Gatekeeping in Politics: Enoch Powell

Gatekeeping in Politics: Enoch Powell British Political Communication: Enoch Powell’s Inflammatory Gatekeeping In July 1855 a four vessel fleet of the British Royal Navy attacked Russian batteries in the Baltic Sea (Schroeder 1972). The conflict, a part of the Crimean War, pitted 200 foot long wooden ships with 20 cannon gun decks against castle-like fortifications in a war of empires led by kings. One hundred years later the world was locked in an international debate over economic ideals; so called right-leaning free market capitalism versus left-leaning socialism. In this conflict the empires wielded nuclear missiles capable of flying hundreds of miles to kill hundreds of thousands of civilians. In that short period many parts of the world experienced an industrialization of society. Crowd-sourcing of labor, technological advances in materials and mechanization, and the liberalization of finance produced a very quick shift in the lives of the common person. Prior to the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries generations of the same family could live very similar l ifestyles. As the 20th century advanced children were experiencing radically different social and economic forces than their parents. As populations rose and cities grew different parts of society organized and formed representative elements for their special interests.The intentions of the group became sources of power as institutions grew and monetized those intentions. One of the primary tools used by those institutions, even in their early beginnings, became a funneling of information known as â€Å"gatekeeping.† First termed by Lewin (1943), gatekeeping refers to the process of filtering information by focusing on one small percentage of the information in order to steer public opinion. His analysis of gatekeeping focused on information as a channel of communication that was affected by bottlenecking gates. At these gates specific parts of the channel would be choked and only a small percentage of the information would be able to pass through. Lewin (1943) highlighted the power inherent in controlling those gates. His model for this approach to communication theory was rather small; the dietary control a mother or a father has over a family’s dinner menu (Lewin 1943). The scalability, however, applies to broad social structures. Every member of a social structure is affected by some sort of information channel. That information influences an individual’s preferences, decisions, thoughts, and actions. Control over the specific pieces of that information, then, correlates to a fo rm of power over the preferences, decisions, thoughts, and actions of individuals within the social structure. Gatekeeping as it applies to communication theory has largely referred to mass media sources, a common player in information management. Shoemaker, Eichholz, Eunyi, and Wrigley (2001) define gatekeeping as a process that culls down billions of messages into the hundreds of messages that make it to an individual. It is, thus, an organizational mechanism and seemingly inevitable. Soroka (2012) showed why gatekeeping is inevitable by listing the primary reasons this phenomenon exists: organizational level factors, story level factors, and industry or professional factors. A major news outlet can act as an example to explain these factors. At the organizational level there will be administrative personnel with specific motivations, procedural constraints that are defined by the over-arching mission of the organization, and of course cost and time constraints (Soroka 2012). At the story level, factors like geographic proximity to the story, visual features of the story, intellectual capac ity of the story, and social aspects of the story define the makeup of the audience. At the industry or professional level there are specific values and norms of practice that are followed by individuals who feel a duty to the industry or the profession (Soroka 2012). With so many characteristics at play it is inevitable that discrepancies in the flow of information will be felt. The inevitability of gatekeeping lends itself to a look at the use of information for political gain. Just as discrepancy in the flow of information is inevitable, gatekeeping in politics is equally inevitable. If every voter was able to express their personal preference within a regulatory system there would be an overload of subjectivity. Politicians use that fact to their advantage. By focusing on only one or two topics a person or an organization can focus the public on an objective â€Å"reality† that caters to the individual’s general political view. In doing this the political goals of the politician or the political organization are met. March and Olsen (1984), in their study on organization in political systems, attempted to explain political communication in a world of ever-increasing access to, and volume of information. They highlighted the common portrayal of politics as a reflection of society, or as the â€Å"aggregate consequences of individual behavior (March, and Olsen 1984).† Their â€Å"new institutionalist† theory of political organization emphasized the relative autonomy of political institutions, the historical considerations for inefficient information management, and the importance of symbolic action in political endeavors (March, and Olsen 1984). Gatekeeping makes use of each of these three points. With autonomy comes subjective control, inefficient information management has the advantage of slowing down opposing propaganda, and symbolic action can emphasize a few important pieces of information while ignoring all others. The global social and economic trends of the late twentieth century are good platforms for looking at the utility of gatekeeping in politics. As alluded to in the opening paragraph of this essay, much of the world experienced a significant lifestyle change in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As the Industrial Revolution mechanized major world powers, countries like England experienced a liberalization of social standards. Sexual promiscuity, alternative forms of music, drug use, and agnosticism opposed a World War II generation that largely identified with a conservative morality. In England this social liberalization formed as a response to the first half of the twentieth century that saw a consistent loss of economic growth. During most of the nineteenth century England ruled the world economy, maintaining an empire that spanned the globe and led innovations in machinery, steam power, banking, and trade. By 1900 industrialization had spread throughout Europe and North Americ a, decreasing the hold on the world economy England seemed to have (Murphy 1973). World War I caused a significant economic downturn, and the Great Depression followed, continuing a stagnation that wouldn’t lift until the end of World War II. The next few decades would be characterized by economic extremes with GDP growth jumping and falling as England recovered material losses from the war. The â€Å"high water† mark for England’s economy during this time came during the early and mid 1960s (Murphy 1973). Industry had remained a consistent producer for the country following the world wars, and as traditional markets changed and war-torn countries were rebuilt, Britain capitalized (Murphy 1973). On the heels of each economic upswing were the two primary political parties in the British parliament: the Conservative party and the Labour party (McLean 2001). While the Labour party made personal gains in the immediate aftermath of WWII, pushing nationalistic sentiment, it largely failed at maintaining political control over the British government. From 1951 to 1964 the Labour party experienced three consecutive general election losses (McLean 2001). In this same period the country experienced significant GDP growth, a revival of finance, and the continued influence of industry (Murphy 1973). The Conservatives lauded their own governance, and unsurprisingly took credit for the temporary status quo. The Labour party finally won a general election in 1964, placing Harold Wilson as Prime Minister (McLean 2001). Wilson was in stark contrast to the Conservative party member Harold Macmillan who sat as Prime Minister from 1957 to 1963 (McLean 2001). Macmillan embodied the right wing principles of the Conservative party, principles that embraced free market economies, social conservatism, and isolation. Wilson embodied the Labour party’s more liberal standards of nationalism and state sponsored welfare. As the economy bounced up and down the sentiments and actions of the two parties moved towards the extremity of their political philosophies (McLean 2001). Conservatives became more conservative. Labour party members became more nationalistic and liberal. This growing move to extremism came to a front on April 20, 1968 with Enoch Powell’s famous â€Å"Rivers of Blood† speech. Powell (1969), a Conservative party member, gave the speech in front of General Meeting of the West Midlands Area Conservative Political Centre, and lost a prominent cabinet position as a result. The speech became known as one of the most inflammatory speeches in British Parliamentary history, and focused on the increasing trend of immigration into the United Kingdom. Powell (1969) argued against the annual influx of 50,000 immigrants, stating the indigenous population was being â€Å"made strangers in our own country.† He brought up conversations with working class countrymen who felt the increased level of competition for shelter, work, and food first hand. He stated that the majority of the immigrants had no intention of fully assimilating, and he made statements like â€Å"this does not mean that the immigrant and his descendants should be elevated into a privileged or special class, or that the citizen should be denied his right to discriminate in the management of his o wn affairs (Powell 1969).† The actual subject matter of the speech isn’t as important as the reaction it produced. Powell was booted from the Shadow Cabinet, a form of check and balance to the primary cabinet. Labour party members called for arrests, newspaper headlines screamed, and Conservative backers went on strikes. Powell’s inflammatory words caused an inflammatory reaction, a direct result of gatekeeping. Powell, an individual actor in a large political organization, focused on one aspect of the public debate to push his personal political agenda. By focusing on the derogatory effects of immigration he was able to focus his constituents’ emotion on one small aspect of the country’s economy. Instead of looking at both sides of the immigration debate he announced only one bias, a bias that would cater to future votes. He focused on the annual immigration numbers without mentioning emigration statistics, and he used examples of the common working man as a victim of immigration w ithout using examples of immigrants successfully assimilating into British culture. The sentiment expressed by Powell in the â€Å"Rivers of Blood† speech frames a shared trait of right wing conservative politicians in wealthy nations during the twentieth century: prejudice as a form of isolation. The speech pitted parliament in a debate over social welfare and personal responsibility, but more to the point the speech lifted Powell’s notoriety overnight. Despite his firing from the Shadow Cabinet, Powell continued on with a very successful career in politics, and many sources credit his speech as the turning point that won the 1970 general election for the Conservative party. This style of inflammatory communication is a common trend in organizations and institutions that represent a collective group. In this example we see one agent communicating one idea, in the midst of a wealth of issues. He didn’t select one piece of information to simplify a complex problem, he selected one piece of information to focus emotional responses in a way that wo uld directly benefit him. On that day, during that speech, he was in control of the stream of information to the public. Just as mass media outlets function with corporate interests, and governments censor, so too did Enoch Powell use gatekeeping as a tool to benefit his interests. Works Cited Lewin, Kurt. â€Å"Defining the ‘Field at a Given Time.’† Psychological Review 50.3 (1943): 292-310. Print. March, James, and Johan Olsen. â€Å"The New Institutionalism: Organizational Factors in Political Life.† The American Political Science Review 78.3 (1984): 734-749. Print. McLean, Iain. Rational Choice and British Politics: An Analysis of Rhetorical Manipulation from Peel to Blair. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Print. Murphy, Brian. A History of the British Economy, 1086-1970. London: Longman, 1973. Print. Powell, Enoch. Freedom and Reality. Tadworth: Elliot Right Way Books, 1969. Print. Schroeder, Paul. Austria, Great Britain, and the Crimean War: The Destruction of the European Concert. Ithica: Cornell University Press, 1972. Print. Shoemaker, Pamela, Martin Eichholz, Kim Eunyi, and Brenda Wrigley. â€Å"Individual and Routine Forces in Gatekeeping.† Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 78.2 (2001): 233-246. Print. Soroka, Stuart. â€Å"The Gatekeeping Function: Distributions of Information in Media and the Real World.† The Journal of Politics 74.2 (2012): 514-528. Print.

Queer Theory Reading of a Picture of Dorian Gray

Queer Theory Reading of a Picture of Dorian Gray Aestheticism dictates that life should be lived by an ideal of beauty and a movement embodied by the phrase of art for arts sake. There is perhaps no greater advocate of such beliefs as Oscar Wilde, and the characteristics of aestheticism run through much of his work, both plays and stories, particularly in the character of the dandy. It would be difficult to analyse any of Wildes work without considering his own personal life and consequently, almost impossible to analyse his use of aesthetics without tackling the elements of homoeroticism. Living in a society largely intolerant to homosexuality, Wilde was obviously restricted to some extent with regard to what he could write about explicitly and as a result secrecy becomes an important influence over Wildes work. This makes for an extremely interesting relationship between aestheticism and homoeroticism, and it is this relationship that will form the main focus of this essay. What are the forms and techniques that Wilde uses to aestheticise homosexuality, and why? And how by doing this his literary works reveal aspects of his own life and sexuality, ultimately creating the figure of Wilde the aesthete, dandy, and campy witticist who has become a public icon forhomosexual men in Britain and America. It will focus primarily on The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Happy Prince and Other Stories. The Portrait of Mr. W.H portrays Shakespeare as being a slave to beauty – that is the condition of the artist! This concept of theartist as worshipper of beauty is a recurring characteristic of Wildes literature and will be dealt with later in this chapter. Firstly, itis necessary to look at the ideal of beauty that Wilde presents as worthy of worship. There is an overwhelming resemblance between Wildes portrayal ofbeauty and the concept of beauty in the Greek era. As Summers observesin his book Gay Fictions: Studies in a Male Homosexual Literary Tradition, both The Portrait of Dorian Gray and The Portrait of Mr.W.H focus heavily on portraits of androgynous young men bothstories allude to famous homosexual artists and lovers in history andthey both assume a significant connection between homosexual Eros andart. Same-sex desire is referenced heavily throughout Greek literature, for example, during the sixth century, the poet Sappho wrote numerous homoerotic verses concerning young women, with the term lesbian derived from the name of her island home of Lesbos. Platoalso referred to same-sex desires and relations, even forming his own theory on the pre-determined nature of different sexualities. In words taken from The Portrait of Mr. W.H, the ideal of beauty is a beauty that seemed to combine the charm of both sexes, and to have we dded, as the Sonnets tell us, the grace of Adonis and the loveliness ofHelen. Wilde uses this Greek ideal of beauty as a means of adding authority to his allusions to homoeroticism, to make the content of the two aforementioned works more acceptable to a Victorian audience. Itis important to note that there is a marked difference of public attitude towards homosexuality and homoeroticism between Greek and Victorian society. Donald Hall observes that during the Greek eraadult male sexuality, had much more to do with power status and social positioning than it did with any expression of identity-determining desire for the same or other sex. Wildes ideal of beauty also overlaps with the Greek concept of the muse. The Portrait of Dorian Gray presents us with Dorian, the muse topainter Basil Hallward, and The Portrait of Mr. W.H provides us withan insight into the life of one of the most famous muses of all, the young man who Shakespeare addressed many of his sonnets to Who was he whose physical beauty was such that it became the very corner-stone of Shakespeares art; the very source of Shakespeares inspiration; the very incarnation of Shakespeares dreams. The muse, defined as asource of inspiration especially for a creative artist succeeds in objectifying the subject, transforming a human presence into aesthetic fodder to fuel the creative mind, as well as something far superior tothe person beholding the muse. With regard to The Picture of Dorian Gray, Summers suggests that, the implied link between homosexual Erosand creativity is clear in Dorians effect on Basils art. Dorians beauty and the ideal that he represents ca use Basil to see the world afresh and inspire him to his greatest work as an artist. This is where the idea of worshipping beauty comes into play. TheHappy Prince, for example, is distinctly removed from everyday lifeand is admired from afar in a quite literal sense. However, Dorian isperhaps the best illustration of Wildes fascination with the worshipof beauty. The novel suggests that to other young men Dorian seemedto be of the company of those whom Dante describes as having sought toâ€Å"make themselves perfect by the worship of beauty.† Like Gautier, hewas one for whom the visible world existed. At the same time,Dorian is presented to us as the worshipped, with regard to hisrelationship with Basil Hallward. The experience of the muse in the manner of Basil and Shakespeare (asportrayed by Wilde) seems to present something of a double-edged sword,producing feelings of such passion that joy and despair becomeintertwined. The narrator of The Portrait of Mr. W.H suggests thatShakespeares muse was a particular young man whose personality forsome reason seems to have filled the soul of Shakespeare with terriblejoy and no less terrible despair. In a similar vein, Basil hasominous feelings on meeting Dorian for the first time, I knew that Ihad come face to face with someone whose mere personality was sofascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my wholenature, my whole soul, my very art itself. The effect of beauty canbe seen as both gift and curse – in the same way that Wilde perhapsregarded homosexuality in Victorian society. The importance that Wilde places on the worship of beauty is closelyrelated to his strong beliefs in aestheticism. The distance that Wildeseeks to construct between the observer and the object of beauty can beread as a mechanism of aestheticism whereby he aims to eliminate anyattachment to moral and wider societal concerns. The following chapterwill analyse the relation of aesthetics to Wildes literary works, andhow far he is able to separate the appreciation of art from moralvalues. Mary Blanchard, in Oscar Wildes America suggests that the personaof the invert or male homosexual was an emerging concept during the1880s, and the connections between aesthetic style and a homosexualsubculture cannot be overlooked. And with other critics referring toWilde as the high priest of aestheticism, its clear that Oscar is noexception to this rule. He lived a hedonistic lifestyle, flitting as asocial butterfly from one experience of art and beauty to the next. InVictorian times the male dandy soon became a symbol of this aestheticage, with no finer literary examples than Dorian and Lord Henry of ThePortrait of Dorian Gray, and Algernon and Jack of The Importance ofBeing Earnest. Lord Henry declares that pleasure is the only thingworth having a theory about and it is this preoccupation withmaterial things and surface-level emotions that characterises thedandy, a choice of style over substance. As a result Dorian becomesfascinated with acquiring commodities such as perfumes, je wels andmusic. Wilde dedicates pages of description to this search forsensations that would be at once new and possess that element ofstrangeness that is so essential to romance. The concept of dandyism is closely linked to that of Victoriandecadence. Goldfarb, in his essay on Late Victorian Decadenceprovides us with a useful definition of decadence, highlighting itsresemblance to aestheticism – the value to be gained from experienceof all sorts and from indulgence in a life of sensation. Because ofthis emphasis, decadent literature is animated by the exploration ofimmoral and evil experiences; never does it preach morality, nor doesit strongly insist upon ethical responsibilities. This separationbetween decadence and morality is also a characteristic common toaestheticism. Glick studies the concepts of dandyism at length in her essay onThe Dialectics of Dandyism, identifying an opposition betweencritical thought on dandyism and arguing that two different modelslocate dandyism at the opposite poles of modernity, simultaneouslypositioning the queer subject as a privileged emblem of the modern andas a dissident in revolt against society. Therefore, on the one handthe reader can accept the dandy as person who embraces the aestheticsof culture and celebrates beauty – as a preoccupation with surfacetrends to conceive of gay identity solely or primarily in terms ofartifice, aesthetics, commodity fetishism and style. Or, beneath thesurface, we can read a protest against the commodification of modernlife and a rejection of common values and aspirations. Goldfarb note asimilar contempt for modern society in the movement of decadence, aself-conscious contempt for social conventions such as truth andmarriage, by an acceptance of Beauty as a basis for life. Bothaestheticism and decadence seek to remove beauty from the confines ofmodern society and use it to their own ends in a self-created sensualand fantastical lifestyle. Wildes use of aestheticism can be read as an attempt to showhomosexuality as a sign of refined culture, as a means to his desiredend where such a topic becomes more acceptable. In the same way thatWilde alludes to the Greek ideal of beauty to disguise what couldotherwise be seen as a direct and possibly offensive portrayal ofhomosexual desire, by adhering to the rules of aestheticism Wilde isable to divert attention from any moral attack on his writing. Themovement of aestheticism shuns any notion that art can be connectedwith morality and passionately encourages individual freedom and socialtheatricality. Ironically, whilst it can largely be seen as arebellion against Victorian sensibilities, it is simultaneously amethod of retaining a covert nature to the expression of homoeroticdesire. In the case of Basil Hallward, he finds art an outlet for suchdesires, there is nothing that Art cannot express. Through Dorian,Basil is able to discover a new manner in art, an entirely new mode of style not just when he is painting Dorian, but when he is merelypresent. It allows him a new way of looking at life, having realisedthe power of homoeroticism In presenting homosexuality through the lens of aestheticism andconsequently presenting it as a refined culture with close links to theidealised and romantic image of the Greek age, Wilde also separates thelifestyle of the homosexual man from the classes of heterosexualsociety. As Elisa Glick suggests in her essay on the dialectics ofdandyism, Wilde depicts Dorians seemingly endless appetite forexotic, luxury objects as the exterior manifestation of his innerintellectual and artistic superiority. This presents Doriansdesires and those of other aetheticism advocates as elitist andultimately superior to other classes. Through the use of aestheticism,it can be argued that Wilde attempts to give homoeroticism the power totranscend class. By describing such episodes in this romantic andfantastical manner, he places homosexuality in a highly refined classof its own, in a position out of reach from the realities of theworking class and bourgeoisie. To take this concept one step further, Wilde can also be seen toreject the realities of common society entirely, as an aesthetepreferring to lose himself in sensual experiences and ultimatelydreaming of an escape from reality to a place where such experience canbe fully realised. Glick goes on to note that Dorians acquisition ofluxuries and curios not only seems to affirm his â€Å"aristocratic†distinction, but also aims to build a self-created world byaestheticizing experience itself. Gray yearns not so much for theenjoyment provided by an individual object, but for the aestheticpleasure provided by its reincarnation of part of his collection.Indeed, Dorian does become obsessed with creating his own desiredversion of reality, in which worshipping beauty and living by thesenses is the priority. Having embarked on this aesthetic journey-largely instigated by Lord Henry –Dorians passion to adhere to theseideals becomes clear, It was the creation of such worlds as these th atseemed to Dorian Gray to be the true object, or amongst the trueobjects of life. Early in the novel Wilde even goes so far as toassociate reality directly with the lower classes and as therefore,something ranked below the aspirations and lifestyle of those likeDorian; in this extract no sooner is Dorian overcome by fascinationwith Lord Henry than he is brought down to earth by the entrance of aservant: Dorian Gray never took his gaze off him, but sat like one under aspell, smiles chasing each other over his lips, and wonder growinggrave in his darkening eyes. At last, liveried in the costume of the age, Reality entered the roomin the shape of a servant to tell the Duchess that her carriage waswaiting. By personifying Reality Wilde presents it as something that can bedefeated, beaten by those who have enough desire and strength of mindto do so. In the same way Wilde often capitalises and personifiesArt to add character to the subject and emphasise his position onthat subject. Although in one respect this separation of the dandy or aesthetefrom reality may seem to alienate him from others in society, thecontent of Wildes narration does not necessarily isolate him from amoral standpoint. It is interesting to note that we are given verylittle information on the uglier types of experience that Dorianseeks. As readers, we understand the influences and transition thatthe protagonist is going through as his soul darkens, but we are noteducated in the exact nature of the experiences. This allows lessopportunity for concentrating on the moral aspects of his lifestylechoices, and more opportunity for pondering on the nature ofaestheticism; we focus more on the influences on Dorian and theconsequences, rather than on judging his actions and decisions. Whenone delves deeper to find a moral standpoint on Wildes part, it isdifficult to do so, and consequently, easier to assume that the absenceof analysis in this area suggests ambiguity on his part. Summer seeks to find an answer to this moral ambiguity in the worldof Oscar Wilde himself, and in relation to The Portrait of Dorian Grayfound that Wilde summarised the moral as â€Å"all excess, as well as allrenunciation, brings its own punishment. The painter, Basil Hallward,worshipping physical beauty far too much, as most painters do, dies bythe hand of one in whose soul he has created a monstrous and absurdvanity. Dorian Gray, having led a life of mere sensation and pleasure,tries to kill conscience, and at that moment kills himself. Thiscomment of Wildes confirms the notion that becoming a slave to beautyis a condition of art, illustrated by the tone of the inevitable thataccompanies the phrase as most painters do, an observation that wecan easily transfer to the experience of other artists as well. Wildegoes on to explain that Lord Henry Wotton seeks to be merely thespectator of life. He finds that those who reject the battle are moredeeply wounded than those who take part i n it. In this respect bothBasil and Henry are ultimately doomed, thus suggesting no clear moralpath that the reader need follow for salvation. Moral ambivalenceoccurs frequently as a result of the narrators attitude; the narratoris sympathetic towards whichever character he is describing, and inparticular, often seems just as seduced by the strong and influentialcharacter of Lord Henry as Dorian is. With this in mind, Summersconcludes that notwithstanding the retributive ending of the book, theFaustian dream of an escape from human limitation and moral stricturesultimately triumphs over the condemnation of excess and therebysubverts the apparent moralism. To summarise, he argues that theFaustian dream is rendered more appealingly than the superimposedlesson of dangers of narcissism. However, if we accept Summersreading, it still remains impossible to read the novel withoutquestioning the relationship between aestheticism and morality.Whether we believe Wilde to subvert or strengthen common moral values,their presence within the narration is undeniable and invites furtherthought from the reader. To conclude this chapter on aestheticism, we can see that Wildesliterature aestheticism and homosexuality exist co dependently. Thisobviously has an effect on the publics reading of his works, and howreadily and comfortably they associate these two aspects. As Summerssuggests it is interesting to note that The Picture of Dorian Gray wasamong the first novels in the language to feature (though blurred andinexactly) a homosexual subculture Summers wrote that homosexualreaders would certainly have responded to the books undercurrent ofgay feeling, and may have found the very name â€Å"Dorian† suggestive ofGreek homosexuality, since it was Dorian tribesmen who allegedlyintroduced homosexuality into Greece as part of their militaryregimen. In contrast, Mary Blanchard notes a negative consequenceconcerning heterosexual readers during the Victorian era – Allyingaesthetic style with the masculine self provoked attacks from someVictorian men unsure of their own gender orientati on. This raisesthe issue of how a heterosexual readership can be seen to react to theundertone of homosexuality, and how a readers interpretation canchange when fuelled by more knowledge of Oscar Wildes personal life.Before looking at the effect of the writer on what is ultimately afictional narrator, this essay will look at the importance of secrecyin the life of the homosexual man. Todays society is obviously more accepting of Wildes sexuality andits effect on his art, Summers illustrates this point by suggestingthat Wildes demise meant that he ultimately functioned as Saint Oscar,the homosexual martyr. But of course it was not until some timeafter the late nineteenth century that Wilde was fully appreciated by awider audience. Miller and Adams in Sexualities in Victorian Britainobserve that the Victorians were notorious as the great enemies ofsexuality: indeed in Freuds representative account, sexualitysometimes seems to be whatever it was that the middle-class Victorianmind attempted to hide, evade, repress, deny. In this respect thehomosexual man had a double secrecy to adhere to – that of sexuality,as well as homosexuality. In Victorian society there was very much aclear-cut idea of what was natural and unnatural, of what was normaland abnormal. Consequently, Wilde set himself up as a figure to beattacked by the press as unnatural and abnormal the V ictorian presspublicized in wildly inflammatory ways Wildes eccentric dress,effeminate, and haughty demeanour, all held up as important signifiersof his unnatural sexuality and the threat he posed to â€Å"normal,†middle-class values. Being such an extravagant and extrovertedcharacter, Wildes sexuality was not particularly covert and eventuallyprovided Victorian society with a case by which to lay down the law asto what was acceptable in terms of sexuality. As Ed Cohen suggests inhis essay, Writing Gone Wild: Homoerotic Desire in the Closet ofRepresentation, the court proceedings against Wilde provided aperfect opportunity to define publicly the authorized and legal limitswithin which a man could â€Å"naturally† enjoy the pleasures of his bodywith another man. Despite the fact that it was Wildes indiscrete homosexual behaviourand demeanour that led to his downfall, aspects of secrecy featureheavily in his literary works and certain narrative techniques aid tothe covert nature in which homoeroticism is often presented. To recap,by relating same-sex friendships to aestheticism and ideals of beauty,Wilde is able to divert attention from aspects of homosexuality thatwould be otherwise be interpreted as immoral by Victorian society.Also, Wilde omits any direct reference or description of same-sexphysical relations and hardly even alludes to such activities. Thecontent of the narration and emphasis on aestheticism means that ahomoerotic reading of Dorian Gray is not immediately obvious – at leastnot to a heterosexual readership. Therefore, homosexual love becomesthe love that cannot be spoken of and is fundamentally secretive. The secret language of homosexuality is particularly evident in TheImportance of Being Earnest, a play riddled with code words alluding tohomosexual behaviour. Karl Beckson argues that the title of the playis not only a pun on the name of Earnest, but is also a representationof same-sex love since the term Urning (a variant of the more commonlyused Uranian) referred to same-sex desire in fin-de-siecle London.Beckson also argues that Wildes use of the term bunburying as ameans for Algernon to escape responsibility also has Uranianimplications. With the action of bunburying being such a focal pointof The Importance of Being Earnest, this reading of the play suggest aserious preoccupation with the secret world of the homosexual. It isalso interesting to note that an unnamed critic in Time suggests thatâ€Å"Bunburying was shorthand for a visit to a fashionable London malewhorehouse† (2 February 1979, 73), an opinion reaffirmed by JoelFineman in 1980. Understandably, after the suc cess of play thephrase bunburying became a commonly used term as same-sex slang.John Franceschina notes other code words used in the play as musical,effeminate, and aunty, all of them Victorian expressions for same-sexactivity. Yet, again Wilde diverts attention from a moral reading bywriting in a style that is based on farce and euphemism, a style thatrejects an immediate analytical reading. In her essay Dialectics of Dandyism, Elisa Glick observes theissue of secrecy within both modern and Victorian society and suggeststhat modern gay identity is pervaded by the trope of the secret.She pays particular interest to the dichotomy of appearance and whatlies beneath, in her words the opposition between outward appearanceand inner essence. This split between appearance and essence of apersons character and desires is central to Wildes portrayal ofhomosexuality, as illustrated by the character of Dorian Gray. Dorianis a contradiction of appearance and essence, with the portrait beingan omnipresent reminder of this. And to return to The Importance ofBeing Earnest, the very act of bunburying on Algernon Moncrieffs partsuggests a web of deceit where appearances are never compatible withreality. One might think that such a heavy reliance on secrecy might lead tosome resentment by those forced to hide their sexuality from anintolerant society, but in the case of Wildes dandies, this does notseem to be the case. In fact, such characters appear to activelyembrace a world of secrecy. If we equate Dorians portrait withhomosexuality, then we can read his response to the secrecy that isforced upon him as something of a guilty pleasure pride ofindividualism that is half fascination of sin, and smiling with secretpleasure at the misshapen shadow that had to bear the burden thatshould have been his own. This seems to suggest that throughsecrecy, a homosexual man can avoid all the negative consequences thatwould be thrust upon him by an offended Victorian society. Glickobserves that it the portrait is not just related to the secret worldof Dorian, but that it also functions on a wider scale, Wilde makes itclear that the portrait does not exhibit a single secret; rather it isthe site f or a circulation of secrecy in which all these characters –Basil, Dorian, and Lord Henry – are implicated. The portraittherefore, becomes a symbol of the secrecy of the homosexual man, whichis simultaneously associated with issues of aestheticism. Glick goeson to suggest that Basil expresses the sense of homosexuality as bothknown and unknowable – the double bind of gay identity – when hedeclares, â€Å"I have come to love secrecy. It seems to be the one thingthat can make modern life mysterious or marvellous to us. Thecommonest thing is delightful if only one hides it. But just how realistically can homosexuality exist by these secretcodes of conduct? Just as Wilde suffers at the hands of an intolerantsociety, so does Dorian Gray struggle to live a life of doubleidentity. By the end of the novel it becomes clear that he issuspended between two worlds, with no lasting way of marrying the two.To return to the essay of Elisa Glick, Dorian must die when he stabsthe portrait because he can only exist in the relation between thepublic and the private, a relation that Wilde literalizes in theportrait and its subject. Right from the outset of The Picture ofDorian Gray we are presented with the concept of that part of anartists inspiration that remains secret and personal to them.Therefore, the portrait of Dorian Gray does not merely conceal thesecrets of Dorian, but also the secrets of the painter of the subject -the portrait is a â€Å"mysterious form† because its outward appearanceconceals its inner essence. – it reveals the essence of both painterand painted. The secret desire hidden within the painting is broughtto our attention by Henrys shallow comment that the painting looksnothing like Basil; the fact that his retort misses the point entirelymerely succeeds in enhancing our understanding that there is much moreof Basils desires and passion in the painting than is immediatelyobvious from its surface attributes. Interestingly, this revelationcontradicts the concept of appreciating art purely for its appearanceand with no relation to moral values. In many cases living by thesenses reveals much about the person, and experiences cannot be soeasily detached from emotion and personal feeling. For example, whenDorian falls in love with Sibyl Vane, Henry observes that out of itssecret hiding place had crept his Soul, and Desire had come to meet iton the way. Within the stereotypical lifestyles of the aesthetes,inner feeling will inevitably show its face and with it, bring at leasta fleeting ponder on moral values. Having analysed The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture ofDorian Gray with regard to elements of secrecy, both positive andnegative consequences of such an influence on homosexual lifestyle areapparent. But it is the story of The Happy Prince that puts Wildesfinal and definitive seal of opinion on the issue of secrecy. Once theswallow has sacrificed his life for the statue of the Prince, the twoTown Councillors far from understand the relationship between theswallow and prince, becoming preoccupied with the trivial matter of whoshould be the subject of the next statue. However, there is ultimatelya happy ending with the swallow and Prince receiving recognition andacceptance from God, for in my garden of Paradise this little birdshall sing for evermore, and in my city of gold the Happy Prince shallpraise me. The relationship between Prince and Swallow does havehomoerotic undertones, with the Swallow often read as the dandycharacter, in this case fascinated by the beauty of the statue. Thehomoerotic aspect of the tale culminates in a kiss between the two,but you must kiss me on the lips, for I love you. If we are toaccept a homoerotic reading of The Happy Prince then accordingly wecan read the ending as Wilde voicing his opinion of homosexuality asnatural and literally giving such a lifestyle the blessing of God. InThe Portrait of Dorian Gray, Wilde uses a similar technique whereby hepresents the character who can most easily be classified as homosexual,as the very character who is the most morally sensitive. However, a homoerotic reading of The Happy Prince, indeed of anyof Wildes literary works, relies on and is substantially influenced byour knowledge of Oscar Wildes personal life. This brings us to thefinal chapter of this dissertation, a chapter that will analyse therelationship between the writer and the narrator, and the effect ofthis relationship on aesthetic and homoerotic readings of Wildesfiction. Chapter 5 -Wilde the storyteller So far we have looked mainly at The Importance of Being Earnest andThe Picture of Dorian Gray and we have touched upon the fact that it isoften difficult to read such works without considering the personallife of Oscar Wilde. A Victorian audience would have held someknowledge of Wilde, considering that he was an extremely sociablecharacter with social critiques often published in Reviews of thetime. And of course, his two years imprisonment would have beenwidely publicised and consequently common knowledge. There is no doubtthat it was around this time that heterosexual readers would havestruggled to accept the links that Wilde makes between aestheticism andhomosexuality, fearing a similar fate merely for sharing thecharacteristics of aestheticism. Reading in the twenty-first centurywe now have the privilege of even further information on Wildesprivate life. The nineteenth century novel largely focused on the third person,omnipresent narrator, and in doing so inevitably drew attention to thepersona of the narrator and subsequently to the author himself. Wildeis no exception to this rule and it is difficult not to see his owncharacter or what we believe to be his own character shinethrough. As suggested in the previous chapter, it is not just thecondition of the artist to worship beauty, but also to allow his owncharacter and desires to become a part of his art. In the case of ThePortrait of Dorian Gray, our knowledge of Wilde as a dandy and aesthetecolours our interpretation of characters such as Lord Henry andDorian. Knowing what we do about Wildes extravagant social life andturbulent relationship with the press, lines such as You dont wantpeople to talk of you as something vile and degraded spoken to Dorianby Basil, begin to take on more significant meaning. With this quotein mind, it is possible to read between the lines and observ e a feelingin Wilde that he wishes somehow, outside of his literature not to belooked upon as vile and degraded. This desire for acceptance isoffset by the more typical tongue in cheek wit of Wilde, the use ofwhich diverts attention from serious emotions. This type of humour canbe seen in Dorians retort to Basil on hearing gossip, I love scandalsabout other people, but scandals about myself dont interest me. Theyhave not got the charm of novelty. It seems that Wilde isdeliberately poking fun at himself and joining in with the popularridicule that was present in Victorian society about the life of theaesthetic gentleman. Many cartoons and caricatures were in circulationat the time that sought to make fun of the extravagances of theaesthetic lifestyle. Numerous satirical works were also released,worth particular mention is Robert Hitchens Green Carnation, asatirical novel on decadence influenced by the authors beliefs inaestheticism as unconventional and exhibitionist. The Importance ofBeing Earnest also has a farcical tone throughout, which often servesto allow the reader to question Wildes authority, whilst also allyingthe comments of certain characters with Oscar himself. For example, aline of Gwendolen appears to point directly at Wildes personal life,And certainly once a man begins to neglect his domestic duties hebecomes painfully effeminate, does he not? And I dont like that. Itmakes men so very attractive. However, many critics would argue that the very definition of fictiondictates that the reader should accept that there need not necessarilybe a connection between narrator and author. In the same way that anactor does not need to have experienced a similar history and lifestyleto the character they play, so too should we allow the writer to assumedifferent characters. This very point crops up in the story of ThePortrait of Mr W.H whereby the narrator argues that To say that only awoman can portray the passions of a woman, and that therefore no boycan play Rosalind, is to rob the Queer Theory Reading of a Picture of Dorian Gray Queer Theory Reading of a Picture of Dorian Gray Aestheticism dictates that life should be lived by an ideal of beauty and a movement embodied by the phrase of art for arts sake. There is perhaps no greater advocate of such beliefs as Oscar Wilde, and the characteristics of aestheticism run through much of his work, both plays and stories, particularly in the character of the dandy. It would be difficult to analyse any of Wildes work without considering his own personal life and consequently, almost impossible to analyse his use of aesthetics without tackling the elements of homoeroticism. Living in a society largely intolerant to homosexuality, Wilde was obviously restricted to some extent with regard to what he could write about explicitly and as a result secrecy becomes an important influence over Wildes work. This makes for an extremely interesting relationship between aestheticism and homoeroticism, and it is this relationship that will form the main focus of this essay. What are the forms and techniques that Wilde uses to aestheticise homosexuality, and why? And how by doing this his literary works reveal aspects of his own life and sexuality, ultimately creating the figure of Wilde the aesthete, dandy, and campy witticist who has become a public icon forhomosexual men in Britain and America. It will focus primarily on The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Happy Prince and Other Stories. The Portrait of Mr. W.H portrays Shakespeare as being a slave to beauty – that is the condition of the artist! This concept of theartist as worshipper of beauty is a recurring characteristic of Wildes literature and will be dealt with later in this chapter. Firstly, itis necessary to look at the ideal of beauty that Wilde presents as worthy of worship. There is an overwhelming resemblance between Wildes portrayal ofbeauty and the concept of beauty in the Greek era. As Summers observesin his book Gay Fictions: Studies in a Male Homosexual Literary Tradition, both The Portrait of Dorian Gray and The Portrait of Mr.W.H focus heavily on portraits of androgynous young men bothstories allude to famous homosexual artists and lovers in history andthey both assume a significant connection between homosexual Eros andart. Same-sex desire is referenced heavily throughout Greek literature, for example, during the sixth century, the poet Sappho wrote numerous homoerotic verses concerning young women, with the term lesbian derived from the name of her island home of Lesbos. Platoalso referred to same-sex desires and relations, even forming his own theory on the pre-determined nature of different sexualities. In words taken from The Portrait of Mr. W.H, the ideal of beauty is a beauty that seemed to combine the charm of both sexes, and to have we dded, as the Sonnets tell us, the grace of Adonis and the loveliness ofHelen. Wilde uses this Greek ideal of beauty as a means of adding authority to his allusions to homoeroticism, to make the content of the two aforementioned works more acceptable to a Victorian audience. Itis important to note that there is a marked difference of public attitude towards homosexuality and homoeroticism between Greek and Victorian society. Donald Hall observes that during the Greek eraadult male sexuality, had much more to do with power status and social positioning than it did with any expression of identity-determining desire for the same or other sex. Wildes ideal of beauty also overlaps with the Greek concept of the muse. The Portrait of Dorian Gray presents us with Dorian, the muse topainter Basil Hallward, and The Portrait of Mr. W.H provides us withan insight into the life of one of the most famous muses of all, the young man who Shakespeare addressed many of his sonnets to Who was he whose physical beauty was such that it became the very corner-stone of Shakespeares art; the very source of Shakespeares inspiration; the very incarnation of Shakespeares dreams. The muse, defined as asource of inspiration especially for a creative artist succeeds in objectifying the subject, transforming a human presence into aesthetic fodder to fuel the creative mind, as well as something far superior tothe person beholding the muse. With regard to The Picture of Dorian Gray, Summers suggests that, the implied link between homosexual Erosand creativity is clear in Dorians effect on Basils art. Dorians beauty and the ideal that he represents ca use Basil to see the world afresh and inspire him to his greatest work as an artist. This is where the idea of worshipping beauty comes into play. TheHappy Prince, for example, is distinctly removed from everyday lifeand is admired from afar in a quite literal sense. However, Dorian isperhaps the best illustration of Wildes fascination with the worshipof beauty. The novel suggests that to other young men Dorian seemedto be of the company of those whom Dante describes as having sought toâ€Å"make themselves perfect by the worship of beauty.† Like Gautier, hewas one for whom the visible world existed. At the same time,Dorian is presented to us as the worshipped, with regard to hisrelationship with Basil Hallward. The experience of the muse in the manner of Basil and Shakespeare (asportrayed by Wilde) seems to present something of a double-edged sword,producing feelings of such passion that joy and despair becomeintertwined. The narrator of The Portrait of Mr. W.H suggests thatShakespeares muse was a particular young man whose personality forsome reason seems to have filled the soul of Shakespeare with terriblejoy and no less terrible despair. In a similar vein, Basil hasominous feelings on meeting Dorian for the first time, I knew that Ihad come face to face with someone whose mere personality was sofascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my wholenature, my whole soul, my very art itself. The effect of beauty canbe seen as both gift and curse – in the same way that Wilde perhapsregarded homosexuality in Victorian society. The importance that Wilde places on the worship of beauty is closelyrelated to his strong beliefs in aestheticism. The distance that Wildeseeks to construct between the observer and the object of beauty can beread as a mechanism of aestheticism whereby he aims to eliminate anyattachment to moral and wider societal concerns. The following chapterwill analyse the relation of aesthetics to Wildes literary works, andhow far he is able to separate the appreciation of art from moralvalues. Mary Blanchard, in Oscar Wildes America suggests that the personaof the invert or male homosexual was an emerging concept during the1880s, and the connections between aesthetic style and a homosexualsubculture cannot be overlooked. And with other critics referring toWilde as the high priest of aestheticism, its clear that Oscar is noexception to this rule. He lived a hedonistic lifestyle, flitting as asocial butterfly from one experience of art and beauty to the next. InVictorian times the male dandy soon became a symbol of this aestheticage, with no finer literary examples than Dorian and Lord Henry of ThePortrait of Dorian Gray, and Algernon and Jack of The Importance ofBeing Earnest. Lord Henry declares that pleasure is the only thingworth having a theory about and it is this preoccupation withmaterial things and surface-level emotions that characterises thedandy, a choice of style over substance. As a result Dorian becomesfascinated with acquiring commodities such as perfumes, je wels andmusic. Wilde dedicates pages of description to this search forsensations that would be at once new and possess that element ofstrangeness that is so essential to romance. The concept of dandyism is closely linked to that of Victoriandecadence. Goldfarb, in his essay on Late Victorian Decadenceprovides us with a useful definition of decadence, highlighting itsresemblance to aestheticism – the value to be gained from experienceof all sorts and from indulgence in a life of sensation. Because ofthis emphasis, decadent literature is animated by the exploration ofimmoral and evil experiences; never does it preach morality, nor doesit strongly insist upon ethical responsibilities. This separationbetween decadence and morality is also a characteristic common toaestheticism. Glick studies the concepts of dandyism at length in her essay onThe Dialectics of Dandyism, identifying an opposition betweencritical thought on dandyism and arguing that two different modelslocate dandyism at the opposite poles of modernity, simultaneouslypositioning the queer subject as a privileged emblem of the modern andas a dissident in revolt against society. Therefore, on the one handthe reader can accept the dandy as person who embraces the aestheticsof culture and celebrates beauty – as a preoccupation with surfacetrends to conceive of gay identity solely or primarily in terms ofartifice, aesthetics, commodity fetishism and style. Or, beneath thesurface, we can read a protest against the commodification of modernlife and a rejection of common values and aspirations. Goldfarb note asimilar contempt for modern society in the movement of decadence, aself-conscious contempt for social conventions such as truth andmarriage, by an acceptance of Beauty as a basis for life. Bothaestheticism and decadence seek to remove beauty from the confines ofmodern society and use it to their own ends in a self-created sensualand fantastical lifestyle. Wildes use of aestheticism can be read as an attempt to showhomosexuality as a sign of refined culture, as a means to his desiredend where such a topic becomes more acceptable. In the same way thatWilde alludes to the Greek ideal of beauty to disguise what couldotherwise be seen as a direct and possibly offensive portrayal ofhomosexual desire, by adhering to the rules of aestheticism Wilde isable to divert attention from any moral attack on his writing. Themovement of aestheticism shuns any notion that art can be connectedwith morality and passionately encourages individual freedom and socialtheatricality. Ironically, whilst it can largely be seen as arebellion against Victorian sensibilities, it is simultaneously amethod of retaining a covert nature to the expression of homoeroticdesire. In the case of Basil Hallward, he finds art an outlet for suchdesires, there is nothing that Art cannot express. Through Dorian,Basil is able to discover a new manner in art, an entirely new mode of style not just when he is painting Dorian, but when he is merelypresent. It allows him a new way of looking at life, having realisedthe power of homoeroticism In presenting homosexuality through the lens of aestheticism andconsequently presenting it as a refined culture with close links to theidealised and romantic image of the Greek age, Wilde also separates thelifestyle of the homosexual man from the classes of heterosexualsociety. As Elisa Glick suggests in her essay on the dialectics ofdandyism, Wilde depicts Dorians seemingly endless appetite forexotic, luxury objects as the exterior manifestation of his innerintellectual and artistic superiority. This presents Doriansdesires and those of other aetheticism advocates as elitist andultimately superior to other classes. Through the use of aestheticism,it can be argued that Wilde attempts to give homoeroticism the power totranscend class. By describing such episodes in this romantic andfantastical manner, he places homosexuality in a highly refined classof its own, in a position out of reach from the realities of theworking class and bourgeoisie. To take this concept one step further, Wilde can also be seen toreject the realities of common society entirely, as an aesthetepreferring to lose himself in sensual experiences and ultimatelydreaming of an escape from reality to a place where such experience canbe fully realised. Glick goes on to note that Dorians acquisition ofluxuries and curios not only seems to affirm his â€Å"aristocratic†distinction, but also aims to build a self-created world byaestheticizing experience itself. Gray yearns not so much for theenjoyment provided by an individual object, but for the aestheticpleasure provided by its reincarnation of part of his collection.Indeed, Dorian does become obsessed with creating his own desiredversion of reality, in which worshipping beauty and living by thesenses is the priority. Having embarked on this aesthetic journey-largely instigated by Lord Henry –Dorians passion to adhere to theseideals becomes clear, It was the creation of such worlds as these th atseemed to Dorian Gray to be the true object, or amongst the trueobjects of life. Early in the novel Wilde even goes so far as toassociate reality directly with the lower classes and as therefore,something ranked below the aspirations and lifestyle of those likeDorian; in this extract no sooner is Dorian overcome by fascinationwith Lord Henry than he is brought down to earth by the entrance of aservant: Dorian Gray never took his gaze off him, but sat like one under aspell, smiles chasing each other over his lips, and wonder growinggrave in his darkening eyes. At last, liveried in the costume of the age, Reality entered the roomin the shape of a servant to tell the Duchess that her carriage waswaiting. By personifying Reality Wilde presents it as something that can bedefeated, beaten by those who have enough desire and strength of mindto do so. In the same way Wilde often capitalises and personifiesArt to add character to the subject and emphasise his position onthat subject. Although in one respect this separation of the dandy or aesthetefrom reality may seem to alienate him from others in society, thecontent of Wildes narration does not necessarily isolate him from amoral standpoint. It is interesting to note that we are given verylittle information on the uglier types of experience that Dorianseeks. As readers, we understand the influences and transition thatthe protagonist is going through as his soul darkens, but we are noteducated in the exact nature of the experiences. This allows lessopportunity for concentrating on the moral aspects of his lifestylechoices, and more opportunity for pondering on the nature ofaestheticism; we focus more on the influences on Dorian and theconsequences, rather than on judging his actions and decisions. Whenone delves deeper to find a moral standpoint on Wildes part, it isdifficult to do so, and consequently, easier to assume that the absenceof analysis in this area suggests ambiguity on his part. Summer seeks to find an answer to this moral ambiguity in the worldof Oscar Wilde himself, and in relation to The Portrait of Dorian Grayfound that Wilde summarised the moral as â€Å"all excess, as well as allrenunciation, brings its own punishment. The painter, Basil Hallward,worshipping physical beauty far too much, as most painters do, dies bythe hand of one in whose soul he has created a monstrous and absurdvanity. Dorian Gray, having led a life of mere sensation and pleasure,tries to kill conscience, and at that moment kills himself. Thiscomment of Wildes confirms the notion that becoming a slave to beautyis a condition of art, illustrated by the tone of the inevitable thataccompanies the phrase as most painters do, an observation that wecan easily transfer to the experience of other artists as well. Wildegoes on to explain that Lord Henry Wotton seeks to be merely thespectator of life. He finds that those who reject the battle are moredeeply wounded than those who take part i n it. In this respect bothBasil and Henry are ultimately doomed, thus suggesting no clear moralpath that the reader need follow for salvation. Moral ambivalenceoccurs frequently as a result of the narrators attitude; the narratoris sympathetic towards whichever character he is describing, and inparticular, often seems just as seduced by the strong and influentialcharacter of Lord Henry as Dorian is. With this in mind, Summersconcludes that notwithstanding the retributive ending of the book, theFaustian dream of an escape from human limitation and moral stricturesultimately triumphs over the condemnation of excess and therebysubverts the apparent moralism. To summarise, he argues that theFaustian dream is rendered more appealingly than the superimposedlesson of dangers of narcissism. However, if we accept Summersreading, it still remains impossible to read the novel withoutquestioning the relationship between aestheticism and morality.Whether we believe Wilde to subvert or strengthen common moral values,their presence within the narration is undeniable and invites furtherthought from the reader. To conclude this chapter on aestheticism, we can see that Wildesliterature aestheticism and homosexuality exist co dependently. Thisobviously has an effect on the publics reading of his works, and howreadily and comfortably they associate these two aspects. As Summerssuggests it is interesting to note that The Picture of Dorian Gray wasamong the first novels in the language to feature (though blurred andinexactly) a homosexual subculture Summers wrote that homosexualreaders would certainly have responded to the books undercurrent ofgay feeling, and may have found the very name â€Å"Dorian† suggestive ofGreek homosexuality, since it was Dorian tribesmen who allegedlyintroduced homosexuality into Greece as part of their militaryregimen. In contrast, Mary Blanchard notes a negative consequenceconcerning heterosexual readers during the Victorian era – Allyingaesthetic style with the masculine self provoked attacks from someVictorian men unsure of their own gender orientati on. This raisesthe issue of how a heterosexual readership can be seen to react to theundertone of homosexuality, and how a readers interpretation canchange when fuelled by more knowledge of Oscar Wildes personal life.Before looking at the effect of the writer on what is ultimately afictional narrator, this essay will look at the importance of secrecyin the life of the homosexual man. Todays society is obviously more accepting of Wildes sexuality andits effect on his art, Summers illustrates this point by suggestingthat Wildes demise meant that he ultimately functioned as Saint Oscar,the homosexual martyr. But of course it was not until some timeafter the late nineteenth century that Wilde was fully appreciated by awider audience. Miller and Adams in Sexualities in Victorian Britainobserve that the Victorians were notorious as the great enemies ofsexuality: indeed in Freuds representative account, sexualitysometimes seems to be whatever it was that the middle-class Victorianmind attempted to hide, evade, repress, deny. In this respect thehomosexual man had a double secrecy to adhere to – that of sexuality,as well as homosexuality. In Victorian society there was very much aclear-cut idea of what was natural and unnatural, of what was normaland abnormal. Consequently, Wilde set himself up as a figure to beattacked by the press as unnatural and abnormal the V ictorian presspublicized in wildly inflammatory ways Wildes eccentric dress,effeminate, and haughty demeanour, all held up as important signifiersof his unnatural sexuality and the threat he posed to â€Å"normal,†middle-class values. Being such an extravagant and extrovertedcharacter, Wildes sexuality was not particularly covert and eventuallyprovided Victorian society with a case by which to lay down the law asto what was acceptable in terms of sexuality. As Ed Cohen suggests inhis essay, Writing Gone Wild: Homoerotic Desire in the Closet ofRepresentation, the court proceedings against Wilde provided aperfect opportunity to define publicly the authorized and legal limitswithin which a man could â€Å"naturally† enjoy the pleasures of his bodywith another man. Despite the fact that it was Wildes indiscrete homosexual behaviourand demeanour that led to his downfall, aspects of secrecy featureheavily in his literary works and certain narrative techniques aid tothe covert nature in which homoeroticism is often presented. To recap,by relating same-sex friendships to aestheticism and ideals of beauty,Wilde is able to divert attention from aspects of homosexuality thatwould be otherwise be interpreted as immoral by Victorian society.Also, Wilde omits any direct reference or description of same-sexphysical relations and hardly even alludes to such activities. Thecontent of the narration and emphasis on aestheticism means that ahomoerotic reading of Dorian Gray is not immediately obvious – at leastnot to a heterosexual readership. Therefore, homosexual love becomesthe love that cannot be spoken of and is fundamentally secretive. The secret language of homosexuality is particularly evident in TheImportance of Being Earnest, a play riddled with code words alluding tohomosexual behaviour. Karl Beckson argues that the title of the playis not only a pun on the name of Earnest, but is also a representationof same-sex love since the term Urning (a variant of the more commonlyused Uranian) referred to same-sex desire in fin-de-siecle London.Beckson also argues that Wildes use of the term bunburying as ameans for Algernon to escape responsibility also has Uranianimplications. With the action of bunburying being such a focal pointof The Importance of Being Earnest, this reading of the play suggest aserious preoccupation with the secret world of the homosexual. It isalso interesting to note that an unnamed critic in Time suggests thatâ€Å"Bunburying was shorthand for a visit to a fashionable London malewhorehouse† (2 February 1979, 73), an opinion reaffirmed by JoelFineman in 1980. Understandably, after the suc cess of play thephrase bunburying became a commonly used term as same-sex slang.John Franceschina notes other code words used in the play as musical,effeminate, and aunty, all of them Victorian expressions for same-sexactivity. Yet, again Wilde diverts attention from a moral reading bywriting in a style that is based on farce and euphemism, a style thatrejects an immediate analytical reading. In her essay Dialectics of Dandyism, Elisa Glick observes theissue of secrecy within both modern and Victorian society and suggeststhat modern gay identity is pervaded by the trope of the secret.She pays particular interest to the dichotomy of appearance and whatlies beneath, in her words the opposition between outward appearanceand inner essence. This split between appearance and essence of apersons character and desires is central to Wildes portrayal ofhomosexuality, as illustrated by the character of Dorian Gray. Dorianis a contradiction of appearance and essence, with the portrait beingan omnipresent reminder of this. And to return to The Importance ofBeing Earnest, the very act of bunburying on Algernon Moncrieffs partsuggests a web of deceit where appearances are never compatible withreality. One might think that such a heavy reliance on secrecy might lead tosome resentment by those forced to hide their sexuality from anintolerant society, but in the case of Wildes dandies, this does notseem to be the case. In fact, such characters appear to activelyembrace a world of secrecy. If we equate Dorians portrait withhomosexuality, then we can read his response to the secrecy that isforced upon him as something of a guilty pleasure pride ofindividualism that is half fascination of sin, and smiling with secretpleasure at the misshapen shadow that had to bear the burden thatshould have been his own. This seems to suggest that throughsecrecy, a homosexual man can avoid all the negative consequences thatwould be thrust upon him by an offended Victorian society. Glickobserves that it the portrait is not just related to the secret worldof Dorian, but that it also functions on a wider scale, Wilde makes itclear that the portrait does not exhibit a single secret; rather it isthe site f or a circulation of secrecy in which all these characters –Basil, Dorian, and Lord Henry – are implicated. The portraittherefore, becomes a symbol of the secrecy of the homosexual man, whichis simultaneously associated with issues of aestheticism. Glick goeson to suggest that Basil expresses the sense of homosexuality as bothknown and unknowable – the double bind of gay identity – when hedeclares, â€Å"I have come to love secrecy. It seems to be the one thingthat can make modern life mysterious or marvellous to us. Thecommonest thing is delightful if only one hides it. But just how realistically can homosexuality exist by these secretcodes of conduct? Just as Wilde suffers at the hands of an intolerantsociety, so does Dorian Gray struggle to live a life of doubleidentity. By the end of the novel it becomes clear that he issuspended between two worlds, with no lasting way of marrying the two.To return to the essay of Elisa Glick, Dorian must die when he stabsthe portrait because he can only exist in the relation between thepublic and the private, a relation that Wilde literalizes in theportrait and its subject. Right from the outset of The Picture ofDorian Gray we are presented with the concept of that part of anartists inspiration that remains secret and personal to them.Therefore, the portrait of Dorian Gray does not merely conceal thesecrets of Dorian, but also the secrets of the painter of the subject -the portrait is a â€Å"mysterious form† because its outward appearanceconceals its inner essence. – it reveals the essence of both painterand painted. The secret desire hidden within the painting is broughtto our attention by Henrys shallow comment that the painting looksnothing like Basil; the fact that his retort misses the point entirelymerely succeeds in enhancing our understanding that there is much moreof Basils desires and passion in the painting than is immediatelyobvious from its surface attributes. Interestingly, this revelationcontradicts the concept of appreciating art purely for its appearanceand with no relation to moral values. In many cases living by thesenses reveals much about the person, and experiences cannot be soeasily detached from emotion and personal feeling. For example, whenDorian falls in love with Sibyl Vane, Henry observes that out of itssecret hiding place had crept his Soul, and Desire had come to meet iton the way. Within the stereotypical lifestyles of the aesthetes,inner feeling will inevitably show its face and with it, bring at leasta fleeting ponder on moral values. Having analysed The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture ofDorian Gray with regard to elements of secrecy, both positive andnegative consequences of such an influence on homosexual lifestyle areapparent. But it is the story of The Happy Prince that puts Wildesfinal and definitive seal of opinion on the issue of secrecy. Once theswallow has sacrificed his life for the statue of the Prince, the twoTown Councillors far from understand the relationship between theswallow and prince, becoming preoccupied with the trivial matter of whoshould be the subject of the next statue. However, there is ultimatelya happy ending with the swallow and Prince receiving recognition andacceptance from God, for in my garden of Paradise this little birdshall sing for evermore, and in my city of gold the Happy Prince shallpraise me. The relationship between Prince and Swallow does havehomoerotic undertones, with the Swallow often read as the dandycharacter, in this case fascinated by the beauty of the statue. Thehomoerotic aspect of the tale culminates in a kiss between the two,but you must kiss me on the lips, for I love you. If we are toaccept a homoerotic reading of The Happy Prince then accordingly wecan read the ending as Wilde voicing his opinion of homosexuality asnatural and literally giving such a lifestyle the blessing of God. InThe Portrait of Dorian Gray, Wilde uses a similar technique whereby hepresents the character who can most easily be classified as homosexual,as the very character who is the most morally sensitive. However, a homoerotic reading of The Happy Prince, indeed of anyof Wildes literary works, relies on and is substantially influenced byour knowledge of Oscar Wildes personal life. This brings us to thefinal chapter of this dissertation, a chapter that will analyse therelationship between the writer and the narrator, and the effect ofthis relationship on aesthetic and homoerotic readings of Wildesfiction. Chapter 5 -Wilde the storyteller So far we have looked mainly at The Importance of Being Earnest andThe Picture of Dorian Gray and we have touched upon the fact that it isoften difficult to read such works without considering the personallife of Oscar Wilde. A Victorian audience would have held someknowledge of Wilde, considering that he was an extremely sociablecharacter with social critiques often published in Reviews of thetime. And of course, his two years imprisonment would have beenwidely publicised and consequently common knowledge. There is no doubtthat it was around this time that heterosexual readers would havestruggled to accept the links that Wilde makes between aestheticism andhomosexuality, fearing a similar fate merely for sharing thecharacteristics of aestheticism. Reading in the twenty-first centurywe now have the privilege of even further information on Wildesprivate life. The nineteenth century novel largely focused on the third person,omnipresent narrator, and in doing so inevitably drew attention to thepersona of the narrator and subsequently to the author himself. Wildeis no exception to this rule and it is difficult not to see his owncharacter or what we believe to be his own character shinethrough. As suggested in the previous chapter, it is not just thecondition of the artist to worship beauty, but also to allow his owncharacter and desires to become a part of his art. In the case of ThePortrait of Dorian Gray, our knowledge of Wilde as a dandy and aesthetecolours our interpretation of characters such as Lord Henry andDorian. Knowing what we do about Wildes extravagant social life andturbulent relationship with the press, lines such as You dont wantpeople to talk of you as something vile and degraded spoken to Dorianby Basil, begin to take on more significant meaning. With this quotein mind, it is possible to read between the lines and observ e a feelingin Wilde that he wishes somehow, outside of his literature not to belooked upon as vile and degraded. This desire for acceptance isoffset by the more typical tongue in cheek wit of Wilde, the use ofwhich diverts attention from serious emotions. This type of humour canbe seen in Dorians retort to Basil on hearing gossip, I love scandalsabout other people, but scandals about myself dont interest me. Theyhave not got the charm of novelty. It seems that Wilde isdeliberately poking fun at himself and joining in with the popularridicule that was present in Victorian society about the life of theaesthetic gentleman. Many cartoons and caricatures were in circulationat the time that sought to make fun of the extravagances of theaesthetic lifestyle. Numerous satirical works were also released,worth particular mention is Robert Hitchens Green Carnation, asatirical novel on decadence influenced by the authors beliefs inaestheticism as unconventional and exhibitionist. The Importance ofBeing Earnest also has a farcical tone throughout, which often servesto allow the reader to question Wildes authority, whilst also allyingthe comments of certain characters with Oscar himself. For example, aline of Gwendolen appears to point directly at Wildes personal life,And certainly once a man begins to neglect his domestic duties hebecomes painfully effeminate, does he not? And I dont like that. Itmakes men so very attractive. However, many critics would argue that the very definition of fictiondictates that the reader should accept that there need not necessarilybe a connection between narrator and author. In the same way that anactor does not need to have experienced a similar history and lifestyleto the character they play, so too should we allow the writer to assumedifferent characters. This very point crops up in the story of ThePortrait of Mr W.H whereby the narrator argues that To say that only awoman can portray the passions of a woman, and that therefore no boycan play Rosalind, is to rob the

The Study of Literature Essay -- English Literature Essays

The Study of Literature I finally understand the study of literature. As an English major, a reader/ writer/ poet who has spent a great deal of time reading the works of others and writing about them, I am reminded of something I have heard my father, a teacher, say repeatedly about the modern American attitude toward education. "Nobody learns just to learn," he observes sadly, pointing out the way in which students often view particularly higher education as some kind of training ground for a career. I know exactly what he means. Every time someone asks me what I plan to do with a degree in English, I am reminded of the inquisitive student who interrupts a classroom lecture to ask in earnest "Is this going to be on the test?" or the equally deplorable "Do we have to know this?" The clear message in these questions is that nobody wants to waste their precious time learning something that won't immediately benefit them in some way. The majority of students insist on expediency and efficiency in educatio n. Our goal oriented society has resulted in a student that retains necessary information in short term memory long enough to regurgitate onto an exam, pass the course, grab a degree, get a job, make money, prosper. Next. Occasionally, however, there comes the English major the enigmatic, bookworm type, who puzzles his classmates by carrying fiction while they tote science, mathematics, and Business. They examine this strange creature, fascinated by one who displays such a blatant disregard for wealth and success. They poke this animal, wondering why he would live this way, and what possible good can come from poetry. And once in a while, the prodding and gawking gets to him. The English major is forced to ... ...ve to know this?† my answer is a resounding â€Å"yes.† â€Å"Will this be on the test?† Daily. The test is daring to live in a world where sometimes it seems that all is lost. Love, friendship, sadness, grief, even contentment are better understood in the context of a heartfelt poem or story. Thoreau's Walden romanticized my isolation; however, it may have been Updike's Rabbit or Edith Wharton's sad portrayal of cold in Ethan Frome that brought me to that state. Poetry and literature are so passionate as to inspire the reader in spite of himself. I can no more control the effects they may have on me, than I can the way in which I react. They are practical guidelines, manuals of living. They can hurt or heal, create or destroy. When one has a better understanding, though, the experience is wonderfully enlightening. And I need to know. I use them everyday.

Iago, Master of Cruelty in Shakespeares Othello :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Iago, Master of Cruelty in Othello Iago stands supreme among Shakespeare's evil characters because of his intense and subtle cruelty, perfectly combined with his exceptional powers of will and intellect. As a result of this, his motivations are unclear; however the innocent, loyal, and honest character Iago portrays to the others, does not reflect his true character. He is the ultimate puppet master. Every action is preplanned and manipulated for his audience to perceive him as this trustworthy decent man. Iago possesses such intelligence and acting ability that he forces others to act on and believe what he tells them. The other characters see him as what he wants them to see, and not for what he really is. The three main emotional weapons Iago uses to destroy everyone are reputation, desire and jealousy. A good reputation is the most important virtue to the characters of this play. Their good name is what keeps them in high standing in society. What family one comes from and how one uses that status permeates every facet of life. Iago uses this as a weakness. He does everything in his power to destroy the reputation of others by creating illusions and lies and sharing them with those whom would listen. Iago was so trusted by all, that people would continuously look to him for advise and he would use these opportunities to manipulate their opinions and thoughts towards others. The importance of reputation and its usefulness is shown when Iago says, "Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, is the immediate jewel of their souls."(Othello. Act III. iii. 182-183.) One way Iago uses others importance of reputation to destroy them is in the case of Cassio. Early on in the story, Othello, who is a Moorish general in the Venetian army has an opening for a second in command. Although Iago wants this position desperately, Cassio is chosen. When the opportunity arises for Iago to avenge this, he does. Iago convinces Cassio , known as a responsible, loyal and trustworthy man to abandon his night watch and go out drinking. He eventually gets into a fight with another lieutenant and is discovered by Othello. When asked to explain the situation, Iago lies and tells Othello that Cassio behaves like this all of the time. Using jealousy as a weapon is what prompts Iago to plot the ultimate downfall of the characters in Othello and especially Othello himself.

Banking System and Management Project Proposal

THE UNIVERSITY OF LAHORE CS 2135- OBJECT ORIENTED PROGRAMMING | Semester Project Proposal| | | Course InstructorAbid Bashirabid. [email  protected] uol. edu. pk| Guidelines for Project Proposal 1. Title Page: | Day| | Month| | Year| DATE| | | –| | | –| | | | | PROJECT TITLE:| | STUDENT INFORMATIONWrite down the detail of all group members in BLOCK LETTERS ONLY. | GROUP LEADER: | Sr No. | Student ID| Name| Program| Email id (Optional):| 1. | | | | | 2. | | | | | 3. | | | | | 4. | | | | | Course Instructor’s Remarks:| | Course Instructor’s Signature:| | Date:| | 2. Project Summary (should not be more than half a page):The goal of this section is to present the reasons for doing this project as well as stating all of the project's objectives. In this section in particular it is very important to write concisely and clearly.. Before you begin writing you should be able to answer the following questions: * Why are you doing this project? * What will you be do ing? * How will you be doing it? * Who will be doing it (Describes the roles of individual group members in the project? * How long will it take? 3. Project Objectives: State the major goals to be acquired at the end of the project.Moreover, this section should further highlight the final outcomes achieved at successful development of the project. The overall objective should be as follows: The explanation would include a discussion of not only what you intend to do, but also a justification of what you will not do (in other words, what your audience might assume that you will do). You might consider having a paragraph for each objective. 4. Project Methodology: This sections details the plan for how the project objectives will be achieved. It usually starts with a description of the overall approach.Then it provides details on methodology, the target audience, and how major problems will be managed. 4. 1 The Project Approach Summary: Write a few short paragraphs or bullet points on your overall approach to the project. Include how the project team will be organized, what development and collaboration languages will be used, and how the plan will be updated along the way. 4. 3. Work Breakdown: Make a list of tasks and major functionalities that will be performed for this project, make sure the list is detailed enough to cover the major features to be involved within the project.Therefore, make a comprehensive list of detailed functionalities that would be performed in the relevant project. In technical terms, you are also required to include the names of possible classes to be involved within the project. The following sample table can be used to identify the major sections/features that would be performed in the project: Section No. | Section Name:| Section Description (includes major functions to be performed):| Deployment Status | Remarks| | | | | | * Keep the Deployment Status ; Remarks column empty.IMPORTANT NOTE: You would be finally evaluated against th e mentioned and approved sections along with the relevant functions associated with each section. Therefore, try to be precise and realistic in highlighting the relevant functionalities of the related project. 5. Responsibilities of Team members: In a paragraph for each person, establish the team responsibilities for the project. Highlight any specific sections or tasks related with the project that would be performed by each group member.

Future Direction in Organization Development Essay

The field of OD is evolving, but so too is the context within which OD is applied. As summarized in figure 25-2. Several interrelated trends are affecting the context within which OD will be applied in the near future. They concern various aspects of the economy, the workforce, technology, and organizations. In some cases, the trends will directly affert OD practice. Technology trends, such as Internet portals, voice over the internet, and wireless network, will no doubt influence how OD practitioners communicate with organization members, facilitate teams, and manage change. Other trends, such as the increasing concentration of wealth, represent important contextual forces that will indirectly affect OD through their interactions with other trends. The Economy Researchers and futurist have described a variety of economic scenarios, and there is subtantial agreement that the world’s economy is in the midst of a transition from the industrial age that characterized much of the twentieth century. Although these scenarios ditier in their particulars, they all fit under the rubric of globalization, and many of the same trends are identified as drivers, including technology, workforce, and organization, which will be discussed separately. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the and of apartheid, the breakup of the former Soviet Union, the creation of the European Union, terrorist attacks in many different countries, and the emergence of the chinese and indian economies are key events in the transition to a global economy. Organizations from arround the world are increasingly able to shift their manufacturing from high-to low- labor- cost countries. Execute international mergers and acquisitions, and build worldwide services businesses. The emergence of global economy is well under way, but the promise and rationalization of that process is far from complete. The initial steps toward globalization have fueled real price decrease in many consumers products, provided employment for people in less-developed nations, and driven revenue growth in a variety of industries. However , the transition to a global economy is for the most part un managed, and there is increasing concern over its social and ecological consequences. This raises trouble-some questions about three key issues: cultural diversity, income distribution, and ecological sustainability. First, transitioning to a global economy is a complex and daunting process that involves organizations, technology, people, and governments. Yhe role and function of national governments and the importance of cultural diversity in the process is not well understood. There are few generally accepted guidelines. On the one hand, some economists argue that globalization is good for countries and cultures. The cite numerous example of how music, art, political thought, technology, and other artifacts of culture have crossed boundaries and enriched people’s experiences. Other argue that governments must face the difficult choice of preserving or sacrificing their culture. Seconds, globalization of the economy is closely related to an increasing concentration of wealth in relatively few individuals, corporations, and nations. Third, there are increasingly clear warnings that the ecosystem can no longer be treated as a factor of production, and that success cannot be defined as the accumulations of wealth and material goods at the expense of the environment. The conclusions from the intergovernmental panel on climate change suggest that industrialization is not a controversial but a probable cause of global warming. Seceral traditional organizations are reserving long held opinions about their contribution to environmental decay by setting agressive goals to reduce greenhouse gases. The Workforce The workforce is becoming more diverse, educated, and contingent. Chapter 18 documented the diversity trend and suggested that organizations, whatever they operate primarily in their home country or abroad, will need to develop policies and operating styles that embrace the changing cultural, ethnic, gender, and age diversity of the workforce. Technology By almost any measure, information technology is a significant and increasingly common fact of life. An estimated 150. 9 million worldwide internet users in 1998 grew to 605. 6 million in 2002. In 2007, according to an internet world stats estimate, more than 1,24 billion people were on the internet, and of those, 37% were in asia. The internet is the backbone of a global economy, and although the technology sector of suffered financial setbacks, few people doubt its future importance. At the core of information technology is E-commerce, an economy that knows no boundaries. E-commerce involves using automated teller machines, buying games, on your cell phone, buying ang selling products and services over the internet, and selling advertising space. This range of activities makes estimating the size of the E-commerce market difficult. Two type of E-commerce seem particularly relevant to OD’s future: business-to-consumer and business-to-business. Business to consumer market garners much attention and awareness because it is how the public participates in E-commerce. This attention and awareness because it is how the public participates in E-commerce. This market, which includes E-tailers such us Amazon. com, eBay. com. in these businesses, OD must help to create and implement novel business models. The organizational issues in the business to business market are even more complex. A good example of the implications and potential of this market is the global automobile industry’s creation of an online store. In addition to providing the infrastructure for E-commerce, technology is also changing and enabling a variety of organizational processes. New technologies, such as SAP or PeopleSoft, drive changes in how information and work information and work processes are coordinated and managed: they also require modification in the way productivity is measured.

Crime and Rival Gang Member Essay

The Outsiders tells a story about two kids named Johnny and Ponyboy who are in a gang called the Greasers. They live in a wrong doing world of gangs and fights. After Johnny protects Ponyboy by killing a rival gang member named Bob, the two boys run away. A young criminal named Dally helps them escape. After an incident with a burning church Johnny dies and Dally dies soon after because of the sorrow Johnny’s death caused him. In the novel The Outsiders, S. E Hinton demonstrates that violence can lead to nothing more than emotional hardships, crime, and death. The smallest act of crime can often lead to inner adversity. For instance, Johnny’s parents would beat him and left him feeling safer in a gang or in a parking lot. Due to the parents hurting Johnny he was forced to live a life in a gang, a life of crime, and violence. Johnny felt as if no cared and that even if he lived in a gang his parents wouldn’t do anything. Another example is when Darry hits Ponyboy for being late home and Ponyboy runs away. Darry â€Å"wheeled around and slapped (Ponyboy) so hard that it knocked (him) against the door,† that causes emotional tension that gets in the way of family. A small act of violence makes Ponyboy dash away from their home and create division between the two brothers. The final example is when Johnny dies and Ponyboy gets traumatized. The death of Johnny made Ponyboy so confused that he altered and denied reality. Ponyboy was significant on Ponyboy he wasn’t in the right mind for a while. Crime is frequently the result of an act of violence. The felony of Bob trying to kill Pony boy left Johnny having to kill him. ‘They put you in the electric chair for killing people,’ and it is only because violence was committed. The crime of Bob trying to kill Ponyboy resulted in his death. The gangs fought and did many illegal things that made them always on the look out for cops. Just because people may not like each other doesn’t mean crime need s to be committed. Most of the time crime is involved people get hurt. Lastly Dally robbed a grocery store and the cops ended up firing their weapons at him. When a misdeed happens it is either caused by violence or started with violence whether it’s the police or a gang. The felony Dally committed soon after cost him his life. One of the most cruel and harsh effects of felony is the consequence of death. One example is that Johnny gets beaten up by Socs and the next time they try and harm him he kills Bob. The fear that the Socs would hurt him resorted to Johnny killing Bob. A kid with a pocketknife who is scared to get hurt can lead to a devastation effect. Secondly is when Johnny dies in the fire. The murder of Bob made Johnny run away and directed him into feeling like he had to risk his life to save the kids in the church. Because Johnny was guilty with murder it sadly lead to his death. In the end of it all he died because of his act of violence to Bob. Lastly the message repeats itself when Dally dies out of sorrow of Johnny’s death. The death of one made Dally kill himself by pulling a gun on the cops. Johnny’s death was the cause and end of Dally’s. Violence is an action that can only end in pain and misery. Violence in today’s society would lead to the collapse of a civilized world. As the world advances with protection and security, less hostility will be shown and the world will become a better place for future generations. With all the progress in technology we shall never expel violence itself. Although violence won’t be destroyed, it is up to us to suppress or reduce death and acts of violence. The world needs to try and stop the terrible action from ever happening again.