English Literature

Kate Chopin was thought to be ahead of her time in the views and telling of the misfortunes of feminism and slavery.  The injustice of the times is seen in many of her works, but the story of Desirees Baby takes the injustice as step further.  The story shows the ability of misinterpretation when one uses sight to know the race of another.  So like the critic Wai-chee Dimock, the injustice in Desirees Baby was the attribution of the misinterpreted racial identity of Desiree.

The first fact of the story is that Desiree was a foundling.  No one knew where she came from, and only guesses could be made about her origin.  Never once in the story as she is growing up or falling in love is anything mentioned other than at the beginning about her being orphaned.  The concept of race does not even enter the vocabulary, until she is grown and getting ready to marry Armand Aubignys, the son of a nearby plantation owner.  It states that he did not fall in love wither early on, even though he had known her since he was eight.  However, he fell in love with her and would not be talked out of it.  Chopin tells that he was reminded that she was nameless and that no one knew her origin, but he would not listen.  This act of Armand, prepares the reader for the worse possible scenario, even though the hope is that they are wrong.

Once married, the two move into the plantation belonging to Armand.  It is described as old and falling apart and even an air of sadness abound from the strict nature of the young man in relation to his Negros.  For him there is nothing worse than his slaves and his harshness and the sadness of the plantation creates the feel of injustice of the slaves in relation to their strict master.  The sadness and the disrepair just prepare the reader for more despair.

Upon the birth of the baby it is noted that Armand has eased up on his working of the slaves, he does not free them, but he is also not as strict.  Everything seems to be going fine, until Desiree compares her son to the young son of La Blanche as he fans the baby.  They are identical in many ways, which leads one to wonder if the young boy is also the offspring of Armand. It is in that moment that Desiree fears what Armand will do.  She asks him what is wrong with the baby and he tells her that the baby is black, which means that she too is black.  At this point, Armand wants nothing to do with either his wife or his child.  Even when she tries to tell him how wrong he is by using the example of La Blanche, Armand just ignores her pleads saying that La Blanche is black but as white as Desiree.

With Armand refusing to acknowledge Desiree or the baby, she leaves and goes into the bayou not believing that she is black, but realizing that she cant stay with him and she cannot return home to her parents. However, the real injustice is the fact that Armand has pushed Desiree and the baby away because he feared that they were black.  Armand burns everything in the house that belonged to Desiree and the baby.  He does not wonder where they have gone, he does not care.  They were black and he could not have them spoil his good name.

As he is burning the letter he found that Desiree had written to him, he comes across the letter that changes his world.  It is the letter from his mother acknowledging that he is the one who is black, not Desiree.  He still does not show remorse for his actions.  He also does not free his slaves just because he is one of them.  He has lost his love and his son because of his pride, and called them names they did not deserve because of his own ignorance in his parentage.

Throughout the main part of the short story, the reader is made to pity Desiree.  It is assumed that because of her unknown origin that she is the one who his black, and thereby deserves the actions of Armand against her and the child.  When the reality of the parentage is uncovered, the pity does not move from Desiree to Armand because it was he who created the mess with the possible death of Desiree and the baby.  He can only hold himself in contempt and live with the injustice that he has caused to his wife and child.

Marijuana is a preparation for use as a psychoactive drug from a plant known as the cannabis sativa, commonly known as the hemp plant. This preparation is mostly used in dried form. Almost every part of the plant is dried for use as a drug. There are different types of hemp plants grown around the globe. These include the Shiva shanty, the blue berry, the northern lights, and the white window. Marijuana forms the largest part of the most commonly abused drugs. It is mostly consumed as a cigarette. There are also those who mix it with food and tea.  Marijuana contains more than four hundred chemicals. The most active chemical component in marijuana is the delta-9-tetrahydrocanabinoid.The use of cannabis has got a very rich history. Ancient communities used it for medicinal purposes rather than as a drug of abuse. The use of cannabis was illegalized in the United States in the year 1937. This illegalization has been under constant criticism as well as support from individuals and organizations. Each group airs reasons supporting its stand.

Illegalization of marijuana
The efforts of the organizations that are devoted in the fight for the illegalization of marijuana have experienced a major boost in the recent past as a result of several factors. These include development of laws aimed at restricting the use of marijuana. To add on to that, the Obama administration refused to legalize the use of cannabis even for medical purposes. The administration has affirmed that it would defer to state a law regarding legislation and enforcement of marijuana. President Obama clearly stated that he is against the legalization of marijuana. Everyone in the society has an opinion regarding the use of marijuana whether they smoke or not. The use of marijuana is a major threat to the moral and physical uprightness of the society. It has got very deteriorating effects to the abusers as well as the society.

There are numerous reasons that support the illegalization of marijuana. The adverse health effects associated with abuse of marijuana without doubt exceeds the medical benefits that it is claimed to have. Scientific research from the national institute of health has doubtlessly illustrated the negative effects of marijuana to the human brain especially for the young people. Excessive abuse of marijuana is associated with extensive damage to the brain. It causes disrupted development of the neural system in the brain thereby negatively influencing the areas of the brain that deal with attention, memory, and decision making.

The initial short term effects of inhaling marijuana include distorted perception, loss of memory, and lack of reasoning. Long term effects of the abuse of marijuana include adverse withdrawal symptoms such as lack of sleep, irritability, increased aggression and bad feelings as well as disruption of the normal functioning of the neurotransmission system. The active chemical in marijuana leads to the production as well as release of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that leads to the development of a feeling of excitement and pleasure. Those who abuse marijuana feel elated for a moment and then after its effects are over probably after a week or so, the abuser feels depressed and sleepy. Abuse of marijuana causes intense anxiety, depression, and suicidal thinking. Social behavior of a marijuana abuser is adversely affected. An abuser loses hisher ability to learn and grasp new things. Communication is greatly deterred as abusers tend to talk slowly and their response is affected. Abuse of marijuana causes panic fears and distrust (Abel, p. 55).

The use of the drug causes extensive stress to the heart. It increases serum triglycerides thereby increasing the risk of coronary heart disease. It also decreases the oxygen carrying capacity of blood thereby adversely affecting the heart rate and blood pressure. Abusers of marijuana are at a high risk of developing a heart attack. The drug is a severe respiratory tract irritant. It produces more carcinogenic hydrocarbons as compared to tobacco smoke. Marijuana smoke activates and initiates enzymatic changes that lead to development of malignant cells that are highly responsible for lung cancer. Stwertka and Stwertka (p, 154), states that the use of marijuana impairs the immune system thereby increasing the dangers of other infections and ailments. If a pregnant mother smokes marijuana, the effects of the drug will doubtlessly get to the fetus. It may result to premature babies and a low birth weight. Babies born of mothers who abused marijuana during pregnancy have adversely affected neurological responses. A child displays lapses in memory, poor problem solving skills and lack of attention. If a nursing mother smokes marijuana, the drug gets into the milk and then to the baby. The smoke of marijuana is more harmful than the smoke of tobacco.

Abuse of marijuana has got very adverse reproductive system effects. The chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocanabbinaol for example is linked with the formation of a mutant sperm in human beings. The sperms become degenerated as a result. The sperm count in males is also lessened. The process of hyperactivation of sperms is severely altered. Sperms of marijuana smokers swim very fast in the initial stages of swimming, but burn out even before fertilization takes place. This causes temporary infertility. In females, the process of ovulation is suppressed. Menstruation cycles are disrupted and eggs damaged. Abuse of marijuana by a young person close to puberty causes physical and sexual development problems.

Healy (para, 9), states that it is the mandate of the government to protect its people from adverse health effects caused by marijuana. Legalization of marijuana would be turning a blind eye to the health problems associated with the use of marijuana. The other reason why the state cannot take chances and legalize the drug is that, instead of rescuing the current abusers, it will be creating new ones. People, who are currently not abusers of marijuana due to the fear of being incarcerated, would start smoking immediately the ban is lifted. This would lead to an increase in the number of people who smoke rather than decrease it.

The state cannot engage itself in the distribution of substances that are considered morally unacceptable in the society. The society considers the drug as a morally wrong thing to take. It would be a betrayal of the moral rights of the society if the government were to legalize the use of marijuana. The drug is also considered unhealthy by the medical fraternity. The government therefore, cannot risk in distributing a substance that will risk the life of millions of people. The state is supposed to do everything that ensures the health of its citizens is protected.

Though it is claimed that the drug is not addictive by many, the drug has got a considerable extent of addiction. Psychological dependency is one long term adverse effect of abuse of marijuana. It robs the user of free will. Abusers cannot make rational decisions to stop their habit as the drug robs them of their ability to make logical decision. The state, if it were to legalize and distribute the drug, would be developing a society of very many people who are bound by the drug and cannot make rational decisions to stop their habit.

The drug is not only harmful to the abuser, but also to the general population. In case an abuser develops health complications, the health costs are directed to the family members as well as the society. Abusers of the drug who become aggressive direct their violence to other people within their vicinity. Drug addicted parents tend to neglect their children.

Marijuana causes lapse in judgment thereby making the abusers commit even harder crimes such as rape and robbery. Currently, a very big number of those who commit crimes as a result of marijuana abuse are in jail. Legalization of the drug would mean the release of those people thereby exposing the society to a very big risk. Drug abuse, crime, and violence go hand in hand. A lot of homicides committed in the United States are done by people who are under the influence of drugs, marijuana being the major one. Legalization of marijuana would increase the number of crimes committed as people who engage in illegal drugs trade are also involved in other crimes. The society is safer with marijuana offenders imprisoned. Legalizing marijuana would be like giving criminals a green light to continue with their criminal activities. They would stop worrying about what would happen to them if they were caught smoking and concentrate on other issues may be planning for tactics to avoid being caught after committing bigger crimes.

Messerli (para, 3), states that the use of marijuana acts as a gateway to the use of other hard drugs. Marijuana is often perceived by many as a harmless drug. It is usually used to experiment the use of other drugs. Drug addicts use marijuana as a stepping stone leading to the use of other substances such as heroin and cocaine. These harder drugs pose an even greater risk to the society. Marijuana is also abused concurrently with other illegal drugs. Legalizing its use would lead to an increase in the use of these drugs as well.

Drivers who are under the influence of marijuana have a higher risk of causing accidents than those who are under the influence of alcohol. Operating heavy machinery under the influence of marijuana is also very dangerous.

Religious organizations as well as humanitarian organizations consider the use of marijuana morally wrong. Moral ethics restrict the use of intoxicating substances. Marijuana is an intoxicating substance and therefore fits well into this category. Marijuana is often associated with morally unacceptable lifestyles. It is taken as a drug for use by losers in life who are trying to escape from realities of life. As stated by Cameron and Williams (p, 117), supporting the legalization of marijuana by comparing its effects with those of other drugs such as alcohol and tobacco is wrong. The society cannot be exposed to adverse health effects of whatever level on the basis that another comparable drug has more adverse effects and has been legalized. Alcohol as a drug is something that has been morally accepted by the society. Marijuana on the other hand is not.

Though marijuana has numerous medical benefits, it has no accepted medical use. The use of marijuana for the treatment of various ailments such as glaucoma and cancer are beneficial, but have not been accepted. It would be very wrong for the government to legalize marijuana when its medical use remains a major controversy.

Cermak (p 213), asserts that if marijuana was to be legalized, dealers would sell it to any one including children and the youth. Companies dealing with marijuana would sprout after its legalization and start advertising it everywhere on bill boards, radio stations, as well as televisions. This would send a wrong message to children who would think that the use of marijuana is acceptable. The government after legalization of marijuana would not restrict a company that deals with it from sponsoring sport activities in schools.

The dangers of making young people aware of the drug would even be worse than advertisements on the billboards and radios. It would also increase the chances of marijuana getting into the hands of children. If the children, whose brains have not yet fully developed, consume the drug the effects are very severe. The concentration capacity of such a child would be adversely affected. At one time or another, kids and teenagers get their hands on alcohol and cigarette it would be very bad if the same were to happen with marijuana. Young people should be reared in a drug free environment.

Excessive use of marijuana in public places would increase the risks of secondhand smoke damage to the rest of the people. It is also morally wrong for marijuana smokers to expose nonsmokers to its smoke. If the drug was to be legalized, it would mean that parents who use it would start smoking it in front of their children, workers in front of their employers, and teachers in front of their students. The health damage to the society would therefore become exponential. It is the role of the government to protect the public and especially children from such adverse effects. The government would look unstable if it were to legalize marijuana. It would loose its credibility in the eyes of many. The government is supposed to make rules and be ready to stand by them no matter what kind of pressure is directed towards it regarding these rules. It would be bad if the government makes a rule today and tomorrow it is abolishing it due to coercion by various groups.

Advocates for legalization of marijuana have never presented a concrete case. Some of the reasons they present cannot properly defend the legalization of marijuana. Considering the adverse effects of marijuana, it does not make sense for somebody to support its legalization arguing that, it promotes creativity, moral development, open mindedness and takes one closer to God. They also argue that illegalization of marijuana is infringement of the rights of an individual to make decisions. It would be very wrong if the government was to allow people to make decisions that would adversely affect their health. It is for the benefit of the society that, the minds of young people be protected from damage by the toxic drugs. Advocates also argue that legalizing the use of marijuana would reduce the number of criminals arrested in the United States. This however, would be like solving a problem by creating others. A very big population of marijuana abusers would sprout, posing a very grave medical risk to the future of Americans as well as America itself.

Legalizing the use of marijuana would expose the United States to global criticism. Very many people in the world view the United States as a morally upright nation. People in other nations adopt American values in their day to day life. The government would be sending a wrong message not only to Americans, but also to the whole world about the use of illegal drugs.

Conclusion
Marijuana is a psychoactive drug obtained from a plant known as cannabis sativa. For centuries, it has been used as a medicinal herb until it was banned in the United States. Various organizations have been in the forefront in the fight for the legalization of marijuana, but their efforts have been fruitless due to the governments stand on this issue. The use of marijuana should not be legalized due to the adverse health effects associated with it. Marijuana adversely affects the psychological wellbeing of an individual as well as the society. Marijuana abusers constitute the largest percentage of criminals. Legalization of the drug would expose it and even make it easily accessible to School children as well as the youth. The government would loose its credibility in the eyes of the people as well as the international community.

The central theme of the story is about guilt, a psychological state in which Hawthorne constantly explores. The protagonist, Reuben Bourne, is tormented at the brink of insanity because of the guilty feeling. The story made people think that if Reuben has the reason to fell guilty. He left his companion, Roger Malvin, to die. However, the old man requested Reuben to leave and survive. Moreover, Reuben failed to fulfill his promise to Roger Malvin to go back on the rock and bury his bones and say a prayer to them. The story examines the consequences of moral choice. Just like other works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, it offers no answers to the question he explored in the story. He just pushed the readers buttons and made them think if they are put in the similar situation. Guilt runs over Reuben and compels him to redeem himself from his sin. He also told a lie to his wife that he buried her father, making the sin more unbearable.

Roger Malvins Burial also talks about retribution or the indebtedness you have to pay to people who done you good. Reuben feel in debt with Roger Malvin as he let him survived. The feeling of guilt constantly reminded Reuben even after so many years that he did not fulfill his promise to Roger Malvin. Hawthorne tries to communicate to his readers  with his dramatic characterizations. The drastic situations that the characters are in make it difficult to analyze the right and wrong. The main motive of Hawthorne is to show that  satisfying a promise and resisting the easier path will lead to peace. as Roger Malvin faces death, he forced Reuben to make a promise to him and not fulfilling the promise will torment the person for life and making him feel that he has sinned to the person. And just like all sins, it has to be atoned, which cost him the life of his own son whom he accidentally shot. When his son died at the very spot where Roger Malvin died, Reuben felt relieve that finally, he was free from the curse of unfulfilled promise and that he can live in peace.

Roger Malvins Burial is one of the short stories collections of Nataniel Hawthorne which primarily concerns two colonial survivors returning home after a battle. The story begins after Lovewells Fight, series of colonial conflicts in North America. Survivors of the battle Roger Malvin, an elderly soldier, and Reuben Bourne, a young one, try to get a human settlement through the woods. Though both are wounded and weak, they still fight for their survival. The older man however, knowing that he will soon die due to the seriousness of his wounds, asks Reuben, whom he treats as younger brother, to leave.  A dying man faces death fearlessly. Malvin shows heroism in the face of death which epitomizes the so-called all-American hero-- a kind of American attitude people usually witness in films with war setting. Reuben however insists that he will bring the old man with him but Malvin convinces him that his life, no matter what they do, will soon come to end. The young man, convinced by Malvin, awkwardly leaves. Though Reuben survives and though people find him brave, he can not feel at peace. He is struggling to tell Malvins family and fiance Dorcas that he had left the old man die in the midst of powerlessness. He said that he had buried him in the forest and thus hailed as a hero. But it torments him ultimately that he did not honor and follow Rogers death wish to  return to this wild rock, and lay my bones in the grave, and say a prayer over them  (Hawthorne). In this story, Hawthorne illustrates that the sin  left unredeemed and that the promise left unfulfilled can actually torment a person to the brink of insanity.

The central theme is apparently about guilt, a psychological state which can be destructive if not approach well. Reubens unrelenting state of guilt left him unfulfilled and without peace. The question is does Reuben has a reason at all to feel guilt and remorse Though its true that he left his companion to die but on the other hand the old man was the one who forced and persuaded himself to abandon him. The real reason of his guilt is not directly stated though. Therefore there is a possibility that what haunts Reuben is the fact that he did not fulfill the old mans request even though that request is only to convinced him to leave. The old man was forced to made him promise just to appease his conscience but not really because the old man really means it.  Throughout the short story, it is Reuben mind setting which re enacts his personal drama. His state of mind, who passively accepts guilt, defined his fate.

Romanticism, (1790-1850), the beautiful and vibrant word, has thrilled young hearts through the ages. It has many connotations.  It hints at the Romance languages, but eludes them and had its origin and development in Germany and England. Coinciding with many revolutions, including the industrial revolution, it has the same spirit at its centre. So powerful, is the core that some of its precepts have found its way even to the twenty first century (Introduction to Romanticism. 2010). Thus in comparison with the preceding age of reason of neoclassicism, romantic age ushered in imagination as the supreme faculty of the mind as compared with reasoning ability. This indicates revolution in the field of art too.  The importance given to the individual with the success of the French Revolution is another cause of the importance attributed to the individual in the movement itself.  It began as a revolution against the social order and religion of the times (Romanticism (1790-1850).).

Thesis statement  
The spirit of the Romantic age did have a great influence on the poems and works of art during that period.

Nature
The first revolution came in the field of Religion.  Wordsworth and most of his contemporaries were Pantheists, as compared with the precepts of Christian tenets.  They tried to see God in Nature.  His Lucy Gray Poems, Daffodils, The solitary Reaper etc., resonate with the wonderful descriptions of Nature.  William Blake, Shelley, John Keats, the line of Nature lovers is unending.  Analyzing a few lines from Wordsworths Daffodils

Continuous as the stars that shineAnd twinkle on the milky way,They stretched in never-ending lineAlong the margin of a bayTen thousand saw I at a glance,Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

Nature is in full bloom in these lines.  The poet dreaming comes upon the beautiful sight of thousands of golden daffodils dancing.  In simplicity, which was the hallmark of the age, the poet pours out his hearts melody.  And we feel that our heart profound, is overflowing with the sound as in The solitary reaper.  When Keats sings that he is sinking Lethe-wards, the only sound that takes him to the brink of eternity is the sound of the nightingale.

Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,But being too happy in thine happiness,--That thou, light-winged Dryad of the treesIn some melodious plotOf beechen green, and shadows numberless,Singest of summer in full-throated ease.

A bigger celebration of Nature cannot be seen even in the whole of English Language.  The bird singing of summer, in a garden of green and the poet happy and dreamy, almost a waking dream, which was again a reaction to the reality mania of the previous age, akin to the contemporary romantic period.  The adoration and enjoyment of Nature was a revered practice to the bards of the Romantic age.

Individualism

Unlike the previous age, the individual came to be given much importance. In contrast with Neoclassicism, the hero was the individual, his emotions and his experience. Shelley with his indomitable sense of the Romantic had argued that Satan was the real hero of John Miltons Paradise Lost. The best examples are poets like William Blake and Wordsworth.

Blake was an artist-poet.  He witnessed Englands war with France. His innocence matured to his lifes experience.  And in art his Songs of innocence gave way to the Songs of experience. In the Songs of Innocence he finds that God is meek as a lamb and sings

Little Lamb, who made thee Dost thou know who made thee Gave thee life, and bid thee feed, By the stream and oer the mead Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing, woolly, bright Gave thee such a tender voice, Making all the vales rejoice Little Lamb, who made thee Dost thou know who made thee

But,

Tiger, tiger, burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry

Was his exclamation in his songs of experience  Because he lived at the end of a century, within a period of wars and Revolutions, sick of the hypocrisy of the ruling class, he believed in prophecies that would come to success.  Blake is a fine example of the influence of the spirit of the age on the creative genius of the times. His experience taught his to approach the age with a more fearful reverence (Biography of William Blake.).

Another important aspect is the celebration of childhood which was adopted mainly from the folklore which formed the cradle of Romanticism.

My heart leaps up when I beholdA Rainbow in the skySo was it when my life beganSo is it now I am a manSo be it when I shall grow old,Or let me dieThe Child is father of the manAnd I wish my days to beBound each to each by natural piety.

While celebrating the rainbow, the poet celebrates childhood, and declares that child is the Father of man thought.  Famous for many generations now, this in itself is a fantastic proof of the influence of Romanticism as well as the pantheistic traditions followed during the times of Wordsworth. Thus we find that the individualism and the celebration of childhood influenced the sensitive artist to a great extent.

Emotions as opposed to logical reasoning

The human emotions, intuitions, instincts and feelings were given equal footing with purely logical reasoning.  At this the focus of poetry shifted towards poems becoming a spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions.  Thus when we turn towards the literary giants ruling the Romantic era, our revering eyes fall upon the majesty of Shelley crying out in agony with the West Wind.
I fall upon thorns of life, I bleed.  The chains of self-pity and severe mental pain find an echo in every poetic heart of that period and to some extent those of today.  The poet identifies himself with the West wind

A heavy weight of hours has chained and bowedOne too like thee tameless, and swift, and proud.

We find the creative genius bending to the similarity and identifying himself with the great and powerful phenomenon such as the west wind.  The waves of philosophy that had preceded the era had left nothing but a sense of emptiness in the hearts of the intelligent and they find the ultimate freedom for their emotions and their search for beauty in singing to Nature and giving a free rein to their emotions. Going back to Keats,

Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs,Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and diesWhere but to think is to be full of sorrowAnd leaden-eyed despairs,Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow.

The fickleness of common things of this world makes the poet sing about the freedom and the eternal happiness that belongs to the lot of the bird.  So he is happy for the bird and wants o drink a beaker full of the warm south and with the bird fades away into the forest dim.   The way emotions run rampant in the poems those times cannot have been imagined during the neoclassical age.

Conclusion

As compared with the preceding age, the awareness of Nature is more evident during the Romantic times. Taking its flight from William Blake and Robert Burns in England, Goethe and Schiller in Germany, it spread through literary as well as works of art throughout Europe and later to America.  It coincides with the age of revolutions.  American and French revolutions which happened ushered in an age of upheaval in political economic and social traditions. The revolutionary aspect followed the genius to their field of work.  This influence gave rise to the fantastic poetic outputs of the times.  So we are forced to agree that the influence of the age is actually felt in the poems of the prominent writers of those times (Barzun.). If we can analyze the romantic poems of shelly, Wordsworth, Keats, Byron etc, we can understand that the romantic mind is always affected by inferiority complex. Moreover romanticism has an imperialistic mood which arises from the feeling that one persons activities are associated with a celestial alliance. Moreover a romantic mind is always a heart which is opposed to its head (Abrams.).

Student (me) What do you think about the problem posing approach being adopted by the physical therapy program youre having Do you think it is helping you

Sister (patient) Yes, I think its a great experience because we really hit the goal of the therapy and that is to help me recoup my verbal skills again, in a way that is not stressful for me.

Student (me) Are you learning from the therapist She just asks you questions and you just answer, how do you think learning comes in

Sister (patient) Yes, I would say I am learning. The questions she asks prompt me to think and say what I have to say. In the process, it seems that I get trained again, verbally. The questions she presents also have relevance to what I experience everyday. The questions she asks are like part of a story, but how the story ends will much depend on me as it is me who actually supplies the details to the story and somehow affect the framework of the story.

Student (me) So, you think that the learning takes place through cooperation between you and the therapist It means that the learning or whatever information you learn after the day does not come entirely from the therapist, as important part of it comes from you.

Sister (patient) Yes, definitely. She does not dictate what I would actually know after the session. Although she has the objectives of what I should attain, what I attain at the end of the day is largely based on me.

Student (patient) Ok. In your case, I see a similarity that you and the therapist have with the classroom-based relationship of teacher and student. If I may, I would like to comment that your relationship with your teacher (therapist) does not seem to be like the conventional relationship in the classroom, where the teacher gets all the authority and the student ends up just accepting what the teacher has to say, without showing a critical attitude about the information they are fed. Is that observation correct Have you ever tried asking the therapist why she picks those questions among the many questions she can ask Have you ever doubted about the quality of learning you get from her

Sister (patient) No, I never did. You observation is correct tough. I have a respect towards the therapist and I think what she does is reasonable so I do not question it. I agree to it and I do not see that authoritative manner judging by how she works with me.

Student (me) Would you recommend the program to anyone else

Sister (patient) Yes, I would. It is a great program and I think the settings are appropriate.

This paper discusses two questions seemed relevant to the field of education (i) Does physical therapy aid in healing not only the physical injury but also the mental suffering and (ii) Do physical therapy programs require courses dealing with those issues and if not, shouldnt they be offered    
Basing from my observations of what happened in one of my sisters physical therapy treatment sessions, I realized that what takes place between the therapist and the patient draws a close parallel with the learning experience that happens within the four walls of a classroom. In this context, the therapist seems to adopt the role of the educator and the patient that of the role of a students. A typical physical therapy session, true in the case of my sisters, includes the therapist posing questions towards the patient. In our case, the therapist is trying to assist in the recovery of the patients vocabulary skills. The questions are thrown so she will be forced to speak out. In my view, this scenario relates to the form of education called the problem-posing approach which is Freires radical view on education.

Freire forwarded this notion in the view of his criticisms of the banking education held for in classrooms for many centuries. The banking education refers to the method where a teacher acts like a banker that fills in an empty depository, that is, the student, with information (Freire, 1970). Freire views this approach to education problematic based on several important grounds (i) it limits the individuals development of consciousness because the interaction needed for the development of consciousness is hindered (ii) it creates the misconception that the world is an entity apart of human consciousness (iii) it impedes the development of knowledge because the critical response that can challenge existing theories are prevented and (iv) the conventional teacher-student relationship fosters an oppressive environment where the students get to robbed off their freedom.

On the other hand, the problem-posing education is the exactly opposite of banking education, as far as the ends or results are concerned. A problem-posing approach to education enables the teacher to wake up the students consciousness by allowing the student to know what he (student) knows (Freire, 1970). The teacher prompts the student to be critical towards the information they receive as they are made to do think before they can make out from what is being taught or imparted by the teacher. This way of teaching, being in the form of questions, does not force the students to accept the teachers dogma of beliefs. Furthermore, in this sense there is a minimal tendency that the student becomes boxed within the teachers thinking and influences.    

According to Freire, the teacher, just like everyone else, is an embodiment of different influences, both from surrounding environment and personal biases (1970). With the traditional banking approach to education, the teacher gets to pass all of these influences to the student, infecting them with whatever flaws contained within the system of education and information being passed on. Aside from that, the traditional presentation of reality creates the impression of duality between world and humanity. To Freire, this is wrong because the students are made to think that the world is a lifeless form, existing apart consciousness (1970). With the problem-posing approach to education, the students can be made to realize that the world does exist within their consciousness, that it is not at all a very different entity apart from humanity. With the problem-posing approach, the student is made to comprehend the world and realize that such comprehension is much affected by the students own thinking, in addition to the amalgam of outside influences exerted on him and his own personal biases.

Understanding Freires arguments requires going back to the basic issues attempted by the different theories of knowledge. Specifically, on the issues about how one is able to know what he knows and what can be contained in what he knows. John Locke argues for the tabula rasa philosophy, which says that the human mind is like a blank slate and it gets to be filled in by information as he progresses later in life. The experiences he would have from interactions as well as the concepts he would learn from school will all make up the knowledge that he would have later (Locke, 1690).  The idea on tabula rasa is one of the points that Freire argues strongly against. To Freire, traditional classrooms have adopted this tabula rasa philosophy and the results are horrible in the sense that the necessary interaction needed for the realization of humanity, consciousness and progress of knowledge are impinged (1970).

Kant, in his book the Critique of Pure Reason, gives a very striking explanation on how we come about to learn something pertaining to our world (1787). According to Kant, while the world may exist separate from our consciousness, it may not be the world as we know it (1787). To Kant, it is possible that there is a world out there and the concept of time enables us to comprehend the world through our consciousness. To Kant, we see the world as we ought to see it, as our conceptions and perceptions are limited by our human design (1787). I think Freire and Kant have something in agreement, no matter how inexact it is. Freire and Kant both agrees that how we view things are all influenced by our very own perspectives, biases, beliefs and socio-cultural influences (by how we have been raised within a particular society).        

Freire views problem-posing approach to education as a situation where students are enabled and encouraged to challenge theories and ideas presented to them because (i) the teachers view that students minds are like blank tablets that they have to fill in with education s readily eradicated and (ii) the expectation dictated by social conventions that students should readily accept whatever ideas are passed on them as infallible is also diminished at a very high degree. When the students answer, they have their own input to the formation of knowledge. Furthermore, rather then the traditional rigid authoritative position that the teacher exercises over students, what occurs now is a side-by-side learning from teachers and students. In this sense, we do not see what Freire describes as a domination of elitism and stringent authority. To Freire, The dominant elites consider the remedy to be more domination and repression, carried out in the name of freedom, order and social peace (that is, the peace of the elites) (261).

Arguments on Patients Mental Suffering
 To Freire, Liberation is a praxis the action and reflection of men and women upon their world in order to transform it (262). It seems that for individuals who are experiencing a certain degree of mental suffering (i.e. fear, depression, and trauma from incident), this sense of liberty is not present as they are more likely to stay in one place and let the world go by without any influence from them. We can see here a very important role that the mind or consciousness plays in the realization of the praxis. This brings the question of whether the physical therapy program, as a somewhat form of education, is capable of affecting the consciousness of a person in such a way that the program is able to facilitate even the healing of patients mental suffering To what extent does a physical therapy program contribute to the empowering of his consciousness, thereby, disposing him to praxis In my view, if a patient is able to successfully finish a program, the success and the changes caused by the program can help alleviate or lessen the mental suffering that has been experienced by the patient. For instance, the usual depression the patient suffers from may be replaced by the sweet experience of the breakthrough that comes after completing program. If we take this idea into account, then we may be grounded to say that indeed physical therapy programs as a form of education can heal (or minimize at least) the mental suffering and facilitate the recovery of a better state of consciousness. It seems that the objective of a physical therapy program is to help student move toward the realization of praxis.
This seems to provide the grounds for the needs to consider mental suffering of the patient. Another relevant question that we may ask now is whether physical therapy programs require courses dealing with those issues and if not, shouldnt they be offered.

Arguments on the Need for Relevant Coursework Requirements
Arguably, for the therapists to better help the patients regain their praxis or consciousness, they should be able to empathize with them. The show of empathy can prevent what Freire considers as a classroom elitism and oppression. According to Miville, empathy or the ability to see through others can only follow when the person has a universal-diverse orientation or UDO. Miville sates that UDO refers to the ability of an individual to identify his differences from other people and respect these differences that others have from him It helps to eliminate biases and prejudices, and inspires respectful attitude toward individual differences.

Basing from my research on the different curricula offered by different schools for Physical Therapy programs in the US, I saw that the curricula typically contains a few course works on the field of social science and a number from the physical sciences. While the social science tackles subject matters mainly of the society and individuals, it seems that for a student of physical therapy to be equipped with an objective point of view, an important emphasis should be exerted in these social science subjects. As this can widen their perspectives and understanding of individual differences, it becomes a question now whether the school should offer course works that will specifically equip the student in the sociological aspect.

In my view, the call for course work inclusion is not necessary. It is still a matter of question whether the class-room learning would be effective as to make the student be efficient in dealing with the differences of their patients. Miville says that healthcare professionals can better function if they have the UDO perspective. Empathy brews good patient-therapist communication, thereby ensuring higher chances of treatment success. A number of barriers to empathy exist though. Danas cites the existence of cultural self and cultural competence provides barrier to sympathy. These barriers to empathy may not necessarily be resolved by increasing the number of sociological and psychological subjects in college. Miville argues that UDO should be generated in situ right in the workplace. through the design of related workplace policies.

Angela Carters The Wise Children and Carol Ann Duffys The Worlds Wife present two quite distinctive views of feminine agency which become quite apparent when the two works are compared.  Duffy, for instance, seems to be arguing for pure equality between the sexes, as she recasts classic works with masculine protagonists replaced with female ones.  Her choice of works, however, is what illustrates equality rather than superiority.  For every poem such as Anne Hathaway that reinvents someone who is often thought of as a footnote to her great husband as a powerful, sexually aggressive and self-actualized woman, there are poems such as Mrs. Faustus which illustrate that folly and heartlessness are not the sole domain of men and men alone.  These poems show both the scope and the limit of Duffys experimentin placing women in the forefront of what would be considered masculine worlds and patriarchy-defined realms (such as the literary canon), Duffy is offering a feminine counterpoint to these distinct male perspectives, a trend that would later be followed by authors such as Sena Naslund, author of Ahabs Wife.  However, as a whole, a collection of poetry is necessarily limited to snapshot viewsa reimagining here, a retelling thereand then the author moves on to another topic.  In the examination of feminine agency over a period of a long, full life, The Wise Children certainly exceeds all expectations.

In choosing a narrator who is seventy-five years old, Carter is making a deliberate choice regarding the feminist lens that her characters must be viewed through.  Increasingly in popular culture, tales that are considered feminist (such as Mean Girls) center on a young girl who must overcome various external and mental obstacles to ultimately establish her own separate identity.  While there is nothing wrong with this message on the surface, it is dangerous to think feminism must always be heteronormative, not sexually transgressive, and centered on a young person.  Such a view produces female bildungsromans that are not as divorced from the dominant-male fairytales of old as the viewers would like to imagine.  In presenting a protagonist close to the end of her life, Carter examines how feminine agency (and the lack thereof) can affect a persons life over a period of decades.  She also links sex to politics, which allows readers to reframe notions of what sexual transgression means outside of normative values judgments.  The sexual politics are linked to the snapshots of Doras life that viewers are offeredunlike Duffys work, however, the consistent narrator is forced to contextualize these moments from her life and determine whether the patchwork of her life is really a quilt or not.

Key to this context is Doras consistent humor.  It is her presentation that ensures that the various atrocities elaborated on throughout the book are part of an amusing absurdist theatre, as opposed to vignettes of poverty and misery.  Duffy, in situating her work with a variety of historical and literary contexts, is simply not as funnyunless one is a sadist, it is difficult to find humor in Havisham.  Even poems which seem meant to be humorous, such as Elviss Twin Sister, rely upon the amusement value of word choice (such as yall) and absurd comparison (that rock star Elvis would have a twin sister in a convent).  However, the humor is mere decoration on the road to macabre realizationthat one must often choose, as Elvis did, a path of righteous blandness, or a rollicking ride to hell.  Despite the humor, readers arrive back at the question posed by Paradise Lost is it better to be a slave in heaven or a ruler in hell  The idea that entire lives (and perhaps entire afterlives) can be determined by such a stark dichotomy is sobering indeed, cancelling out the humor of the presentation.  In contrast, Carters Dora starts in a place of misery and pain.  The humor comes off as more authentic because it is a survival mechanism for both narrator and readerwithout a sense of humor (albeit a morbid one), Dora likely would not be able to make sense of the pain and horror of her life.  And without the humor of the presentation, readers would not be able to make it through the pages.

Despite the differences, there are times when Carter and Duffys works certainly seem to be on the same page.  Poems like Havisham explore the gap between the sign and the signifier, as a character that readers previously see as mostly unsympathetic is shown in abject misery, in an attempt to elicit pity from readers.  Carter, too, explores this gap between object and meaning in The Wise Children by situating the narrative in the realm of the theatre, where every action seems to have layers of meaning.  Dora, for instance, is focused on performing legitimacy her entire life, despite the illegitimacy of her birth.  Legitimacy, then, must be something that is personally determined, rather than some arbitrarily determined by others.  Of course, depending on how cynical one wanted to be, it can certainly be argued that the characters in Duffys work are performing legitimacy by their very presence, consciously chosen by the author to provide a feminine counterpoint to traditional male narratives.  This presents an interesting dilemma for modern feminist readers, as the agency exhibited by the characters is largely limited by the perceived legitimacy of those masculine counterparts.  If, for instance, one felt empathy with Dickens Pip as a character that is tormented by unrequited love, then Havisham becomes a sympathetic feminine counterpart, as well as an important feminist argument regarding how much more difficult society can make it for women jilted by men, rather than vice versa.  However, the more militant viewthat Great Expectations fostered the necessity of patriarchy in economy, society, and love as integral to the happiness of both men and womenthen Havisham could even be viewed as a triumphant work, with a character realizing the folly of making herself vulnerable to a man and taking active measures to ensure that she will never be at the mercy of a man again.

Both The Wise Children and The Worlds Wife offer ironic titles which give a hint as to the message each contains.  The Wise Children literally refers to Dora and Nora, who (particularly Dora) acquire wisdom through examinations of their lives and reconciliation with their father.  It also playfully tweaks the patriarchal idea of women as helpless children who are shaped by men.  Through Dora, we see a character that despite facing every hardship (poverty, lack of education, possible incest) emerges as an authentic voice, telling a story that is distinctly hers.  The Worlds Wife, too, has a playful title.  It is evocative of the wives of the world, which jives with the various stories that present the female perspective of a famous male.  However, it also broaches the topic of women as somehow belonging to the world, in the sense that they cannot have a separate identity.  History will never know Anne Hathaway in and of herself she will always be known as Shakespeares wife.  In telling these stories, Duffy challenges us to find the individual woman that has been historically hidden behind these famous men.

Both of these authors challenges notions of what it means to be a woman in what remains, unfortunately, a mans world.  Readers can certainly hope for a happy ending, as in the inexplicably amicable resolution of Wise Children.  However, Carter seems to be challenging, ironically, the legitimacy of this viewrather, she offers the idea that women waiting their entire lives for a fairytale ending are effectively wasting their lives.  Feminine agency, as elaborated on above, should not solely be the domain of the young.  However, on a very basic level, one does not want to be Dorato be seventy-five years old and still waiting for life to truly start.  Thats the problem with waiting on fairytalesone can be waiting a long time.  For Duffy, the challenges is to step out of the mans shadow, whether its the shadow of a memory (as in Havisham) or the shadow of fame (as in Elviss Twin Sister), one must step into the light, and not simply be an afterthought to a masculine voice.  Only then can a woman be who she wants to be, rather than who everyone else wishes them to be.

There are many stories and poems written by Edgar Allen Poe, but the Cask of Amontillado is a vicious, cold-blooded story that uses symbolism and irony to tell the tale.  The basic plot of the story is revenge, and while the reader does not know what the exact offense occurred from the words of author within the very first sentence of the story.  He sets the storys theme of revenge saying, The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.  Hence even from the beginning the author is quick to state the entire plot is revenge against Fortunato.

From the very beginning the symbolism shows itself and throughout every scene it continues.  The story takes place in Italy during carnival.  It is a time of celebration, and yet for the author it is the perfect time for revenge, which could also be seen as his own personal celebration of the destruction of the person who has offended him.  He searches for his victim and finds him costumed as a jester.  Fortunato, unfortunately, does not see the world around him in big scenes, but only the moment and at the moment he is easily swayed.  Jesters make fun of the world around them and are often the ones who say things that no one else can say, however, Fortunatos jester is more of an idiot or drunkard.

The author, now named Montresor is revealed to have come from a large noble family just as Fortunato.  However, Montresor slyly gains the trust of his friend to follow him to the vaults where he keeps his wine in the depths of the earth below.  The pretense of the journey to the vaults is based on a pretend bottle of Amontillado.  Montresor asks Fortunato to come and taste it to make sure it is really Amontillado, but then says that it is to damp. Fortunato, drunk as he is, wants to continue on in hopes of another drink.

As they travel deeper into the vaults and catacombs, Fortunato asks Montresor about his familys coat of arms.  One would think fortunate would get the hint at this point that things are amiss, but he does not.  Montresor explains that the coat of arms consists of a huge human foot dor, in a field of azure the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel.  Montresor is telling Fortuna in a very symbolic way that the Montresors destroy those people who injure them.  This is another moment where Poe reinforces the fact that this is the moment of revenge.

Once at the alcove, it takes only a few seconds to secure it meaning that as soon as they arrive at the alcove, he chains Fortunato to the wall.  Only now does the act of revenge prove cold-hearted, for here it is learned that Fortunato will be closed up in the wall to die of asphyxiation or starvation or both.  He will be alive when the last of the stones is plaster in place and will die alone in a black pit. Fortunato does not think this is really happening, but as the first level of stone is place, Fortunato seems to sober up and realize that he is dead.  He laughs and cries and tries to talk his way out of it, but in the end Montresor wins and is revenged for the offense.

Never is the offence disclosed.  For the reader does not know if the revenge is excessive for the offence.  One can only assume that the offence was so great that the revenge was to an acceptable degree of justice.  Montresor never thinks twice about his actions, and in the end it is not known if Fortunato even knows why the events are happening.  From the description of him at the beginning, one could assume that he would have never noticed the slight he gave to Montresor which makes this act even more heinous and cold-blooded.  But with all of Poes characters there are reasons and the reasons may not be explained completely, but things, justices occur and are often not excessive in their degree.

Crash is an Oscar-winning and highly-acclaimed film that addressed the variation in ethnicities and addressed the present diversity in the contemporary American society. The characters in the movie portrayed people from different ethnicities. The movie also portrayed the stereotypes associated with the different races. The film was exalted for its accurate portrayal of discussions only held in intimate and covert settings. The movie projected the conversations that illuminate the relationship between races in the United States. The movie portrayed different stereotypical roles of the different races, one of which is Jean, a typical White American female and a wife of district attorney. The movie projected a stereotypical role of American women.

Crash narrates the interweaving stories of different races in the contemporary American society. The story is about the racism happens in the interaction of Whites, Blacks, Koreans, Latinos, cops and criminals and the weak and the powerless. Two days in Los Angeles interrelated the characters of the movie through crimes and everyday activities in terms of racism and prejudice. The movie deals with the prevalent racism and discrimination in the modern society.

One of the characters in the movie is the White American female that was played by Sandra Bullock. She played the wife of a racist district attorney whom are carjacked by two African Americans. She is a typical female White American who seems like a damsel in distress that always need to be protected. She only mingles with her kind and the people from other races is the Latina helper that she hired who she treated badly. She also thinks maliciously towards other races like the locksmith who is a Latino whom she thought as a member of a gang that will sell a copy of her house keys to his amigos and will barge in her house and steal her things.

The movie is all about the racism and discrimination in the society. It reflects the reality of the prevalence of the disparity between races and ethnicities. The movie shows that people tend to be suspicious and judgmental towards other races and how this affect our daily life activities.

Vladimir and Estragon, and Pozzo and Lucky are more similar than it seems. Does this hold some significance in Samuel Becketts play Waiting for Godot The comparison between these two sets of characters holds a deeper meaning then what is presented out in the open. Vladimir and Estragon need each other, even when they have both said that they would be happier with out the other, and compared to Pozzo and Lucky they are in many ways the same, especially with their need of domination and submission, which can also be interpreted as dependency. The reader will also find the Beckett never changes the scenery. This adds a sense of repetition the never changing fact that he again links as to why the two cant leave each other. There are a series of events that unfold during the play that suggests there is a need for each other a sense that without their pairing, existence would be next to impossible.

Interpersonal relationships are the main key to understanding the complex union between Vladimir and Estragon. In the first scene the dependence that Estragon has for Vladimir is apparent immediately when he needs Vladimirs help, because he cant even take off his own boot
Estragon, sitting on a low mound, is trying to take off his boot. He pulls at it with both hands, panting He gives up, exhausted, rests, tries again. As before. Enter Vladimir VLADIMIR Hand in hand from the top of the Eiffel Tower, among the first. We were respectable in those days. Now its too late. They wouldnt even let us up. (Estragon tears at his boot.) What are you doing ESTRAGON Taking off my boot. Did that never happen to you VLADIMIR Boots must be taken off every day, Im tired telling you that. Why dont you listen to me ESTRAGON (feebly). Help me VLADIMIR It hurts ESTRAGON (angrily). Hurts He wants to know if it hurts VLADIMIR (angrily). No one ever suffers but you. I dont count. Id like to hear what youd say if you had what I have. ESTRAGON It hurts VLADIMIR (angrily). Hurts He wants to know if it hurts ESTRAGON (pointing). You might button it all the same. VLADIMIR (stooping). True. (He buttons his fly.) Never neglect the little things of life. ESTRAGON What do you expect you always wait till the last moment. VLADIMIR (musingly). The last moment . . . (He meditates.) Hope deferred maketh the something sick, who said that ESTRAGON Why dont you help me VLADIMIR Sometimes I feel it coming all the same. Then I go all queer. (He takes off his hat, peers inside it, feels about inside it, shakes it, puts it on again.) How shall I say Relieved and at the same time . . . (he searches for the word) . . . appalled. (With emphasis.) AP-PALLED. (He takes off his hat again, peers inside it.) Funny. (He knocks on the crown as though to dislodge a foreign body, peers into it again, puts it on again.) Nothing to be done. (Estragon with a supreme effort succeeds in pulling off his boot. He peers inside it, feels about inside it, turns it upside down, shakes it, looks on the ground to see if anything has fallen out, finds nothing, feels inside it again, staring sightlessly before him.) Well ESTRAGON Nothing. VLADIMIR Show me. ESTRAGON Theres nothing to show.  VLADIMIR Try and put it on again. ESTRAGON (examining his foot). Ill air it for a bit). (Beckett, 1)

This also shows how Beckett deems one of the characters (that appear in pairs) as playing the role of an almost a child-like individual. He goes on to prove through the inflection of the characters that Estragon is more simple minded and weak. In this same way, Lucky plays the weaker, less self-sufficient role with Pozzo. When reading Becketts work that is one of the first things you learn about their relationship. He very quickly makes clear how their entire existence is strongly based on each other. How one needs the other to survive.

Estragon depends on Vladimir to entertain him and remind him of the events that have happened as they wait for Godot, and Estragon portrays a life form of someone just for Vladimir to talk to. This would explain why Vladimir would voluntarily exchange his hat for Luckys, and it shows his desire for someone elses thoughts. It is in this instance that Beckett incorporates everyday human feelings man needing man. Beckett uses the full extent of the stage to elaborate on Vladimirs role as entertainer. In several scenes, the actor is directed to move about the stage wildly, and in some instances is dragged around by Estragon, floating and being placed where Estragons whims take him.

Both sets of characters represent the complex relationship of the boy within the man .Vladimir (the man) is more of an intellectual character, the problem solver, the patient one, while Estragon ( the young boy) is more impatient and ready to jump at almost anything. Both need the other in order to be balanced and this balance is necessary for sustainability. The reader finds that Vladimir stands throughout the majority the play when Estragon sits down most of the time and even falls asleep. Vladimir finds himself looking at the sky and talking about religious or philosophical matters. On the other side of things, Estragon is occupied with more base line activities like what is there to eat and how to stop the pain that he is in. He finds himself having a hard time remembering things but can recall certain matters when reminded. Estragons short-term memory is thought to be one of the reasons that they do not leave each other. (Hutchings 63) It is also a way that Beckett shows the roots of who the charter is.

The lighting and imagery used on the set coincides with the opposition of these two characters. In several instances, Beckett uses lighting to influence the mood of this tragicomedy and with the night and day metaphor in mind, one draws the conclusion that this play would not be complete without the tangible use of imagery to signal changes and transitions. In one scene the light suddenly fails...The moon rises back, mounts in the sky, stands still, shedding a pale light on the scene.

Becketts theme of pairs continues with Pozzo and Lucky as well as the constant dependency of the boy within the man. Pozzo and Lucky are first introduced by in Becketts play with Lucky entering on a leash made of rope with Pozzo behind him walking him. The reader will find that Beckett uses the rope around Luckys neck as a symbol of how the pairs are tied to each other in more ways then one. Even though Pozzo is more than capable of carrying his own things, its a sense of insecurity that makes him exaggerate his need for help. Beckett established just how badly Lucky is treated by directing the actor to pull on the rope till he falls. This leaves the reader (or audience) once again wondering why Lucky does not just leave.

Throughout these acts, Beckett uses stage direction to better illustrate the master and slave relationship between Pozzo and Lucky. In one scene, Lucky appears by himself only long enough to reach the middle of the stage before the audience (or reader) realizes that Pozzo is still behind Lucky as always, holding onto the rope and relying on him for direction, but still treating him very badly. They exit and enter together and follow each other around the stage for most of the piece, adding physical attributes to the inseparable relationship that is alluded to through their lines.

It is then revealed that they have been together almost 60 years and things have never changed. Lucky gets whipped and treated horribly because he is the horse pulling Pozzos carriage. It is a relationship that seems to an outsider to be cruel and unfair, but still, Lucky stays by his side. Over the years it has been debated on whether Pozzo and Lucky are similar to Vladimir and Estragon. Although it is apparent that Pozzo and Lucky are more or less Didi and Gogo written on a large scale, there is another thing happening in the background. Pozzo was mistaken for Godot by the two men, but when it came to Lucky, Pozzo is his Godot. Their coinciding themes are not as vivid as it comes across, however, upon closer inspection, it becomes evident that Lucky always possessed more influence in the relationship, for he danced, and more importantly, thought  not as a service, but in order to fill a vacant need of Pozzo. (McMullin Et al, 407) In the end, the reader realizes that the ongoing theme of this work is death, mans ultimate limitation. (Hutchings, 136) It is the fear that drives the characters, remains constant in the minds of the weaker minded, and is a force that creeps slowly towards us all.

Religion and God are two topics that show up, intentionally or subliminally, in most pieces of literature. Because religion is present in some form in the lives of most people, it stands to reason that it is usually a contributing influence or driving force in the works of writers. Religion is not necessarily a positive presence in literature in fact, it frequently causes turmoil or angst in characters. The conflict of religion in humanity and the way that religious views and events affect people and their lives is often reflected in literature. It can be seen in references to actual religious figures or events, stories centered on the church or practices of a particular sect or denomination, or in the internal struggle of characters with religious values and morals within their own lives and relationships. Writers often choose to represent their own conflicts with religion or beliefs in the lives and feelings of their characters, making them wrestle with the same dilemmas. The theme of religion and the conflict that it can cause in both a characters life and soul are elements that all readers can recognize, understand and relate to. Again, religion and the emotional issues that come with family or ethnic history, personal belief conflicts or ethical dilemmas are all things that most people face in their lives at some point. So writers can express feelings or issues with religion in their writing and readers can sympathize with the characters wrestling with religious conflicts for the same reason religion is something that everyone has strong feelings about, be they positive or negative. In both A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and The Virgin and the Gipsy, James Joyce and D.H. Lawrence present characters for which religion plays a significant role in their lives. For Joyce, the character is a representation of himself as a young boy, dealing with religion against the backdrop of cultural divides in Ireland between Catholicism and Protestantism, and confronting issues of damnation and salvation while coming of age in the shadow of the Catholic Church. Lawrences characters are fictional, but also live with religious undertones as an influential part of their lives. These novels both present religion as a force that the characters struggle with as they try to find meaning and direction in their lives.

James Joyces character of Steven Dedalus in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a self-portrait of Joyce himself growing up in Ireland. From the novels beginning, it is plain that religion was a source of emotion and conflict for Joyce and all the people of Ireland during this time, and that Joyce struggled as a boy to understand the issues and why so many of his fellow Irish and members of his own family are at odds over issues involving Catholicism and Protestantism. The fight that Stevens father and uncle have over Christmas dinner is a good example of the national conflict influencing family ties and causing tension within an otherwise tightly knit family. Steven had been looking forward to going home for dinner and begins as a happy family gathering, but as soon as the discussion turns to politics, his father and uncle start a heated argument. The argument centers on feelings for or against Charles Stewart Parnell. Parnell was a much-debated Irish figure because of his being rejected by the Catholic Church after having an affair. As a result, the Catholics in Ireland had strong feelings about aligning themselves for or against him, and whether or not one was in support of Parnell was seen as loyalty or disloyalty towards the Catholic Church. Stevens father and uncle argue about this, among other political and religious issues, and the argument becomes so heated with such offensive language that Stevens mother reprimands them both for speaking that way in front of Steven and tells them theyre ruining Christmas dinner, a reproach that doesnt stop either of them from yelling. During the argument, Steven is silent, trying to follow along with the debate and understand what it is that has his family so upset and why it matters. Its clear that young Steven doesnt understand why the people being discussed are worth so much discord in the family or the country. He doesnt understand the issues, and views religion as something that is dividing his family.

As Steven reaches puberty, he begins having lustful thoughts and sexual fantasies, which he scolds himself for doing because he recognizes it as a sin. But as his feelings grow, he stops caring so much. He cared little that he was in mortal sinHe wanted to sin with another of his kind, to force another being to sin with him and to exult with her in sin (105,106). He has spent so much of his childhood at religious school and church hearing over and over again how horrible it is to sin, that it becomes something he wants to experience. Once he starts appeasing his sexual desires with the prostitutes in the brothels, he realizes almost indifferently that he is damned and that there can be no atonement for him. As strongly as he has been taught to obey the Catholic Church, it is ironic that here he finds no refuge or solace in the ability to pray for forgiveness to absolve himself of sin. Instead, he feels that he is damned. His pride in his own sin, his loveless awe of God, told him that his offence was too grievous to be atoned for in whole or in part by a false homage to the Allseeing and Allknowing (111).

There are several passages in which religious stances and lessons are seen to contrast and be at odds with one another. Steven compares himself to the sentence of Saint James, feeling that his giving in to carnal sin was a gateway for him to commit many other sins that he could never atone for, yet later he feels pious and almost reborn in his newfound devotion to God and his religious studies. He hears a sermon in which he is reminded of the power of, the holy Catholic Church against which, it is promised, the gates of hell shall not prevail (128) but the rest of the sermon is a detailed description of the physical, emotional and spiritual torture suffered by those damned to hell. It is easy to see why Steven has mixed feelings and confusion about his devotion to the church and doubts about his own salvation when he is receiving mixed messages from the Catholic fathers that are supposed to be his authority figures and religious teachers.

The main characters in The Virgin and the Gipsy are sisters Yvette and Lucille. Though their father is a church leader and rector, there is ironically little religious instruction or influence in the home. All members of the rectors family are described as hating one another and resenting each other. The girls openly admit to each other that they despise church activities and choir participation and scheme to avoid it whenever possible. They lie to their grandmother, a woman that is represented as being hateful and spiteful instead of being a wise family matriarch, and mock their Aunt Cissie. The family is depicted as being miserable in spite of the fathers strong involvement in the church, there is clearly no religious influence at home leading the girls to behave gracefully, honestly or morally.

In spite of the lack of religious influence or pious behavior, Yvette and Lucille refer to themselves as godly and Christian several times and still feel, in spite of their arrogance and indifferent treatment towards their family members, that they are holy, pure women. When they meet the gypsies for the first time, they are set apart from her in a religious light instead of an ethnic one the six fresh-faced young Christians hung back rather reluctantly from this pagan pariah woman (473). The girls have done nothing overtly Christian and have no real religious devotion, nor do they know anything about the womans religious ties, but they and their companions are separated from the gipsy woman by their different religions. When they leave the gipsy woman, Yvette explains why she gave the woman extra money for telling her fortune with another religious inference You have to be a bit lordly with people like that (476). Again, she refers to herself as being aligned with God and holy, while insinuating that the woman is baser, lower or farther from God than she is by calling her people like that. Immediately following the fortune telling, it is revealed that Yvette took money that was supposed to be for a church collection fund and spent it on herself. This selfish theft is the furthest thing from Godly behavior, but she is still referred to as having lordly airs (477). It is as though Yvette doesnt want to be bothered to actually devote herself to God or her faith, but still feels justified in aligning herself with the church and calling herself a Christian in spite of her sinful behavior because her father is a rector and she views herself in a higher social standing than those around her.

There is also a presence of religious prejudice in the novel evidenced by the Jewish woman that Yvette meets while visiting the gipsy man. She is referred to only as the Jewess and is described with many of the stereotypes that were commonly associated with Jewish people. She has a big nose, is wealthy and cares a great deal about money. When the rector learns that Yvette has befriended the woman, he is more offended that the woman is Jewish than the fact that she is having an affair while still married, in spite of his own wifes infidelity and abandonment. This shows clear prejudice based on religion, a view that was considered socially acceptable.

Perhaps the most obvious presence of religion in the novel is the flood at the end. Yvette is told by the fortune teller to watch for water and is almost swept away when the reservoir breaks and the river overflows its banks. The flood destroys the house and kills the grandmother, and would have killed Yvette too if she wasnt saved by the gipsy man. He is a member of a group to which Yvette feels superior, but she has been drawn to the man throughout the novel and it is his quick action that saves her. They take shelter in her upstairs room because it is secure and will withstand the flood, much like Noah took shelter on the ark. The flood destroys the rest of the house, symbolically washing the house and family clean of the anger, resentment and negativity that had lived there in the hearts of the family members towards each other. Again, this mirrors Gods causing the flood to wipe out the sin and evil in the world. Though the novel ends shortly after this event, the reader is given a sense that with the death of the grandmother and the flooding of the home, the family is going to be forced to begin again, both in the material and the spiritual sense.

In both these novels, religious ties and devotion, or the lack of it, influences the actions of the characters. There is struggle with personal guilt over sins committed and sins committed with no guilt apparently felt at all due to selfish self-justification. Steven dealt with an offer to join the priesthood shortly after feeling that he was damned to eternal hell for the sins he had committed, and chose to reject it. Yvette came to see the power of God only after a natural disaster nearly claimed her life. The two had very different perspectives on God, with Steven acknowledging that religion and the Catholic Church were a driving force in his life, his family and his country. Yvette rejected the teachings of the church and any sort of devotion in favor of personal pursuits in spite of her fathers religious occupation. They would seem to be complete opposites in terms of influenced or unaffected by faith. But in the end, both had their lives changed by religion and its effects on them as people and their actions. Religion, be it fervent devotion or complete rejection, has the ability to affect anyone and change the course of anyones life. This is the reason that writers include it in their works of literature, and why readers relate to it time and time again.

Michael Novacek wrote with complete control of a subject that is very familiar to
him since he is a scientist. In The Sixth Extinction he had presented facts and
statistics that supported theories of histories of annihilations of living things.

These extinctions came before the existence of human form. With or without human
interventions, circumstances will happen that would cause these phenomena.  This is not
to excuse the human involvement to what happened to our environment today, in fact,
every species is a contributor to the slow or fast utilization of all elements that contain
this planet thereby causing its destruction. The human association of Novaceks theory in
the The Sixth Extinction is not far from coming to reality after all, we are the most
intelligent engineers to this planets toxic manipulations. In his article, the slow
obliteration of many species in this planet was caused by human engineered lethal waste
that was physically destructive to life as well as the environment. In this form will take
shape the sixth extinction and it is now making its manifestation to jumpstart at speed
that would wipe away species without much of a second glance. In 2007 according to the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 39 percent of the life form is
facing annihilation.  This is a realistic finding and hard truth about this planet.  One by
one, genus of lives finds a way to disappearance without chance of coming back.

Whatever reason there may be to it, the present generation of mankind may not find the
answer. At first glance, all things that happened in this world seemed like a mystery.

Novacek wrote with such dynamism and energy so that his conviction flowed unto his
words that made it very realistic as his facts and figures that were presented in his work.
The only way to make a simpler co-existence is to accept these as facts and learn not to
interfere with its process.  Yet life is not meant to be as without intervention. The process
of symbioses is the natural law that governs all living things in this inanimate earth.  The
planet itself is governed by the reality of other planets in the solar system and the
universe beyond. Each is affected by the energies it shared and any manipulation or
accident that disturbs its regular beat sends cosmic syndrome that affects us all. This is
supported by the meteor catastrophe theory that caused the incineration of many living
things million years ago, including the dinosaurs. Novaceks theory of another major life
clean up is very different from the last one although he wrote that the degree would not
be any less referring to the gauge that the IUCN has listed in their studies.  He
hypothesized that the cause of this would come from within humankinds own quests to
control and govern the planet.  The coming doomsday is mans own making.  He wrote,
we are our own asteroids. This proposition has shifted Novaceks balance in his article
from a scientific form of writing into a literary venture for intrigue. He is quite right of
his assumption even minus the facts that he presented at the beginning of his article.  This
proposition serves only to fulfil his goal of writing an article of this topic, whatever it
might be only he knew. Mans great inventions backfired and eventually will cause
his own destruction.

Novaceks style of presenting a scientific observation is a cross between an
objective study and a literary solicitation. His use of scientific data to present a
probability is directed towards the emotional aspect of the reader.  He emphasized on the
mode of total annihilation to drive an objective study into the minds of his readers by
making his style gloomy. He used words as doomsday, major shocks, and trauma to
inculcate into the psyche the immensity of the situation that has been threatening the very
existence of mankind. His use of the scientific evidence added the persuasive quality of
his work making it both a report and literary work at the same time.

Novacek however has a tendency to over sentimentalize. This description of his
work should not attach the derogatory part of my description.  I believe that there is a
critical excess of emotional connotation of his work so that the reader has a tendency to
treat it like a science fiction piece of literature. This could be evidenced by the use of
systematic data that he validated with a literary comparative expression as six-mile-wide
asteroid, (a mile higher than Mount Everest).
   
The Sixth Extinction   has presented the argument strongly that invited us all to
be responsible for our own survival.  Novacek could not be faulted in any manner and
disagreed against with the evidences that he presented in his article.  If I dwell in this
presentation however, nothing comes as safe even before the evolution of man.  Species
disappear totally and finally from causes completely without mans intervention.  Now
with his existence and advancement using the most potent force as scientific and logical
intelligence, it boomeranged and posed to hit back, engineering his total destruction.

What did it do to my psyche I could not appreciate anything because it might in the long
run destroy me. This is where the sentimentality of Novaceks article had asserted in the
readers  psychology. We can feel the delicate balance that Novaceks has characterized
his work. It is exciting but we cannot feel a solid ground beneath it because he made it so.
There is a degree of confusion as to what is the ultimate goal of this article.  Did Novacek
wanted to present a study for his reader to react to or he wanted to touch the poignant
sides of his readers to make them reflect and be guilty of their carelessness to their
environment  I am exaggerating. I wanted to explore the dimensions of Novaceks work
from beyond his presentation so that I will have a detached point of view rather than react
according to what I feel as I read his  article.

I could not allow myself to be governed with such subjective idea that could not
appreciate my hours in this beautiful world.  I would rather side with Novacek with
precaution. The world and the universe in general existed along with all the probabilities
of its destruction right from the very start of its existence.  If I would be allowed to set
aside my scientific reasoning and use a bit of literary beauty to express an argument
about life, I would say that the facts of life is stated in this beautiful line, today is the
first day of the rest of your life The line may be a bit too sentimental for a mind that
has advanced to studying and finding reasons and facts that are essential to our survival.

We all owe them our heartfelt and most sincere gratitude for finding the energy and
dedication for the preservation of our environment and our existence, for a fact. We also
need to do our share to that principle of self preservation.  It is our very responsibility that
would safeguard us to this inevitable force that is coming to us.  Novacek has stated too
that this is only one of the many probabilities that could that would cause this major
clean-up.  It is a phenomenon and therefore it escapes all forms of explanation and
reason.  To disagree with Novacek will be a very grave form of irresponsibility.  It could
amount to surrender and to attack the facts and information that he presented in his work
does not conform to mans superiority over the rest of life form, in terms of reason. We
all have a choice to be responsible, and with this responsibility it includes a choice for
living a more meaningful existence if it meant to be lost when the time comes for it to be.

Alias Grace, a mixture of authorial invention and historical facts and fiction, is a rich source of intertextuality. Margaret Atwood has reconstructed the nineteenth century historical fiction based on an iniquitous twin murder trial  and this very evident when Grace while adeptly sewing Tree of Paradise quilt remarks that she has changed the quilts pattern a little to suit (her) own ideas (459) where the quilt with a adapted pattern symbolizes intertextuality. This research paper delves into the historical and literary intertextuality focusing on the historical facts along with the fictional elements surrounding the enigmatic murderess Mark Grace. The paper further examines the link between Victorian and the postmodern literature with a special emphasis on Susanna Moodies Life in the Clearings and Atwoods Alias Grace. The paper also focuses on the literary intertextual concepts that Atwood shares with other twentieth century writers.

Margaret Atwood for the second time explores the life and trial of the infamous murderess Grace Marks in her ninth novel Alias Grace. Atwood in this historical narrative fiction takes the reader back to nineteenth century by probing into the life and mind of a so called notorious and one of the most inscrutable criminals of those times. Grace Marks is an enigmatic murderess of the Victorian age when women were epitomized both as a symbol of morality as well as evil manipulators and seducers. According to Cristie March Alias Grace is an authorial mosaic which includes the point of view of several characters along with the journal entries, poems, diaries, newspaper reports and letters related to Graces trial. (1) The novel unfolds as Grace Marks, serving her time in the penitentiary recounts her life story to a young Dr Simon Jordan. It is an open ended fiction with an interesting twist which doesnt identify Grace as guilty or innocent but leaves the readers to make up their own mind.

Reading today has become a journey from one text to another. The meaning of a text lies between the text and the various texts referred and related to this text. This results in the network of textual relations and the birth of intertextuality. Alias Grace addresses several themes such as gender, class, history, duplicity, psychoanalysis, intertextuality and ethnicity. Intertextuality was introduced by Julia Kristeva in 1960s and she referred to texts in two different axes horizontal axes which connect the author and the reader of the text, and vertical axes which connect the text to other texts. These two axes are connected by means of shared codes. But in the recent times intertextuality refers much more than the influences of the writers on each other. Hantiu in his literature states that Alias Grace employs the post-modern narrative technique in order to explore the instable personal identity and historical knowledge. This fiction is an intertextual novel with multiple voices and is known to employ many sources, inserting authentic letters which are exchanged among a few characters and other types of texts in the narrative. Atwood herself quotes a number of writers who provide their views over Kinnear murders and each of their points of view is different from the other writers. Further the character of Grace in the novel is a portrait painted after taking into account the descriptions of different people in various angles.

Rosario Arias Doblas states that In the past three decades many women writers are interested in writing fictions set in the Victorian Age and hence there is a proliferation of historic fiction set in the Victorian period. (86) The fictions of several women writers such as A.S. Byatt, Sarah Waters and Margaret Atwood reflect their desire to rewrite history by exploring into the past, in particular the Victorian Age. They further narrow down to investigate the point of view of female characters whose voices were hardly heard in the past.

Alias Grace is an amalgamation of scientific, social and psychological issues of the nineteenth century. Further the novel relates to several critical subjects such as slavery, bondage, abortion, the illegitimate relationship between the maid and the master and the like. Alice Grace illustrates strong intertextual relationship where the novel primarily holds reference to two other texts which depicts a different version of Grace Marks life story  Susanna Moodies Life in the Clearings (1853) and Atwoods The Servant Girl (1974), a television drama written primarily based on Moodies version. This fiction is a reconstruction of the past. Atwood herself in her Authors Afterword, gives an account of all those texts used by her to construct Alias Grace. All these materials firmly support her to establish a dialogue between the past and the present. In fact the historical event has been interpreted in various forms for more than a century and the above two texts along with Atwoods Alias Grace provides an excellent road map for an intertextual analysis. Alias Grace opens in 1851 and ends in 1872.

The story of Mark Grace is narrated by Atwood at several levels. Grace herself ponders over her past and the recollections are narrated in the chronological order. Dr. Simon Jordan retrospectively presents the story through his thoughts and action. Further his letters and the reports of Grace develop the plot medically. The quilt-patches, blood and flowers are important metaphors which communicate a deep sense of meaning to the text. Apart from the perceptible narration of events, the plot is also built up on memory and dreams which relates to pre-Freudian psychoanalytical concepts.

The narrative technique employed by Atwood successfully holds a connection between the past and present intact which mirrors a well-known fact that past still lingers in the present and the present is interwoven with the past. Further the fiction is moved to a state of spectral novel by utilizing the literary texts as the voice of spirits and ghosts and thereby maintaining the continuity of the past and the present. Atwood within her own feminist perspective has tried to bring the story of Grace to spotlight with the help of history, science and historiography. Further Shiller states that the neo-Victorian novels are laying more emphasis reconstructing the past and on the events and people left out by history and hence manages to preserve and celebrate the Victorian past. (541) The presence of intratextual references in the presentation of Graces story in terms of ballads, letters, newspaper cuttings and other historical documents reflect the myths and fantasies associated with contemporary definitions of Victorian Women. Hantiu rightly points out that Graces story is just one of the many telling about the destiny of an Irish immigrant to Canada, a story constructed out of many pieces of evidence but still uncertain. But doesnt history itself mean effacement and mingling of records, isnt clearly marked down as a semiotic of uncertainity (8)

I think of all the things that have been written about me  that I am an inhuman female demon, that I am an innocent victim of a blackguard forced against my will  And I wonder, how can I be all of these different things at once (Atwood, Alias Grace, 23)

Intertextuality is a common element found in most Canadian women writers belonging to different periods and Atwood is no exception. Faye Hamill demonstrates the interdependent and mutually nourishing (140) intertextual relationships by drawing various illustrations from novels, letters, magazines, diaries and speeches. Margaret Atwoods reading of Susanna Moodies Life in the Clearings (1853) has brought in a rewarding experience of the writer. It initially inspired Atwood to attempt The Journals of Susanna Moodie (1970) by making use of actual excerpts to turn Moodies experience into a hypnotic mind and sense disorientation trip. On the contrary, it was Moodies diary which gave the impetus and input to write the much celebrated Alias Grace. According to Hantiu,
What Atwood insists on in her novel is a kind of postmodern loss of identity In order to replace what she had lost, to reduce the dissonance, she surrenders to the culture of the moment  This is why she assumes either Mary Whitneys or Nancy Montgomerys identity to such an extent that for long periods of time Grace is but an alias. (4)

The concept of intertextuality is meant to designate a kind of language which, because of its embodiment of otherness, is against, beyond and resistant to mono(logic). Earlier Atwood had complete trust and faith over a monologic interpretation of truth and knowledge. She assumed that a non-fiction narrates only truth. Based on this assumption, she wrote The Servant Girl (1974) based on Susanna Moodies Life in the Clearings which became Atwoods primary source. But with Alias Grace Atwood has successfully deconstructed Susanna Moodie by exposing the errors and biased approach in the non-fictional account of Mark Graces trial. In the postscript of Alias Grace, Atwood herself writes about The Servant Girl that it relied exclusively on the Moodie version, it cannot be taken as definitive. (467) But again Alias Grace does not attempt to replace the previous play written in 1974.
The roots of Alias Grace easily convey the message that it is a historical novel which is based on a sensational twin murder case in the nineteenth century. But Atwood has crafted this fact with all the ingredients of a fiction and has rendered a perfect package to the readers. Along the fictional element of the twin murder, the fictional episodes included are illegitimate love affair between the master and the housekeeper, protagonist Grace with a distressing Irish background and the vicious murder. Atwood not only bring to light the disturbed psyche of the murderer but also the class distinction, gender discrimination and social status. Though the novel moves centrally around Grace Marks, Atwood reflects the many hues of power relationships in the fiction. In particular the female characters in the novel are depicted with a realistic approach in every sense, bringing the nineteenth century lifestyle live before the eyes of the readers. History plays a crucial role in the narration of Graces life story and hence holds a story element of intertextuality in Alias Grace.

Atwood writes The Past belongs to us, because we are the ones who need it. (229) Grace is considered to be an unreliable narrator who does not recount the actual truth but what the people around her wish to hear. As a result, there are multiple perspectives surrounding the character of Grace. Though Atwood completely relied on Moodies accounts earlier, she identified severe contradictions later. But similar to Grace, Atwood believes that every one of us has a multiple perspective and approach. Hence By reconstructing and renegotiating Moodies historical past imaginatively, Atwood pays homage to her as a literary foremother who, though dead, continues to live on Apart from several intratextual references such as papers, poems, articles and scrap book, there are numerous references to intertextual dialogue by employing poetry and fiction of Emily Bronte, Robert Browning, Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthrone, H.W.Longfellow, Emily Dickinson, Poe, Tennyson and William Morris apart from the excerpts from Sussana Moodies Life in a Clearing.

The ambiguity in the conclusion of Alias Grace reminds us of Charlotte Brontes Villette as Atwood leaves the fate of Grace open. It is up to the mind of the reader to decide whether Grace is haunted by her guilt of the twin murders or her repressed memories of the past. Further Wilson states that
Although Alias Grace is a historical novel, based on the nineteenth century crime, history is as much a construction in this postmodern and postcolonial novel (225).

Historical intertextuality is very evident in the postmodern fiction because without the historical accounts of the twin murder, Atwood would not have come out this fiction. Further the influence of Victorian past, the life style of the people, their thought process, their attitude towards various aspects of life and manner are all well captured by this neo-Victorian novelist and has added the spice of fictional element only when Atwood was not able to relate to the historical facts. Apart from the primary literary influence of Susanna Moodie, Atwood has numerous literary intertextuality references in the fiction ranging from Charlotte Bront to Edgar Allen Poe.

To conclude, Alias Grace is a multi-dimensional historical narrative which is sometimes a tales of Scheherazade and a slice of history of the Canadian immigrants and at other times a thrilling courtroom drama and successful reconstruction of Victorian past. It is an amalgamation of narrative, history and storytelling and therefore rightly termed as a verbal quilt. Each of the fifteen sections of the novel is titled in the name of a quilt pattern, an important reflection of intertextual reference and Grace does her role extremely well as a skilled seamstress stitching the plot to perfection with a figurative movement from the quilt to guilt.

Atwoods use of the quilt patterns, the separate individual patterns beautifully interwoven to craft a quilt is a manifestation of intertextuality in her fiction and the open ended conclusion of the fiction is largely due to the historical and literary intertextuality. Therefore Atwood leaves it to the readers to determine whether Grace is sane or insane, a victim of circumstances or a perfidious murderer, innocent or guilty.