Morality and Self-sacrifice - Literature Essay Samples

Kate Chopins master novel, The Awakening, takes the modern reader to an earlier time while still provoking the questions of morality and self-sacrifice that exist in the present age. Edna Pontellier, the protagonist of the story, places herself as the individual against society from the onset of the novel. Throughout initial chapters, her sporadic characteristics and actions worthy of rebuke lead to a breakdown of her moral integrity. These behaviors permit her eventually to become a woman that not only her Creole culture, but civilization in general no longer accepts.Ednas plight thoughout the entire novel perfected her status as the individual against society. From the inception of the story, her uncommon reserve toward her children placed her in abnormal standing. Her behavior, not necessarily of neglect, rather of apathetic involvement in their lives contrasted the ideal motherly figure of the age. Her friend, Madame Ratignolle, on the other hand, showed quite a reverse positio n towards her children and husband. She possessed the dependent attitude which the Creole society not only encouraged, but in some aspects required. But, this approach toward domestic responsibilities was something Edna was not able to foster. Although she loved her children dearly, and in spells needed them with fervor, she was more accustomed to leaving them with the nanny or a friend rather than looking after their needs herself. As she proved, she would give everything she had for her children, but she would not give herself. In an age of expected domestic dependence, Ednas rejection towards obligation as mother and wife went against the tacit rules of the world she lived in.While in the beginning Edna was outwardly performing the duties of her life, her heart was occupied with other thoughts. Over the course of the summer, she fell in love with the local lover who followed her around, Robert Lebrun. Although he had previously established his third wheel status in the families a t Grande Isle, this was another aspect of her life that pitted her against her surroundings. As Robert fell in love with Edna, and she with him, her independent longing was inflamed, and her passions began to overpower her self-control. Seeing that her husband, Leonce was in love with the idea of a wife for him and mother for his children rather than Edna herself, it became easier for Edna to let go of her morals. When Robert suddenly bolted for Mexico on a business excursion, Edna became despondent and unfocused. Perhaps through the severe longing for him and grief at his removal she became intensely connected to herself. When she started painting again, trying to express her inner passions, she began to feel life once more. In her visits to Madame Reiszs piano concerts she was moved to tears at the music that touched her soul. She appreciated nature all the more; she valued the glory of the ocean with improved vigor.When Leonce was away on a trip, Edna finally cut the outer stri ngs of enslavement to her duties as a wife and mother. She gathered her belongings and moved out of the house. After throwing one last party, she proceeded to wait for Roberts return, which she had learned about in his letters to Madame Reisz. In the meantime, however, after becoming involved with Alscee Adonwin, Edna realized that her values and choices in her life were no longer acceptable in the society that she lived. Although her friend, Madame Ratignolle told her just to live the life she was called to lead, she could not do it. In her last days when she saw the family doctor, he reflected her thoughts best by saying, The trouble isthat youth is given up to illusions. It seems to be a provision of Nature, a decoy to secure mothers for the race. And Nature takes no account of moral consequences, of arbitrary conditions which we create, and which we feel obliged to maintain at any cost. Often in life we never see the consequences of our actions. We are never given the chance to see how our lives might be had we made different decisions . But, the story of Edna Pontellier, the wife, mother, hostess and friend, showed all too clearly a woman who was really a lover, a painter, an outcast, and a soul who knew to well what might have been. Upon telling Robert goodbye after a serendipitous meeting in a secret garden, Edna returned to the sea. She swam out to the place where she once felt fear.and then she kept going, swimming her way to the only answer she knew to her inner desire for independence death.

Reality Of The Rwandan Genocide - Free Essay Example

The Rwandan genocide began in April of 1994 and left around 800,000 civilians, largely of the Tutsi ethnic group, slaughtered in a mere 100 days. Ethnic tensions between the Hutus and the Tutsis began in the early 20th century when Tutsis were put in roles of power and responsibility by the Germans, their first colonizers. The Belgians assumed power over Rwanda after World War One and assigned leadership positions to Tutsis despite the fact they constituted only around 10 percent of the population, whereas the Hutus who composed around 90 percent held few important positions. Eventually, the Hutus were put in charge of the new Rwandan government after raising tensions to the point where Belgium faced a potential revolution. The hostility between the Hutus and Tutsis continued for decades after this. Rwanda was one of the poorest countries in Africa so foreign powers, particularly the U.S., didnt see much to exploit within the country. If Rwanda had possessed oil or another sought-after natural resource, foreign powers may have taken action to prevent the atrocities from occurring. Instead, world superpowers, especially the United States and the United Nations, sat idly and for a while, refused to officially recognize that a genocide was occurring. Many important political leaders were well informed about the events happening in Rwanda leading up to the genocide itself and actively chose to not intervene. Human rights organizations were pushing ex-President Bill Clinton to keep 2,500 troops on the ground but despite the efforts of these such organizations, Clinton and other foreign powers (including French leaders) decided to not do anything. At the end of the day, international organizations couldnt do anything to stop the slaughter from occurring and the real power holders and decision makers were states who were only looking out for their national interests.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As far back as August 1993, the United Nations Human Rights investigator claimed there was a potential genocide in the making, but this important preliminary information was ignored by the UN Security Council. All that was done was the placing of UN peacekeeping troops on the border of Rwanda and Uganda to monitor the transportation of weapons. The UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) had a very limited presence throughout the genocide and was not authorized to take any action. In January of 1994 Romeo Dallaire, who led the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Rwanda, warned of a potential genocide but this information never made it to the Security Council and was virtually ignored by individuals who did receive it (Winfield, 1999). This ?peacekeeping organization was not doing anything to actively ease tensions in Rwanda. The United Nations lacked resources and will-power to launch yet another peacekeeping mission and the failure of this international organiz ation would have dire consequences. Within the first two weeks of the genocide, around 30,000 people were killed (mainly Tutsi) and yet the international community refused to acknowledge the events as a genocide. In addition, a resolution in December of 1948 to protect against genocidal atrocities such as the Holocaust, was virtually ignored as the UN quietly removed peacekeeping troops on the ground, leaving hundreds of thousands of Tutsis to the hands of Hutu extremists. The abandoning of Rwanda in the face of extreme ethnic violence only proves that international agreements and resolutions are essentially useless when states interests are not aligned with those documents.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The early 1990s came with multiple failed peacekeeping missions for the U.S., including the deaths of 18 U.S. Rangers in Mogadishu, Somalia, which cast the shadow of Somalia over subsequent potential peacekeeping opportunities. This incident hardened the U.S.s stance to protect their nationals and diplomats within Rwanda. Ex-President Bill Clinton even claimed that the U.S. had to stop placing the agenda of the UN before the interests of the US (Maritz, 2012). The U.S. was not the only country to withdraw their personnel from the country; Belgium had removed their troops after the killing of ten Belge soldiers and had requested that the U.S. remove their troops as well to ?save face in a way. In fact, Samantha Power, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN (2013-2017), had claimed that Belgium did not want to leave ignominiously, by itself (Lynch, 2015). Both Belgium and the United States were acting out of state interest, not moral or ethical principles when th ey advocated for the withdrawal of their troops and diplomats. With the removal of Belgian and U.S. troops, the United Nations was the last front for Tutsis and unfortunately, the United Nations was unable to act to prevent the killings. The United States, being a world superpower, influenced the actions of other states as well. By officially declaring the slaughter as a genocide as early as possible, the U.S. and other countries could have forced the United Nations to take action in accordance with the 1948 Genocide Convention, created specifically to handle challenges such as the violence and tension in Rwanda. However, world superpowers had little national interest at stake due to the fact that Rwanda didnt offer appealing options to exploit and therefore remaining in Rwanda offered nothing for the U.S. and many other countries to gain. As stated previously, if Rwanda had offered some valuable natural resource such as oil, intervention by other countries might have been possible and concrete steps might have actually been taken. Additionally, while Rwanda was under Belge rule, French was the most widely spoken language. If the genocide had occurred during the time where Rwanda was a distinct francophone country, i t would have looked immoral if French or Belgium didnt intervene but the timing of the genocide ensured that France and Belgium had nothing to lose by not intervening. In addition to the lack of natural resources that made peacekeeping efforts in Rwanda undesirable, the U.S. Congress had serious financial constraints that didnt allow it to act based on moral principle. The U.S. actively decided not to engage with peacekeeping efforts to protect its financial status. With little financial incentive to keep troops in Rwanda, the United States scaled down their troops from 2,500 to a mere 270. Because power is scarce, world powers, such as the U.S., take on leading roles in international politics which makes weaker and smaller states unlikely to take a stance on important issues because they know nothing will advance without the leading role of a greater power. This inaction in the Rwandan genocide by the United States made it unlikely that any smaller states would voluntarily get invo lved.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Rwandan genocide was a terrible part of our world history and there were many opportunities to intervene and potentially stop the genocide from happening. Unfortunately, international organizations like the United Nations were unable to mobilize resources and marshal enough support within member states to successfully intervene. States interests were the main reasons why there was hardly any international concern at the beginning of the slaughter. Media coverage and public knowledge of the events occurring in Rwanda were extremely limited therefore political powers around the world didnt have to worry about public opinion influencing actions taken. Human rights groups were well aware of the terrible things happening in Rwanda but could do nothing to stop them without the support from states that acknowledged these events constituted a genocide, rather than a civil war, where there is no incentive for outside countries to get involved. Eventually, the United Nations was authorized to deploy 5,000 peacekeeping troops and the Rwanda Patriotic Front took over the Hutu extremists effectively ending the genocide after 100 days. Rwanda is now committed to reconciliation and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was created to prosecute individuals involved in the genocide and was even the first institution to consider rape as a means perpetrate genocide. Although the genocide remains a lingering memory of the horrors caused by ethnic conflict, it is also a reminder that international organizations exert little influence over state actions when states interests are not invested in the event or situation and have no incentive to act out of moral principle.