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96125
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Post by
Toldry
The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an apelike animal cryptid said to inhabit the Himalaya region of Nepal and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology. Nepalese have various names for Yeti like "Bonmanche" which means "wild man" or "Kanchanjunga rachyyas" which means "Kanchanjunga's demon."
Most mainstream scientists, explorers and writers consider current evidence of the Yeti's existence to be weak and better explained as hoax, legend or misidentification of known species, yet it remains one of the most famous creatures of cryptozoology. The Yeti can be considered a Himalayan parallel to the Sasquatch or man-beast.
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Post by
103972
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Post by
Goose
My 11th grade essay on A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. I hope that's random enough...
A Confederacy of Dunces
In the novel A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, the main character Ignatius J. Reilly is a person at odds with society. With his disdain of modern culture, and his preference of the Middle Age philosophies of Boethius, Ignatius is a person with a huge problem with society. Yet, is it he who is the problem, or rather society itself?
Ignatius is a person with a rather odd view of society. While criticism of modern society is not uncommon, nor frowned upon, Ignatius criticism is of a very uncommon nature. He disapproves of societies “offenses against taste and decency” and lack of “lack of theology and geometry” . He considers modern priests inept, and considers any type of sexual activity to be filthy and offensive.
Ignatius also repeals against modern activities such as the movies. He frequents the movies to see all the latest films, so that he can criticize the films loudly during the performance, with comments such as “What degenerate produced this abortion?” . However, contrary to this, he also enjoys many modern comforts such as taxis, hot dogs and, one can argue, movies.
Yet, who is the problem: Ignatius, or society? One could argue both ways. Ignatius is a very intolerant person, lambasting everything and everyone. On the other hand, society is also very intolerant of anyone they consider to be “un-normal” or who goes against the ways of society. On example, which was, and still very much is, common in the United States is the fear and hatred of communists, or as Mr. Robichaux calls them, “communiss”. This fear was as strong as ever during the early 60’s, with everything from the Cuban Missile Crises to the start of the Space Race. It is therefore no surprise that Ignatius should later become accused of being a communist because of his views of society is different from the generally accepted ones (not to mention being very different from communist ideals).
Of course, it is not just societies problems with communism which is brought up (as a matter of fact, it is just a needle in a haystack of criticism). The bigger picture presented is the inability to deal with people who hold any kind of differing view, be it communism, or Middle Age philosophy. That is the heart of the book: intolerance; intolerance towards just about anyone not fitting into society.
Putting aside society’s intolerance of deferring views, to instead focus on their reaction to them for a minute, we see another part of the books criticism of society very clearly. In a society where very few people, if any, have heard about, much less know what he stands for, Boethius, it should come as no surprise that people in this era of suspicion should react with what we today consider to be very odd, and almost stupidly. In a move to help “cure” Ignatius of his “insanity”; says Ignatius mother, Mrs. Reilly: “We gotta get him declared temporary insane.” Having different political ideas might get you labeled “insane” by certain people these days, but you’re never shipped of to a mental asylum, which is what Mrs. Reilly’s friend Mrs. Battaglia suggests: “Hang up and call them people at the Charity right now, honey.”
Another aspect of society that the book criticizes is the lack of initiative to help those people that need help. While society is busy weeding out communists and other people considered to be harmful to society, but who often posses little, if any, threat, such as Ignatius, it forgets to care and empower people in a lesser position. The book takes up many such people, such as Hispanics (Mr. Gonzalez), the old and senile (Miss Trixie) and the African-American population (Burma Jones, the factory workers at Levy Pants). Ignatius realizes society’s faults in helping these people, and he takes it upon himself to do so. This makes him an even more suspicious character, as helping these groups wasn’t considered to be of great importance at the time. This presents a rather ironic situation: society concentrates on “curing” people such as Ignatius which are perceived as having a problem, when in reality they do not; instead they should concentrate on people who really need to get “help” (this may not be the best term; empowerment would better fit the needs of groups such as Hispanics and African-Americans).
However, one can not only argue that it is society that is at faulty. One should not blame a person for having views which are considered odd; however, if such people fail to see why these views are considered odd or perhaps even disruptive, one could blame them for creating more mayhem than necessary. Ignatius is a perfect example of just such a thing. He firmly maintains that modern society is a total failure, and that it is lacking in any decency. But he fails to see things from the other side of the fence; many things that he considers to be indecent, repulsive or just plain stupid are considered great, wonderful and absolutely fantastic by many other people. Take the movies for example: Ignatius frequently attends showings of various movies which he considers to be vile, foul and indecent. However, for many common people, the movies present an opportunity to escape reality, to dive into fantasy land, to get away from the harsh realities of modern day life for an hour or two.
Cont.
Post by
Goose
Cont.
The example of the movies brings up another point which gives Ignatius less credibility than normally given to him. In many ways, Ignatius is a big, fat (literally) hypocrite. He attacks and berates many modern day luxuries, yet at the same time he enjoys many of the very things he criticizes so much. For example, he enjoys hot dogs to a great extent (eating most of the content of the hot dog cart which he is meant to sell), yet hot dogs and other fast foods, as well as many of the things Ignatius criticizes, are considered to be symbols of the industrial might and human belittlement of society. Another example is the movies: why does Ignatius go to the movies to criticize them, if he finds them so unbearable? Could he really consider them all that bad if he goes to them? Perhaps he actually enjoys them. This might not be something he consciously is aware of, but all the same, it is a very real possibility.
A Confederacy of Dunces presents a very interesting (and funny) read, but it also brings up some very good points. It very cleverly criticizes society on so many points. For one, society’s inability to handle a person with views that in the modern day are considered to, at the least, be very odd and weird. It showcases the lack of priorities; why consider some lonely person with harmless, at best, views of society more important to turn ones attention to whole groups of people which are poor, powerless and suppressed? Yet no issue is black-and-white, dark-and-light; there is always a mixture, there is always more than one person to blame. While society has proven itself to be bumbling and incompetent, Ignatius himself is at fault, not for his unconventional views, rather for his inability to see things in a way other then black-and-white, dark-and-light. Without this ability, the world as we know it would be a very different one. However, there is still too little of this ability going around. As illustrated by the book, society also often lacks this ability. In fact, it could be considered to be something lacking way too much in the world, yet it is of vital importance. In this sense, the book proves that no one person is solely at fault or that any one person is clear of any fault, and that it is impossible to claim such things.
Post by
ruleofthumb
Tomato sauce.
Post by
blademeld
5. Money is the root of all evil. Send $30 for more info.
Where?
Post by
Biglove
Ducks are never male. The males of the species are called drakes.
lol dragon-ducks
Post by
Loosa
DEMON WAFFLE STOLE MY BRAIN
lolwut
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112286
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116586
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103972
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112427
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56282
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Post by
Loosa
DISCO CAT WILL NOT SURRENDER HIS PET MOOSE!!!
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97350
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89224
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97436
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97350
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Post by
Lohikaarme
omgwtfbbq
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