Essays on Anxieties

Alfred Prufrock, the speaker of Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” and Nick, the protagonist of Hemingway’s “Big Two-Hearted River,” have certain traits in common but there are also difference between them. Both characters have are avoiding certain things; Prufrock avoids propositioning the woman he loves, and Nick avoids confronting memories from the war which still haunt him. Similarly, both characters suffer with anxiety. Prufrock is too anxious to speak frankly to the woman, and Nick suffers from PTSD and this affects him in everyday life. The two characters differ, however, in that Prufrock chooses ...

ABSTRACT

Transgenderism is a topic of heated and continuous debate for some time. There are people all around the world every day who are struggling with their gender identity. For adults it is hardly easy, for youths who experience this issues it can be mentally and physically harmful as they struggle. Transgendered youths are a group deemed to be at great risk of depression and suicide. Research shows that much of their issues they face include lack of acceptance, exclusion, physical abuses and discrimination that lead these youths into patterns of social anxieties, self harm and even suicide. The statistics ...

The 1980s was a complex era of transition, which saw the rise of military power, but also the emergence of new technology, as the fight against communist threats intensified. During this decade, the sci-fi genre reached immense popularity, and was closely related to the new blockbuster films which Hollywood exported throughout the world. During this decade, illegal immigration, the memory of the Vietnam War and the transformation of masculinity under the threat of feminism became prominent issues, which were reflected in the popular media of the time. As a genre which is particularly fit to reflect the anxieties and ...

INTRODUCTION

When something terrible happens the first thing that most people do is call 911 and they send first responders, which include police, EMTs, paramedics and firefighters, to face the brunt of a car accident, a fire, or all too often in the modern era, mass shootings and possible explosions. That said these first responders very often face serious psychological impacts from the kind of scenarios that they find themselves, from a gunshot wounds to the dismembered bodies of accident victims they see it all, raw and unavoidable. The risk factors for first responders is severe and has lasting effects ...

Intricacy and complexity of Arthur Miller`s play Death of a Salesman reflect not only existential along with social anxieties and miseries, but, also, American reality of the post-war period, when the US society seemed to get rid of devastating effect of the Great Depression and aftermath of WWII. In his play Miller depicts an average American who, like the rest of the world, has a dream. However, taking into consideration national and social peculiarities of protagonist this dream is tightly connected with more ideological notion entitled – the American Dream. Thus, through play`s protagonist, Willy Loman, one may ...

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For many years, people have associated Shakespearean plays with racial prejudices, mabe in an effort to determine whether Shakespeare was a racist or not. Shakespeare’s use of characters of color has raised controversies an curiosity on what role does race contributes to his plays. It should be noted that racism or the belief that one’s race is superior to another was already observed in 16th century Europe. It was during this time when Europeans become increasingly engaged with people of different racial origins through greater trade with Asia and Africa and the discovery of the ...

The Cold War was a very interesting period in American history as it as much fought domestically and through negotiation of major institutions as much as it was a war in any traditional sense of the word. The Cold War in the United States was everywhere especially early between the end of World War II and 1960s. American society and culture negotiated with the Cold War in many different ways. It popped up as anxiety, fear and something that could actually work to change the country for the better. America’s anxieties with the Cold War were very prominently ...

Introduction

The United States experienced numerous cases of suicide deaths associated with some factors. In 2009, the federal government allowed users and distributors of medical marijuana to distribute the drug to health care centers, leading to an increase in the number of registered distributors. Consequently, recreational users found a new method of obtaining the drug legally. The increased usage of medical marijuana has some implications including suicidal attempts among cannabis users. Melanie Rylander, Carolyn Valdez, and Abraham Nussbaum conducted an investigation to establish the relationship between the legalization of medical marijuana and increased suicide. The team conducted their investigations in ...

Governor Wilson ran full-page ads in the major California newspapers, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, to launch his anti-immigrant based re-election campaign. The ads were in the form of a letter to President Clinton, demanding that he halt illegal immigration to the State of California as well as reimburse the state for the cost of federally mandated health, education, welfare services, and the incarceration of undocumented immigrants. Remarkably, Governor Wilson was able to narrow the complex political and economic conditions besieging California. It proved to be a politically astute move. In doing so, Wilson obfuscated the ...

Introduction

The appreciation for the literary craftsmanship of Franz Kafka cannot be understated. In fact, according to one journal article’s assessment by Berthoff, “Lovers of literature are forever indebted” to the writer’s friend Max Brod, “who ignored Kafka’s ‘last request’ to destroy all his manuscripts and proceeded to edit and publish” some of his novels (499). Also at the outset it is important to recognize that the original language Kafka wrote in was German, although he spoke in Czech. According to the same source Kafka’s office writings had been informed by – or at least and influencing ...

Vince Gilligan’s crime/family drama Breaking Bad (2008-2013) is often cited as one of the greatest television shows ever made, one of the best examples of the era of prestige cable drama. Telling the story of science teacher-turned-meth-cook Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and his burnout assistant Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), Breaking Bad’s serialized narrative, layered performances and dedication to dynamic visual storytelling elevate it in ways not enjoyed by most cable dramas. Perhaps one of the most presentational and ambitious episodes of the series is the tenth episode of season three, “Fly,” directed by Rian Johnson. A classic ...

Steven Spielberg’s seminal 1977 science fiction film Close Encounters of the Third Kind charts the effect of a mysterious and traumatic alien abduction on average American man Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) on both his psyche and his relationship with his family. In Jodi Dean’s essay “Fugitive Alien Truth,” the UFO abductee phenomenon is examined through a sociological and political lens, illuminating many social aspects of the cultural phenomenon of the abductee that are present in Close Encounters. As Roy’s sense of self and identity begins to shift gradually away from his family, and he struggles to ...