English Literature

The America of African-American poet Claude McKay was a growing and proven power on the world stage, while at home racial and other social tensions bubbled beneath the surface of the culture. During the 1920s, African-American poets and artists such as McKay had converged upon Harlem in New York City and had created a cultural renaissance, aptly named the Harlem Renaissance. Seeking to be representative of their own often ignored culture and of the nation as a whole, McKay and his peers challenged the status of African-Americans across the nation. In his poem America McKay presents a country that is at odds with itself. In language that succinctly represents the notion of a nation as a living and, therefore, dying entity, the American portrayed by McKay is one rife with inequality and injustice. From the beginning of the short, fourteen-line poem McKay bombards the reader with language which evokes images of violence, roiling oppositional forces of nature, and strength which is crumbling under its own hypocrisy. If America is unable to embrace all factions of itself, rather than turning away and against the various racial and social groups within its borders, it will doom itself to the deterioration of the very values by which it is defined.

McKay begins the poem America by professing an embittered love for this cultured hell that tests my youth. America is not, for those caught under the thumb of oppression, a land of opportunity. It is a beast which has the power and the prerogative to abuse and destroy the children of her land. The bread of bitterness fed to those, who like McKay, struggle with the values preached by the idealized version of democracy is a product of the realization that such values seem to be rarely realized by those they should serve. For someone like McKay, who had been raised in a culture that promoted the very American ideals while rejecting him, such things as truth and justice must have seemed a disturbing joke. While told that these ideals represent America, minorities in the early 20th century were confronted by the reality of Americas limitations. Wooed by promises of truth, justice, and freedom such dreams are sharply upended when the reality of America sinks into my throat her tigers tooth, Stealing my breath of life. In beginning the poem in this manner, through the comparison of America to a vicious, though beautiful and powerful, animal McKay attempts to show the nature of a country which promotes the rights of some while continually oppressing others. He is equally illustrating the predatory nature of the social and physical aggression of the nation against its own people, making prey of what could in reality be its strength.

The poem is taken farther into the developing metaphor of violence the vigor of the beast illustrates the power of such a foe. From this power, inherent not only in the choice of the word vigor but in the image of a tiger meeting and devouring its prey, McKay himself is able to gain strength. Such strength is derived not merely from the challenge of such abject hatred but also from a jaded love for the values of the American way of life. McKay cannot fully believe the rhetoric that espouses these ideals but at the same time he is unable to discard his love for them. However, this love is not reciprocal and is instead returned by a deeply seated racism at the heart of his birth. The challenges McKay faces as an African-American in early 20th century American society are strongly imbedded not simply in the social culture but also the political framework of the country. In confronting racism, McKay illustrates that to overcome racism is not to triumph over individuals but instead over the institutional hatred that seems to define public and governmental opinions. Such hatred is of a largesse which McKay describes as a bigness that sweeps my being like a flood. Like the image of the tiger, this hatred is powerful and ultimately destructive to that which falls in its path.

Moving away from the symbols of nature, the tiger and flood, the second half of the poem concentrates on a more historical viewpoint of political upheaval, as a rebel fronts a king in a state, I stand within her walls with not a shred Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer. His rebellion is not against the ideals of the American dream but instead against its unequal application. McKay and others like him do not wish to rewrite the edicts of justice and truth as cornerstones to American society but instead to see them applied equally to all. By specifying that his protest is not one of terror, malice, not a word of jeer, the poet is illustrating a desire to uphold American values without discrimination. While attacking the status quo, which enforces a culture of racism and inequality, McKay does not view his literary action as akin to the violent upheavals of history. He stands beside the dream while voicing an opposition to its application. The imagery of the rebel fronting the king most closely enforces this view because it is not a confrontation that would destroy the state but rather one that will strengthen it. In recognizing the role of African Americans within the American culture, the nation itself stands to gain an ally and not a foe. McKays image is one of strength America and African Americans present equally strong aspects of cultures at odds but equally able to sustain and enrich the other.

Despite the idea that African Americans can strengthen and enrich the future of America, McKay is skeptical of the reality of this vision. His view, representative of the cultural viewpoint of African Americans, shows a belief in the inability of the American culture he knows to absorb and accept him as part of its whole. Viewing the possibilities of the future, McKay remarks, Darkly I gaze into the days ahead, exudes a pessimism that compliments the violent imagery of the first half of the poem. Rather than viewing the future as a possibility of the assimilation of the present and the future, McKay predicts a cataclysmic view of change. The might and granite wonders that indicate the strength and physical presence of a civilization built upon ideals it has yet to fully realize, particularly in concern for their own population, will fall under the pressure of their own limitations. It is evident that the might is of the same power evoked in the imagery of the tiger and flood. The granite wonders may be viewed within the context of civilization itself, not merely that of America but all of Western civilization which can be seen as historically representative of both advancement and oppression. Neither the strength nor civilization, evoked in these images, however can withstand the turning of time and the political and social changes that will inevitably occur. If America is unable to build upon its mistakes than Times unerring hand will act of its own accord. Such an unjust society cannot withstand its own hatred and culturally debilitating policies but must instead expand upon its own ideas. Without a more open understanding of itself, as integrative and reflective of not merely whites but all ethnic and social groups, the America of which McKay speaks will expedite its own demise. Instead of rising and building upon its strength, the very power and violence that has allowed the systems of inequality and racism to persist will destroy it. Within this context, not only will the negative attributes of such a society be destroyed but also the hope and beauty of the ideals of American justice and democracy. The priceless treasures McKay describes as sinking in the sand in the final line of the poem are these ideals of democracy and not their hypocritical representations.

Through McKays poem America we can glean a view of how integral but equally destructive the forces of inequality and racism are on a society. In images of nature and history, McKay shows the reader the violence and baseness inherent to such institutions as well as the hypocrisy at the root of the problem. The America McKay professes to love, is not the America in which he lives his daily life, instead it is the America that he has been taught to dream of and yearn towards. It is an unreality based upon ideals that has yet to be realized for the millions of African Americans who are an integral, though separate part of society. In continuing a tradition of hatred and hypocrisy, such a civilization cannot flourish in rejecting African Americans it was rejecting itself and its own future. In McKays view, if American society cannot desist in its predatory assault upon its own people it cannot flourish and will finally fall prey to itself.

Every company holds a different style of management depending on the vision and mission of each company. I would like to compare and contrast between two Korean companies Samsung and LG Electronics Company in terms of their distinct management styles and justify why LG is a better performing company. For example, Samsung prefers vertical management while LG Electronics management style is horizontal management style. To further elaborate, I have five points that will allow me to compare the management style of each company as well as their similarities and differences. These five points are human resource management, research and development, role of management, mission and vision, and leadership.

The human resource management key point will show us how both companies manage their employees. Both companies are similar in holding value for each employee. Both companies also provide an appropriate working environment for their employees to excel.  However, Samsung does not allow labor unions in their company therefore, they do not negotiate with their employees who are part of any union. On the other hand, LG allows labor unions and they usually negotiate with them. Samsung and LG Electronics also differ in the way they treat their subcontractors.

The mission and vision key point shows the goals of the companies. To fully compare these two companies, let us look into each companys mission and vision statement. Samsung envisions itself to be the leader in digital union movement. Paired with innovation and various solutions provided for future circumstances, they want to achieve this main goal. Samsungs mission statement is to focus on three things management, organization, and industry innovation. LG Electronics has a different mission and vision as each company has their own unique set of mission and vision statements.  LG Electronics provides long-term and detailed specific goals. LG Electronics envisions itself to be one of the top three leading electronics innovator and providers of electronics.

Another key point is the leadership and the role that management plays in the company. The Samsung management team believes that they must create top of the line innovative products that can help make our society more efficient. They also believe that management must perform at its best and by doing so they can boost up organizational productivity.  Samsung puts into mind five business principles in the company. They believe in the philosophy of producing great people who make a great company.  Their management focuses on three major leadership schemes. The first leadership scheme is product leadership while LG believes that by providing training people they can perform in producing innovative products and solutions for the upcoming market trends and demands. The second leadership scheme is market leadership. LG wants to continuously expose their company and product into the market. Both companies have established their existence onto the international market. Their third leadership scheme grants people leadership. LG believes that by selecting and nurturing the best candidates, they can achieve the full.

Therefore I conclude that both Samsung and LG provide a wide range of opportunities to develop its employees. Samsung breathes a more professional air into the business giving a barrier for its employees to communicate effectively to the company. However, it is in how each company manages them that makes them better. LG uses the downward approach, which allows more employees to be more participative in the company.

World news has been awash with news regarding tensions in the Korean Peninsula, which is the most militarized peninsula in the world. It is hard to believe that under a century ago South Korea and North Korea were a unified state sharing the same fears and destiny. Thus, I find the Korean case to be intriguing and that is why I would like to do a bit of an investigation in to the dynamics affecting these two countries.  These two nations have grown so much apart that one would think the name Korea is a mere expression of geographical consideration like the larger American continent. The two Korean republics are in a perpetual state of tension, but some optimists are still of the opinion that they can be reunited. Is that possible While I agree that the Korean people have a shared history, years of estrangement has led to vast political, economic and social differences that reconciling them would be near impossible.

North Koreans have never participated in a substantive democratic process in their lives. In fact, they hardly understand the title of their leader Kim Jong il because the title president was rested with the death of Kims father, who was henceforth christened eternal president. These northerners would suffer a culture shock if they were asked to go in to an election to elect a president or an equivalent to Kim. South Koreans on the other hand, have had pluralism since 1980s, and even before democracy, their country leadership exercised tolerance to social pressure groups such as student unions. More often than not, when democracy is introduced in a society, it faces teething problems, the most prominent manifestation of the problem being violence. The problems may however be aggravated if there is an awareness gap between the resident populations as this would lead to a feeling of unfairness by one  of the groups. There is a huge awareness gap between the North and the South and the consequences of subjecting the two to a unified democratic process would be too grave to contemplate.

Nonetheless, political differences pale when compared to economic differences. In terms of economic differences the two nations are worlds apart. While the Southerners live in relative abundance and material prosperity, the North Koreans have issues with the most basic human needs such as food. For lack of a better term to use, North Korea is a banana republic. The country is ruled by small elite of rulers that control everything to the extent that there are no independent businesses in the country. Compare this to South Korea which has a few global brand names to its repute. Clearly, it would take some time before North Koreans can be taught the principles of free enterprise so as to put them at par with the their southern brothers.

Looking at their social set ups the two have more similarities here compared to the other two categories. The main similarity is that the two have largely retained their Korean dialect with a slight variation, which is to be expected for two communities that have grown apart for that long. Looking at their religions however, the North Korean side has had the growth Christianity stifled at the behest of the ruling elite. This has led to fewer Christians in the North and even worse is the fact that children born in the country today are indoctrinated with the teachings that elevate the countrys supreme leader to a demigod status. Such is the brainwashing that is happening to the North Koreans yet, the Southern population has lived with enjoyment of full civil liberties. As a result, South Korea has a fair mix of religions with Christianity being the majority religion.

The two societies are not very homogeneous as their names suggest. The only similarity is the language, but that alone cannot be used to stake a claim for reunification. It has been noted that North Koreans fleeing their oppressive government find easier to match their dialects with of the Southerners, but that is where their assimilation stops. The northerner will find it hard adapting to his new found freedom and will even have a behavior conspicuous enough for him or her to be identified as a Northerner. Similarly, economically speaking, if the two were to be unified then the South should be ready to pay a heavy price to bring their brothers income at par with theirs. In conclusion, I would like to disagree with those who say that if the current North Korean leadership were to be replaced, reunification would be a reality. That is not true the issues impeding a reunification are far more complicated than Kim Jong ils leadership and If the two have to be reunified then the above differences have to first be bridged.

The psychological perspective of analysis can easily be identified as the type of literary criticism that focuses on the psychological aspect of the characters and answers the questions on why they did what they did. Their whole character growth and development are taken into consideration and most especially, their motivation for their actions and words are scrutinized in terms of why they happened because of the psychological state of their minds. The psychological perspective of analysis both envelops the science of psychology with its technical terms and the close reading of the literary work also known as formalism. Most famous and notable for the psychological analysis of literature is the psychoanalysis pioneered by Sigmund Freud wherein he relates motivations of characters as being offspring of their unconsciousness, sexuality, and suppressions controlled by the society. When a literary work is seen through the psychological perspective, it is psycho-analysis which is usual applied, and this can be understood more in the psychoanalytical study of Susan Glaspells Trifles and Sophocles Oedipus the King.

The play Trifles written by Susan Glaspell is the type of literature that feminists would most likely love to analyze since it portrays the oppressions done to women by the patriarchy-dominated society. The play centers on the investigation of the sheriff, the witness (who also happens to be the neighbor), and the County Attorney on the murder of John Wright as committed by Mrs. Wright. The men in the story are finding angles on the reason why a nice woman like Mrs. Wright would think of killing her own husband. Naturally, the wife of the sheriff and the witness tag along, and they are the ones who discover the reason due to their observations on why Mrs.Wright would kill her own husband. The men laugh at their observations and call them such trifles since they are not worthy of attention.

The tragic play of Sophocles is more known as Oedipus Rex, and is part of a trilogy with Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus being the other two. Oedipus Rex or Oedipus the King focuses on the life of King Oedipus and the whole unraveling of his identity. In the play, it is revealed that Oedipus has killed his own father and committed incest by marrying his own mother unknowingly since he has no idea that they are his real parents. It is discovered that when Oedipus was born, a prophecy was foretold that Oedipus would kill his own father and because of this, his mother gave him away to have him killed. As everything comes to the open, Oedipus feels aghast over what he has done he relinquishes his throne and exiles himself.

Using the psychological perspective of analysis, Trifles makes it quite obvious on why Mrs. Wright would kill her own husband, and this is explained by the inspection done by Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters over Mrs. Wrights things. They understand that the trifles that the men laugh at are actually very important aspects of Mrs. Wrights identity as a woman, wife, and person. Thus, in a psychological perspective, Mrs. Wright committed the murder because subconsciously, she was feeling suffocated by the restrictions placed by her husband. The patriarchal society does not help with alleviating these feelings with their support of a man ruling and having the say in the house. The neglected wifely duties can be interpreted as Mrs. Wrights unconsciousness coming to the surface, and she fights back against her duties since she associates this with her husbands suppressions. The caged bird can also be a symbol of the feelings of Mrs. Wright as she feels locked up by both restrictions imposed by her husband and the society. Lastly, there are two other important things which make Mrs. Wright as a very valuable character in terms of psychoanalysis, and this is the murder of John Wright and the keeping of the dead bird. The murder is of course, Mrs. Wrights resort to free herself, and this violent act surfaces as the id of a person, which according to Freud, is the part of a human being that knows no distinction between right and wrong. Thus, Mrs. Wright felt the need to kill her husband and she did it even if it was wrong. On the other hand, the keeping of the dead bird and even allotting some form of shrine for it can be seen as the secret attraction of Mrs. Wright to dead bodies even if it was just a bird. Necrophilia in literature is not uncommon, but Mrs. Wrights shrine for the bird can be interpreted into two ways one is that she harbors feelings for things already past, and the other is she harbors a desire for dead bodies. The latter can be supported by the fact that she killed her husband and refused to acknowledge that he was dead. If it was not for their neighbor asking for the husband, there is a likely chance that she would have kept the dead body as it was.

With the case of Oedipus the King, it is much more controversial since the famous Oedipus Complex derives from this play and the Complex being the incest relationship of a son with his mother. The situation is that a son develops feelings for his mother and in light cases, he just looks up to her. In serious and dire cases however, his feelings go as far as harboring sexual desires for her. This relationship can be explained by various motivations with regard to the character and experiences of the son, but in Oedipus case, it is quite simple. Following the plot of the play, 1) Oedipus leaves the kingdom of his adopted parents upon learning that he is not their real son 2) he kills his own father unknowingly when he meets him and 3) he marries his mother as a form of a prize with helping to liberate her kingdom. Oedipus killing his father is caused by the surfacing of his unconsciousness.

Even if Oedipus acted out in self-defense, the fact that he killed someone else is morally wrong. This killing is both a manifestation of his unconsciousness over the realization that he has never known real affections with his parents (and most especially with his mother), and then he also unconsciously eradicated his competition for the affections of his mother. Oedipus repressed sexual desires for his mother and it comes out when he marries her and she becomes his wife. While he was not really sure that she is his mother, he still refuses to believe it even if evidences are stacked against him to the point that there is an overwhelming proof of it eventually, he has no choice but to also believe it.

To conclude, the motivations of both the characters of Mrs. Wright and Oedipus over their crime of killing may be explained by the psychological turmoil that they have been experiencing over restricted norms and repressed sexual desires. The psychoanalytic reading of Trifles and Oedipus the King helps readers to understand better the development of the character and coaxes a deeper appreciation for the literary work and its theme. While there are various symbolisms in the two plays, their tone and theme are somewhat the same. The tone is that of being gloomy since the tragic hero and heroine meet such sad endings. However, even if they have such tragic fates they were able to liberate their desires even for a little while. In the end, they were able to feel a little bit amount of freedom.

Almost five decades ago, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his I have a dream speech at the Lincoln memorial in Washington. The speech is considered as the most famous speech of all time due to its strong message and the sour rhetoric King used in the speech. The speech electrified the whole of the United States and inspired the African Americans to fight for equality. Today, over forty years after the speech was delivered, it is significant to the lives of the Americans.

There are many speeches that were inspiring given by Martin Luther King Jr but I have a dream speech has remained significant to the lives of Americans for many years. The dream of American nation living according to the words its creed that all are equal is still verve in the American society. The speech is a source of inspiration to the people of America to treat each other indiscriminately irrespective of the individuals race, gender, nationality, religion or political affiliation.  

The speech hammers to the Americans the need for the all Americans to rise up and fight social injustices in the community. In his speech, King repeats the word dream severally instilling hope for a better future for the Americans. He also brings forward the need for all Americans, sons of slaves and slaves owners, to combine efforts towards attaining the American dream. He also brings forward the need for reconciliation as the oppressors and the oppressed would one day share a table of brotherhood. To drive home his point, American dream, he used examples such as Mississippians, which were much more affected by racial discrimination to show that despite the many challenges there is still hope.

In conclusion, Kings speech is still significant today in the lives of Americans many years after it was delivered. Some of the Kings dreams have been attained where racial discrimination has reduced significantly.

Fairy tales have been with us since we could remember ourselves. The stories of miraculous transformations and terrific achievements lead us to believe that nothing is impossible in this world. Yet, we hardly ever realize that the fairy-tales that teach us the basic conventions of life are actually written to reflect and evaluate the existing social order. In many aspects, fairy-tales are designed to prepare us to the realities of the social life and to make sure that we follow its norms and the accepted standards of behavior. Hans Christian Andersens The Little Mermaid is the bright example of how fairy-tales elaborate on the accepted gender roles in a patriarchal society. The Little Mermaid exemplifies the dominance of the male power over the female muteness and shows a woman as the victim of her social choices, which are initially limited to the extent that shows social control and social castration as the only path a woman can choose in her life.
 
The story of The Little Mermaid is well-known and is loved by thousands of children all over the world, but only recently has the fairy-tale become an object of the peer gender analysis. An adult reader cannot but notice the pain and understanding, with which Andersen describes his protagonist and the gender implications, which the author is trying to reveal and deliver to his readers. The Little Mermaid is the youngest and the prettiest of her sisters her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea but like all the others, she had no feet, and her body ended in a fishs tail (Andersen). It would be fair to assume that the presence of the fishs tail and the absence of legs in young mermaids is, on the one hand, the sign of their belonging to one and the same sea society and, on the other hand, a reliable instrument of restraining their desire to become a part of the human world. They wished themselves back again in the water, and after a month had passed they said it was much more beautiful down below, and pleasanter to be at home (Andersen). As such, the features of the patriarchal belonging are rooted at the bottom of the sea, where several sisters are destined to live their lives in accordance with the norms and standards of their society and have to subject themselves to the dominant power of their father and their community. This is, probably, where the Little Mermaid learns the principles and importance of self-sacrifice and this is, probably, where she prepares herself to giving away her life to a man. That is why she is the one to save the prince from death without a single hope for a reward But to her he sent no smile he knew not that she had saved him. This made her very unhappy, and when he was led away into the great building, she dived down sorrowfully into the water (Andersen).

That the Little Mermaid takes a difficult decision to get rid of her fishs tail and to turn into a human being is in no way the sign of her desire to break the conventional norms of her community and to go against her fathers will. On the contrary, this is where the power of the patriarchal society becomes even more formidable the Little Mermaid is destined to forever give away her charming voice in exchange for a beautiful body, thus turning into a patriarchal ideal that is both beautiful and mute. Your fishs tail, which amongst us is considered so beautiful, is thought on earth to be quite ugly they do not know any better, and they think it necessary to have two stout props, which they call legs, in order to be handsome (Andersen). Beauty in the patriarchal world carries out a number of functions it confirms a womans belonging to the patriarchal society it confirms a womans submissiveness to the norms of this society it also positions a woman as a victim of these norms and shows that beauty is the only way to happiness  I would give gladly all the hundreds of years that I have to live, to be a human being only for one day, and to have the hope of knowing the happiness of that glorious world above the stars (Andersen). The patriarchal world treats woman depending on her appearance and not what may hide behind it, and those who do not follow the predetermined set of beauty norms are doomed to spend their lives rejected and lonely. As such, the Little Mermaid finds herself in the patriarchal world, which does not welcome self-expression and female freedom, which imposes gender limitations and conventionalities on women, and which makes women follow the predetermined set of beauty norms. These norms do not leave any room for the Little Mermaids voice but turn her into a unique combination of a beautiful form, graceful walk, expressive eyes, and cleanliness (Andersen). Muteness is the price which the Little Mermaid is bound to pay for her becoming a part of the gray human mass.

It looks that the source of the mermaids power resides in her beauty, but it is only partially true. What Andersen tries to say is that the female beauty in the patriarchal society must lead a woman to being with a man, and not a woman or her beauty but a man next to the woman will be the source of the main power for her and for the rest of society. A womans appearance is something that can enchain a mans heart, but it is only by cutting her tongue (either physically or literally) that can she feel a proud member of the human world. Women in a patriarchal society are destined to undergo numerous pains and tortures in order to become perfectly beautiful and thus, to turn into the objects of desire for men. Pride must suffer pain (Andersen), and women accept their fate with muteness. The need for the Little Mermaid to cut away her tail is just one out of many examples of how women change their appearance in order to conform to the norms of beauty in the patriarchal world. As a part of this physical transformation and from her hands-on knowledge of the human world, the Little Mermaid learns the value of self-sacrifice, the power of the male choice, and the power of gender conventionalities. She silently agrees to sleep at the princes door, to wear a pages dress, to accompany him on horseback and to walk with him through the woods, although her legs bleed every time they decide to travel to the distant places (Andersen). The Little Mermaid learns to silently accept her fate and realizes that the morning the prince is married with another she will have to dissolve herself into the foam of the sea (Andersen). When the Little Mermaid takes a decision and deprives herself of her tail, she actually deprives herself of her own individuality for the sake of being with a man. In many instances, this act of self-deprivation is similar to foot-binding in China women had to go through terrible tortures in order to follow the norms of beauty and to secure themselves a chance to get married. Cutting the tail and foot-binding represent the two equally cruel but nevertheless effective forms of the social control. The moment the Little Mermaid drinks a draught, she undergoes a kind of social castration, which forever cuts her from her previous life and does not leave her a single chance for survival (moral, spiritual, and physical).

Although written for younger readers, Andersens fairy tale actually creates and advocates a model of young womanhood, which positions women as unrecognized, unappreciated and unrealized. This model of womanhood leads a woman to silently accept her role as of the suffering party. A young woman accepts her physical and moral sufferings for granted  as an inevitable by-product of her gender. Such womanhood grants women secondary social roles and does not give them a chance to protect their rights. Their role is of a good supplement to a man but if not, the only way they can choose is death. Among the daughters of the air, a mermaid has not an immortal soul, nor can she obtain one unless she wins the love of a human being. On the power of another hands her eternal destiny (Andersen). What Andersen calls an immortal soul and eternal destiny are nothing else but a womans chance to remain a part of the human society. Whether she is lucky to realize herself as a woman largely depends on how lucky she is to find a man, who would agree to take her as his wife.

In a patriarchal society, the power of a woman resides in her beauty, which should give her a chance to enchain a mans heart. The Little Mermaid shows that patriarchal norms do not leave a woman a choice other than being married or dying. A woman in the patriarchal world has to learn the value of sacrifice and to accept pain as the critical element of her beauty. In light of everything that has been said in this paper, The Little Mermaid confirms the dominance of the male power in the patriarchal world, and shows a woman as the victim of the social choices, which are severely limited and which position social control and social castration as the only ways to secure herself a place among humans.

Fairy-tales are loved by children. However, fairy-tales often serve a reliable source of social knowledge and work to prepare children to the realities of the social life. Andersens The Little Mermaid is a complex representation of gender relationships in a patriarchal society. The Little Mermaids muteness is the necessary precondition for her becoming a member of the human world. Her power resides in her appearance. She learns the value of self-sacrifice, she accepts the power of the male choice, and she has to reconcile with the pain and sufferings as an essential element of her physical beauty. Self-deprivation and the mermaids decision to cut off her tail exemplify an act of self-castration, which makes her a victim of the social control. In his fairy-tale, Andersen presents a model of young womanhood, which is unappreciated and unrecognized, and which shows a woman as the victim of the social choices that are severely limited and that also position social castration as the only way for woman to secure herself a place among humans.

The short story Woman Hollering Creek, written by Mexican-American writer Sandra Cisneros, depicts the social roles of women as they interrelate with men and other women. Written by a Mexican-American, the story focuses on the struggle of one Mexican woman to find her independence and self-awareness amidst a life of poverty and violence. This essay analyzes, from a feminist perspective, the short storys critical portrayal of the status of women not only as it applies to the Chicana experience, but to women of all cultures and inclinations.

The characters in the story reflect stereotypes that presently exist in society today. The women in the story are portrayed as the protagonists. The main character, Cleofilas, is the typical young Mexican woman who believes in a happily ever-after and immerses herself - like many young girls - in soap operas, love songs, and movies that form their secret dreams and desires about romance and marriage. Before turning into a mature, strong woman, Cleofilas exemplified the traditional female who accepts societys assignment of woman as subordinates of men. She would later learn that her earlier visions of a happy marriage and prosperous life in the U.S. border would be subversively different.  Cleofilas is the woman who endures the physical abuses committed by the antagonist in the story, husband Juan Pedro Martinez Sanchez. Juan Pedro exemplifies the typical macho and dominant male who treats women as mere objects. He is materialistic, shallow, and violent. Challenging this unequal and abusive relationship between the stereotypical man and woman is the liberated woman, portrayed by Felice and Graciela, both of whom reject the conventional norm of the patient, silent, and suffering woman.

The story illustrates the plight of oppressed women everywhere, not just to the Mexican American woman. Acculturation to conventions of femininity is significant in conditioning the minds of women that their only salvation is love and marriage to a man. Cleofilas and her peers pine for such aspirations from their favorite soap operas, romantic movies, and songs, which create for them illusory pictures of perfect marriages and fairy tale endings. After marriage, they soon find themselves trapped in a life they never dreamed of poverty instead of prosperity violence instead of a happy ending. Despite being abused, Cleofilas reminds herself of what the telenovelas have taught her about the nature of love and marriage - that to suffer for love is good. The pain all sweet somehow. The story is a tribute to the painful plight of such women, some of whom never get out of their marriages alive.

The title of the story is significant because it also tells of its main conflict. The legend of La Llonora, from which the Woman Hollering Creek is named after, tells of tragic plight of an abused woman who was driven to insanity because of despair over her husbands infidelity, causing her to drown her children to death. As a consequence, the woman is condemned to wail and moan in search for her children forever. That women are condemned to silence and passivity is something that invites further violence or even death. Hence, violence against women is condemned and recognized as a serious issue not only in the United States, but all over the world. When a woman is beaten by her husband, just like Cleofilas was, tradition says she must accept that. After all, a man has the right to discipline his wife if he sees fit. Because Cleofilas chose to remain mum about her predicament and instead forces her feelings bottled up, she has essentially become La Llonora, the helpless, desperate woman who can do nothing but cry over her circumstances.

In the end, Cleofilas chose to break her silence and enlisted the help of two women, Felice and Graciela, who helped her return to her fathers home in Mexico. Aboard Felices pickup truck, they were able to successfully cross the creek. Crossing over the creek symbolizes freedom and salvation for the abused or oppressed female. When they reached the other side, Felice yells happily as loud as any mariachi, making Cleofilas find her own voice in the form of a cry gurgling out of her own throat... like water.