Abstract The writer provides a brief description of the story and shows that in the last paragraph, one can tell that the character's conscience comes into play, thus driving him to confess. The writer states that the conscience is the reason why the narrator in "The Tell Tale Heart" gave himself away.
From the Paper "Through out Poe's story, one recognizes that the man, who is identified as the narrator, is a bit fanatical. One can tell this by the events in the story. The narrarator looking at the man in his sleep, paying close attention to his eye, and the brutal way that the narrator killed the poor man, is just mere justification that this man is indeed crazy. But no matter how mad the man is, is the truth will always come to surface in the end because ones conscience will always play a role in finding the truth."
Abstract "The bravest of individuals is the one who obeys his or her conscience", says J.F. Clarke. This paper proves the validity and accuracy of this statement with respect to two important fictional works, namely "Beowulf", by an anonymous author, and William Golding's "Lord of the Flies". The paper shows that conscience is the only beacon of hope for man when surrounded by evil forces.
From the Paper "Though Grendel and his mother are strong opponents, Beowulf manages to overpower them with his strong faith in the strength of the good against the evil. Near the end, Beowulf is again pitted against a massive evil force in the form of a Dragon. Beowulf manages to overcome him but loses his own life in the process. Beowulf lives his life following his conscience and the golden principle that he firmly believed in:
It is always better/to avenge dear ones than to indulge in/mourning./For every one of us, living in this world/means waiting for our end. Let whoever can/win glory before death. When a warrior is gone,/that will be his best and only bulwark. (II. 1384-89)"
Abstract This paper analyzes Eminem and Dr. Dre's "Guilty Conscience." It shows that rap music has many common elements with poetry to the extent that it ought to be considered and analyzed as poetry. The paper dissects the song, looking closely at its language, style and themes. The writer believes that rap music has a strong poetic message which should not be ignored or stereotyped.
From the Paper "My choice of poem to analyze may surprise you as a bit unconventional. I will analyze the hip-hop music star Eminem's song Guilty Conscience. I was initially going to choose Milton's Sonnet VII, a poem that is more than 350 years old, contains some of the classic themes of poetry, and is written by one of the most renowned poets ever. With Guilty Conscience, my approach will be almost the equal and exact opposite. The "poem" is a mere one-year in age, it contains some themes that do not yet seem to have been really discussed in the English literature academic community, and is written by someone whom most adults know at best as a controversial entertainer. Nonetheless, it is my opinion, which I hope to henceforth argue, that hip-hop music (also known as rap music) is another form of poetry and therefore is as valid a candidate for analysis as other poems."
Abstract This paper examines what prevents or allows one from following his or her conscience. The author uses evidence from two articles, "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell and "Judge Waring" by Septima Clark.
Abstract The final portion of the novel "Jane Eyre" presents the protagonist with a number of choices where she is forced to weigh matters of conscience versus her passions. This paper considers the last few chapters and discusses whether conscience or passion wins. It also analyzes how her fight between conscience and passion contributes to the novel as a whole.
From the Paper "Feeling her perception of Rochester's voice to have had some mystical provenance, Jane immediately returns to Thornfield, discovering only a burnt-out ruin where the beautiful manor once stood. Once she finds Rochester-who was injured in the fire which killed Bertha and now lives in a smaller house in the woods-he confirms the supernatural nature of what she heard just before rejecting St. James' proposal. Rochester proposes marriage to her, and she accepts. Now that Bertha is gone, there is no impediment to Jane's and Rochester's marriage. They are married in a quiet ceremony and live as equals. As was her decision to share her inheritance with her cousins, this decision is one where her passion and her conscience coincide."
Abstract Blues music has been considered an important and popular music genre in the history of American music. The paper discusses one of the most important and significant characteristics of blues music - the fact that it illustrates double conscience, wherein an underlying meaning can be found explicitly or implicitly in the song's lyrics. Examples of themes are the social and personal experiences of the African-Americans in their lives as slaves of the white American society and as laborers in most Southern cotton plantations. The paper examines how the social and personal relevance of blues music to the black Americans is evident in many works of literature depicting black American slavery such as Frederick Douglass' , ?Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave.? The paper also analyzes three Blues songs to show how the theme of double conscience - "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday, "No Education" by Lightnin? Hopkins, and "Black, Brown, and White" by Big Bill Broonzy.
From the Paper "Meanwhile, "Black, Brown, and White" by Big Bill Broonzy is a song that generally discusses certain issues about discrimination among people who have different physical colors: the Blacks, Whites, and Browns (or the mulattos, as they are commonly called). Broonzy's song utilizes colors as the primary aspect that distinguishes the privileges that an individual should have. All throughout the song, the line, ?? if you is white/ You's alright/ If you's brown/ Stick around/ But if you's black/ Hmm, hmm, brother/ Get back, get back, get back? is repeated after every stanza, to further reinforce the fact that among the physical differences of people in the world, the Blacks are considered the most unfortunate of all, denied the opportunity to obtain a good job, to receive a high salary, and to enjoy the simple leisure and joys of life. Once again, the song utilizes narrative description as a way to illustrate and extend the message of discrimination to black Americans because of physical appearance and the issue of injustice and unequal treatment among people of their race (African-American)".
Discusses the conflict between civil obedience and moral freedom (free will and personal conscience) in the discourses of Henry Thoreau, Martin Luther King, and Plato.
Abstract The theme of social dysfunction through civil disobedience is thoroughly discussed in political discourses written by famous philosophers and writers like Henry David Thoreau, Martin Luther King, and Plato. This essay analyzes and studies the similarities and differences among the literary works of these three writers, relating their works to the main theme that studies the conflict between civil disobedience and moral freedom (through free will and personal conscience). The texts that are presented in this paper show a comparative analyses of the writers? works, in which the stance that Thoreau's and Luther's works promote is individual free will and personal conscience, as compared to Plato's pro-government stance in his literary work, "Crito".
From the Paper "Thoreau and King's stance regarding the conflict between civil disobedience and moral freedom differs with that of Plato's pro-government/State stance in Crito. Influenced by 19th and 20th century radical thinking, Thoreau and King conduct a more humanistic, yet rational argument for civil disobedience. Plato, on the other hand, subsists to the belief that Laws imposed by the government should be respected, using Law as its subject to bring back the "social contract" agreement, where civil disobedience is equivalent with "overturning" this social contract agreed upon by all members of the society."
Abstract This paper explains that Toni Morrison's "Beloved" is a history, memory, and the terrible shadow of the character Sethe's past. The author believes that Beloved is the physical manifestation of Sethe's guilty conscience because Sethe's desire to protect her children from the horrors of slavery overpowered her humanity; she brutally murdered her baby and buried it under the headstone, "Beloved". The paper relates that Beloved disappears when Sethe is reconnected to the community because she can finally accept her guilt and reattach herself to her conscience, the part of her that Beloved embodied.
From the Paper "Sethe is relieved, because for her, ?the future was a matter of keeping the past at bay" (52). However, Denver is upset, because Paul D has driven away her only friend, and has begun to come between her and her mother. As a peace offering, Paul D takes Sethe and Denver a carnival, which makes Denver realize that a life with a man around instead of a ghost might not be so bad. But Sethe's consciences refuses to be banished so easily, and just as things are looking up, it returns to disrupt things, this time in the form of Beloved."
Abstract This paper examines Martin Heidegger's view, in his essay "Plato's Sophist", of the Aristotelian concepts of "conscience" and "know-how". The paper points out that Heidegger delimits these concepts as modes of disclosure, to reveal the manner in which their deliberation of beings relates to their agent and his experience of "being in the world". "Know-how" concerns itself primarily with the production of objects as form, which are then removed from its sphere of influence to realize their being through proper use. "Conscience" takes as its object life itself, and its dileberations of "excellence" are integrated into the agent. The paper maintains that, according to Heidegger, this creates a transparency of action and "being in the world" (Dasein) that must constantly reassert itself to resist life's natural tendency toward concealment. The paper concludes that the fundamental difference between these two modes of disclosure can be seen in their relationship to "excellence" and the manner in which their products are manifested.
From the Paper "The characteristic of excellence ( ) finds its expression differently in (know-how) and (conscience), revealing a primary distinction between these two modes of disclosure. While both direct themselves toward the becoming of beings which 'may be otherwise', stands beside ( ) its productions, whereas integrates its productions. Excellence ( ) is to manifest the perfection inherently possible to beings, which requires a degree of certitude. T finds this possible, within its limits of disclosure, while can never have such. Though the authentic being of an object is inaccessible to because it does not participate in its use, perfection of form ( ) may be reached through its fundamental methodology. As a set of principles drawn from a multiplicity of experiences, the process of trial and error creates a certainty that the form ( ) has achieved its maximum potential. As with the scientific method, the more experiments that reinforce a theory, the more accurate a representation of reality it is assumed to be. Any error results in a reworking of the theory to include such information, therefore increasing its accuracy ( ). "But in the case of , on the contrary, where it is a matter of a deliberation whose theme is the proper Being of Dasein, every mistake is a personal shortcoming". Errors do not open up the possibility of a higher degree of knowledge; rather, they are a complete corruption of proper being. Every deliberation of is in the form of an either/or proposition: it cannot have an end ( ) of excellence ( ) because it is excellence ( ) in its constant becoming. "The [origin] with which has to do is the action itself. And the which is taken into consideration in is the action itself". Thus, within , that which is uncovered remains uncovered through the constant struggle which orients it always toward its continuous expression in the actions ( ) of authentic Dasein. Conscience may be distorted by the desires and their usurpation of Dasein, but it can never be forgotten."
Abstract This paper examines the meaning of the title of Marshall G.S. Hodgson's work, "The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization". The author provides Hodgson's definition of Islam and discusses the social and cultural background of the Islamic religion. Moreover, he explains the effect modern civilization had on Islamic religion.
From the Paper ""Hodgson's discussion of the Islamic reaction to Modernization, at the close of his magisterial study, leaves the reader with a sense of depression at just how impossible it is to reconcile nationalist ideals and Western-derived thinking to the core "venture" of Islam. Although Muslims were able to create a cohesive and flourishing civilization in the pre-modern world, Islamdom was unprepared for the dynamism of Western expansion, based as it is on capitalist investment and mechanization. Moreover, the "disruption of tradition? which is so much a feature of modern life is, Hodgson argues, something the West is able to absorb much more easily than other cultures. "Yet, even in the West . . . the socially concerned are full of complaints about the fragmentation of life . . . and about personal loss of roots and alienation in the mass. [However], in Islamdom, the disruption of traditions is even more problematic" (III,419).
Hodgson's conclusions about "Islam in modernity" are melancholy ones, giving us the impression that the creative vision and faith at the core of Islamic belief are unsuited to the dry, pragmatic realities of contemporary life."
From the Paper T"his research examines the issue of individual conscience versus corporate authority as articulated in Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound and Sophocles's Antigone. The plan of the research will be to set forth the pattern of ideas in each work that appear relevant to the conflict between conscience and authority and then to discuss the means by which the plays achieve sentient and intellectual impact on account of their theme.
Prometheus Bound, as the title implies, portrays the god Prometheus's punishment by Zeus for stealing from the gods the "treasure" of "all-fashioning fire" and giving it to mankind. Personified characters Strength and Violence, with the help of the fire god Hephaestus, shackle Prometheus, to a rock on an ocean shore. Prometheus stays in place for the entire action of the play, and is visited in turn by a chorus, comprising daughters.."
Abstract This paper analyzes Eli Wiesel's work as a representation of the holocaust that has not been romanticized. It deals with the irony of Wiesel's life- that he survived as a human but he lost his humanity. It discusses Wiesel's description of the brutality of the camps and its effect on family ties, relationships, love and other emotions. It explores Wiesel's experiences with torture and the way that his beliefs and faith were changed by this experience. The paper also deals with the difficult choices he had to make and the loss of conscience experienced by holocaust victims. The paper concludes with a look at man's inherent struggle for survival.
From the Paper "Eli Wiesel's narrative of his experience in a German concentration camp "Night" is one of the few media representations of the era, which does not make a mockery of the tragedy. The chronicle of one mans life; the book presents the tragedy without the romanticism. It is a depiction of the events that were so inhuman, so innately callous that they caused a man to lose faith in everything."
This paper discusses the theories of the French sociologist Emile Durkheim who saw society as a reality in its own right and identified patterns to the experiences of individuals.
Abstract This paper states that the totality of beliefs and sentiments common to average citizens of the same society forms a determinant system which has its own life and can be a collective or common conscience. The author believes that Durkheim departs from Marx by arguing that organic solidarity in modern society is due in large measure to the division of labor. The author compares Durkheim to Adam Smith by theorizing the contractual relations or exchanges necessarily developing with the division of labor.
From the Paper "Durkheim was more deeply worried about the lack of intermediate groups between the individual worker and the impersonal forces of government and business than was Marx. It was his position that while a division of labor was inevitable in any society because of both the disparate talents of individuals and the multiplicity of tasks that needed to be performed to maintain society, a negative organic solidarity leading to conflict could be created."
Abstract "Antigone" by ancient Greek playwright Sophocles centers around a conflict between Antigone and Creon. In the play, Antigone is used to represent the conscience within, whereas Creon represents the laws of man. This paper examines the conflict and how it is portrayed through the characters. This paper also summarizes the play.
From the Paper "Antigone represented the will of the gods, and in doing so represented individual conscience. Although she died, her death was far more honorable than Creon's punishment. Creon, sticking so inflexibly to the laws of the state, went against the will of the gods. His pride blinded him and the gods punished him for this. However, in his punishment came wisdom. For at the end of the play he begins to see that he was wrong and has surely learned from his mistakes. The conflict between individual conscience and the laws of the state is eternal, and neither side is always correct. In this case, Antigone's actions were deemed right, while Creon's excessive pride caused him to act wrongly. Even though this is clear, both sides were still damaged, and the conclusion was a tragic one. This is often the case when these two institutions of humanity clash."
Abstract This paper discusses that in writing "Macbeth," Shakespeare attempted not only to describe, but also to define the very essence of ambition. The paper asserts that, in the play, ambition is inextricably intertwined with conscience. The author presents specific examples and character exploration and concludes that the meaning of ambition in Shakespeare's time was much more negative than in today's society.
From the Paper "The second way in which conscience and ambition interact in Macbeth can be seen in Lady Macbeth, who is the most ambitious and Machiavellian character in the beginning and whom guilt seems to affect the most as the play progresses. She is not only restless and disturbed like Macbeth was after he had killed Duncan, but she actually goes mad and commits suicide, driven to utter despair and insanity by the thought of the innocents? blood on her hands. Evidence of this lies in her night-walking speech in the first scene of Act 5: "Out, damned spot, out, I say!.. The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now" What, will these hands ne"er be clean"? In comparison to what she tells Macbeth, as encouragement in the murder of king Duncan (Act 1 Scene7: "I would, while it [the babe that milks me] was smiling in my face, / Have plucked my nipple from its boneless gums / And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done"), we see that her conscience is much stronger. Thus, her ambition and the guilt that came with it awoke her conscience instead of destroying it."
