Continuing the discussion of how the human is defined, using the example of representations of gender and sexuality, it is important to note Butler’s counterintuitive argument that understandings of human are produced through inaccurate representations. Butler believes that “For representation to convey the human, then, representation must not only fail, but it must show its failure”(Precariousness 144). Use of the word failure in this sentence somewhat misleads the reader. In this instance representations that “fail” could be said to be successes. Butler believes that “there is something unrepresentable that we nevertheless seek to represent, and that paradox must be retained in the representation we give”(Precarious Life 144). Because they are attempting to represent something unrepresentable it makes sense that representations of humanity “fail”. More importantly though, Butler is suggesting two things about the nature of humans and representations. First, Butler is implying a certain fluidity to human nature. Her analysis presents the human as ephemeral in nature and unquantifiable. This refutes theories which perpetuate ideas of a universal human nature. …show more content…
In Precarious Life, Butler draws upon the french philosopher Levinas , theory of the face. Drawing from Levinas, Butler writes “The ‘I’ who sees that face is not identified with it: the face represents that for which no identification is possible, an accomplishment of dehumanization and a condition for violence”(Precarious Life 145). Violence and injustice operates in league with dehumanization, with dehumanization occurring before violence or injustice. Butler’s assertion that dehumanization occurs before violence and injustice seems to suggests that the answer to the problem of violence/injustice lies in politics of
The book I chose to do was If We Survive by Andrew Klavan.This book starts off with Will, Meredith, Nicki, and Jim- four high school students who decide to go to Costa Verdes with Pastor Ron to rebuild a schoolhouse that had been destroyed by Los Volcanoes. On the last day of their building trip the kids and Pastor Ron go into a local bar called the cantina. They are all having a good time except for Palmer their pilot for the trip. All of a sudden Mendoza a wretched, and heartless man , who is also the leader of los volcanoes, and a man who wants to take over Costa Verdes and start a revolution against the current government. Mendoza took all of them and held them hostage in the hotel above the cantina. In attempt to negotiate with Mendoza’s
These Shining Lives by Melanie Marnich was performed by Grapevine High School Theatre, December First and Second at Grapevine High School. These Shining Lives is the story of Catherine Donahue. Catherine Donahue was employed at the Radium Dial Factory, a factory known for its generous pay with easy labor. Radium Dial produced glow in the dark watches hand-painted with a radium compound. Working at the factory all of the factory workers were using a technique known for painting china, where the painter would twist the brush in between their lips to get a fine point upon the brush. When the material was consumed, it permanently embedded itself within the bones of the workers, where it continued to emit radiation for the entirety of the victim's
Octavia Butler's short story “Bloodchild,” reinvents normative ideas of gender, power, and reproduction to demonstrate the discrepancies created by the aforementioned constructed ideals in society, both fictional and otherwise. Through the idea of embracing one’s differences Butler also builds the notion that the “Other,” in the short story is not simple because she assigns humanity to both the Tlics and Terrans creating a gray area for who is viewed as “Other,” which tells us that Butler’s idea of other is non-existent rather she focuses on accepting diversity of thought and appearance.
The questions, “What does it mean to be human, and how might we transcend human nature?” have been a subject of debate for philosophical and theological thinkers for centuries. In recent history, scientific discoveries have led to a resurgence of these ancient debates that break down into three primary schools of thought. There are those who believe that we, like the rest of the animal kingdom, have certain basic “programming” that determines our fundamental nature, and those who believe that human beings are born “tabula rasa” and that nurture determines who we are. The issue becomes increasingly complex for those with the theological belief that human beings are spiritual creatures and that our spirituality is what defines us. However, a
The title of the book I read is "Dead Is Not An Option". The book is written by Marlene Perez. It's spring in Night Shade and senior year for Daisy Giordano. It's time to say goodbye, but she has not received any college acceptance letters. But that's not Daisy's only problem to deal with. Rumors going around about vamps versus weres which is causing some trouble in the Giordano home. Daisy and Rose are both dating werewolves, but Poppy is dating a vampire. New and mysterious faces start appearing in Night Shade who are involved with the Scourge. But an old and familiar face comes back to town, Circe Silvertongue. Will Daisy be able to convince Circe to free the spirit she trapped in a jukebox and change
Susan Beth Pfeffer decided that she wanted to be a writer when her father dedicated the law book he was writing to his daughter. Right then and there she wrote her first little story about the love between a pair of scissors and an Oreo cookie. Her childhood experiences form the basis of her writing, seeing that she grew up in the suburbs in New York. This explains why most of her books focus on young people growing up in the suburbs. Pfeffer went on to New York University. After getting her degree in radio, television, and motion pictures she started a writing course and her first novel Just Morgan was published. Throughout her life she has published more than 75 books and some of them include: A Year without Michael, Devils Den, Life as We Knew it and Family of Strangers. The themes of her books usually include emotional problems, divorce, historical fiction, and people having fantasies of modeling/acting. Her science fiction stories contain apocalyptic futuristic events like her novel Life as We Knew it.
A women doing life is a book that talks openly about women in prison. The author of the book who is also an inmate is known as Erin George. She explains vividly about women life in prison and what she was going through as an inmate. The book also gives other stories about other female inmates. The book presents a realistic of what women goes through on daily basis in prison. The issues addressed are both physical and psychological challenges. She talks on behalf of those women facing challenges on daily basis in prison. The books explain life events that tragic and heartbreaking those changes later to be uplifting and humorous. She gives a story of how she is able to cope and manage in hard situations. The women’s humanity inside the
The view of the nature of man had changed significantly, in the Renaissance, since the time of the Middle Ages. Each man was now unique and completely different from his neighbor. Every man’s personality and personas were special to the individual. Men were composed of different amounts and types of talents. Some were great at science, some art, or others engineering. Man’s view on how they wanted to live their lives was also completely opposite then their fellow man. Overall, the nature of man became that of being their own human being and not be exactly the same as the person next
Humanity as a whole is plagued with the misfortune of being trapped perpetually in a world filled with hate and violence. However, those residing in this world should be able to see potentiality of reducing day-to-day dangers. This is especially true when considering how pivotal the individual is, for it all begins with one person. Humans can be dangerous creatures; look no further than to the media which recounts awful injustices committed by groups like ISIS, Al Qaeda, or even the IRA. People are designed intricately and uniquely in such a way that no single being is identical. The way an individual acts, talks, laughs, dances, eats, and so much more varies from person to person. Malcolm Gladwell tackles the psychology behind an individual’s
Growing up we always hear people around us or in movies talk about a “mid-life crises,” and we’ve never really understood what they talk about because we hadn’t experienced it ourselves. In Gail Sheehy’s essay “Predictable Crises of Adulthood,” she writes about each a crisis that can occur in each stage of a human’s life. She break’s our lives into six stages. “Pulling Up Roots”, “Trying Twenties”, “Catch-30,” “Rooting and Extending”, “The Deadline Decade”, and “Renewal or Resignation”. I can’t relate to all but one of these topics because I have not lived them. The only stage I can relate to is Pulling Up Roots, because I just turned 18 and still learning about life. From my experience, Sheehy’s crises claim in the Pulling Up Roots stage is accurate for me.
Elizabeth Kübler-Ross was a Swiss-born psychiatrist who spent two years of her professional career gathering information from terminally ill patients to create the premise for On Death and Dying. “It is not meant to be a textbook on how to manage dying patients, nor is it intended as a complete study of the psychology of dying.” (Kübler-Ross, 1969). This book was written as a call-to-action; to raise awareness of the voice of the dying. Not only is there stigma surrounding the topic, but also numerous misconceptions concerning the emotional journey of the terminally ill. The Kübler-Ross Model creates a framework for those interacting with dying persons, to help caretakers better understand the transitions that are taking place, resulting in higher-quality care. This model is comprised of five stages, which can be experienced in a variety of combinations. Prior to the first stage, the patient must be delivered the news of their illness or the severity of their illness, which usually results in shock. Denial is the first stage noted by Kübler-Ross. Denial and isolation are normal responses to overwhelming emotions and serve as a temporary response until the individual is ready to accept reality. Although this defense mechanism is normative, it is important to note that it isn’t necessarily healthy, and that some never move past this stage. As reality sets in, pain beings to emerge and manifests itself in the next stage: anger. Rationality takes a
At some point in time we have all wondered what it means to human, and what we are supposed to do with our lives. Throughout the centuries, there have been gradual changes in what it means to be human. Through Pico della Mirandola we will how man became the measure and took the place of God, through Charles Darwin we will see how nature and science began to take the place of man, and through the art of Friedrich we can visually see all of these changes.
Human nature is something that never seems to change. While humans all seem to be different from one another through physical and emotional attributes, their psychological behaviors are all mostly very similar. In the late 18th century and early 19th century, many authors successfully could explain the characteristics of human nature and the effects that it has on everyone and everything surrounding human beings. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allen Poe all convey the behavior of human nature in separate ways. These three authors show the curiosity, drive for perfection, and fear of human nature throughout their texts in detail. With these characteristics being prominent in human nature itself, it
In a general sense, I am a “self interpreting animal” (“Human Agency and Language”) in that it is in my nature to constantly strive for clarity, amidst the countless indeterminacies present in my life. In Charles Taylor’s sense, this is the crucial characteristic that makes me human—it sets me apart from animals or in a dark sense, the un-human. By giving myself to confusion, I embrace it and put my identity on the line in the hope of resurfacing with piece of mind and better understanding of myself.
“Performative utterances do not describe but perform the action they designate” (Culler 96), and the repetitive assertions from the white man placed upon the black man results in him being inferior. The white man’s performativity about Butler’s idea of gender trouble, that gender, sexuality and biological makeup are not correlated. It also refers to oppressions of genders that do not fit the norm of society. For Butler gender acts “as a strategy for survival within compulsory systems, gender is performative with