Morality In Joan Didion White Man's Burden

In life, people tend to classify ideas into good and evil based on their views and beliefs. The novel, Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, portrays the life a six-year old boy named Antonio living around the time of World War II. Antonio faces many challenges in life as he grows into adulthood. In order to see what is good and evil, Antonio sees things as good if it agrees with his beliefs and sees things as evil if something threatens his beliefs. Many people in life think like Antonio, if people’s beliefs are agreed upon, they see it as good and if people beliefs are contradicted, it is seen as evil. The reality is that good and evil cannot be divided due to a difference of beliefs. This means that a person may see something as evil that another person see as good.

While, imperialistic dynasties in Europe struggled to hold on to their waning empires across the globe due to the rise of ideas like nationalism. America was still able to participate in this same imperial structure, and expand its borders, but also look to other social and political movements for legitimacy . The United States made sure there was a difference between its god given right of expansion versus european imperialism. “The distinction they drew between their own “empire of liberty” and contemporary weren’t always concrete.” This quote further exemplifies that the true identity behind Manifest Destiny as Americanized imperialism. Just like its European counterpart, American imperialism took a huge toll on the inhabitants in the West. Thousands of Native Americans that were violently displaced, as a result of Manifest Destiny and were often forced to relocate elsewhere. Those that stayed were dehumanized and found themselves at the bottom of the power dynamic. Greenberg describes the effects of dehumanization of the Native people by also means of gender“ by feminizing Native Americans, white Americans could prove themselves to be the legitimate possessors of American

Not all people have the same definition of evil. Evil can be expressed in many ways. Whether that be describing a person or giving a place a scary setting. Most though, think of evil as a person rather than a place. Those true qualities of evil help show if a person is a human monster. Many people have minor qualities but do not have the label of serial killer. John Wayne Gacy is an excellent example of a human monster because of his actions of murder and rape while demonstrating that nurture can shape a person's personality proving human monsters are more terrifying than those we read about in fiction.

The acceleration of Imperialism during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that greatly impacted the world, is due to multiple economic, political, and social forces. Imperialism, a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force, was becoming drastically more and more important for European and Asian countries. Ultimately, the advancements during the Industrial Revolution made Imperialism easier, and on a very large scale for many European countries. Although there were many factors that contributed to Imperialism by ways of economic, political, and social forces, some proved to be more significant and influential than others.

Good vs. evil. Reason vs. instinct. Civilization vs. savagery. These are all examples of internal battles that occur within oneself and which can lead to horrifying consequences. In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, a group of young boys find themselves stranded on an island, after a plane crash. Without any adult supervision or guidance, the boys are forced to systematically establish a firm set of rules and duties, in order to coexist on the island. At first everyone, is glad to be assigned their tasks and fulfill the needed requirements to survive. However, things soon turn for the worst, when one by one the boys begin to succumb to the evil within them. With the quick deterioration of societal rules, the boys turn on one another and participate in

Many of the Europeans who emigrated enjoyed being superior because they believed they were doing the right thing (Document K). With the increase of technology and development during the industrial revolution, the Europeans believed it was their duty to “assist” the Africans. In the poem, “The White Man’s Burden,” by Rudyard Kipling he writes, “Take up the White Man's burden; Send forth the best ye breed; Go bind your sons to exile; To serve your captives' need.” (Document P). This poem is proof that racism was a major selling point of African imperialism and is another example of paternalism, the idea that what they were doing was for the best of the Africans. Paul Leroy Beaulieu wrote, “It is not natural for the civilized people of the west to gather the marvels of science, art, and civilization and not share the opportunities with the savages in need. We have a duty to spread knowledge of medicine, law, and Christian religion. Such a transformation of a barbarian country cannot be accomplished by business or economic relations alone.” (Document S). This idea of superiority empowered African imperialism. Racism was popular among these Europeans as it rapidly gained them cultural and social

The presentation of Good vs. Evil is one of the main themes in the novel, Dracula. The portrayal of good and evil is seen in each character throughout the book. The characters considered “evil” in the novel are Dracula and his vampire brides. Dracula converts humans into vampires and has immense power over certain individuals. Everything he does demonstrates that there is no good in him at all. His vampire brides assist to Dracula’s dark deeds. What they all have in common is that they prey upon humans. On the other hand, the characters that are considered “good” in the novel are Jonathan Harker, Dr. Van Helsing, John Seward, Quincey Morris and Arthur Holmwood. Throughout the novel, the good characters are constantly doing generous deeds to save others from Dracula.

Through out history evil has been best depicted as the absence of goodness and goodness as the absence of evil. With goodness being comprehended as the direct opposite of evil. It is under speculation that maybe there can 't exist only one general meaning of good vs. evil. I trust this, in light of the fact that any one individual 's perception of good or evil is without a doubt directed by one 's social comprehension of certain qualities and ethics within their culture, i.e. the power of social conformity (Muncaster-Social Psychology Lecture, 2016). Yes, there can be cases of evil that is seen as malevolent all over the world but due to the ethnocentric component of the perception of cultural morals and values, one is unable to categorize another individual as evil or good based upon their own cultural understanding of this notion. As they have been socially and culturally influenced to believe contrary to the fact.

The word “evil,” according to Merriam-Webster, means “morally bad.” With such a vague definition, how can one discern the truth behind what is good and what is evil? John Gardner’s novel Grendel provides multiple philosophical outlooks demystifying the epic poem Beowulf’s antagonist. Grendel is a monster, however Gardner clearly asserts through multiple philosophies that not all monsters are inherently evil. Grendel proves not to be evil due to his belief in solipsism. Solipsism is manifested in Grendel’s recurring and crippling loneliness, his understanding of solipsism affecting others, and Gardner’s achievement in eliciting sympathy for Grendel.

In Los Angeles, there is a well known stormed called the Santa Ana that often occurs during the colder months. Joan Didion writes an essay that discusses what the storm is and how it affects the Los Angelenos. Although primarily writing for everyone’s knowledge, being she is a fellow citizen, she directs her thoughts towards Los Angeles’ people She gains a connection with her audience and their emotions. After doing this she selects specific words to help enhance the intensity of the storm. She also uses long sentences to further describe the intensity of the storm through her writing techniques, but towards the end of the essay she uses short sentences to provide information and to show she is knowledgeable to the audience . Being that

Edmund Burke once stated, "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." As long as society exists the concept of good and evil will always be a central conflict. However, it is dangerous to simply believe that some people are innately good or bad. When talking about good and evil, good is the idea that people have the ability to empathize with other people, to feel compassion for them, and to put other people 's needs before their owns. In contrast, evil takes over when a good person is no longer able to empathize or care about another human being. By attempting to do nothing, good people show little concern for what evil is capable of doing. In order to stop evil and malicious acts from happening in society people are responsible for enforcing laws that stop these terrible acts, but by ignoring evil society allows good people to turn cruel and allows innocent bystanders to be hurt.

Joan Didion uses rhetorical words in her essay “Morality,” to explain her reasons why she viewed morality as social, and established expectation. Didion starts her essay, by presenting emotional appeals to her particular setting. “As it happens, I am in Death Valley, in a room at the Enterprise Motel and Trailer Park, and it is July, and it is hot (Didion 106).” The significance in describing the setting is that it helps create a tone, such that it, evokes emotions of isolation, despair, and loneliness. After describing her setting, Didion states, “A word I distrust more every day, but in my mind veers inflexibility toward the particular (Didion 106).” In this phrase, Didion is introducing her claim that she does not trust the definition of morality. To support her claims,

Imperialism, or a country taking land outside its borders, allowed the European nations to promote their ideas and influence on a global scale, which started with Africa. Between 1500 and 1800, Europeans avoided the interior of Africa and focused on western coastal trade. In later years, the 1800s, European nations imperialized the country and set up the “rule of occupation.” Their conquests spared only two independent African countries, Liberia and Ethiopia. So what caused this sudden change from European coastal trade to imperialism in Africa? The motives for European imperialism varied but had common factors: a sense of a moral duty, political competition, and economics.

Colonized felt emptied of their culture and personal humanity. Stripped of human rights and liberties, colonized people were reduced to savages in need of civilization when, in reality, colonized regions had developed unique traditions and communities. Under imperial rule, colonized communities drowned in the culture of the nation they were under. Often, the religions and methods of an imperialist power were forced upon colonized communities while the traditional religions and beliefs of conquered peoples were desperately suppressed, for they were seen as savage and trivial.

People can be defined as neither good nor evil because many factors lead to us being a mixture of both. One of these factors is that we only have one perspective of life and the actions they do. This means we don 't have all the information to be able to form an opinion on them. Another factor is that we are unable to measure how good or bad an action is. This means that we can not say if the good actions they did outweigh the bad actions that they did in their life. These factors mean that we are unable to judge people and say whether they are good or bad.