Heart Of Darkness And Maslow Essays - Congo Free State,

Heart Of Darkness And Maslow Heart of Darkness - Marlow's Lies A lie is an untruth. It can be a false statement or a statement left unsaid which causes someone to be misled. In life lies are told for many different reasons. In fiction they thicken the plot. In Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Marlow dislikes lies and therefore only tells two, both in extraordinary circumstances, and the lies show the following about Marlow: even though he has been touched by evil, he is still a good man himself; that he never actually tells a lie, he lets others continue to believe what they already believe; and that this helps him justify the lies. Marlow, in the middle of his story, interupts himself to say "You know I hate, detest, and can't bear a lie." He does not think he is better than the rest of the world. Lies simply appal him. Marlow feels there is a "taint of death, and a flavor of mortality in lies." Lying makes him feel "miserable and sick, like biting something rotten would do." Since he feels this way, he would only tell a lie in extraordinary circumstances. The first lie was told by Marlow in extraordinary circumstances. It was told because he had a notion it would somehow be of help to Mr. Kurtz. The lie was to allow the brick maker to think he had more influence in the company than he actually had. This lie would help Kurtz in two ways. Firstly it would help Marlow to get the rivets he needed to fix the boat, and that would provide Kurtz with a means of communication, or a way out of the jungle. Secondly it would provide Kurtz with an ally who was perceived as influential. Marlow knew that others were jealous of the success of Mr. Kurtz. Some saw him as the next "Director of the Company," and some were trying to find a reason to hang him. If Marlow was considered powerful, he might be able to help Mr. Kurtz. This is an extraordinary reason for telling a lie. The second lie was also told in extraordinary circumstances. It is told to "the intended" so that the image of her dead fiance would not be destroyed. She has waited at least two years for her lover to return from Africa, and now he is dead. During this time she has built his image up in her mind. To her Kurtz is a man to be admired. She feels it would be "impossible not to love him." She was proud to have been engaged to Kurtz, and would be shocked to learn of the things he had done. Marlow had to decide if he should tell her the truth about Kurtz and cause her even greater grief, or let her go on believing that he was a good man. This is an extraordinary circumstance, and thus one in which Marlow could tell a lie. The significance of this lie is that it would serve no purpose to tell the truth, so Marlow does not. Kurtz is dead and to tell the truth would only hurt an innocent woman. She had no idea that her fiance had an evil heart. She thought that he was loved and admired by everyone who knew him. If she learned of the things he had done, it would destroy her. Marlow showed his good side by not telling her the truth about Kurtz. This is a suitable ending to the work because it means that even though Marlow has met a man with a "Heart of Darkness," and that even after facing his own darkness, he has come out of the jungle unchanged, for the most part. He is still a good human being with feelings and a sense of right and wrong. Marlow never actually vocalized a lie. He simply allowed others to continue to believe an untruth. First the brick maker thought Marlow was more influential than he actually was, and Marlow allowed him to continue to believe that. Secondly the intended thought her fiance was a good man, and Marlow allowed her to continue to believe that. Since he never actually vocalized a lie, he was better able to justify them to himself. Marlow dislikes lies, and only tells them in extraordinary circumstances. When he does lie, it is for the sake of others, not himself. This shows that he is a kind human being. It is unfortunate that all lies are not told with such

Fall the Soviet Union

Fall the Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was instituted in 1917 and later succeeded the Russian empire in 1921. The USSR did not last long; it collapsed in the year 1991. There were political, economical, and cultural reasons that led to the collapse of the USSR. The political set up of the USSR was based on a philosophy of socialism; it eventually became a communism state. This state had a centralized political and economic system. The political leadership had total control over all matters taking place in the state, whether economical, social, or cultural. USSR ended up becoming a dictatorial state. This led to internal resistances within the USSR. The assimilation policy put in place by the political leadership failed. More than half of the USSR citizens were of non-Russian ethnic groups. They were opposed to this policy. These resulted to resistance, which weakened the government leading to its collapse.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Fall th e Soviet Union specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The economy of USSR crumbled. This facilitated the fall of the USSR. There was very poor economic planning. Most of the government’s funds were used for armament, leading to other important functions that needed funding unattended to. This resulted due to cold war between the USSR and the USA. People of the USSR started experiencing poverty, shortage of basic needs such as education, health services. This resulted to resistances that involved people refusing to work, further weakening the economy. The USSR’s economy reached a point where the amount of income generated by the government could not support major functions in the government leading to its collapse. By late 20th century, so many people had acquired university education. There was a good number of well-learned people in the USSR. This people were exposed to the knowledge from the outside the USSR. This made them to star t fighting for liberalization, democracy, and human rights. They also were against the government policy of assimilation; they wanted their government to embrace diversity. This led to revolts all over the states that made up the USSR. A more liberal leader, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. He embraced liberalization and democratization. This is what led to the splitting of the USSR into different states. The freedom of speech given to people gave them a platform to fight for their rights, criticize the leader for failed economic plan, and hold rallies that preached democracy. The economic changes, which decentralized the economic system, allowed people to see the negatives of communism leading to its failure. This leader came into power when communism was losing favor in the east. He did not put in measures to counter that. This leader also came into talks with the USA to rescue his country’s economy by ending the cold war. The measures put in place to end the cold war furth er weakened USSR. By the time, Mikhail Gorbachev had put in place the measures he believed were the best for his country’s future. The level of liberalization and democratization witnessed could not allow for the continued existence of the USSR.Advertising Looking for assessment on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Even though the USA played a role in the failure and eventual collapse of the USSR, the effect of USA could have been negligible had Soviet Union put in place measures that could have guaranteed the survival of the union in to the future. The union was involved in power struggles with the United States instead of building the economy. Once its economy crumbled, its collapse was inevitable. The leadership in the Soviet Union did not involve the citizens in its functioning. This made USSR citizens to feel as if they were subjects in their own country resulting to uprisings, which facilitated th e collapse of the union. Those people who were in leadership made communism to fail as most people viewed it as dictatorship. This led to the collapse of communism as it had lost favor among people in the east.