Abstract The book "And the Earth Did Not Devour Him" by Tomas Rivera, is full of strange and haunting images. The writer shows how these images are found throughout the book, and contribute to the reader's understanding and the book's impact. However, at the very end of the novel there are images that have a particularly powerful significance in terms of the overall meaning of the book. This paper explores some of those images and their possible interpretations.
From the Paper "When the last scene begins, the boy is under a house, playing hooky from school. As he lies there in the dark, many fragments of thoughts and recollections float through his mind. In a sense, he goes back over the whole book, showing the reader many of the scenes from a slightly different perspective. This is a clear signal from the author that what we are seeing in this scene has significance beyond just for this chapter."
Abstract The paper examines Tomas Rivera's novel "And The Earth Did Not Devour Him" and his portrayal of powerful family images. The paper also looks at "The Children Were Victims," "Christmas Eve," "Little Children Burned" and "When We Arrive" and points out the themes of families, faith, hard work, hardship in the lives of the migrant Latinos. The paper points out that Rivera doesn't tell or lecture, and that makes his work more meaningful and memorable.
From the Paper "Tomas Rivera's stories show the reader, they do not "tell" the reader. They do not preach, but they give a voice to their characters. In a literary sense, his stories relate not only to migrant workers, but also to the underdog everywhere. The stories stand on their own but they all weave themes of humans confronting suffering and prejudice with the strength of hope, love, and family bonds. It's a terrible shame that Rivera died at such a relatively young age (48), because one can only imagine how many more wonderful stories he may have written - even though his demanding profession and his high social status as the Chancellor of the University of California at Riverside did not allow an extraordinary amount of time for serious writing."
Abstract This paper discusses how although appearing much like a novel, Tomas Rivera's "And Earth Did Not Devour Him" reads like a bundle of narratives tied together. It looks at how the novel is structured into stories and vignettes characterized as temporal explorations of the narrator through Rivera's stream of consciousness style and how all of these fragments join together in Rivera's raw testimony about the plight of the Chicano farm workers and their solidarity in a quest for social justice, which was derived from Rivera's own personal experience.
From the Paper "This technique used by Rivera is clearly influenced by William Faulkner and his famed stream of conscious styles found in such works as The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying. Rivera, in the vignettes, threads together impressionistic pieces consisting of a stream of consciousness style whereby the character's unadorned thoughts are conveyed in a manner roughly equivalent to the way our minds actually work. John Mepham defines stream of consciousness as a style of writing that allows the reader a glimpse into the private thoughts of the character (1892). William Faulkner, in America, and James Joyce, in Europe, are thought to be the innovators of this technique that opens up the inner dialogues of the character's mind to the reader. Rivera uses the stream of consciousness stylistic form known as quoted narrated stream of consciousness that reveals the interior monologue of his anonymous narrator. "
Abstract The author states that there have been few artists more dark and introspective than Goya. "Saturn Devouring His Children" is an image of great power and is the most representative of his Black Pictures. The author describes the painting in detail. The life of Goya especially his deafness is review and analyzed in terms of his art.
From the Paper "This blurring of the lines between the real and the ideal is shown in Goya's construction of the painting. The thick, heavy lines that outline Saturn's fingers as he grasps his child serve to underscore the detachment between the two figures. The god is wholly distinct from his offspring. Yet the lines between his own fingers are blurred. They compress together like mittens, inhuman paws tearing into the flesh of the headless figure. Line too in most of the rest of the picture is faint, all except for the thick, black circle of the creature's mouth."
Abstract The paper discusses Tomas Rivera's collection of short stories, "And the Earth Did Not Devour Him", that paints a dark picture of physical hardship, social struggles and spiritual enlightenment. The paper looks at how Rivera demonstrates the separation of classes between Americans and Mexicans, as well as the racial biases and stereotypes that have been placed upon the Mexican people since their migration post-World War II.
From the Paper "The history of Mexican culture has steadily gained popularity in the United States. With the population steadily increasing throughout the years, it is no surprise that its integration has made it to the public school classroom. However, the Mexican people struggle to battle stereotypes and generalizations. While there are many characteristics that typify a native Mexican, or even a Mexican American, their ethnicity and class divisions are significantly apparent in modern America. Tomas Rivera addresses the issues of class, gender and ethnicity in And the Earth Did Not Devour Him. Taking place in post-World War II, the novella tracks the year in the life of a young Mexican boy, traveling with a group of migrant workers in search of work. Topically, the novella is about the young boy's internal struggle to find meaning behind the life events of the year. However, the undertone reveals a great deal about the prejudice and American perspective on the Mexican Migrant worker."
Abstract This paper contends that there is an element of the Evangelical missionary in Hamlet's character. Other allusions in the text are illustrated, first, in order to help explain the allusion to Hamlet as a missionary. Using the context established by these allusions, the paper then compares Hamlet's character to that of an Evangelical prophet. The reference to a fisherman, or a fisher of men, is cited as an example of Hamlet's role as one who seeks to bring repentance to the people around him. The paper also compares Hamlet's failure as a prophet to the Biblical character, Jonah, who is devoured by the whale, or in Hamlet's case, devoured by the King.
From the Paper "It is difficult to approach Hamlet without stumbling over a mass of biblical allusions. In many ways, the entirety of the work can be taken as one massive allusion to religious struggles and issues. Tracing the pattern of allusions to the afterlife, repentance, and the fate and nature of mankind, it is easy to see Hamlet as an evangelist of sorts -- a figure with something of the New Testament spiritual missionary about him, and something of the Old-Testament social prophet. Many of the allusions can be glossed over in passing, as they are sufficiently obvious within the text to make further explication relatively unnecessary. However, there is one relatively obscure set of references which, if approached in more than passing detail, promises to firmly ground Hamlet's character in a missionary tradition. The set of comments regarding fish and Polonius, when cross-reference to the significance of fish and fishing in the New Testament, suggest that Hamlet is serving as a "fisher of men" in the fullest sense, both working for their salvation and (in accordance with an older tradition) their destruction."
From the Paper "As a nurse, Hana treats an English patient who suffers from extensive burns on his body. Strangely, she directs all her spirit into nursing him. She performs various physical acts from bathing him to feeding him a plum from her mouth: "She pours calamine in stripes across his chest where he is less burned, where she can touch him....She unskins the plum with her teeth, withdraws the stone and passes the flesh of the fruit into his mouth" (4). Ondaatje's language is so intrinsically detailed that the reader feels the intimacy grow between Hana and the patient."
Abstract A paper which calls for an abolishment of insanity defense in the legal systems due to it being antiquated and illogical. The author of the paper argues that the insanity defense poses two antithetical schools of thought ? psychiatry and the law ? against each other and they do not complement each other: rather, they devour one another. The paper uses several court cases to illustrate its argument.
From the Paper "The insanity defense extrapolates this argument and allows a man who points a gun at another man, pulls the trigger and kills him to go free if lawyers and psychiatrists can convince the jury that he was insane at the time of the act. The accused need not be insane during the trial or even immediately after the act; he only need be insane during the act itself. It all comes down to deciphering what was in the accused's head at a particular moment in the past. ?These defendants go free because some lawyers and some psychiatrists are willing to manipulate juries and the criminal justice system precisely in those areas where judgment is most difficult: where judgment is based upon imagining what was in a person's mind when he committed an act.? (Winslade 2) The jury must decide in some states only one thing: did he do it? This determination will encompass both whether ? in a traditional sense ? he did it, and also whether he didn"t do it because at the time he performed the crime, he was insane and therefore didn"t legally do anything. He didn?t have actus reus. Other states use a bifurcated system in which the fact-finder determines whether ? insanity aside ? the man is guilty, and then whether he was insane at the time. If he was insane at the time, he was not guilty."
Tags: Daniel, M?Naghten, Durham, psychiatric, testimony, actus, reus, mens, rea
Abstract The paper discusses the life histories of Francisco Goya and poet Ezra Pound. It analyzes Goyas "El 2 de Mayo," "The Colossus," and "Saturn Devouring His Son" and Pound's poems "MEDITATIO," "The Cantos," and "These Fought in Any Case". The paper also includes replicas of some of Goya's paintings.
From the Paper "The two artists chosen for this paper fall into the innovative or creative section of the arts. Firstly, Ezra Pound is known for his modernistic style and is also known for exchanging ideas and allowing other credited artists to critique his work. His style was derived from Japanese and Chinese literature called Imagism, this touched on accuracy, precision, and a traditional rhyme scheme (Academy, 1). Francisco Goya, also known as ?the Father of Modern Art,? influenced the world with his works. His general feeling of bitterness towards the world was predominantly shown in his works. Due to the fact that Ezra Pound and Francisco Goya are both brilliant artist many parallels can be drawn between the two."
Tags: Imagism, Black, Paintings, World, War, One, Napoleonic, War
Abstract This essay is on the 1950 movie "Sunset Boulevard". It especially focuses on the role that the dead Joe Gillis - narrator of the story - tells. Without Joe as Sunset Boulevard's narrator ,the film would have never had such a dark and devouring after taste. The essay explains in what ways Joe Gilles tells the story and the effects Joe has on the story - what would have been different if Joe hadn't told the story.
From the Paper "Many believe that Sunset Boulevard, directed by Billy Wilder, is one of the most interesting films about forgotten silent movie stars and Hollywood illusions. It concentrates on several aspects of Hollywood illusions; but instead of keeping them alive, this film bursts the bubbles and gives a blunt, unromantic and realistic story about a forgotten "yesteryear" silent movie queen, and her trapped human "pet monkey". One of the things that is used to establish the form of irony and realism necessary to burst the glittering bubbles is the "dead-pan voice over" by the murdered Joe Gillis. ".
Abstract Discusses the characters of two Chicano novels. Sandra Cisneros' THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET and Tomas Rivera's AND THE EARTH DID NOT DEVOUR HIM. How both novels use the environment to establish the tone. Compares and contrasts differences of the novels in terms of such characterstics as geography, people and time.
From the Paper "As local Latin novels, Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street and Tomas Rivera's And the Earth Did Not Devour Him both present the effects of environment on the characters and illustrates how environment can be used to establish the tone of a novel. Although these two novels share many similarities with respect to ethnicity and its effects, they differ in terms of such characteristics as geography, people, and time. This report will compare and contrast these elements and will argue that a critical difference between the two is that Rivera focuses on the environment in which Mexican-American migrant workers of the 1940s and 1950s lived while Cisneros positions her story in an urban barrio.
Rivera's story takes place within the context of the experiences of the Chicano ..."
Abstract This paper deals with the power of images vs. the power of words. It analyzes two paintings, ?The Scream,? by Edvard Munch and Goya's "Saturn Devouring His Son", as examples of the power of images. The paper also includes copies of the paintings.
From the Paper "This piece was painted at the end of Goya's life, thus it's classification as one of his ?Black Paintings.? "In this work, Goya followed Rubens, but went far beyond his source in the expression of bestial rage" (Wilson-Bareau 53). Rubens is Peter Paul Rubens, a very famous and well-known painter from the 15-1600?s, who style was closely studied by Goya. But that term, bestial rage, sums it up very well. ?The theme of Saturn undoubtedly plays an essential role in the conception of the ?black paintings,? as a symbol of melancholy and destruction? (Gassier 318). And that is just what this painting is?pure melancholy, destruction, bestial rage, pain, suffering, and above all else, powerful enough to not need words."
Abstract This paper briefly looks at the plot of the epic saga, "The Odyssey". It examines the plot, which is about Odysseus, a clever and often an arrogant old soldier who fought in and won the Trojan War. He undergoes twenty years of an epic journey to return home to his wife and son. On way, he encounters a plethora of challenges, including a monstrous cyclops who devours men and many other incidents.
From the Paper "The Odyssey is not a "novel". Had it been one, it would not be the "first novel in history", since it was predated by the Iliad, which was also not a novel. The Odyssey is a work of primary epic, such as Beowulf, Chanson de Roland and the Norse sagas (Hooker, World Cultures). It was composed in the 8th Century B.C., before the written alphabet had been introduced in Greece. As these facts are grasped, the way is clear for a true appreciation of exactly why this writing has gone on to become the most influential work of literature in all human history (Hooker, World Cultures)."
Abstract This paper explains that Battista Sforza, Duchess of Urbino, was very much a woman of her time; she encapsulated all the ideals of the Renaissance. The author stresses that, although women were restricted from activities outside of traditional women's activities, she eagerly devoured all that learning had to offer, patronized great artists, and corresponded with brilliant men like Leonardo Bruni. The paper relates that, most significantly, she taught other women that, not only could they run their own lives and make their own decisions, they could contribute to the world around them and on their own terms.
From the Paper "In other words, the arts of rhetoric and reasoned debate are a waste of time for women, simply because women have no place in the "forum" i.e. in public life. The woman who spends her time studying all the techniques of public speaking, who learns all the special phrases, the emotional pauses and gestures, the persuasive powers of yelling loudly or speaking in a faint, but meaningful whisper will have accomplished absolutely nothing. A woman's rhetoric is like the sound of a tree falling in an uninhabited forest ? it makes a loud noise, but there is no one around to hear it."
Abstract The major moral principles of most religions, the natural inclination of most children, and the analyses of most philosophers agree that animals should be treated with dignity and kindness. Today, many ordinary people are torn between their traditional meat-eating habits and a growing knowledge that meat-production in the Western world is unnecessarily cruel; meat-eating is the passive slaughter of an innocent living creature through horrendous suffering. In short, this paper shows that it is increasingly becoming obvious to many that meat-eating is incompatible with their intrinsic moral values. However, many more have no compunction about contributing to the suffering of a mere animal, and no few are actually attracted to the idea that by devouring meat they eat the corpse of an animal and take in something both tribal and somehow (in this modern world) sinful. It is the contention of this paper that for those whose conscience convicts them, meat-eating is wrong, but for those to whom death and consumption feels morally compelling, it is in fact right.
From the Paper "So to take a human example, consider Andy Stewart who is trying to decide if he wishes to be vegetarian. He hears the thoughts of Nozick, and is afraid that Nozick may be correct -- it is empirically immoral to be a sadist and kill a cow, isn"t it" He should not, however, be swayed by Nozick's personal moral beliefs that sadism is immoral, anymore than he should be inherently swayed by De Sade's theories that say sadism is inherently moral. Rather he should consider his own emotional state. He should, ideally, go to a factory farm and go to a slaughter house and see the truth of meat production for himself. If he can look a cow in the eyes, and then watch without moral compunction as it is herded up and slaughtered, then he has the moral right to eat meat - if he still can. If not, then he is not meant by his own nature to eat meat. Such moral honesty is the only morality left to a truly relativist world."
