Book Reports / 'Individuality = Freedom' Barriers in Macbeth To Kill A Mockingbird, and Robert Frost [3]

Essay on present barriers, please edit. thanks1

Individuality allows freedom. The sense of isolation brings no burdensome and as a result, it appears as if human nature seeks this separation to a certain extent. There are four works of literature that truly exemplify the idea of creating barriers. These works include Mending Wall by Robert Frost, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The poem Mending Wall displays the never-ending want for barriers while still scrutinizing its purpose. In addition, the play Macbeth shows a man creating barriers for the want to find isolation. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is the greatest example of creating barriers. The blacks are physically and socially blocked out from society and are barred off from the rest of the world. The theme of barriers in Mending Wall is clearly prevalent in all three pieces of literature.

It is a mystery why humans show the want for privacy but yet gets frustrated over this sense of security. The poem Mending wall showed a great deal of evidence that supports the idea of creating barriers. The narrator in the poem is a character who appears to despise and criticize "walls" or barriers which is evident when he says, "There where it is we do not need the wall: he is all pine and I am all orchard,". The narrator states that there is no need for a wall because there are no livestock that can go on to the other property. However, although the narrator tries to convince his neighbour that there is no need for the stone wall, the narrator is initially the one who told his neighbour it was time to fix the wall. This is evident when the narrator says, "I let my neighbour know beyond the hill: and on a day we meet to walk the line and set the wall between us once again,". This act by the narrator contrasts what he has stated about not needing walls. This is a clear piece of evidence that human nature seeks barriers. The narrator does not understand the need for the stone walls. However, he has the sense of feeling that makes him act on fixing the walls. The stone wall in this poem is a metaphor that represents both emotional and personal barriers. The stone wall simply represents that humans seek emotional barriers between one another. In addition, the neighbour responds to the narrator by saying, "Good fences make good neighbours,". This statement possibly emphasizes the need for physical separation as well. For neighbours to have a good relationship, privacy must be given its respect. The theme of barriers is an undoubting theme that is present in Mending Wall. However, the same theme is very much present in the play Macbeth as well.

People seek privacy when they want to feel safe. The play Macbeth exemplifies the theme of barriers to perfection. Macbeth was a character of nobility, honor, and respect. However, his choice to kill the king and pursue the crown caused his life to spiral down a path that he could not reverse. This led Macbeth to separate himself from others by creating barriers and is clearly evident when he said, "To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus. Ours fears in Banquo stick deep,". This revelation indeed proves that he wants to be safe and in order to achieve this; he had to create a barrier between him and Banquo. Macbeth goes on to do this by eventually killing Banquo and many other innocent folks. Macbeth went on a killing spree in order to separate himself from others both physically and socially. The theme of barriers is widely present due to the fact that Macbeth is protecting himself by constantly rebuilding walls that are being destroyed by others. Macbeth is seeking freedom naturally and looking to make some privacy for himself. It is clearly evident that the theme of barriers is shown in Macbeth for he creates space around him to separate himself from others.

Social status is a perfect example of a physical and social barrier. It is the sense of want to stay away from a certain group of people because of skin colour and economical stance. This is shown in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. There is a physical barrier between the white and the blacks. The white people do not want to associate with the black folks and as a result, scrutinize them to keep the barrier strong. The physical barrier is represented by the two churches. Although serving the same God, the blacks and the whites have their own distinct churches a distance away from each other. The theme of barriers is clearly present by the isolation between the blacks and the whites. In addition, To Kill a Mocking also displays social barriers based on economic status. Poor people are not accepted by the wealthy and do not affiliate with them. The barrier between high class and low class is displayed when Aunt Alexandra said, "Because he is trash. That`s why you can`t play with him,". Aunt Alexandra is displayed wanting to stay away and keep her privacy from the poor. The theme of barriers is extremely present for separations among people are occurring due to race, and social status.

Book Reports / Macbeth, TKAM and Robert Frost poetry! (decisions / unwinnable fights) [NEW]

I wrote three essays for my english class as an extra curricular mark and was hoping to get some editing done to it. There are no conclusion paragraphs.

Essay 1: How decisions can affect and change completely an outcome ( there is alot of fluff in the first paragraph, please help me with that)

The lifestyle one lives today is simply a result of a decision made yesterday. It is the art of choice, having the ability to change a possible outcome to a complete opposite perspective. Every individual walking along the mysterious path of life will be presented with cross roads and in most cases; the decision one makes affects the resulting aftermath. Nowhere is the impact of decision on outcome more evident than in the three literary pieces, The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, Macbeth by Shakespeare, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Robert Frost exemplifies the importance of decision by centering the narrator on regret. The narrator is undergoing a process in which he contemplates what would have happened if he were to pick the other road. In addition, Macbeth made the great decision of pursuing king which eventually led to his fall. Macbeth had the decision of living humbly but instead made a choice that destroyed him. Conclusively, although knowing the consequences of defending a black man, Atticus chose to do it because he knew the great difference in outcome that would have occurred if he had not. It is therefore clearly evident that decision has a great emphasis on outcome.

To make a successful decision, one has to be able to balance out the pros and cons of a road compared to the other. The process of decision in The Road Not Taken is very special in its own right. Robert Frost does not specifically explain on what the decisions were, but describes it as just two roads. Although the roads appear very simple, these two roads can change the whole world for one. Robert Frost is able to execute this to perfection by using a fork in the road. The audience is able to observe the bare naked process of decision making and the aftermath that follows. This allows for a better understanding on the nature of choice. The narrator judges the two roads simply stating that one road was "less travelled by" and that it "wanted wear". As a result, the outcome of this decision placed the narrator in a contemplative position. This decision made the narrator prophesize what his life would have been like if he had travelled the other road. It is clear that the narrator feels a sense of confusion for he says that he will "be telling this with a sigh". Now, nowhere does it say if this sigh will be of happiness or regret but the fact that he "sighs" proves to show that he clearly wanted the benefits of both decisions. However, if the narrator had made a better careful decision, it is possible that the narrator would not be telling the past with a sigh. Robert frost simply displays the art of decision and what possibly could happen if decisions are made without thought. One cannot win both benefits and there will always be a lingering piece of regret that one feels. It is possible however, to limit the amount of regret by valuing the importance of each decision.

Decisions are clearly influenced by many factors. Greed and jealousy play a major impact on decision making. Shakespeare clearly makes this evident in Macbeth. In the play, Macbeth, noble kinsmen, is unable to overcome his emotion of greed and decides to pursue the crown of Scotland. The decision Macbeth made changed his whole life and how he had to live. If Macbeth had not believed the prophecies from the witches, he would have lived out a career filled with respect and nobility. This is evident when the king says, "find a quote on something king says". However, the outcome is completely changed because of his decision to kill the king. Macbeth turned into a tyrant and an uncontrollable fiend because of one simple choice. The fact that Macbeth's life turned around completely acts as glaring evidence how decisions affect the outcome. In addition, Lady Macbeth also made a decision that changed the whole plot of the play. She initially had the ability to stop Macbeth's decision and the outcome that Macbeth experienced. This is evident when Lady Macbeth said "something where lady Macbeth says something about regret". This shows that Lady Macbeth too, got her morality conquered by greed. Once again, the complete devastation of Macbeth and his wife would have not occurred if Lady Macbeth had weighed out the outcomes of pursuing the king. The effect of decision to completely change a life from what it could have been proves to be evidence of how choice depicts outcome. However, the affect decision has on outcome is not limited in Macbeth but is also widely present in To Kill a Mockingbird.

A moral decision is a decision that is correct but in most cases, it is difficult to make. A choice of this caliber might attract negative attention and discrimination from others. Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird exemplifies making a moral, yet difficult decision to make. He chooses to defend a black man, something that was not accepted by society. This is evident by the numerous times Atticus was called a "Nigger Lover". However, it was the decision that Atticus made that allowed everyone to understand that racism was wrong. If Atticus had not made this decision and decided not to defend the black man, the racism from society would stand and Atticus would not be able to teach his kids what is right and wrong. The impact one decision has on an outcome is enormous and is clearly evident when Miss Maudie says, "quote about hard jobs". This proves that without Atticus, no one would be able to change society in Maycomb. Atticus ultimately made a decision that allowed him to teach morals to society. In addition, there are many occurrences of small decision making that played to be an impact in the aftermath. The decision judge Taylor made to pick Atticus for the court case turned out to be significant for the story. It is clear that Atticus is the only one who would try to protect a black man. If it was a different lawyer, it is highly probable that the lawyer would have given up on the case. This would have been a major change to the whole theme of the story. The choice one makes is clearly shown to have a great impact on the outcome and the ability it has to change a whole story is clearly evident.

Essay 2: How is fighting the "unwinnable fight" the underlying theme in TKAM Macbeth and Robert Frost Poetry.

The greatest of accomplishments are not achieved by doing something that is paltry, but instead by accomplishing that which is unachievable. There are three works of literature that truly exemplify this idea of an unwinnable fight. These works include Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the poems Mending Wall and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost, and especially the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The play Macbeth shows a great struggle of a man who must fight the consequences of his own tyrannical deeds. Poems by Robert Frost are also examples of struggle, of narrators who are confronted by daunting prospects, and they themselves are hardly able to act. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is the greatest example of an unwinnable fight. The father of our protagonist, Atticus Finch, is in the fight of his life, defending a black man in the extremely racist society of the southern United States. The theme of an unwinnable fight is extremely prevalent in all three of these literary pieces.

The play Macbeth showed a great deal of evidence that supports the idea of an unwinnable fight. Macbeth's choice to kill the king and obtain the throne had caused his life to spiral down a path that he would later find out he cannot reverse. His position late in the play was clear, he was going to be taken down very soon by the English army. However, he realized that, "I cannot fly, but bearlike I must fight the course." This revelation showed that Macbeth was indeed trapped in an unwinnable fight, unable to flee or commit suicide. The tyrannical king was soon to be overthrown, but even if it meant his death, he would go down swinging. This showed an unwinnable fight, between Macbeth against his former colleagues, his old friends, and even the citizens on Scotland. Another person in this play involved in an unwinnable fight would be Lady Macbeth. In contrast, though, Lady Macbeth's conflict was against herself. Lady Macbeth unwinnable fight started when she had decided to be unsexed so that she could carry out the murder of Duncan in her pursuit of the Crown. However, her inability to cope with her actions was against her, torrents of regret, grief and remorse that rendered her to a broken woman. Her greed had cause this fight to start, but her weakness gave her no assistance when she had to overlook and forget what had been done and move on with her life. Lady Macbeth's unwinnable fight was lost, her life lost to emotions, in her battle against her consciousness that was futile to begin with. The Macbeth's were prime examples of warriors who had to fight an unwinnable fight.

Another few examples that showed a sense of futility are the poems Mending Wall and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost. In these poems, the narrators are up against opponents who seem impossible to subdue. In the poem Mending Wall, the narrator has a wall that borders his property and his neighbour, and although seemingly pointless, the neighbour stresses heavily the importance of erecting the wall every year. Symbolically, the wall represents the rules and morals of society, and like the wall has its useful and not so useful aspects. The narrator is questioning this system of rules and morals, and points this out to his neighbour. His neighbour, on the other hand, answers quite abstractedly, saying that "good neighbours make good walls." This alludes to the fact that even pointless, society is something that is quite difficult to go against, and the narrator accepts this, although quite reluctant to do so. The other poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost also has hints of an unwinnable fight. This this poem, the point of view is a stream of consciousness, where the feelings and thoughts of the narrator are revealed to us. The man stops and is immediately questioned by his horse. Similar to Mending Wall, the horse may also be another symbol of society, and is very apprehensive on the man stopping. The man however, resolves to keep going as he has promises to keep. The man is clearly in an unwinnable fight, of his own life and pleasure versus the expectations of society. The man just wanted to stay, and soak in the beauty of nature; however, society is looking at him almost condescendingly, as if his actions were alien to them. Robert Frost poetry are well written and portray the presence of an unwinnable fight in each one very well.

The last and most prominent example of an unwinnable fight would be found in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. The most important character that gave a good effort in an unwinnable fight was none other than Atticus Finch. In an extremely racist time in the southern United States, affiliating one's self with a Negro was taboo. Atticus Finch, however, defended a black man in a court case for his client's life, and even the life of himself and his children. Atticus reasoning was that, "That boy may go to the chair, but he's not going till the truth's told," showing that Atticus is a better man, willing to risk his life, career and dignity in order to save the life of a black man. Through Atticus' children as well, we could feel the gravity of the situation at hand. Jem and Scout were ostracized and insulted because of what their father did, and not only did Atticus must suffer the ordeal, but his children as well. Scout especially had to go through an unwinnable fight, while at the same time seeing the ugliness of the world and maturing. Scout's fight was against reality, because she had to grow up and realize that life just wasn't fair. Scout may have wished to stay young forever, to stay away from all the hatred and anger that although almost invisible in Maycomb, suddenly became very prominent when Atticus had accepted Tom's case.

Essay 3: Explain the role of innocence in TKAM Macbeth and Robert Frost Poetry (Innocence is bliss) ( just made some points for these)

Often times, one loses touch with the blissfulness of their innocence. As one grows old, they tend to neglect the purity that will later on be greatly missed. This gradual change has been portrayed in pieces of literature such as To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Macbeth by William Shakespeare and in Robert Frost's poetry. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the major theme revolves around the symbolic 'mockingbird', which is an example of people who are innocent. Scout Finch narrates this story through the eyes of an innocent child, allowing the audience to feel naďve about the conflicts. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth realizes that if he continues to act upon his quick judgments, he may continue to stay pure and untainted. However he continues to commit a horrible crime and knows that he can no longer reach true peace. Finally, there is the poem Birches by Robert Frost. This poem shows the reader the inner workings of a man whose life and thoughts, for the moment, are centered on an idea of going back and regaining his innocence. The theme of innocence is bliss plays a major role in these three stories.

Paragraph one: In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is comparable to an innocent, harmless mockingbird because of her youthfulness.
1) Scout's innocence allows her to make naďve decisions. For example, when Dill asked Scout to marry him because she was one of the only girls he knew at the time and because he loved her, she said yes. They are too young and innocent to understand what marriage means or why people marry, so they just pretend as a way of feeling grown up.

2) Scout is blissfully ignorant to the concepts of racism, hate, and discrimination. She is unaware of the racial tendencies that are existent in her time. Her happiness and unawareness are tested as she's exposed to racial discrimination between a white vs. black case that involves her father. For example, when Scout hears people saying terrible things about Atticus, she doesn't understand why. However, Atticus explains to her that it's just the way some people see it. Scout is too young to understand prejudice and injustice. But Atticus tries to preserve this innocence by raising her to believe that there is nothing wrong with defending a black man.

3) Scout is starting to recognize the hypocrisy her teacher displays in hating Hitler for his prejudice against Jews, yet she hates blacks just as much. The inconsistency bothers Scout and her realization of this double standard among people is the beginning of her awakening to the hypocrisy of most people.

Macbeth: In the life of Macbeth, an event removes the shield of the safety of innocence. The hero's innocence made him vulnerable for those who are comfortable with the realm of disintegration. Eventually, Macbeth is worn down enough to be pushed into this dark and evil abyss by his wife, Lady Macbeth.

1) The robbery of his innocence begins with allowing the witches to brainwash him with their predictions and forcing him to step closer into sin. However, his own wife has also tried to convince him to reconsider his intentions by dishonoring the role of a loyal servant. But, Macbeth attempts one last time to respond with an innocent 'We will speak further'.

2) Macbeth is an example of a man from whom innocence was stolen. He was a courageous warrior, a trusted friend, a respected leader and, in general, a good man. External forces, the witches and their supernatural soliciting, his wife and his uncontrollable passion for royalty pushed Macbeth over the edge where he found the courage to kill King Duncan and hundreds of other innocent people.

Robert Frost: Robert Frost portrays the yearning of youth and innocence in his poem Birches.

1) The speaker of Birches never sees a boy or comes across one. He only imagines one, and the boy that he does imagine may represent himself at a younger age. These boys have their own rules and wisdom. They are ready for adventures in nature and represent the wild, untamed state of man that reminds good and moral even though no one is there to govern him.

2) The birch trees could be representative of human lives. When we are young, we are tall, strong, and unbent, but as the years and storms go by, we become bent and tired by experience. Once we are bent, like the birch trees, we can't go back to where we used to be. We must bear the knowledge and experience gained in our lives- there's no turning back.

Im sorry and i know its alot but please help out, thanks!