Human Society During Its Most 'Honorable' Moments Research Paper

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Human society during its most 'honorable' moments

Gabriel Garcia Marquez' book "Chronicle of a Death Foretold," Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," and Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" all put across events related to suffering and discrimination. The three writers focused on describing particular characters from the perspective of individuals interacting with them and did not necessarily provide these respective characters with the chance to speak for themselves in regard to the condition that they are in. The three books focus on presenting readers with society's tendency to discriminate particular individuals on account of their particularities, even with the fact that these people have done nothing to harm the social order.

The three novels contain a collection of stories told from the perspective of several characters. Even with the fact that narrators put across most of the rationalization in "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" and in "The Metamorphosis," readers are nonetheless able to understand more concerning the context of each story. Characters in each book appear to focus on trying to provide an explanation regarding the situation that they are in and they attempt to perform actions that they believe are going to make them feel better about themselves. Each individual eventually acts in accordance with society's pressures in spite of the fact that he or she considers that it is wrong for him or her to perform a particular action.

Marquez initially speaks about the fact that Santiago Nasar is going to die but is reluctant to provide more information regarding the reasons for which he died. He only claims that he is going to be killed in the first hours of a particular day. The writer then provides information about who the central character is and about his background. One of the main things that readers are likely to understand consequent to reading the first pages of this book is the fact that town locals are strongly connected to each-other and that they are all actively engaged in the wedding that is about to take place. One might be inclined to consider that there is nothing that could disturb things in the town and the fact that the narrator relates to Santiago's death is very disturbing. It is difficult to understand why someone would murder an individual in such calm circumstances, especially considering that the townspeople were expecting for the bishop and that a wedding was going to take place that day.

Conditions are very similar in Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," considering that the narrator provides readers with information regarding how Mr. Henry and Pecola are warmly received in the house of Claudia and Frieda MacTeer. This demonstrates that these individuals are unhesitant about helping other people and that Pecola, the central character, comes to live in what one might consider to be a "normal" environment, given that the Ohioan environment holds a majority of White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. Similar to how locals in "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" seem supportive regarding any individual that comes to their town, Claudia and Frieda welcome Pecola and start to express interest in helping her integrate in their society. However, they are inept in their attempts and in most situations they only manage to make Pecola feel even worse because she considers that she does not belong.

Claudia MacTeer is one of the principal individuals telling Pecola's story and she is very similar to the narrator in "Chronicle of a Death Foretold." Similar to the narrator, she interacts with Pecola from a first-person perspective but rarely provides her with the opportunity to speak for herself. Even though it is obvious that she feels sorry for the girl, the narrator makes clumsy attempts to help her by writing in regard to her experiences. Claudia is sincere in her determination to help Pecola and she is among the only characters who believe that blackness should not necessarily be associated with ugliness. She perceives Pecola's unborn baby as an example of perfectness and believes that its birth would represent a turning point in Pecola's life.

Gregor Samsa is the protagonist in Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" and the writer's account is relatively similar to the ones in "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" and "The Bluest Eye." Kafka presented his readers with a story involving an individual who is stigmatized because of a series of characteristics that influence other characters in discriminating him. In spite of the fact that Gregor struggles to do anything in his power in order to be an active participant in the social order and in his family, the moment when he turns into a cockroach makes it impossible for him to continue to do so. His family is no longer willing to assist him, and his sister, the person who he felt closest to, considers that her brother needs to be abandoned because of his inability to provide for his family.

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While they feel connected to him because they are his family, his kin appear to be disgusted with his condition and gradually start to express less interest in caring for him, eventually abandoning him.

Similar to Pecola and Santiago, Gregor is initially treated kindly by his family and they actually appear worried in regard to his sickness. However, as the storyline progresses readers learn that they are not actually interested in his well-being. His family seems to be more concerned about the role that he played in their lives and start to put across their frustration regarding his condition.

Narration is particularly important in each of these texts, considering that the writers provided particular characters with the ability to describe most events taking place in the books. While the stories of Pecola and Santiago are told from an omniscient point-of-view, Kafka uses a third-person omniscient method to relate to Gregor's final moments of his life. Narrators in "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" and in "The Bluest Eye" are not necessarily reliable, considering that they express an opinion regarding particular concepts without being actually certain regarding the respective matters. In contrast, Kafka provides readers with a more complex understanding of Gregor's character because he also provides a description of how each of the characters feels in regard to him.

These three writers most probably wanted to emphasize the absurdity in the contemporary society and the fact that people are determined to act in accordance with society's pressures in spite of the fact that many legislations are irrational. Individuals in Santiago's town are unwilling to get involved in the condition involving the young man and the twin brothers and prefer to let him die in spite of the fact that they are not certain that he is in fact responsible for Angela's situation. A society that promotes white values is unwilling to accept Pecola and actually influences her in believing that there is something wrong with her. Gregor's family refuses to accept him as a parasite and grow more and more tired of caring for him in spite of the fact that he was previously the one caring for the household. Judging from these three books, readers can conclude that society does not appreciate individuals who appear that they do not fit and it is generally unwilling to care for people with problems. Santiago, Pecola, and Gregor had problems and needed to be protected. Even with this, the individuals who were actually able to care for them ignored them and actually played an important role in destroying their lives. Marquez, Morrison, and Kafka relate to one of the traditional concepts in society: it is best for one to alienate individuals who need to be cared for. Getting involved in assisting a person can be particularly harmful for the individual who wants to help and thus people feel that it is best for them to refrain from getting absorbed in the problematic lives of others.

All three books contain the experiences that a girl goes through in her passage toward adulthood. Angela, Pecola, and Grete all go through a series of episodes that shape their personalities and that enable them to see the world from a different perspective. These three characters are initially provided with special care by individuals in their family and are shown as being innocent. However, as the storyline in each book progresses readers are provided with more information regarding their condition and regarding the perspective of other characters concerning the role that they each play in their families and in their communities. As time passes, society starts to express less sympathy concerning them and they each come to feel the suffering related to being a woman. One of the most worrying matters when considering Angela and Pecola is the fact that they actually feel responsible for their fate and believe that they deserve to be reprimanded for who they are.

Angela is treated similar to an object and the fact that she is 'returned' represents society's perception of women at the time when the story takes place. One is likely to consider that only an object can be returned and that….....

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