Dona Perfecta Essay

Dona Perfecta, written by B. Perez Galdos, is a novel that explores the conflict between the new progressive movement and the old religious school of thought. This conflict takes place in the small Spanish village of Orbajosa. Narrow-minded Catholic zealots dominate Orbajosa. The most prominent of the zealots is Dona Perfecta. Dona is traditional catholic and strives to fight any opposition to her fixed beliefs. Pepe Rey, her nephew, presents the biggest challenge to Dona because he is an engineer who relies on scientific fact rather than religious faith. Dona feels as though Pepe is challenging her and the towns’ livelihood. This belief leads Dona to not only turn the town against Pepe, but also to have him killed. Dona’s Catholic belief system is only a facade to her evil nature. The town of Orbajosa is presented to be a small yet inviting town. Pepe is welcomed to the town warmly and happily. Dona is the first to greet Pepe when the narrator states, â€Å"the sincere expression of her affection, was receiving him at the gate itself in her loving arms† (23). Dona appears to be a very loving and hospitable character. She also surprises Pepe with her lengthy preparations to his room when the narrator states, â€Å"Pepe recognized in all the details of the room the diligent and loving hand of the woman† (24). Dona has proven that she is capable of being kind and loving towards those who pose no threat to her lifestyle. However, it is only when Pepe denounces religion that Dona feels threatened and begins to revel her evil nature. When Pepe and the town canon, Don Inocencio, meet, the men clash with their ideals. Both are intelligent and therefore, are stubborn. Pepe reveals to Don Inocencio that science is more valid than religion when he states, â€Å"Mysticism in religion, routine in science, mannerism in art, are failing, as the Pagan gods fell† (36). Pepe expresses his opinions about science and religion without any hesitation. Don Incencio and the towns’ people of Orbajosa feel that Pepe is resolutely against their beliefs. Increasing animosity is the result of Pepe’s progressive mind-set. Dona feels as though Pepe is a liability to the town’s way of life and the only way to get rid of the problem is to exterminate it completely. Dona is desperate to get rid of Pepe. She knows that Pepe poses the possibly to contaminate the towns ideals with his progressive philosophy. Dona decides that the town must turn against Pepe. Dona accuses Pepe of being disrespectful in the church when she states, â€Å"between thinking things and showing them in that irreverent manner, there is a distance which a man of good sense and good breeding should never cross† (56). Dona feels the need to make baseless accusations about Pepe in order to sway the public opinion against Pepe. Pepe himself recognizes the absurdity of Dona’s accusation when he states, â€Å"I have shown no contempt for any one, nor do I entertain the ideas which you attribute to me† (57). Pepe is troubled by the idea that his own aunt would accuse him of such trivial acts. Pepe knows that his progressive ideals are threatening to the town and are creating distrust between him and Orbajosa. Dona knows that the only way to truly get rid of Pepe is to kill him. Dona is consumed with the idea that the town of Orbajosa is transitioning from a traditional mindset to a progressive mindset. In reaction, Dona orders the killing of Pepe. She then lies about the killing saying that Pepe committed suicide when she states, â€Å"Pepe Rey at about twelve o’clock last night entered the garden of the house and shot himself in the right temple† (218). Dona manufactured this lie in order to cover up her evil action. Dona resorted to extreme and evil measures in order to preserve her way of thought. Her name Dona Perfecta is ironic in the sense that Dona is far from perfect because she is evil. The injustice that Dona commits revels not only the true hypocritical nature of Dona but also the hypocritical nature of Orbajosa as a whole. Dona Perfecta uses the conflict between Pepe and Dona to show the strong opposition the progressive movement faces. While Pepe was welcomed at first, he was soon ostracized and persecuted for his thoughts. The towns’ people of Orbajosa felt Pepe might threaten their way of life. Extreme measures were taken by Dona to put Pepe to rest. Perhaps Galdos intends the reader to see that while people may appear to be good, in reality, they are not what they seem.

Opinion on American Gothic Painting

I have seen this image, but don’t know the tittle. I have seen it in movies, cartoons, and parodies of the painting. The painting is a male and female who most likely live on farmland. The male is holding a pitchfork, both of them look very serious but looking in different directions. They may either be just posing for the painting or waiting for intruders to leave their property. The male and female look bothered with something, they are not happy. They are wearing old-fashioned clothes, very traditional American clothes. They look healthy but the male looks older than the female, maybe her father or an older husband at the time. They look like typical suburban American people at the time. The top of their house looks a little like a church but they are definitely farmers. The painting represents the typical American family/folk in a certain time period and area. The painting is famous because it’s the reality of suburban American life at that time, and this may be controversial. No one likes to hear/see the truth. I did not know the name of the painting so I googled, â€Å"famous American paintings†. It was the first photo that came up, so I clicked on it and found out the artist and the painting’s name. I googled the name of the painting and got many websites that have material on it. The artist’s name is Grant Wood native of Chicago. The painting is of a farmer and his daughter posing in posing in front of their house, whose window and tracery had an American gothic style, which inspired the name of the painting, â€Å"American Gothic†. The models were the artist’s sister and dentist. Wood was accused of creating in this work a satire on the intolerance and strictness that the limited nature of rural life can produce. He sold this painting to the Art institute in November of 1930.

Compare and Contrast Ancient India and Egypt Combined Politics and Religion Essay

Compare and Contrast ancient India and Egypt combined politics and religion Through history, religion has shaped civilizations in several aspects. In ancient Indian and Egyptian civilizations it was very strong shaping force in political structures, but both the religious beliefs and the resulting political system were different, just like pharaohs were different from rajas. The way Egyptians and Indians blended religion with politics bears certain similarities. First of all, the central role of priests, who were the Egyptians pharaohs most important advisors during the New Kingdom and at one point gained more power than the pharaoh himself. In the other hand, in India priests or Brahmans were also important political figures since they were considered to be at the top of the caste system and comprised the most educated portion of society. Also, in both civilizations religion became a way to reinforce the government and lead voluntaries to work during the summers to build the famous Egyptian pyramids. In India, on the other hand, the caste system and the concept of dharma taught the lower classes what their place in society, and this place was subordinated to the upper classes and the government. Despite the similarities the influence of religion in the political life of both ancient civilizations displays some differences. For example, the pharaoh was considered a divine ruler, making him a leading priest, while rajas were military figures and even after the rise of the caste system warriors confined with priests for power. Even Ashoka, the emperor of India who became a Buddhist monk, was not divine, eventhough his government gave Buddhism central importance. Here, we can see yet another difference that started with the emergence of Buddhism and Jainism in India, while in India more than one religion (with Ashoka) while the Hindu caste system was still in practice, Egypt only had one central system of beliefs at a time. Even though the form of worship and the beliefs changed over time, only one religious system held power at a time, even during the short period during which the pharaoh became monotheistic with Akhenaton and the worship of Aton, only this system held political power even if the people still worship the old Gods. Because of this, priests and nobles overthrew this religious system in Egypt and regained their power. Even though religion was an important part of the Indian political system, neither rajas nor later emperors established a theocracy, while the Egyptian pharaohs did. In Egypt the pharaohs were religious and political figures, in fact, during the New Kingdom they had no standing army, while Rajas were warriors and the authority of Indian emperors also derived from military power. This is due because Egyptian civilization was peaceful through most of its history, so religion, rather tan an army was used to justify the pharaohs rule. In India, on the other hand, Indo-Aryan tribes spread through war, and the Indian empire was established by overthrowing the Macedonians through military conquest. So in both the positions of the Raja and the emperor were sustained by their ability to conquer and subdue others, even during the reign of Asoka diplomacy was used to expand the empires domains. As we can see, religion in India and Egypt became a factor of importance, but in clearly different ways and yielding different structures and interactions. The religious and political structures of both ancient civilizations can be related to the Japanese mandate of heaven. This comparison can be made because in India and Egypt the leaders shared both religious and political authority; they were the supreme leaders in both aspects. In the mandate of Heaven Japanese political rulers, were supposed to be enlightened or chosen by God to rule the empire. In conclusion the three civilizations had rulers in which were evolve both political and religiously.

Marketing influences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing influences - Essay Example The four elements of marketing mix which are product, place, promotion and price affects consumers in various different ways. This project aims to project a report on marketing influence on consumer making decision making and also aims to show how the marketing influence which are product influence, price influence, promotional influence and place influence. The influence which would be discussed in the rest of the project is about promotional influence that a marketer has over its customers to influence the consumers to purchase the products. Marketing strategy varies as per the involvement of a consumer while purchasing a product. Promotional influence is the tool which is mainly used by the marketers to promote and sell its product and is the most effective tool in attracting consumers. For a high involvement product marketers have huge responsibilities. Promotion is an important tool and it should be informative and extensive. A good and effective advertisement helps the consumers with information that they need to make the purchase decision and also stating the advantage of owing the desired product. For example the two page advertisement made by the Toyota Company for its Toyota’s Camry Hybrid provided extensive information of the benefits of driving the vehicle. The photo of the young eyed girl along with the globe appeals to consumers to care for the future and the caption on the interior photos of the vehicle notes its unique technology which benefits the consumers in its decision process. In case of low i nvolvement product the consumer makes the decision of making it only after entering the store and when the consumers see the product. Thus to influence the customers, in store promotion is an important tool which is mostly used by marketer. Marketing manager puts on special attention to packaging so that the product can

Discuss Constantine, his Conversion to Christianity and the end of the Essay - 1

Discuss Constantine, his Conversion to Christianity and the end of the Roman Empire - Essay Example However, in the Roman Empire the government distrusted Christians and this implied that they were the minority in a society that was filled with pagans. During this period, the Christians followed the Christian way of life by obeying authorities such as bishops and the rule of law, but they refused to abide by the customs of the pagans. The government was filled with pagans, and this prompted it to single out the Christians, but they held on strongly to Christianity and they were not moved by the constant harassments they underwent. This scenario prompted Christians to be killed and continued to unite them further in their fight to be allowed freedom of worship. Prior to the end of the roman empire Diocletian, who was an emperor during this time declared Christianity as forbidden and churches were demolished. In addition to this, Christians were denied their legal rights all in the efforts of completely removing Christianity from the society. Around the year 299, disruption of the pagan rituals and burning of the Diocletian’s palace caused many Christians to be killed since they were blamed for these occurrences. However, the persecutions did not completely destroy Christianity, and this is the time when Constantine took up the fight to restore Christianity because he was disturbed by the persecution they underwent. Constantine had encountered many of the harassments against Christians since he was brought up in Diocletian’s court and he found them disturbing. Before the battle between the Christians and pagans at the Milvian Bridge, he had a dream where God instructed on how they would encounter the pagans. During this time, he was not a Christian, but he had a vow that if he won this battle he would fight for Christians for the rest of his reign. His mother was a Christian and she had instilled Christianity values in him, so he had the zeal to fight for their rights. The Christians won this battle, and he believed that God

Criminal Justice System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Criminal Justice System - Essay Example Otherwise, the people would lose confidence in their capacity to protect the people and keep them safe. The most insistent factors that must be considered in the case given are first, the protocol of the police station or simply the rules that they must follow, second, the rights of the suspects and third, upholding justice for the victim. It may seem that all these are very distinct and therefore uncorrelated at first glimpse, but a thorough study will show that they are very much consistent with each other. Given the situation, what I would probably do is to insist to my partner that we redo the interview with me in the room and the same being videotaped. I would make an effort to notify accordingly that affirmative action must be done. This would assert a number of the major things that must be considered in an ethical decision. It would not be far fetch to consider that the confession was coerced. Not to mention that both are minors aged only at 14 years old. â€Å"The ethical t reatment of others requires that we treat them as rational agents who are authors of their own decisions, and not as tools that we may use or manipulate as we like† (Kleinig, 2008). It is by duty that I uphold that justice is served. The mandate for interviews was established for a reason.

To what extent has a Human Rights Act transformed the protection of Essay

To what extent has a Human Rights Act transformed the protection of the idividual rights in the UK - Essay Example The European Convention on Human Rights which was formed in the year 1950 has been an international agreement, which has kept the UK bound by the ECHR. The UK adopted and integrated the ECHR in its national legislation, and operates in compliance with the provisions of the ECHR. As such, the ECHR protects the fundamental civil and political rights of all citizens of the European Union1. The UK enacted the Human Rights Act in the year 2000 and adapted the provisions of the ECHR in it. The courts in the UK have to respect the human rights laid down by the act. In the absence of a written constitution, the Human Rights Act protects the fundamental rights and civil liberties. The underlying objective of this Act is to comply with the rights provided by the ECHR, wherever possible. Therefore, the Human Rights Act strengthens the scope of the ECHR rights. The Human Rights Act strives hard to protect the fundamental rights of all citizens of the UK. The act ensures that an individual’s rights do not interfere with the rights of other individuals. On the other hand, the interests of the community should be treated as a whole. The ECHR also considered this aspect while drafting the Convention rights. Articles 8 to 11 of the ECHR provide that the community’s interests are protected. The first part of these Articles established the rights and the second part dea ls with the limitations of these rights2. The English courts have to follow the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and interpret them in the cases coming before them. The Human Rights Act ensures that the Parliament invariably takes into account, while proposing legislation, that balance is maintained between individual’s rights and the interests of the community. Furthermore, the Human Rights Act also requires the English courts to comply with the legislation enacted by Parliament. It permits the High Courts or the Supreme Court to disallow any law that is in