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Author Archives: alena.vialava
Posts: 7 (archived below)
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NY Times & Machiavelli
The popularity and success of a public figure often depends on the image he or she projects. Therefore, for many years politicians have been concerned with impressions they produce on the general public. In The Prince, Machiavelli suggests that “[i]t is not necessary … for a prince to have all of the qualities …, but it is certainly necessary that he appear to have them” (C, p. 237). He explains his position by saying that “[e]veryone sees what you appear to be, few touch what you are; and those few do not dare oppose the opinions of the many” (C, p. 237). For that reason, a good politician and leader needs to gain trust and convince the majority of ordinary people of the truth of his words. And then people in their turn will always support him, no matter what insiders think.
According to the recent article “First Round of Voting Ousts Islamists from Egypt’s Parliament” by Robert F. Worth, the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak tries to create an image of a democratic and fair leader. However, in the recent elections in the Egypt’s parliament the president’s National Democratic Party won all seats living Islamist opposition, and the Brotherhood party in particular, without any representation in the government. The outcome of these elections caused protests and demonstrations on the streets of Cairo. Following Machiavelli’s advice, Hosni Mubarak went too far in creating his image; and instead of becoming more popular with his people, the president evoked suspicions of voting fraud. So, people no longer believe in the image created by their leader. On the contrary, according to Hisham Kassem, a newspaper publisher and human rights advocate, they advise Mr. Mubarak to “[a]t least get creative in how you rig the elections”, because “[n]othing can stun [them] now” (Worth, 2010).
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Afghan Women and Asian Literature
For many centuries the role of women in a society has been a topic of intense and often grim debates. In the majority of the world women’s rights seem to be accepted and enforced. However, according to the recent article, “For Afghan Wives, a Desperate, Fiery Way Out” by Alissa J Rubin, the conditions of Afghan women have not improved much since the times of Ban Zhao. On the contrary, they might have worsened.
According to the Chinese tradition described in Ban Zhao’s Lessons for Women, on the third day of her birth a girl has to be placed below the bed; then, she is given a potsherd to play with. This practice reinforces the ordinary way of life in China according to which a woman is “lowly and weak, and should regard it her primary duty to humble herself before others” (B: 27). Similarly, “the choices for Afghan women are extraordinarily restricted” (Rubin, 2010). Their fate is decided in childhood and decreed by prearranged marriages. They do not have a chance for education, and the only role they play in the house is serving their husbands’ families.
Ban Zhao also teaches a girl to “put others first, herself last” (B: 27). According to the Lessons for Women, “a wife cannot leave a husband’s home” (B: 30) even if “others speak or do evil to her” (B: 28). Therefore, a woman has to endure abuses and be wholeheartedly devoted to her husband. In addition, in order to gain the love of her husband, a woman has to win the love of her parents-, brothers-, and sisters-in-laws. So, a good wife cannot disobey or contradict her in-laws; on the contrary, she is obliged to sacrifice her opinion and submit unfailingly to the command. In the same manner, women of Afghanistan are often chided, abused, and beaten by their husbands, family members and in-laws. A woman is unable to leave a husband’s house either, because she might “be raped or put in jail and then sent home” (Rubin, 2010) to be shot, stabbed or stoned to death in honor killings.
Ban Zhao says that “by failure in good manners in other families [a woman] will humiliate both … ancestors and … clan” (B: 27). Many Afghan women feel the same way, because “it is shameful here to admit to troubles at home” (Rubin, 2010), and divorce will put a mark on the name of the family. That is why the only escape from poverty, abuses, and forced marriages that Afghan women see is to commit suicide by burning themselves alive.
Posted in Asian Literature
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The Odyssey
Every day people are forced to make choices. But what if none of the choices is good? Sometimes the dilemma is between the suffering of the many and the suffering of the few. And many people opt for the lesser pain.
This problem of painful choices is addressed in both The Odyssey and in the recent article from the New York Times “Vaccine Case Before Justice Turns on the Language of a Law” written by Adam Liptak. In the Odyssey, Odysseus is torn between loosing six men to a monstrous Scylla but keeping his ship and loosing his entire crew “when the whirlpool [Charybdis] swallows down” (Damrosch, p. 402). It is obvious that for Odysseus this is a very tough choice to make. At first, he rejects and protests against the two options. He asks the goddess if he can “possibly cut and run from [Charybdis] and still fight Scylla when Scylla strikes [his] men” (Damrosch, p. 402). The goddess insists that Scylla is “an immortal devastation” and it is impossible to fight her. So, finally, Odysseus decides to sacrifice six of his men and row for his and his crew’s lives.
Similarly, the Supreme Court struggles to choose between its “Scylla and Charybdis”: “[establishing] a system to compensate people injured by vaccines [and] barring some […] lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers” (Liptak, 2010). On one hand, there are a few lives of injured people at stake. On the other hand, “[exposing] the industry to crushing liability […] could drive companies from the market and imperil the nation’s vaccine supply” (Liptak, 2010). Therefore, much more lives would be in danger. And the Supreme Court has not made its choice yet.
So, the future does not come by itself; people create it with the choices they make, and these choices lead to certain consequences. Thus, as William Jennings Bryan wrote, “Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/business/13bizcourt.html?scp=4&sq=vaccine&st=cse
Posted in The Odyssey
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The Book of Job
Why do we suffer? Who or what causes it? These age-old questions of suffering are addressed in the Book of Job and in a recent article from the New York Times “Las Vegas Faces Its Deepest Slide Since the 1940s” written by Adam Nagourney.
The main character of the Book of Job is a remarkable man: “blameless and upright” (Damrosch, p.126). Job is blessed with a large family and many possessions: “there [are] born to him seven sons and three daughters”, and “he [has] seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred she-asses, and very many servants” (Damrosch, p.126). All this wealth makes Job the “greatest of all the people of the east” (Damrosch, p.126). On the other hand, in the New York Times article Las Vegas is described as the entertainment center of the world, famous for the number of casinos, shopping malls, and fine restaurants.
In the Book of Job Satan offers God to test Job’s faith and devotion. In response, God puts Job in Satan’s power, with the exception of Job himself. In one day Job loses his kids and all material possessions through various calamities. Distressed and grieving, Jobs still continues to worship God; he does not “charge God with wrong” (Damrosch, p.127). However, Satan does not consider this suffering sufficient; so, he strikes Job with painful boils hoping that it will make Job curse the God’s name. Despite the pain and his wife’s advise to “curse God, and die” (Damrosch, p.127) Job stays strong. Similarly, “the nation’s gambling capital is staggering under a confluence of economic forces that has sent Las Vegas into what officials describe as its deepest economic rut since casinos first began rising in the desert […] in the 1940s” (Nagourney, 2010). The two most important economic pillars of the city, gambling revenues and the construction industry, are shaken by the recession. In addition, “officials […] are watching another potentially disruptive storm on the horizon: legislation in Congress that would legalize Internet gambling” (Nagourney, 2010) that can draw people away from Las Vegas. And as the Job’s wife suggests dying, many big hotels announce laying off workers and closing casinos for renovation.
At one point, three Job’s friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) conclude that the innocent don’t suffer; therefore they challenge Job to show them where he has sinned. In the same way, many politicians and public figures try to find reasons for the decay of Las Vegas. David G. Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas says: “It’s been in bad shape before, but not this bad” (Nagourney, 2010). Many claim that “Nevada is paying a price for an exuberant and often speculative run of commercial and residential construction that has left the market glutted. As a result, the confidence that the return of tourists alone would spur the city to rebound automatically after this recession — the way it did after, say, the recessions of 1982 and 1992 — is absent” (Nagourney, 2010).
Even though no one is able to analyze painful experiences of human existence and find a direst answer about the reasons for sufferings, there is still a hope for a positive outcome in both works. Job’s latter days are blessed more than his beginning: seven sons and three beautiful daughters are born to him, and all his possessions are doubled. However, in the case of Las Vegas the outcome is not that obvious and promising. Even though the mayor believes that “as soon as [people] feel secure in their financial position, […] Las Vegas will come back stronger than ever” (Nagourney, 2010), others feel that “there needs to be some real, thoughtful, deliberate effort to rebuild an economy [in Las Vegas]. It isn’t going to happen by itself.” (Nagourney, 2010).
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/us/03vegas.html?scp=1&sq=las%20vegas%20faces&st=cse
Posted in Book of Job
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Genesis – Gilgamesh
The story of the Flood is one of the most intense scenes in both “Genesis” and the “Epic of Gilgamesh”, which proves an obvious connection between the two works.
In Genesis, the monotheistic God decides to destroy humankind due to the people’s wickedness: “every scheme of his heart’s devising [is] only perpetually evil” (p.34). On the other hand, the polytheistic Gods of the Shuruppak, without any particular reason other than the excessive human noisiness, have their hearts “moved … to inflict the flood” (p. 91), so there will be “no man … to survive the annihilation” (p. 94). By pure luck, Utanapishtim is chosen by the God Ea to survive the flood. However, the God in Genesis purposely cautions Noah as he is the only righteous and blameless man on the Earth. The two survivors are given directions and measurements on how to built the ark, they are also advised what kind of species to bring with them. Both Noah and Utanapishtim take on the boat their wives and children, as well as two of each animal. Unlike Noah, Utanapishtim also takes with him the craftsmen that will preserve the knowledge of the human civilization and will help to rebuild it. After “six days and seven nights” (p. 93) in the Epic and “hundred and fifty days” (p.35) in Genesis all human beings are “wiped out from the earth” (Damrosch, p. 35) and “turned to clay” (Damrosch, p. 93) (the material that both Enkidu and Adam are made of).
However, feeling guilty for diminishing the people, the Gods of Shuruppak reward Utanapishtim and his wife with immortality and make them like Gods. Similarly, as the Lord in Genesis smells the odor of the sacrifices, He also thinks that He “will not again strike down all livings”. The Lord blesses Noah and his family and tells them to be fruitful and multiply. So, it is obvious that the story of the Flood in both works represents a symbol of the endless powers of Gods and the weakness of humankind.
Posted in Genesis - Gilgamesh
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Gilgamesh 2
The Epic of Gilgamesh and a recent article “U.S. Debates Karzai’s Place in Fighting Corruption”, taken from the New York Times, have many parallels with each other.
First of all, the main character of the Epic, Gilgamesh, is a king of Uruk whom the Gods made very strong and powerful, whom they “granted … the totality of knowledge of all” (Damrosch, p. 59). Even though it is provided by the Gods, Gilgamesh misuses his power and oppresses his own people: “[he] does not leave a son to his father, … [he] does not leave a girl to her betrothed” (Damrosch, p. 60). So, exploited and anxious, people seek help from the Gods. Similarly in the article, the Afghan government, originally empowered by “the billions of dollars in [the US] government money that flows into Afghanistan each year”, “abuses ordinary Afghans”, and due to its wrongdoings “fuels anger among Afghans and drives many into the ranks of the insurgency” (Mazzetti, Nordland, 2010).
Despite of all misdeeds however, the Gods don’t want to simply eliminate Gilgamesh all together. On the contrary, they still prefer him to remain in power. Therefore, to restrain Gilgamesh the Gods send Enkidu who is “equal to Gilgamesh’s stormy heart”; thus, they can “be a match for each other so that Uruk may find peace” (Damrosch, p.61). In the same way, the US need “to maintain ties with the Afghan government” (Mazzetti, Nordland, 2010); hence, Karzai is assisted to become a president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, so he can follow the advises of “the Gods” (meaning the US) and “root the corruption in its own government”.
Even though both “Gilgamesh-Enkidu” and “Afghan Government-Karzai” relations are destined to be those of foes, the parts still manage to become friends at the end, joining their enormous powers to fight other enemies, such as Humbaba and the Taliban.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/world/asia/15corruption.html?scp=1&sq=us%20debates%20afghan&st=cse
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Gilgamesh
T. S. Eliot once said: “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” And indeed, throughout the history of mankind we can find many brave individuals who travel the world in search of undiscovered and unexplored places.
The theme of traveling and exploration is reflected almost in every part of the Epic of Gilgamesh. In this work, Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu go on various journeys: Enkidu’s journey to Uruk from the wilderness, Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s journey to Cedar Forest to kill the great Humbaba, and finally Gilgamesh’s journey to find the immortal Utanapishtim in the Faraway. In his travels, Gilgamesh “[roams] long roads through the wilderness” (Damrosch, p. 85), “crosses through mountains, for twelve leagues it is darkness throughout” (Damrosch, p. 85), sails the Waters of Death using a boat which he builds from 120 trees.
Even with the lapse of time, we still realize that this notion of traveling and exploration remains intrinsic and essential to our modern values. William J. Broad in his article “China Explores a Frontier 2 Miles Deep” describes how “Chinese scientists plunged to the bottom of the South China Sea in a tiny submarine … exploring remote and inaccessible parts of the ocean floor.” This achievement allows going deeper than any other technology in the world despite the darkness and pressure.
These two examples illustrate the constant humans’ desire for exploring places. However, Gilgamesh and the Chinese scientists don’t travel just for the sake of traveling; their journeys have particular purposes, they are meant for someone’s benefit. Gilgamesh, who is oppressed and fears death, overcomes the obstacles on his way to Utanapishtim in order to find the secret of immortality. On the other hand, the Chinese scientists travel to the bottom of the ocean floor mainly because it is “rich in oil, minerals and other resources.” So, it’s obvious that in both cases a favorable outcome of the journey will place the explorer above the rest of world.
William J. Broad “China Explores a Frontier 2 Miles Deep”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/science/12deepsea.html?src=twr
Posted in Gilgamesh
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