Cruelty in persuasion - Literature Essay Samples

Jane Austens insightful and influential novel Persuasion is an emotional tale of human conduct, and, in particular, of the moral implications of direct and indirect persuasion. The impact of the words of Sir Charles Grandison there is great cruelty in persuasion(VI Letter 34), which highlight the notion that the act of persuading somebody to do or believe something (Hornby 2000 869) can be perceived as cruel, that is, cause pain or suffering (Hornby 2000 869), will be discussed. This essay will also analyze the extent to which persuasion in the novel is cruel, and will show that the intention of persuasion is often selfish desire, not cruelty. Yet if the persuader is conscious of causing damage, this essay will argue that that can be consiered cruel. Moreover, it will evaluate whether, if the outcome of the persuasive act is positive, it may outweigh the damage done to the victim. Finally, the nature of persuasion without negative consequences will be discussed. The novel revolves ar ound significant acts of persuasion. One major aspect of the novel is that the protagonist and heroine, Anne Elliot, is persuaded out of a relationship and convinced to reject a marriage proposal from another major character, Captain Frederick Wentworth. She is swayed by the views of her father, Sir Walter Elliot, and, more importantly, the advice of her godmother and friend, Lady Russell. They believe the engagement to be improper, almost solely due to Fredericks low social and financial status. This causes a great deal of suffering to both Anne and Frederick. For many years after the event, Anne still feels that it clouded every enjoyment of youth (57), causing her an early loss of bloom and spirits (57). Frederick also suffers great agony and says he became overwhelmed, buried (246) and lived in misery (247) because of Annes decision. However, it was not Lady Russells intention to be cruel and cause such suffering. It was only as a result of her almost selfish determination to as sure that Anneand as a result, herselfwere not permanently connected with Frederick, whom she saw as having not only no fortune (56), but also as an aggravation of the evil (57). The breaking of Annes engagement is seen by Lady Russell and her father as positive. From their perspective, her affliction is outweighed by the benefit of not being associated with the then-common and lower class Frederick Wentworth. Annes emotional damage, therefore, is largely due to the pressure of social norms and values. Wentworth, a common sailor with no guaranteed prospects of rising in the social hierarchy, is not acceptable for the highly respectable, eloquent and affluent Elliot family. Annes judgement, too, is affected by social pressures. She reveals to Frederick that she was induced to believe the engagement as improper, as all risk would have been incurred and all duty violated if she had gone ahead with the marriage (246). From this it can be seen that she has been persuaded by society to no t violate her duty by marrying below her status. Perspective, however, is of key importance in the cruelty of persuasion. Although some, namely Lady Russell and Sir Walter, believe that Annes and Fredericks suffering is just, the victims themselves feel differently. Anne, although she does not blame Lady Russell, feels that she should yet have been a happier woman in maintaining the engagement, than she had been in the sacrifice of it (58). Furthermore, she strongly believes that she should not have received any of such certain immediate wretchedness, such uncertain future good (57). This emphazises the fact that judging the cruelty of persuasion depends largely on perspective. Whether or not the victims feelings and emotions are taken into account is influential in the way persuasion is perceived. It is much more cruel not to take into account the victims perspective, especially if they are likely to suffer. Furthermore, the predicted outcome of the persuasion can alter the persua ders perception, and if they nevertheless influence ones actions and the victim suffers, it is less tolerable. Lady Russell is at first, to a degree, blinded by her own determination to separate Anne and Frederick that she does not take into account her goddaughters feelings. This changes over time, and although she never regrets her past actions, she becomes more sympathetic toward Anne. Persuasion does not always entail pain and suffering, however, and therefore is not always cruel, particularly when it is more like encouragement and is solely for a beneficial cause. Lady Russell, Anne and Mr Shepard, an Elliot family friend, all persuade Sir Walter Elliot and Ms Elizabeth Elliot, the eldest daughter, to retrench and move to more affordable housing. This does not involve direct pain or suffering and is ultimately for their own benefit. Similarly, many of Annes close acquaintances in Uppercross, where she temporarily lives, often try to persuade her to encourage her younger sister , Mary, to be of more use and become more positive. Mary, who is not particularly fancied by some of her acquaintances because of her conceited character, is often irksome and unhelpful. For this reason, even her husband, Charles Musgrove, asks Anne to persuade Mary not to be always fancying herself ill (71). Likewise, Charles Musgroves sisters and mother try to persuade Anne to encourage Mary to be more accommodating. Through this, it can be seen that persuasion is not necessarily always a negative act. Persuasion analyzes, and to a degree attacks, human behaviour, with particular emphasis on persuasion. Persuasion can be perceived as a cruel act. Yet the extent to which it is cruel is undefined. Personal benefit is more often the motivation to persuade than the intention to cause pain and suffering is. As can be seen in Austens final novel, persuasion can often have a good intention, even if the outcome is not so. Furthermore, the positive outcomes achieved can compensate the affl iction caused. However, this is largely subject to perspective. In addition, the persuaders empathy for the victim can alter ones perception of cruelty regarding persuasion. Specifically, persuasion is regarded as more severe if the suffering that the victim will experience is taken into account, and the persuasive act is carried out regardless. Persuasion does not always entail suffering and therefore is not always cruel. Although there may be great cruelty in persuasion, it is subject to many factors that make it somewhat ambiguous and open to interpretation.

Twentieth Century Turmoil Reflections in Literature - Literature Essay Samples

During the twentieth century, life in Europe changed drastically, due to the multitude of events and changes that crowded this century. From the wars to the effects of the Industrial revolution, the lives of Europeans were constantly changing, with the priorities and views of society as a whole changing with the occurrences of the time. However, the eras such as World War I, World War II, and the roaring twenties all resulted in an increased demand for production, and therefore assembly lines and factories. This results in the increased detachment of the workers since there is no longer a sense of completeness and skill associated with the job. Instead, workers solely work on one aspect for hours a day. The mistreatment of the workers also add to this sense of alienation since at the time, abuse and taking advantage of the lower class was rampant in the world, especially in the Western world. Alienation is also profound during this era due to the effect war has on soldiers and on cou ntries in general. The experiences and decisions of people in times of war often result in alienation which was extensive in this century. Literature in certain areas usually reflect the views of the people, and this is shown in works such as Metamorphosis, The Stranger, and A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Twentieth Century literature deploys methods of alienation to demonstrate the state of people’s lives in society during this century. Although there are noticeable differences between books from different years, the use of alienation is present in most, showing Europe as a whole was experiencing the tragedy of alienation. In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Kafka first alienates the reader by creating an unusual environment in which the reader is unable to relate to. The first line of the book states that the character is transformed into some kind of vermin. By doing this, Kafka is able to make Gregor Samsa foreign and completely unrelatable, especially after his response to his peculiar situation. Instead of a rational response of panicking or even questioning what occurred, Samsa instead ignores the problem, waving it off as a sickness so that he could focus on work. However, when he begins to go into why work is constantly on his mind, the reader is able to sympathize more with the character. After failing to get to the office in time and even missing the second train, it is revealed that Samsa has to work, even though he dreads and dislikes his job, because he has to pay off the family debt. It is also later revealed that the whole family’s well being depended on Samsa because no other fa mily member worked. We even learn that it is the sister’s dream to go to a music school for the violin and that Samsa was planning on working to the point where he could pay for her to attend. Although the reader may think that Samsa is completely unrelatable and unrealistic, Kafka is able to open up the reader and allows for sympathy through explaining the background of the protagonist. The life of Gregor Samsa relates to the time in which Kafka wrote the Metamorphosis, which was during World War I. During this time, the Allies were still in need of fighting forces and soldiers were still deployed in the thousands. With war comes a cost, a cost that soldiers typically have to take. During 1915, there would have been a multitude of injured veterans and innocent soldiers. Society would have changed drastically since able bodied men were deployed and those who came back were no longer ‘able.’ To be sent off of the battle field would have mean an injury so severe that the soldier could no longer fight, which would often mean the inability to work as well. This would make them feel alienated from society since overnight, their lives, bodies, and minds were changed drastically. Even those who were not physically hurt still had to live with the memories of war and the remorse of their actions. They would have watched their comrades die and may have participate d in killing themselves. All of this accumulates to a problem that veterans still have today, which is the feeling of alienation. Kafka is able to demonstrate both the external alienation that veterans may feel by portraying the main character, Gregor, as a bug. The book the Stranger by Albert Camus is another work from twentieth century Europe that follows the trend of alienating the protagonist. The protagonist, Meursault, first seems completely unlikable even though he is presented in the middle of a tragedy. The story begins at Meursault’s mother’s funeral, which would typically draw sympathy from readers. However, our introduction to this character does the opposite. Instead of feeling bad for the character, we think that the character is rude and disrespectful. This is because instead of paying his respects inside of the funeral and seeing his mother’s body one last time, he stands outside to smoke and drink coffee. A possible explanation for this would be he is so overcome with grief that he can not go see him mother, but this is not supported. Instead, the opposite is shown since no emotion is described. Instead, he only describes the people at the funeral walking in and out. Not only does this make Meursault see m disrespectful, but it also portrays him as a cold and unforgiving character. This makes impossible for the readers to sympathize with the him. Although the time period in which the Stranger was written was different than that of the Metamorphosis, the circumstances of the era were similar since it was the middle of World War II. However, the alienation that the Stranger focuses on differs from that of Metamorphosis since the emphasis is not on the relationship between soldiers and their surroundings but within the soldiers themselves. The conflict that is constantly recurring is Meursaults inability to feel and react to different events in his life. Not only does that make him harder to sympathize with, but it also highlights the problems with complete belief in facticity and bad faith. Throughout the book, Meursault accepts everything as a fact and does not believe that he could influence and cause change in any way. This is similar to how many of the axis powers saw France when the country surrendered to Hitler in the year of 1940. Although at the time, the outlook for the Allies powers was not positive, many people belie ved that France should have fought instead of surrendering to avoid more bloodshed. The leaders of France, including the Prime Minister Daladier, believed that if they could not fight against Nazism, which can be seen as bad faith. Camus captures the belief of facticity and the internal alienation that plagued France at the time in the Stranger. A third twentieth century european work that also has a similar effect on the readers is One day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. This book describes the daily routine of Ivan Denisovich, who is in a prison camp in Siberia. A short description like one stated may make the book seem like it is something that is extremely easy to empathize with. A prisoner in Siberia is someone that should pull on heartstrings since what most people know about Siberia is only that is is cold and it was where Russia used to send its prisoners to die. This is similar to how Australia began since its original colonists were prisoners of Great Britain. However, although the readers expect to read about and empathize with an innocent and helpless victim in a Siberian prison camp, we later learn about his actual personality. Typically, when authors want readers to feel sorry for the protagonist, they make the main character helpless and innocent. Essentially, the perfect character is made. However, in the case of this story, the protagonist, Ivan Denisovich, is the opposite of a typical, perfect main character. Instead of honest, the first thing we hear about him is how he tried to fake a fever to get on the sick list. Then, when he is punished and told to mop the floors, he does not completely fulfill the task. Although the reader wants to empathize with the protagonist, it is not possible unless the reader can admit to being a cheater and being lazy him or herself. The trend of alienating the readers from the protagonists is common in many twentieth century European works. This can be seen as the effect of the events that happened in Europe during this century as they all resulted in the alienation of Europeans at the time. The three books, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the Stranger by Albert Camus, and One day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, are able to reflect the turmoil of the time through their unconventional narratives.