Susan Griffin's "Our Secret" Essay

In many places throughout the world there are rigid top-down cultures and theories on education. These cultures have been seen in World War II Germany, in literature, and in education. It has been shown throughout history that these cultures can and will cause many problems to fester as a result. These issues include the manufacturing of sheep-like masses that simply follow what they are told and taught, the culture losing its ability to distinguish between what is morally right and wrong, and the forced masking of emotions and true feelings. The only way to prevent a culture from simply manufacturing sheep-like masses is by encouraging people to not be afraid to stand out in a crowd and allowing, and even embracing, free thinking.

Griffin’s decent to the dark side, he met Sterling Williams, a shoe shine that shined Griffin’s shoes before his transformation, and after. Sterling noticed something familiar about Mr. Griffin’s, Sterling responded “Yeah, I’ve been shining a pair for a white man, Griffin, You know him?” As Griffin replies “I am him.” Then explains his experiment, Sterling practically takes him under his wing. Helping him out, telling him how to shave his arms. Giving Griffin food and a job, as a shoe shine, later on; he goes to a hotel and meets a group of sophisticated gentlemen. One of the gentle remembers Griffin as the author of a book that this man is reading. One replies “But, Griffin is a white man.” Griffin replies “I am Griffin, trust

In Montgomery, Alabama, Griffin decided it was time for him to reenter white society, but he also wanted to gain information of the area as a black man. So, he found the technique of covering an area as a black and then returning the following day as a white. What he found was, as a black he would receive the "hate stare" from whites and be treated with every courtesy by the black community. As a white, it would be the exact opposite, he would get the "hate stare" from blacks and be treated wonderfully by the same people who despised him the previous day. The only thing altered was his appearance. He dyed his skin a very dark brown and shaved his head, his clothing, speech patterns, and references had not changed and every question was answered truthfully. If people did judge others by their qualities and

During the pre-revolutionary period, more and more men worked outside the home in workshops, factories or offices. Many women stayed at home and performed domestic labor. The emerging values of nineteenth-century America, which involves the eighteenth-century, increasingly placed great emphasis upon a man's ability to earn enough wages or salary to make his wife's labor unnecessary, but this devaluation of women's labor left women searching for a new understanding of themselves. Judith Sargent Murray, who was among America's earliest writers of female equality, education, and economic independence, strongly advocated equal opportunities for women. She wrote many essays in order to empower young women in the new republic to stand up against

Anne Bradstreet writes, “Let Greeks be Greeks and women what they are” (209). This quote illustrates that Bradstreet believes women should be on equal footing as men. In other words, women should be able to write and have an education like men. Can this query be compared to the influence for Americas Culture today? Yes, it can, as many writers have influenced American culture. Bradstreet throughout The Prologue illustrates that she hopes that women could see the day to have the same freedom as men, such as having the right to write and having an education. She is not alone. Mary Rowlandson in “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson”, tells her story about the time she was captured by Indians. This narrative builds upon the idea that she influences the future for women. She becomes a role model that has courage and the ability to stand on her own. Together with their writing, both Bradstreet and Rowlandson illustrate their influence to America’s future for women.

Men die in battle; women die in childbirth” (Gregory 1). This quote from the historical novel “The Red Queen” presents a straightforward reality that women and men believed before the advancements of modern medicine. In accordance with past social norms the time periods between the 17th and 19th century have shown that women would always hold the role as the weaker sex. Between the prejudice of men who considered themselves superior and the way history portrayed woman in a submissive light, there was no understanding of what women experienced throughout their lives. There may have been a few incidences that made an appearance here or there, but their significance would soon lose recognition in the masses of that time. Unfortunately, the only role that was considerably memorable for women during these eras was marrying into a well-off family and producing children. Still, even in this aspect of their lives women were viewed as inadequate. Childbirth held no advantage for men and midwifery was considered a profession that only a woman would be fitted for. In the late 1800’s a prominent surgeon by the name Sir Anthony Carlisle even went as far as to say that midwifery was a “humiliating office” and therefore “suitable only to women”( Massey 1). However, comments and thoughts like this would prove to be invalid as men became more immersed in the practice of childbirth. Fear of death led women of higher status away from traditional practices of female midwifery and they turned

While Griffin begins by describing the beginning stages of cell growth, by the end of her chapter entitled, Our Secrets, the cells have developed into a fetus, which represents the beginning of human life. The idea of a new human life is contrasted by the launching of a deadly missile which illustrates how we attempt to disconnect ourselves from death. In the midst of discussing these opposing ideas, Griffin explores the life of Heinrich Himmler as an example of how the human spirit can be crushed by social constructions of one’s environment. The reason Griffin provides so many juxtaposing examples is to show how repression can lead to self destruction. At the end of her first chapter, Griffin illustrates a cry of a baby that breaks its silence

As humans we try to make changes to things that no longer make us happy; at whatever cost. In life we are faced with different challenges. Some people take the easy way out and some follow a harder path. For some people obsession overcomes them as a person. Greed and a sense of power can be overwhelming. A vast number of things caught my attention within the book. One of the things that caught my interest was that Griffin is a complete stranger to Mrs. Hall, but she welcomed him with open arms. She wanted to trust and not fear him, even if she did not know his motives. H. G. Wells shows how Griffin sense of empowerment turned him into a selfish monster. Griffin greed, power and identity made him violent and outrageous. At the present time anger,

Racism was a large problem during Griffin’s time and is still a problem in society today. Extreme racism was seen in Griffin’s time because of hate groups such as the Klu Klux Klan. It was common to see a black hanging from a noose, or for a “nigger lover”

Jill Lepore in her article discusses concerns with privacy. Secrecy was not a common practice, it was only used by the higher ranking officials of politics and religion. She states that “old secrets aren’t secrets; old secrets are history.” Privacy was not a concern till the creation of the middle class where it began an up rise in walls and doors to block people from seeing others’ lives. Publicity was what information was told and later questioned with the increase of a sense of mystery and belief that the information being told was not true. All of these words relate with one another by connecting that you cannot have one without the other. By having privacy you then develop secrecy since others will not be able to watch you. Having secrecy

Dated 01/08/2001, “DON’T GET THE WRONG MESSAGE” is an article by Newsweek that appears on the 56th page of the second issue of the 137th volume of the publisher’s work. The piece with a bold title is authored by Susan Faludi. This article articulates a societal challenge facing the modern American female that has not received much attention; the divide that the bulk of women experience amid having a high purchasing power and having a fulfilling life. A well thought out piece stoutly brings out this dynamic to the limelight, making the reader rethink their life issues and assess their feelings, thoughts, and opinions on the same. The trigger factor for this expression is undoubtedly the actuality that the

It is human nature to shy away from social situations that make us uncomfortable. Also, as a people with great pride, we often find it difficult to admit when we have been iniquitous, or to allow ourselves to be open to humbling experiences. Sometimes though, it is not entirely due to intolerance that we allow ourselves to make ill-informed judgments. Raymond Carver was a writer with some insight concerning these very ideas. In his short story, “Cathedral,” Carver uses a nameless narrator and his interactions with a blind man to illustrate how a lack of experience can lead to ignorance and thus prejudice. Through the development of this character,

Mrs. Peters, on the contrary, looks much more aristocratic. She is small, fragile blonde-haired woman, about the same age as Mrs. Hale. She wears a fur neckpiece and a pencil skirt with pride and grace and that is clearly differs her from her co-worker. Mrs. Peters was childless, and that was her second marriage to Sheriff Peters, so she had spent all her free time taking care of herself and her husband. In addition, in contrast to Mrs. Hale, this woman used to being “on the sidelines” of her husband, Mr. Peters, and so she is easily influenced by others. It is interesting - and, I hope Susan Glaspell did it deliberately; - the name of Mrs. Peters was not marked in the whole play. I would have left this technique in order to make it clear to the viewer different characters of the two women. Apparently, the power of the spirit and a keen sense of justice of the Martha Hale gave her the right to have the name, unlike the Sheriff’s wife, who did not intend to argue with anyone, and the woman was satisfied that her capabilities were not perceived by men at all.

Griffin and Dr. Kemp are similar in that they ambitiously want sole notoriety for their passionate work in bizarre and idiosyncratic aspects of science, though their main difference lies in their approach and demeanor towards achieving that exclusive notoriety, one seeks to be renowned while the other seeks infamy for the distinct purposeful use of their discoveries. They both share a self-centeredness to isolates them from current society, one seeking to cure his self-induced condition and the other seeking a fellowship with the astute Royal Society. While Dr. Kemp displays a cool, calm, and collected demeanor, Griffin is the direct opposite in the fact, the he has no control over his negative emotions and acts on them instinctively which leads to his demise at the end of the story. He seemingly gets more violent and has no control over his negative behaviors. Dr. Kemp is a respect decent man contributing positively to society whereas Griffin is an odd duck, lonely, spiteful individual.

After a while Griffin does not pay his bill at the inn for a few days, Mrs. Hall wants an explanation for it. He even tries to give her more money but she refuses it. Now earlier in the novel him paying for his rent with the money he stole was only real use for the money. Now that he cannot even give Mrs. Hall any more money, he has no use for the money he has stolen whatsoever. After she asks for an explanation, he removes all of his clothes to show how he invisible. Tons of people come to inn to see what is going on, soon a man comes to take him in for questioning about all of the burglaries that have been going on all around the town.