Author Archives: JEREMY RAMIREZ

The role screens play in our experience can be very beneficial for our society and during any type of emergencies. I know it is horrifying at times seeing everything going on at times with the news and how they constantly projecting death statistics and the hardship people are going through, but it is fine to take a break from it once in a while. There are positives when it comes to media through this pandemic such as the stories Governor Cuomo talked about how people around the country are sending him masks, this show’s a glimmer of hope and that there are people who care and this act of kindness is symbolic in which they are connected to New York and feel for us. Without the media how would some of these people around the country and perhaps around the world know the struggle New York City is going through? And maybe seeing this through the news might inspire someone to do something positive, lend a hand, try to help out in any way shape or form. Just like those people who were handcrafting masks and sending boxes to the hospitals.

Another positive of the media is that it shows us which politicians are taking responsibility, which of them are the best leader, which of them are actually doing their job and it’s a way to recap and see how the government responded, was it successful? In the story And of Clay Are We Created, the media have all these equipment to document this tragedy and I would say it is horrible that they seem more concerned about their views instead of helping the poor child. But they aren’t all bad as we see Rolf wants to help the little girl Azucena but he can’t, he is doing the best he can. And that’s something I’m sure many of us during the pandemic can relate, where you’re not sure if you can do anything, how can one help? How can we be of use to help resolve the issue or mitigate people’s suffering? One of the best ways to help is following the guidelines and social distancing so you won’t infect others. If I were in the story, I would have projected on the tv screen, URGENT BREAKING NEWS: that’s going to reach the masses, put in the caption below the screen: THIS CHILD IS IN DESPERATE NEED OF HELP, WE NEED A WATER PUMP, CAN ANYONE BRING US ONE. Of course, this doesn’t mean someone might have one, but you never know,  and if that doesn’t work, entice the public with a reward to bring one and help out, the reward would be a certain amount of money in exchange if they bring a water pump.

The newscast in the story should be held to some accountability, I would have had half or more than half of them help in search of a water pump or learn to make one quickly, while the other half continues breaking the story. For the politicians and the government, in my opinion, they have to do something because they are in a position of power, and with their position they have the influence to lead the nation to act in a certain way, to do a certain task, but that doesn’t mean we have to always rely on them. The people have to rely on each other, keep sharing and spreading information, learn and adapt to the situation because sometimes the government takes too long, or they don’t make the best decisions and that is why people have to organize between themselves, their community and businesses to do something to mitigate the issue while tailoring to their strengths.

1. Choose a moment in “Recitatif” in which you see the issue of race enter into Twyla and Roberta’s story.  Describe the moment, and explain what you think seems to be going on.  What issues seem to divide the two characters?  Can you identify their racial identities? How?

A moment that the issue of race enters the story is when Twyla and Roberta were first introduced to each other and Twyla got sick to her stomach because of Roberta. Twyla said, “And Mary, that’s my mother, she was right. Every now and then she would stop dancing long enough to tell me something important and one of the things she said was that they never washed their hair and they smelled funny. Roberta sure did.” Twyla was taught by her mother certain stereotypes at a young age by her mother, and this prejudice towards this particular race about not washing their hair and smelling funny was associated somehow with Roberta and her race, when in reality anyone could smell funny or not wash their hair, it has nothing to do with one’s racial identity. Having this preconceived notion divides Twyla and Roberta because Twyla is being closed-minded for having this attitude towards Roberta, instead of being friends instantly or getting to know Roberta and letting the friendship develop gradually due to Roberta’s personality, and this eventually happens as they became roommates. In this scenario, I cannot identify their racial identities for there isn’t any evidence to come to a definite conclusion because personal hygiene isn’t fixed to any race.  

2. Toni Morrison’s story explores the challenges of navigating racial/cultural/and socio-economic differences in our personal relationships.  Reflect upon an experience in your own life when you have had to navigate differences of this sort.   Describe the experience. What issues or complications arose?  How were they resolved?

I can’t recall personal experiences of navigating these certain challenges perhaps because I repressed those memories and because of my poor memory, but I do remember one time as I was heading to my high school taking the subway every morning as I did, there were these two Spanish teens who were up to no good. Inside this subway cart, they were clearly bullies and calling me names and whatnot, calling me a terrorist, which made me confused because I was not associated with that. Because of my appearance and my skin color, they thought I was middle eastern and Muslim, therefore they automatically assumed I was a terrorist. I thought I was going to have to defend myself eventually and fight these two guys, luckily the situation did not escalate, as I told them that I was Dominican. I could only imagine the terrible experiences Muslims had to endure, the prejudice and stereotypes after 9/11. I wonder since the aftermath of 9/11, did many middle eastern people often have to lie or hide who they were in order to get out of a sticky situation just as in the 20th century, some African Americans wore turbans to pass for Indian to avoid Jim Crow laws. I don’t think people should lump up a whole faith and blame them all for what happened on that day. Even to this day, some people have a serious cautious attitude or dislike when encountering a Muslim, an Arab, or middle eastern person at an airport or at a subway station or anywhere. That is something that might slowly dissolve over time as that fateful day becomes more distant, just as racism in America is slowly dissolving, even though at times it may not seem like it, but there’s been progress as we move further and further away from American slavery’s history.  

Recitatif Group Presentation link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/128vTUs2BMg8BjinRXrh4HOFTHHG0wpsJTaJLUbZMiKw/edit#slide=id.p

The Doum Tree of Wad Hamid by Tayeb Salih in my opinion is great work. The narrator of the story is an old man from Wad Hamid who is speaking to a stranger who happens to be visiting this village and the old man talks to him about this village. He tells the stranger that this village is not a place people would like to stay, and it’s uncomfortable but this uncomfortableness is what the people from this village are willing to accept and endure. They don’t want to be comfortable because this difficult place they lived in is natural and it’s what gives them strength. This reminds me of the idea of living in New York City, where the saying goes, “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.” This is something that I truly believe because as I have lived in New York City for all my life, although it is a city and it’s not necessarily natural, it toughens one skin.  You experience everything in New York City, from the good, the bad, and the ugly. Just think about it, living in NYC you have all walks of life, you experience all behaviors, crisis, anything you can think of, and one’s experience of life is multiplied and amplified because of the diversity, the culture, and interactions on a day to day basis. I remember this one comedian’s joke who said, New Yorkers are so proud, and when someone new comes into this city they are not really considered a New Yorker, but if a homeless man happens to cough in their mouth in the subway they should be allowed to call themselves a New Yorker, that is at least five years of experience right there. That is something that I would have to agree with if one experience traumas like those and survive you get a pass. From the story the narrator stated to the man, Tomorrow you will depart from our village, of this I am sure, and you will be right to do so. What have you had to do with such hardship? We are thick-skinned people and in this we differ from others.”(p.817) That is something I can relate with as a New Yorker, in which the city creates our thick skin and many people from other states and around the world misinterpret or misunderstand us as to say stereotyping New Yorkers for being mean, angry, or rude but in reality, you have to be this way in order to survive the concrete jungle. New Yorkers are compassionate to those who deserve it, are tough through difficult situations and it’s really hard to fool a New Yorkers because we know when someone is trying to swindle us or take us for fools. That is why if you have lived in New York and survived, you can survive and live anywhere or make it anywhere because here you will experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, that will at least give an additional twenty more years of wisdom and experience on top of your age. 

I also enjoy that this story talked about the theme of modernity and naturalness, similar to new age vs tradition. In which the man asked the old man does he think that one day the doum tree will be cut down? This is a possibility because there’s been such a ruckus over this tree for cutting it down and allowing it to be a stopping place for the steamer. The old man replied, “There will not be the least necessity for cutting down the doum tree. There is not the slightest reason for the tomb to be removed. What all these people have overlooked is that there’s plenty of room for all these things: the doum tree, the tomb, the water-pump, and the steamer’s stopping-place.” This reminds me of the idea some people have sometimes about life being a zero-sum game. As to say that we all share from this pie when it comes to income inequality, where one percent owns the majority of the pie. My concern isn’t with the big piece of the pie that the rich owns and everyone else gets scraps, that’s to say I’m not interested in the rich’s money, but that it is possible to create more pies, that we all do not have to share from one pie, and these days, almost everyone and anyone have the capability to accumulate wealth and satisfy their needs.

Text-to-World connection –  Individual Assignment by Jeremy R.

Recitatif by Toni Morrison tackles the topic of racial identity in which from the beginning of the story it is clear that the color of one’s skin is apparent to one’s self-awareness through the narrator Twyla, with her experience staying at an orphanage. It is surprising that from a young age when Twyla stayed at the orphanage because her mother was busy dancing all night, she was fully aware that St. Bonny housed all these other kids coming from different backgrounds and she could distinguish their race or ethnicity, such as the Puerto Ricans, the Upstate Indians, Koreans, blacks, and whites. Twyla’s awareness reminds me of The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Du Bois when he talks about double consciousness, of being aware that he’s American but also aware and constantly reminded by other people especially white people, that he is black. Twyla is reminded who she is because she’s ignored by the other group of kids because she was different not only because her mother was not dead, but because of the way she looked. The only person who seemed to not ask questions or maybe not those kinds of questions of “race” was her new roommate, Roberta. When Roberta first met Twyla she didn’t seem to care that Twyla was different from her and they both bonded even if they looked like salt & pepper together as Twyla pointed out because that’s what the other kids called them. Du Bois famously said, “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.” This was to say that the color line is the divide between races and this was instituted and solidified by slavery. After slavery was abolished after the American Civil War, it took into different forms that still divided blacks and whites such as Jim Crow laws. For example, bans on interracial marriage and separation between races in public and places of business were also common parts of Jim Crow. This divide is what causes a lot of conflicts throughout the 20th century especially between the African Americans and the White Americans who have to share the nation but the many white Americans would not fully accept blacks into their lives or let them fully integrate into society. The irony is that the African Americans did not ask to come to America yet they were forced into labor and accepted as slaves but once slavery was over their lives were still miserable and how could millions of blacks leave the country? So the solution to this problem was to legalize the divide. As the divide was being perpetrated by the law, after the violence and the injustices were becoming more visible from this invisible divide, the outcry started, the blacks were fed up and stood up for themselves just as they rose to end slavery. This was the continuation of the African American experience with their struggle for freedom as we have read previously from the autobiography of Frederick Douglass. This was the conversation for many years after Douglass, as to what many Americans were starting to realize as Abraham Lincoln believed, that slavery was morally wrong. The battle for freedom wasn’t over because blacks and other minority groups were not being treated equally in society as to the white Americans who were superior. It took marches and protests, and it took strong leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. to organize people, convincing the public to share his dream to make an end of racism. 

“When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every city and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last, Free at last, Great God almighty, We are free at last.” -Martin Luther King Jr. 

3. Describe an example of dehumanization in the text.  What about this moment made a particularly strong impression on you? Why?

An example of dehumanization in the text and one that left a strong impression on me is where many of these people were all crammed up inside a train. Text states, “People… inhumanly crammed, buried under incredible heaps of luggage suitcases, trunks, packages, crates, bundles of every description(everything that had been their past and was to start their future).” All of these manmade materials, people possessions, together suffocating one another. None of these things could have saved them or protected them, perhaps if they had guns to equal out the playing field.

4. A tall, grey-haired woman who has just arrived on the “transport” whispers, “My poor boy,” to our narrator.  What does she mean?

In my opinion this tall grey-haired woman may believe that death is a better option or the salvation of the suffering that she and many others in her situation had to endure compared to the conflict that the narrator is dealing with of being kept alive to perpetrate evil. The story creates this vivid imagery that all of these people like herself who were transported from this train are all crammed up inside, with their belongings creating this terrible condition upon arrival just like when fishes are caught in abundance from a fisherman’s net. He states, “Now they push towards the opened doors, breathing like fish cast out on the sand.” In this analogy, I imagine a fisherman’s net as the train and the fishes are the people who are caught by the Nazis, and when the train doors open, the train is like the fisherman’s net, casting out fishes unto the sand, and like fishes, these people are gasping for air and in need of water.  In one part she looks at the narrator and says, “My poor boy”, then the narrator states, “she whispers and smiles at me.” This to me means that its a signal of forgiveness and sympathy towards the narrator because he is just a boy who is following orders doing his job to stay alive, in essence, he is not to blame for perpetuating evil because he’s only doing it for survival and his only other option would be to die. And that the real evil comes from those at the top of command, those who leave him with no other option but to follow orders. Being that people are mortal and having death as a possibility, as terrible or scary death could seem, in this case, is a blessing in disguise because no longer do these people have to stay alive to bear witness, or be tortured, or be forced to be a participant of evil like our narrator, and finally, no longer being trapped by the people who committed these crimes against humanity. 

6. Explain the significance of the story’s title, “This Way For the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen.”  What seems strange about it?

What seems strange about the title is the casualness or the formality or the politeness of inviting people when it says ladies and gentlemen, inviting them to their death by stating this way to the Gas or the gas chamber. It is ironic that the title says ladies and gentlemen because these victims were not seen that way, because in reality they were seen as vermin by the Nazis, so I wonder why be courteous and polite meaning respectful towards them by calling them, ladies and gentlemen? But maybe it is because Borowski wanted to show that these so-called vermins as the Nazis viewed Jews and some of the other groups that are part of society are actually civilized people. In other words, maybe Borowski’s view is that saying ladies and gentlemen humanizes these groups or perhaps redeems their humanity as they were dehumanized by the Nazi regime. They are common human beings like you or me with basic human rights and through and through, even with most of them being forcibly taken to the gas chambers, they were not exterminated because they are bugs or parasites of the world as to how the Nazis reasoning went about but executed and murdered on the premise of being simply people with their own beliefs and values. I also get a sense of deception in the title, in which the title implies for this gas as if this gas is being given away generously or being sold and also I question which type of gas because some gases you have to be careful with, are not meant to be taken, are dangerous and incompatible for people. Once you read the story, you realize that this particular gas being advertised is not meant for ladies and gents. 

1. Explain your understanding of Gregor’s death.  How/why does he ultimately die?

I think Gregor’s death could have been because of several factors but mainly because of his family. In the text it was stated, “Had Gregor been able to speak to his sister to thank her for everything she had to do for him, he would have found it a little easier to submit to her ministration; but, as it was, he suffered from them.” Since Gregor was a bug his sister would bring him food, try to help out with moving out of furniture for his sake but all of the kind gesture the sister thought she was doing was making it worst. The family could have accepted Gregor for who he was saving him from the agony and his suffering of being the bug he became. Had the family not make the situation awkward or being embarrassed from it and not viewing him as a monster, Gregor wouldn’t have looked at his situation as horrifying thus it could have allowed him to eat with the rest of his family, his mother could have seen him more often, and his father wouldn’t have strucken him. All of these examples could have helped or saved Gregor so that he could feel wanted and not feel like he was a nuisance. All of these hindrances like his job, his family, family’s debts, and then his metamorphosis leads to his death which seems more like a suicide. Gregor’s family wanted to help out the best way they can but it was probably best to let Gregor decide freely what was best for himself without any intervention. You could look at it from a psychological perspective of what a family means or suppose to be, in that each member should love, care, understand, and accept each other in order for everyone to survive and thrive.

1. Look at the final paragraph of the story. How does it shape or alter our understanding of the text?

In the final paragraph Gregor’s family took a break by going to a park and they are in a carriage conversing and planning their future, as well as a plan of moving into a smaller, cheaper, practical apartment. To my understanding what this story is saying is that if you look closely at your situation it isn’t all that bad and it can be resolved when you work and communicate together effectively, and eventually one’s problems will mitigate or be eliminated completely. It took the effort and willpower of the whole family to change their life around, no longer were they to rely on one sole breadwinner which was Gregor because of his unfortunate situation. The rest of Gregor’s family had to chip in, in some way to keep their family, their home intact as well as paying off any debts. The message could be to appreciate each other in a family, no one has to be a pest or a nuisance to one another, for there are many alternative solutions to a single problem, and working together is much better than relying on a single person or by yourself. I also feel that the text opens the conversation about one’s work or job and the “necessity of money”, where one should take a break once in a while from their job just to get in touch with reality and to rejuvenate. As well as evaluating one’s life questioning one’s happiness and understanding what’s really important in order to plan and see more clearly the path ahead.

Describe an instance of filial piety in the story.  What is its significance?

One instance of filial piety in the story is when Lu Wei-fu went to his younger brother’s burial site in his mother’s request because the coffin was getting destroyed by the river. It’s significant because he hadn’t the time or money to go there in the first instance he knew about it from his mother. But once the New Year’s holiday came around he instantly went there to resolve the issue. The story stated, As soon as my mother knew this, she became very upset, and couldn’t sleep for several nights—she can read letters by herself, you know. But what could I do? I had no money, no time: there was nothing that could be done.” Here it’s stated that his mother was suffering but he felt that it was a hopeless mission, and yet, once it was possible to go, Lu Wei-fu went for his mother so she wouldn’t be upset anymore. Once he got there it was already too late and futile to move the body to a new coffin because everything inside rotted a was now emptied. So he pretended to move the body in this new coffin and then buried this empty coffin in order to satisfy his mother’s request and for her mind to be at ease. Lu Wei-fu believes and follows the old traditional Chinese philosophies of filial piety- of strong loyalty and deference to one’s parents, to one’s ancestors, and to one’s country and its leaders.

What aspects of this short story seem to you to be particularly modernist?

The aspects of this short story that seem to me modernist are the way as we the readers are inside the thoughts of the narrator the story is told from his perspective, meaning the narrator’s self-conscious and how he is describing and navigating throughout the world. Another aspect is modernist themes such as the sense of alienation, the loneliness, of the characters particularly the narrator. For example, when the narrator stated he felt like a stranger going back to a place he once been, “When I passed the gate of the school, I found that too had changed its name and appearance, which made me feel quite a stranger. In less than two hours my enthusiasm had waned, and I rather reproached myself for coming.” Another aspect is the use of metaphors and symbols and description of the setting, such as- the artificial flower, moistness of the heaped snow, dry northern snow, the poor grave, and more.

The group who had this poem for their project gave me the inspiration to examine this excerpt more closely, for I felt that this excerpt holds a clue and is the key to understanding the main idea of the poem. Although I realized my interpretation of the poem differs from what the group came up with, it was still useful for me to visit their page. (https://thejaycaguete.portfoliobox.net/eng2850grpproj)

In the description box (p.541) it quotes from Dante’s Inferno:

“If I thought my reply were meant for one who ever could return into the world, this flame would stir no more; and yet, since none- if what I hear is true ever returned alive from this abyss, then without fear of facing infamy, I answer you.”

I have not read Inferno so to get a sense of what it was about and why it’s referenced in T.S. Eliot’s poem, I focused on Dante’s Inferno’s references in the video where this professor is paraphrasing what the excerpt entails and what happens in Inferno. In Dante’s Inferno, there’s a soul in hell who is speaking to Dante who says to Dante no one ever leaves hell so it’s okay that I tell my whole story to you because no one will ever know about it. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=70&v=U2DeqZ9ryTc&feature=emb_title)

I wanted to figure out why T.S Eliot inserted this epigraph at the beginning of his poem? And most importantly what does it mean? I think that T.S. Eliot is doing a homage to Dante, a past poet from the 14th century who as I learned he adored and was obsessed over his poem. He’s continuing this legacy and passing down the “secret” that is passed down to a specific club. But the thing is that once he publishes this poem out for the public, anyone who can read and find this poem will know the secret and will become a part of this club. T.S. Eliot invites the reader in with the opening lines sort of like we are going on a journey through hell like described in Dante’s Inferno, except this time it’s Eliot’s version of hell and he is describing the world that he is a part of, he is giving us a special tour of this world. In other words, hell and Earth are synonymous. Eliot is passing down what he learns from what he has read and observes. When he stated: “If what I hear is true, I can answer you with no fear or infamy.” This means that if the rumors are true from what he has gathered, he is not afraid to let us in on it, give us the tea or spill the tea. I would like to know why the title of the poem called: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.

The central concern of the poem has to do with the protagonist’s despair and his worrying and these repeated questions of how should I presume? And how should I begin or try to explain to the reader that this world is a living hell or that his life is a living hell? Another thing that I’d like to know is what is this overwhelming question? Is it about the question of what happens when one dies? Does this question start from a religious point of view, of whether or not people’s souls go to either heaven or hell? The question could also mean: Am I dead and already being punished in hell? He states:

“If I thought that my reply would be

to someone who would ever return to earth,

this flame would remain without further movement.

but as no one has ever returned alive from this gulf,

The key phrases to focus on here: “this flame would remain without further movement. But as no one has ever returned alive from this gulf.” There’s the imagery of eternal flames that will never be put out much like in Dante’s Inferno. This flame could be a metaphor for hell and how hell’s fire (Earth’s fire) remains here on Earth never to be put out, thus, the eternal suffering. “No one has ever returned alive from this gulf.” The word gulf has two meanings. The first is a deep inlet of the sea almost surrounded by land, with a narrow mouth, for example, the Gulf of Mexico. The second definition which I would lean towards more but there could be a case for the first, but this one means chasm, pit, abyss, or void. 

I believe readers, like myself, will have somewhat of a difficulty analyzing this poem, or have a limited narrow understanding of the poem without reading Dante’s Inferno and analyzing it to its full extent, as well as knowing other great poems and dramas mentioned throughout it, it would also help to know the other references such as John the Baptist. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Baptist)

I’ve started out analyzing Eliot’s poem through scientific lenses mostly from some basic understandings of Astronomy and Physics because of the references of time and the universe and the relationship between the two, which is somewhat of a mistake to make but could be helpful nevertheless. So I’ve tried looking at it from a different perspective, peeking through a religious lens is probably more adequate because Dante’s Inferno influence on this poem is immense and its imagery and symbolism has many biblical references. When watching the BBC documentary of Eliot’s life, you learn that he was keenly aware of society and his senses were hypersensitive which helps. It could be that this poem was his way of reflecting back to us(the reader) the horrors he sees and feels, as well to learn from Prufrock’s failure of being afraid and paralyzed. In much the same way in Dante’s Inferno, Dante’s character in Inferno feels doubt, and questions if he’s worthy to continue the journey. It helps to know that while Dante is recognizing all the humanly pleasures in hell he is seeing a reflection of himself, which means that Dante wakes himself up, in other words we awaken. In retrospect, we are Dante from Inferno and the person who is our guide, our counselor, our servant, our advisor, is T.S Eliot- who was also Dante at one point in his journey. There is this amazing podcast I encountered halfway from finishing this assignment for a better understanding of Dante’s Inferno, it comes with a similar interpretation of how I feel both poems are about. Just because Eliot’s poem is grim, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t hope, for there is always hope, in some ways we are all the Dantes and Prufrocks of the world. (https://anchor.fm/robert-louis-abrahamson/episodes/Dantes-Inferno–Canto-1-ecjg4k)

Tagore’s Punishment has elements about the effects the environment and society have on the human psyche. In other words, there’s a relationship between the external, in this case, the world in which the characters live, and the internal is how the characters react or behave due to external influences, whether they are aware of it or not matters not. Sometimes people are not even aware that this outside external world is affecting their physical and mental health. In Punishment,  the characters’ anatomy and as well as their behavior are inflicted by the setting and social setting. It was stated, “They couldn’t come home for lunch; they just had a snack from the office. At times they were soaked by the rain; they were not paid normal labourers’ wages; indeed they were paid mainly in insults and sneers.”

The brothers are in conflict with the environment in which they work in where it rains viciously to the point of flooding, and they are also in the social conflict in that they are paid little for the amount of work they put in, but are instead paid in verbal attacks. Not only are they in an external struggle with their environment and job, but they are also facing hunger- food is a basic human survival- which without can have negative implications to the psyche and body.  Yet, the brothers come home in a bad state of affairs, being verbally abused by the eldest wife, her ridiculing her husband was the cherry on the top that tipped him over the edge into killing her. 

 In the story Punishment it was stated, “The Deputy Magistrate committed the case to a sessions trial. Meanwhile in fields, houses, markets and bazaars, the sad or happy affairs of the world carried on; and just as in previous years, torrential monsoon rains fell on to the new rice-crop.”

 In this case, no pun intended, people are focused on the trial waiting for the verdict on the murder of Radha, not aware of the bigger threat that is far more important. They should be focusing on the monsoons that are destroying their food supplies, they should be focusing on the social issues of low wages, they should be focusing on adapting to their environment in order for this issue to not repeat itself. 

Punishment isn’t the only story that shows how outside influences can affect human behavior. In the story, Hedda Gabler the main character Hedda feels the constraints of the social and environmental conditions. Although there isn’t much of a natural phenomenon that impacts the characters in this story like in Punishment, nevertheless, the social implications are presently established.  In Hedda Gabler there’s a great emphasis on the perception of the other. How others perceive you and how you want to be perceived in an important social factor in this story. There’s a prestige factor in Hedda Gabler’s mind of living in a big house, wearing fancy clothing, and living a superficial lavish lifestyle. In order to obtain this lifestyle Hedda Gabler settled for a man who she was not in love with. Hedda felt it was time to settle down as it was the social norm in very much of the world that we live in today for a man or a woman to get married and have children. The decision that she has made to get married to Tesman was not one she would have liked and she felt unhappy and trapped in this marriage. The scene where Hedda plays the piano in a wild melodic manner and then ubruptly stopped by Mr. Tesman was supposed to entail that it was not appropriate for the moment because Tesman’s aunt died also shows. Playing music is a freedom, a way to express one’s emotions, a way to alleviate how one feels, not bounded by social constraints. Tesman stated to Mrs. Elvsted, “This can’t be making her very happy-Seeing us at this melancholy work.” Hedda stated shortly after, I can hear you perfectly well Tesman. So, how am I supposed to get through the evenings here?” Tesman is oblivious to the fact that Hedda isn’t only happy because of the work he is doing with Mrs. Elvsted but instead she is unhappy with their marriage and the constraints of society to bind a man and woman. Hedda is living in a man’s world in which she has no job, so that makes her entirely dependent on Tesman, she isn’t allowed to go to the parties, she is in the house all day and the only thing that keeps her occupied and alleviate her pain is playing the piano and playing with her daddy’s two guns. She is trapped and hopeless to find a purpose and meaning to her life, this is why she inevitably kills herself. Begs to question, could this suicide had been prevented if society was different and therefore she would have been content with her life, suicide would have not crossed her mind.

The social and environmental factors in Hedda Gabler and Punishment causes the destruction of these characters. It makes one think about how to break away from these social constraints, do we have control of our own lives? Can we change or do we have to adapt to our social structure? Or are we bounded by environmental and social factors that consistently affect our daily lives? Is life a punishment or a blessing in disguise.