Finding White Elephants in Dialogue Essay Example for Free

Finding White Elephants in Dialogue Essay Ernest Hemingway’s â€Å"Hills like White Elephants† presents its main subject not in a blatant manner but through the sum of what is implied and what is said. The title itself alludes to the negativity in which the situation is being accepted by the two main characters, though at varied levels. While the American man perceives their situation as the â€Å"white elephant†, the girl does not think so, at least not as much. This may be because she can think of another white elephant in her life. Meanwhile, the real action happens in the interaction between the American man and the girl, named Jig. Therefore, the text requires careful observation of human relationship in action. Furthermore, perusal of dialogue and even some symbolism reveal the couple’s reaction to that pregnancy and their contemplation of ending the â€Å"problem† or â€Å"white elephant† through abortion. A â€Å"white elephant† is after all â€Å"a metaphor for an expensive and burdensome property† (Link 67). In this short story, through the aid of dialogue the reader can perceive that the white elephant can represent something more subtle than Jig’s pregnancy; it can represent the man’s weakness and inability to take responsibility for his actions. The differences between the American man and the â€Å"generic† girl are emphasized subtly, but these differences affect the way in which the relationship can be interpreted, especially through these differences’ effects on the quiet but steady unraveling of the relationship. For example, the very appointment of a nationality to the man signifies that the girl is foreign, and therefore different from him. â€Å"In an impressive dialogue-driven narrative prose, Hemingway’s unnamed American male protagonist dominates the meeker, weaker-sexed Jig†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Rankin 234). They are separated by culture, nationality, gender and even by age. The American man has not impregnated a woman who may be nearer his supposed level of maturity and responsibility, but a young girl who he may have seduced. The fact that he is the one who cannot take responsibility for the pregnancy is ironic. It is also difficult for a girl who may naturally have expected to lean on an older man during crisis. In contrast to the idea that Jig is a young innocent who has been seduced and can be easily manipulated is Jig’s display of wit as compared to the more reactionary older man (Rankin 236). Jig sometimes denies degree of knowledge such as her familiarity with Anis de Toro: â€Å"I don’t know†¦is it good with water? (Hemingway)†. However, her conversation reveals that she is not as ignorant nor naive as she seems. She may be young but she is not to be swayed into making a decision just because it will please her lover. She says â€Å"Everything tastes like liquorice, especially all the things that you’ve waited for so long, like absinthe† (Hemingway). Jig is exerting some will, declaring what she wants but not directly. The point comes across anyway. While the man thinks of her pregnancy as the white elephant in their relationship, she does not believe it to be so: â€Å"They are lovely hills. They don’t really look like white elephants. I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees† (Hemingway). Jig believes that although the pregnancy may be difficult on both of them, it promises something beautiful. She has her own opinion on the situation and is not afraid to say what is in her mind. Because there is an emphasis on the meaning of conversation in â€Å"Hills like White Elephants†, in this â€Å"barely 1500 words long [short story], repeated items are notable† (Link 67). It is through repetition that ideas and the story itself are instilled into the readers’ minds despite the ambiguous dialogue and seemingly mundane setting. â€Å"The couple’s power relationship also emerges in the prominence of questions in the text. Much of the dialogue†¦is a trading of questions and answers in which Jig asks a total of seventeen questions, thirteen of which are yes-no questions. The man only asks four questions, three of which he does not ask until the text is nearly finished† (Link 68). The couple is therefore engaged in a verbal tug of war in which each tries to achieve the agreement of the other. Jig is more curious and assertive, despite the fact that the man is expected to have more power over her, because of his gender and more mature age. She asks more questions about their situation, is almost pulled towards the man’s argument but continues to wonder openly about their situation. This questioning mind prevents her from fully regarding her pregnancy as a white elephant. â€Å"Hills like White Elephants† is a testament to the power of dialogue; though the wordings are not direct, the repetition makes up for any diminishing of clarity. The subject of whether or not to have an abortion performed on Jig has been handled in a subtle manner which separates it from other short stories, and even novels that deal with pregnancy out of wedlock and the question of what solution to take. Even what the metaphor will represent can be contested: if indeed the white elephant or burden is the pregnancy or the American man himself. Works Cited: Hemingway, Ernest. Hills like White Elephants. 12 April 2008 http://www. moonstar. com/~acpjr/Blackboard/Common/Stories/WhiteElephants. html. Link, Alex. Staking Everything On It: A Stylistic Analysis of Linguistic Patterns in Hills like White Elephants. The Hemingway Review (n. d. ): 66-74. Rankin, Paul. Hemingways Hills like White Elephants. Explicator (n. d. ): 234-237.

The Samarco Dam Collapse

The Samarco Dam Collapse The Biggest Brazilian Environmental Disaster Introduction    When a natural catastrophe happens, it always catches the attention of people around the world. Therefore, this research was the place where information was collected about the greatest environmental disaster that occurred in the history of Brazil, which affected the lives of many Brazilians. This report aims to show the damage caused to the population and the environment, besides the neglect of these large companies with the population Methodology This report is constituted of research and collection of information of news, and informative reports about the biggest environmental disaster in the history of Brazil. The Disaster On November 5, 2015, the greatest environmental disaster occurred in the history of Brazil. This tragedy occurred at the small historic town of Mariana in the interior of the state of Minas Gerais. The Fundà £o dam, which was the responsibility of the mining company Samarco, failed, causing the leakage of approximately 62 million cubic meters of mud from the tailings, a huge tsunami In total 19 people died, hundreds of buildings were destroyed and left families homeless. The largest volume leakage of material dumped by dams of mining rejects of all time, also caused the pollution of the Doce river and environmental damage that extended to the states of Espà ­rito Santo And Bahia. (O Globo,2016) The village that was destroyed by the mine collapse (The Argentina Independent,2016) The mudslide tsunami reached 39 cities in three Brazilian states. As a result of this disaster more than 11 tons of fish were killed. The fauna and flora in the Rio Doce Basin became even more vulnerable. Ecosystem and species already threatened by predatory activities, impacts from industry, agriculture and mining are now at risk of extinction.(O Globo, 2016) The Results Samarco is controlled by Vale and the Australian company BHP Billiton, which accounts for 2% of the world production of pellets (steel balls used in steel production), is also one of the largest exporters in Brazil. (News.com.au, 2016) The Fundà £o dam used the hydraulic landfill system. The preliminary reports showed that the main hypothesis for the accident, according to experts, is that a liquefaction (process has occurred, rather than Ejecting, retaining water), leading to the transformation of the sand into mud and a sudden variation in the internal pressure of the tailings deposit, making it unable to contain the waste. Shortly before the accident, the University of Sà £o Paulos Seismology Center (USP) recorded four small earthquakes. (O Globo, 2016) Almost a year after the disaster, a re-issue was announced with the possible causes of the breach of the reservoir, BHP commercial director Dean Dalla Valle said there is no evidence that anyone had put production ahead of safety or reason to believe that someone from BHP had indicated that the dam was in danger. The purpose is to determine the cause of the failure and not blame, (News.com.au, 2016) said Dalla Valle, denying that BHP or Vale had information about the prospects for a disaster. Youre not hiding any of it its there for all to see. (News.com.au, 2016) In the report, it was found that the rupture of the dam was caused by structural defects that prevented drainage. Despite the results, Samarco denies irregularities. It is clear that despite the results presented the company remains concerned about its own profits rather than being worried about predicting future disasters. According to The Argentina Independent, the 76 pages of the report showed that the dam rupture was caused by problems in the drainage project. Furthermore a small earthquake on the day the dam also could have accelerated the failure, according to the report. Besides that a separate police investigation also accused mining company Samarco of intentional misconduct, claiming the company ignored signs that a dam was at risk of collapse. Samarco has already been fined 250m reals ( £64m) by Ibama (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) and 112m reals ( £28m) by Semad (Minas Gerais state governments environment agency). (News.com.au, 2016) Conclusion Even the disaster had occurred in the Rio Doce basin affecting a small part of a country as big as Brazil the disaster is far from over for the people living in those places. Douglas Krenak explains: Those affected continue to suffer, public health is precarious, The social system is precarious, its going down, this tragedy is creating problems now and it will create more in the future( The Argentina Independent, 2016). Although this story is far from over, what is expected to be responsible for the damage to the population and the environment. So that in the future the companies will invest more in the development of new technologies in their works foreseeing a greater security so that disasters like this one never happen again Bibliography The Guardian (2016, October15) Samarco dam collapse: one year on from Brazils worst environmental disaster Retrived February 27,2016, from:https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/oct/15/samarco-dam-collapse-brazil-worst-environmental-disaster-bhp-billiton-vale-mining O Globo(2016, November 11) Maior desastre ambiental do Brasil, Tragà ©dia de Mariana deixou 19 mortos Retrived February 27,2016, from:http://acervo.oglobo.globo.com/em-destaque/maior-desastre-ambiental-do-brasil-tragedia-de-mariana-deixou-19-mortos-20208009 The Argentina Independent(2016, april 7) The Forgotten Tragedy: Revisiting Brazils Worst Ever Retrived February 28,2016, from:http://www.argentinaindependent.com/currentaffairs/analysis/revisiting-brazils-worst-ever-environmental-disaster/ Insurance Journal(2016, august 30) Brazil Mine Disaster Caused by Poor Drainage Design of Tailings Dam: Report Retrived February 28,2016, from:http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2016/08/30/424781.htm News.com.au(2016, september 1) BHP on fatal Brazil dam burst report: Were not hiding any of it Retrived February 29,2016, from:http://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/bhp-on-fatal-brazil-dam-burst-report-were-not-hiding-any-of-it/news-story/562524fb559f21f4180b171da7009098

Alcoholism :: essays research papers

Alcoholism, chronic and usually progressive illness,. Alcoholism is thought to arise from a combination of a wide range of physiological, psychological, social, and genetic factors. It is characterized by an emotional and often physical dependence on alcohol, and it frequently leads to brain damage or early death. More males than females are affected by alcoholism, but drinking among the young and among women is increasing. Consumption of alcohol is apparently on the rise in the United States, as is the total alcohol consumption and prevalence of alcohol-related problems in the former communist countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. This increase is paralleled in other countries, including developing nations. After 1980, however, consumption remained relatively stable in many western European nations. Development Alcoholism, as opposed to merely excessive or irresponsible drinking, has been thought of as a symptom of psychological or social stress or as a learned, maladaptive coping behaviour. More recently, and probably more accurately, it has come to be viewed as a complex disease in its own right. Alcoholism usually develops over a period of years. Alcohol comes to be used more as a mood-changing drug than as a foodstuff or beverage served as a part of social custom or religious ritual. Initially, the alcoholic may demonstrate a high tolerance to alcohol, consuming more and showing fewer adverse effects than others. Subsequently, however, the person begins to drink against his or her own best interests, as alcohol comes to assume more importance than personal relationships, work, reputation, or even physical health. The person commonly loses control over drinking and is increasingly unable to predict how much alcohol will be consumed on a given occasion or, if the person is currently abstaining, when the drinking will resume again. Physical addiction to the drug may occur, sometimes eventually leading to drinking around the clock to avoid withdrawal symptoms. Effects Alcohol has direct toxic as well as sedative effects on the body, and failure to take care of nutritional and other physical needs during prolonged periods of excessive drinking may further complicate matters. Advanced cases often require hospitalization. The effects on major organ systems are cumulative and include a wide range of digestive-system disorders such as ulcers, inflammation of the pancreas, and cirrhosis of the liver. The central and peripheral nervous systems can be permanently damaged. Blackouts, hallucinations, and extreme tremors may occur. The latter symptoms are involved in the most serious alcohol withdrawal syndrome, delirium tremens, which can prove fatal despite prompt treatment.

Tropical Africa: Food Production And The Inquiry Model :: essays research papers

Tropical Africa: Food Production and the Inquiry Model Hunger is the result of disasters such as drought, floods, the changing of the jet stream patterns and other natural disasters. They are beyond our control. It has been estimated that one third of the land in Tropical Africa is potentially cultivable, though only about 6% of it is currently cultivated. However, to change farming from a low-input low-yield pattern to a high-input, high-yield pattern necessitates the use of more fertilizer and the planting of high-yielding varieties of crops There are a number of environmental factors, related mostly to climate, soils and health, resisting easy developmental solutions. Rainfall reliability is closely connected to rainfall quantity The rainfall in the equatorial heart is very plentiful and reliable. However, there is much less rainfall towards the outer edges of the rain belt. Periodic and unpredictable droughts are a characteristic feature of these border zones. There are three climatic zones in Tropical Africa: 1.a region of persistent rain at and near the Equator 2.a region on each side of this of summer rain and winter drought, and 3.a region at the northern and southern edges afflicted by drought. All the climates listed in the previous paragraph are modified in the eastern parts of Tropical Africa by the mountains and monsoons. The soils of Tropical Africa pose another problem. They are unlike the soils of temperate areas. Soils are largely products of their climates, and tropical soils are different from temperate soils because the climate is different. Because of the great heat of the tropics tends to bake the soils, while on the other hand, the rainfall leaches them. The combined heat and moisture tend to produce very deep soils because the surface rock is rapidly broken down by chemical weathering. All this causes the food's rate of growth to slow down or maybe even stop and as a result food production won't even come close in catching up to the rate of population increase; therefore starvation and hunger is present. In the process of a flood and drought, the roots of trees are shallow and virtually no nutrients are obtained from the soil. The vegetation survives on its own humus waste, which is plentiful.

Charles Dickens Hard Times Essay -- Charles Dickens Hard Times Essays

Charles Dickens' Hard Times Many characters in the novel are victims of hard times as a result of many factors. These include the lack of money, the education system, the industrialisation in the area and the social injustices of the Victorian era. The novel is divided into three books: sowing, reaping and garnering. The names of these books have biblical references. ‘Ae ye sow, so shall ye reap’ New Testament This means that there are consequences to all your actions, this idea features strongly in the novel. In the first book ‘sowing’, the actions of the characters were described for example the pragmatic education system. In the second book ‘reaping’, the consequences of these actions are described, and in the third book ‘garnering’, the consequences are explored more, along with the final outcome of these events. In the novel, Mr Gradgrind causes and suffers from hard times. He is a very rigid character in addition to being ‘a man of fact and calculations’. He causes hard times for others, including his family, with his pragmatic education system. We discover his attitudes to schooling from the very first chapter when he says: ‘In this life, we want nothing but facts, sir; nothing but Facts’ This concept is based upon utilitarianism. This is the idea that nothing except useful and practical things are wanted in life, and this causes many of Dickens’ characters hard times. They thought these concepts would provide the greatest good for the greatest number of people but it only benefited the rich, the poor sill suffered. He tries to inflict this system onto Sissy but he ends up learning a lesson from her. Towards the end of the novel he realises that he has not given his children what the... ...e goes on to become a very famous author who was very critical of lives, industrialisation and money; all of these are explored in hard times. Finally, Dickens’ experiences as a child came out in a convincing portrayal of what was wrong with the Victorian society. He was a critic to his time and from his novels we can learn a great deal about the Victorian era. Many of the characters in the novel experience hard times as a result of many factors. Stephen Blackpool is the innocent victim in the novel; he suffers greatly through no fault of his own. He is kind and trustworthy yet he is abused. Other characters such as Mrs Sparsit and Bitzer enjoy causing hard times for others. Some suffer more than others; but Dickens uses his characters to explore the hard times of the era. In conclusion, many of Dickens’ characters suffer as a result of numerous causes.

John Locke Essay Essay

Our Earth has been the home to a multitude of great thinkers. These thinkers were scattered throughout the generations from the Romans all the way to the 20th century; however, the time period with the most philosophers was the Enlightenment Age. During this time there were many thinkers such as Voltaire and Thomas Hobbes. One thinker in particular who contributed a great deal to history was John Locke. His work is still influencing the lives of people across the world 300 years later. He rethought the moral role of government, created a new theory of knowledge, introduced the use of reason, and reminded people of their natural rights. The combination of these four things made him the single most influential philosopher during the Enlightenment Age, and even in history. During the 1600s-1700s, John Locke lived on this earth, observing how society functioned. He saw thinks very differently than the average person. Unlike many others, he used logic and reason in order to see the flaws of government. The government at the time was incredibly corrupt and unfair to the people. Taxes made the lives of 98% of the population miserable and insufferable. Locke could even be considered a humanist for his actions. He felt the people deserved a fair government that served them as appose to the people serving the government. According to Locke, â€Å"political power is the natural power of each man collectively given up into the hands of a designated body†1. In a more general sense, he created the social contract. Most people recognize this theory as the social contract because it is an agreement between government and its people. All people are born with their natural rights. The idea of the social contract is a community surrenders some degree of its natural rights in favor of government, which is better able to protect those rights than any man could alone. Protection is one of the greatest services any government can provide. People will enjoy living under a certain ruler if he or she can keep them safe. The quality of life is generally much higher when there is no constant fear of attack from a neighbor. The idea of the government providing protection had been around before, but Locke included the idea that government exists solely for the well being of the community. He stressed to the people that any government that breaks the contract can and should be replaced. Gradually, people began to process this idea and realized that Locke was right. They were the ones that should have the power, not the government. The people were unhappy with the way they were being treated, but they did not know what to do about it so they continued suffering. Locke gave them an instruction manual by saying, â€Å"the community has a moral obligation to revolt against or otherwise replace any government that forgets that it exists only for the people’s benefit†2. This struck true to many people because they were unhappy. It also gave reason for the government to be reasonable and not do anything outrageous. More power was given to the people and the days of absolute rule would no longer exist. One of Locke’s other contributions that was considered revolutionary was creating a new way theory of knowledge. Locke believed that knowledge was only gained through worldliness. He told people that experiences caused them to learn. One famous this he argued is that, â€Å"at birth the mind is a tabula rasa†3. Tabula rasa translates to â€Å"clean slate†. Essentially, everyone is born without knowledge and over time they become wiser and smarter. This was revolutionary because previously no one had every stopped to think about how knowledge was gained other than schooling. Locke was the first to think that people were born without any knowledge. He emphasized the five senses as well. Humans fill their clean slate with ideas and experience in the world through their five senses. There are many varying definitions of knowledge, but John Locke is the most accurate. Locke defines knowledge as â€Å"the connection and agreement, or disagreement and repugnancy, of the ideas humans form†4. Since our knowledge is derived from our experiences, it means our knowledge is limited. Not everyone can know everything since not one single person can experience everything this earth has to offer in one lifetime. This also means that everyone’s knowledge varies and no two people have the same exact knowledge since everyone’s experiences are different. Locke also notes that there is a great deal of unknown on this world and there always will be. This observation still is true today because there is a great deal of uncertainty in today’s society. He is also still influential because he taught us to question those uncertain areas. As a continuation, he agrees that there are certain things that we are certain of. One example that Locke uses is the certainty of our own existence and the existence of God even tough we may not fully comprehend who or what he was5. Another very complex theory that he had relating to the idea of knowledge was our ideas are related to reality. He said that, â€Å"our ideas correspond to external realities because the mind cannot invent such things without experience†6. The idea of knowledge was vague but Locke defined it in a very detailed and simple way for the average person to comprehend. This idea that our ideas are relates to reality because our mind cannot invent things without experience caused people a greater understanding of how their mind worked and encouraged them to experience more in their lives. John Locke is known for many contributions to society but one of his most influential was his inception of reason. He thought that every person had a purpose in life and that was to find truth. In believing this he encouraged people that God gave us our capacity for reason to aid us in the search for truth. Since Lock believed in a clean mind at birth, he also believed that people were born innocent. Innocence in his mind is eventually inevitably lost trough experience. That innocence disappears and creates knowledge. Locke wanted people to understand and think for themselves rather than follow their leaders blindly. He also considered truthful that, â€Å"each person has a duty to preserve other people as well as himself †¦ recognizing the responsibility to preserve the rights of all humankind naturally leads to tolerance†7. This idea directly leads to his idea of separation of church and state. To him, government had absolutely no right to impose itself people. The fact of the matter was that the government and state were one body. This gave them significant power to do anything they pleased. Locke was one of the very first to question governments over oppression. All men control their bodies and their minds so no other individual should try and control it. Also how â€Å"men naturally exist in a state of nature and so he needs to answer only to the laws of nature†8. The majority of leaders at the time were extremely unhappy with how Locke was influencing the general public. Ironically, now many leaders such as the president of the United States follow many of his beliefs. Locke also influenced the American Constitution when his ideas reached over seas. Early Americans saw the power of his theories such as the social contract and more importantly using reason. People wanted to be granted the same friends and eventually received them. Henry Ford once said, â€Å"thinking is the hardest work there is and that is why so few engage in it†. This quote is why John Locke is the greatest thinker and philosopher of all time. He devoted his life to changing not only the way people thought, but how they viewed life forever. No man has had a greater impact that him. Locke rethought the moral role of government, created a new way theory of knowledge, introduced the use of reason, and reminded people of their natural rights. The combination of these four things is simply what made him such an indelible man. Sources 1. Uzgalis, William, Uzgalis,. â€Å"John Locke. † Stanford University. Stanford University, 02 Sept. 2001. Web. 08 Jan. 2014. 2. Locke, John. The Second Treatise on Civil Government. Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 1986. Print. 3. Aaron, Richard I. John Locke. Oxford: Clarendon, 1971. Print. 4. Berlin, Isaiah. The Age of Enlightenment. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1979. Print. 5. Locke, John, and John Locke. The Second Treatise of Government; And, A Letter concerning Toleration. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2002. Print.

Symbols and Motifs in King Lear

The issue of blindness is associated most obviously with Gloucester, who is blinded in the course of the play. It is peculiarly right for Gloucester’s eyes to be the organs through which he is tortured.  Ã‚   Gloucester thought he saw the truth about his sons, but was in fact blind.   With his eyes put out he does indeed see the truth. â€Å"Gloucester before he lost his eyes was spiritually blind, and could not tell the difference between a good son and a bad† (Muir, lx). It is this physical suffering that brings out the long debilitated moral stamina that has underlain his sympathy. Losing his eyes enables him to reach heroic and tragic proportions. He surely has the right to say, â€Å"All dark and comfortless† (III, vii, 84).   There is no irritating shadow of egotism on his accounts of his predicament. And when he learns that Edmund has betrayed him, his response is astonishing and wonderful: â€Å"O my follies!   Then Edgar was abused. / Kind gods, forgive me that and prosper him (III, vii, 90-1).   He knows that his injury to Edgar can never be forgiven:You cannot see your way.I have no way, and therefore want no eyes;I stumbled when I saw†¦.(IV, i, 17-19).Gloucester’s blindness is also a reflection of the unreformed Lear’s arrogant folly, and his inability to tell a good daughter from a bad, until he has been through his own ordeal.The StormIn III, i, the Gentleman gives us an account of Lear’s behaviour which shows him as, in a way, indulging in a sort of theatrical display, enjoying the spectacle of himself suffering in the storm.   The storm seems to appeal to Lear as a sort of melodramatic setting for a display of what is at this point his martyr-like self-pity. â€Å"tears his white hair†¦/ Strives in his little world of man to out-storm / The to-and-fro-conflicting wind and rain† (III, i, 6-10).   But Lear has not yet reached the truth about himself.   This is important be cause it is tempting to see the storm as a symbolic event, and Lear as man in the abstract contending with the forces of evil.   Shakespeare makes us stand back from Lear still, and not identify with him. The real meaning of the storm lies in the thought that it was inhumanly cruel of the daughters to shut him out on such a night.Certainly Kent’s description of the peculiar severity of the storm prompts one to see it as more than just a physical event. He has never in his life seen â€Å"such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder† (III, ii, 46) etc., and the implication is that the storm has more than natural causes.   This leads Lear to his reflection on the power of the storm to purge evil and crime:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Let the Great Gods, / That keep this dreadful pudder o’er our heads, / Find out their enemies now†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (IV, ii, 49-51). His growing madness takes the form an obsessive interpretation of all ills in terms of his own personal sufferin gs.   Shakespeare makes sure we see the point: â€Å"this tempest in my mind / Doth from my senses take all feeling else / Save what beats there† (III, iv, 12-14).It is the internal tempest that matters in the drama, and the way it brings Lear to some sort of wisdom. The wildness of the elements leads him to a great advance when he sees Edgar as elemental man. Here real truth starts to appear to him: â€Å"Is man no more than this?†¦ unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou art† (III, iv, 105-111).  Ã‚   He sees, for the first time, beyond the surface of things, and understands the folly of snobbery and blind selfishness in human life. His own trappings of pomp are vain, he sees himself as deluded, and Edgar as the truth.MadnessLear’s collapse into madness is his way to transformation.   One of his mad notions is to imagine the mock trial of the sisters.   The symbolic force of this is evident:(To Edgar)   Thou, r obed man of justice, take thy place.(To the Fool)   And thou, his yoke fellow of equity,Bench by his side.   (To Kent)   You are o’th’commission;Sit you too. (III, vi, 37-40).Here is a Christian inversion of the social order; a mad beggar, a fool, and an exiled man are set up over the mighty to sit in judgement on them.   It is a mad fancy of Lear’s, but it has a deep significance in the criticism of false sophistication that the play poses.   An unjust society has helped Lear to be an egotist and to do evil, as Kent said in the first scene.   Now Lear is learning and regrets his own â€Å"sophistication† in the face of Edgar, â€Å"the thing itself†.   What he is learning is the need for humility, and respect for others, and the importance of setting one’s eyes on the real truths of human existence if one is to live decently and with meaning. The knowledge Lear gains is percolated through his madness.But Gloucester does not go mad.   He endures everything.   As he learns from Edgar’s lesson on the â€Å"cliff†, it is not man’s right to choose his end. The point of that strange scene seems to be summarised at the end by Gloucester’s description of their relative fates:The King is mad: how stiff is my vile senseThat I stand up, and have ingenious feelingOf my huge sorrows!   Better I were distract:So should my thoughts be sever’d from my griefs,And woes by wrong imaginations loseThe knowledge of themselves. (IV, vi, 28106)  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I suggest that through him we grasp the central thread, which has to do with love and suffering and sticking it out to the end†¦ Lear is spared the worst. Gloucester gets it† (Mason, 1970, p.200).In Lear’s crazed mind all authority is in the hands of those who are unworthy.   It is only their established power, their rank and ceremonial clothes that distinguish the judges from the accused.   Morality is cynically ig nored.   Only selfishness rules.   â€Å"Let copulation thrive† – and the world in Lear’s distorted mind looks very like that presupposed by Edmund’s view of nature, a sort of jungle of self-interest, power and lust.BetrayalWhen Cordelia refuses to do what her foolish father wants in the first scene she invokes the idea of the bond. â€Å"I love your majesty / According to my bond† (I, i, 92-3) And by â€Å"bond† she means something quite different from the â€Å"bondage† that he interprets it as.   The question of the bonds of human relationships is central to the play; why human beings fail in their bonds, as the daughters do with Lear, and Edmund does with his father is the horrific mystery that Shakespeare cannot solve.   Cordelia goes on to spell out, in an embarrassed way – she had always thought it was obvious – what she means by â€Å"bond†.It is the natural range of duties and affection that exist between children and parents.   Kent too speaks of another bond, the sacred responsibilities of service. â€Å"Royal Lear, / Whom I have ever honour’d   as my King, / Lov’d as my father, as my master follow’d†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (I, i, 139-141).   It is the betrayal of these bonds that causes such chaos in the moral world of King Lear, of which Jan Kott says â€Å"There is neither Christian heaven, nor the heaven predicted by humanists.   King Lear makes a tragic mockery of all eschatologies† (Kott, 1967, p.116).Edmund’s speech in I, ii is plain because his thought is plain.   There is no hesitation in him because there are no doubts, and no traces of decent feeling in him at all.   He is utterly conscienceless.   Nothing in him works to check the urge of ruthlessness. His closeness to the sisters is clear.   His â€Å"Nature†, it is pretty obvious, is a different concept from that assumed in Cordelia’s definition of the n atural â€Å"bonds† of feeling and duty which underlie decent society.   It is, for him, nature as expressed in the law of the jungle – naked self-interest and the pursuit of power.   He is appalling in his plainness.   The sisters are equally ready to betray normal ties. It is astonishing to hear Regan’s total failure to respond to Lear’s appeals for sympathy.   After all, however absurd his selfishness, he is her father.   But she responds, as does Goneril, like a machine, with an icy formality of tone which is the voice of cold reason.O, Sir! you are old,Nature in you stands on the very vergeOf her confine: you should be rul’d and ledBy some discretion that discerns your stateBetter then you yourself. (II, iv, 147-151).We might be tempted to agree with Bradley that â€Å"in that dark cold world some fateful malignant influence is abroad, turning the hearts of the fathers against their children and of the children against their fathers † (Bradley, 214). But the bonds are not always betrayed. A notable incident   in III, vii, the scene in which Gloucester is blinded, is the intervention of the servant. He acts purely on a humane instinct of decency, knowing in his soul that such conduct as Cornwall’s is not tolerable in a human world. He invokes the sacred bond of service, just as Kent did to Lear :â€Å"Hold your hand, my lord! /   I have served you ever since I was a child; / But better service have I never done you /   Than now to bid you hold† (III, vii, 71-4). The point here – the infinitely blessed and optimistic point – is that this man is not a hero, but simply a decent human being.   But he is ready to die in defense of a tolerable worldWorks CitedBradley, A.C.   Shakespearean Tragedy.   London: Macmillan, Second edition, 1905.Kott, Jan, Shakespeare Our Contemporary, translated by Boleslaw Taborski, London, Methuen, 2nd edition 1967.Mason, H.A., Shakespeareâ₠¬â„¢s Tragedies of Love, London, Chatto and Windus, 1970.Shakespeare, W.   The Arden Shakespeare: King Lear. Ed. Kenneth Muir. London: Methuen, 1980.