... to this view of history, massive changes occur in a society when new technological capabilities allow a portion of the oppressed class to destroy the power of the oppressing class. Marx briefly traces the development of this through different periods, mentioning some of the various oppressed and oppressing classes, but points out that in earlier societies there were many gradations of social classes. He also states that this class conflict sometimes leads to "...the common ruin of the contending classes" (Marx 9). Marx sees the modern age as being distinguished from earlier periods by the simplification and in ...

... anti-climatic ends. The Romans slowly poisoned themselves through their use of an amazingly complex lead piping system, and Athens feel eventually to an equally dismal fate. In our modern society the world has watched as many threats of global destruction have come and gone. The fact that currently the nuclear arsenal of the United States alone could easily destroy all of earth leaves many fearing that the end is near. The contemplation of ones eventual demise leads one to think that life is no longer worth the effort to live. In Cats Cradle the destruction of the world is realized by the invention of a substance ...

... was a caring mother who was always fare. She loved her husband and favored Margot over Anne most of the time. Peter Van Daan was Anne's boyfriend who was picked on by Mr.Dussel. He loved his father but thought his mother was a pain. Mr.Van Daan was a loving father that always stood up for his son. He often argued with his wife and Mr.Dussel. Mrs.Van Daan loved her son, Peter, and her husband, although they argued most of the time. She clinged to one material possession, her fur coat given to her by her father. Mr.Dussel was a Jewish dentist that picked on Peter van Daan for every little thing. ...

... to save. The rye is like a field where a baseball team plays, although it grows tall and Holden gets lost inside. Holden needed to feel like a savior. One day at the museum, after writing his sister Phoebe a note to meet him there, he had an urgent need to be a 'catcher', to save Phoebe and the other kids. There was profane language on the wall and he did not want them reading it. He thought it may corrupt them and said, "It drove me damn near crazy". The title also relates to the theme, which is essentially that Holden Caulfield, a prep-school dropout, seems only to relate to his younger sister, Phoebe. He is ...

... them as they came near. In Gawian's bedroom, Bercilak's wife came into his room and tried to seduce him. She came in and locked the door trapping him in the room. Gawian was trapped like the deer were trapped in the forest. Gawian used words to talk his way out the situation, but before she left she gave him a kiss. On the second hunt, they found a boar and trapped it on a mountain. The boar attacked and fought back aggressively. Bercilak faced it one on one and killed it. In Gawain's bedroom, Bercilak's wife made another pass at him. This time she was more aggressive. The hunters used the same tactic on t ...

... is not only mentioned in both stories, but looked down upon by communities that still follow the traditions. In the story "The Lottery," the tradition is to hold a lottery on a specific summer day, but instead of winning a cash prize or some other good thing, the winner gets to be stoned to death by the members of the community. The character that is mentioned most in this story is one by the name of Mrs. Hutchinson. Mrs. Hutchinson is a devoted mother and housewife. She is the one who eventually gets singled out to win the lottery. So it is Mrs. Hutchinson who is impacted the most brutally by the lottery. Howe ...

... forms the core of modern capitalism. This ethic originated from the Calvinist doctrine of predestination and the notion of a transcendental God. Predestination decrees that God has already picked out who those "predestined into everlasting life" (100) and those "foreordained to everlasting death" (100). Calvinists also believe that God, a distant "grand conception" (164) who is "beyond all human comprehension," (164) is unreachable. Both these beliefs together eliminated any possibility of appeasing God through service or sacrifice. The answer to the question whether believers were the chosen or the damned coul ...

... Phoenix faces as a result of this was her old age, her health, her grandson’s health and her state of poverty. "Her eyes were blue with age. Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles…" (paragraph 2). This quotation was one of many indications of Phoenix Jackson’s old age. Normally, in society there are benefits for the elderly and those that often plagues people at an old age. There are various organizations that help people who are over the age of sixty-five. They also provide various services towards them such as meals on wheels. Was there not someone who could ha ...

... the place of twelve or fourteen families"(Steinbeck 42). When Tom meets Muley in the next chapter, Muley says that the land owners told him "We can't afford to keep no tenants"(60). Some of the tenant men feel that the land belongs to them since they were born on it. When an owner asks a tenant man to leave the land, the tenant man replies, "We were born on it, and we got killed on it, died on it. Even if it's no good, it's still ours"(43). Muley shows that he has the same feelings as the tenant farmer when he says, "There's the place down by the barn where Pa got gored to death by a bull. An' his blood is right ...

... he is better than the rest of the world. Lies simply appal him. Marlow feels there is a "taint of death, and a flavor of mortality in lies." Lying makes him feel "miserable and sick, like biting something rotten would do." Since he feels this way, he would only tell a lie in extraordinary circumstances. The first lie was told by Marlow in extraordinary circumstances. It was told because he had a notion it would somehow be of help to Mr. Kurtz. The lie was to allow the brick maker to think he had more influence in the company than he actually had. This lie would help Kurtz in two ways. Firstly ...