Chauffeur

In both Death of a Salesman and A Raisin in the Sun, the stories are centered around a family. Each of the families is run differently and the relationships between family members are very dissimilar. Although Lena obviously does more for her children than Willie does, the real reason she is a better parent is that her actions are fueled by a genuine love for her kids, rather than a selfish need to feel important, allowing her to make decisions that are truly in the best interest of her…

Throughout history, women have always been inferior to men. From being owned by their husbands, not being able to vote, or even have a job. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred is owned by the Commander and is blatantly used to produce his children. This production of children involves the subjugation of women; “All the women in Gilead are made to play subsidiary parts, the wives of Commanders included, as well as the elderly infertile women, the Aunts, who save their skins by collaborating and…

What happens to a dream deferred? This is the question that Langston Hughes posed in his widely-praised poem entitled “Harlem.” As a whole, Hughes’ poem begs the question of what happens to the American Dream when it is postponed. He offers many outcomes of a dream deferred as it can become irrelevant, all-consuming, bittersweet, burdensome, or even cause for the dreamer to explode. This poem has been the source of much attention and credited as the source of inspiration for Lorraine Hansberry’s…

The Great Gatsby Classist ideologies dominated thinking during the time The Great Gatsby was written, which lead to problematic bigotry in the novel. The Great Gatsby is a romantic story written in the early 20th century by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The novel follows Nick Caraway as he retells the story of Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Jay Gatsby in fictional New York. Jay Gatsby has accumulated wealth in order to woo Tom’s wife Daisy. After spending a majority of the text trying…

A black armored Mercedes stopped at the driveway in front of the ambassadors’ main entrance. The security guard sitting next to the chauffeur jumped out and opened the back door as Yusuf Alfalaki got out of the car. The security guard entered the narrow revolving door first and Yusuf walked behind him. An old black woman raised her head while sitting at a small desk facing the main entrance as she was reading The Sun newspaper and looked at the two men in total silence. The security guard said,…

The Broken-Winged Bird: Mama Younger “What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up / Like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run? / Does it stink like rotten meat / or crust and sugar over— / Like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags / Like a heavy load. / Or does it explode?” (Hughes). This quote by Langston Hughes was a large inspiration to Lorraine Hansberry, writer of A Raisin in the Sun. It inspired her to create her characters and their own deferred dreams. Of all…

It was 1908 in Cultra, United Kingdom, I was currently mining for my Fathers small family mining business making $1.96 a week. Just enough to feed my family and provide for them as much as I can. I got the job with White Star Line to travel to Belfast, United Kingdom to build and work on the RMS Titanic. My family was so excited for me except that we could not afford for them to go to New York also. I had a son, Kyle John Layfield four years old and my wife, Rose Harmon Layfield twenty years old…

In every American story, there is an individual that seeks the American Dream in some sort of way. Particularly in the 1920s and 30s, there are many who made risky decisions based off of this dream. In the renowned novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays these ambitious decisions made through three different types of people. Social status, love, race, and gender play an important role and are the main decision-making factors in this novel. However,as well as there are hopes of…

Throughout history, society has shaped the lives of individuals by assigning individuals a specific way to be a part of society while deviation is most likely viewed as unacceptable and censured. Betty Friedan in chapter 1 of her novel “The Feminine Mystique” describes society’s assigned role for women and how women sacrificed their desires to fulfil this role and assimilate into society. E.J Graff in his essay “The M/F Boxes” describes how transgendered and intersex individuals suffer…

Colors have different meanings to different people. Some colors remind people of events that have happened, while others remind people of different seasons or places that they have been. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the author uses color symbolism in a creative and juxtaposed way that allows him to emphasize different themes. The main character, Jay Gatsby, wants to marry his long lost love, Daisy; however, she has married another man named Tom, who comes from “old money”.…