Seeing Love Through Fresh Eyes - Literature Essay Samples

Pastoralism as a literary device thrives on the juxtaposition of city life and country life. Pastoralists often stress that the burdens of the city can be alleviated and clarified by a trip into the countrys therapeutic environment. A sense of balance and rightness is often restored either through self-reflection or conversations with uncorrupted shepherds. Sojourns to these socially detached regions enable one to explore ideas and play roles-on ones own terms and for ones own amusement (Leggatt 192). Through the characters of Rosalind and Orlando in his comedic play As You Like It, William Shakespeare suggests that to find true happiness, one must visit the forest and be freed from worldly constraints. The city life burdens the two protagonists of As You Like It with social customs and conventions, as illustrated by their initially strained and stumbling speeches. Upon extracting themselves from the suffocating urban environment, both are able to openly embrace and develop thei r love in the Forest of Arden. The lessons learned and the emotions expressed in the forest (sans the restrictions of social propriety and expectation) extend far beyond the forests edge they have existed all the while, and simply required an unclouded lens to be revealed.Whether because of their self-consciousness about expressing their undying love for one another or the social standards that quiet such outbursts, Orlando and Rosalinds love dialogue at court is hesitant, groping, and shy at best (Leggatt 194). Orlando, a character heretofore known to be quite eloquent and verbose when expressing his emotions to his brother, finds that he has weights upon [his] tongue and is overthrown with love, unable to speak to the beautiful Rosalind when she urges conference (AYLI.I.II.244-246). Love is depicted as more an oppressive than liberating power, as Shakespeare emphasizes by utilizing a number of conquering images (Leggatt 194). Similarly, Rosalind is awestruck by her newfound l ove. Upon Celias appeal that Cupid have mercy for her cousin has not a word, Rosalind admits that she has not one to throw at a dog (AYLI. I.III.1-3). Throughout this scene Celia urges the conversation onward, while Rosalind hesitantly though dotingly reveals her interest in the young man. Seen through this window, coated in the dust of antiquated convention and the grime of hesitation, the future for the relationship between Orlando and Rosalind appears murky and unpromising. Having been chased out of civilization by either threat or banishment, both characters are forced to seek refuge in the forest. Upon entering the woods, they cast off their inhibitions, enjoying considerable imaginative freedom in the forest while also finding themselves in a place of testing and education (Leggatt 191). In direct contrast to his former inarticulacy, Orlando finds his tongue, in surprisingly ornate, patterned verse, littering the forest sanctuary with heartfelt poems in witness of [his] love for Rosalind (Leggatt 195, AYLI.III.II.1, 122-151). His ability to not only express his love but to do so in such a vulnerable manner and in such a public forum reveals a man uninhibited by personal and social reservations, capable of a level of self-expression that is only actualized upon entering the woods. Furthermore, while Celia had formerly dominated and guided the conversation about Orlando, Rosalind as Ganymede comes into her ownstarts developing her own ideas and using her own wit (Leggatt 194). Rosalind seems to achieve a full role reversal, illustrated by her litany of inquiries about Orlando and her rhymed, romantic contemplations on love; she is driven by a desire to learn more and be more engrossed in the madness of love (AYLI.III.II.213-219, Leggatt 196, AYLI.III.II.386). As a third testament to their uninhibited expression of love in the forest, the scenes in which Rosalind (as Ganymede) and Orlando speak to no end about the tortures and raptures of love de pict a sentiment that will withstand the seasons (AYLI.IV.I.136-146). Once cleared of the muck that clouds the relationship in an urban environment, the future for this couple appears clear and long-lasting. Pastoralism is the cloth with which the dust-caked eyeglass is cleaned. Ever since their first encounter, Orlando and Rosalind have been secretly infatuated with each other, though both are initially too concerned with the standards of city life and their own pride to reveal their true emotions, thus clouding their ability to see their future. Clearing away these hindrances by entering the forest (and thus liberating themselves from social conventions), they freely articulate their love to their peers and each other. Because the eyeglass has at last been cleaned, their love and future together is clearer and truer. By leaving the court life and the threats of Duke Frederick and Oliver, Rosalind and Orlando are at last able to examine and nurture their love. The glass merel y needed cleaning; now refreshed, they can return to the court with an uninhibited vision of their future.

Perry Smiths Culpability in In Cold Blood - Literature Essay Samples

In Truman Capote’s nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood, Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock were convicted of murdering the entire Clutter Family. When proven guilty, both Perry and Dick were sentenced to death. Though Perry had been the one to murder the members of the family, Dick had planned the whole thing. Without Dick’s planning, Perry would have never thought to kill that innocent family. Throughout the novel, the audience is given a look at the backgrounds and inner thoughts of the criminals. Dick was perfectly capable of determining right from wrong, yet he proceeded with the murders, keeping complete control of the situation. On the other hand, Perry (whom we learned later in the novel could have been a paranoid schizophrenic all along) had lost all control in the situation. Perrys childhood and mental health leads to the conclusion that he should be spared, and treated for his mental instability. Authors often lead readers to feel compassion for the criminal- maybe regarding a mistreated, abusive childhood, or challenges and struggles they’ve had to face. Even though people understand the consequences of the crime, they feel sympathy for someone who’s had so much pain in their life. They assume that the â€Å"evil† was rooted in something that truly affected the criminal. Perry Smith is no exception. Capote not only included Perry’s thoughts, but his father’s as well. Perrys father wrote a manuscript called A History of My Boys Life, trying to mollify the Kansas State Parole Board so that they could allow his son, Perry, to be obtain parole. Mr.Smith writes about his drunkard wife (Perry’s mother), who had taken Perry and his siblings from their father at a very young age. My children all cried at the top of their voices wrote Perry’s father, and she only cursed them saying they would run away to come to me later.(Pg.126). Just as his mother had then said, Perry tried to run away from his mother. She had then send poor Perry to a Catholic orphanage. There, Perry was mercilessly beat by nuns who punished him for small things like wetting his bed. After such an experience, Perry began to resent nuns, religion and God, altogether. He was kicked out of the Catholic orphanage and sent somewhere worse†¦A childrens shelter operated by the Salvation Army.(Pg.132). The nurse at the shelter had no love for him eitherfor wetting the bed and for having a Native American mother. The evil bastard would fill a tub with ice-cold water and hold helpless Perry under the water until he turned blue. He inevitably got sick with pneumonia (Pg.132). Perry’s childhood was filled with abandonment, abuse and neglect. His horrible mother constantly threw him away from orphanage to shelter (the next one being worse than the previous) trying to get rid of him somewhere so she wouldnt have his burden. No one should be trea ted like that. He had grown up in a very dysfunctional world, with an almost non-existent sense of self-worth or self-respect. It led to an emotional imbalance in his life, leading to cause bigger problems for him as an adult. This ultimately led to affect his mental health, resulting in his loss of control during the murders. Throughout the novel, we read about Perry being a child trapped in a grown man’s body. Perry dreams of buried treasure and adventures around the world. His ever active imagination even attracts Dick’s attention. Even he seems to notice something strange about his partner in crime. There was something wrong with Little Perry said Dick, always wetting his bed and crying in his sleep†¦sit for hours just sucking his thumb and poring over them phony damn treasure guides. Dick also noticed his emotionally instability. He would describe Perry to be spooky as hell†¦ready to kill you, but youd never know it(Pg. 108). Perrys childhood had indubitably led to concerning, questionable actions in his adult years. Throughout the whole novel, Perry just seemed as though he was making sure he had Dick’s respect and approval. He wanted nothing more than to feel accepted, even to someone like Dick. Perry develops a story about a murder in which he beats a nigger to death while in Las Vegas (Pg.109). He tells Dick this life in hope of Dick’s approval. Feeling like an outcast for all of his life, Perry was determined to get respect and positive attention from Dick. Dick essentially picked Perry as his partner to settle the score because he had believed Perry’s lie about killing a man. Perry— lost and desperate – was more than willing to gain a friend (finally feeling important to someone) and possibly go to Mexico, the place he has been dreaming to go since he was younger, at the price of a dirty conscious. To Perry, the feeling of self-worth could now only be accomplished if he gained respect from Dick. Though someone might say â€Å"murder is murder†, and that in the end, both men deserve to die. They believe that even though Perry could be clarified as a paranoid schizophrenic, this deranged psychotic motivation can’t be to blame for the murders. Dr. W. Mitchell Jones had even said that Perry Smith was oriented, hyper-alert to things going on about him†¦showing no sign of confusion.(Pg.296). While it all could be true, Dr. Jones still concluded that Perry could not determine right from wrong at the time of the murders. Perry shows definite signs of severe mental illness†¦ a childhood marked by brutality and lack of concern on the part of both parents†¦ he has a paranoid orientation toward the world.(Pg. 297). Dr. Joseph Statten of the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas consulted with Dr.Jones and supported his concluding evaluation of Perry. Statten recommended that only the first murder matters psychologically†¦ when Smith attacked Mr.Clutter he was under a mental eclipse†¦a schizophrenic darkness, for it was not entirely a flesh and blood man he suddenly discovered himself destroying, but a key figure in some past traumatic configuration (his father? the orphanage nuns?) (Pg.302). This evidence/theory surely proves Perry’s mental instability. Though he had committed the crime, he could not be fully to blame. He lived a lifetime of confusion and despair, only leading up to instability and problems as an adult— and that’s where the ability to murder had rooted from. â€Å"In Cold Blood entangles the reader in the dark depths of Perry Smiths life. The reader has made a heavy judgment of Perry throughout the book. The reader has reviewed his thoughts and actions. One could only sympathize when hearing the horrid life he had been through. The reader could determine that Perry was not in good mental health. Every aspect of his life had led up to that point, that moment in time where he decided he would kill Herb Clutter. From the beginning, his life had been nothing but a feeling of no self-worth. Perry’s mother, the nurses and the nuns did not know that their actions could affect someone so deeply. They probably then did not realize that their abuse and neglect cause everlasting consequences for Perry. He should not be put to death because he could not be fully blamed for what he had done. His life had left him with serious mental instability, something that he could not be held responsible for.