Critical lens essay

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Critical lens essay

Introduction

“The difficulty in life is by choice”. This is a quote by George Moore, which attempts to give an insight and conclusion to the reason as to why we are faced with problems in our lives. I concur with George Moore on the basis that the power of the mind and the decisions that follow, dictate the outcomes in one’s life. Therefore, our choices are responsible for the type of situations we have in our lives. Simply, life is how you take it and what you do with what you get from it. The primary aspect is about what you learn from life’s circumstances. This outright perspective can also be seen in two books namely, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Fences by August Wilson. Both novels exemplify characters that are tortured by major life decisions as they weigh the rewards and consequences and hope for the best outcome.

Discussion

To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee is a literary piece, which outlines racism as a major theme and revolves around the life of Lee Scout, who is also the narrator of the story. It supports the quote, “the difficulty in life is by choice”. Scout has a brother called Jem and an exemplary father and widower, Atticus, who nurtures the two kids in a world of prejudice. The society is built by whites and blacks and the whites disregard the blacks and anyone on their side. A good example of this situation is seen when Atticus, Scout’s father, as a lawyer defends Tom Robinson in court. Tom Robinson is a black man falsely accused of rape by a white girl and her father. Atticus is able to overlook the difference in skin color and fulfills his moral duty to advocate for justice by providing vivid evidence that the accused is innocent. He appears not be moved by the difficulty of having his own people hate him because he has chosen a path that is different from theirs. The white judiciary charges Robinson with murder despite the sufficient evidence provided by Atticus. This theme of racial segregation clearly shows the hatred the whites had towards the blacks in the society. In addition, the father to the girl who files the case is infuriated by the words spoken by Atticus in court in favor of Robinson, a black man, and drives his rage towards his kids, Scout and Jem when he attempts to harm them. Luckily, they are saved by Boo, a man in their neighborhood they were scared of because of people’s terrible judgments about him. The power of decision-making is depicted in the novel by a major character Atticus. In relation to the quote, he nullifies difficulty by putting himself in other people’s shoes and in this case, the minority. He also teaches his children Jem and scout how easier life gets when they examine and understand other people’s perspective and not judging them because other people are. For example, when scout and Jem were unfamiliar with Boo’s personality and drew their own conclusions of the man who was looked down upon in the neighborhood. However, towards the end, she grows up to have a deeper understanding of life after, rescued the two from the man who wanted to harm them because of the father’s stand. The two kids make a choice to embrace the blacks just as their father did and understand their perspectives. That way, the world seems to make more sense to them. Two literary elements that are vastly outlaid in the text are symbolism and contrast. Harper lee was successful in comparing the different societies of blacks and whites and their cultures. The theme of racial segregation helps to build the contrast. For instance, judiciary ruled against Robinson despite his innocence because it was filled with white individuals. Symbolism comes out clearly where Scout’s discovery about life reflects the manner in which all other whites in America should act in a society of multiple races and backgrounds. Atticus represents those who have made the choice to understand different perspectives of life to eliminate its difficulties.

Fences by August Wilson is one of Pittsburg plays and it revolves around the life of Troy, the main character and his family and friends. It centers on the life of the blacks in the American society and explores basic themes like racism and deceit among others. Troy Maxson is a baseball player who misses the golden chance of playing in major leagues because of his black race. He has a wife, Rose together with whom they share a son, Cory. Jim Bono. The play’s title, Fences is a reflection of the fence that troy is building while taunting death. He personifies death and in his monologue, he tells death that the fence he is building will guard everything that belongs to him (Troy) from it. The wife rose has her reason for the fence being built. She expects it to guard her family and it keep it safe. The play depicts the decisions made by the characters and supports the quote, “the difficulty in life is by choice”. Troy makes a good decision of asking his boss why black men cannot drive garbage trucks apart from loading garbage and this choice earns him an elevated rank to a driver. Troy is therefore able to enjoy his reward resulting from his decision. However, he fails to understand his son’s perspective when Cory wants to play football. He makes a decision of going to Cory’s football coach and causing the son’s dismissal from the team. He ruins Cory’s passion for sports without having a deeper understanding to it. His action instigates resentment from his son’s which is characterized by consistent arguments and wrangles in the house. This difficulty is his own doing because of his poor communication strategies and impulsive decision-making. He also stretches his faults by being unfaithful to his wife, Rose despite his best friend Bono imploring him to cherish her. After Alberta, his mistress dies during childbirth; he is obliged to take the baby, Raynelle home to his wife Rose. In this case, Rose loses trust in him but still is kind enough to take care of Raynelle. Rose, puts herself in Raynelle’s shoes and decides not to punish her because of the fathers mistakes. She embraces her, as he own child. The fact that rose tries to understand troy even though she does not agree with him reduces tension. She tries to convince Cory attend the father’s funeral prompting forgiveness from the son’s side. Before he dies, Troy also makes a decision to use his brother, Gabriel’s money, taking advantage of Gabriel’s mental situation. The money was compensation from the army in which the brother was a soldier. This might be the reason why towards the end of the play, in troy’s funeral, Gabriel appears to rejoice by dancing. It is some sort of pay-off in disguise. Two literary elements vivid in the play are allegory and irony. In allegory, Wilson portrays Gabriel as the angel Gabriel blowing a trumpet to usher troy in heaven. Irony comes out in troy discouraging his son in sports yet he used to play baseball.

Conclusion

Judging from the contexts in both literary pieces, most predicaments and circumstances we find ourselves in result from the decisions we make concerning the issues that surround us. In To kill a mocking bird, Atticus, made a decision to mingle with the blacks and fight for their rights. The consequence is hatred and disapproval from his fellow whites but he stands his ground because he believes he is morally upright and justified. In turn, he moves this culture down to his kids. He extended his moral attribute by teaching them life’s lessons like making decisions by analyzing perspectives. Towards the end of the novel, scout is girl who understands difference aspects of life without jumping into conclusions. In Fences,Troy’s decisions earn him hatred from his own son and trust from his wife. The fence he has built does not seem to guard him from death as he supposes from the beginning since he dies in the end. Therefore, where there is choice, there is definitely consequence or reward.