The Oppression of Colonized India Illustrated in Arundhati Roy’s Novel

The post colonial experience has made the goal of harmonious family relationships that much more difficult, due to the families fragmenting throughout the old country and immigration to the land of the colonizer. Children and adult children alike lose perspective on their homeland and the struggles within their homeland. They become awe-struck by the development of the colonizers land, and as a result become confused with where their loyalties should lie. In Arundhati Roy’s novel â€Å"The God of Small Things†, the Kochamma family is a family of tragic situations and tragic people. Not all of their problems stem from colonization; in fact it is their own cultural traditions that lead to much of the tragedy; however it can be argued that the underlying theme within the novel is one of a people oppressed by the colonization of India by England, and how a society already consumed with prejudices based on class (or caste, as the Indian would refer to it) and colour begins t o turn on itself, and devalues its own people, culture and heritage. The Kochamma family lives, works and plays together. They do not however communicate with each other, nor do they comfort each other or attempt to understand one another. This is the greatest downfall of the family. Colonization plays a role in how some members begin to perceive each other and India as a whole; as well it lays the foundation for the sense of worthlessness each member of the family feels at different times. Although the English have left India when this story takes place, their presence can still be felt. â€Å"Englishness† and whiteness is held in high regard, and is something to emulate and work towards. The Indians, who had always had a class system and a disregard for darker skin,... ...n all of these stories, the children look to their families to help them form their identity and find their place in the world; and in most cases are disappointed with the lack of unity and dis-functionality they encounter. This relationship is much like India has with itself and England. Rather than thinking independently and trying to move away from British culture and being a people oppressed by colonization, the Indian people become a victim once again insomuch that they continue to think like the colonized even after they have won independence. The fragmentation of families in the post-colonial experience will only cease when the fragmentation of their country and culture has been ratified, and the shameful mindset of the colonized victim is shed from their minds and they are able to find respect and the future in their own customs, culture and people.

Pro-Life Essay

â€Å"Rescue Those Who Are Unjustly Sentenced to Death† Proverbs 24:11 Abortion is and always has been a major topic for debate in North America, due to the moral and legal issues surrounding it. Despite the Supreme Court making a landmark controversial decision in 1973, deciding that it is a woman’s right to choose abortion after the court case of Norma McCorvey, pro-life activists continue to thrive for new laws banning, or at least tightly restricting induced abortion. Due to that decision, abortion has become a safety net—preventing unwanted pregnancies, controlling whether or not parents have a handicapped child, etc. In Sallie Tisdale’s â€Å"We Do Abortions Here: A Nurse’s Story†, readers get an inside look on the actual procedure itself, giving them an idea of what goes on in the world of medicine. Although this essay may highlight the beneficial factors of abortion—ridding oneself of an unwanted pregnancy, or saving a family due to potential financial constraints—it is all irrelevant due to the undeniable immoral aspects of the procedure. In my opinion, abortion is unethical, and unnecessary. Despite 20% of the female population being unable to have children, this essay draws attention to the vast number of people that do have abortions, choosing rather to free themselves of the ‘burden’ than to pass the miracle along to a couple in need. Not only does this emphasize the selfishness of today’s youth, it demonstrates the unknowledgeable also have no sense of conscious guilt, proving further that society as a whole is focusing on the wrong issues and ignoring the ones that truly matter. Of course, there is the inevitable argument of human life—when does it begin? In Tisdale’s essay, I learned that the employees of an abortion centre forbid the use of the word â€Å"baby†, as they prefer to keep the depressing emotions of the mothers to a minimum. My take on this is, why are we doing this procedure in the first place if we have to manipulate people into thinking it is ethical? By sugar-coating it, the reality of the process gets lost behind false appearances, demonstrating the corruption of youth despite the growing availability of information resources. The pro-choice activists see this procedure as letting mother’s return to full freedom, achieving a life of no guilt since they rid themselves of the child. This approach to abortion is completely immoral, as you can spin it anyway you want—you are still, essentially, taking a human life—and there is no ethical way to defend that. The population of the world that believes in the legalization of abortions are more in favor of equality and women’s rights rather than the developing life that the woman currently possesses. They believe as the fetus is nonviable, which is before twenty weeks of gestation, then the process should be legal. However, upon conception, the fetus is going to be viable and is going to be a functional human being. To interfere with this process is violating the rights that the unborn child has to live. A fetus is incapable of determining whether or not it wants to live, so to not grant that fetus a chance to live is down-right unconstitutional. Although I do believe in a woman’s rights and am quite the feminist myself—their rights to do as they please with their bodies should not parallel the right to do as they please with someone else’s body. In â€Å"We Do Abortion’s Here: A Nurse’s Story† by Sallie Tisdale, the author often reflects on the variety of women that enter the clinic. However, she mentions that there are the â€Å"usual clients†Ã¢â‚¬â€particularly in their teenage years—that so clearly have no parental or financial support behind them. The argument that is made here by pro-choice activists, is that the when the ability to take care of the potential child is at stake—thus providing a lifestyle that is not fit for a baby—it is of greater nobility to clear the child and the mother of such burden. In my opinion, there is only one word for a person with this attitude: selfish. Having a personal relationship with someone who is struggling with the fact that she is incapable of having children of her own, I see the inevitable sorrow that goes along with having an incomplete family despite your greatest efforts. In the essay, it is said that there are over 100 abortions a day in that particular clinic alone. In this world, if all of those people chose to let a family who is capable of providing the child a stable homelife adopt the child, they would not only be saving the child’s life, but saving a family’s life. Infertility is a growing issue in today’s society, and adoption is sometimes the only answer. Families around the world who are struggling with this issue have to pray for a miracle, as sometimes it takes up to 10 years to finally adopt a child. This is all happening, whilst girls and women alike are making it a usual occurrence to use abortion as a safety net for unwanted pregnancies. Does this seem fair? Has the world become so corrupt that we cannot even look past our own wants and aid those with their needs? The way the world needs to view abortions now are to see a surprise pregnancy as a miracle, rather than a burden. If not a miracle to them, then a miracle to a family in need, struggling with infertility. Although there may be extenuating circumstances, I cannot begin to fathom how anybody can justify the glorification of a child’s death as â€Å"a choice†. Everyone deserves the right to grow up, laugh, make mistakes, and live their life fully. No one deserves to have their life brutally ripped from them. Abortion is the greatest act of cowardice, because it preys on those who cannot defend themselves. We have the right to make choices, but what are we choosing? We have an obligation to protect the weak and the innocent. There will never be a day when it is justifiable to take another person’s right to live, simply because we can. As previously stated, this act of exploitation emphasizes the selfishness of today’s society, demonstrating the unfortunate truth that the naive population also lack in conscious guilt. This proves further that humanity as a whole is focusing on the wrong issues and ignoring the ones that truly matter.

The Importance of External Influences in Building a Democracy

The Importance of External Influences in Building a Democracy In Democracy in the Third World, Robert Pinkney analyzed circumstances that have been important in the past for building a democracy for current democratic regimes. Pinkney studies seven comparatives and their theories for the cause and effect of democracy and identifies their pros and cons. The most important of these conditions stands in the external influences and foreign participation in building the state as a democracy of a non-democratic country. In his â€Å"Conditions Conducive to Democracy† chart Pinkney introduces the condition of external influences being one of these conditions that to a democracy. He defines it as when foreign†¦show more content†¦Nigeria’s democracy has struggled and has a grim future due to the high social and religious turmoil. The relations of the inter-elite has no evidence to show that it is conducive to democracy; France in the late 1800s was ruled by the elite and the king and the peasant class was what brought the uprising of the route towards democracy. For these reasons and many more the conditions stated above are not as relevant to the establishment of a democracy as external influences of a democratized country onto a non-democratized country. Before using specific country case studies we must first define what is a democracy. According to Mark Kesselman, Joel Krieger and William A. Joseph a true democracy has all of the following: political accountability, political competition, political freedom and political equality. First, political accountability is the formal procedures of the state that are found legitimate by the people of the state. Next, political competition allows political parties to practice freely and run for office. Political freedom states that all citizens must possess political rights and civil liberties. Lastly, political equality enables all citizens to be legally entitled to participate in politics. Two of the most stabilized democracies, Japan and Germany, were both established as democracies byShow MoreRelatedThe Boom of Persuasive Totalitarianism in Europes Damaged Nations1747 Words   |  7 Pageslimited many of the rights of citizens, the success of this political system during the early-twentieth century laid in its ability to persuade the people from the USSR, Germany, and Italy to believe in the need of a single ruler to protect them from external threats and control their systems in a non-democratic manner. 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