“This could never be a crime in any society which deems itself enlightened.” So said Jack Kevorkian on CBS’s “60 Minutes” on November 22, on a segment showing the first nationally televised death by euthanasia in the U.S.
Kevorkian offered the footage to CBS to dramatize his campaign for euthanasia for terminally and chronically ill patients. The film shows him giving a lethal injection in September to 52-year-old Thomas Youk, who had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Kevorkian is shown ending Mr. Youk’s life by injecting Seconal to put him to sleep, followed by a powerful muscle relaxant to stop his breathing and potassium chloride to stop his heart.
Kevorkian says on the segment that he provided the footage to force the hand of Michigan prosecutors. “Either they go or I go,” he says. “If I’m acquitted, they go, because they know they’ll never convict me. If I’m convicted, I will starve to death in prison, so I will go.”
In his book, Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide, Michael Manning, M.D. says that both euthanasia and assisted suicide (wherein the patient performs the lethal act) involve the premature death of the patient. He defines euthanasia as an action or omission which causes death in order to end suffering(1). Active euthanasia is the deliberate intervention by someone else to end the person’s life(2); passive euthanasia means the withdrawal of medical treatment(2), which is allowable if it is done in order to let the patient die on his own. Euthanasia is either voluntary or involuntary, depending on the person’s competency to decide. The crux of the euthanasia/assisted suicide debate is r…
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…ternal Medicine 2240 (Oct. 28, 1996)
Lee v. Oregon, 891 F.Supp. 1429 (D. Or. 1995), vacated on other grounds, 107 F.3d 1382 (9th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 118 S. Ct. 328 (1997).
Manning, Michael,M.D. Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide. New York: Paulist Press, 1998.
“Poll Shows More Would Support Law Using Gentler Language,” TimeLines (Jan.-Feb. 1994):9
Rachels, James. “Passive and Active Euthanasia Are Equally Acceptable.” Euthanasia. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1989.
Washington v. Glucksberg, 117 S. Ct. 2258, 2262 n. 7 (1997.
— — –. 117 S. Ct. at 2272, quoting United States v. Rutherford, 442 U.S. 544, 558. 1979.
Washington Post, April 4, 1996.
Wennberg, Robert. Terminal Choices: Euthanasia, Suicide, and the Right to Die. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Co.,1990.
Symbols, Symbolism, and Metaphor in The Great Gatsby
Metaphors and Symbolisms in The Great Gatsby
In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many different
metaphors and symbolisms to express his point. In this essay the point that
I wish to make is how Fitzgerald uses colors to develop image, feelings, and
scenery depiction to let the reader feel the emotions and other aspects being
portrayed in that particular part in the book. Like every other essay one
must address the major points that will be addressed. This essay suggests
the hopefulness of Nick’s venture in the East and of Gatsby’s dream to win
Daisy. Fitzgerald uses the colors of white and green as suggestions of
future promise. As the novel unfolds and the uselessness of the dream is
developed, the colors become garish shades such as gold, silver, and pink.
White and green are shown throughout the beginning of the novel, first,
through green and white luminous light. Daisy is constantly shown in white.
When Nick first sees his cousin (Daisy), she is wearing a white dress. In my
mind, white depicts virginity, innocence, honesty, wealth, and the appearance
of cleanliness. Later on I will discuss how this image of Daisy is false.
She is extremely corrupt, and all her actions are based on self-gratitude.
Green is also portrayed in the earlier parts of this novel. It is a symbol
of hope. This probably is referring to Gatsby’s second chance at romance
with Daisy, and his dream with America being able to make all your dreams
come true. Gatsby believes that there is hope for his future relationship
with Daisy. We view his r…
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… being swollen
with silver, as if to say that it was done in a bad way.
The last color portrayed heavily when discussing the character of Gatsby
is pink. Pink is a sign of embarrassment. When Gatsby states that Daisy
never loved Tom, she has always been in love with him, he was shocked to hear
from her own mouth that she loved both of them. This placed Gatsby in a very
uncomfortable situation and this event finally brought him over the edge.
Over the course of this novel we saw how the plot slowly changes from the
rich and exquisite life of the wealthy, to the stubborn, arrogant, and
selfish values that each of these characters possessed, especially Gatsby.
Corruption reigned so high in their society; it was viewed as something to be
of usual nature.