World Literature Questions: Muhammad,The Five Helpers,Sundiata,Faust,Foreshadowing, Petrarch,The Long Exile Parody - Essay Example

?Answers The Five Helpers is the story that ends in a dilemma as all the five persons are responsible in saving the girl’s life. The story is about a girl who refuses every suitor but falls in love with a python who comes to meet her in the guise of a handsome young man. The python swallows the girl on the first night and goes back into his pond. The following morning, when the parents’ do not find the girl and her suitor they start the search. She is not found anywhere. There are five people who help in locating her and each one of them makes an equal contribution in her search but who did the best is the question. If the man with strong smelling powers had not told where she is, she would have died in python’s stomach. “He at once smelled the trail of the girl and followed it down to the great water” .When he figured the place out, another man with insatiable thirst was called to swallow the water of pond. When the girl was still, not found, they called a man, who could dig up the place. When the place was dug, they found a hole, which could be entered into only by “a man with an arm that could stretch over all the Dagomba Island. They told him to put his arm in the hole and pull.”The python was caught and killed immediately but when they opened his stomach, they found the girl dead. A man with the magical reviving powers was called, “who had the power of medicine, and was able to raise the dead.”He immediately restored the girl’s life. Out of all the five helpers, the last one who restored the girl’s life did the most important job. As the saying goes, “the one who saves is important than the one who gives birth.” This could be understood in the context that a saviour is above all. 2. In addition to antithesis, Muhammad uses several different devices to teach or persuade believers. An Antithesis establishes a clear, contrasting relationship between two ideas by joining them together, juxtaposing them, often in a parallel structure. An Example for antithesis is- To err is human; to forgive, divine. (Pope) Muhammad uses several rhetoric devices to persuade his followers. In the following verse- “O you who have believed, if you support Allah, He will support you and plant firmly your feet. But those who disbelieve-for them is misery and he will waste their deeds...”Surah 47; Verse 1-19. In this verse, The Parallel Structure is used to persuade the followers .This technique is very effective in making persuasive statements. The supporters of the almighty are the one who avail all His favours and those who do not support him will end up in misery, as the Almighty will not reward them His favours that is, the believers flourish and the non-believers perish. “And those who believe and do righteous deeds And believe in what has been sent down upon Muhammad-and it is the truth from their Lord-He will remove from them their misdeeds and amend their conditions”. Surah 47; Verse 1-19. In the following verse, Exemplum is used. This is another, persuasive rhetoric device that employs examples or illustrative story. In the following verse, the believers are persuaded to follow Muhammad, as he is God/Allah sent and he will guide them to a right path. 3. An Elegy is a mournful, plaintive or melancholic poem. It is also called a funeral song that laments for the dead. Al Khasna’s elegies are evoking the same emotions. Her elegy On her Brother is the expression of her sentiments on the death of her brother. Her brother Sakhr was the leader of their tribe and his death while fighting for the honour of tribe is not only distressing but also a great loss to the tribe. This elegy embodies three different emotions .All the emotions are of loss. Firstly, her brother Sakhr is her half brother, who has died avenging the death of her real brother. Secondly, the tribe has lost their chief and thirdly, they have lost their provider. The dominant emotion, this elegy echoes is the loss of chief or the tribe leader. She writes, “Sakhr was our lord, our chief”, He not only guided them but also contributed during the feasts. This idea suggests that he was a humble leader who loved participating in tribe ceremonies. He was the leader whom they followed as armies. He was a provider when the tribe men were hungry. She writes in his praise that he was, “sacrificer of camels, a refuge for the oppressed, liberator of prisoners, a mender of bones”. A leader of a tribe gets the privilege of making sacrifices on the tribe occasions and victories. From the above expression, it appears that he was a fun loving person, who enjoyed and celebrated the tribe’s victories and success. He was kind hearted and helped the oppressed people .He helped releasing the prisoners and fought wars for them. He was a healer as well that is he was too kind and caring. 4. Sundiata is an archetypal epic hero –An epic hero is usually a larger than life figure from history or legend or bearing a stronger lineage. Sundiata can be defined as an epic hero, based on above definition that he inherited a stronger lineage from his father who was the king of Mali. Sundiata is known as Sundiata Keita. He suffered from physical deformity in the early years of his life but was able to overcome it. Though Sundiata does not fall in the second criteria of the epic hero definition that is an epic hero is usually favoured by or partially descended from the deities yet he is the result of a prophecy. A hunter predicted that if Konate i.e. his father married an ugly woman, she would give him a son who would be a mighty king one day. Sundiata, though unable to walk, is a favoured son and receives a groit from the king, his father. The second quality of an epic hero is illustration and performances of deeds that exemplifies certain morals and are valued by the society; they usually embody cultural and religious beliefs of the people as the epic advances. Sundiata was not an absolute monarch but he wielded popular authority. Sundiata was a Muslim by religion but he exploits all the local religious faiths and builds a reputation of a man with powerful magic. The third trait of the epic hero is that he participates in a cyclical journey or quest, faces adversaries that try to defeat him in his journey. Sundiata is an epic hero, according to this criterion, as Sundiata was able to defeat Soumaoro Kante, the king of Sosso people, who proceeded to conquer nearby kingdoms including Mandinka, now Mali. Soumaoro Kante is a villainous sorcerer king and owes a balafon with magical powers. Sundiata waged a war against the Sosso; finally, he defeats him and is later crowned with the title "Mansa," or "king of kings," as the first ruler of the Mali Empire. 5. Faust in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe novel Faust is a mesmerizing character. He is an ardent lover of knowledge, he is a scholar and wizard whose has already earned heaven for himself by his good work at university and working for the down trodden. Nevertheless, he is an unsatisfied soul, he wants to unravel the deepest mysteries of the universe and his soul is in turmoil as his attempts to understand the intricacies of the universe. The God would have full filled his desire but Mephistopheles plans to bend his will away from God by providing him the knowledge he seeks and hereby winning his soul forever. Mephistopheles is able to lure Faust and “In his pursuit of knowledge and worldly experience, Faust makes a pact with the devil” .Mephistopheles promises him the knowledge and the ultimate pleasure. “Mephistopheles appears in Faust’s study and proposes that he can help Faust achieve fulfilment by providing a wide range of experience through which Faust may acquire knowledge and happiness. Hereafter, it is found that the character of the Faust undergoes dramatic transformation. In pursuit of worldly pleasures and knowledge, he commits immoral acts and adultery. The effect of the devil is so high on him that he totally forgets the God. As the story moves, Faust is found constantly battling his conscience .Though Mephistopheles allows him to experience the ultimate pleasures of youth and vigour by witchcrafts yet this restoration leaves him discontented. During Margaret episode, his fervent desire for knowledge shifts his focus towards selfless desire. Every occasion his self-awareness surfaces but the devil misleads him. The understanding dawns him that man cannot fathom the eternal mysteries of the universe it is a mere foolishness to chase them. Such goals are unattainable. Faust remains dissatisfied until the end of his life. Even Mephistopheles says, “No bliss satisfied him, no enjoyment, And so he tried to catch at shifting forms.” Faust takes many forms to satisfy the eternal mysteries but they remain evasive. He did not fell short of his goal rather his rigorous desire took him near to the God and helped him attaining heaven. 6. Foreshadowing is a literary device in which an author suggests certain plot developments that might come later in the story. In the poem Song of Roland, the foreshadowing is apparent in the very beginning. The foreshadowing device helps the reader to predict the future events .The writer often employs a third party narration to forecast the events. Consider the following passage. “Charles, the king, has been in Spain for seven full years, he has conquered all the upland right down the seashore and not a castle can stand before him, neither wall nor city remains to be destroyed except Saragossa ....”The following lines give a clear view to the reader that the war is imminent. The second passage that foretells the event is- “The Emperor hands him the glove from his right hand but count Ganelon would gladly not have been here when he should have taken it, he let it fall to the ground. The Frenchman says God what can this mean. Great loss will come to us from this message. Sirs...” Ganelon does not like his stepson Roland and he thinks, Roland has intentionally suggested his name and he is very unhappy about it. The king commands him to go as he criticizes his stepson in the presence of the King .Ganelon drops the King glove on the ground .The Frenchmen predicts that it is an ominous sign and indicates some miss happening in near future. 7. Petrarch Sonnet xv is the expression of his affection for his ladylove called Laura de Noves. On her death, he found the grief uncontrollable and that grief finds its expression in the following sonnet. He mentions, "In my younger days I struggled constantly with an overwhelming but pure love affair – my only one, and I would have struggled with it longer had not premature death, bitter but salutary for me, extinguished the cooling flames. I certainly wish I could say that I have always been entirely free from desires of the flesh, but I would be lying if I did.” In the Sonnet xvi, Petrarch wants to get rid of the memory of his beloved but finds it impossible. he compares himself to a blind man who tries to find light that is, he knows his lady love is no more but he tries to find her around, Laura is unreachable – the few physical descriptions are vague, almost impalpable as the love he pines for, and such is perhaps the power of his verse, which lives off the melodies it evokes against the fading, diaphanous image that is no more consistent than a ghost.” To Helene is the poem written by Pierre de Ronsard. He wrote this Poem for, his niece, Helene, a sixteen-year-old girl who refused his amorous advances. Ronsard expresses his anger at Helene’s rejection by writing, “When you are very old, at evening, by the fire, Ronsard admired me in the days when I was fair.” Regretting my love, and regretting your disdain, Heed me, and live for now: this time won’t come again.” Sonnet is one of the several forms of poetry. It finds its origin in Europe. The word sonnet is derived from occitan word sonnet and Italian word sonetto both meaning a little song. The writers of sonnets are called sonneteers .A sonnet is a fourteen lines structure that strictly follows a rhyme scheme. The following lines by Ronsard from the poem To Helene are the finest example of imagery. Heed me, and live for now: this time will not come again. Come, pluck now — today — life’s so quickly-fading rose. The poet warns Helene if she will not pay heed to his suggestion now then she will not have anything but regret left for the entire life. Her beauty or her youth is like a rose, which will fade away if not plucked and admired at the right moment. Other example of imagery from the sonnets xv of Petrarch is- Down my cheeks bitter tears incessant rain,     And my heart struggles with convulsive sighs, Petrarch is so much in grief on the demise of his beloved that the tears are falling from his eyes like a non stopping rain and his heart beats are struggling to catch the bursting sighs. 8. The Long Exile: The Long Exile is the story by Leo Tolstoy. It is story of a young man called Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov for whom The Justice Delayed is Justice Denied and an innocent man is convicted for a lifetime for the crime he never committed. Ivan is a fun loving ,handsome young man, who is wrongly convicted and is unable to prove his innocence .He is imprisoned for life term for the murder of the fellow merchant who was with him in the same inn where Ivan has spent his night. As the fate would have it, a bloodstained knife is found in his bag and he had no witness to prove his innocence .He could not convince the police about his truthfulness. As a result is, he is imprisoned. His various pleas to czar go unacknowledged and his petitions are rejected. He gives up hope when his wife suspects him but he believes in God and thinks that “It seems that only God can know the truth; it is to Him alone we must appeal, and from Him alone expect mercy.”He starts living a very virtuous life in the jail and is loved by everyone because of his meekness. The story develops, when a man called Semyonich comes to the prison and he is the actual murderer. Ivan certainly gets the chance to avenge himself, as he knows every wrong that happened to him is “that entire villain’s doing!” He gets an opportunity for vengeance but he says, “It is not God’s will that I should tell”. Ivan has given up hope, he has no desire to live further, even though Makar confesses his guilt and asks for forgiveness from Ivan but he says, “It is easy for you to talk..., but I have suffered for you these twenty-six years. Where could I go to now…? My wife is dead, and my children have forgotten me. I have nowhere to go….” Tolstoy elevates Ivan to the level of saint, when he forgives Makar for every wrongdoing, “God will forgive you!” said he. “Maybe I am a hundred times worse than you.”He dies with no desires and longings and he dies light hearted as he gives up the idea of vengeance. Tolstoy has very modestly tried to convey that simple people who have firm faith in God get justice from God. God gives them strengths to forgive and let it go. 9. Parody is a text that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect. In Cervantes Parody, Don Quixote is a middle-aged man from the region of La Mancha in central Spain. He is obsessed with the chivalrous ideals touted in books he has read. He lives in the world of his imagination. He wants to reform the society therefore, he decides to take up lance, sword to defend the helpless and destroy the wicked. The first part of the novel is considered parody of chivalric romances, and the second part is more or less a self-referential work. Both parts of work are rich in humour, social and political commentary and psychological insights. Cervantes believed that a literary piece of art necessarily contain moral message. However, he dislikes preaching. Through his Don Quixote, he explores various themes such as love, imagination, morality, societal norms, class, honour and relationship between art, literature, and satires the society of that time for their obsession for chivalric romances. Cervantes, himself states that he wrote Don Quixote in order to undermine the influence of those “vain and empty books of chivalry” as well as to provide some merry, original, and sometimes prudent material for reader’s entertainment. Voltaire Candide is a satire and the purpose of this masterpiece was “to bring amusement to a small number of men of wit,” as described as Voltaire himself. The plot of this satire is adventure romance, Candide, the protagonist, undertakes various adventures, which are painstakingly described by the author that makes the events more humorous. The author through this amusing novel has tried to convey the harsh reality of contemporary European society. Behind this playful facade by Voltaire is a strong message. The world around the hero is cruel and hero desperately tries to fit himself into this world. There is lot of pessimism around except of one single episode of El Dorado, where he finds just and reasonable society. Voltaire satirizes the idea of philosophical optimist, as championed by the philosophers like Gottfried Leibniz, who argued that at the point of creation, God had a choice to create the best of all possible worlds. Through Candide’s tribulations, Voltaire presents to the reader about many kind sufferings and evils present in the world. Beneath its absurdist veneer, Voltaire's "Candide" masks a great deal of philosophical thought, which makes you stop and ponder. Read More