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Mrs Higgins forecasts the problems

Even though Mrs. Higgins appears only twice throughout the whole play, she plays an important role for its development and outcome. The development is influenced by her in the third act, where Eliza appears for the first time in public at Mrs. Higgins´s home. After Eliza´s first public appearance Mrs. Higgins not only shows that through Henry Higgins´s rough manners his house in Wimpole Street is an improper environment for Eliza to become a real lady, but she also forecasts to her son the problems which will arise after Eliza´s transformation will be completed. She prepares the viewer for the final problem of the play.

In the fifth act she takes an influence on the outcome, through playing the role of a negotiator between her son and Eliza. After having an argument with Higgins, Eliza asks her for help and advice: Mrs. Higgins accomodates her and explains his wrongdoings and Eliza´s feelings to Henry;  she forces him and makes a compromise possible. Another detail, which underlines her importance for the outcome of the play is her house providing the setting of the final act.

Mrs. Higgins is very important for the play through her influence in her two appearances and through wise comments, which make the protagonists think and the viewer reflect.

 The tribal dance highlights the boys´ transition

There is an evident decline of civilization in the fourth chapter. The first thing is that Roger is destroying sand structures made by littleuns and that he is throwing rocks at a young boy, although missing intentionally. He misses, because "round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law." This fact shows the decline of morality. Another sign of the movement towards savagery is that Jack paints his face for a pig hunt. Because of that hunt the children, who were supposed to watch the signal-fire abandon it and it goes out, so that a passing ship does not see the stranded boys. The fire isa sign for civilization and rescue, the fact that it was allowed to go out shows that the hunters do not care about rescue and civilization as much as they used to.

The hunt is successful and a pig is killed. After the hunters come back a fight between Jack an Piggy arises, because in Jack´s opinion hunting is more important than the fire. During that fight Piggy gets hit by Jack and a glass of his specs breaks. The specs become a symbol for the decline of civilization, their being half broken shows that the civilization of the boys is not fully intact anymore. After the fire is lit again the transition into savagery is highlighted by the hunters celebrating their successful hunt with a wild tribal dance.

Golding´s warning: The evil beast is in ourselves

A group of boys cut off from society

In his novel "Lord of the Flies" William Golding writes about a group of boys, who crashed with their plane on an uninhabited tropical island with fruits to eat and without any dangerous animals, who were trying to escape from a nuclear war. Golding not only describes the adventures of the boys, but he also shows the decline of civilization and morality in a group, which is cut off from the society they used to live in.

At first their civilization works well

The story begins with two of the boys meeting in the jungle. They decide that they have to call a meeting with the rest of the group. One of them, a boy called "Piggy", realizes that they are able to call the meeting by blowing a shell which the other boy (Ralph) has found. Piggy has many deficiencies; he has asthma, which does not allow him to blow the shell by himself, he is overweight and he would be unable to see without his specs. After the meeting is successfully called the group wants to vote for a chief. A boy (Jack), the leader of the choir group wants to become chief, but the assembly chooses Ralph. During the meeting Piggy asks everybody about his name, a sign of civilized behaviour. Further the assembly decides on employing the choir as hunters, on making a fire on the top of the mountain to attract a possibly passing ship to the island and some rules are made up by Ralph. Their civilization starts well: there are rules, there is a fire and there is a leader. The fire is lit with Piggy`s specs, having a signal fire just as calling the meeting were his ideas. This fact shows that their civilization would not work without Piggy´s realism and his clearsightedness, but he is an outsider through his deficiencies.

Taboos are forgotten and violence grows

After a couple of days the younger ones start becoming afraid of some beast that is supposed to live in the woods, but they are assured by the older ones that such a thing does not exist. Another sign for the decline of civilization is that the group does not obey the rules. For example Piggy is interupted in a speech, even though he was holding the shell, which gave only him the right to speak for the time he is holding it. Watchers who were supposed to keep the signal fire going go hunting and the fire dies. During that time a ship is seen by the boys, but a rescue is impossible, since the fire is out. Ralph is very upset about that. At the time the ship is passing by, the hunters kill their first pig. After their return Ralph and Jack have an argument whether to concentrate on hunting or on rescue. when they try to light the fire again another argument, but this time between Jack and Piggy develops and Piggy is punched in the face, so that one glass of his specs breaks. This is the first act of violence. The first sign was shown earlier, when an older boy was deliberately throwing stones at a younger one, without hitting him, because, as the book says "around the younger boy was the invisible, but strong taboo of the old life, the protection of parents, policeman, school and the law." In the evening, after the ship passes by, the hunters reenact their successful hunt. They dance wildly around a boy who is acting as a pig. This dance is supported by the chant:"Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in." The dance will be reenacted a couple of more times later on and the violence towards the "pig" is going to grow with each dance. Next day Ralph holds a speech, complaining that nothing gets done and that they talk but do not act. He starts comparing the group with savages and animals.

The evil beast is in ourselves

There certainly is a decline af civilization and morality. I believe that this could happen to any group, boys as well as adults, if they are separated from society. The group has lost their morality through allowing their instincts, their bad side to come forth. Almost none of them realized that the beast they were afraid of was in themselves; the ones who realized and warned were laughed at or ignored.

Tracy Chapman´s look at the dark side of the American Dream

Subcity Words and music by Tracy Chapman People say it doesn´t exist ´Cause no one would like to admit That there is a city underground Where people live everyday Off the waste and decay Off the discards of their fellow man. nnn Here in subcity life is hard We can´t receive any government relief I´d like to give Mr. President my honest disregards For disregarding me. nnn They say there is too much crime in these city streets My sentiments exactly Government and big business hold the purse strings When I worked I worked in the factories I´m at the mercy of the world I guess I´m lucky to be alive. nnn They say we´ve fallen through the cracks They say the system works But we won´t let it Help I guess they never stop to think We might not just want handouts But a way to make an honest living Living this ain´t living. nnnn What did I do to deserve this Had my trust in God Worked every day of my life Thought I had some guarantees That´s what I thought At least that´s what I thought. nnn Last night I had another restless sleep Wondering what tomorrow might bring Last night I dreamed A cold blue light was shining down on me I screamed myself awake Thought I must be dying Thought I must be dying.

Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1964. She grew up in an African American working-class family. She started making her own songs at the age of fourteen! Her music is strongly influenced by artists like Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan. Many of her songs criticize society and deal with its problems. In this protest song Chapman speaks out against the class society, social injustice, and the government tolerating and authorizing these things. She blames government and big business for the bad living conditions of the lower-class people who live in a sort of "subcity" among the privileged upper class. Tracy Chapman switches between the position of a first person singular and the position of a first person plural narrator. The first-person perspective gives the song strong powers of persuasion because when Chapman talks to you just as if she is telling her own story, you get more involved as a listener. The plural form emphasizes that she is talking to all people around her. She starts out by describing the ignorance of the people who do not want to admit the existence of this "subcity", where the homeless live. Then, in the refrain, she begins blaming the government for the situation. By saying "I´d like to give Mr. President my honest regards for disregarding me" she means that the government not only doesn´t help, but it also views the homeless as lower, less important people. The sarcastic criticism is, that the President, a man elected into his office by the people of his country to help and serve his country disregards a part of his electors. In the second verse she complains about the crime in the streets, which is kind of ironic,since "regular", working citizens usually complain about crime in connection with people, who are living on the streets. The end of this verse is a helpless exclamation: "I´m at the mercy of the world I guess I´m lucky to be alive" This shows that she has already given up the fight, does not see any chance to get out of the "gutter"; that she just wants to stay alive. Verse number three is a complaint about society and the system, about the prejudice that work is easy to find, but the homeless just do not want to make an "honest living". Finally, in the last two verses she expresses her consternation about the failure of the system and her uncertainty about the future. The last five lines describe a "death-dream" of hers, which probably stands for the death of her hopes.

The American Dream was the Settlers´ Dream

The USA does no longer welcome uneducated, poor immigrants as open-armed as they used to

Even though the American Dream was defined by Thomas Wolf in 1934 for the first time, its ideology had been there much longer. As long as the USA has existed, and even before the War of Independence, a never-ending stream of immigrants flooded into America from East to West. People came long ways, often without much more than their clothes, to escape from religious persecution or bad living conditions. In the beginning there seemed to be inexhaustible resources of land and food. But even back then the Indians were oppressed, the greedy settlers were already pursuing their American Dream. Later on new settlers arrived; they, in hundreds of ships, lined up to help the white man pursue his dream. After the War of Independence the white man worked out a constitution, where the principles of human rights were established: The word "everybody" was not used for African and Native Americans. Then it took almost a hundred years to abolish slavery and another hundred to finish with racial discrimination.

Until the 20th century there was something like an "American Dream" for the white settlers: with enough work invested, there were many ways to make a living. At some point the west coast was reached and the land became crowded. Industrialization brought low wages, unemployment and lots of money for those who managed to take their chance. For immigrants the situation in America was probably much better than in their home-countries and for most it probably still is today. In the 20th century some people managed to become rich through good business ideas, intellectual, physical or other extraordinary abilities. Other countries changed their political and educational systems through the last two centuries; America still has its old constitution, its insuffidient social system and the school system which does not really support the talented. The reasons are that High Schools are available for everybody and everybody is treated equally, but there are no schools where the talented can improve ahead of the class. Higher education at the good colleges costs lots of money and is hardly accessible for the lower class.
The American Dream has changed through the years: for most immigrants the conditions in the USA are still better than in their home countries, but the USA does not welcome uneducated, poor immigrants as open-armed as they used to. For Americans it is much harder than it used to be to rise to the upper class.

Are immigrants too eager to preserve their cultural identity ?

Many bigger cities are multicultural societies nowadays. People from various countries, continents and with different religious beliefs make their living in the urban areas of the US or of western europe. That great number of immigrants does not only bring a variety of service industries e.g. restaurants, but it also contributes manpower to the local industries.

Telecasting of executions soon ?

Comment on an email forum in the internet

Both groups, those who support and those, who oppose the death penalty, have almost the same opinion about the highly controversial telecast of a murderer who is going to be punished by execution. The subject is currently being discussed in several e-mails on a newspaper forum in the internet.

Even though the author of the first e-mail is against the death penalty, he thinks or rather just hopes this possible telecast to show up and make the cruelty of the death penalty recognizable for the American citizens and supports it for only this reason. Others, however, have the opinion that a telecast would be the next step to show more and more brutality on TV, to satisfy the bloodlust of the modern viewer.

In other e-mails the authors criticize the suggestion of the telecast in a rather sarcastic way; one of them compares it with a current wrestling event, which draws millions of viewers to their TVs. Right now wrestling shows are gaining a lot of popularity in the US; I do not know if it is because of their growing brutality, but violence plays an important role. Further on the author suggests with growing irony, to make a great show out of the execution.

Others are not as sarcastic, but still, they are against such a telecast. According to their opinion it would desensitise society for death; they believe that telecasting an execution would make some people lose their respect for death.

It seems remarkable that out of five e-mails only two are strictly against the death penalty and one writer just gives his opinion about the contested telecast; the rest is more or less in favor of capital punishment. This shows the controversy of the subject.

I certainly agree with those who oppose a telecast; I do also agree that telecasting an execution would not satisfy the bloodlust of the viewers, at least not for long. I cannot share the fear that a nationwide telecast would support conditions like in the Roman circus.

Everyone has the right to withdraw from society

In his play "A Separate Peace" Tom Stoppard writes about an event, which takes place in a private hospital some time in the sixties. The protagonist, John Brown, has a very unusual wish: he wants to spend some time at this private hospital, even though he does not have any kind of disease. As he says he just seeks the privacy and the routine: "I came for the quiet and the routine. I came for the white calm, meals on trays and quiet efficiency, time passing and bringing nothing.". Brown wants to escape the chaos of everyday life and tries to create his own reality within the hospital. He paints his room as an English country-side in the summertime, which symbolises his efforts to opt out from society and create his own world. Naturally his need is not understood by the hospital staff; but to explore his motives the doctor of the hospital allows him to stay. Several attempts are made to find out and confirm Brown´s identity, because the staff thinks that he might be hiding from the law or have some kind of psychological disorder. Throughout the play he opens himself more and more towards a nurse, until his identity becomes clear and he has to flee from his relatives, who are about to arrive at the hospital.
In my opinion Brown has the right to withdraw from society if he wishes. The reason why it does not work out in Brown´s case is that the hospital staff is not able to understand his need, which is shown by the efforts which are made to find his family. For society it seems unthinkable that someone could want to be left alone, because it is against its rules.

A fight between two sides of one character

Pinter´s entire story is quite abstract

"A Slight Ache" by Harold Pinter is a play about an elderly couple which is annoyed by a matchseller who is standing at their back gate. In the beginning an everyday situation is shown: the couple, Flora and Edward, sitting at the breakfast table; while Flora is trying to initiate a conversation, Edward is seeking for a different occupation. All of Flora´s attempts end up in a taciturn answer by Edward. It seems that they have been married for some time and do not have a lot of topics in common. Edward´s attitude towards Flora is humiliating. Later the situation changes, when a wasp attracts their attention: Flora is afraid of it, while Edward is thinking of possibilities to kill it. Even though Edward still does not treat her with respect, they find a common occupation in the act of killing the wasp. After finding the most sadistic method for the death of the wasp Edward’s attention is drawn to an old man who is standing in front of their back gate.
As the plot proceeds, the spectator learns that the old man is a matchseller who has been standing there every day for two months and has never sold a single match. After breakfast Edward watches the matchseller through a window and finally decides, after Flora reproached his of being afraid of the old man, to invite him in to find out the reason for him standing at his back gate. Being a coward he leaves the job of inviting the matchseller to Flora. Flora manages to get him into Edward´s room; a conspicuous aspect of this action is that the old man acts like a deaf-mute or a spineless puppet - he neither says anything, nor does he make any gestures throughout the play.
The first encounter is a monologue where Edward asks him questions and also gives the answers, where Edward draws parallels between the two of them and where Edward tries to impress him. Being interrupted by Flora, he leaves the room and lets her find out something about him. Flora starts out with telling the old man about her past - a rape in particular. She starts telling him her secret dreams until in the end she begins to talk to him in a seductive manner. Interrupted by Edward, Flora leaves and both men are left alone. At first Edward’s monologue continues like the first one, but at some point Edward thinks to see a sarcastic grin in the old man´s face. The spectator can see that Edward has undergone a change: his mood has changed from anger and inquisition to sadness and resignation; he also begins to talk about this morning as a past which lies far behind; his health condition has changed a lot: whatever started with a slight ache has developed into a cold. Contrary to that the matchseller begins to look younger and stronger. In the end Edward lies sick on the ground and the old man leaves with Flora to view "his" garden, after she has passed the tray of matchboxes over to Edward.

The entire story is quite abstract, but I believe that one has to understand it as a reversal of roles or rather as a fight between two sides of a character. One side, which is symbolised by the matchseller, is Edward’s better understanding and calm side, maybe similar to his character in his youth; at least this would explain Flora’s attraction to the matchseller and her confession, whereas Edward symbolises the side that has controlled his body for the past years. During the play Edward undergoes a change, which was about to come over him for a couple of months (the matchseller has been standing at their back gate for two months, as Edward says). His fear of the matchseller could be explained by that. Further proof could be his enduring comparison with the matchseller and his vivid remembrance of the past.