In the play of “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde, there is a character named Jack. This character is a person who expresses both the good side, and the bad side of him or at least what people considered bad back in the day. He made up a fictional brother to be able to express himself as he pleased without the restraints of society, and all of their foolish rules and values. With the help of his fictional brother he was able to be what society wanted of him, to keep his connection, and job, while also being the laid back version of him that was not so proper.

However, this concept applies to more than just the society of the play or the society of 1895 (when the play was written). This is a concept that stays with us, regardless of the society one is currently in. Everyone has their two sides: the side that they keep hidden in professional settings such as work or occasionally at school, and the side of themselves around their friends, where they are allowed to express themselves freely. No matter where one goes or what time period they are in this will always be the case because it is the unspoken, yet known rules of society that has stayed with us for generations.

Society has created a culture where an individual has to remain proper, and professional when in certain places or around elders because it is the right way to act. If people do not keep their unprofessional side hidden around certain people or in certain places they are looked down upon, unless one is a child. However, even then people will more than likely stare at the child. Some will see the child misbehaving and think the mother is not a fitting mother for her child, while others will simply just feel sympathy for the parent. Society has made professional behavior normal, so when anyone is out of line in an unfit environment their behavior is deemed inappropriate among other characteristics depending on the action of the person. (350)

As I was reading The Handmaid’s Tale I realized how lucky I am being here in today’s society. It reminded me of all the freedom that I have, and although there are still a lot of hardships being a female, we do still have rights and freedom. Gilead was a place where females were put down, restricted, and stripped of any decency. Their excuse for it was the circumstances, and the decline in birthrates, and although that may have been true, they did still make it to where it benefited the men. Our culture currently, however, is different we have our freewill, but Gilead is a place only of control.

Gilead was a place of so much control that being able to escape was nearly impossible. In order to be able to escape one must have the help of someone else, and it was hard to know if one was a rebel or not. One would have to risk being caught just to find out if the other person was on their side or not. There were eyes everywhere, and some of the eyes were hidden or undercover. For example, there was Nick who was an eye, but it was not officially revealed until the end of the book.

Females were forced to play their role in Gilead, and the two main roles besides being a Commanders wife was to be the commanders handmaid (sex slave), or a Martha (housekeeper). It was a dark place for females, especially for the handmiads. Although there are places in society’s culture where women’s use their body females still have the advantage. They have the choice to work at that job, and they get paid for it. Whereas females in Gilead are forced into their job, and treated horribly. In the time period of Gilead, they are not humans, they are merely there for reproduction; it is sad to say, but it is the truth. If females were caught rebelling or breaking any rules they were sent to the Colonies, which was where they had to clean up the mess of the war, and were exposed to gasses, along with pollution. Due to the horrible state where they had to clean, the life expectancy was only 3 years. It was an unfair, and cruel life for women under the rule of Gilead. Females do not have it as harsh as Gilead, and although there are still horrible experiences we have to go through women are still allowed to be themselves, and express themselves. It is important to remember that life could be worse, and to be grateful to be able to continue to push on. (442)

Throughout books, movies, and television shows the theme of monster versus a person who is simply broken constantly pops up. If a person only knows pain or has a past that broke them are they still considered a monster? In the book of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, this theme is shown. Frankenstein’s monster was someone who knew no love, no mercy, and no compassion. He was even rejected and neglected by his own father or creator. He was born, and before he could say his first word his father ran away from him horrified. The one person that was supposed to love him and care for him left with no explanation or warning he was gone. The monster was left alone confused angered and saddened, and one must remember he was just born, so in a way he was only a baby.

Yes, he did horrid and disgusting actions, but considering his past is he still a monster? Personally, I would not say he is a true monster; he is not the monster most people would make him out to be. He took no joy in the actions he committed, he did what he thought was necessary, not for sport. If a person was shown no love or mercy, why would that same person show that to someone else, especially when constantly rejected and hated without reason. A person gives what they are shown, without ever being loved it is hard for one to have that for others. One person can only take so much until they are pushed over the edge, and the same goes with the monster of Frankenstein.

He acted out of anger and hate that he was given by everyone else. He was not born horrible his life is what made him, his actions reflected the life that broke him. If he was shown love and compassion, he would not be the same, he would not have committed the actions he did. The only thing that he wanted was to be accepted and loved, but no; he wasn’t purely because of his looks. He looked like a monster, was treated like a monster, so he acted like a monster, when in reality he was just broken (347).

Currently, couples will usually get married because of the love that they feel for each other, and because that is the person that they desire to spend the rest of their life with, regardless of bad times or obstacles that may stand in their way. Their love runs so deep and is so strong that they are more than ready to commit to them for the rest of their lives.

However, this was not always the case, especially back then, mainly because of the way society was back then. In the early 18th century, women did not have a lot of rights; it was also a time period when social ranking, and reputation was rather important. Due to these values of society at the time having a suitable woman who was proper, and who could also entertain was a wife that a lot of men wanted. On top of that, it was also the reason why some women just wanted a male who could secure, their future, and provide for them. This was primarily because at this time women did not have jobs, they could not earn themselves money. Despite all of this there was still some girls who wanted love in marriage, and would not marry otherwise.

In the book of Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen, all three of the situations above were displayed in the book. A character named Elizabeth Bennett was one of the girls who wanted to marry a guy she fell in love with. Charlotte Lucas valued having a man who could provide for her, and Lady Catherine De Bourgh wanted her nephew Darcy to have a suitable, and proper wife.

Elizabeth was a character of honesty, and wit; she was independent, and was also well mannered, but still spoke her mind. In the novel a man of wealth asked for her hand in marriage; however, she declined it because she did not love the guy, and refused to even consider marrying him. Her beliefs for having love in marriage was strong, and she was not going to go against her beliefs, even when her mother thought she was crazy for declining the marriage proposal. It was not until the right man came along that she would get married.

The same could not be said for friend Charlotte Lucas, who only desired a safe and stable future. I believe this was partially because she was older than the average age of single women. Her time for finding love in a partner was running out. So, when Mr. Collins (man of wealth, who first proposed to Elizabeth) wanted to marry her she was more than willing to accept the proposal.

As for Darcy, he wanted to marry Elizabeth despite the reputation of her family. This was not acceptable to Lady Catherine De Bourgh, but that did not stop Darcy, and he was able to be with his love, Elizabeth, in the end. (488)

Power can mean many different things depending on who is asked. Some people will say power is knowledge, while others will say power is having control. Both of those can be power because in a way a person has power when they have knowledge or control. There are multiple ways to have power and multiple ways to be seen as powerful. Power is the capability of a person and also how well they can influence others.

In Emily Dickinson’s Poem “I’m Nobody! Who are you” she hints that there is power in being a nobody; that it is actually a good thing. In this poem she described “somebodies” as a frog; people who felt the need to remind others of their identity. Being a nobody meant that they could also have privacy. Somebodies, in the poem, were considered to be dull, and lifeless. Whoever the person was that was talking in the poem valued the life of privacy, and did not find excitement in being known. It was someone who felt free and felt the power in being unknown.

In the story “Slide to Unlock,” power was something different. It was not being unknown that gave a person power, but being in control. As for those who were not in control, or who were exposed, they were powerless, and incapable. This story begins off explaining how passwords are important to a person because behind each password is a story that tells of an object or person that is of value to whoever made the password. Near the end of the story it talks about a thief who holds another guy at gunpoint is trying to get the guy to put in his password to the ATM to steal his money. For the thief guns and control is power. When he held that other man at gunpoint he felt in control, and powerful. However, the guy being held at gunpoint was powerless. He had no control of the situation; no way to make himself feel safe. (336)

As life continues and a person goes through the many milestones life has, they grow up and change as a person. Every experience they have, whether it be their first kiss, or their first fight, it shapes them as a person and helps them grow. Unfortunately, as each milestone is reached, it not only changes a person and sometimes their life completely, but it can also affect the relationships a person has with other people. Most people are not meant to stay in one’s life forever, a lot of times a person has to let go of people they were once close to. It does not mean that they did not care for their relationship, but sometimes it is better for both parties if they go onto their own paths. However, even though it may be better for a person to let go, it does not mean it will be easy. No matter what, it will hurt to let go because it’s a strong bond that people have to sometimes let go of. Sometimes it will feel like that person will stay forever, that the relationship will stay strong, but eventually breaks or gets weaker anyways. Letting go of relationships or fading from people who were once close is a part of life. Each milestone of life changes a person, and sometimes that also results in spending time with different people. Sometimes it results in growing up faster than most people, and more often than not, it changes a persons life in some way.

An example of how it can change a person’s life and result in a person growing up faster is found in the story of “Dead End” by Rudolfo Anaya. This story talks about a teenage female who loses her mother. This milestone that she reached resulted in her having to grow up faster than most teenagers normally would. She had to step up and become responsible a lot faster in order to take care of her younger siblings.

In the story of “Jinx” by Aimee Bender it shows how going through puberty and getting older can change a what a person is into, which can result in losing a friendship even though the two teenagers were rather close to each other. However, as they grew up, it is evident in the story that they started to drift apart because while one girl was more focused on guys, the other was not. (405)

In “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” by Thomas Foster, there are multiple lessons on how to get a deeper understanding of writing pieces. At first, even though my teacher said that no one thought the book was boring, I thought I was going to hate it. However, it turned out to be quite interesting.

Something I realized from Foster’s book is that vampires, ghosts, and other spooky characters have meaning within themselves (15-22). Though the patterns of these characters are obvious, I never really stopped to realize this, until I read it from Foster’s book.

Reading this book has helped me recognize all of the patterns or possible symbols or archetypes within literature. For example, if it is summer it probably means love or passion another example is if a character almost drowns, but comes up it is baptism because the character is never the same he/she becomes a new version of themselves. 

I have also learned the importance of the geography involved in a book. For example, if a person is going south it can mean the characters are reaching into subconsciousness. This itself can have multiple meanings like maybe a person realizing their darkest fears or learning who they truly are or true desires and so on. 

An example of this is in a movie called The Book of Life. In this movie, there are five main characters Manolo, Joaquin, Maria, Xibalba, and La Muerte. Both Manalo and Joaquin are in love with Maria and fight for her. Xibalba and La Muerte make a bet on who will win the woman. When Manolo takes Maria out to ask to marry him she gets bit by a snake and goes into a coma, but he believes she died so he gets himself killed. However, he realizes she is not dead so he must go to the land of the forgotten (south) to return to the real world. As he is there he realizes his true fear and finally becomes the true version of himself.

With all of this knowledge it will be easier to find deeper meanings and really understand literature, which will help when reading short stories for my composition class.