Mary Read A Profile of the Notorious Female Pirate

One of  the few known female pirates, Mary Read (known also as Mark Read) was born somewhere around 1692. Her flouting of typical gender norms allowed her to earn a living during  a time when single women had few options for economic survival,. Early Life Mary Read was the daughter of Polly Read. Polly had a son by her husband, Alfred Read; Alfred then went to sea and didnt return. Mary was the result of a different, later relationship. When the son died, Polly tried to pass off Mary as her son in applying to her husbands family for money. As a result, Mary grew up dressing as a boy, and passing for a boy. Even after her grandmother died and the money was cut off, Mary continued to dress as a boy. Mary, still disguised as male, disliked a first job as a footboy, or servant, and signed up for service on a ships crew. She served for a time in the military in Flanders, keeping up her appearance as a man until she married a fellow soldier. With her husband, and dressed as a female, Mary Read ran an inn, until her husband died and she could not keep up the business. She signed up to serve in the Netherlands as a soldier, then as a sailor on the crew of a Jamaica-bound Dutch ship -- again disguised as a male. Becoming a Pirate The ship was taken by Caribbean pirates, and Mary joined the pirates. In 1718, Mary accepted a mass amnesty offered by George I, and she signed up to fight the Spanish. But she returned, soon, to piracy. She joined the crew of Captain Rackam, Calico Jack, still disguised as a man. On that ship, she met  Anne Bonny, who was disguised as a man, also, though she was the mistress of Captain Rackam. By some accounts, Anne tried to seduce Mary Read. In any case, Mary revealed that she was a woman, and they became friends, possibly lovers. Anne and Captain Rackam had also accepted the 1718 amnesty and then returned to piracy. They were among those named by the Bahamian governor who proclaimed the three as Pirates and Enemies to the Crown of Great Britain. When the ship was captured, Anne, Rackham and Mary Read resisted capture, while the rest of the crew hid below deck. Mary fired a pistol into the hold, to try to move the crew to join the resistance. She was reported to have yelled, If theres a man among ye, yell come up and fight like the man ye are to be! The two women were considered tough, exemplary pirates.  A number of witnesses, including captives of the pirates, testified to their activities, saying  that they wore womens cloaths at times, that they were cursing and swearing much and that they were twice as ruthless as the men. All were put on trial for piracy in Jamaica. Both Anne Bonny and Mary Read, after conviction, claimed  they were pregnant, so they were not hanged when the male pirates were. On November 28, 1720. Mary Read died in prison of a fever on December 4. Mary Reads Story Survives The story of Mary Read and Anne Bonny was told in a book published in 1724. The author was Captain Charles Johnson, which may have been a nom de plume for Daniel Defoe. The two may have inspired some of the details about Defoes 1721 heroine,  Moll Flanders.

Michael Lackey Beyond Good And Evil - 1784 Words

In Michael Lackey’s essay, Beyond Good and Evil: Huckleberry Finn on Human Intimacy, Lackey argues that Mark Twain s novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn seeks to destroy and abolish morality and considers morality socially, psychology, and politically destructive. While I agree with Lackeys points that accepting morality means rejecting friendship and accepting friendship means rejecting morality, in the case of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I don’t believe such an argument adequately addresses the base of morality and human culture. In the course of this essay I will argue that morality isn’t a perfect pinnacle to base all thoughts and ideas off, but it is not a bad tool either. Lackey and Twain argue that morality is evil and as†¦show more content†¦I believe that Aunt Sally or another character, if they knew, would have stepped in and stopped Tom’s antics. I don’t think the way Tom acted reflects the morals per say, of a majority of people in this era, rather a â€Å"game† of a child. With that being said I do think that the view of morality that most people during this time had, allowed them to have and control slaves without feeling guilty. One of Lackeys major points in his essay is that Huck ultimately has to make the choice between friendship and morality. If Huck wants to be moral that means he can’t free Jim, and if Huck want’s to have a friendship with Jim then he will suffer a loss of morality. We witness Huck with this tough decision throughout the novel. When Jim is talking about his family and how he’s going to work his way to free them, and if that doesn’t work, steal them. We see Huck s inner turmoil. What had poor Mrs. Watson done to you, that you could see her nigger go off right under your eyes and never say a single word? What did that poor old woman do to you, that you could treat her so mean? Why, she tried to learn you your book, she tried to learn you your manners, she tried to be good to you every way she knew how. That s what she done. (Twain 82) Huck is clearlyShow MoreRelatedHuckleberry Finn Morality Analysis1856 Words   |  8 PagesThe Choice of Morality In Michael Lackey’s essay, â€Å"Beyond Good and Evil: Huckleberry Finn on Human Intimacy†, Lackey argues that Mark Twains novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, seeks to destroy and abolish morality and considers morality socially, psychology, and politically destructive. I agree with Lackey’s points that in the case of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn accepting morality means rejecting friendship and accepting friendship means rejecting morality. However, I don’t believe suchRead More Societys Struggle Against Its Savage Roots Essay example1914 Words   |  8 Pages‘light of development. Without the arrival of the light of the Europeans for use in comparison, the Congo would be neither light nor dark; it is civilization that creates the primitive darkness. The light of civilization in the Congo is depicted as evil, symbolized by the white accountant who is clothed in white starched linen amongst the white mans civilized endeavours (digging holes) set against the dark natives -crouched in pain against the dark tree trunks- who are starving and dying as theyRead More Heart of Darkness Essay2840 Words   |  12 PagesDarknessquot; the name itself implies a sense of unknown evil, and invokes thoughts of secrecy and mystery. It paints paradoxes of seemingly clear concepts and states, such as the mental condition of central character Kurtz, an enigmatic ivory trader deep in the heart of the quot;Dark Continent.quot; The setting indeed takes place in a region remarkably like the Congo that has led many scholars to automatically label it as such.( Lackey ) For the purposes of this essay, I will acknowledge suchRead MoreConsideration on Religious Hypocrisy and Morals in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn1795 Words   |  8 Pagesfor some of it as quick as I could to throw over my left shoulder and keep off the bad luck, but Miss Watson was in ahead of me and crossed me off. She says, â€Å"Take your hands away Huckleberry; what a mess you are always making!† The widow put in a good word for me†¦ (Twain, 15). This particular event, in the very beginning of the novel, demonstrates how two people of the same religion can be opposites on the spectrum on how they treat people like Huck. On one side, unkind, severe Miss Watson, hadRead MoreLooking for Richard Transcript11989 Words   |  48 PagesJapan next. - To Japan, maybe, is a quest. It has always been a dream of mine... ... to communicate how I feel about Shakespeare to other people. So I asked my friend Frederic Kimball, who is an actor and a writer... ... and also our colleagues Michael Hadge... ... and James Bulleit, to join me. And by taking this one play, Richard III... ... analyzing it, approaching it from different angles... ... putting on costumes, playing out scenes... ... we could communicate both our passià ³nRead MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 Pagesfeedback received from both students and teachers, which is deeply appreciated. As a result of the this feedback, the following changes have been made to the fifth edition: †¢ Restructuring of text to include four supplemental chapters that cover topics beyond the project management core. †¢ Inclusion of a supplemental chapter on agile project management which has enjoyed success on new product and software development projects. †¢ Terms and concepts have been updated to be consistent with the fourth edition

Structure and Function of Self Alienation †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Structure and Function of Self Alienation. Answer: Introduction: A novella by Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis is one of the most recognized, seminal works of fiction, published in the year of 1915, that depicts the horrendous and yet absurd transformation of the travelling salesman Gregor Samsa (Rhodes Westwood, 2016). However, what strikes to be more absurd here than the horrendous transformation of Gregor, is the transformation of Gregors sister Grete, and the entire family, who push helpless Gregor to the path of self-alienation, misery and ultimately death. In the post modern era, the literary discourse has primarily revolved around the trauma and existential pain of isolation of the protagonists, in a materialistic society, where the family values, social norms or ideal virtues are deemed to be futile rituals. Marxism and Existentialism, depicted a human as an alienated being, unable to seek out any distinct meaning in life, deprived of the essential humanity that defines man, and is estranged from the community at large (Sokel, 1956). Accord ingly, it would be discreet to consider the transformation of Gregor into a vermin, as a literary metaphor of an alienated man, who has lost his human identity, while working in a mindless society, having lost the meaning of family life. In the works of noted literary artists, such as Feuerbach, Schiller or Marx, man has continually being reiterated as an isolated, self-alienated being, who has lost his meaning in life, while residing in a materialistic society that relies on the exploitation of labor. According to Marx, a work should be done for the sake of ones own pleasure that helps a man to distinguish his productivity from animal productivity. In a materialistic, profit-driven world, a human is compelled to work for longer hours, against his pleasure and he has to work mechanically, without using his creative instinct. In the story, much before the physical estrangement of Gregor occurs from his bodily being, the reader can understand that he has been estranged from his own self, owing to the fact that he has been pre-occupied in his all-consuming work. Marx has earlier already spoken of the externalization human being encounters, in a solely materialistic, capitalistic economy, whereby a human being loses the essence of his being, and is dwindled to a merely mindless animal. The Marxists already claimed that a work done for the pleasure of the doer can be a liberating experience, and yet if the work is being forcefully imposed upon someone out of economic necessity, then the worker is essentially alienated not only from the society, but he is also estranged from the humanity at large. Thus, as pointed out by critics, that Gregor Samsas transformation into a vermin presents self-alienation in a literal way (Sokel, 1983). In the story The Metamorphosis, the protagonist himself has been found to complain against the burden of his unbearable work, and instead of feeling engaged, he feels alienated, exhausted and oppressed. He exclaims with utmost self-pity, "what a grueling job I've picked! Day in, day out - on the road, although at the same time, he seems to be obsessed with the materialistic aims in life, as he is also found to feel proud that he has been able to provide such a life in so nice an apartment to his parents and sister (Sokel, 1983). In fact, there is no gain stating that Gregors metamorphosis literally enacts the loss of self (Sokel, 1983 pp 487). However, a human being is supposed to be self-liberated, free to choose his life, make his own decisions, and think creatively, while cherishing a free, self-chosen life, and Kafkas Gregor is just another man in a capitalist economy, whose life is run by machine, clicks and watches. The grandeur of the human life finds no expression in todays world, and consequently Gregor was transformed into a pest much before the metamorphosis occurred. Gregor, after the metamorphosis stands unsteady, unable to control his legs, and he stands representative of the men of a capitalistic society, where each human being has lost their meaning or control in life, and are merely driven and domineered by the mechanism of a materialistic society. In the story also, one can find Gregors boss everywhere, barging in his personal doma in, vehemently questioning and criticizing his parents child rearing skills with the worker wriggling and writhing under the interminable oppression of the society. The metamorphosis of Gregor is likened to a test whereby Gregor intends to examine their love and integrity of his family members towards him, and his tragedy lies in their inability to pass the test. Kafka unveils a world, that is relentless and monstrous in its insensibility to anything that fails to offer monetary benefits to the residents of the society. Despite the intense dissatisfaction of Gregor with the work he does, he strives to continue his hated bondage for the sake of repaying his fathers debt, which his father owes his employer. However, as his metamorphosis intervenes with his job, Gregor yearns more and more for human contact, and yet his parents start alienating start losing their empathy for the burdensome insect. Apart from the literal dehumanization of the protagonist, the metaphorical dehumanization that Gregors family undergoes is being starkly portrayed in the story. While the father inflicts wound on Gregor with an apple that literally rots and festers in his flesh, his sister tells his parents how his burdensome brother should die. As it is evident that in Kafkas world, love fails to overcome horror, and the beauty condemns the beast (Sokel, 1983 pp 204). A capitalistic society that is driven solely by materialistic concerns, will tend to replace humanity by monetary concerns, and the same holds truth for Gregors family (Straus, 1989). As long as Gregor was working hard enough allowing his sister to dress nicely and sleep for longer hours, the sister was supportive of her brother. As soon as the brother, so far working hard, loses his capacity to appease the needs and desires of the family, the family turns back on him. As soon as the brother ruins the violin concert of Grete, the sister refuses to empathize with Gregor and insists his parents that he requires to be disposed like any household insect. The Marxists themselves had earlier stated that in a capitalist society, driven by money and mercenary motives, the cessation of love, humanity and empathy leads to the death of familial ties as well. While Gregor has been pre-occupied in earning money for offering a luxurious life to his family, he has been losing attachments and bonds, and he realizes the same only after his metamorphosis. In a capitalistic society, love and integrity within the family start losing significance, as the son emerges to be a mere instrument of earning money. The stark oppression of the society impose inhuman pressure on the family members, who must survive or die, in absence of money. Gregors father gets himself in debt, and his financial crisis robs him of any sense of humanity. He starts behaving ruthlessly with Gregor, giving him a hard blow, throwing apple at him that gets imbedded itself in Gregors back. With the metamorphosis of Gregor, and his loss of humanity, the entire family starts losing h umanity and changes the attitude towards Gregor. Though their metamorphosis in attitude occurs slowly, their loss of human conscience nevertheless kills the protagonist. Even after the shocking death of Gregor, his family apparently shows no grief, and in his funeral, they are found to express the belief that they would be able to lead an easier life, being relieved of the burden. In an insects disguise, Gregor emerges to be a human being, while his family members, despite being humans have been behaving as insects, with the loss of their human conscience. The family turns dysfunctional, as Gregors beloved sister states with utmost indignation: Such an animal cannot live with people (Kafka, 2014). Thus, the value of a human being is apparently reliant on his ability to provide mercenary benefits to his family, failing which he is reduced to a mere burden. The values of love and fidelity are central to the concept of a family, and yet even for the mother of Gregor, it is being observ ed that her feeling of fear and revulsion takes over her maternal impulse. To conclude, it should be remembered that although the tale emerges to be an absurd story of a man getting transformed into an insect, the transformation of a young man into an insect suggests the impersonal and absolutely dehumanizing structure of class relations. Gregor emerges more as a proletariat rather than the son of the family, and consequently his only way of survival is possible by working laboriously. Despite his utter discontent with his work, he keeps on working hard to pay off the dues of his father, and yet the sudden transformation, in life diminishes his value in his family. As an instrument in a capitalist society, his family as well as his life abandons him, while the readers are left with the horrid truth, that a man has no personal value, and his value and respect within his family, lies in his exchange value. Not only the manager of Gregor abandons him, an action truly representative of his bourgeois class, but his family also abandons him, reiterating what Marx and Engels already stated: the bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation into a mere money relation". Reference List: Kafka, F. (2014). The Essential Kafka: The Castle, The Trial, Metamorphosis and Other Stories. Sokel, W. H. (1956). Kafka's" Metamorphosis": Rebellion and Punishment.Monatshefte, 203-214. Sokel, W. H. (1983). From Marx to Myth: The Structure and Function of Self-Alienation in Kafka's" Metaphorphosis".The Literary Review,26(4), 485. Straus, N. P. (1989). Transforming Franz Kafka's" Metamorphosis".Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society,14(3), 651-667.

Analyses of Chickamauga essays

Analyses of Chickamauga essays Chickamauga is short story by Ambrose Bierce that takes place in 1863 during the American Civil War. It is an anti-war narrative that also speaks to the evolution of humans in battle. A young child, the son of a veteran is the central character. Having grown up around war and being born of a soldier the child shows insensitivity to wounded men that few could understand. Not only insensitive to the setting, the child makes a game of the situation at hand. At the end of this short story, both the reader and the child are shown the true gravity of this tale. On an apparent typical afternoon, in the setting of this story, a young child wanders from his home playing games. After being frighten by a rabbit the child takes a nap and wakes to what seems a dream, to the reader unfamiliar with the back drop of this story. In the goriest detail the child happens upon what he thinks are animals. Shortly after, it becomes evident these "animals" are retreating, wounded soldiers. Both desensitized and unaware of the seriousness of what he's found, the soldiers become pawns in the child's game. Ironically the child pretends to be a General leading his troops to battle. Eventually and unaware, the child followed by his "troops" find their way back to his home only to find it torched and his mother killed outside of it. Finally the reader is made aware that the More than a century later, Chickamauga is still the subject of deep analysis. One such analysis was done by James Baltrum in "Bierce aboard the Beagle: Darwinian Discourse and Chickamauga." (2009) Baltrum claims that "Chickamauga" is much more than "an allegorical progression from youthful innocence to adult experience or a socially conscious antiwar narrative" (227). It is a statement about both the good and bad effects of Darwin's theory of evolution (Bierce 227). While Bierce is a supporter of Darwinism and thought of him highly he acknowl...

The Conflict Between Happiness and Intelligence †English Essay

The Conflict Between Happiness and Intelligence – English Essay Free Online Research Papers The Conflict Between Happiness and Intelligence English Essay Today’s world is set up in a way that makes most people blind to the truths of life. People are too busy living to notice what in reality is going on around them. But does that make them less happy than the people aware to the reality? The conflict between happiness and intelligence is very well illustrated in the book The Sea-Wolf by Jack London. Humphrey Wan Weyden, a gentlemen and a writer, gets into a shipwreck while taking a trip on a ferry-steamer. He is picked up by a sealing schooner, dictated by the strong and brutal captain Wolf Larsen. It turns out that he is a well-read thinker and a philosopher. While both characters are intelligent, Larsen has been exposed to the facts of life, while Humphrey, also known as Hump, lives in world of illusions. Larsen’s philosophies that are revealed in the book, bring out the miseries of being intelligent. It is not possible for one to become as happy as they could have when exposed to the facts of life. Every person’s goal is to be happy, throughout their lives. Many refuse to admit it and maybe think they live for a higher cause. But really, what is the point of living if you will not be happy? The way Wolf Larsen put it, â€Å"delight is the wage for living. Without delight, living is a worthless act. To labor at living and be unpaid is worse than to be dead.† (The Sea-Wolf by Jack London, p.177) Being happy is all we strive for, it is the nectar of life. It is also important to understand this, because otherwise one will live their whole life striving to be â€Å"successful†, subconsciously thinking that money will bring them happiness, and be disappointed. If a person lives to themselves, and at every choice they make, consider if it will make them happier or not, they will make much more rational decisions. Unfortunately it is hard to come to this conclusion about happiness without separating what is real and what is not. The society tells us quite a differ ent thing: If you live for yourself, you are an egotist, and if you live for others, you are Mother Theresa – bullshit. One does what one has to, to be happy. Today’s society is purely an illusion. People live their lives according to what the society tells them to. It is merely a game, in which one plays only a small part in. This is impossible to truly recognize, without understanding the facts of life, the realities, the truths. All a person is, is what he thinks, and what he physically feels. â€Å"Cogito ergo sum,† was the way Renà © Descartes worded it. How can one be sure of anything else but themselves thinking? The universe is indifferent, and that is not so hard to prove, anybody that believes otherwise has convinced themselves of just another illusion. After accepting the realities, one can not resume to the life of illusions. When once a person was made happy by making money or being with their loved ones, their reason now tells them that it is quite meaningless. Mind dictates the feelings more than the feelings dictate the mind. One can never extract as much joy out of intelligence, as they could out of feelings. â€Å"He who delights the most lives the most, and your dreams and unrealities are less disturbing to you and more gratifying than are my facts to me.† (London, p.177) It is upsetting how the human mind works. Search for the knowledge only reveals that one is better off without it. Although one has to admit, it pays off a little bit in a certain superiority it gives the person, above all dreamers. The human mind is always under question by those who have enough intellect to question it. But to address the question if it makes one happier, the answer is a big NO. It is much more rewarding to just play along with the game, for the emotions gained, good or bad, are a thousand times more satisfying. And when realizing this, all that is left is a thought well expressed by Wolf Larsen: â€Å"I envy you, I envy you.† (London, .178) Research Papers on The Conflict Between Happiness and Intelligence - English EssayBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XThe Effects of Illegal Immigration19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraCapital PunishmentHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayHip-Hop is ArtTrailblazing by Eric AndersonComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyEffects of Television Violence on Children

Frankenstein Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Frankenstein - Essay Example Shelley's novel opens with several letters written by the storyteller, Robert Walton to his sister, Margaret Saville, in England as Walton himself is on a grand voyage to the end of the earth. The series of letters sets the stage for introducing Victor Frankenstein who Walton meets during his voyage. And then, the rest of the book recounts Frankenstein's story of his life. I was especially glued to Shelley's vivid descriptions of locales, the changing seasons, how the characters looked and their emotions at different parts of the story. The writing was so colorful that it was better than watching a movie. Shelley's story also depicted the sensibilities of the age, especially the differing natures and primary pursuits of various countries and peoples in Europe and England. It portrayed the importance that some individuals put on science and other intellectual pursuits while others choose to occupy themselves primarily with commerce and the accumulation of wealth. Shelley depicted the interplay of good and bad in human character and very successfully did so. Personally, my realization was that there is always reason why people do certain things and that this reason is primarily good in the view of the person acting on the reason. Before I read the original text of Frankenstein, I had very many misconceptions about the story. I had thought Frankenstein was the monster, or Victor Frankenstein was a mad scientist, or that a Mrs. Frankenstein actually came into being. All this was probably brought on by the different stories I heard on the same subject. I never thought that I would consider Frankenstein a literary masterpiece that has made it become a classic. Actually reading the novel has of course changed all that. It was quite easy for me to get a copy of Frankenstein because it was available in the Project Gutenberg collection. A remarkable novel such as what Mary Shelley has written over 200 years ago can now be easily accessed, read, dissected, analyzed or merely perused for enjoyment. The Gutenberg collection has over 3 million titles and over 25,000 of these are freely accessible. Indeed, in this age of computers it is quite marvelous to be able to look back at somebody's work from hundreds of years ago, learn from it and get inspired by it. Who is Victor Frankenstein (Reflective Essay) It is amazing to realize that Victor Frankenstein, the character created by Mary Shelley in her famous novel some 200 years ago may well be any one of us, today. Shelley may have over dramatized the pursuits of Frankenstein in her book but the character of Victor, his aspirations, his focused pursuit of objectives, his joys and sorrows are as human as they were then as they are now. Victor, at the story's opening is from a family with means. But as he relates the story of his parents, it was not so in the past, rather a series of ups and downs in terms of economic well-being. That initial story already depicts human histories that are true

The Diverse Interpretations of Muslim Laws Essay - 1

The Diverse Interpretations of Muslim Laws - Essay Example In exchange for virgins in the afterlife, some Muslim groups interpret Jihad as a holy war to kill innocent civilians. Evidently, the two readings show the Muslim people’s diverse interpretations of the Koran’s Suras and related Muslim resources. The research focuses on the different interpretations of Muslim laws. One of the laws, Jihad, has diverse interpretations. Similarly, the gender issue has different explanations. Other Muslim groups interpret Jihad as a holy war. The holy war includes killing innocent civilians. Asra Nomani questions the diverse interpretations of the Muslim laws, including the gender equality issues. The authors, Mariane Pearl (2003) and Asra Nomani (2005) emphasized that Muslim life is compounded by one Muslim group’s daily struggles to influence the other individuals’ decisions. The story A Mighty Heart (Pearl, 2003) centers on the interpretation of the Jihad principles. The author describes the dangerous life of Danny Pearl, South Asian News Bureau Chief of Wall Street Journal. As a reporter, Danny traveled around South Asian countries to gather the latest news stories. Mariane Pearl writes the story of the life and death of her husband. Danny disappeared when he was about to meet Sheikh Ali Shah Gilan, the founder of a U.S. jihad group. Danny’s research focused on some Muslim groups’ devotion to Jihad as one of their duties. Past Jihad acts includes the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 9/11 U.S. airplane attacks (Pearl, 2003). Pearl’s thesis statement: Many Muslim groups have different interpretations of the Muslim Jihad Principle, some violent while others peaceful. The author correctly showed that some Muslim groups prioritize their time and energy to Jihad’s terroristic activities.