Candide Satire Section 2

The primary purpose of Candide is to serve as satire. Candide satires numerous things throughout his entire novel. This is prevalent in the first section, and likewise is prevalent in the second. One thing he satires in this section is religious hypocrisy. Through the way he describes the events as unfolding he shows what is wrong with the world. In Candide, a Jew and Catholic Inquisitor share Candide's love Cunegonde, who was bought as if she was an object. Both of these men are high up religious men, but neither seems to object to slavery. When Candide kills the Jew and the Inquisitor, Voltaire writes "My lord the inquisitor was interred in a handsome church, and the Issachar's body was thrown upon a dunghill. (21)" This shows how the religious people cared only for their own kind, and not others. While this is not to say that all religious men are hypocrites, Voltaire uses generalisms to better illustrate his hypocrisy and the ridiculousness of his satire.

I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed

In Emily Dickinson's I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed, Dickinson describes what she enjoys in life. She writes "Inebriate of Air--Am I--And Debaucheree of Dew," showing that she gets drunk off of life. She doesn't find the need to drink alcohol, when she has life to live. She gets her fun out of simply living life. She doesn't find it necessary to get inebriated off of alcohol. This poem serves as a metaphor to being drunk. She considers the enjoyment she gets our of nature to the feelings one gets from drinking. This poem speaks well to nature, and how the effects it can have on people. For the speaker, it gives her a drunkenness and gleefulness matched by alcohol. She enjoys nature so much that she considers it superior to the finest brew.

Convergence of the Twain

"Convergence of the Twain" by Thomas Hardy uses the imagery of the titanic to describe vanity. The poem is saying that vanity is fleeting. It is not as important as what is put on it. Hardy writes "Over the mirrors meant to glass the opulent The sea-worm crawls--grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent." This shows that while in the short time, it may sometimes seem as if vanity is very important, in the end it will not matter at all. All the time and effort that was put into making the titanic look beautiful didn't end up mattering at all once it hit an iceberg. The poem also talks about fate. It says that it was the ship's fate to hit the iceberg. Hardy shows how vanity leaves so very quickly. It may seem as if it will last forever, but when, in the end, life is over, no one will care about what you look like. When your bones are decaying in the ground, suddenly no one will care what color suit you're wearing inside the casket.

Dove Beach

In Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach, a strong message of fear and love is delivered through poetic wording. Arnold writes "The Sea of Faith was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled. But now I only hear it's melancholy, long withdrawing roar." This shows that the author believes that faith is waning. The world is becoming a worse place for whatever reason and he must turn away. The speaker says to his unidentified companion that they must turn to each other in this tough time. They must turn to the love they hold in each other's hearts. The speaker believes the only constant in the world is that of the love he has for his companion. The author uses setting as a primary vehicle to explain this,  using the imagery of a body of water at low tide to show how the world's becoming less faithful. He describes what Sophocles' called "The turbid ebb and flow of human misery." The author's use of imagery helps to illustrate to the audience what is happening in the world and why he must turn to his lover.

Sorting Laundry

Sorting Laundry, by Elisavietta Ritchie uses an extended metaphor to explain a relationship. The speaker, we know is a woman, due to her saying "If I were to fold only my own clothes, the convexes of my blouses, panties, stockings, bras, turned upon themselves." She talks about her relationship, through sheets, pillow cases, towels and more seemingly arbitrary laundry items. She uses them to describe how her relationship is going. She seems to convey that her relationship is going pretty well. She says"Pillowcases, despite so many washings  still holding our dreams", which shows how her relationship still has hopes and dreams that can be fulfilled. They haven't broken the seams, and their love is still alive. The poem does a good job explaining itself though the metaphor of laundry items. One of the best examples is "So many shirts and skirts and pants recycling week after week, head over heels recapitulating themselves." This shows how the clothing rotates in the washer on the surface, but on a deeper level is shows how the two in the couple keep falling in love with each other. At the end of the poem, a shift comes asking what if her lover were to leave. She seems to be simply thinking of the worse due to the quality of their relationship.

My mistress' eyes

My Mistress' Eyes by William Shakespeare, describes Shakespeare's girlfriend. The poem seems negative at first. He states "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun" meaning that her eyes while beautiful do not have that immense level of beauty. The poem shows that Shakespeare is very grounded. He understands that no woman is perfect and doesn't expect as much. He knows that all the cliched phrases he uses are impossible, and as such relates that his girlfriend does not meet them. I thought this poem was the opposite of  Barbie Doll. Rather than seeing her as less than perfect as bad, Shakespeare understands that this is how all women are and treats them as such. He treats them as real people, because that's all they are, people. They are not Goddesses, but rather human beings. It is refreshing that Shakespeare understands this and doesn't try use his usual gushy poetry describing the immense beauty of a woman.

Barbie Doll Q1

In Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll, the difference between real life and ideals is shown well. A girl is seen to her peers as simply "a fat nose on thick legs." The girl was in fact smart healthy and athleticism. Because she was not the ideal, she was received poorly by her fellow students. Their image of the perfect woman was a barbie doll. While this girl was not as thin or as beautiful as a Barbie, she had attributes those do not. She was a real person with real feelings that was disregarded. The people saw her as less than herself. Because of this horrific treatment she felt there was no other option than to kill herself. There is immense irony, that once she has killed herself because of the lack of beauty she feels for herself she is finally seen as beautiful. This poem is a sad tale of a girl who lacks confidence and ends her life prematurely because of the criticisms of others.