Marilyn Monroe Essay Example Essay Example

Marilyn Monroe Essay Example Paper Marilyn Monroe Essay Introduction Patty Ramirez Mr. Wear AP Lang/Comp 12 June 2010 Period 5 Tragedy of a Star Celebrities are swarmed by the media on a daily basis, and most of the time, are not able to lead normal lives. The media waits for some huge story to leak out through the observation of celebrities. However, paparazzi cannot be around them twenty four hours a day; in the moments they are not around, unknown events occur that ultimately can lead to tragedies. Such tragedies, like assassinations and suicides, become subject to controversy and speculation. For example, Marilyn Monroe’s mysterious death has been analyzed for over 40 years and is still seen as an unsolved puzzle. Marilyn Monroe’s life was cut short on August 4, 1962 due to a drug overdose; her death certificate stated probable suicide; however, forensic pathologist Dr. Thomas Noguchi stated that it was a murder (Bell). Why is this information hidden from the public in the 1960s? Is there more than meets the eye to Marilyn Monroe and her many affairs? Could the U. S. government have anything to do with her sudden and unexpected death? Whatever the answers to these questions are, one thing is certain; there are too many unanswered questions for Monroe’s death to be a simple answer like suicide. Although Marilyn Monroe has been one of the most prominent and influential figures in Hollywood, she had to endure numerous hardships before she ultimately became known as a world famous actress and model. Monroe was born Norma Jeane Baker on June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles to Gladys Monroe Baker and Edward Mortenson (â€Å"The Life of Marilyn Monroe†). Marilyn Monroe Essay Body Paragraphs Unfortunately, her father died in a motorcycle at the age of three and then three years later, her mother was admitted to a mental institution. Growing up in foster homes most of her childhood did not allow Monroe to have role models to look up to. Also, somewhere in the array of foster homes, Monroe was raped leaving her with mental trauma and a stutter (Wolfe). Although Marilyn Monroe mostly lived with strangers, at 15, she moved in with a family friend, Grace McKee. However, McKee’s husband was relocated to the East Coast and they could no longer care for Monroe. Monroe was left with two options: get married or be homeless. At the age of 16, Monroe married McKee’s neighbor James Dougherty and had a happy marriage until Dougherty was shipped to New Guinea with the Navy. As her loneliness grew without Dougherty, she began having many affairs such as Jose Bolanos. Then, she filed for divorce signing a deal with Twentieth Century Fox (Bell). After changing her name to Ma rilyn Monroe and appearing in movies like Dangerous Years, Monroe began to date her vocal coach Fred Karger and fell deeply in-love with him. He then dumped her realizing that the feelings between the two of them were not mutual. This separation devastated Monroe to the point that she attempted to end her life by slitting her wrists. Trying to move on with her life she made more films to keep herself distracted, such as The Asphalt Jungle and As Young as You Feel (IMDbPro), she met baseball star Joe DiMaggio and dated him for 5 years. They later spent a weekend together in Mexico and spontaneously decided to marry there. However, the marriage only lasted three days because DiMaggio became extremely jealous of any attention given to Monroe. Although they split up, throughout the rest of Monroe’s life they continued their intimate relationship (Guilles). Marilyn Monroe was known for being the â€Å"sexiest woman in Hollywood† (Phillips), as well as for her numerous affai rs. She soon added Arthur Miller to the list of husbands and stayed with him for 6 years supposedly being the happiest she’d ever been. Still, she suffered from loneliness easily and sought comfort through sex with other men (Bell). This time, she distracted herself with the start of Marilyn Monroe Productions and ameliorated her career with the picture Some Like it Hot gaining her a Golden Globe (Spoto). At this point she was at the peak of her career but would soon turn into a downward spiral after she met former U. S. president John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert Kennedy. Monroe was close friends with Pat Kennedy and through her she met the Kennedy brothers. She commenced an intimate relationship with both of them without their knowledge and ended up falling in-love with John. The new love triangle created problems since Robert felt strongly about Marilyn even though she did not feel the same way. In the meantime, the CIA began to have suspicions of Monroe’s inte ntions with the Kennedys and sought ways to protect them. The CIA forced the Kennedys to refrain from any contact with Monroe, which left her heartbroken (Summers). On August 5, 1962, Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Brentwood home at 4 AM by her housekeeper Eunice Murray. Dr. Thomas Noguchi performed the autopsy and signed the death certificate as probable suicide. However, there is an unexplained mystery behind her death as well as many theories that have arisen. For more than 40 years, her death has been analyzed over and over again by many people attempting to solve her death. Even though her death has many different hypotheses, one thing is certain: Marilyn Monroe was murdered. One of the theories still overlooked today is if the CIA assassinated her to avoid a political scandal with John F. Kennedy’s presidency. Also, it is believed that her housekeeper, Eunice Murray, killed Monroe out of anger for being fired earlier that day. It is also believed that Robert Kenne dy murdered her out of spite and jealousy for Monroe’s love for his brother. All three of these theories have proved to be more likely than suicide (Bell). The presumption that the CIA assassinated Monroe has become a probable answer to Monroe’s death since the CIA had become interested in her links with the Kennedys. The CIA became worried that the Mafia would persuade Monroe to influence John F. Kennedy to resign his presidency to be with Monroe. JFK’s advisor, Peter Summers, contacted the CIA to â€Å"take care of Monroe† when it became known that Monroe was aware of government secrets that would supposedly â€Å"shock the world† according to Monroe’s friend, Peter Lawford (Coates). Also, if her death was just a suicide, why does the CIA still hold information concerning the actress’s death as classified? The theory that the CIA was involved, as well as the Kennedy administration, is a much more viable outcome than suicide since th ey still withhold information concerning her death (Wolfe). The speculation under Eunice Murray’s statement to the police has developed into a well-though out theory. According to Monroe’s autopsy, lividity was found on the posterior side of her body even though she was found in bed facing down. She had been dead for several hours, which illuminates the question as to why Murray waited at least 4 hours to notify authorities. When the police finally came, Murray was found cleaning the house spotless. When asked of her intentions, her response was, â€Å"I figured that a lot of people were coming so I wanted the place to look nice† (Wolfe). Plus, it is known that she was fired that morning and that she continued to get increasingly upset according to her son, Norman Jeffries. Could Monroe’s only friend really have killed her? Finally, the controversy behind the hidden information in police reports as well as alleged phone reports that provided the evidence that Monroe had made many calls the night of her murder, has allowed suspicion to fall to Robert Kennedy. Many neighbors witnessed Robert Kennedy come to Monroe’s home 30 minutes before her death with two unknown men. Local authorities merely said that the neighbors were letting their imagination get the best of them (Bell). Is it really possible for 7 different people to see the exact same thing without it being true? Monroe’s autopsy report revealed a high dosage of Nembutal, a sleeping pill that she used with alcohol to get high. However, according to the dosage discovered, Monroe would have had to ingest at least 80 pills; the empty bottles on her nightstand could only hold up to 50. Also, the Nembutal was only found in her liver instead of her digestive tract which means she would have had to be injected (Wilson). Considering the high amount of alcohol in her system, she would not have been conscious to inject herself, so who injected her? Not to mention, after No rman Jeffries went to see his mother shortly after the death of Monroe, he specified the fact that he witnessed that the file cabinets in Monroe’s office had been rummaged through (Bell). Perhaps Monroe had found vital information proving JFK to be dishonest in some way, which is probably the reason behind the classification of Monroe files, as well as the confiscation of every photo of Monroe and JFK together. Besides all the real evidence, there is also no reason for Monroe to have been depressed enough to commit suicide; she had planned a Playboy photo shoot and had rekindled her romance with Joe DiMaggio (Summers). The unexplainable disappearance of vital phone records also suggests that there is something that someone never wanted to be known even to this day. After speculation, it is evident that Marilyn Monroe was assassinated by someone that knew she was somehow a security risk to the government (â€Å"The Life of Marilyn Monroe†). It could have also been becau se of mere rage from Eunice Murray, however, it is now known that Monroe did not commit suicide, she loved what she did in Hollywood too much. Although there are many theories concerning her death, they all have one thing in common: Marilyn Monroe was murdered. Works Cited Bell, Rachael. â€Å"The Death of Marilyn Monroe. † TruTV. com: Not Reality. Actuality. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. , 2010. Web. 5 June 2010. . Coates, Tim (2002). Marilyn Monroe: The F. B. I. Files. Littlehampton Book Services, UK. Guiles, Fred Lawrence. Legend: the Life and Death of Marilyn Monroe. New York: Stein and Day, 1984. Print. IMDbPro. â€Å"Marilyn Monroe. † The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Amazon. com, 1990-2010. Web. 7 June 2010. . â€Å"The Life of Marilyn Monroe. † Marilyn Monroe’s Official Web Site . :. About Marilyn. Web. 13 June 2010. . Phillips, Josh. â€Å"So Marilyn Monroe? † Personal interview. 13 June 2010. Spoto, Donald (2001), Marilyn Monroe: The Biography. Cooper Square Press, N. Y. Summers, Anthony (1985). Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe. Orion Books Ltd. , London. Wilson, Kirk (2002). Unsolved Crimes. Carroll Graf Publications, NY. Wolfe, Donald H. (1998) The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe. William Morrow Company. N. Y. Wolfe, Donald H. (1999). The Assassination of Marilyn Monroe. Warner Books, UK. We will write a custom essay sample on Marilyn Monroe Essay Example specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Marilyn Monroe Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Marilyn Monroe Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

Writing a Thesis

Writing a Thesis Writing a Thesis Writing a Thesis Thesis writing is a common assignment for academic degree programs.   Thesis should include research elements, it is the culmination of several months or years of studying. Writing a thesis requires deep thought, excellent planning and proper organization. Thesis topic must be justified; claims and conclusions must be supported by experiments or reasoned arguments and deductions. Thesis writing requires a careful investigation and deep research as well as analysis of the chosen problem.   It is not easy to write a good thesis and I hope the following tips will give you some ideas on writing a thesis.   Thesis Format Abstract, the introduction, the literature review and the conclusion are the required parts of the thesis format. The abstract provides the reader with a summary of thesis content. It should be brief but contain sufficient details, tell the reader about your motivation to conduct a research, state the project objectives, illuminate techniques employed, mention main results and conclusions. Abstracts should not exceed a page and should be self-contained. The abstract is the guide to the contents of the thesis, and therefore it is important to give the reader a good overview of the thesis topics. Introduction is the first chapter thesis writing. The purpose of introduction is to discuss the motivation of the work, state and define the problem that thesis is intended to solve, state the aim of the work, and tell how the work will progress. Also provide a brief overview of each of the main chapters. In the introduction you shouldn't go into details, you will have the chance to describe them later in other chapters. Remember that writing a thesis introduction is the final step of the writing process. Once all chapters are completed, you will see the structure of the whole thesis and be empowered to write a better introduction.   In addition, at this stage you will have the results of your work and ideas about the contribution of your thesis writing. Literature review section is based on published material. The purpose of the literature review writing is to give details about the motivation for the work, explain why the thesis problem is important. You should show that you have studied thoroughly what others have done. Make sure that you found out the most recent information relating to your field of study. The literature review is obviously a very important chapter because you have to employ good critical thinking skills. The purpose of writing a thesis conclusion is to summarize the main findings of the project, to list the contributions of the work and to give the directions for further research. Custom Thesis Writing Help If you are not sure how to write a good thesis and you seek professional help to write parts of your thesis, you are welcome to ask professional thesis writers for assistance.   We guarantee adherence to the instruction you provide and deliver free plagiarism report proving originality of delivered project.   We are available 24/7 to provide thesis writing help and we guarantee timely reply to your concerns.

Prison Overcrowding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Prison Overcrowding - Essay Example It is not just the problem of a country. Rather, it is an international phenomenon. In this context, the present essay is an attempt to report the mounting problem of overcrowding in prisons in general. The essay takes an argumentative approach wherein an attempt is made to suggest solutions to the problem of overcrowding. The essay also throws lights on the causes of overcrowding such as increased crime rates. The inmates of a prison might be either pre-trail detainees or convicted/sentenced offenders. Irrespective of the type of offence and length of punishment, inmates are accommodated almost alike. Consequently, when the problem of overcrowding arises, it is likely to affect all the inmates more or less in the same manner. Overcrowding will result in serious repercussions which adversely affect the smooth running of the correction centres and the very purpose of judiciary. According to an earlier research in the area, three effects have been identified owing to overcrowding (John Howard Society of Alberta 2002). The first and foremost problem is that there is less of everything to go around; which eventually contributes to same spaces and resources will have to be shared among the inmates; that reduces the opportunities for prisoners to correct themselves by reducing the chances of self-improvement and rehabilitative programs, such as and vocational and academic training, employment etc. Moreover, this will lead to the deprivation of inmates from work or work opportunities, as a result of which they will exhibit discontent and disruptive behaviour (Cox et al. 1984). Overcrowding can also creates behavioral problems such as stress, fear, noise, and even some violent outburst (Johnston 1991). Stress may lead to aggression or depression. These psychological problems may have impact upon the social relationship and interaction among the inmates (Smith 1982). The third implication is that the inmates may be classified on the basis of the spaces they have been allotted rather than measure like security reasons and the like. It has been observed that any attempt to adjust with the limited space and the resulting overcrowding can only bring misclassification of prisoners (Cox et al. 1984). "The effects of misclassifying offenders due to overcrowding extend beyond the immediate consideration of there being too little space and too few resources. It also leads to slow progress through the corrections system and consequently to slow exit, which in turn perpetuates or increases the overcrowding problem" (John Howard Society of Alberta 2002). In a nut shell, over population in prison provides no way for offenders to be rehabilitated, the correction of criminal behavior, to avail human dignity. It may also cause outbreak of certain epidemic diseases such as AIDS. Causes of Overcrowding The root cause for over population in prison is the increased crime rates and punishment rates. Moreover, the length of punishment and reduced parole has compounded the rate of prison population. Overcrowding may cause many threats to the inhabitants; which result in further offences happen inside the correction centres. However, there has been slight decrease in the crime rates in country like United Kingdom. The problem of overcrowding can be attributed to the reasons listed below (Factors Impacting Prison Overcrowding 2000): There has been an increase due to the "war on drugs", high recidivism

The Impact of Downsizing on Organizational Competitiveness & Assignment

The Impact of Downsizing on Organizational Competitiveness & Innovativeness - Assignment Example Such strategies will become their key success factors in the future. The competition is forcing organizations to change their forms and the fundamental practices of management which they follow (Bresnen and Fowler 1994). The competitive advantage durability depends on the value of the human resources working in the organization and the intellectual capital they imply to perform their work (Wilkinson 2005, Guthrie and Datta 2008). To have a strong competitive edge in the business market is extremely vital for the firm to succeed otherwise survival of organizations starts to become quite difficult with such extreme competition taking place vigorously. The impact of downsizing is playing a major role in causing a shift in the social, economic, and the competitive organizational structures (McKinley, Sanchez, and Schick 1995). It can be observed that downsizing can strongly impact the competitiveness of organizations. At times downsizing may cause the business to lose their valuable employees and during the downsizing phase, many of the employees that are being retained may become troubled over their sense of job security which in turn may affect their performance greatly. The main purpose of this research is to find out the impact of downsizing; in what ways are the strategies for competitiveness and innovation of an organization affected whence it decides to downsize. This will be achieved by investigating firms that have conducted downsizing. A deeper look will be taken at the aftermaths of downsizing which was faced by these organizations. 2. To find out whether innovative practices of organizations are successful when firms opt for the downsizing process; a basic question is how the innovation model of any firm changes due to downsizing.

Enforcement mechanism Essay Example for Free

Enforcement mechanism Essay 1). In the absence of any legally binding enforcement mechanism, individual cartel producers may find it advantageous to cheat on the agreements and engage in secret price concessions. 2). When a promisor fails to put full effort into the performance of an agreement, yet the lack of effort is not independently verifiable, this lack of effort constitutes a 3). The Herfindahl-Hirschman index is a measure of ____. 4). In long-run equilibrium, all firms in a pure competition market situation operating under a condition of certainty will have identical costs even though they may use different production and operation techniques. 5). The distinctive characteristic of an oligopolistic market structure is that there are recognizable interdependencies among the decisions of the firms. 6). The Sherman Act prohibits: 7). Buying electricity off the freewheeling grid at one quarter til the hour for delivery on the hour illustrates: 8). Effective collusion generally is more difficult as the number of oligopolistic firms involved increases. 9). In pure competition: 10). An oligopoly is characterized by: 11). The kinked demand curve model was developed to help explain: 12). The profit-maximizing monopolist, faced with a negative-sloping demand curve, will always produce: 13). Capital expenditures: 14). Which of the following public policies has (have) the effect of restricting competition: 15). The cost of capital can be thought of as the rate of return required by investors in the firms securities. 16). ____ occur whenever a third party receives or bears costs arising from an economic transaction in which the individual (or group) is not a direct participant. 17). A firm in pure competition would shut down when: 18). The expected rate of return from a share of stock consists of: 19). In the purely competitive case, marginal revenue (MR) is equal to 20). In the  short-run for a purely competitive market, a manufacturer will stop production when: 21). Patents have been defended by some on the grounds that they stimulate inventive activity. Others have argued for changes in current patent laws because: 22). A monopoly will always produce less than a purely competitive industry, ceteris paribus. 23). The practice by telephone companies of charging lower long-distance rates at night than during the day is an example of: 24). When the cross elasticity of demand between one product and all other products is low, one is generally referring to a(n) ____ situation. 25). The decision by the Municipal Transit Authority to either refurbish existing buses, buy new large buses, or to supplement the existing fleet with mini-buses is an example of: 26). Which of the following statements is (are) true concerning a pure competition situation? 27). Which of the following are not approaches to resolving the principal-agent problem: 28). If a cartel seeks to maximize profits, the market share (or quota) for each firm should be set at a level such that the ____ of all firms is identical. 29). In the electric power industry, residential customers have relatively ____ demands for electricity compared with large industrial users and generally are charged ____ rates. 30). The largest problem faced in cartel pricing agreements such as OPEC is: 31). Non-redeployable durable assets that are dependent upon unique complementary and perfectly redeployable assets to achieve substantial value-added will typically be organized as 32). Governance mechanisms are designed 33). A(n) ____ is characterized by a relatively small number of firms producing a product. 34). The antitrust laws regulate all of the following business decisions except ____. 36). In the case of pure monopoly:

Utility and Universality versus Utility and the General Good :: Economics Philosophy Essays

Utility and Universality versus Utility and the General Good ABSTRACT: The concepts of Utility and Universality form an answer to the utilitarian topology of Utility and the General Good. Starting from the realization that utility cannot be determined materially, but only formally, the very premise of utilitarian philosophy has to be abandoned. The greatest good is not the good of the greatest number, but the universal good. The concepts Utility and Universality form an answer to the utilitarian topology of Utility and the General Good. Starting from the realisation that utility cannot be determined materially, but only formally, the very premise of utilitarian philosophy has to be abandoned. The greatest good is not the good of the greatest number, the greatest good is the universal good. I will develop this thesis in the following contribution. 1. The good of the greatest number versus the universality of lack of contradiction Since ancient times the concept of utility has been the catalyst between philosophy and economics. The question of the relationship between theory and practice has a special relevance to the issue. What is the effect of theoretical understanding on the material level? Which interrelationships does philosophy desire: should there be a renunciation of material wealth, or is it as Aristotle states, that without wealth there is no contentment? What then is (economic) good? The answer often given today is to ensure that basic needs are met. For the Greek economic philosophers among whom, Socrates, Xenophon, Plato and Aristotle, provision of goods to meet basic hunger and thirst, was not the task the social thinkers were faced with. Instincts power the drive to meet the basic needs. Economics as a science has another purpose. Before a material answer can be arrived at, there has to be a rational determination of it's use. Only then can we speak of a free and self-determined action, and only then can we speak of a scientific purpose. Instead of simply fulfilling material needs, which is the purpose of all living beings, the basic purpose of economic science is to create a system by which material goods are properly divided/distributed and used. It is not a quantitative, but a qualitative goal. Science (Wissenschaft) is independent of the number of people by whom and on whom it is practised. The philosophers of antiquity compa red the good economist with the good doctor: like the doctor, the economist is only in part acting to benefit or enrich himself.

Anita Desai Essay

The main characters who struck me the most are Uma and her brother Arun; to them are dedicated the two parts of the novel. Personally I think they have a lot of things in common and I’m not only considering the fact that they belong to the same close-knit family: they are somehow subjected to a reality from which they both want to escape. Uma is the plainest character of the novel, I think: she always obeys her parents and makes everything they want her to do. This is not completely a negative point but, reading the first pages of the book, I admit that I would like to react for her to the commandments of her MamaPapa, as they are often mentioned†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Go to the cook†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ Prepare the packet for your brother†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ Write a letter†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦but how can she manage to do all these things together?! In my opinion Uma is also naà ¯ve, she seems to be somehow tied by a sense of duty to her parents, especially after the failure of her two arranged marriages, and what about the dowry she has squandered?! as her father reminds her. The only â€Å"pause† of her life is given by the visits of Mira-masi, a particular woman who deeply fascinates Uma for the stories she tells her: she represents a ray of hope into the life of the girl, although her parents don’t approve the complicity created between them. Arun, whose birth was really longed for, is sent to the USA where he attends the college: being the only son of the family he has the honour of receiving a good education and he has also the possibility to live far from the oppressing reality of his homeland. But his life remains very unhappy: also the family to which he lives while in America is a sort of weight for him. The second part of the novel seems to me a long digression about food, I think that the food itself is the only reason for a link between Arun and the new family, Mrs Patton in particular. I think both brother and sister are oppressed voices who want to live in peace and to escape from the world they live in, although they aren’t able to rebel against it. For this very reason I would like them to write to each other, what does not happen in the novel. Dear Arun, Maybe for the first time in my life I admit that I’m very sad but what troubles me the most is the fact that I’m not able to find a way out†¦ Our cousin Anamika is dead. Everybody here is trying to give an explanation but†¦what for, she won’t ever come back and there are no acceptable explanations for her death†¦ I absolutely can’t imagine that the urn in front of me contains her ashes†¦she is dead†¦ but I’m dead too. Her awe for the family led her towards death, but what about me? I will stay forever with MamaPapa, I can’t abandon them, they are†¦my life! When mama grips my hand I know, I feel that there is something strong between us and I can’t, I can’t leave†¦ MamaPapa is calling me†¦I have to go. I don’t know if I will ever send this letter to you: perhaps I will burn it. Uma Dear Uma, A new semester at the college is beginning and my stay with the Pattons is over. I’m happy because I can leave this strange family: it wasn’t my place, I didn’t feel comfortable with them, I felt oppressed and obliged to be part of it, maybe only because I felt sorry for Mrs Patton and I didn’t want to disappoint her. This is the reason why I gave her the presents you sent me (but please don’t reveal anything to MamaPapa!): I didn’t want her to be worried about me when I silently walked out of her life. Arun Alice Bravin 5 H Liceo Scientifico â€Å"M. Grigoletti† Pordenone Anita Desai â€Å"FASTING, FEASTING† The novel by Anita Desai appeared insipid to my eyes. If I were asked to collect all the emotions that the book has stirred in my heart, I would find myself in anguishing troubles, for I’m quite numb to it as well I am frustrated by each work of art dominated by a sense of heaviness. The characters are imbued with, or even better, they are emblems of this heaviness which reveals itself mainly in the temperament of Uma, who is the best-built character of the novel. Anita Desai succeeded in the enterprise of creating a character without personality, a woman deprived of her soul. She is the designated victim who is doomed to endure the burden of life, symbolized first of all by her parents. Uma doesn’t strike my sensibility: I don’t feel pity for her, nor would I establish a sort of sympathetic relationship with her; her ineptitude doesn’t arouse my anger, nor would I shake her out of the status of torpor she experiences. I am quite interested in one of the psychological aspects of Uma, that of repression. Uma is not free to be what she wants to be, to do what she wants to do, so she is utterly repressed in her passions, in her feelings, in her personality; this last dimension is completely neglected to her. These inner forces run inside her veins and arteries, like water permeating through the cracks of a rock and when temperatures gets colder, it becomes ice and causes the explosion of the rock. The same happens inside Uma and the implosion is disguised as a sort of disease. Convulsions, nausea which leads to vomit, suffered cries, these moments are the most involving – and at the same time disturbing – moments and situations of the novel. I would have appreciated if Anita Desai had developed this edge of the prism of Uma. Sigmund Freud stated that mental patients are like diamonds, whose structure is based on its corners. In these lines the diamond would break in case it fell on the ground. Uma is like that. Her body seems possessed by a demoniac spirit, her limbs, her bowels are rocked by the unique act of rebellion which is allowed to her. I wonder why the writer has snobbed this issue, which probably assumes a religious and philosophical value and is strictly connected to Indian culture. The heaviness that haunts the book is expressed even by the settings. Concerning this point I would like to recall the image of Uma and her aunt who leave together on a spiritual trip. The bus they catch is incredibly crowded: this episode evokes the image of mingled noises and smells within the dusty and sandy air of India. The writer enables us to appreciate each aspect of the setting – thanks to her detailed language – so that the reader manages to broaden his sensorial perceptions and is caught by the use of synaesthesia. ( The description of the believers bathing in the Gange becomes meaningful in this sense ). Before starting reading the book I thought it would be quite precious for me in order to learn more about the Indian world, even appreciating it by means of the parallel Anita Desai draws with Northern America. But I was wrong: â€Å"Fasting, feasting † doesn’t seem so representative of India: the impression I get is that of a character – Uma – who might be possibly Irish or even Italian. Westerners share the same common imagery about India and this common imagery is banal and dominated by prejudices. The book is ambiguous, in the sense that neither supports this statement, nor deny it. The same ambiguity lies in the second part of the novel – that dedicated to Arun – which takes place in the United Stated of America. Anita Desai gives us tenets and traits of the American Society coming in the story of an American family. Here there aren’t crowded busses or temples, but televisions, junk food, couches, barbecues, baseball matches and people who enjoy all these objects and events. The same dusty air is breathed by Arun when he goes back home walking on the boundaries of the street. The same atmosphere of heaviness which degenerates into disease. For these very reasons I state that Uma and her story are not so â€Å"Indian†. Moreover, I have some perplexities about the last chapter – really shorter than the first one – which doesn’t find a proper literary justification. It is a sort of appendix, even if only almost at the end of the book there’s the precise reference to the tile â€Å"Fasting, feasting† and is embodied by the bulimic girl. Alessandra Crimi 5 H Liceo Scientifico â€Å"M. Grigoletti† Pordenone Anita Desai – Fasting, Feasting Fasting, Feasting is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. Thanks to the brilliant descriptions and the elegant narration the reader has the opportunity to create an imaginary but precise setting were characters develop during the story. I think that this novel is like a mirror because it gives the opportunity to reflect, in both meanings of the word. We can reflect ourselves in the protagonists (mirror-like effect) and we can reflect, think, about the different values and importance that people from different societies give to ideals they believe in. In my opinion the rhythm of the narration is sometimes too slow, but I can understand that it is due to the fact that, once again, it mirrors the context where the story takes place. In India, in fact, there is no frenetic life, no stress, no anxiety of living and for this very reason people can pay attention to little events that we probably ignore. When the father asks for his drink, it seems to me that everyone in the family has to stop and be there for this event; when a guest arrives unexpectedly, all the attention is directed to him; even the choice of one kind of food rather than another seems to be one of the most important problems of the day. . The character of Mumdad is what emotionally touched me most, maybe because to a certain extent I can detect in them some traits my parents have. The image of Mumdad on the swing describes their indissoluble bond. Mumdad are a unique person/entity made up of two different souls. These two souls are always at unison, they never take opposite decisions, they argue but they always find a compromise, they are, in a word, complementary. I always admired this ability to build little by little a life together even if, for a child, sometimes it’s not so easy to accept their decision, or rather, their impositions. Uma is my favourite character. In some parts of the novel I felt really involved in her problems, in her thoughts and desires. She loves school even if she isn’t able to get good marks; she loves learning, she wants to try again, to spend another year at school, she’s sure she will improve. She suffers when Mumdad decide she should give up her studies. She suffers when she understands she is not as beautiful, intelligent as her sister Aruna, and so she is considered a lesser woman. Uma suffers silently, she accepts her condition of inferiority, yet she is always looking for a moment of glory that, unfortunately, never comes. She is like the most humble flower that grows up silently, that is trampled from the gardener that gave her birth, because a rose is blooming next to the humble flower and he must be there to praise the perfection and beauty of the rose. I’m not saying that I reflect myself in Uma , absolutely not, on the contrary, I’m saying that all my life I have been an Aruna, and I didn’t know about it. I’m an only child, there is no Uma in my family, but thanks to the juxtaposition of the two characters I have understood that I have always been loved and pampered and nursed and highly considered and I don’t really know if I deserve all this. This book has really been a great opportunity for me, it has made me reflect on my values and on the meaning of my â€Å"little† life: too often we don’t realise what is around us. But now I want stop talking about me. I would love to write a few lines about arranged marriages. In our Western society, marriage is generally viewed as a value strongly linked with the concept of freedom, the freedom to choose the person with whom we would like to spend all our life. We have this great opportunity and we often waste it. We are free to love a person for his peculiarities and not for his money and often people choose the partner for his richness, we get married and then we divorce and kids are treated as merchandise, we often get married for reasons that sometimes are far away from love and we claim to judge a society where parents choose a spouse for their children. I think that Western people are more contradictory than what they want to admit and perhaps less happy. Perhaps it is this very feeling that leads plenty of us to judge other cultures. DA PIEVE LUCIA 5 H Liceo scientifico â€Å"M. Grigoletti† Anita Desai â€Å"Fasting,Feasting† This is the first book by Anita Desai I have ever read. Her observations are astute whether they are on living conditions in India or USA. Anita Desai uses her words perfectly to convey exactly what she feels,but even if it could seem a contradiction,I think that the problem with the book is its dry, clinical approach in chronicling the lives of the characters, the book lacks passion. I was always on the outside, looking into the lives of people. The book offers few chances of getting involved with the characters ,in fact while reading the book I didn’t feel the compulsion of finishing it quickly. The part I liked better is the first half of the book that deals with life in a small, slow town in India, with rigid parents and well-drafted routines. The †Indian half† is more detailed than the other half which deals with the â€Å"rule-less† life in suburban USA. In the first half there is a partly successful, proud father, who goes through life, with set patterns and no passion. A mother who goes along with her husband, doing what is supposedly right and expected of her, curbing and killing all her innate desires. Three children. The eldest, Uma, clumsy . The middle daughter Aruna, pretty, ambitious and smart, but eventually also a victim of her choices. The last, a son, Arun, on whom the parents put all their dreams and energies. All of them, along with members of their extended family, go through some form of deprivation (of will, of fun, of passion and of love). I think that a merit of this book is the way it highlights the Indian traditions, cultures and mostly the place of a woman in an Indian family. I liked the character of Uma in the book because she is both willing to take a chance with life and at the same time dedicated to her family.She takes whatever happens to her life with such grace that she does not give me a chance to cry for her. I like her inner strength. The story in itself is told from the perspective of the protagonist, Uma, who starts out as a wideeyed child at a convent who shows an enthusiasm for education but with the birth of her brother Arun, Uma takes on the role of nanny. Here, one encounters the distinct preference parents have for the male child. Desai next explores the conventional belief that ties a woman’s worth to her physical appearance. A woman who lacks beauty is often rushed into the first marital offer she receives, only to pay a heavy price later on. Desai shows the challenges a single woman faces regardless of how successful she is. By contrast, Uma’s cousin is portrayed as the ultimate success because she is able to marry well thanks to her looks. She makes the reader wonder how happy she truly is, when she eventually takes her own life. Uma is the main character in the first half of the novel. She is a clumsy, uncoordinated woman who finds it difficult to succeed in almost everything she does – she fails in school, can’t cook, spills food and drink and can’t find anyone worthwhile to get married to. Her father feels that Uma is incapable of fending for herself, as she is too clumsy, uncoordinated and proves a failure in almost everything she does.Uma fails in school, in the kitchen and she even fails to find anyone worthwhile to get married to. The father asks Uma to interrupt her studies in the Christian convent when he find out she not doing very well at school. He feels that it was a waste of time and money to provide Uma an education ;he has other plans for her.She will look after her baby brother Arun and take care of the household while her mother rests after giving birth. Uma’s life is constantly planned by her father.Uma cannot resist her father’s oppressive patriarchal ideology, as she is afraid of the consequences that would befall her if she angered the colonial characteristics of her father. Uma’s entertainment comes in the form of her cousin, Ramu. When Ramu is around, Uma feels at ease. But the father feels that Ramu is a bad influence on Uma. He does not want Uma to be influenced by other men who are capable of brainwashing her to resist the demands of his patriarchal nature.