In my opinion, the text “Punishment” and “Separate Ways” pose to be two of the best text we have read thus far. They both give the reader questions to think about – for “Punishment,” there’s a lot of ambiguity as to why Chandara took the blame for a murder that she didn’t commit. As for “Separate Ways,” although Kichizo was abandoned as a child and he feels that Okyo is abandoning him as well, there seems to be a bit more reasoning for Kichizo’s anger towards Okyo.

In “Punishment,” I think Chandara took the blame for the murder of Radha because she was merely insulted that her husband, Chidam would even ask her to take the blame for a murder that she didn’t commit. In a way to get revenge on her husband, she admits that she kills Radha, and faces execution. Thereby, leaving her husband with a guilty conscience for the rest of his life; this is the punishment. However, Radha did not only punish her husband, but also her mother and father. They must now also live with the death of their beloved daughter. Due to the time period, being Indian did not play in Chandara’s favor. Her husband Chidam plead to the British Judge that his wife was innocent, but because Chandara was Indian, and Indians were viewed as an inferior race, the Judge did not pursue the case further for Chandara’s innocence. Also, because Chandara was admitting to the murder, gave the Judge another reason not to pursue the case.

There are also other possibilities for Chandara’s death. Chandara was only 18 years old – although this was normal in Indian culture, Chandara could have disliked this cultural tradition, and thought that her only way out would be death.

In “Separate Ways,” Kichizo was 16 years old and experienced much hardship. He was the only child to his knowledge and he was abandoned at a young age by his parents. He was often bullied by others and didn’t have much friends. Until he met Okyo, who was a stylish woman in her twenties. She showed Kichizo respect and didn’t judge him about anything. For once, Kichizo felt a connection and viewed Okyo as a big sister. However, he lost this feeling when Okyo decides to become the mistress of a wealthy man and leave her poor lifestyle. Again, Kichizo feels abandoned and he feels like he’s back to the beginning. Being bullied and having no one around. He becomes upset with Okyo cries because he feels that he is yet again, being disappointed.

In the play Hedda Gabler, one significant event happen in Act 3 & 4 is that Tesman picked up Lövborg’s manuscript that Lövborg has accidentally dropped; however, the manuscript was burned by Hedda when Tesman was out to see Aunt Rina. As we read Act 1 &2, we know that Hedda is an aristocratic woman who is hard to please, picky, and maybe evil. She simply burns the manuscript for her jealousy of Mrs. Elvsted, “Now, I’m burning your child, Thea- You with your curly hair. Your child and Eilert Lövborg’s. Now I’m buring- buring the child” (828). We can tell that she does not want others to have happiness when she does not have. Indeed, she is jealous of hearing that Lövborg and Mrs. Elvsted are in relationship and the manuscript is their “child.” Also, she is so evil and dishonest by cheating on her husband by telling him that she burns the manuscript for his sake. She is so cruel for not to give back the manuscript when Lovborg and Mrs. Elvsted are mourning for the losing of their “child.” Moreover, Hedda is so weird for caring about where Lövborg shot himself, and she also think that Lövborg’s death has a sense of beauty for his courage. Although I cannot recall the difference of shooting on chest and temple, Hedda dies by shooting herself on temple at the end of the Act 4.

We could also conclude from the event that Hedda does not love her husband, Tesman. The love triangle also becomes more obvious. The love triangle between Hedda, Tesman, and Lövborg; the love triangle between Hedda, Tesman, and Judge. Although she has openly rejected their idea of having affair with them, she can still influence their life over her action. One example would be her destruction of Lövborg and Mrs. Elvsted’s relationship through the burning of manuscript. Indeed, this has leads her to a tragic role in the play. She is dissatisfied with her life conditions and tried to cause harm to others, but her act would also affect her own life. She does not feel secure after hearing that Lövborg’s death involves her, because she is the one who gives him the pistol. Also, she might feel guilty for she is the one who causes Lövborg’s death, “Hedda is stretched out lifeless on the sofa. Confusion and cries” (838). Hedda is regret for she has done, and she feels that she owes to Lövborg. Her “confusion and cries” reveals Hedda’s guilty and may be fear of punishment of Lövborg’s death. Therefore, she commits suicide to avoid punishment but also to show her courage.

The poem “It was essential” describes the pain that the author Ghalib suffered from the lost of his son, Arif. Based on the second definition in the poem, it informs us that Arif died from illness. In other words, Arif’s death was unexpected and unprepared. So that, his “father” Ghalib had a hard time to accept the fact of his misplacement.

In the first stanza, the two “you” (line 2, 4) were apparently indicating the adopted son, Arif. The repetitive phrase “a few more days” (line 3, 6) shows Ghalib requested to extend the life time to be with his son. In general, depending on the age, the son should not depart from life before the father. But, in fact, Arif passed away before his father because of illnesses.

In the third stanza, Ghalib expressed his unwillingness of Arif’s death. He described Arif’s arrival was “yesterday” (line 13), but his departure was “today” (line 14). These descriptions show the period of time that had been together was short. Even though Ghalib admitted that staying together is not good, he still wants his son Arif to return to him. When Ghalib was writing this stanza, I can imagine Ghalib was missing his son a lot because he complained the time was passing by very fast.

In the fourth stanza, it implies the relationship between Ghalib and Arif did not end by the separation of death. They had a promise that they will meet each other when the day of Allah call the living and the dead to judgement comes. And they both awaiting for that day to come. This shows us that their relationship was close and they cherished to have each other in life.

In the sixth stanza, Ghalib symbolized Arif as a “full moon” (line 33). Based on the fourth definition, the “full moon” is an image of beauty, happiness, and blessedness. So that, from my understanding, Arif brighten up Ghalib’s family’s life. Arif was the source of joys and happiness in the family. Therefore, Ghalib wanted to have Arif in the family like the full moon in the picture.

In the seventh and eighth stanza, Ghalib criticized the powerful God for taking Arif’s life away in an early time. He questioned the powerful God why couldn’t forgive His Death (Arif’s death) and let him (Arif) on earth. Because of Arif’s life was taken away, Ghalib thought the powerful God was not in his favor. Therefore, Ghalib experienced helpless in his life.

In the last stanza, Ghalib ironically indicated people who asked the reason of Ghalib’s living as fools. In other words, there were people expected him to be out of living. However, he commented his destiny was to wish for death because of losing all his love ones, he cannot bear the pain any longer.

The poem “My tongue begs for the power of speech” shows the contemporary style Ghalib uses call “Ghazals” in his poems which rhythm, and at the end of each stanza finish with same expression. In this poem the author reveals how he feelings towards God with relations to all the problems that happen with humanity in India in the nineteen century. Ghalib demonstrated the power to express your ideas to people can change people lives. “My tongue begs for the power of speech that is Your gift to us” (599 Line 1).  This reveals how the author believes most the attributes people had have been a gift from God, this prove that Ghalib believes in religious. However, the author thinks not all we receive from God are virtue when he says “the blood of slaughter’s victims” (599 Line 17). In this part of the poem we can see how the author is concert humanity, and his feeling toward people who died young without living their lives.

According to Ghalib in “Petition: My Salary” where he make the connection between he job and death when he says he has been “a prisoner of life” (600 Line 12) this similarity between death and how he used to work regular hours but just getting paid every six moth is equal to the religion practice Indians had where they remember dead every six month. Also, he categorizes the emperor as his master with shows he felt he was a slavery at his job. Ghalib explains how he uses to work just to paid he debt and how miserable he was at his job which it relates now of how people do jobs they don’t enjoy just to pay debt and survive in this world.

In the text “It was essential” the author uses a similarly styles to other poems where the last sentences of each stanza are the same I believe he uses this to make the poem strongest. Also we can see how the author values times and regret of things he did not did with love one who died. This show people how to pass their times with family and friends before they died. At the same time all the tragedy that had happened in his life now he is wishing to died when he says “[I] continue to wish for death” (598 Line 59). Ghalib uses irony to symbolize that after death people can be together against, and the author express desire to met his family who died.

In the poem “It was essential,” Ghalib is mourning the death of his nephew, Arif. He believed his nephew died too early for his age. Arif was very important to Ghalib, as he described him as “the full moon of [his] home”(Ghalib 598 Line 33). In this poem, Ghalib has a constantly reiterates “for a few more days,” essentially he is begging to spend a few more days with Arif. In the last line, Ghalib shows how important Arif really was to him, stating “It’s my destiny to wish for death for a few more days” (Ghalib 598 Line 58). Here, it seems as if Ghalib is begging to die to be with Arif, which shows his significance in Ghalib’s life.

In “Couplets,” Ghalib expresses deep anger towards his wife for being unfaithful: “I have hopes of faithfulness from her – she who doesn’t have a clue what faithfulness might be” (Ghalib 594 Line 7). He continues throughout the poem expressing that she “drove [him] mad,” with her infidelity.

In the text “Now go and live in a place,” Ghalib expresses sincere hatred for someone. Ghalib states “Now go live in a place where no one lives – no one who fathoms your verse, no one who shares your speech”(Ghalib 591 Line 1). Ghalib wants this person to be alone and to be isolated from the world. “Build yourself a house, as if without a wall or gate – no neighbor to keep you company, no watchman to keep you safe,” here, Ghalib wants this person to suffer without any company. In his last line Ghalib states “If you fall ill, no one to nurse you there – and if you die, no one to mourn you there” (Ghalib 591 Line 5). Ghalib makes it perfectly clear that he wants the person to be separated from humanity and to die alone without anyone by their side. The interesting part about this poem, is that Ghalib never gives a reason as to why he wants this person to suffer – nor, does Ghalib mention who is talking about. Throughtout the poem Ghalib addresses “you,” which is why it is unclear of who Ghalib is adressing in these poems and why Ghalib hates this person so much he wants this person to be disconnected from the world. After reading all of Ghalib’s poems included in this section, I realized a growing trend. In each poem Ghalib expressed his emotions towards problems that he was facing, which led me to believe that the poem “Now go live in a place,” was Ghalib’s solution to escaping from his problems – he was speaking about himself in this poem. By being severed from human contact, Ghalib wouldn’t have to worry about his wife’s infidelity or mourning the death of his nephew. Ghalib also states in this poem, “no watchmen to keep you safe,” here we see he wants to achieve his wish for death; which he wished for in the last line of the poem: “It is essential.” It’s applarent to me, that “Now go live in a place,” may have been written last in this collection of poems as a result of Ghalibs problems.

If you choose to revise your essay, the requirements are as follows:

• Due in-class Thursday, October 29 OR Tuesday, November 3, the latter only if you provide evidence of visiting office hours or the writing center
• Must be accompanied by a cover letter explaining what revisions you made, and why (in letter format); 1-2 paragraphs in length
• Re-writes must be submitted in hard copy in class, WITH the original marked up paper
  • No late revisions will be accepted
• To receive a higher grade, re-writes must show significant revision, not simply correction

Part I of Notes From Underground shows us a character that is contradictory, depressed, overly conscience, and in a way, bipolar in his thoughts. The reader slowly acquires an annoyance toward the Underground Man. You are never sure if he’s revealing his true thoughts, if he’s lying, or if he even has true thoughts. Part II of the story highlights how the Underground Man came to be, and how society can shape and form the ideals of a person.

At the start of Part II, you learn the Underground Man has a passion for reading, and for Russian Romanticism. But there was also an abnormal part to him. He was extremely anti-social, depressed, and he always had a belief that people, like his co-workers, had a negative view toward him. For instance, he saw himself as a visually ugly person, “therefore, every time [he] arrived at work, [he] took pains to behave as independently as possible, so that [he] couldn’t be suspected of any malice…”(658). Why does he have this idea that people innately view him as ugly, or with “a kind of loathing”? We learn that as a child he was an orphan. He was alone and alienated at school because of his status as an orphan. He clearly had no parents so there was not one person to show him any sort of love or proper human interaction. His belief that people will always see him as insufficient stems from his childhood and the way people treated him.

As an adult, people still treat him horrible. He wanted to be accepted by Simonov and his friends, so he decided to go to a farwell dinner. First they teased and laughed at him, Ferfichkin threatened to hit him, then they acted as if he did not exist. Even with that, the Underground Man asked desperately for forgiveness, he craved so much for some sort of human attention, so much to be accepted. But it was all done in vain. He soon realizes that as a child he was inadequate, and as an adult he will remain inadequate.

The prostitute Liza is the Underground Man’s last chance at having a real relationship with someone, she was his last chance at finally being accepted. After being mocked by the Underground Man countless of times, she realizes that his personality is a result of his unhappiness. She realizes this and “suddenly she threw herself at [him], put her arms around his neck, and burst into tears” (705). She hugged him, and he cried his sorrows away. The Underground Man then explains the source of his unhappiness: “They won’t let me… I can’t be… good!”(705). The many times he attempted to have a normal life, to be good, he was rejected, and mocked. But his lack of faith in humanity, derived from past experiences, misconstrued his feelings; he mocked her again, this time being his last time. His anti-social behavior, his depression, the way he believes that everyone loathes him, his over thinking; all of it can now be explained by society’s terrible treatment toward him. This was the last story told to his audience, this is when he officially became the Underground Man.

This first part of Fyodor Dostoevsky book entitled « Notes from Underground », is the narrative of a lonely, sick and over-conscious man.

The entire text is under the form of a monologue to an invisible audience, to whom the « Underground Man » tells his view of life and describes himself, mostly as spiteful but way too intelligent for the society he lives in. Therefore, even though he is a writer from the realism period, he could be linked to the thinkers of the Enlightenment. His way of criticizing the human race, and calling it stupid and unable to use reasoning in their everyday life, can be easily identified with writers like Kant.

From the very first chapter we understand the narrator is very contradictive of himself, he will seem to have a very low esteem of himself (« I am a most unpleasant man », 1307), but then try to proove how much smarter he is than other people, which leads us to believe that he is very uncertain about what he says, or that he is afraid of being judged by the readers. Also, he is interacting back and forth with the invisible audience (us, the readers) : « Now I would like to tell you, gentlemen… » (1309) or « … you cry out with a laugh » (1313), which lets us assume that even though he keeps on repeating that he does not care what « we » think, he is still looking for approval from the readers, or at least he is looking to make a connection. In this way the Man from Underground might be writting this text to look for people to share his thoughts with and to feel less alone.

In addition to that, the fact that the writer is conscious about his audience might make his text baised, in the way that he can not be fully trusted about the events being re-told.