In the story, “The Cold Equations”, Tom Godwin depicts the thematic tension as to never go against the path that you’re traveling on, because you could take a wrong turn and end up on a path towards unexpected consequences. In the year 2178, there are cruisers to carry people to the colonies on the far reaches of the galaxy. On the cruiser Stardust, a girl named Marilyn slipped onto an “EDS” or emergency dispatch ship. The EDS’s are only given enough fuel to arrive at their destination and return to the cruiser, with no added weight or any added variables. Marilyn’s added weight had been noticed by the captain of the EDS, and he would have killed her instantly if she were a man, but because she isn’t, he tried to spare her life. He delayed her demise as long has he could, even allowing her to write to her parents and her brother, who she was going to see. The captain was able to let her talk to her brother for a few minutes, giving her some sense of closure. She then made her decision by walking into the airlock without any aid, and the captain pulled the lever. She gave up her life to save others even though she was only an eighteen-year-old girl who hadn’t experienced live; she was brave enough to save seven lives when she realized that she went against the laws of nature. …show more content…
The narrator helps this when he says… “The laws were, and the universe moved in obedience to them” (11). All laws, the laws of gravity, chemical combination, Circumference of a circle is always pi times diameter, and all other laws are a constant part of the Universe and modern day life. If there was one small piece missing of the equation, or an extra piece added, that makes up the universe, then the universe wouldn’t exist. This helps prove the thematic tension because Marilyn was that extra piece in the equation, which caused the imbalance in the fuel; and extra piece added can result in
In this chapter, Truman Capote introduces several different characters. He introduces Herb Clutter, father of the Clutter family. Herb is married to Bonnie, and they have four children, the two youngest still living at home with their parents. Herb started a small farm and would slowly make his way up, making the Clutter family wealthy. His wife, Bonnie Clutter suffers from depression and other mental illnesses, so she at home for a majority of the time.
Beautiful young girls need protection, beautiful young girls need rescue, beautiful young girls aren't killed... These biases are shared throughout western culture and confronted in Tom Godwin’s short story, “The Cold Equations.” This tale takes place in space, nature’s most unforgiving environment, where every mistake has grave consequences. Barton, an EDS pilot, finds a stowaway while he's on his way to deliver medical supplies to a group of fever-stricken men on the planet Woden. However, when he discovers the fugitive is a young girl in her teens, he begins to question the normal procedure; having the stowaway “jettisoned immediately upon discovery” (1).
In the short story “The Cold Equations” by Tom Godwin, he portrays a theme that when life goes against what seems to be imminent death, death will come through and persevere. In the beginning of the story an EDS pilot takes off to send a flu serum to a group of people on the planet called Woden, with just enough fuel to get there by himself. But as he is making his way there he finds out there is a girl that has hidden on his ship, named Marilyn, to get to her brother that is on Woden, but he can’t just kick her out of the ship because it’s a girl. So he calls a cruiser with a commander on it, but he only says that he must kick her out of the ship, and there is nothing they can do to help save her, which makes Marilyn feel very alone. Marilyn
She probably couldn’t even imagine such dire consequences, having lived a sheltered life on Earth “where life was precious and well guarded and there was always the assurance that tomorrow would come” (9). Barton, of course, lives in a different world, “where the lives of men could be as fragile and fleeting as sea foam tossed against a rocky shore” (9). Barton lives his life according to the previously mentioned cold equations. The unspoken question this poses creates a new feeling of suspense: Will Barton be able to save Marilyn? Godwin shows that while Barton feels bad about Marilyn’s situation and remorseful about what must be done, he is blunt and honest with Marilyn about what will happen to her.
In the novel Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, uses conflict to teach that some things happen in life that you can’t return from and there are bad outcomes. For example, the author writes that Sam is trying not to turn into a werewolf when it’s cold. This is Sam’s last year turning back into a human, so whenever Sam turns into a werewolf, he won’t be able to return human. Also, the author writes that Grace can’t decide on giving Sam the cure for werewolves. Sam can be turned into a complete human by a cure that Grace has found.
During the discussion, I didn’t talk as much as I should have because for the questions that I didn’t raise my hand for I didn’t have an opinion for the discussion at hand, or at least I didn’t have a solid response that could be backed up with the text or generate more discussions among the group. For the two times that I did respond to someone’s response, I felt that I had a view worthy of being shared among my group, and this was supported when some of my peers agreed with the point I made and added their own view on top of mine. But for my second response, it was more like two responses which were included in one as a result of my wanting to respond to something that was mentioned before but that I wasn’t called on for, and for the most recent response at the time. The story closes with the image of a giggle to further convey to the reader that Mary’s mentally unstable.
Before disappearing during an attempt to circumnavigate the world, Amelia Earhart once declared that “[the] most difficult thing [to do] is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” Although most people would not claim this amidst preparation for a 29,000-mile-long flight, the principle Earhart states carries over to nearly all matters in life—including freeing oneself of confinement. Again, in this situation most people would agree with Earhart’s opinion about the difficulty surrounding the ‘decision to act’—except authors Kate Chopin and John Updike. In their eyes, deciding to act is easy enough; the acting itself is what brings about the most difficulty. Although Updike and Chopin both expose the necessity of breaking free from
Colder Than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir was written and published by Joseph R. Owen in 1996. This book gives us a riveting point-of-view of the early and uncertain days of the Korean War through the eyes of Owen himself, as a platoon leader (PL) in a Marine rifle company. As a PL of a mortar section in Baker-One-Seven-Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment- Owen witnessed his hastily assembled men of a few regulars and reservists (who to mention some that have not gone to boot camp) quickly harden into the superb Baker-One-Seven known today. He makes it known quickly (in the foreword and the preface) that some of the major problems he initially encountered was due to how unprepared his unit was. Owen makes the
Are We Living In Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451? After reading the article Are We Living In Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 I have come to the conclusion that I do agree we are living in Fahrenheit 451 for many reasons. Over the past couple of years many people have forgotten what real communication is all about, it is not about tweeting and texting to each other it is all about real face to face interaction. According to the article it states that “similar kinds of arguments about the dangers of the web and social media” (Ingram 2) have also been made.
In the not so short story “the cold equations” the author presents a hard decision to kill one or many the killing of one to save many is decided. Tom godwin wrote a story about an EDS pilot who find a stowaway-- an 18 year old girl named Marilyn. Marilyn snuck on the little ship halling fever medicine for 6 men that were sent to the planet Woden. The pilot gets to know Marilyn who snuck on the ship to go see her brother who was on the other side of Woden. The rule was any sort of stowaway was to be jettisoned immediately “ He would, of course, do it.
Many people throughout their lives at least once acted recklessly and irrationally to overcome challenges. Without thinking thoughtfully, the actions they performed may have harmed others or themselves. This is why the phrase, “think before you act” is created, to prevent others from performing tactless maneuvers to satisfy their challenges and emotions. In the novel, A Brave New World, Aldous Huxley suggests that individuals who act recklessly in the face of adversity will fail miserably; these reckless actions will cause despair and grief for the individual or others because of their lack of thinking and overwhelming of emotions. In A Brave New World, author Aldous Huxley introduced an Alpha-Plus male named Bernard Marx.
Allusions can bring history into many types of literature. They compare and illustrate situations, people, and many other parts of a story to better the audience’s understanding of the connotation being presented. For example, the book The Hot Zone, portrays many examples of allusion. In this novel, scientists from all over the world research to find the natural host and the end to the Ebola virus and its sister, the Marburg virus. Many people and events in history are used to describe the way the Ebola virus behaves in humans and monkeys.
She walked past the sign that said “UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL KEEP OUT,” absentmindedly not thinking about the true consequences of her actions. The last quote is when she was talking to Barton about the protocol with more intel. “There isn't enough fuel for me to stay; when I hid on this ship I got into something I didn't know about and now I have to pay for it.” Once Marilyn learned that it was either her life or 7 others she decided to sacrifice her life. She became more accepting of the consequence and even said her good-bys.
Everybody has desires that constantly weigh over their heads, pushing them to be diligent in all their endeavors, but what would you do if you knew that one day you would no longer have the opportunity to fulfill these desires? Everybody lives their lives so focused on the end goal that they are oblivious to the world around them, and the sad part is that in some cases the end goal is unattainable or never reached because the person dies. In In Cold Blood, Truman Capote utilizes symbolism and descriptive diction to tell his readers Perry’s wants and wishes. Throughout this subchapter the reader is able to learn more about how Perry feels in the moments after the Clutter family murder. The reader learns that Perry wishes he was loved by others
In The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin and Homestead in Idaho by Clinton F. Larson, Marilyn Lee Cross and Geneva have similar moral dilemmas in the way they react. In The Cold Equations, Marilyn is a stowaway on an Emergency Deployment Ship, or EDS, the contains fever serum. The ships have minimal fuel, so Marilyn’s added mass is fatal to not only herself but the pilot and the six sick workers who requested the serum. Geneva, from Homestead in Idaho, is bit by a rattlesnake. Geneva decides to bleed the poison out, but she cuts to deep resulting in her bleeding out.