Abstract This paper reviews the case of Barbara Graham. According to the paper, there is no doubt that Barbara Graham lived a life that was, for the most part, on the wrong side of the law. Her past indicates that she was involved in perjury, prostitution, gambling, and theft. The people that she associated with in these illegal endeavors were those that she considered her friends and comrades because there was an ethos, or mutually guiding moral nature between them. Even when she attempted to alter her existence by marrying Henry Graham and having a child, her husband's drug addiction forced her back into a life of crime, which has led her to the predicament that exists in her life today. Graham's past is morally marred, without question. However, the question is asked, is she capable of murder or was she framed?
Abstract This paper closely examines former First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt and Barbara Bush. The similar backgrounds and passions of these two women are revealed through this in-depth comparison.
From the Paper "Eleanor Roosevelt and Barbara Bush were two extraordinary former first ladies who helped to shape today's American society. Both of these women played active roles while they were First Ladies of the United States. Although these two women lived in different time periods and concentrated their abilities in different areas, both were influential in their own unique ways. A liberal Democrat, Eleanor Roosevelt was very active during her years in the political spotlight. While in the White House, Eleanor Roosevelt had many issues that were important to her, including concern for young people, the poor, the unemployed, and racial equality. She was also involved in the women's movement. After her years in the White House, Eleanor Roosevelt dedicated her time to humanitarian causes. A Republican, Barbara Bush was also active during her years in the political spotlight. Barbara Bush devoted her time to issues such as literacy and volunteerism. Before and during their times in the White House, these two women had many similarities as well as many differences, both lifestyle-wise and political-wise. Both were profoundly unique women who used their talents to take them far."
Abstract This paper examines the true meaning of family as the overriding subject in the book "The Bean Trees" by BarbaraKingsolver. The paper explains that throughout the novel, 'family' is a major theme for nearly all of the characters. The paper points out that all the characters in the book did not actually have to be blood kin to be family. The paper then notes that this knowledge is an incredibly assuring thing for them to realize; even if one thinks he or she is alone in the world, with no one to care for them, they have support through their closest friends, in other words, their family.
From the Paper "When the novel first begins, the only thing Taylor wants is to get out of the small Kentucky town in which she grew up. When she was ready and able, she hopped into her car with the hopes of finding somewhere better, and never looking back. To her misfortune, a tiny Indian baby was left in her care, unwanted by everyone else in the world (24). However, a baby was the last thing Taylor wanted as well. Both she and the baby were alone at that point, despite the fact that they were driving in the same car. This all changes when Taylor begins to take care of the child. She starts to care about her, even gives her a name, Turtle. Now, instead of having no one, they become a small family. Despite of this, the pair still seemed to be on their own."
Abstract This essay examines the social behavior between the characters in BarbaraKingsolver's novel, "The Bean Trees." The author details the individual characters personalities and problems, and then proceeds to demonstrate how each character in the story relies upon the other for their very survival. These interdependent relationships provide the support needed to accomplish tasks they never could have accomplished alone.
From the Paper "Edna is a kind, sweethearted, elderly woman who is blind, and Virgie Mae is her rather rude and obnoxious lifelong friend. Together, these women are the epitome of interdependence. Virgie Mae provides the blind Edna with guidance and help, while Edna serves as a buffer against Virgie Mae's often-harsh attitude. Just like Taylor and Lou Ann, these women serve as a balance to one another. If one did not have the other to depend on, one or the other may not survive. But, together they have overcome enormous hardship. Even Taylor begins to comprehend the importance of this interdependent relationship. One day, after helping a lone Edna decipher a lemon from a lime while shopping in Lee Sing's market, Taylor realizes for the first time that Edna is blind."
Abstract This paper discusses that in "The Poisonwood Bible", BarbaraKingsolver uses Biblical references to delineate the differences in her characters? relationship to religious faith as they deal with their father's participation in the Western assault on the Congolese. The paper author believes that these differences in levels of faith are Kingsolver's primary method of characterization in the novel. The paper presents each character and concludes that while the final images of light contain some Biblical flavor, the dense allusions of the earlier part of the novel are lost; and a kind of secular hopefulness remains in the survivors.
From the Paper "In ?The Revelation,? Leah experiences her first "stirring of anger" against her father, but is still faithful to her image of her father and the Bible. She earnestly remarks that ?The Lord is our Shepherd and the very least we sheep can do is keep up with the flock.? By likening herself to one of the sheep, she describes herself as a noncritical believer and literal follower of her father's teachings. She also suggests the similarity she experiences between her father and Jesus. More broadly, her remark shows that she continues to analogize aspects of her life to Biblical sayings and events."
Abstract The author believes that Shaw quite consciously modeled some portions of ?Major Barbara? on Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure". The paper discusses the many similarities such as the religious overtones in both plays and the characterization of the female main characters Isabella and Barbara. The author points out that both plays make the same philosophical point: The need to let something go in order to achieve or gain something else, perhaps of greater value.
From the Paper ""Measure for Measure" is gloomy in the beginning; but Shakespeare, as does Shaw, is able to work out the transition from potential tragedy to comedy. Unfortunately, in the transition, Shakespeare, unlike Shaw, does not always make his characters behave consistently. Like Shaw, however, he does order everything that happens in "Measure for Measure" on the principle that the play must be kept a comedy. That was his given reason for making his heroine Isabella a novice nun and for bringing Lucio into her first scene with Angelo (II. ii.); every detail must play its part in intensifying the effect of comic irony. Once used though, such a detail may later be ignored by Shakespeare. Isabella is found to be not too nun-like after all. She is not squeamish or sanctimonious and can be intensely practical, as her "0, let him marry her!" (I. iv. 49) reveals. During the play she develops into a vociferous, ironical nun?almost a Major Barbara."
Abstract This is a report on Barbara Freed's article "Talking to Foreign Versus Talking to Children. Her study represents an attempt to remedy this gap in the critical literature by comparing two registers that have often been considered to have similar features: baby talk and foreigner talk.
Abstract This paper explores the social commentary in both Shaw's "Major Barbara", and Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest". The paper discusses the satirical style of each. It concludes that both authors used the parody as a way of calling attention to the inequities of society.
Abstract This paper compares the love depicted in the plays "Pygmalion" and "Major Barbara" written by George Bernard Shaw. The paper suggests that the final outcome of the analysis is an intermingling of the two perspectives on love and it notes that in both situations, the heroes attract each other in spite of the paradoxical opposition.
From the Paper "In opposition, their projections in the real world, Lisa and Cusins, trapped in reality, are only capable of projecting human love limited to the sole adulation of man, as the main actor of the reality they live in. Although Lisa loves her master, her passion, being deeply anchored in the every day life, she proves herself more powerful, succeeding in tearing down the wall her master had created around himself, by projecting her newly tailored personality upon her master. Thus, the creation becomes more powerful than its creator "But [with sudden humility] I shall miss you, Eliza"(Shaw, 1916, act V). On a similar note, Cusins represents the source of physical love whose subject becomes Barbara, as her own mother admits: "I have a very strong suspicion that you went to the Salvation Army to worship Barbara and nothing else" Shaw, 2000, act I). He loves her earthly existence, and the person her ideals embody."
Abstract This paper argues that George Bernard Shaw presents his belief that religious organizations for the most part are a sham because their minions will gladly embrace the money of the most wretched people if it will help them to pay their own bills. The paper then suggests that, at the same time, the character of Major Barbara in Shaw's play of the same name, while dismayed by the seeming hypocrisy of the Salvation Army, does not so much recoil from her holy mission as she returns to it with a more realistic understanding of how the world really works - and that doing good may, in the final analysis, involve making certain accommodations that the idealistic and naive might find appalling.
From the Paper "In the end, Barbara dejectedly walks away from the Salvation Army (Shaw, 113-114; for a good description of how the experience seared Barbara to the quick, please see page 145 of the text) and assumes - it is her father's idea - control of the munitions factory (Shaw, 123-124). From her experiences she has learned a few things that are of the greatest importance: money really is power; Christian organizations can surely be bought for the right price; all men, like her father, who deign to be good men only have the luxury of being so when they are wealthy (for her father's treatise on why he finds poverty so abominable, please see pages 147-148); and evil in life (and those with blasted principles) cannot be avoided."
Abstract ?We aimed for no more than to have dominion over every creature that moved upon the earth.? These words, spoken by Orleanna Price, wife of missionary Nathan Price, serves as a precise outlook on the "unmissionary" view of ethnocentrism in BarbaraKingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible". The paper shows that, throughout the novel, Kingsolver emphasizes the rampant ethnocentrism that occurred from 1959 through the early 1960s in the Congo. Ethnocentrism reflects the belief that one's culture is superior to all other cultures and that their culture is the only culture to live by. The paper shows how the character of Nathan Price, Methuselah, the Parrot, and Nathan's demonstration garden are all symbolic and supportive of the novel's central theme of ethnocentrism.
From the Paper "Methuselah, the Parrot, is symbolic of the doomed Republic of Congo, as the vulnerable nation is predated by the U.S. in its ethnocentric efforts to "right the wrongs" of the elected government of the Congo. Methuselah is denied freedom for most of his life, and while he is kept in a cage and fed by humans, he loses the ability to fend for himself. Even after Nathan sets him free, Methuselah continues to stay close to the house he has been accustomed to, dependent on humans for food, also sleeping in their latrine at night, for fear of predators. Inevitably, Methuselah is caught by a cat and killed."
Abstract This paper focuses on the importance of physical setting and shows how it can have a profound impact on the development of characters and themes. We need to understand that the actual setting of a story is as significant as the plot itself because it helps the characters grow and also helps in exploration of the chosen themes. In this connection, the paper sheds light on the physical setting of three books, namely "Paradise Lost", BarbaraKingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible" and Dante's "Inferno".
From the Paper "It is important to understand that physical setting of any book plays a significant role in transformation of evolution of its characters and the development of its plot and themes. Though physical settings have always been considered important, their connection with the development of characters or themes has not been explored very often. But if we delve deeper into some truly amazing pieces of literature, we would notice that setting has always been chosen appropriately to support the development of characters and movement of the plot. "
Abstract This paper relates that the natural world plays an important and intricate role in Kingsolver's writing. The author believes that this may be at odds with the majority view in the U.S..
Abstract This paper is an examination of the relationship between the twins, Adah and Leah, and their father in BarbaraKingsolver's novel, "The Poisonwood Bible". It focuses on the metaphorical comparison to Cain and Able in their relationship to Adam and on the rites of passage of youth in relation to the control of the parent.
Abstract This paper discusses the hardships of life in the Congo through a review of Barbra Kingsolver's book, "The Poisonwood Bible". The paper describes the trials and tribulations of the Price family in Kilanga, with references to the perils of daily life. Religious issues are prominent in this paper.
From the Paper "Throughout the novel, The Poisonwood Bible, the apparent differences of the way of life in the Congo is evident. Every character whose mind the reader enters both agrees and understands the hardships the Price family must endure in this alternate world. This is a world without fast food restaurants and cable television. They live in a clay brick home with no plumbing and an outdoor latrine. They no longer have the luxury of driving, but instead walk to wherever they must go. Weather and wildlife put their lives in danger. This is a lifestyle that will put their courage and their wits to the test. To the Prices, the Congo gives new meaning to hell on Earth."
