Grass Soup And Food Division Essays - Forced Migration, Convict

Grass Soup And Food Division Barbara Jones Food Division Zhang's attitude towards splitting up food rations at the reform camp suggests he has not been completely broken down and reformed by The Party. The significance of the dividing of foods illustrates his remaining integrity and emotions that the hunger has affected, but not removed. "Unfortunately, no matter what group I was assigned to, the others always trusted me" (164). Being trusted usually is a positive sign of your character, but Zhang feels it is an unfair burden and responsibility that he would rather not have dealt with. The fact that the other convicts trusted him indicates the fact that he was a cerebral convict who had some integrity left. In this way Zhang is not as reformed as his fellow intellectuals because the other small workers are quick to criticize others, especially other intellectuals - a form of betrayal. Their betrayal displays the self centered attitude that makes others doubt that particular convict would be fair in the partition. Zhang is more unwilling to turn people in and overanalyze what others say so that he can seem better in the authorities' eyes. Only when he is asked specifically about Babylon does Zhang reveal something negative about him, yet even then he withholds comments that would have surely been used against Mr. "I like to eat watery things". Convicts cannot trust criminal convicts either because it is obvious they are not worthy of anyone's trust and would partition the food completely unequally without fear of retribution. These convicts have no rectitude and are already accustomed to no one trusting them. "When it came to the question of how to divide up food, criminal convicts were not given a say" (166). Criminal convicts cannot participate in the partitioning of food, because they would undoubtedly cheat others out of their food. The division of food is much too important a responsibility to be placed on a criminal. The fact that they can underhandedly attain more food (i.e. - by stealing) also leads the intellectuals to believe that the people who rely merely on the partitioned food would divide it honestly and equally. The fact that Zhang steals food and still is trusted enough to divide the food is indicative of his worthiness. The convicts in the camp do not seem completely void of emotions. "Seeing it, one could believe that these men, scraped clean of everything including freedom, could have made an aeroplane with their own bare hands" (165). The convicts proudly create works of art with their hands when fashioning tools used for measuring food. This burst of ingenuity is one of the few signs that the convicts have any emotion left. The lack of displays of affection for family members or loved ones exhibits the state of disrepair the sentiments of these convicts were in. They see their homes as sources of food, not as their source of humanity and love. The only way these men and women feel anything is if food is involved. The care with which they attend to the discussion and creation of measuring tools indicates that their passion though not directed at amorous affairs or cozy homes, is alive and channeled through their hunger into inventiveness in the division of food. On the other hand, negative emotions are also reached when dealing with the partition of food. "I silently pick up the pile of cucumbers remaining on the ground, one by one, and when I eat them the flavour is often mixed with my tears" (161). One of the few times Zhang shows any sign of outward emotion is in dealing with the division of the food. He openly cries at the frustration he deals with in collecting his meager portion of food that no one wanted. He does not cry at the death of convicts, or even at the last episode in the book. He cries not thinking of his mother or the outside world. He cries at the possibly smaller ration of food rejected by the other members of his group that he must eat. He does not get the luxury of choosing what to eat because he divided the food. The Party has cut off almost all his emotions using hunger, so that the only pain he feels is related to food. The worst torture in the camp seems to be the rationing of sparse food into smaller bits for other convicts. Zhang's emotions and character have obviously been adversely affected by the reform camp because of The Party's ability to

Would you agree that Shakespeares presentation of the character of Portia makes her the plays most admirable character Essays

Would you agree that Shakespeares presentation of the character of Portia makes her the plays most admirable character Essays Would you agree that Shakespeares presentation of the character of Portia makes her the plays most admirable character Paper Would you agree that Shakespeares presentation of the character of Portia makes her the plays most admirable character Paper Essay Topic: Play One of the main characters of the play, Portia is a rich young heiress living on the fantasy type island of Belmont. With her lives Nerissa, her faithful servant and friend, who advises Portia on what she does as well as mimicking Portias relationship with Bassanio by herself romancing his closest servant, Gratiano. Everything Portia does in the play, she means to do, she makes no rash decisions, and very rarely is she surprised or tricked. While she does usually think honourably before acting, she does sometimes play slightly cruel games with people, without such a malicious intent. A good example of this is the episode with the ring, which Portia gives to her husband on the condition that it is a symbol of their love and if he looses it he looses her too. Later on in the play Portia, in the disguise of Doctor Bellario, convinces Bassanio to give her the ring as a fee for saving his best friend, Antonios, life. On returning to Belmont, she confronts him asking him for the whereabouts of the ring and then threatens to sleep with the young doctor, who has the ring, I had it of him; pardon me, Bassanio, for by this ring the doctor lay with me. However, when the question asks, Would you agree her presentation makes her the most admirable character, it does not ask whether she is admirable in a good or a bad way. First we must define what the question means by admirable, in this case it is having qualities to excite or wonder the reader, or a character deserving the highest praise. By going through the play and looking at Portias character presentation her good and bad traits and features and by comparing them with the other characters from the play, we can get an answer to the question, is she the plays most admirable character. Out of all the characters Portia is definitely the most strong willed, never willing to give up. One of the best examples of this is the court scene, where right up until the last minute she keeps working out new plans, trying to save Antonio. Tarry a little, there is something else. This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood. The words expressly are a pound of flesh. She is also versatile, able to adapt to different situations quite easily. This can include minor things such as the difference between politeness for the courtiers and actual excitement for Bassanio, or things like pretending to be a male lawyer. She accomplishes them all without difficulty, despite her lack of interaction in the world outside Belmont, which means it is probably due to her intelligent character and good upbringing. These roles she plays are usually either to deceive other characters in the play, or to assist them, or maybe both, and sometimes just for the adventure, When we are both accoutred like young men Ill prove the prettier fellow of the two, And wear my dagger with the braver grace, And speak between the change of man and boy With a reed voice, and turn two mincing steps Into a manly stride; and speak of frays Portia is quite deceptive; she lies quite a bit, yet she speaks her mind nearly all the time. With the exception of her natural politeness, Portia makes it clear to people how she feels about them. For example the on first meeting Antonio in the garden in the last scene, Portia welcomes him but makes it clear that she is slightly jealous of the love between him and her husband. Sir, grieve not you ; you are welcome not withstanding. Being quite wealthy, Portia is naturally generous; offering any price for the release of Bassanios friend, weather out of the kindness of her heart or to stop her new husband leaving her so soon, we dont know. Even thought Portia could afford this fee easily with her amount of money, her efforts to help Bassanios friend show her offers to be out of genuine love. Pay him six thousand, and deface the bond. Double six thousand, and then treble that, before a friend of the description shall loose a hair through Bassanios fault. Her cruel side, shown in the last scene, is another sign of her intelligent character in a more negative way, however she is not as malicious as she appears to be. Having lived her entire life in Belmont surrounded by servants and aides, she is not used to the way the outside world works, and therefore did not understand how much pain she put Bassanio in, making him choose between his friendship with Antonio and his love for his wife. But the full sum of me is sum of something : which to term in gross is an unlessoned girl, unschooled, unpractised. Bassanio and Portia have not that much in common, in fact a lot of the time they are act quite opposite to each other. Bassanio is quite forgiving, but Portia seems to always hold a grudge and remember past grievances. Compared with Jessica she is also quite different. Both women have lost virtually their entire family, and are haunted by their fathers attempts to control their lives, but still act quite differently, again Portia seeming the slightly more aggressive and nasty one. Overall, in my opinion, Portias character presentation is not the most admirable of the play, for although she acts with the intention of good faith, she often ends up doing things in a sly and callous way that undermines her other polite, kind, and considerate type qualities. In my view Bassanio is the most admirable character by far, taking a neutral stance on most things, rarely making cruel remarks or actions against anyone, with the exception of Shylock in the court scene.