Morally Wrong To Commit Suicide?

Morally Wrong To Commit Suicide? When asking ourselves whether it is morally permissible to commit suicide, we must first define suicide. There are three types of suicide, firstly knowingly endangering ones life. Secondly the act of intentionally terminating ones life, and finally intentionally bringing about ones death, either by actively terminating ones life, or by not taking the necessary steps to preserve it. This will therefore mean that sometimes we may find suicide morally permissible or impermissible, however it can become circumstantial depending on which type of suicide is being carried out. Many of us have pre-conceived ideas about suicide and its permissibility. This is sometimes due to religion, law, or perhaps even the way it is portrayed in the media. We here about stories often but we must take into account that the majority of us will never know what it feels like to want to end our lives. It therefore makes it hard for us to answer this question immediately. I will be arguing whether we as individuals have the moral obligation to commit suicide and the effects it will have upon both ourselves and others. I will be achieving this by examining both consequentiality and deontological theories. External factors and principles will also be a key in my work to ensure that all factors are considered to ensure that a valid judgment is made. I will attack this subject from numerous angels showing both the permissible and impermissible forms of suicide. Thomas Aquinas argued that its unlawful to kill yourself for three reasons. [1] Because everything naturally loves itself, the result being that everything naturally keeps itself in being () wherefore suicide is contrary to the inclination of nature, and to charity whereby every man should love himself. Hence suicide is () contrary to natural law and to charity, [2] because () every man is part of the community, and so such, he belongs to the community. Hence by killing him he injures his community (). [3] Because life is Gods gift to man and is subject to his power () hence whoever takes his own life, sins against God For it belongs to God alone to pronounce sentence of death and life.(T.Beauchamp, Suicide, In T.Regan(ed.),Matters of Life and Death (New York (etc,):McGraw-Hill, 3rd Edition, 1993).p.87.) Hume reply: Some lives are not worth keeping. Given our natural horror against death, people only commit suicide if their lives are no longer worth keeping. Our duty to preserve life (including our own) only applies to life which is worth keeping. The moral importance of natural inclination to self perpetuation only extends to a life which is worth keeping. Therefore, suicide is not an act contrary to self love and self perpetuation. It is not always true that by killing oneself one injures the community for example, a) a person does not make any contribution to the community or is not living in the community, example a hermit. b) a person who is an actual burden on society or whose death anyway is a benefit to others or just a community, Examples, illness requiring massive treatment, soldiers sacrificing for their comrades or fighting an evil regime. Similarly even if one contributes to the community suicide only withdraws its contribution it does not directly harm the society there fore withdrawing ones contribution is sometimes permissible. Humes Objection about ownership is either god determines all our choices or we determine them ourselves, if god determines our choices, then our choice to commit suicide cannot be against his will and hence cannot be violation of his right to choose. If God granted us self determination then out choice to commit suicide can also not be against his will. Therefore committing suicide is not to wrong God. Hence we are back to the first argument as the prospect from which hume is trying to figure is different. Committing suicide might be wronging God in different sense namely by failing to respect his moral commands, which is also not to commit suicide. Consequentiality and deontological theories The deontological theories are based around Morality. They focus on the duties and rights of the individual or situation. One has moral duties to ones self not to harm or end life. However if an individual no longer wishes to continue due to external factors or they no longer feel lifes beneficial to ones self then they would desire to die. However the deontologist would refuse this request upon a number of factors. The first being that the individual may not be in the perfect frame of mind at the time, therefore may make an impulsive choice which they may have regretted. However it could be argued that the individual has the best judgment of whether their life is worth lifting at the time compared to any other living agent. Secondly as agent we also cannot predict the future. This means that the individuals path of life could not be foreseen, dismissing the knowledge that that person may go on to say, find the cure for aids, benefiting the whole community, or the opposite, he may pu t a drain on others quality of life by becoming say a drug dealer, bringing a load of negative externalities to the community. If so the deontologist would say that it is not permissible to for the agent to commit suicide. Consequentiality looks at situations from another angle. They focus upon what actually happens and the utilitarianism theory that people should aim for the greatest overall utility. An individual could save millions of lifes if he self sacrificed. The consequentiality would argue that the man should self sacrifice in order to save millions of lives. This is due to the man only being one life against millions, whereas the deontologist would say no the man has the right to his life and the millions would die and this is what is morally right. However such jobs and hobbies such as the army and skydiving mean that the individual is putting their life at risk, therefore should the individual be allowed to carry out such activities as they may be seen as morally wrong as one is putting ones life at risk, but for the consequentiality there is greater pleasure, utility in the long run therefore making it permissible for them to do so. All in all Suicide is a complicated issue, as there is not only moral argument but many other theories and believes which also must be taken into consideration. Deontologist do not believe that an agent committing suicide is permissible as it is morally wrong to oneself, others and god. However the consequentiality believes that it is morally permissible to end ones life if it has a greater utility to others. I believe suicide is moral permissible as in such cases as the army and fire-fighters who self sacrifice for others. It may all come down to principle, can suicide ever be completely morally permissible. We have duties to ourselves to self preserve, if we do not then we may not be acting morally therefore it is not morally permissible. Are al lives worth keeping or is it permissible in some ways to allow some people to die. Do we as agent who cannot see the future ever have the skills to decide? It is all on the individuals perception and there are extremes and complications of every matter of suicide.

A Dirty Job Chapter 4

4 THE BETA MALE IN HIS NATURAL ENVIRONMENT Jane,† said Charlie, â€Å"I am convinced by the events of the last few weeks that nefarious forces or people – unidentified but no less real – are threatening life as we know it, and in fact, may be bent on unraveling the very fabric of our existence.† â€Å"And that's why I have to eat yellow mustard?† Jane was sitting at Charlie's breakfast counter eating Little Smokies cocktail sausages out of the package, dipping them in a ramekin of French's yellow. Baby Sophie was sitting on the counter in her car-seat/bassinet/imperial-storm-trooper-helmet thingy. Charlie paced the kitchen, marking off his evidentiary points in the air with a sausage as he went. â€Å"First, there was the guy in Rachel's room that mysteriously disappeared from the security tapes.† â€Å"Because he was never there. Look, Sophie likes yellow mustard like you.† â€Å"Second,† Charlie continued, despite his sister's persistent indifference, â€Å"all the stuff in the shop was glowing like it was radioactive. Don't put that in her mouth.† â€Å"Oh my God, Charlie, Sophie's straight. Look at her go after that Lil' Smokie.† â€Å"And third, that Creek guy, got hit by a bus up on Columbus yesterday, I knew his name and he had an umbrella that was glowing red.† â€Å"I'm so disappointed,† said Jane. â€Å"I was looking forward to raising her on the all-girls team – giving her the advantages I never had, but look at her work that sausage. This kid is a natural.† â€Å"Get that out of her mouth!† â€Å"Relax, she can't eat it. She doesn't even have teeth. And it's not like there's a moaning Teletubby on the other end of it. Oh, jeez, it's going to take major tequila to get that picture out of my head.† â€Å"She can't have pork, Jane. She's Jewish! Are you trying to turn my daughter into a shiksa?† Jane snatched the cocktail sausage out of Sophie's mouth, and examined it, even as the fiber-optic strand of drool stayed connected to the tiny kid. â€Å"I don't think I can eat these things ever again,† Jane said. â€Å"They'll always conjure visions of my niece blowing a terry-cloth puppet person.† â€Å"Jane!† Charlie grabbed the sausage from her and flung it into the sink. â€Å"What?!† â€Å"Are you listening at all?† â€Å"Yes, yes, you saw some guy get hit by a bus so your fabric is unraveling. So?† â€Å"So, someone is fucking with me?† â€Å"And why is that news, Charlie? You've thought someone was fucking with you since you were eight.† â€Å"They have been. Probably. But this time it's real. It could be real.† â€Å"Hey, these are all-beef Lil' Smokies. Sophie's not a shikster after all.† â€Å"Shiksa!† â€Å"Whatever.† â€Å"Jane, you're not helping with my problem.† â€Å"What problem? You have a problem?† Charlie's problem was that the trailing edge of his Beta Male imagination was digging at him like bamboo splinters under the fingernails. While Alpha Males are often gifted with superior physical attributes – size, strength, speed, good looks – selected by evolution over the eons by the strongest surviving and, essentially, getting all the girls, the Beta Male gene has survived not by meeting and overcoming adversity, but by anticipating and avoiding it. That is, when the Alpha Males were out charging after mastodons, the Beta Males could imagine in advance that attacking what was essentially an angry, woolly bulldozer with a pointy stick might be a losing proposition, so they hung back at camp to console the grieving widows. When Alpha Males set out to conquer neighboring tribes, to count coups and take heads, Beta Males could see in advance that in the event of a victory, the influx of female slaves was going to leave a surplus of mateless women cast out for younger t rophy models, with nothing to do but salt down the heads and file the uncounted coups, and some would find solace in the arms of any Beta Male smart enough to survive. In the case of defeat, well, there was that widows thing again. The Beta Male is seldom the strongest or the fastest, but because he can anticipate danger, he far outnumbers his Alpha Male competition. The world is led by Alpha Males, but the machinery of the world turns on the bearings of the Beta Male. The problem (Charlie's problem) is that the Beta Male imagination has become superfluous in the face of modern society. Like the saber-toothed tiger's fangs, or the Alpha Male's testosterone, there's just more Beta Male imagination than can really be put to good use. Consequently, a lot of Beta Males become hypochondriacs, neurotics, paranoids, or develop an addiction to porn or video games. Because, while the Beta Male imagination evolved to help him avoid danger, as a side effect it also allows him fantasy-only access to power, money, and leggy, model-type females who, in reality, wouldn't kick him in the kidneys to get a bug off their shoe. The rich fantasy life of the Beta Male may often spill over into reality, manifesting in near-genius levels of self-delusion. In fact, many Beta Males, contrary to any empirical evidence, actually believe that they are Alpha Males, and have been endowed by their creator with advanced stealth charisma, which, although awesome in concept, is totally undetectable by women not constructed from carbon fiber. Every time a supermodel divorces her rock-star husband, the Beta Male secretly rejoices (or more accurately, feels great waves of unjustified hope), and every time a beautiful movie star marries, the Beta Male experiences a sense of lost opportunity. The entire city of Las Vegas – plastic opulence, treasure for the taking, vu lgar towers, and cocktail waitresses with improbable breasts – is built on the self-delusion of the Beta Male. And Beta Male self-delusion played no small part in Charlie first approaching Rachel, that rainy day in February, five years before, when he had ducked into A Clean, Well-Lighted Place for Books to get out of the storm, and Rachel granted him a shy smile over a stack of Carson McCullers she was shelving. He quickly convinced himself that it was because he was dripping with boyish charm, when it was, in fact, simply because he was dripping. â€Å"You're dripping,† she said. She had blue eyes, fair skin, and dark loose curls that fell around her face. She gave him a sideways glance – just enough consideration to spur his Beta Male ego. â€Å"Yeah, thanks,† Charlie said, taking a step closer. â€Å"Can I get you a towel or something?† â€Å"Nah, I'm used to it.† â€Å"You're dripping on Cormac McCarthy.† â€Å"Sorry.† Charlie wiped All the Pretty Horses with his sleeve while he tried to see if she had a nice figure under the floppy sweater and cargo pants. â€Å"Do you come here often?† Rachel took a second before responding. She was wearing a name tag, working inventory from a metal cart, and she was pretty sure she'd seen this guy in the store before. So he wasn't being stupid, he was being clever. Sort of. She couldn't help it, she laughed. Charlie shrugged damply and smiled. â€Å"I'm Charlie Asher.† â€Å"Rachel,† Rachel said. They shook hands. â€Å"Rachel, would you like to get a cup of coffee or something sometime?† â€Å"That sort of depends, Charlie. I'd need you to answer a few questions first.† â€Å"Of course,† Charlie said. â€Å"If you don't mind, I have some questions, too.† He was thinking, What do you look like naked? and How long before I can check? â€Å"Fine, then.† Rachel put down The Ballad of the Sad Caf and counted on her fingers. â€Å"Do you have a job, a car, and a place to live? And are the last two things the same thing?† She was twenty-five and had been single for a while. She'd learned to screen her applicants. â€Å"Uh, yes, yes, yes, and no.† â€Å"Excellent. Are you gay?† She'd been single for a while in San Francisco. â€Å"I asked you out.† â€Å"That means nothing. I've had guys not realize they were gay until we'd gone out a few times. Turns out that's my specialty.† â€Å"Wow, you're kidding.† He looked her up and down and decided that she probably had a great figure under the baggy clothes. â€Å"I could see it going the other way, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Right answer. Okay, I'll have coffee with you.† â€Å"Not so fast, what about my questions?† Rachel threw out a hip and rolled her eyes, sighed. â€Å"Okay, shoot.† â€Å"I don't really have any, I just didn't want you to think I was easy.† â€Å"You asked me out thirty seconds after we met.† â€Å"Can you blame me? There you were, eyes and teeth – hair, dry, holding good books – â€Å" â€Å"Ask me!† â€Å"Do you think that there's any chance, you know, after we get to know each other, that you'll like me? I mean, can you see it happening?† It didn't matter that he was pushing it – whether he was sly or just awkward, she was defenseless against his Beta Male charm sans charisma, and she had her answer. â€Å"Not a chance,† she lied. â€Å"I miss her,† Charlie said, and he looked away from his sister as if there was something in the sink that really, really needed studying. His shoulders shook with a sob and Jane went to him and held him as he slumped to his knees. â€Å"I really miss her.† â€Å"I know you do.† â€Å"I hate this kitchen.† â€Å"Right there with you, kid.† The good sister, she was. â€Å"I see this kitchen and I see her face and I can't handle it.† â€Å"Yes, you can. You will. It will get better.† â€Å"Maybe I should move or something.† â€Å"You do what you think you need to, but pain travels pretty well.† Jane rubbed his shoulders and his neck, as if his grief was a knot in a muscle that could be worked out under direct pressure. After a few minutes he was back, functioning, sitting at the counter between Sophie and Jane, drinking a cup of coffee. â€Å"You think I'm just imagining all this, then?† Jane sighed. â€Å"Charlie, Rachel was the center of your universe. Anyone who saw you guys together knew that. Your life revolved around her. With Rachel gone, it's like you have no center, nothing to ground you, you're all wobbly and unstable, so things seem unreal. But you do have a center.† â€Å"I do?† â€Å"It's you. I don't have a Rachel, or anyone like her on the horizon, but I'm not spinning out of control.† â€Å"So you're saying I need to be self-centered, like you?† â€Å"I guess I am. Do you think that makes me a bad person?† â€Å"Do you care?† â€Å"Good point. Are you going to be okay? I need to go buy some yoga DVDs. I'm starting a class tomorrow.† â€Å"If you're going to take a class, then why do you need DVDs?† â€Å"I have to look like I know what I'm doing or no one will go out with me. You going to be okay?† â€Å"I'll be okay. I just can't go in the kitchen, or look at anything in the apartment, or listen to music, or watch TV.† â€Å"Okay then, have fun,† Jane said, tweaking the baby's nose on the way out the door. When she was gone, Charlie sat at the counter for a while looking at baby Sophie. Strangely enough, she was the only thing in the apartment that didn't remind him of Rachel. She was a stranger. She looked at him – those wide blue eyes – with sort of an odd, glazed look. Not with the adoration or wonder that you might expect, more like she'd been drinking and would be leaving as soon as she found her car keys. â€Å"Sorry,† Charlie said, averting his gaze to a stack of unpaid bills by the phone. He could feel the kid watching him, wondering, he thought, how many terry-cloth puppet people she'd have to blow to get a decent father over here. Still, he checked that she was securely strapped in her chair, then went off to grab the undone laundry, because he was, in fact, going to be a very good father. Beta Males almost always make good fathers. They tend to be steady and responsible, the kind of guys a girl (if she was resolved to do without the seven-figure salary or the thirty-six-inch vertical leap) would want as a father for her children. Of course, she'd rather not have to sleep with him for that to happen, but after you've been kicked to the curb by a few Alpha Males, the idea of waking up in the arms of a guy who will adore you, if for no other reason than gratitude for sex, and will always be there, even past the point where you can stand to have him around, is a comfortable compromise. For the Beta Male, if nothing else, is loyal. He makes a great husband as well as a great best friend. He will help you move and bring you soup when you are sick. Always considerate, the Beta Male thanks a woman after sex, and is often quick with an apology as well. He makes a great house sitter, especially if you aren't especially attached to your house pets. A Beta Male is trustworthy: your girlfriend is generally in safe hands with a Beta Male friend, unless, of course, she is a complete slut. (In fact, the complete slut through history may be exclusively responsible for the survival of the Beta Male gene, for loyal as he may be, the Beta Male is helpless in the face of charging, unimaginary bosoms.) And while the Beta Male has the potential to be a great husband and father, the skills still need to be learned. So, for the next few weeks, Charlie did little but care for the tiny stranger in his house. She was an alien, really – a sort of eating, pooping, tantrum machine – and he didn't understand anything about her species. But as he tended to her, talked to her, lost a lot of sleep over her, bathed her, watched her nap, and admonished her for the disgusting substances that oozed and urped out of her, he started to fall in love. One morning, after a particularly active night of the feed-and-change parade, he awoke to find her staring goofily at the mobile over her crib, and when she saw him, she smiled. That did it. Like her mother before her, she set the course of his life with a smile. And as it had with Rachel, that wet morning in the bookstore, his soul lit up. The weirdness, the bizarre circumstances of Rachel's death, the red glowing items in the shop, the dar k, winged thing above the street, all of it took a backseat to the new light of his life. He didn't understand that she loved him unconditionally – so when he got up in the middle of the night to feed her, he put on a shirt and combed his hair and tested to see that his breath was free of funk. Within minutes of getting poleaxed with affection for his daughter, he started to develop a deep fear for her safety, which, over the course of a few days, blossomed into a whole new garden of paranoia. â€Å"It looks like Nerf world in here,† Jane said, one afternoon when she brought in the bills from the store and the checks for Charlie to sign. Charlie had padded every sharp corner or edge in the apartment with foam rubber and duct tape, put plastic covers on all of the electrical outlets, childproofed locks on all cabinets, installed new smoke, carbon monoxide, and radon detectors, and activated the V?CChip on the TV so that now he was incapable of watching anything that didn't feature baby animals or learning the alphabet. â€Å"Accidents are the number one cause of death among children in America,† Charlie said. â€Å"But she can't even roll over on her stomach yet.† â€Å"I want to be ready. Everything I read says that one day you're breast-feeding them and the next day you wake up and they're dropping out of college.† He was changing the baby on the coffee table and had used ten baby wipes so far, if Jane had the count right. â€Å"I think that might be a metaphor. You know, for how fast they grow up.† â€Å"Well, it's done when she's ready to crawl.† â€Å"Why don't you just make a big foam-rubber suit for her, it's easier than padding the world. Charlie, it's scary-looking in here. You can't bring a woman here, she'd think you're nuts.† Charlie looked at his sister for a long second without saying anything, just frozen there, holding a disposable diaper in one hand and his daughter's ankles scissored between the fingers of the other. â€Å"When you're ready,† Jane stumbled on. â€Å"I mean, I'm not saying that you'd bring a woman here.† â€Å"Okay, because I'm not.† â€Å"Of course not. I'm not saying that. But you have to leave the apartment. For one thing, you need to go downstairs to the store. Ray has turned the point-of-sale computer into some kind of dating service and the truant officer has stopped by three times looking for Lily. And I can't keep doing the accounts and trying to run things and do my job, too, Charlie. Dad left you the business for a reason.† â€Å"But there's no one to watch Sophie.† â€Å"You have Mrs. Korjev and Mrs. Ling right here in the building, let one of them watch her. Hell, I'll watch her for a few hours in the evening, if that will help.† â€Å"I'm not going down there in the evening. That's when things are radioactive.† Jane set the stack of papers on the coffee table next to Sophie's head and backed away with her arms crossed. â€Å"Play what you just said back in your head, would you.† Charlie did, then shrugged. â€Å"Okay, that sounds a little crazy.† â€Å"Go make an appearance at the shop, Charlie. Just a few minutes to get your feet wet and put the fear of God in Ray and Lily, okay? I'll finish changing her.† Jane slid in between the couch and the coffee table, nudging her brother out of the way. In the process she knocked the dirty diaper to the floor, where it fell open. â€Å"Oh my God!† She gagged and turned her head. â€Å"Another reason not to eat brown mustard, huh?† Charlie said. â€Å"You bastard!† He backed away. â€Å"Okay, I'm going downstairs. You're sure you got this?† â€Å"Go!† Jane said, waving him out of the room with one hand while holding her nose with the other.

A Commentary on ‘Idols’ by Tim Gautreaux Essay

‘Idols’ is centered upon the protagonist’s amoral attitude towards life, which in turn causes him to experience loneliness as well as being unable to maintain the dream of living in his great-grandfather’s mansion. Gautreaux chooses Julian, the protagonist, to be an arrogant and envious character to demonstrate the sorrowful lifestyle as a result of unreasonably wanting too much and the act of being spiteful to others who are good-willed. His arrogance proves he is living in a fantasy because he only feels superior as a result of his â€Å"good fortune† but he is not appreciative of this fortune because he believes he will be with it forever – he lacks a sense of reality. Also, Julian’s self-superiority makes him inferior to others because he holds only a minimal amount of consideration and respect in himself. This is how Gautreaux explores the theme of worthiness in his story as he makes us question who is to decide somebody’s w orth. Gautreaux portrays Julian’s character to be a man of great arrogance. An exaggerated sense of self-importance is suggested as the protagonist â€Å"considered himself at least wealthy in knowledge, more so than the shopkeepers and record clerks he dealt with†. This notion proves to be far-fetched considering that Julian is merely a typewriter repairman of who has low competence in any other fields of work, including minor house renovations. He seems almost in denial about his true self and does not want to admit into consciousness that he is comparable to any ordinary man. In addition, Julian is depicted to be an envious person. Gautreaux communicates how his character normally â€Å"disparaged people who owned large houses† yet stored the memory of his ancestor’s mansion deep in his heart. Perhaps Julian held feelings of jealously for individuals who had a great deal of money because â€Å"the only extra money he’d ever had was a hundred dollar wi n on a scratch-off ticket†. Julian’s entire plan to restore the mansion â€Å"the way it was† is a flaw. He wants to â€Å"hire cheap help† which leads him to having a cheaply built house – one gets what one pays for. As a result, his house is unable to withstand bad weather as the toilet â€Å"had shattered and fallen away from the floor† and the light fixture â€Å"popped off in a shower of blue sparks†. This foreshadows Julian’s ignorance and fantasy as the house would not be able to look as glamorous and high-classed as it may have done in the past considering his lack of budget. Julian looks for a â€Å"broken-down old carpenter desperate for work†. When he finds Obie, it is apparent that the broken-down old man is actually Julian himself. He feels like he would be â€Å"granting a favor† to the carpenter but in actual fact Obie was better off not working for Julian hence when he departs without a word, Julian is the one calling and â€Å"begging† to speak to Obie. Obie is portrayed as a realist from these actions as he knows when it is necessary to move on, however Julian is overly concerned with making an image of himself to even realize that he is living in his imagination. Obie seems to be a powerfully built man who can endure physical pain very well considering all the tattoo work â€Å"from his shoulders down to his waistband†. He does not cause any trouble in the mansion and shows respect towards his employer even when treated poorly. For instance, when Obie asks Julian’s opinion on the railing just after Julian told him that he would only be willing to send him to his doctor’s appointment â€Å"if [Obie paid] for the gas†. He is depicted to be a thoughtful person and merciful towards his wife when she decides to â€Å"run him off†. His rather constant analysis of why the marriage went wrong and his questions to Julian if he has â€Å"ever been married† suggests that he is constantly thinking about her which shows a very soft side of a seemingly tough man. This is further emphasized when he uses â€Å"a soft and rhythmic voice† while he recites a section of the bible on the phone. He also shows respect to his wife as he does act superior to her in their relationship but rather allows her to â€Å"beat [him] with a broom†. This proves a sense of empathy within his personality as he allows her to express her feelings in the way she wishes and does not hold it against her. Overall, Obie is depicted to be a strong built but softhearted man who tries to be realistic about his decisions as he is living for the future. Similarly, Chance Poxley is a realistic man however he lives more for the moment as sees things come as they are. He is very direct and does not allow for Julian to be condescending to him. He replies, â€Å"unless I missed my guess, you can’t afford [Obie] anymore† to Julian when he is asked where the carpenter has gone to. This demonstrates he is not afraid to speak his mind to Julian. When Poxley first visits the mansion he observes the place and asks what Julian does for a living. With the answer, Poxley replies â€Å"for your sake, I hope typin’ comes back in style†, which suggests that Poxley is a man with a sense of humor but is also sensible in the idea of what can be achieved. Julian, out of the three, is a man living in imagination. He completely ignores sensibility and lets his desires take over him. He does not pay attention to others around him, even when they are trying to warn him of his own downfall. Julian’s character is similar to that of protagonists in traditional Greek theatre: a flaw in the character that leads to his downfall. At the beginning of the story, Julian confuses Chance Poxley’s sense of humor for brainlessness and â€Å"turned to walk out† because he had little patience with uneducated people. This proves that Julian is too concerned with himself to try to associate himself with or understand others. Julian’s self-superiority is simply illustrated from this, which almost makes him seem like a laughingstock as he is living in a complete dream world. Also, when Julian attempts to fix the mansion but later watches it fail, it indicates that his ignorance leads him to descent into some sort of psychosis – he seems to have a distorted perception of reality as he strives to convince himself and Obie that he’ll never leave the house â€Å"in a million years† even after a house-shaking crash. The character’s determination to make a statement in life through ownership of the â€Å"the only grand thing in his family’s history† is reinforced as he yells into the receiver in response to the idea that it â€Å"might be time to sell out†. This reaction highlights his desperation to maintain his ancestor’s dilapidated mansion. Julian is also depicted to be a man in great denial. This is conveyed through the rejection of his fate possibly being to lose the house and that maybe he truly belongs in the â€Å"sooty apartment next to an iron foundry†. Although Julian recognizes his â€Å"good fortune†, he barely shows any appreciation for it but is more obsessed with having it repaired, perhaps to make him feel godlier. He is an imprudent boss to Obie throughout the entire time of which they knew each other, charging him for the car’s petrol and phone calls to his wife even when he is in true despair. Despite the unjust treatment, Obie stays on the phone with Julian in effort to make Julian come to his senses and realize that he can not live in the past any longer. Julian’s occupation as a typewriter repairman echoes his desire to live in the past as it is apparent that he can not accept that times change. Also, the fact that he can bear to lose his wife to an impoverish job but is so desperate to keep the mansion proves his moral decline and his association to materialistic needs rather than true values. Gautreaux incorporates Julian’s heartless actions to illustrate his selfishness and greedy nature in order to emphasize his demise. There is a fundamental theme between reality and fantasy that is depicted through what each main character aspires to: Obie aspires to reunite with his wife whereas Julian aspires to maintain his position as the mansion’s homeowner. This signifies that Julian is confined in a materialistic world to make meaning of his life however Obie is simply content with finding spiritual meaning – religion and love. Obie is a realist as he recognizes his obligation to proceed with life, he removes the tattoos to express his change in identity, but Julian is still lingering in the past with his ‘typewriters’ unable to accept the nature of the real world. In addition, he considers altering his surname from Smith to Godhigh, which illustrates the character’s reverie because he is not thinking about what is real but only what he wishes for. He is not able to accept that time marches on therefore, may not ever be able to develop into a more complete person. Julian tries to complete himself through ownership of the mansion but does not realize that what he really needs to do is accept what’s in front of him. Another theme present in the story is mercy. Julian is an imperious character throughout the story and is condescending to his employee, Obie, thinking he has every right because he has more money. In return, his dream house is burnt to ashes. Although he does not believe in a god, perhaps this outcome was a sign to indicate that Julian has not been forgiven and therefore has not received mercy. However, Obie’s tolerance and patience to Julian’s imprudent treatment could be associated somehow to why he was forgiven by his wife and granted a new identity in life. Gautreaux titles his short story ‘Idols’ to express the admiration within the two main characters. The word idol denotes an image or representation of a god whom one reveres: both Julian and Obie revere something. Obie is covered in ‘fine-line tattoo work’ from his shoulders down to his waistband and his wife refers to these tattoos as idols. Perhaps she believes that the tattoos are of more importance to her husband than she is herself – that he worships them more. This is suggested as she tests his love for her by asking him to get rid of ‘all [his] idols’. In another sense, Obie’s tattoos could be his idols for he decided to engrave them into his body, thinking they would be with him forever (similar to constantly feeling the presence of a higher power with you). The pain he endures to get inked suggests a level of great devotion. However, Obie’s devotion to his wife is undeniably greater than that of his idols because he removes them as she wishes. He states that when one gets ‘older and older’, you need ‘less and less’ which indicates his contentment for his marriage and thinks it is all he needs. Whilst Obie makes this remark, he is looking ‘out the door toward the big house’. The big house, on the other hand, is Julian’s object of worship. Looking out the door symbolizes looking past the surface to find a deeper meaning in something. ‘Deep in his heart’ Julian had stored the memory of the old mansion which proves that the house is what he greatly admires and is to an extent his representation of a god. It is ‘the only grand thing’ and together with its Doric pillars, Julian somehow feels like a god living in it. Contradictory to Obie, Julian associates a god like figure – an idol – to his mansion, a materialistic want, which demonstrates the difference between values each character possesses. Obie seems to have found a new idol other than his tattoo whereas Julian, an old man who has experienced all of life, is still caught up in materialism and considers material possessions more important than spiritual values. This is further emphasized as Obie removes his idols with his own free will in order to â€Å"move on down the road† but Julian refuses to give up the mansion so looses it unwillingly from a fire which suggests both of their fate.

The Constitution Of The United States - 1239 Words

1.Prior Knowledge †¢The colonies declared independence in 1776, after many violent battles against the British. †¢Colonists became angry after the British increased taxes on tea, ink, and paper. This resulted in revolts and boycotts that later turned into battles. †¢Over 20 battles occurred before independence was granted. †¢The British was losing power in the colonies after over half of their soldiers were killed. †¢News traveled slow resulting in a battle being fought after the British. †¢The constitution is about our rights and freedom. 2.Outline (pgs. 39-44) I.Introduction A.What Government Does and Why it Matters 1.Some major elements of the Constitution are liberty, equality, and democracy. 2.Framers - delegates to the delegate’s convention and helped draft the constitution of the United States. 3.The purposes of government are to encourage justice, sustain peace at home, to defend the nation from foreign invaders, provide welfare and to secure freedom. 4.The constitution has a plan for achieving its objectives by using 3 different branches of government. These branches are Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. 5.Legislative - made up of the two houses of Congress (the Senate and the House of Representatives), and makes laws. 6.Executive - President is part of this branch, signs bills into laws. 7.Judicial - oversees the court system of the U.S., interprets the Constitution and laws passed by Congress; and the highest court is the SupremeShow MoreRelatedThe United States Constitution And The Constitution Essay1491 Words   |  6 PagesThe United States Constitution, this very detailed group of words was written in 1787, but it did not take effect until after it was ratified in 1789, when it replaced the Articles of Confederation. It remains the basic law of the United States then and till the present day of 2016. The first state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware; the last of the original thirteen to ratify was Rhode Island and since only nine were required, this was two years after it went into effect. 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