. Marlow hears of a magnificent man named Kurtz. People praise Kurtz’s resourcefulness and claim he’s a prodigy. Kurtz talks of civilizing and helping the natives, but when the heart of the jungle is reached it is told that Kurtz has instead lost any sense of restraint. He has effectively become the leader of a native tribe and is worshipped as a god by them. He raids nearby tribes for their ivory and kills those who stand in his way. He was corrupted by the opportunity to power and became ruthless. Kurtz is paranoid and killed many of his own tribesmen calling them “rebels” and was delusional, speaking as if he was on the verge of great things. The book explored the corruptibility of men who start out good like Kurtz much like Macbeth before his wife corrupted him with ideas of power.
ReplyDelete"The Rule of the Bone" a novel by Russell Banks, has its share of evil and corruption and plays with the concepts in many shapes and forms. One ways that Banks does this is, is by making the main character go through some very horrible events. In contrast to Macbeth he deals with a different kind of corruption and evil and handles it in a more positive and uplifting manor. After being sexual abused by his stepfather and living on the road for more than a year, instead of self destructing (as MacBeth did) he perseveres. He uses his encounters with evil and corruption as a way to grow and discover his true identity. As he is on the road he finds the courage to perpetuate his stepfather and also learn life lessons while doing so. In “ The Rule of the Bone” Bone faces many forms of evil and corruption throughout the road of self discovery, but uses it as a way to grow instead of going insane.
ReplyDelete"A Clockwork Orange" focuses on the life of teenage Alex, living in London some time in the future. He considers himself the leader of a gang consisting of himself and three other guys, and they perform acts of violence whenever it so pleases them. Alex does not feel that his evil nature is wrong, and he doesn't understand why people try to stop him from doing bad things that bring him pleasure. He feels that since people don't stop other people from doing good things, people shouldn't stop bad people from doing bad things. Alex does not feel that he should be stopped from doing morally corrupt things because they bring him joy, and he does not go out of his way to stop people from doing good things that bring them joy. After being put into jail, Alex volunteers himself as a test subject for a new method of removing evil from people. The experiment makes it almost physically impossible to do the harmful things he wishes he could do, thus stopping him from hurting others, but stripping him of his human right of choice. The novel forces the reader to think about what evil really is, and if the world can ever be relieved of it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, "A Clockwork Orange" contrasts with "MacBeth" in that Macbeth questions his actions and feels guilt, at least in the beginning. Alex never questions why he does what he does or why it brings joy to him. MacBeth becomes the way he is after being persuaded by his wife and haunted by the prophecies of the witches, while Alex was simply born evil without any particular life experience to prompt him to become this way.
DeleteThe book that I'm currently reading is "The Inferno" by Dante Alighieri. This has been one of the craziest book I've ever read. However, it's the kind of book that challenges your inner-conscience because of the strange plot behind it. Evil is the greatest main idea in the scenario because of the fact that it takes place in hell. Technically, Dante goes through all this struggle because he got lost and missed his path in the woods. In fact, for Dante to reach to heaven, (where he will meet with his lover) he needs to go through hell, and all its phases. Dante as the main character, realizes that for him to reach where he needs to, he has to encounter evil, terror, and murder. This book is like a fight between good and bad, wrong and right, and in specially, God and evil. It's an intense fight against what's socially and religiously wrong and what Dante believes is right.It's a big contrast to "MacBeth" because it shows the struggle of two characters learning to deal with evil and not knowing exactly how to do so. In the beginning its like Macbeth got lost in his power hungry mind and did things he truly didn't want to; and he ended up suffocating himself in the end because of his choices. In the same case is Dante, he didn't expect to be in hell, or to have to go through what he went to reach his goal, but he still did it and worked hard to make the decisions he thought was the best for him. In Macbeth evil is basically the main point, everything in the play revolves around evil and the idea of killing and suffering to get to where the characters want. Even though Dante had to suffer and conquer a lot, he still used his good forces to survive the phases of hell. Macbeth was almost as if he was trapped in a hell, though, he could have escaped, but he chose not to do so, which led him to his tragic end. Dante learned a lot by going through all the phases he went, made him a better person and thought him to be what he truly was.
DeleteIn the book i read, The Great Gatsby, the themes of evil are expressed through the characters actions. In the book the characters become so selfish and only involved with themselves they become corrupt. The themes of evil are expressed through the lies and selfishness. The characters start to only care about themselves and money and they lie and cheat to get their way to the top. The people with the power to do something about the corrupt people cant because the cheaters and liers are high class citizens with a lot of money and power, this is how evil is expressed in The Great Gatsby.
ReplyDeleteIn The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, the themes of evil are expressed in a confusing and metaphorical way as the main character goes through an intense experience of depression. The main character is a college student named Esther Greenwood, who seems to be living every girls dream in New York City in a fashion industry. Throughout the book the author hints at how Esther truly feels empty inside, as if she has no emotions what so ever. As the book progresses, Esther quickly advances deeper and deeper into a depressed and suicidal shell. The author portrays evil within Esther's mind, tricking her into believing that she is not worth anything and that when she harms herself that it is the right thing to be doing. The evil thoughts inside her head rapidly take over and start controlling her whole life. This relates to Macbeth because he also struggled with a battle within his own mind, controlling the way he thought and acted. Both characters make major mistakes and end up in tragic situations, Macbeth ends up dead, and Esther ends up almost killing herself, causing her to be placed in an asylum. Although both characters faced tragic situations, Esther was fortunately on the road to recovery and a second chance at the conclusion of the book, unlike Macbeth who did not receive a second chance.
ReplyDeleteThe book that I read was by Sylvia Plath called The Bell Jar. Evil and corruption are a very central theme in this book. The main character, Esther Greenwood, feels as if she has no future ahead of her because she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. At the beginning of the story she is living in New York and although she is happy at some points you can clearly tell that she keeps hinting at the emptiness inside of her and the hatred she has for herself and others. No one realizes what is wrong with her until she returns home and her Mother feels like she is spending to much time in the house and she is forced to go see a psychiatrist. This relates to the world today because you can't judge people by what they seem like on the outside because in the inside of their head it could be completely different. The world and people around her are making her feel worse about herself and that was causes her to fall more into a depression and suicidal state. She isn't able to handle everything that's going on inside of her mind and that's the reason for her falling into a depression. This relates to Macbeth because he is driven by external and internal forces to madness. Without the weird sisters or Lady Macbeth, Macbeth never would have murdered the people that he did. Both of these books connect because the main characters are both driven by internal and external forces to madness.
ReplyDeleteThe book The Great Gatsby by f. Scott Fitzgerald uses Gatsby to contrast the world of corruption. Gatsby is morally corrupt by the fact that he is a bootlegger and makes his money illegally. He saw a chance to get rich quick and he took it. you could also argue that he is morally corrupt for working hard to win Daisy who is married. Gatsby has strong inner turmoil that continues through the entire book similar how Macbeth struggles with his emotions. Gatsby reaches out to his friend Nick when he is confused but Macbeth keeps his secrets to himself and it ends up destroying him. both characters, Gatsby and Macbeth, struggle with there desires and doing what is right.
ReplyDeleteThe scarlet letter shows how our society has corruption and evil. this book focuses more on corruption. The woman in the story thought that her husband was dead because he was suppose to meet her in America shortly after she built a life for them and their children. The town reported that his ship had crashed and there were no survivors. She falls in love with the reverend and he gets her pregnant. It turns out that her husband did not die. He comes to her town and finds out that she is with child. members of the town had known for weeks, but had no done anything about it. When more people find out that she is pregnant, it gets to the town council. they find her guilty of adultery. the government has complete control of weather she goes to jail or not. this is just like Macbeth because when he is the king, he kills a lot of people and even causes his wife to kill herself. this is how the book The Scarlet Letter and Macbeth exploit corruption in our society and how we react to it.
ReplyDeleteThe great gatsby portrays evil by showing people's actions. The evil is in the characters lying to one another and cheating in relationships. These are very common things in the real world. The book also shows how love can almost brainwash someone into doing things that they shouldn't do. This is where the book can be compared to Macbeth. For example when Macbeth is convinced to kill Duncan by the one he loves, the love overpowers his sense of right and wrong.
ReplyDeleteThe book The Great Gatsby portrays an evil that is similar to Macbeth. Both in Macbeth and The Great Gatsby a great crime is committed which unfortunately is death for certain characters. Both characters who committed these murders were driven by something, and that was love and manipulation. Love makes people feel this sort of way in which at some point each spouse will do whatever it takes to keep them happy. Each partner also tends to believe what he or she does is always the right thing, whether its bad or not they tend to be "blind" because they are in love. Macbeth was driving by his wife to want to come into this greater power, but becoming king, he would have to make choices he did or didn't like and he wasn't able to see the wrongness in it because he was blinded by lady Macbeth. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby was so driven by love he would do anything it takes to get his one true love back, Daisy. He tried to manipulate Daisy into telling her husband Tom that she didn't love him anymore and that she loved Gatsby. Daisy couldn't find it in her to tell Tom so Gatsby got upset and saw he was upset and ran and took a car with Gatsby and left. She was driving when a woman named Myrtle jumped in front of the car thinking it was Tom's because they had an affair together and Daisy ended up hitting her. The next day Myrtle's husband went to Gatsby's house and shot him because Tom told him that it was Gatsby driving and not him. Just because Tom didn't want to get killed he told Myrtle's husband it was Gatsby instead of Daisy because he knew if he died then Daisy would crawl back to Gatsby and he couldn't risk it.
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ReplyDeleteIn The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there is both corruption and evil. Hester Prynne is forced to wear a red "A" embroidered into her shirts to show off that she is an adulterer, and is viewed as evil. This statement is false. Hester husband never arrived to Boston following their emigration from Europe. Believing he is never coming Hester involves herself in an extramarital affair. Her husband shows up and intends revenge upon learning his wife's pregnancy with another man. This is evil, for she did not know that her husband would come and it is not fair to make her go to jail for such a personal matter. The town has the ability to send her to jail or not, and this matter and her child should not make or break if she goes to jail, thus corruption. The Scarlet Letter compares to how they deal with evil like they do in Macbeth because in both the people with power (the government in The Scarlet Letter and Macbeth in Macbeth) have the power to do whatever they please, wrong or right. The two contrast for in Macbeth their are many killings, and in The Scarlet Letter their are not. With this said, in both The Scarlet Letter and in Macbeth their are both corruption and evil.
ReplyDeleteThe Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath exemplifies evil and corruption very differently from MacBeth. Esther, the main character in this book, develops depression throughout the book because of mainly one evil thing. She was a happy girl in college and had a nice life. Sometimes she did seem a bit on edge, but one night while out with her friends she was nearly raped. She was extremely traumatized by this event and became quiet and out of her mind for awhile. Esther was very depressed and she did not see a way out any time soon. She planned a suicide many times, and at one point almost killed herself by overdosing on pills and hiding in her basement. She had been going to a therapist, but he was no help at all. He, along with Esther’s mother, believed Esther was perfectly fine. After her attempt at suicide though, she was sent to an asylum. The evil and corruption shown in this book is not like the murder and deception that takes place in MacBeth. It is the hope that is no longer there for a loved one. Esther’s mother and friends gave up hope on her, ignoring her cries for help. She was left alone in her messed up head with only medication to help her get out of it.
ReplyDeleteI read the great gatsby and they showed evil in their actions, and that evil turned into being corrupt and only self centered needs and wants. The characters start to only care about themselves and money and they lie and cheat to get their way to the top. In the great gatsby there were many cheaters and liars that got to power by setting the illusion they know what theyre talking about and try to get other people in big successful business to fall under. This book was more corrupt then evil. There were many lies. this is how evil is expressed in The Great Gatsby.
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