Symbolism in "The Grasshopper and The Bell Cricket"

The lanterns in the story represents the individuality and personal diversity of each of the children. One child bought their lantern in the store but later discarded it because it was not special: “Each day, with cardboard, paper, brush, scissors, pen-knife and glue, the children made new lanterns out of their hearts and minds”( Kawabata 134).  The narrator is overcome with emotion when he observes the light of the lantern on the children. He sees this as a beautiful moment; in Japanese culture, beauty is also linked with sadness so the narrator also feels a sense of sadness among the beauty.
 In the story Kiyoko, the girl who is wearing a white kimono, displays the innocence of the children. White symbolizes innocence and the name Kiyoko means pure child. This is important to the theme of the story because Kiyoko has completely honest and pure intentions when she comes across Fugio. This helps the reader understand the metaphor of the bell cricket.
Kiyoko is seen as a bell cricket to Fujio. Fujio saw Kiyoko as unique, and she is special to him.  Fujio gave Kiyoko an insect, which, to her delighted surprise, turned out to be a bell cricket. The narrator realizes that the little boy must have known all along that he had found a bell cricket, and he was saving it for that particular girl.The bell cricket is loved and honored in Japan; each cricket makes its own unique song through the cricket's wings and body vibrations. The bell cricket represented a woman who is unique and special. The grasshopper, the other object of symbolism,  represents all of the other women. The narrator implies a grasshopper may seem like a bell cricket, which means that someone who is just average in the eyes of many will be unique and special to someone else. The lanterns cast a light on one another. The light is the name of each other. The light foreshadows their future together; in that moment they belonged to each other.
The theme, or main idea, of the story is that there are many grasshoppers, or just regular people, in the world but bell crickets, or unique people, are rare to find:
“Even if you have the wit to look by yourself in a bush away from the other children, there are not many bell crickets in the world. Should the day come, when it seems to you that the world is full of grasshoppers” ( Kawabata 136).
I think that Yasunari Kawabata’s story had a deeper meaning, for what he was feeling. The boy that was narrating represented Kawabata’s perspective on life. The boy was standing alone to represent the sense of isolation and distance that Kawabata felt. He felt distanced because he was orphaned when he was four, after which he lived with his grandparents.  Kawabata's grandmother died when he was seven, and his grandfather when he was fifteen. After losing all of his close relatives, he moved in with his mother's family. Throughout many works of this writing, he often gives the impression that his characters are surrounded with loneliness and isolation. I believe that the story the “Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket” was based upon his emotional insecurity that he felt after experiencing two painful love affairs. These love affairs to Kawabata were turned into the metaphor of the grasshopper.  In 1934, Kawabata wrote that he feels like he has never held a woman's hand in a true romant: “I feel as though I have never held a woman’s hand in a romantic sense[…] Am I a happy man deserving of pity?” In response to Kawabota’s isolated sense of mind, he committed suicide in 1972.

Kawabata, Yasunari. “The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket” from Collections. Orlando, FL. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. 2010. Print

Imagery in "The Odyssey"

Chapter 9 has many cases of  powerful imagery. Two examples of strong imagery that were composed in book 9 includes when Odysseus, the clever captive who escaped the Cyclops, stabs the Cyclops’s eye and also when Odysseus gives the wine to the cyclops.
When Odysseus thrusts the spear into the cyclops’ eye: “eyelid and lash were seared and the pierced ball hissed, broiling, and the roots popped”(Fitzgerald 380). This is a very descriptive phrase that the author uses to describe this event. The imagery and diction skill is very strong here; therefore, the reader is able to imagine the event in great detail. It is easy for the reader to imagine this event because the writer goes into great depth of how the Cyclops’ eye looked and sounded when Odysseus stabbed him with the spear.
When Odysseus is offering Polyphemus- the Cyclops- the wine, it is described as “ruby colored” and “honey-smooth.” This appeals to many senses of imagery because the reader can imagine the ruby color of the wine and the  honey smooth texture of it. Another sense the wine appeals to is scent because “ruby-colored. . . honey-smooth. . .the sweet scent of the wine hovered like a fume over the wine bowl (Fitzgerald 375).” The dictation is very descriptive; therefore, these are powerful forms of imagery. The imagery is strong because it helps the reader understand how irresistible and what a delicacy that the wine was.

Argos' Significance in The Odyssey

In the book The Odyssey; Argos, the dog, symbolized Ithaca's loyalty to Odysseus. When Odysseus was there, the dog was very well taken care of. The dog was swift, healthy and strong. After Odysseus returns home to Ithaca in the disguise of a beggar, the dog was the only one who realizes that it is him. He found Argos had been cast aside and because of this the dog had become unhealthy and disheveled: “Treated as rubbish now, he lay at last/ upon a mass of dung before the gate-/manure of mules and cows. . .” (Fitzgerald 401). He stayed and watched faithfully over Odysseus’s palace for twenty years despite illness and neglect. After all these years, he was still devoted to Odysseus. When he arrived home, the dog died. I believe that here, Argos was used as a symbol to foreshadow that if Odysseus does not hurry home, things will dramatically change and Ithaca will not be ruled by an honorable king. If Odysseus had not been lost at sea, the dog may not have had a fate of sickness and neglect.
The significance of Argos was that he recognized his master even in the disguise of a beggar. Argos was a strong symbol of the people of Ithaca. Without Odysseus looking over the kingdom, the people in the kingdom began to collapse as there was no king. This was symbolized with Argos lying in fleas and dung. The people would be happy that Odysseus was home because then the country would be put back into order and the people would be the highest priority again. Ithaca had a similar situation to Argos because when Odysseus left, the country began to collapse. Before Odysseus left, Ithaca was a powerful empire and the people and environment were well taken care of. Penelope, the queen, had her attention steered towards who would replace Odysseus. The citizens of  Ithaca were not as high priority as they were before this time. Instead of looking after the people, there were contests and challenges to determine who the next king would be.

Fitzgerald, Robert, Trans. The Odyssey Book 17, from Collections. Orlando, FL:
Houghton  Mifflin Harcourt. 1998. Print.  

Prejudice shown by Miss Caroline and Miss Maudie in "To Kill A Mockingbird"

Prejudice can be defined as an assumption that is made by someone based upon something other than one's own experience with that organism or object. Prejudice can occur within a simple subconscious opinion that is formed without much knowledge on the topic or prejudice can occur when a person consciously builds a strong dislike against something or someone that they don’t actually know about. Propaganda can cause strong prejudice because a person's mind could take this propaganda and build upon it to form a bias against an event that the person has not actually witnessed in action.
  Miss Caroline displays prejudice when she makes assumptions about kids in the community. She makes assumptions about students many times. One of these times she displays prejudice was when she gave Walter Cunningham money to buy lunch, assuming he would be able to pay her back. She made this assumption with no background knowledge about the Cunninghams. The Cunninghams were actually a very poor family that would never be able to pay Miss Caroline back. Prejudice usually has a negative connotation but the way that Miss Caroline used this prejudice was to try and help Walter because she saw that he had no lunch and she did not want him to be hungry. Another scene of prejudice that Miss Caroline displays is when she proceeds to make Scout feel guilty for being educated. By doing this she also assumes that Atticus is not able to properly teach Scout. Miss Caroline also assumed that Burris Ewell would come back to school. Miss Caroline becomes terrified when a tiny bug crawls out of Burris Ewell's hair. The Elwell family is even poorer and less respectable than the Cunningham family. Burris only comes to school the first day of every school year, to make an appearance, to avoid trouble with the law. These events are thought of as prejudice because she has no background knowledge about these students and she makes assumptions about their lives. Although by definition this is considered prejudice, the assumptions were made subconsciously and they were not intentionally harming or spreading rumors about anyone. Jem displays prejudice when he made the assumption that turtles can not feel anything: “‘Turtles can't feel, stupid,’ said Jem. ‘Where you ever a turtle, huh?’”(Lee 15). Dill is not showing any prejudice here because he points out that Jem is making this assumption about something he has had no personal experience with.
Prejudice could be potentially harmful to the person it is against because if this prejudice is spread, it would cause more people to have prejudice against this person. This point is proved with the symbolism behind Miss Maudie’s nutgrass. Miss Maudie's nut grass is a representation of how rumors and gossip in Maycomb County are easily spread. Gossip is also a common thing in which prejudice occurs because the person that spreads the rumor did not actually witness the event, they are just passing on what they heard from another person which could be untruthful, filled with propaganda or not the complete story:
“‘Pull it up, child, pull it up?’ she picked up the limp sprout and squeezed her thumb up its tiny stalk. Microscopic grains oozed out. ‘Why, one sprig of nutgrass could ruin a whole yard. Look here. When it comes fall this dries up and the wind blows it all over  Maycomb County!’”(Lee 56).

How Is The Symbolism Of Tim Johnson More Malignant Than The Symbolism Of The Nutgrass?

The mad dog functions as a symbol of prejudice similar to the nutgrass. Prejudice can occur within a simple subconscious opinion that is formed without much knowledge on the topic or prejudice can occur when a person consciously builds a strong dislike against something or someone that they don’t actually know about. Prejudice could be potentially harmful to the person it is against because if this prejudice is spread, it would cause more people to have prejudice against this person. Miss Maudie's nut grass is a representation of how rumors and gossip in Maycomb County are easily  spread:
“Pull it up, child, pull it up?” She picked up the limp sprout and squeezed her thumb up its tiny stalk. Microscopic grains oozed out. “Why, one sprig of nutgrass could ruin a whole yard. Look here. When it comes fall this dries up and the wind blows it all over  Maycomb County!”(Lee 56)
The analogy of the wind blowing the seeds all over Maycomb County is a representation of the way that prejudice is spread.  The gossip and rumors travel among many people, and, as a result, there are more people experiencing prejudice against someone than there had initially been. Even if the original source of the prejudice is exterminated, the prejudice still remains within all of the people that it was spread to. Similar to the nutgrass, the mad dog is a congenial representation of how prejudice can spread.
The symbolism of Tim Johnson is so malignant and dangerous to the point that the people felt the need to hide to escape the prejudice that the dog represents and could spread. Lee uses the mad dog to display prejudice more malignantly because it is used to display prejudice as a sickness or madness of the brain. Nutgrass can’t be sick or crazy because it is used to display prejudice as a more benign, subconscious judgement. The dog did not have a choice whether it wanted to be the host of rabies or not, it found itself in a situation in which prejudice is involved and the sickness spread to the dog. This also supports the point that prejudice can be a subconscious aspect of thinking.
Heck Tate needed Atticus to exterminate the mad dog. He comes to Atticus because he is known as “One-shot Finch.” Although this is the reason that Heck Tate openly displays to the reader, there is far more symbolism behind this action. Atticus has to kill the mad dog because he is opposed to and immune to all forms unsupported judgement or prejudice. He is the symbol of anti-prejudice so he has to be the one to exterminate the source of the prejudice: "‘Come here,’ he said to Jem. ‘Don't you go near that dog, you understand? Don't go near him, he's just as dangerous dead as alive’” (Lee 111).
This displays that racism is seen like a disease, and the mad dog shows the spread of racism. Atticus is an advocate against racism, while some others of Maycomb are racist. Atticus does not want the town of racist people to reflect or “spread” to Jem and Scout in this case. Even though the main source of the prejudice (Tim Johnson) is dead, the prejudice that had been spread to the other people is still present. The people that this prejudice has affected could then take this prejudice and spread it to others.

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Print.

Could The United States Become A Totalitarian Nation Today?

It is almost impossible for the United States to become a totalitarian nation today. There are parts of the constitution that were created so the government could never have access to this type of power, the Checks and Balances system prevents this and to become a totalitarian nation, the United States would have to follow all of the factors of fascism.
The Checks and Balances system prevents this because it separates the power among the three branches of government. The power that is controlled in the Checks and Balances system is distributed among the Executive branch, which consists of the President and about 5,000,000 workers, the Legislative Branch which consists of the Senate and House of Representatives and the Judicial Branch which consists of the Supreme Court and Lower Courts. This would prevent the United States from turning into a totalitarian nation because power would not be able to evolve into the control of a single person or group (Davis, Childs).
Term limits also would prevent a person from being in power for too long. Term limits also decrease corruption. Term limits seem to make this less likely because there is less time that a politician can be influenced by the power of the office that they hold. If someone has a lot of power for a long period of time, this may cause them to want more power which would most likely lead to corruption (Weeks).
To become a totalitarian nation, the government (or other regime) must undergo all factors of totalitarianism. One that the United States does not show is disdain for intellectuals and the arts. The United States The government currently funds the arts. Without a strong economy, the government would collapse. For this reason, the government would support intellectuals. The people who hold power in the government  would want there to be knowledgeable and well practiced people in hold of any higher authority job. The government supports the accessibility to this knowledge by  funding colleges. The textbook “A History Of Asia,”describes Hideki Tojo’s rise to totalitarian power.  Japan was considered a totalitarian nation because its government and structure contained all of the factors of a totalitarian government (Murphey).
In conclusion, the United States can not be considered a totalitarian nation today because there are parts of the constitution that were created so the government could never have access to this type of power, the Checks and Balances system prevents this and to become a totalitarian nation, the United States would have to follow all of the factors of fascism.


Work Cited:
Davis, Katy. "Checks and Balances." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.
Childs, Kamshia. "Limited Government." Study.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.
Weeks, Bob. "Arguments for and against Term Limits." Voice For Liberty. N.p., 30 May 2014. Web. 09 Apr. 2017.
Cowen, Tyler. "National Endowment for the Arts." How the United States Funds the Arts. Ed. Don Ball. N.p., Nov. 2012. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.
Murphey, Rhoads. A History of Asia. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, an Imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, 2016. Print.

Victimization in "Once Upon A Time"

I believe that the blacks were victimized by the South African Government  in “Once Upon a Time.” The government used fear mongering to make the family paranoid of the crimes that were suspected of  happening around them. The government made people fear the black people because they blamed the black people for break ins and robberies. The whites were under pressure by the government to build clear walls around their property to keep the black people out, but it was their choice if they actually agreed with the government which  encouraged them to buy razor bladed coil and implied that if they bought that then they would be safe. The wife was the only member of the family who didn't fully agree with what the government was saying. Even though what the government was saying about the blacks made her fear what might happen to their family, she didn't agree that all of the blacks should be blamed or separated from everyone else. The government warned them to stay away from the blacks, but the wife brought them bread and tea: “The wife could never see anyone go hungry. She sent the trusted housemaid out with bread and tea” (Gordimer 14)
The blacks had never done anything to threaten the whites. The Government spread fear to keep them out because their skin color was different from that of the whites. The whites were afraid that they would do something someday but the black people had never done anything as a group to threaten the white people: “Yet she was afraid that some day such people might come up the street and tear off the plaque YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED and open the gates and stream in”(Gordimer 13)
This quote shows that the blacks haven't actually done anything to the people, but the whites were paranoid that the blacks might do something in the future. Some of the blacks were suspected of committing robberies, but there was an equal chance that if there was a robbery, that it might be a white person. Many people in the society were poor, so the crime rate probably increased. If there was a crime committed, many whites would infer that it was probably committed by a black person. The blacks were banned from entering the suburbs just because of their skin color. There were reports of the blacks rioting, but they were being highly discriminated against by the whites even though they didn't do anything to deserve the discrimination and so they rioted to stop people from segregating them: “There were riots but those were outside the city, where people of another color were being quartered” (Gordimer 13).
Both the blacks and the whites wanted to live their own, peaceful lives. This is inferred because the family put up the walls to keep everyone out, and they put up all of the protection because even though they did not despise the blacks, they wanted to live separately from them so that there would be no destruction of their property by anyone. The government segregated the races and made the whites believe that the black people were bad.  Because they believed that the blacks were bad, they separated them and treated them unfairly even though they didn't deserve to be treated unfairly. This is why I believe that although the South African Government victimized both the blacks and the whites, the blacks were victimized the most because the other people were all under the influence of the government's fear mongering and tricked into segregating them.