Character Analysis of Medea

Analysis of Medea’s character in the play of same title.

In the play Medea by Euripides, the major character of same name is the daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis, and the granddaughter of the sun god, Helios. Medea is a powerful sorceress. King Aeetes most prized possession is the golden ram’s fleece.

Jason is a Greek hero and leader of the Argonauts. He arrives at Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece. Aeetes of course would not part with his Golden Fleece. To settle the matter, Aeetes made Jason undergo several tasks which made the Golden Fleece impossible to obtain.

Medea falls madly in love with Jason. She helps him secure the Golden Fleece after Jason promises to marry her. Jason flees with Medea and her younger brother Absyrtis after getting the Golden Fleece. To buy time from their pursuers, Medea cold-bloodedly kills her own brother, scatters his body parts all over so that those pursuing them have to stop to collect the pieces one by one to be able to bury them.

Jason and Medea settle in Iolcus. Medea uses sorcery to restore youthfulness to Jason’s father, Aeson by cutting his throat and putting magical potion inside. She offers to do the same for Pelias, Jason’s uncle, who assumes Aeson’s without authority. Pelias’ daughters cut his throat. Medea did not restore him. Medea is hoping that Jason would assume the throne after Pelias dies but her hopes are dashed as they are meted the punishment of exile.

Jason and Medea eventually settle in Corinth. Medea bears Jason two children. Things take a turn for the worse when Jason abandons her to be able to marry Creon’s, the king of Corinth, daughter.

Medea, scorched by love, could not accept Jason’s betrayal. She moves to avenge her broken heart. First, she kills Jason’s new bride by poisoning her robe and crown. King Creon, seeing her daughter wreathe in pain, embraces her. He too dies. Then she murders her two children in her bid to cause Jason more pain. She flees Corinth and brings with her the bodies of her two children.

 

Character Analysis of Medea

To say that Medea commits evil acts is probably a major understatement. Medea’s actions go beyond monstrosity. They are manifestations of pure evil, one who does not have conscience or even the slightest hint of capacity for remorse. Medea, in utter barbarism, is incapable of being a vulnerable human.

Medea’s love for Jason knows no bounds – well, literally. She is willing to annihilate anyone who gets in the way. Medea’s extreme nature is evident right from the start. It is probably Medea’s interpretation of the line “she is madly in love”. Her love goes beyond normal and rational bounds. Indeed her madness is beyond comprehension.

The object of her love, or probably obsession, Jason bears the brunt of facing her scary temper. Although, she commits everything to please Jason at first. She commits treachery by stealing from her own father to be able to please the man she loves. Then she kills her own brother to help Jason escape. And she commits treason of the highest order when she kills her own flesh and blood, the fruits of her womb, her own precious children to extract revenge on Jason.

The nurse narrates that Medea had committed questionable acts in the name of love only to be gone through the entire adventure to retrieve the Golden Fleece and defied her household only to be abandoned by Jason and left “slighted, and [crying] aloud on the Vows they had made to each other, [...] [calling] upon the gods to witness what sort of return Jason has made to her love” (20 -24).

Love conquers all, so they say. But in this instance, it is hard to decide if it was extreme love or extreme hate that overcomes. Medea is capable of both. Her extreme nature is revealed right at the very start of the story when she helps Jason secure the Golden Fleece. She is capable of destroying anybody who comes between her and Jason. Medea could not be stopped.

Medea’s infamous acts are so chilling. What makes them doubly abhorring is the fact that she committed those acts against the very people she is supposed to give love. I believe this is the reason why it makes Medea a traitor through and through. These very people love her and give love to her. They may not expect to be loved in return but at least, some degree of respect would have sufficed. They are the people who would least expect Medea to harm them. Alas, they don’t know how Medea’s mind works at all. Medea does not only break their trust, she commits the most despicable act of all by murdering them.

It is hard to fathom the degree of insanity behind Medea’s actions. A daughter who steals from her own father. A sister who kills her own brother. A mother who murders her own children. “O your heart must have been made of rock or steel, you who can kill with your own hand the fruit of your own womb” (1253-1255). With the murder of her children, Medea has reached the apex of her villainy.

Probably the greatest irony of all is that Medea’s greatest failure is also a manifestation of her greatest redeeming quality. Medea’s extreme acts leave no doubt of her capacity for extreme love for Jason. Of course, this love goes beyond normal and logical bounds. If we take the murder out of it, we could see a vulnerable woman deeply in love and got scorched in the process. The only motive behind her chilling acts is her deep love for Jason.

It is easy to matter problems that require definite solution. For instance, if you cannot afford to buy food then do something to secure money – be it borrowing, working or asking for money. But problems concerning the heart defy objectivity. That is why, in the heat of passionate outbursts, crimes are sometimes committed.

We see a husband killing his beloved wife caught in the act of adultery. These crimes of passion happen every now and then. These are not isolated cases. So it is not hard to understand what Medea must have gone through upon discovering Jason’s betrayal of her extreme trust and love.

Jason’s actions pushed her over the edge, making her act in ways not comprehensible by logic and reason although, it is hard to discern if what occurred is the result of momentary madness or extreme cold-heartedness.

Medea is both a victim and master of fate. Separation is the most difficult problem to face. What probably happened is that Medea could not face her fears of separation. She could not imagine life without Jason. Apart from Jason is equal to no life at all. That could be Medea’s mind frame at the time of those ghastly acts. This is reason enough for her to commit murder against the very people who trust and love her.

After a monologue, she reveals her plan which, at first, the chorus supports “Flow backward to your sources, sacred river, and let the world’s great order be reversed [...] women are paid their due. No more shall evil-sounding fate be theirs” (407-413).

Here,  Medea is seen as a heroine willing to avenge the wrongs done to women, which is a rarity during her time. Her proneness to violence and ruthlessness however is evident at the start of the play when the nurse is prompted to predict “may even kill the king and the new-wedded groom” (42) and Creon’s fear that she is “a clever woman, versed in evil arts” (283), who “may injure [his] daughter mortally” (281).

This declaration confirms the fact that Medea is seen as strong and determined woman willing to do extreme measures to get what she wants particularly extract vengeance. And the nurse does read her character well as shown by the succeeding turn of events.

Medea’s half-baked values are brought to sudden and extreme test with Jason’s sudden alienation.

She is not exactly the model of virtue right from the very start. She is intensely proud. She could not bear to allow her enemies to gain any form of victory against her. This could, in part, be the reason for murdering her children. She does not want to see her children harmed by an enemy.

She is very intelligent. She can also be cunning and a cold manipulator. She is able to see behind the hypocrisies of her enemies and use these weaknesses against them. Her revenge is total. She holds no prisoners. The only thing going against her is that she is willing to pay the price at whatever costs, even the lives of those she holds dear.

When Jason turns against her, she sees him as an enemy she needs to conquer at all costs. With her emotions in all-time high, it is hard for her to respond rationally, to see things in an objective way. She acted out of instinct. Her worst self come to the fore.

Even though I condemn her acts, it was not difficult to imagine her position. Of course, that does not clear her of her sins but it does make her a bit human. We can relate to her after all, at least, to a very small degree.

All her acts are avoidable had she tried to think before acting. In this instance, it is important to note that Medea’s distinctive quality is her capacity to act on instinct and have no hesitations about it. So actually, these monstrous acts are in consonance with her innate nature and character.

Medea might have been wrong in committing those acts but her premise that those very acts are what would hurt Jason the most is right. Jason’s pain and loss would probably be insurmountable after what happened. In a way, Medea achieves the very end she strives for. Famously, the pleasure of seeing Jason suffer the loss of his children outweighed her own remorse at killing them.

Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Review on Blithedale – A Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s.

Blithedale Romance is one of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s splendid works which tells the story of a group of utopians who set out to reform their deteriorating, meaningless existence. They went to live in Blithedale community overlooked by the famed Zenobia.

They started out with noble aims but the story ended in tragedy. In the story, careful analysis of the story would show that what really happened and what Miles was saying could actually two different things. Miles in his narrations seem to be holding back some important details and sugar-coated the truth by telling a version of his own. The end part of the story though would provide the clue as to why he finds the need to cover the truth.

All throughout the story, the narrator carefully hid the fact that he has feelings for Priscilla by insinuating that it was Zenobia that caught his fancy. It was as if he purposely misled the reader into thinking that so his story would appear factual when in fact it could be full of biases.

Zenobia, at the start of the story, is full of life. She is at her prime. She is very successful as a magazine writer in which she used the pseudonym Zenobia. That is how the name came to be so popular. She holds the esteem of not only a few but most people in her place. Her committing suicide then comes as a huge puzzle. Even her friend, Mr. Westervelt, who knew Zenobia well, questions the very reason why she would commit such a grave mistake.

This adds to the idea that a cover-up could have occurred. That Miles could not have narrated the whole truth about what had transpired. In the last portion of the story, we find Zenobia, a strong-willed woman, died because she committed suicide which prompted her long-time friend Mr. Westervelt to raise suspicions on such claims (”She was the last woman in the world to whom death could have been necessary”).

This part is the subject of debate and the reason why questions surrounding Zenobia’s death arise. Miles depiction of Zenobia at the middle part of the story showed her as woman of strength but is also capable of weakness (how can she be happy, after discovering that fate has assigned her but one single event, which she must contrive to make the substance of her whole life?). Zenobia questioned Miles statement as he commented on how happy Priscilla had become and he lamented that women are happier than men.

Zenobia unfortunately fell in love with Mr. Hollingsworth who, as the story unfolds, reveals that he wasn’t in love with Zenobia. At one point of the story, when Miles criticizes Hollingsworth, Zenobia comes to the latter’s defense. She believes that Hollingsworth actions stem from nobility and greatness of mind and not otherwise as what Miles believes. But Zenobia’s love is unrequited despite her efforts. And this is believed to be the cause why she committed the ghastly act of suicide.

The conclusion of the story though seems to give a whole new twist as Miles admitted a long-held secret (’I–I myself–was in love–with–Priscilla!’). As Miles announced his real feelings for Priscilla one could not help but wonder if Miles could be hiding the truth all along. He is so good at convincing the readers that he has feelings for Zenobia throughout the tale that his admission in the end for his feelings for Priscilla practically takes them off-guard.

The conclusion kind of unravels the mystery. It holds the key that shed light on what really happened to Zenobia on the faithful night. It is prompts the reader to ask more questions instead of enlightened them. Did a cover-up really occur? Is Mr. Coverdale telling the truith all along? Given the situation that the narrator Miles is actually in love with Prisicilla and not with Zenobia, it leads one to believe that a cover-up is possible.

For how can one explain the deadly choice Zenobia made given the kind of woman that she is – strong, intelligent, wealthy and successful? What Mr. Westervelt said is true. There was no probable cause for her to commit suicide. And there were no signs that she even entertained the thought, even if she felt sad over her apparent failure in love. As a matter of fact, in her conversation with Miles she revealed that she was going to become a nun.

The story is full of twist right from the very start. Zenobia’s character is one of them being strong and weak at the same time. There is also the mysterious presence of Priscilla and as you get involved with the story you begin to wonder how this sweet little

girl figures in the plot. As it turns out, she is Zenobia’s sister.

Mr. Moodie, the stranger talking to Miles at the start of the story, turns out to be Zenobia and Priscilla’s father who hides from the public because of the crime of murder she committed in the past. Even Mr. Hollingsworth becomes the target of a twist when he opens to Miles that he intends to establish a School of Reform for prisoners at the community to which Miles strongly resisted.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Blithedale Romance is a moving and haunting tale of pursuit of happiness and perfection. They build a community to reach their goal. This small community is actually a group of idealistic people. In the end, their pursuit ended tragically in Zenobia’s death.

Comparing Jane Austen and Zora Neal Hurston

Comparing the works, themes, and characteristics of the novels by Jane Austen and Zora Neal Hurston.

Jane Austen (December 16, 1775 – July 18, 1817) was an English novelist. Her work is considered part of the Western canon. Her ability to look deeply into women’s lives and present them in such wonderful balance of form and irony had put her in the ranks of the literary greats of her time. She was considered the most notable and influential novelists of her time although her works then did not receive as warm a reception as in our times. Her literary endeavors did not achieve immense popularity during her lifetime.

Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891-January 28, 1960) was an African-American folklorist. She wrote the critically-acclaimed Harlem Renaissance but was best remembered for her work Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Both authors were better-educated than most girls during their time. Austen entered Reading Ladies boarding school in the Abbey gatehouse in Reading, Berkshire. Hurston took undergraduate studies at Barnard College where she finished a degree B.A. in anthropology in 1928.

Despite a century that gulfed between them, Jane Austen and Zora Neale Hurston are authors that share similar characteristics and themes in their novels.

In consonance with the custom for female authors during her time, Jane Austen was forced to publish her works anonymously. Austen’s works revolved around love stories. During her time the Romantic movement of literature in England was in full bloom. But Austen’s writings were far from being romantic.

Romanticism often borders on passion. Austen, however, extolled love tempered with reason in her novels. She would most likely depict who people practiced moderation in love as having more chances of success than those who went for it at all costs.

In similar grain, we find American author Zora Neale Hurston’s novels reflecting the same values. Moderation is the key she preached. The characters she wrote were not subject to violent or overly emotions. As a matter of fact, anyone could relate to them.

Austen tackled social issues during her time. She delved on issues such as the dilemma of single genteel English women in the early 1800s. During this time, inheritance law and custom favored the male heirs. The bulk of the family’s fortune often went to them, leaving the unmarried women to cope on their own. Austen often depicted socially perceptive comedies on manners in her books. These are particularly true in her work Emma where critics often cited it for perfection of form.

The main plot of both authors’ stories center on the lives of women. Take for instance, Hurston’s book Their Eyes Were Watching God, we find Janie the main protagonist living a sheltered existence. Her grandmother, who was an ex-slave, did not want Janie to experience the harshness in the world. She brought up

Janie in a wealthy environment. As a natural consequence, she revolved around similarly well-to-do black social circle.

Her first husband was Logan who wasn’t able to provide her with financial stability. She was forced to find a job to augment their meager income. As tough times threatened, Janie left him. Her second husband was Jody, a mayor. Jody

brought her to the all black city called Eatonville.

The lifestyles of the people in Eatonville were similar to those of the white people. Her husband, Jody, being the town’s steward, implemented all the rules in the town. As a consequence, the town prospered. Jody, in turn, became financially stable. Somehow, despite her obvious wealth, Janie did not find the happiness she sought. Years rolled by and Jody died. Janie went to the Everglades with Tea Cake and found work in the fields where she was finally able to find true happiness.

Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, which is one of her most popular books, featured two sisters Marianne and Ellinor. Marianne, who, being emotional was acquainted with passionate feelings such as love at first sight. She expressed openly ardent emotions. She admired the grotesque “picturesque”. And she represented Austen’s idea of “sensibility”. Elinor, the sister, was the one blessed with more “sense” as shown by her rational moderation when it came to love. Despite her outlook she still suffered from disappointments brought about by love now and then.

Jane Austen and Zora Neale Hurston provide a strong voice for the issue of feminism in literature. Jane Austen, due to the constraints of her times, was forced to hide her gender and keeping her identity anonymous in order to promote feminist literature. Zora Neale Hurston, on the other hand, continued and promoted the feminist literature movement by her writings. The desired end Zora Neal Hurston had strived though, being a black person herself, was to promote freedom for black people. The issue of Black Liberation Movement, around 1910, was foremost in her times. Their Eyes Were

Watching God, Hurston’s most popular work, carried a themebased on a rural Southern setting. It focused on the relationship between man and nature, the ongoing dynamics of human relationships, and Janie’s thirst for independence.

Authors criticized Zora Neal Hurston because they expected her, being a black author during the black liberation movement in the 1910’s, to write stories depicting black people’s oppression and support the movement by writing about black people struggles for freedom. They wanted Hurston to voice out their experiences on how they are being suppressed by the people around them.

Instead, Zora focused her writings on the issues of the women being suppressed in their rights and not allowed to be free. She seemed largely apolitical. But by tackling this idea, Hurston probably wanted to depict the struggles of black people on their quest for freedom.

In a way, both authors went against popular opinion during their time when they opted not to join the bandwagon. Jane Austen did not pursue romanticism in her novels despite being under the influence of the Romantic Period. Instead, she gave her character like Ellinor a degree of control over her emotions. Zora Neal Hurston, like Austen, did not openly campaign for black independence just like her contemporaries were. She decided to take another route which was to present a more tame view on the movement by tackling women issues and relating them to black people’s struggles.

This is how Hurston deals with pressing issue of racism. Instead of taking sides, she pointed out that black critics during her time were themselves racist against other people. Hurston did not want to limit her view of freedom to a particular group of people alone such as blacks. Freedom for Hurston should be shared by everybody especially freedom from oppression – blacks, Indians, and women.

Austen described in her novels women who were after marriages that would provide them comforts. Readers during our time may find this abhorring but Austen was simply writing the practices during her period. During her time, men and women often married for money. Opportunities for wealth were not widespread. So they turned to marriage as a way to gain financial freedom.

Austen is popular for her ability to intertwine romance with the social situation in her era and produced a believable love story. The conflict in her novels often tackled emotional aspects such as love, friendship and morals being tested by financial concerns.

Just like Austen’s women characters, Hurston’s female lead in Their Eyes Were Watching God particularly Janie also married for money. Her first marriage did not work out because she was used to the life of wealth and abundance. She had not worked a day of her life when she was young being born to a privileged family. Being married to her husband Logan woke her up to the harsh realities that black women her age had to contend. Janie left her first husband in search of a man who could provide for her needs, to find advantageous marriages.

The strength of Austen’s works lies in her ability to give a unique voice on her characters especially women and depicting them in their everyday lives belonging to the middle or upper. It is easy to relate to Jane’s character because they did not out of the ordinary lives. Each woman especially in our generation finds themselves reflected in part by the characters Jane wrote.

Austen’s literary appeal is also due in part in her ability to depict her character vividly and firmly. The characters were always ordinary people who were consistent with their views and principles throughout the story. Austen did not try to embellish them with her own views. But, she managed to preserve the characters’ views all through out.

Just like Austen, Hurston too chose middle and upper class black women in her stories. Their lives just like Austen reflected the lives during their times. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Hurston was able to escape being labeled or attributed to a single movement, whether literary or political. Wright’s criticism about the book which came out in 1937 is, to some degree, true: the book is not a political treatise-it carries no single, overwhelming message or moral. Far from being a weakness, however, this resistance is the secret of the novel’s strength: it is a profoundly rich, multifaceted work that can be read in a number of ways.”

William Shakespeare’s Othello, Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, and Speaker For The Dead

In William Shakespeare’s Othello, the protagonist of the same name was a general in Venice. He promoted Florentine Michael Cassio to a higher position of personal lieutenant instead of his friend Iago. This, of course, incurred the ire of Iago. He plotted against Othello and Cassio’s by enlisting the help of Roderigo, the spurned suitor of Desdemona (Othello’s fiancée).


Iago sowed intrigues between Desdemona and Othello and Othello and Cassio. Iago made Othello jealous by insinuating that Desdemona and Cassio was having an affair. It so inflamed Othello that he decided to kill Desdemona by strangling her, also upon the suggestion of Iago. Cassio got wounded by Roderigo and the death of Desdemona.

Othello later learned belatedly from Emilia, Iago’s wife, that Iago manipulated all the stories. Othello wounded Iago then killed himself. Iago killed Emilia. Iago got imprisoned and Cassio was proclaimed the new governor of Cyrpus.

Orson Scott Card’s Ender`s Game was more gruesome as miscommunication led to the annihilation of an entire race – the alien Formics or better known as the Buggers. Andrew “Ender” Wiggin was a young child-genius who was made to undergo training in preparation for the feared Third Invasion of the alien Buggers. During the first invasion, the alien almost wiped out the entire human population due to lack of technology. The Second Invasion, the human population again almost got eradicated but not as much as the First invasion.

To prevent total eradication of mankind, the International Military Forces enlisted the help of genius children aged five to thirteen to undergo simulated space training that were intended to equip them with skills when the aliens would come.

Ender showed incredible battle skills earning him the Commander post in so short a time. He was then made to undergo a series of simulated battles culminating in the exterminating of the buggers’ planet which in turn killed them. It turned out that the final test was not simulated but the real one. And Ender just committed Xenocide by eliminating the entire Bugger race.

Ender feeling remorseful for his mistake, he together with his sister Valentine, left on a colonization ship bound for the bugger’s destroyed planet where he intended to reside. There, Ender found out that the Buggers’ left him the pupa of the last surviving Queen or the Hive-Queen.

The pupa telepathically talked to Ender and explained to him that the reason why Buggers attacked humans was they believed that humans are not sentient or capable of consciousness. The Buggers realized their error and wanted to make amends by refraining from attacking humans anymore. Therefore, Ender’s Xenocide to defend earth was no longer necessary. Due to lack communication, the bugger could not relay this message to humans which led to the tragic end of the buggers.

Ender related the Queen’s tale by writing a book called “The Hive-Queen” and using the pen name “Speaker for the Dead”. He left the colony and brought the pupa with him to seek a place for the bugger to breed.

Orson Scott Card’s Speaker For The Dead was another tale that delves on miscommunication. But unlike the previous examples, William Shakespeare’s Othello and Ender`s Game, the story did not end tragically. It did not also led to death of humans or the wipe out of an entire alien race. The Speaker For The Dead offers Ender the redemption he so desperately sought after the Xenocide of the Buggers in the preceding book due to miscommunication.

In Speaker for the Dead, Ender was called by his real name Andrew Wiggin. Ender wanted to amend for his previous mistake by working as a speaker for the dead or a person who speaks in behalf of the dead to shed light on their actions or the way they lived their lives.

Another possible miscommunication problem arose in the story when a new specie of intelligent alien called the Pequeninos or popularly known as the “piggies” had been discovered. Conflict arose when the piggies killed two xenologists – Pipo and Libo. The killing started when Novinha discovered the presence of descolada in every life form in Lusitania. The significance of Pipo’s and Libo’s murders was revealed: the piggies do not consider the trees as their gods and do not worship them.

The trees came from dead piggies called the brothertrees. Another tree was the fathertree derived from dissected piggies. These fathertrees are capable of reproduction and are sentient. Descolada aids in the change of piggies to trees. Due to Ender’s efforts, he was able to forge peace between humans and piggies through a signed treaty. In this instance, Ender effectively lessened the harmful effects of miscommunication.

The three tales vividly depict the possible harmful effects of miscommunication among races or peoples. Miscommunication has waged unnecessary wars and took a number of lives. Communication then is a necessary aspect in human relations as shown by the stories.

Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello provided a face to the chilling act on the ease with which communication could be easily twisted in order to create conflicts. Miscommunication could easily be brought upon by people with malicious intentions, people with no conscience and lives for their ulterior selfish motives. People such as Iago are guilty of treachery and falsehood.

Through Iago’s masterful and cunning manipulations, Othello committed the worst act of killing the one he loved most. Then in an act of repentance upon the discovery of truth on how Iago made up stories, he killed himself too. This tragic end goes to show the extent miscommunication could lead to in people’s relationships and lives.

Iago shows a side that is inherent in some people. We can relate to Othello’s plight as we, ourselves, experienced intrigues sown by other people. We hear criticisms, unfair judgment, backbiting and other acts of manipulations. In the process, we feel hurt. We lose friends. We got alienated even to the point of being ostracized. Such is the effect of miscommunication that every person could relate to.

Card’s Ender’s Game provides another facet to the dangers of miscommunication. It is worst than the fate suffered by the characters in Othello as the Buggers met total annihilation due to plain simple miscommunication. The massive xenocide leaves the readers feeling totally deflated. It is simply mind-boggling how a simple lack of communication could lead to such a tragic end. Yet, what makes it so chilling is the fact that that this is realistically possible.

How many times do we see wars explode due to plain miscommunication of motives? Civil wars, wars among countries, genocide were evident in our history. From this nonsense threat of human lives, we see the negative effects lack of communication among leaders, among the government and its peoples and among nations bring. How easily could problems have been avoided if people took the time to sit down and address issues in a more objective way?

Card’s Speaker for the Dead offers us hope in the midst of such grimness. Humans, as we are, miscommunication would be something we need to cope with. With Speaker for the Dead we learned that the hope of eradicating the debilitating effects of miscommunication is found in the act of reaching out to another person or race.

It is indeed ironic that we come to hate what we don’t understand. At the same time, we come to understand only if we stop hating. All three stories depict the kind of hatred that could stem from miscommunication. Hatred could be as total as Iago’s or blinded as Ender’s. But hatred and its dire consequences could be greatly reduced if we all take the time to understand the enemy. At least, if not to understand them, then to stop hating them so we could start the long process of understanding their motives.

People’s motives for doing certain things vary. Some are for their own gain. Others for revenge. Still others, for good intentions. It is a special kind of person who takes the time to stop and listen. There is a thin line between what we perceived reality to be and actual reality. In our haste to view and judge things negatively, we fail to grasps its positive implications. That is why, in the process we end up judging other people’s motives unfavorably.

The problem with miscommunication is it underplays man’s more noble side such as the values of trust and honor. If we hear false accusations about us it is so easy to react negatively. To lose objectivity in the face of unfair accusations. Too often, we fall victim to these unfair lies.

The breakdown of communication such as in the case of Iago would have been greatly reduced if Othello took the time to talk and listen to his beloved Desdemona and his friend, Cassio’s side. The negative consequences of miscommunication would have been avoided if Othello remained objective all along and not let his emotions took over.

Somehow, Othello’s rush judgment offers us a lesson on what to do in the face of intrigues and manipulations.

At some point in our lives, we all come across people who would misunderstand us and our motives. We meet people who have no qualms hurting us and our loved ones by spreading vicious lies. Betrayal is not confined to Iago alone. In our lives, it is almost a certainty that we would stumble across a few Iago’s and fall victim to their wiles. Therefore, it is imperative then that we ready ourselves for such eventuality. We do not want to end up as clueless as Othello.

Basically, to lessen the impact of manipulations I believe it is important to maintain objectivity all throughout. Then weigh options available well before deciding which one to follow. Had Othello took the time to observe with his own eyes and not through someone’s prodding what was actually taking place then he would have avoided the tragic end that he and Desdemona met. He should have get to the heart of the matter first before making rush decisions.

From the stories, we can gather that another good way to prevent miscommunication would be to avoid preconceived notions about the person. For instance, if we look at someone wearing ordinary clothes we naturally assumed that he or she is of average financial status. On the other hand, if we see someone dressed to the nines, we assume that he or she is filthy rich. These misconceptions, of course, could greatly hamper our ability to communicate with the person as we already formed opinions about him or her even before the person speaks.

We could also try to do what Christians normally do in the face of lies and intrigues – we can forgive. By forgiving, we begin to see the person for what he or she truly is. With hatred out of the way, we can be more objective in dealing with the situation and getting to heart of the matter would not be as difficult as when we are under the influence of hatred.

It is sad that during our present times, despite the advances of communication, miscommunication is still a huge problem we faced even on a daily basis. Perhaps if we stop judging and start understanding then we become better communicators and effectively reduce miscommunication in the process.

The Minutemen and Their World by Robert Gross

Book review on award-winning book The Minutemen and Their World by Robert Gross.

Introduction

The Minutemen and Their World by Robert Gross is a winner of the Bancroft Prize. The book first came out in 1976. Recently, it has been reissued in celebration of its twenty-fifth anniversary edition with a new Afterward by the author.

In The Minutemen and Their World, Robert Gross wrote a subtle and in-depth depiction of the people and community of this special place. It is a convincing explanation of the American Revolution, depicting it as a social movement.

 

Summary of Book

The Minutemen and Their World offers a glimpse of the lives of the people living in the colonial period in Concord Massachusetts; this is where the Revolutionary War in Robert Gross’s book starts. Gross, “sets the Concord Fight, as it used to be known, in the context of the townspeople’s ordinary lives, before and after April 19, 1775. It examines how the citizens farmed the land, raised their families, and carried on their politics at the end of the colonial period.”

On April 19, 1775, the American Revolution took place at the Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts. The “shot heard round the world” became the wake up call that put the peaceful New England town at the center revolution. Concord’s image took a major shift and its growing popularity hinged on its being the intellectual capital of the new republic. The town where Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne came from symbolized commitment to liberty, intellectual independence, and the firm integrity of the rural life.

 

Author’s Main Theme

The major themes revolved on how people viewed the British invasion, their thoughts on imposed taxes and tariffs, and an overview of life in general during the period. The book depicts the life of people in Concord, Massachusetts to serve as an example for the bigger picture or the overall story on the American Revolution.

Gross points out that the struggle for independence from Britain is not to be considered as a revolution but a cautious social struggle against the pressing issues of the day – patriarchal governance, religious fanaticism, individualism, and restricted government control.

 

Author’s Message

Gross’ message contained in the book is that the Revolution is a means for people of Concord to have a clear grasp on the situation and be able to direct its own course. In 1775-1776, great changes occurred in the colonies, particularly Concord. The urgent concerns include decreasing supplies of land, desire of its residents to hire their own minister.

With all these problems, participation in the Revolution gave Concord an opportunity to exercise initiative and regain rule on its political and communal life, bring back independence. Gross says, “The men of 1775 had not gone to war to promote change but to stop it.”

 

Writer’s Style

In the book, Gross augmented the book’s information by using historical public records to relate a story, associating emotion and motivation with the statistical trends. Quantitative data was presented subjectively and to avoid biases Gross allows the reader to draw his own conclusions.

 

Strengths and Weaknesses

In the book, the most persuasive argument Gross points out is the loss of patriarchal control in Concord, and even across the colonies. His vivid description how sons rely on fathers for land, and daughters rely on fathers for dowries sets the tone of the story.

When drastic changes occurred economically, dowries are affected, local fertile land becomes scant and grown children leave the family to pursue the frontier. In turn, the father loses source of labor (slavery was not popular in Massachusetts) and the children lose inheritance and stability. Gross approaches each argument in a similar manner – he tells a personal story backed by quantitative research. This makes the story more effective because it presents facts in a very interesting manner, something which anyone can relate to emotionally.

 

Conclusion

The Minutemen and Their World was revolutionary in the sense that it personalizes a Revolution. The author added to the understanding of the Revolution by presenting historical records and statistics and intertwine it with the lives and motivations to all of Concord’s citizens – great men, but also average people: poor men, widows, spinsters, ministers, blacks, farmers, blacksmiths, intellectuals, substitutes, and dissenters.

The arguments are based solidly on facts because of the great quantitative research, but the author sometimes wonders “if the Minutemen would recognize themselves in my mirror”. Academics sometimes use Gross’s work to compare Vietnam to the American Revolution but Gross does not include it in the main text. This is a must read for students who wants to know about the Revolution in great detail.