Star Wars Essays - Fictional Cyborgs, Galactic Empires,

Star Wars One of the most memorable moments for many students will occur when they see "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace," the first part of a prequel trilogy to the beloved Star Wars trilogy. The original three films Star Wars: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi have embedded themselves in our current culture. The Force, composer John William's famous soundtrack, and lines such as "Luke, I am your father"(which is never said in any of the movies) have become common in present day culture. But, the Star Wars trilogy also contains a deeper theme that is not unique to the current time period. In George Lucas's Star Wars Trilogy as well in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the contrast between good and evil is conveyed through the optical, symbolic differences of black and white. The planet Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back and the Congo in Heart of Darkness are very symbolically similar. The Rebel Alliance has a base on the ice planet of Hoth. The Rebel Alliance stands for good as do the snow and ice that cover Hoth; hence, a society of good stationed on a good planet. But, the Galactic Empire, or pure evil, soon attacks and overtakes Hoth. This situation on Hoth is similar to the white assimilationist techniques used in the dark, African Congo. The white man, "evil", attempts to assimilate the Congo, or goodness. Thus, both Hoth and the Congo and their assimilations, however successful, typify the conquests of evil over good. The clothing of Luke Skywalker across the whole Star Wars Trilogy and of Marlow across his trek into the jungle symbolize man's journey of self-realization. In the very beginning of Star Wars, Luke wears a robe of white. For practical purposes the robe should be white because then it will reflect the most sunlight away on the planet of Tatooine; but the white color of the robe also stands for Luke's pure goodness at that point in time. But as time progresses, namely in the latter portion of The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi, Luke begins to wear the garb of a Jedi-a black tunic and matching pants. These dark outfits symbolize the fact that Luke contains an element of evil within him that he can never destroy, namely that he is the son of Anakin Skywalker-the man who would become Darth Vader. In Heart of Darkness, once Marlow realizes that he was produced by an evil white society he throws away his dark, blood stained shoe. Casting off this dark article of clothing symbolizes Marlow's rejection of evil society. A change in the personalities of these two characters can be seen through the change in their clothing The characters of Darth Vader and Kurtz both symbolically represent the hidden good or evil in a person that is primarily evil or good. Darth Vader is evil. No doubt can be had that this is true; not only does he wear an black, mechanical suit which looks menacing, but he also has no qualms about killing other people, even his own family. However, a shred of decency does remain within Darth Vader as is seen in The Return of the Jedi. As Emperor Palpatine is destroying Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader attacks the emperor in order to save his son. Once the emperor, Darth Vader tells Luke to take off his black mask to reveal a pure, white face although this means his certain death. At this point, Darth Vader has reverted back into Anakin Skywalker and has revealed to his son that he really had good inside of him before he died. In Heart of Darkness, Kurtz is similar to Darth Vader. Kurtz's life has turned to evil. He exploits a group of people, similar to what the Empire does to its inhabitants. Not until the very end, when Marlow and the audience meet Kurtz and his ghostly white face doe Kurtz repent crying out, "The horror! The horror!"(p.123) These two men who had lived similar lives of naivet?, correspondingly end their lives with attempts to redeem themselves by realizing the folly of their former ways and make final, feeble tries at repenting. The people around them also realize that both have purity, however minute, within their souls. Two works of art separated not only by the passage of time, but also by the changing of society, use the contrast of black, no color, and white, all colors. These colors which can symbolize good and evil within the same work of

Two Queens In Perspectives essays

Two Queens In Perspectives essays Over the history, England was in the center of most events. It is because Great Britain is one of the most important countries that designates most of the others' fate. Such a priority can be given only to countries with great political power, this power brought the legitimacy to rule throughout the world. Political power could be obtained if the country is strong economically. It is often very difficult in countries ruled by monarchy. The whole country's future is based on the hands of one single person. So whether the country will be powerful, in comfort or weaker and unhappy is left to how successful, well-trained, and conscious the ruler is. Queen Elizabeth I and Victoria were the most popular queens in the Britain monarch history. They have similarities and differences. They were both willing to rule the monarch best for the age, differences were in their methods to rule, but as a result, both queens' popularity came from their great success. Of the most impressive aspects of Elizabeth was her ability to break most of the rules. These rules were made by men. The first and most important was the idea that a throne held by a woman was a misfortune. Victoria faced the same difficulty. Both queens managed to handle this difficulty with great success. They have titles as Good Queen Bess (for Elizabeth I) and The Grandmother of England (for Victoria). They are popular to be accepted as the greatest monarchs in the history of the Great Britain. The difference between these great monarchs is the way they chose to control the crown. Elizabeth I chose not to marry, and had the famous title The Virgin Queen. She was represented as married to her country. She created a public image that removed the weakness of her position as a woman by making male-rulers obey her strengths. She earned the admiration of the male-dominated world. To a poet named Spencer, she was the untouchable and untouched&q...

International cooperation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

International cooperation - Research Paper Example A country therefore may win from exporting one resource but lose a lot on other exportable commodities which may become expensive in nature. It is also pertinent to note that due to higher demand for factors of production in such industries, there is a shortage of labor for other sectors of the economy. This increases the cost of production for other countries and thus making them less competitive in nature. (Corden & Neary, 1989) There are many countries which have been suffering from this phenomenon and the economic mismanagement has resulted into much of the economic damage for them. During 1980s and 1990s, countries like Nigeria faced the consequences of this. Even developed economies like Australia and Canada faced this situation also. Dutch disease is a relationship between the manufacturing sector and increase in exploitation of the natural resources. The overall mechanism is based upon the assumption that strong inflows of foreign currency due to export of natural resources will appreciate the currency of the country and thus may result into nation’s other exports more expensive to export. Though it is normally associated with the natural resources however it can also be referred along with the sharp increase in foreign inflows, foreign direct investment as well as a surge in the prices of natural resources. The core model is based upon non-traded goods sector and two traded goods sector i.e. the booming and the lagging sector. Booming sector is normally based upon the extraction of oil and other natural resources including gold, copper, coffee or cocoa. The lagging sector of the economy is generally based upon the agriculture sector of the economy as well as other manufacturing sector. (Hausman & Rigobon, 2002) There are two possible consequences of this phenomenon i.e. changes in the labor as well as spending. When booming sector starts to pick up, the overall demand for labor