Feral children

Possession of the island of Hispaniola was originally in the hands of the Spanish, following the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Under Spanish rule, the island became prosperous in sugar plantations as well as becoming rife with feral pigs, cattle and other domesticated animals. It was under the Spanish that the island became a boon for pirates; specifically French pirates who began to encroach upon the western portion of the island. It was from their base on Tortuga…

Martin Botha (2012) looks at the South African film history and the past. Botha criticises the many highly creative uses of cinematic forms, styles, and genres as set against South Africa’s cinematic experience (three Act structure film, a clear protagonist, and antagonist, clear turning points, causal-chain effect and appeal to international audiences) that have been normalised by the West. Due to western technical requirements for African cinemas, aesthetic principles originating in African…

Leonardo da Vinci, a notoriously talented artist and prominent figure during the Italian Renaissance, stated: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” (da Vinci). Simplicity, as a characteristic, presents an intriguing class of elegance that is immensely admirable. In modern society, individuals over-emphasize the complexities of living in their search for recognition. Humanity becomes entangled in the materialistic aspect of life, in turn, producing a highly intricate and often, confusing…

younger man. The three men stopped in their tracks. The clouds continued to admit the moon’s light. The tall figure watched the man on the right remove his hand from the younger man 's mouth and panic settle on both the older men’s faces. A slow feral smile graced the tall silhouette’s face and a smooth, sonorous voice asked, “What are you boys up to…

possessed by the devil” (“Autism Spectrum, 2008). This child, the well-known feral child Victor of Aveyron, was “found” and showed the same symptoms of what we now call autism. In the 1800s, the term “idiot savant” was used for these children. Almost 100 years later, Treffert suggested people with this condition be categorized as having “savant syndrome” or being “autistic” (2010, p.…

Beneath the austerity of McCarthy’s language endures a gradual waning of convention from humanity. In addition to establishing association with the audience, the namelessness of the characters in McCarthy’s novel depicts the stripping of humans from their sophistication in the natural world, thereby equating the once exceptional species with the innominate insignificance of a lowly amoeba. On several occasions, McCarthy limns the man and the boy in a rather subhuman light with elucidations such…

The lights are blinding, as she opens up her eyes to this new world. Her ears hear familiar voices that can now be paired to faces she had never seen before this moment. What a wonderful moment this is. She does not quite fully comprehend what is going on, or who these individuals are that surround her, but she has a strange sense of being alive. Quickly this sense dissipates. Hurried hands move her from person to person. The new strange entity, whose arms she has landed in, sounds most…

* Antonello, who until the accident had been an unquestioning believer, would never again willingly walk into a church. When the Bridge fell so did God and the possibility of God and for as long as Antonello lived, and he lived a long time, he would never again turned to God. Other survivors recounted praying to God as they swam through the muddy waters to the bank, as they crouched behind some structure to avoid the flying debris, as they watched the Bridge fall. They wanted to tell Antonello,…

dairy. Once a business major, he switched to journalism, got involved in the anti-apartheid movement, followed the Grateful Dead, tried film school and wound up with a walk-on part in the movie “Kids” as half of a gay couple accosted by a band of feral skaters. Not until he began waiting tables at WD-50 on the Lower East Side did he become serious about cooking. He marveled over the savory ice-cream flavors (“Cornbread!”) and asked Wylie Dufresne, the chef, if he could trail in the kitchen. He…

Whereas Gertrude craves a fulfillment of her feral sexual relations, Ophelia yearns for an intimate companion in Hamlet. Hamlet, through his manic episodes, exemplifies a thoughtful affection for Ophelia, and she, reciprocates that love. Compellingly so, Hamlet’s letter to Ophelia, a glimpse of the…