When faced with trouble, the outside of a person is stripped away, layer by layer, until all that’s left is their spirit. What happens then is what defines the human race as a whole; ordinary people are turned into persistant, determined, relentless fighters. When one is backed into a wall and all hope seems lost, the human spirit comes out to play. It laughs in the face of asperity, saying,”You can’t scare me, I always win”. One might even call it stubborn, but, at the end of the day, the human spirit is always there to guide people through their troubles. Two distinguished examples of the fortitude of the human soul appear in the movie Good Night and Good Luck and the novel The Scarlet Letter; the characters Hester Prynne and Edward Murrow
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It’s a Japanese proverb everyone has heard at some point in their life. But what does it really mean? It means strength. It means never backing down no matter how many times one has failed. It is exactly what Hester Prynne must do when she is released from prison. Hester is no longer a person; to the townspeople, she is a consequence, a disgrace, an abomination. Hester is an example of exactly what not to be. People look down on her. Not one person is willing to show her some kindness; as the author notes,“With this unattended walk from her prison door, began the daily custom, and she must sustain and carry it forward by the ordinary resources of her nature or sink beneath it” (Hawthorne 70). Hester must learn to keep herself afloat. If she can’t do that, she will never make it in the harsh environment of the Puritan community. All that Hester has is her daughter Pearl, and even raising Pearl is a challenge. Most of the puritans view Pearl as the devil child. Are they wrong? After all, Pearl was born of sin. Her mere conception was a crime, one that Hester thinks she will never redeem herself from. Pearl was created by God to give Hester a second chance, but no one can see past Hester’s sin. Pearl has done nothing wrong, but Hester must sit back and watch her child be treated as an outcast, which may be even more painful than Hester being an outcast herself. “The truth was, that the little puritans, being of the most intolerant brood …show more content…
After senator Joseph McCarthy attacks the innocent Milo Radulovich of being a communist, Murrow steps in. The only evidence of Radulovich being a communist was that his father was subscribed to a Serbian newspaper and his sister was believed to be a communist. Murrow stands up for Milo and everyone else being attacked by McCarthy. He tries to exploit McCarthy and reveal his lies, risking his show’s sponsorship. Murrow agrees to pay for his show to air if he loses his sponsors, even though it would cost a small fortune of $57,000 per week. Murrow offers on air to McCarthy to correct any false statements made about McCarthy. McCarthy replies accusing Murrow as a communist; however, he made no corrections to any statements, further strengthening Murrow’s argument. Local newspapers were supporting Murrow even after the accusation, and the senate even declares that they will be investigating McCarthy. Murrow knew that he was putting his job on the line to give hope to the innocent people being falsely accused of being a communist, and proceeded anyways. Some people were inspired by what he did, knowing that they probably wouldn’t have the courage to do the same. Sig Mickelson describes his actions saying,”He threw sticks at rocks” (Good Night and Good Luck). Murrow may have suffered for a while, but his strength carried him
It’s a Japanese proverb everyone has heard at some point in their life. But what does it really mean? It means strength. It means never backing down no matter how many times one has failed. It is exactly what Hester Prynne must do when she is released from prison. Hester is no longer a person; to the townspeople, she is a consequence, a disgrace, an abomination. Hester is an example of exactly what not to be. People look down on her. Not one person is willing to show her some kindness; as the author notes,“With this unattended walk from her prison door, began the daily custom, and she must sustain and carry it forward by the ordinary resources of her nature or sink beneath it” (Hawthorne 70). Hester must learn to keep herself afloat. If she can’t do that, she will never make it in the harsh environment of the Puritan community. All that Hester has is her daughter Pearl, and even raising Pearl is a challenge. Most of the puritans view Pearl as the devil child. Are they wrong? After all, Pearl was born of sin. Her mere conception was a crime, one that Hester thinks she will never redeem herself from. Pearl was created by God to give Hester a second chance, but no one can see past Hester’s sin. Pearl has done nothing wrong, but Hester must sit back and watch her child be treated as an outcast, which may be even more painful than Hester being an outcast herself. “The truth was, that the little puritans, being of the most intolerant brood …show more content…
After senator Joseph McCarthy attacks the innocent Milo Radulovich of being a communist, Murrow steps in. The only evidence of Radulovich being a communist was that his father was subscribed to a Serbian newspaper and his sister was believed to be a communist. Murrow stands up for Milo and everyone else being attacked by McCarthy. He tries to exploit McCarthy and reveal his lies, risking his show’s sponsorship. Murrow agrees to pay for his show to air if he loses his sponsors, even though it would cost a small fortune of $57,000 per week. Murrow offers on air to McCarthy to correct any false statements made about McCarthy. McCarthy replies accusing Murrow as a communist; however, he made no corrections to any statements, further strengthening Murrow’s argument. Local newspapers were supporting Murrow even after the accusation, and the senate even declares that they will be investigating McCarthy. Murrow knew that he was putting his job on the line to give hope to the innocent people being falsely accused of being a communist, and proceeded anyways. Some people were inspired by what he did, knowing that they probably wouldn’t have the courage to do the same. Sig Mickelson describes his actions saying,”He threw sticks at rocks” (Good Night and Good Luck). Murrow may have suffered for a while, but his strength carried him