16th August
One's true identity is inherently evil, is a dominant theme in Roald Dahl’s short story ‘Lamb to The Slaughter. Mary Maloney spends her day waiting for her husband’s return by preparing the house ‘perfectly’. However when he returns from work, he tells her he is leaving her, even though she is pregnant. She goes down to the cellar, picks up the leg of lamb, that would be prepared for dinner, but instead she goes to Patrick and hits him, causing him to die. The way that she hit him shocks the reader and Mary Maloney herself, portraying her as the inhumane housewife instead of the perfect and loving housewife at the beginning of the short story.
An unemployed, single mother (Shaquan Duley) suffocated her two children whom were only ages 1, and 2. She suffocated them and placed them in backseat of a car, before submerging her car in a river. The woman said ‘that she was unemployed and had no means of taking care of her children’. This woman lives with her mother in a house. This woman had another child, but was at home with the woman’s mother. As an alibi the woman said that she lost control of the car, and had rolled into the river, but as police investigated, her clothes were dry, and there were no skid marks present at the crime scene.
One’s identity is vulnerable, it can change, and either for good or for worse, once it changes that emotion will become permanent. Mary Maloney made that decision when her husband no longer felt sorry for her and wanted to forcefully separate, therefore ending up with the act of evil permanently be a part of her true identity. In the beginning Mary Maloney is a perfectionist who seems to be sane, but ends up murdering which is unreasonable as murder is messy. Shaquan Duley had killed her two children for no good reason. She had killed her two children leaving the permanent mark as her new true identity.
Source- http://edition.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/13/south.carolina.children.deaths/index.html
Source- http://edition.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/13/south.carolina.children.deaths/index.html
9 September 2010
Second chances force change in ones overall characteristic, is a dominant theme in Langston Hughes short story ‘Thank You Ma’am’. Mrs. Luella Washington Bates Jones was walking alone one night, when a young boy tried to steal her pocket book, but couldn't as the pocket book was too heavy. Mrs. Jones picked up the boy and asked him why he tried stealing her pocket book. The boy pleaded for her to let go of him. Mrs. Jones took the boy back to her house where she made him some food, since there was nobody at the boys house to cook for him. She asked the boy why he tried to steal her pocket book and he responded that he just wanted to buy some ‘blue suede shoes’. The women said that he could of just asked him, and gave him ten bucks to buy the shoes, Mrs. Jones gave the boy another chance on the streets to behave himself. ‘The women did not watch the boy to see if he was going to run now, nor did she watch her purse which she left behind her on the day bed’. The women has trust in the boy, she gave him another chance to have faith in himself, to not go back to his old ways and steal, and the boy didn’t steal the purse, or make a run for the door, instead he stayed and accompanied the women in eating supper. The boy is now in the process of becoming a better person, but little does he know that he is changing for the better. ‘The boy wanted to say something else other that “Thank you, ma’am” to Mrs. Luella Bates Jones’. This is at the end of the story when he has definitely evolved into a better person, he is grateful that Mrs. Jones showed him her great hospitality, he realises what hospitality is and how it can make somebody feel warm inside. He doesn’t know what to say because the way Mrs. Luella treated him was breath taking, and he has been given a second chance to correct his mistakes and move on. Some people don’t even need to see hospitality, some people who do bad will turn good only if they had realized what they did was truly bad.
Millions of pounds are wasted, to locking up under 18 year olds doing bad deeds. Three out of four people are being locked up again for their crimes each year. Adam Murray is a twenty one year old was sitting in a bar when his attacker came up to him and asked him for a cigarette, and then punched him. Adam’s attacker was convicted of assault but he was called back to meet with the attacker. He said “At first when I received the letter asking if I wanted to meet with the guy that punched me, it was pretty scary actually”. Adam said that things didn’t work out when he met his attacker at first, because the attacker was just trying to find a way to not go to prison, the attacker wasn’t making eye contact. When Adam met his attacker a second time, he noticed that his attacker had changed, his attacker told Adam that he had been doing community service, and he realized his attackers attitude has changed as well, this time he was making eye contact, and had a higher selfasteem. Adam concluded that his attacker was actually a good guy. Sometimes second chances do work but you need to give a person time to take it all in. Adam gave more than two chances to his attacker because he wanted to change his attacker. The attacker wouldn’t cooperate at first, but in the period of time between Adam’s first visit, through his second visit, his attacker was doing community service, and during community service, the attacker realized that what he had done was wrong, and he thought, there is a guy out there who I assaulted and hurt, but still that guy is trying to help me. During this process the attacker gained self-esteem and when it was time to face Adam again he cooperated and seemed embarrassed that he hit him, changing his behaviour.
Both the boy in ‘Thank You Ma’am’ and Adam’s attacker both got a second chance. The boy in ‘Thank You Ma’am’ got a second chance by viewing hospitality, but however Adam’s attacker got a second chance by realizing what he has done through labor. They both were given second chances and used it to change their character to a better person.
