Comparing Cultures in Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness :: comparison compare contrast essays

Clashing Cultures in Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness A culture defines what it's people perceive about evil, the place it gives to women, and its relationship with other cultures. The Ibo and European people in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, have two distinct cultures that begin to blend when the white men come as missionaries and try to communicate and live together with the Africans. European culture also differs from native culture on the Congo rivers in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Only one man, Kurtz, really connects with the natives and then is taken away dying by his fellow Europeans. Evil is defined by it's culture, whether it be how the culture accepts another culture and condemns as evil or identifying specific items as evil. In Things Fall Apart, the Ibo culture veiled the Africans as primitive natives who held their own different, seen as evil, ways and traditions. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow viewed the natives with whom Kurtz is staying with as evil and feels their evil when he met them after traveling down the river. Once he heard that Kurtz ordered the natives to attack his ship, his views changed a little. Marlow experienced the evil that Kurtz did, and the even had the sickness that Kurtz died from. In both of these novels, specific places represent evil things in different cultures. Europeans treat a church as holy ground but to the Ibo culture who didn't know Jesus, it was just a building raised by the white invaders who settled among them. Europeans found the Congo River and a town on it's banks and it was thought of as evil because they hadn't exper ienced living there or vines covering them as they traveled along the river added to their thinking of an evil atmosphere. In Things Fall Apart, the clan refers to a forest as an evil forest and they cast everything they deem into it. For example, twins were thought of as a curse when born so they were cast into the forest and left to die. The evil forest didn't seem so evil to the European missionaries who came because they hadn't adopted this particular belief of evil into their culture. In fact, the clan purposely granted land in the evil forest to missionaries for their church, believing evil would destroy them, but the missionaries did last until the church was burnt down by members of the clan.

Living Together

People all over the U. S struggle in deciding whether they should or should not move in together before marriage. I believe that especially young people moving in together before marriage cannot be helpful because they become unsatisfied with marriage; they can have a higher risk of divorce, and they can also have frequent arguments and disagreements. People can become unsatisfied with marriage because they are living together before marriage. Living together seems reasonable, but then marriage does not seem like it is anything special or anything that needs to happen.They become satisfied with what they share and compromise themselves to what they are already sharing. Marriage may not seem like a significant thing it may seem like an ordinary thing. In reality marriage is a very important and significant thing and it is something that should viewed as something special and not just seemed as something that does not matter. Moving in with someone is a very important commitment that i s being made with one another and should be very a well-thought decision to make.Unmarried people that move in together run a higher risk of divorce, because they have experienced what it is to be living with one another without commitments and actually knowing what it is to have an actual stable home. Unmarried people living together have different expectations of what it is to live together, such as: doing whatever they want and their stuff belongs to them, rather than in a marriage it is a thing called â€Å"team work† something that they have not experienced because they are so accustomed to what they already had coming and going as you please.In my personal opinion divorce is not an option and moving in with someone before marriage should be very carefully thought and discussed there is a lot in between may seem like there is not but there is. Frequent arguments and disagreements can start to occur. Men and women who have lived together before marriage are likely to beco me more disrespectful and verbally aggressive; they can become less supportive of one another also have more arguments about one another and also arguments about finances. They become to have lower levels of fairness and happiness with their relationship.Rather then if they would wait to move in together before marriage they would be a lot more capable to manage these situations and have something more stable and avoiding all these conflicts. Living together does not produce healthy and happier lives on the contrary. Love is built on maturity and security of knowing that your love is exclusive and permanent. Couples that are living together think that marriage is nothing and if they did get married it would be exactly the same, but what they don’t understand is what marriage does to a couple both positively and negatively.In my opinion the chance of divorce after living together are huge, and much higher than couples that have not lived together. Unmarried people living toget her say that they first want to see what it is to live with each other before that, well then they really weren’t committed to each other. In other words, you wanted to see what married life was going to be like before making a commitment of marriage. I believe that marriage adds a whole different dimension to your relationship and that people take that for granted.Moving in with someone before marriage should not be the determining factor of your relationship there is plenty of time to figure out if you are compatible with one another. Habits are hard to break and couples that live together get in to the habit of not willing to make a lifetime commitment to each other they have compromised with what they already have. So many problems that people struggle with all over the U. S could be avoided if people would really think it through and not just move in together before marriage.Disagreements would minimize a lot more because they would be on the same page. I am not saying w e are perfect but saying that it would be held with maturity. They would not be part of that statistics of divorce rates and be able to have a stable home. Also not becoming unsatisfied with your marriage but working together to produce a safe and productive environment. Maturity is held to be able to take this step and should not be disvalued.

The American Revolution And The Civil War Essay - 1757 Words

Imagine the feelings one may have when living in circumstances where many rights are carelessly being taken away. In our modern day, it is hard to conceptualize not being able to live the way one chooses, yet there was a point in time when we faced imminent threats from both other countries and our own country. The rejection of human rights is a crucial action which can result in a gruesome long term conflict. War is said to be inevitable by many but the study of why some of the most notable battles in history began is even more fascinating; moreover, The American Revolution and The Civil War are two of the most notorious events in American history thus it is necessary to realize just how influential and connected they are to one another. What is more, the powerful figures involved whose dedication prevailed successfully in these ruthless battles. The opposing sides, the British and the Confederate South, thought what they were doing was just due to tradition and already accommodated power, however strong driving forces rightfully fought against the British invasion and fought to end slavery in the South. Ultimately the efforts proved worthwhile. The cataclysm that was The American Revolution can simply be described as a revolt against the British government assumed rule over the United States. It was not just a feud over the demands the British, controlled by King George III, made to the original thirteen colonies regarding tax and trade but an insurgency to gainShow MoreRelatedThe American Revolution And The Civil War1567 Words   |  7 Pagesthe eyes of most, the American Revolution was a momentous event that shaped not only what would now be the America we know today but the whole world as well. However, this event had ramifications that affected the history of America for many years to come. 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