Joy Luck Club - The Struggles of Life :: essays papers

Joy Luck Club - The Struggles of Life A giant total has been assessed onto an assignment. The team has spent weeks of preparation. In moments the presentation of this project will commence. But, some team members aren't ready. The whole project crumbles and ultimately results in a failure. Disciplined workers have no control over it, but they must overcome this obstacle. Only this way can they become better people and know how to handle similar situations in the future. People must overcome hardships to have stronger personalities, just like the women in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. People learn from their mistakes. For Suyuan Woo, she over packed and failed to make it to a relief area. "After a while, she left the suitcases behind, keeping only the food and a few clothes. And later she also dropped the bags of wheat flour and rice^ ." (p. 324). After leaving all this, she continued, but she was already too fatigued to walk anymore. Her energy was burned up from her body, like fossil fuel from the Earth. Finally, too much was used. She learned that no one could ever take everything with them. They must make sacrifices to survive. An-mei Hsu survived a great hardship, like when hot soup scorched her young neck, leaving her with a scar. "I could not speak because of this terrible choking feeling. I could not see because of all the tears that poured out to wash away the pain." (p. 39). Her tender skin survived the intense heat, and her character developed. When she was older, another crisis erupted when her mother killed herself with opium. At this point, Wu-Tsing's house was nothing, only a hive of polygamy. From this, she learned that she could gain respect that her mother could never fully achieved. "And on that day, I showed Second Wife the fake pearl necklace she had given me and crushed it under my foot. And on that day, Second Wife's hair began to turn white. And on that day, I learned to shout." (p. 272). She resisted, and refused to succumb to the pressures in her life. Planned marriages were a common practice when the Joy Luck mothers were still young. For instance, when Lindo was 12, she was forced to marry into a very harsh family. From it, she learned patience. Soon, after her marriage, she longed to be free again. "On the morning of that day, I woke up Tyan-Yu and the entire house with my wailing. It took Huang Taitai a long time to come into my room.

The Symbol of the Mockingbird Lies at the Heart of Harper Lee’s Novel to Kill a Mockingbird. Discuss.

Mockingbird's are not only symbols of innocence; they are also symbols of happiness and to kill them is evil. This concept, the senseless persecution of an innocent individual, is central to Harper Lee's novel. Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are both mockingbird figures, innocent yet condemned through the prejudices of society. The symbol of the mockingbird, with its associated ideas of a fragile, albeit beautiful innocence appears when Atticus tells Jem and Scout they may shoot all the bluejays they want, â€Å"but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird†.This is the first time Scout has ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something. The full significance of this remark is explained to Scout by Miss Maudie as she explains that mockingbirds â€Å"do nothing but sing their hearts out for us†, making music for the enjoyment of everyone in Maycomb. They represent a type of gentle and harmless creature. Throughout the text, Lee reiterates that to kill a mockingbird wou ld be wicked and spiteful, a senseless and pointless act of destruction. Boo Radley symbolises a beautiful, but tortured mockingbird that is misunderstood and ostracised by both his family and the wider community.He is kept as a prisoner in his own home, kept in confinement by his god-fearing Baptist family. Despite this treatment Boo remains gentle and harmless. However, people tell stories about how he eats squirrels and cats and poisons the pecan nuts in the school yard. To the community Boo is a â€Å"malevolent phantom†. Gradually Scout and Jem begin to see things from Boo's perspective. Like the mockingbird Boo gives pleasure and comfort: for example, the gifts in the tree, the blanket placed around their shoulders as they watch Miss Maudie's home go up in flames.Finally, he saves Scout and Jem's lives. In turn, Scout realises to drag Boo into the limelight would be like â€Å"shootin' a mockingbird† and a cruel betrayal of all the inherent goodness Boo symbolise s as a mockingbird. The mockingbird symbol also involves the broader themes of justice and how it can destroy an innocent person. Tom Robinson is an honest and principled black man who is accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. He explains he was only in the Ewell's house to help her; however, he condemns himself in the eyes of the jury when he says he felt sorry for her.This would be seen as the lowest class of citizen showing superiority towards a class above. The white community's fear of racial disturbance and their insecurity about their own position in society meant that Tom Robinson was found guilty. The prosecutor responds with feigned indignity â€Å"You felt sorry for her; you felt sorry for her? † Harper Lee uses rapid dialogue in the courtroom scene to emphasise the way the prosecutor attacks Tom, like an attack on an innocent mockingbird. Harper Lee exposes not just the prejudices of Maycomb but the ugly nature of such beliefs in society as a whole.Justice is betrayed when the jury ignore the evidence and destroy the mockingbird figure of Tom Robinson. It is evident that both characters have mockingbird traits. They both show kindness – Boo to the children, Tom to Mayella. They are both innocent – Boo of the evil persona with which he is associated and Tom of the crime of rape. Both are victims of prejudice. The significance of the mockingbird motif broadens out to contain many layers of meaning and is kept alive through the narrative continually reminding the reader of the theme of prejudice with which it is associated.

Green Surname Meaning and Origin

GREEN Surname Meaning Origin: The Green surname can have one of many possible derivations. It was commonly used to describe someone who dwelled at, or near, the village green, or other grassy ground. Other possible origins include someone who favored the color green (from the Old English grene), or someone who was immature or inexperienced. Green may also have been used as the surname of somone who had played the part of the Green Man in May Day celebrations. Green is the 37th most popular surname in the United States and the 19th most common surname in England. Surname Origin: English Alternate Surname Spellings: GREENE Famous People with the Surname GREEN: Pat Green - American country music starEva Green - French actressNathanael Green - General in the Continental Army during the American Revolution Genealogy Resources for the Surname GREEN: 100 Most Common U.S. Surnames Their MeaningsSmith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census? GREEN / GREENE Surname DNA ProjectMales Greens from anywhere, including alternate spellings of Greene, MacGreen, MacGreene, McGrane, McGreen, McGreene, can join this Y-DNA project which is attempting to sort out various GREEN families. GREEN Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Green surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Green query. There is also a separate forum for the GREENE variation of the Green surname. FamilySearch - GREEN GenealogyFind records, queries, and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Green surname and its variations. GREEN Surname Family Mailing ListsRootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Green surname. Cousin Connect - GREEN Genealogy QueriesRead or post genealogy queries for the surname Green, and sign up for free notification when new Green queries are added. DistantCousin.com - GREEN Genealogy Family HistoryFree databases and genealogy links for the last name Green. -- Looking for the meaning of a given name? Check out First Name Meanings -- Cant find your last name listed? Suggest a surname to be added to the Glossary of Surname Meanings Origins. ----------------------- References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames. Avotaynu, 2005. Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia. Avotaynu, 2004. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997. Back to Glossary of Surname Meanings Origins