The act of revenge in classical Greek plays and society is a complex issue with unavoidable consequences. In certain instances, it is a more paramount concern than familial ties. When a family member is murdered another family member is expected to seek out and administer revenge. If all parties involved are of the same blood, the revenge is eventually going to wipe out the family. Both Aeschylus, through “The Oresteia Trilogy,” and Sophocles, through “Electra,” attempt to show the Athenians that revenge is a just act that at times must have no limits on its reach. Orestes and his sister Electra, the children of the slain Agamemnon, struggle on how to avenge their father’s death. Although unsure what course of action they must take, both brother and sister are in agreement that revenge must occur. Revenge is a crucial part of Greek plays that gives the characters a sense of honor and their actions a sense of justice.
Killing the person responsible for one of your family member’s deaths is Athenian justice. This type of lethal justice is executed by Orestes and Electra. Before proceeding to the house of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra, they plot the murder of their father’s murderers. They decide Orestes will murder his mother, and Electra will dispose of Aegisthus. Orestes is the most focused of the two; but Electra, although timid in the beginning, is the most masculine. Both of these personality traits are key to their plan coming to fruition. Once her brother devises the plan, Electra verbally encourages him to follow through with it. After thrusting his blade into Clytemnestra only once, Electra cries that “[i]f thou beest a man, [s]trike twice!” (Sophocles 5…
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…ther and being unable to know what that means, Athena proclaims that “[m]ine is the final vote, [a]nd I award it to Orestes’ cause” (Aeschylus 140). He was simply following the unspoken law that you kill the person responsible for your family member’s death. No matter what action he took, he would of be looked down upon with disdainment.
The act of revenge is the most honorable of all types of justice. Killing those who kill people you care about exhibits your loyalty to the man or woman who is deceased. Even though the cost was killing his mother, Orestes did avenge his father’s death. Aeschylus and Sophocles show their fellow Athenians that although it may not be the most pleasurable and best looking solution, revenge is the most just. Although problems and criticism did arise from his actions, Orestes did exactly what he was suppose to do in the given situation.
Politics in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
Politics in Heart Of Darkness
Anyone can read Heart Of Darkness and easily sense the attitude of Conrad toward English politics. Many times throughout Heart Of Darkness Conrad points out the pointlessness and savagery of English colonization. Conrad also comments a bit on society as a whole. With these two ideas added to the book, there is no wonder of why Heart of Darkness is such a touching novel.
Through several examples, Conrad often shows the pointlessness and savagery of the English colonization in Africa. Probably the first instance of this is when Marlow comes up to the French-man who is “shelling the bush”. In this scene, the French see something move and so they start shelling it for that reason. The shelling really does no good; if fact, it probably does not even kill what is out there. This represents what the English are doing in a way — they are trying to conquer a land by shelling it to death and by trying to kill all the people who live there. The next example that Conrad gives is when he sees the black guard, who is leading the black slaves in a chain gang, straighten up when he sees a white man. What this shows is how everyone tries to look better than they are when they are in front of a supposed superior person. Also it shows that if a person can suck up enough — and sometimes betray their own people — they can move up in the world.
Probably the biggest example of the pointless of colonization is when Marlow is walking around and he sees big holes just around, a train and tools rusting to pieces, and when he hears blasts that seem to do nothing. What this shows is that the English presence in Africa does no good but create a empty hole in it (the big hole), that the English are just was wasting their time and money on a needless project (the rusting objects), and that the English seem to do nothing in Africa (the pointless blasting). One the final examples that he gives is the manager. This manager is all dressed up in “proper” clothes, must have everything in a perfect order, and complains about the sick man in the corner of the room. This symbolizes how uncaring the English are in their pursuit for ivory.