Shakespeare’s “Othello” is a prime example of a cleverly crafted
tragedy. Othello himself has all the elements of a tragic hero: the
personal grievance involving a friend and loved one, the tragic flaw
(gullibility), the sacrifice of suicide. Othello’s strong love for his wife
and the love that Desdemona shows him by betraying her father shows the
bond between the two of them. As a man Othello was honorable and noted
with high regard around Venice, also a strong and great leader. Every
great leader has much stress on him no matter how great the leader. The
stress of battle, the jealousy, and the loss of honor are what drove
Othello insane and this is why he hath killed his wife.
Although the stress of battle was not mentioned in the play one
could imagine the stresses put on a man with such stories of battle that
Othello himself told Brabantio. “Her father loved me, oft invited me;
/Still questioned me the story of my life/From year to year- the battles
sieges, fortunes/That I have passed.”(I, iii, 128-131) The numerous battles
and the hardships of war wear a man down. The stresses of everyday things
at work get to us but the stresses of battle must be and uncountable times
worse. Othello seemed to be and was mentioned as a good leader with the
respect of the Duke. The stresses of being a black man leading an army of
white soldiers that might respect you as a leader but might not respect you
as a human would affect you also.
Othello seemed to handle the stresses of war just fine but with the
jealousy added into his life by the most evil Iago’s plot against him and
Cassio was something that Othello had trouble managing. Othello was new to
the married life and did not want to leave his wife behind so he left her
in the hands of the “honest” Iago. “My life upon her faith! – Honest Iago,
/My Desdemona must I leave to thee”(I, iii, 294-295). Iago caused the
jealousy in Othello’s heart and made it burn with such passion and with
some false proof caused Othello to begin his break from reality.
The honor lost by the rumor of a cheating wife was the straw that
Restraint in Lord of the Flies and Heart of Darkness
Restraint in Lord of the Flies and Heart of Darkness
Throughout Lord of the Flies and Heart of Darkness the importance
of restraint is greatly stressed. This being the restraint to remain human
and maintain sanity. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow was able to remain his
restriant despite how difficult it was for him. He was always surrounded
by cannibals and constant chaos. On the other hand, Kurtz was unable to
keep his restriant, as a result he lost his humanity and sanity, and
eventually died because of it. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is able to
restrain restrain, and he therefore remains human. He found it difficult
though, because there was only one other person who was able to do the
same- Piggy. Ralph was determined to maintain order, and he was very alone
because of it. Jack on the other hand, gave in to the temptation of simply
hunting and playing, and lost his humanity in the process. He became a
savage – not a human being, but a savage with a painted body and strange
barbaric ways. In contrast, the cannibals in Heart of Darkness, (who are
starving) could have easily had many satisfying meals. After all, they
outnumbered the whites thirty to five, but they still had necessary
restraint to refrain from savagely feasting on some of the easily
accessible seamen. Towards the end of the novel, Marlow becomes becomes
very close to losing his sanity, but also has the necessary restraint to
maintain it. He confuses the beat of a drum (the call to man’s primative
side) with his own heartbeat, but is still able to restrain from slipping
over the edge as Kurt did. Ralph in Lord of the Flies is constantly faced
with temptation to join Jack and all of the other boys, especially when
Piggy dies and he is all alone. This makes it even more difficult to
restrain from giving in to Jack and his animalistic tribe. Therefore, it
is evident how important restrain is in these two novels. The ability to
do so may be the difference between life and death, and the one who can
restrain himself teh most is the one who prevails in the end.
In conclusion, it is evident that the authors of these two novels