I have a penchant for Literature, Philosophy, Sociology, Literary Theory, Film, and Cultural Studies. When I have misgivings about my tastes, I find solace in Semantics. After all, everything boils down to "words, words, words...."( courtesy: Hamlet).
Allan Poe's standalone fame rests to an extent, on the fact that he was a conjurer of macabre tal... more Allan Poe's standalone fame rests to an extent, on the fact that he was a conjurer of macabre tales of 'mystery, supernatural and suspense' unrivalled and inimitable even today. His stories and poems weren't influenced by personal factors like unrequited love (except maybe 'The Raven'), bereavement or tragic events of that sort. He wrote for the sake of writing and usually out of an uncanny impulse, unlike Mary Shelley who wrote her magnum opus 'Frankenstein' based on events from her own life. Poe's preoccupation with the occult gravitated towards the themes of death and decay and a contemplation of the same in a manner quite unexplored by writers of this genre. The theme of madness/ insanity was never dealt more tactfully in the history of horror genre. Poe's predilection for the macabre enabled him to explore uncharted arenas. His 'Metzengerstein', for example, is regarded as the first story to have 'metempsychosis' as its central theme. His poems were also not different in its preoccupation with the enigmatic, supernatural and the Gothic.
Saudi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences , 2023
Roland Barthes' Mythologies perhaps has the singular distinction of having baffled scholars of se... more Roland Barthes' Mythologies perhaps has the singular distinction of having baffled scholars of semiotics/cultural studies or anyone who has taken an interest in the history of French colonialism and its nefarious influence on the 'empire' (Alger ia, in particular). This article despite its limitations, intends to demystify/unravel some ostensibly innocuous 'culinary predilect ions' in vogue (during the 1950s-1960s and in some cases even germane to the 21st century) in France. In addition to his magnum opus, I will focus on his other significant text on the same topic (and gastro nationalism), Toward a Psychosociology of contemporary food consumption.
In 1858, Georg Simmel was born in Berlin. The conflicts of Germany's unique road to modernity wer... more In 1858, Georg Simmel was born in Berlin. The conflicts of Germany's unique road to modernity were best exemplified by that metropolis. Financial speculation and rapid urbanisation fueled Berlin's ascent to global prominence. While a young proletariat (Georg Simmel) fought the government and the bourgeoisie for political and economic rights, an avant-garde cultural elite coexisted uncomfortably with the central European aristocracy. The landed Prussian Junker aristocracy, the cornerstone of Bismarck's unified German Reich, was eroded because of the proliferation of modern technologies that created power and riches. The Hohenzollern dynasty, one of the oldest in Europe, ruled over a tumultuous realm while being enamoured with the most contemporary concepts.
Life writing is increasingly popular as a 'genre'. There has been a surge in interest for the dis... more Life writing is increasingly popular as a 'genre'. There has been a surge in interest for the discourse of the self as it has the unique distinction of offering a vista to the deep recesses of our minds (and the 'Other's'). The term 'life writing' suggests the manifold ways of writing about the subject, and as such, can be seen a new strategy for giving ownership and validation to an individual and a reclamation of agency to those who have been marginalized through race, gender and class. No wonder why the feminists developed a fascination for the genre and appropriated the same as tool for the emancipation of countless women who were languishing under the oppressive regime of patriarchy. Many of them tried to incorporate this 'discourse of the self' to their novels, a genre extolled by Bakhtin as the epitome of 'Dialogism'. I would like to narrow down my focus to Margaret Atwood's classic dystopia ' The Handmaid's Tale'. Offred, the protagonist of Atwood's novel is a handmaid desperately trying to hold on to life by 'writing herself'(to borrow a key word from Helene Cixous). It is also interesting to note how another handmaid inspires her to fight relentlessly by inscribing her message in Latin (roughly translated as 'Don't let the bastards grind you down'). In the totalitarian(theocratic) republic of Gilead, women are forbidden to read or write and are relegated to the inferior roles which they must fulfill through a strict adherence to the scriptures. Offred's bold decision to record her experiences as a handmaid clandestinely becomes her life force. The Handmaid's Tale is one of Atwood's acclaimed novels which explores the idea of reversed women's rights and the consequences ensuing thereafter. Atwood's novel is set against the backdrop of a totalitarian regime, a world taken over by a group of conservative religious extremists who quote the scriptures every time they feel like bringing a certain group of women under subjugation. In the nightmarish world of Gilead, women are deprived of agency and are under the control of a phallocentric society, which forbids them to vote, read and write. Even the right to personal identity seems out of bounds for them. The handmaids are named after their commanders, who treat them as their property. The protagonist of Atwood's novel finds herself in a hopeless position as the choice of killing herself also seems out of her reach. The rooms to which they are confined lack a ceiling fan or sharp objects of any kind. Offred is left to languish in a room only to live a disconsolate life. There is nothing left to be optimistic about as Offred has already lost her husband who was purportedly shot while attempting to cross the border and also her only child who was forcefully taken from her. The handmaids have a sacred duty which they are expected to fulfill as obedient beings. The state expects them to be child-bearers for the
International Journal of English and Social sciences(IJELS)
The stacks of unread books in my cabinet have always disturbed me in one way or the other. They r... more The stacks of unread books in my cabinet have always disturbed me in one way or the other. They remind me, time and again, that I have fallen back on a promise that I had made to an old friend who encouraged me to take up literature despite my family's predilection for medical-engineering fields. When my relatives and teachers seemed disconcerted and disappointed at my decision, she exhorted me to take the road less travelled (at least, in India). But she made me promise something. I remember the last conversation we had years ago when she said: "Literature/Arts graduates tend to develop apathy towards their areas of interest once they reach 25. I want you to be a lifelong learner/reader. Don't give up on reading even when you have managed to land a lucrative job." I found myself transforming into a voracious reader, lucubrating over impenetrable works on philosophy, literature and philology for hours at a stretch. But, somewhere along the way, I developed this hebetude that I had been warned against by my friend. This didn't happen all of a sudden. And I hold responsible not only myself but also the people around me who treat 'the reading type' as mavericks and introverts. I never understood the rationale behind this prejudice. Were they tactfully trying to masquerade their insecurities? I will never know and honestly, I don't care anymore.
Alienation, in social theory signifies a state of estrangement or separation from one's milieu, w... more Alienation, in social theory signifies a state of estrangement or separation from one's milieu, work, products of work, or self. The idea of alienation remains equivocal and nebulous despite its popularity in contemporary life. The elusive nature of the word is in a way its quintessence. Alienation is also characterised by powerlessness, the feeling that one's destiny is beyond one's control and is determined by external agents, luck or fate. It also signifies meaninglessness, the inability to comprehend certain actions, circumstances or a generalized sense of purposelessness in life. Alienation could, at times, masquerade as anomie or normlessness, the lack of trust in or commitment to established norms and conventions, the naturalised and irrefragable status quo of the society. Alienation, in this sense, may give rise to deviant behaviour and immoderate competition. Alienation is also a kind of social isolation or a kind of self-imposed estrangement, perhaps the most ineffable and impenetrable of its myriad facets. Todd Phillips' Joker could be considered as the quintessential alienated hero of the 20 th century. The eponymous protagonist of the movie Joker (2019) is a failed stand-up comedian and a clown who turns to a life of crime and chaos in the fictional Gotham city. In Arthur Fleck, (the real name of our hero) we find an amalgam of many, if not all the characteristics of alienation. Fleck seems at a loss when it comes to identifying a purpose in life. He doesn't seem to comprehend the tortuous world and the part he is expected to play in it. In real life and in his life as a clown, his roles are way beyond his ken. One wouldn't say that his alienation is a Marxian alienation, but that doesn't mean that we should rule out the rubric completely. Fleck's alienation, towards the end of the movie, transmogrifies into a kind of anomie, a word which derives from the Greek word anomia meaning lawlessness and which
Lahiri's 'Interpreter of Maladies' was her first anthology of short stories which garnered many a... more Lahiri's 'Interpreter of Maladies' was her first anthology of short stories which garnered many accolades including the coveted Pulitzer in 2000. The anthology covers a plethora of themes including the 'cultural clash', which repeatedly figures in the eponymous short story. The implacable nature of the cultural differences evident from the stories reasserts the often repeated universal truth; Harmony between, say Indian and American cultures (two entirely different cultures) is either unachievable or if it's nearly achieved, is not worth sustaining as it would generate acrimony at one point or the other. The recrudescence of essentialist tendencies might bring the differences to light hampering the reconciliatory attempts no matter how seriously one makes an initial attempt (putting his/her prejudices apart). Lahiri was trying to prove the same (though a pessimistic one) through her stories, especially the titular one. "Sometimes we feel we straddle two cultures; at other times, that we fall between two stools."
International Journal of English and Social Sciences , 2021
Northrop Frye was a Canadian literary critic and theorist. He was born on 14th July,1912 in Sherb... more Northrop Frye was a Canadian literary critic and theorist. He was born on 14th July,1912 in Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada. Harold Bloom called him a "Miltonic figure" (qtd. By Bloom in an interview) of literary criticism for his exemplary and original contributions to the field of literary criticism. Frye was educated at the University of Toronto where he was a theology and philosophy major. He then did his postgraduate degree in English at Merton College, Oxford. In 1939 he returned to Canada and started teaching at Victoria College, University of Toronto where he spent the rest of his literary career. Northrop Frye is viewed as a pioneering critic of archetypal criticism. His first book The Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake written in 1947 was a highly original study of Blake's poetry and is considered a seminal critical work. He shot to international fame with the publication of his book titled The Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays written in 1957 "which redirected American literary theory away from the close reading of New Criticism and towards the larger meanings of literary genres, modes and archetypes." (Drabble 386). Regardless of the critical evaluation, he stressed on a value-free science of criticism. Frye in most of his works elaborate a comprehensive map of the literary universe in a schematic series of classifications. He has written over twenty books on various subjects including culture, myth, social thought and archetypal theory. His famous works include The Fables of Identity: Studies in Poetic Mythology, Secular Scripture, The Great Code: The Bible and Literature, Spiritus Mundi, The Well-Tempered Critic and Northrop Frye on Shakespeare. Frye was a polymath who had extensive knowledge on various subjects such as western culture, archetypal criticism, religion, anthropology et cetera. The Fables of Identity: Studies in Poetic Mythology, published in 1963 is the collection from which the essay "The Archetypes of Literature" is taken. It was originally published in The Kenyon Review in 1951. Frye analyses literature with respect to various rituals and myths. He drew inspiration from many sources including the Bible, Blake's prophetic books, Oswald Spengler, Sigmund Freud and James George Frazer. But the main source of influence was the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. Frye was immensely influenced by his account of the collective unconscious. But ironically Frye objected to being called a Jungian critic because he said that the literary critics should be concerned only with the ritual or dream patterns and need not concern themselves with how the symbols actually got there.
International Journal of Linguistics and Literature, 2023
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is a classic dystopian novel dealing with myriad themes, including ... more Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is a classic dystopian novel dealing with myriad themes, including the issue of censorship, a much controversial one pertinent even in the 21st century. Bradbury wrote quite presciently about a future where the culture Industry has taken control over our lives. The futuristic (24th century) world of Fahrenheit 451 is marked by a strong animosity towards learning; to quote Gray's prophetic (nonetheless, unintentional) lines 'Where ignorance is bliss'. Unlike the Orwellian world, the forbidden fruit here is the book. Reading is tantamount to sedition. One becomes a threat to the status quo of the society by imbibing knowledge; by becoming a deviant, one ruptures the carefully woven fabric of homogeneity, which makes sure that mass deception or something vaguely similar to Arendt's 'Banality of Evil'(Here, Ignorance) prevails. We find the characters in the novel blindly adhering to a totalitarian regime, one which is reminiscent of the deeds of the Nazi officers. When they were put on trial for the atrocities they had meted out to 6 million innocent Jews, they came up with a justification. They were just following orders from superior officers. The characters of the novel, especially the ones who assume a position in the vanguard of book burners are no less innocent. The protagonist, Guy Montag for example, before starting to develop dissenting views, mindlessly burns a plethora of valuable tomes including classics, for reasons he is not cognizant of. Nor does he feel any compunction for the same as Beatty, the leader of the firemen.
Released way back in 2009, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an action-adventure videogame, dev... more Released way back in 2009, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an action-adventure videogame, developed for a console meant for teenagers. However, the videogame drew flak for its inclusion of certain controversial mini-games and missions involving drugs like cocaine and heroin. This short essay/review will focus on the corruptive influence of something as trivial as a videogame and how it works insidiously as a lure to a world of crime, which young minds find irresistible.
Allan Poe's standalone fame rests to an extent, on the fact that he was a conjurer of macabre tal... more Allan Poe's standalone fame rests to an extent, on the fact that he was a conjurer of macabre tales of 'mystery, supernatural and suspense' unrivalled and inimitable even today. His stories and poems weren't influenced by personal factors like unrequited love (except maybe 'The Raven'), bereavement or tragic events of that sort. He wrote for the sake of writing and usually out of an uncanny impulse, unlike Mary Shelley who wrote her magnum opus 'Frankenstein' based on events from her own life. Poe's preoccupation with the occult gravitated towards the themes of death and decay and a contemplation of the same in a manner quite unexplored by writers of this genre. The theme of madness/ insanity was never dealt more tactfully in the history of horror genre. Poe's predilection for the macabre enabled him to explore uncharted arenas. His 'Metzengerstein', for example, is regarded as the first story to have 'metempsychosis' as its central theme. His poems were also not different in its preoccupation with the enigmatic, supernatural and the Gothic.
Allan Poe's standalone fame rests to an extent, on the fact that he was a conjurer of macabre tal... more Allan Poe's standalone fame rests to an extent, on the fact that he was a conjurer of macabre tales of 'mystery, supernatural and suspense' unrivalled and inimitable even today. His stories and poems weren't influenced by personal factors like unrequited love (except maybe 'The Raven'), bereavement or tragic events of that sort. He wrote for the sake of writing and usually out of an uncanny impulse, unlike Mary Shelley who wrote her magnum opus 'Frankenstein' based on events from her own life. Poe's preoccupation with the occult gravitated towards the themes of death and decay and a contemplation of the same in a manner quite unexplored by writers of this genre. The theme of madness/ insanity was never dealt more tactfully in the history of horror genre. Poe's predilection for the macabre enabled him to explore uncharted arenas. His 'Metzengerstein', for example, is regarded as the first story to have 'metempsychosis' as its central theme. His poems were also not different in its preoccupation with the enigmatic, supernatural and the Gothic.
Saudi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences , 2023
Roland Barthes' Mythologies perhaps has the singular distinction of having baffled scholars of se... more Roland Barthes' Mythologies perhaps has the singular distinction of having baffled scholars of semiotics/cultural studies or anyone who has taken an interest in the history of French colonialism and its nefarious influence on the 'empire' (Alger ia, in particular). This article despite its limitations, intends to demystify/unravel some ostensibly innocuous 'culinary predilect ions' in vogue (during the 1950s-1960s and in some cases even germane to the 21st century) in France. In addition to his magnum opus, I will focus on his other significant text on the same topic (and gastro nationalism), Toward a Psychosociology of contemporary food consumption.
In 1858, Georg Simmel was born in Berlin. The conflicts of Germany's unique road to modernity wer... more In 1858, Georg Simmel was born in Berlin. The conflicts of Germany's unique road to modernity were best exemplified by that metropolis. Financial speculation and rapid urbanisation fueled Berlin's ascent to global prominence. While a young proletariat (Georg Simmel) fought the government and the bourgeoisie for political and economic rights, an avant-garde cultural elite coexisted uncomfortably with the central European aristocracy. The landed Prussian Junker aristocracy, the cornerstone of Bismarck's unified German Reich, was eroded because of the proliferation of modern technologies that created power and riches. The Hohenzollern dynasty, one of the oldest in Europe, ruled over a tumultuous realm while being enamoured with the most contemporary concepts.
Life writing is increasingly popular as a 'genre'. There has been a surge in interest for the dis... more Life writing is increasingly popular as a 'genre'. There has been a surge in interest for the discourse of the self as it has the unique distinction of offering a vista to the deep recesses of our minds (and the 'Other's'). The term 'life writing' suggests the manifold ways of writing about the subject, and as such, can be seen a new strategy for giving ownership and validation to an individual and a reclamation of agency to those who have been marginalized through race, gender and class. No wonder why the feminists developed a fascination for the genre and appropriated the same as tool for the emancipation of countless women who were languishing under the oppressive regime of patriarchy. Many of them tried to incorporate this 'discourse of the self' to their novels, a genre extolled by Bakhtin as the epitome of 'Dialogism'. I would like to narrow down my focus to Margaret Atwood's classic dystopia ' The Handmaid's Tale'. Offred, the protagonist of Atwood's novel is a handmaid desperately trying to hold on to life by 'writing herself'(to borrow a key word from Helene Cixous). It is also interesting to note how another handmaid inspires her to fight relentlessly by inscribing her message in Latin (roughly translated as 'Don't let the bastards grind you down'). In the totalitarian(theocratic) republic of Gilead, women are forbidden to read or write and are relegated to the inferior roles which they must fulfill through a strict adherence to the scriptures. Offred's bold decision to record her experiences as a handmaid clandestinely becomes her life force. The Handmaid's Tale is one of Atwood's acclaimed novels which explores the idea of reversed women's rights and the consequences ensuing thereafter. Atwood's novel is set against the backdrop of a totalitarian regime, a world taken over by a group of conservative religious extremists who quote the scriptures every time they feel like bringing a certain group of women under subjugation. In the nightmarish world of Gilead, women are deprived of agency and are under the control of a phallocentric society, which forbids them to vote, read and write. Even the right to personal identity seems out of bounds for them. The handmaids are named after their commanders, who treat them as their property. The protagonist of Atwood's novel finds herself in a hopeless position as the choice of killing herself also seems out of her reach. The rooms to which they are confined lack a ceiling fan or sharp objects of any kind. Offred is left to languish in a room only to live a disconsolate life. There is nothing left to be optimistic about as Offred has already lost her husband who was purportedly shot while attempting to cross the border and also her only child who was forcefully taken from her. The handmaids have a sacred duty which they are expected to fulfill as obedient beings. The state expects them to be child-bearers for the
International Journal of English and Social sciences(IJELS)
The stacks of unread books in my cabinet have always disturbed me in one way or the other. They r... more The stacks of unread books in my cabinet have always disturbed me in one way or the other. They remind me, time and again, that I have fallen back on a promise that I had made to an old friend who encouraged me to take up literature despite my family's predilection for medical-engineering fields. When my relatives and teachers seemed disconcerted and disappointed at my decision, she exhorted me to take the road less travelled (at least, in India). But she made me promise something. I remember the last conversation we had years ago when she said: "Literature/Arts graduates tend to develop apathy towards their areas of interest once they reach 25. I want you to be a lifelong learner/reader. Don't give up on reading even when you have managed to land a lucrative job." I found myself transforming into a voracious reader, lucubrating over impenetrable works on philosophy, literature and philology for hours at a stretch. But, somewhere along the way, I developed this hebetude that I had been warned against by my friend. This didn't happen all of a sudden. And I hold responsible not only myself but also the people around me who treat 'the reading type' as mavericks and introverts. I never understood the rationale behind this prejudice. Were they tactfully trying to masquerade their insecurities? I will never know and honestly, I don't care anymore.
Alienation, in social theory signifies a state of estrangement or separation from one's milieu, w... more Alienation, in social theory signifies a state of estrangement or separation from one's milieu, work, products of work, or self. The idea of alienation remains equivocal and nebulous despite its popularity in contemporary life. The elusive nature of the word is in a way its quintessence. Alienation is also characterised by powerlessness, the feeling that one's destiny is beyond one's control and is determined by external agents, luck or fate. It also signifies meaninglessness, the inability to comprehend certain actions, circumstances or a generalized sense of purposelessness in life. Alienation could, at times, masquerade as anomie or normlessness, the lack of trust in or commitment to established norms and conventions, the naturalised and irrefragable status quo of the society. Alienation, in this sense, may give rise to deviant behaviour and immoderate competition. Alienation is also a kind of social isolation or a kind of self-imposed estrangement, perhaps the most ineffable and impenetrable of its myriad facets. Todd Phillips' Joker could be considered as the quintessential alienated hero of the 20 th century. The eponymous protagonist of the movie Joker (2019) is a failed stand-up comedian and a clown who turns to a life of crime and chaos in the fictional Gotham city. In Arthur Fleck, (the real name of our hero) we find an amalgam of many, if not all the characteristics of alienation. Fleck seems at a loss when it comes to identifying a purpose in life. He doesn't seem to comprehend the tortuous world and the part he is expected to play in it. In real life and in his life as a clown, his roles are way beyond his ken. One wouldn't say that his alienation is a Marxian alienation, but that doesn't mean that we should rule out the rubric completely. Fleck's alienation, towards the end of the movie, transmogrifies into a kind of anomie, a word which derives from the Greek word anomia meaning lawlessness and which
Lahiri's 'Interpreter of Maladies' was her first anthology of short stories which garnered many a... more Lahiri's 'Interpreter of Maladies' was her first anthology of short stories which garnered many accolades including the coveted Pulitzer in 2000. The anthology covers a plethora of themes including the 'cultural clash', which repeatedly figures in the eponymous short story. The implacable nature of the cultural differences evident from the stories reasserts the often repeated universal truth; Harmony between, say Indian and American cultures (two entirely different cultures) is either unachievable or if it's nearly achieved, is not worth sustaining as it would generate acrimony at one point or the other. The recrudescence of essentialist tendencies might bring the differences to light hampering the reconciliatory attempts no matter how seriously one makes an initial attempt (putting his/her prejudices apart). Lahiri was trying to prove the same (though a pessimistic one) through her stories, especially the titular one. "Sometimes we feel we straddle two cultures; at other times, that we fall between two stools."
International Journal of English and Social Sciences , 2021
Northrop Frye was a Canadian literary critic and theorist. He was born on 14th July,1912 in Sherb... more Northrop Frye was a Canadian literary critic and theorist. He was born on 14th July,1912 in Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada. Harold Bloom called him a "Miltonic figure" (qtd. By Bloom in an interview) of literary criticism for his exemplary and original contributions to the field of literary criticism. Frye was educated at the University of Toronto where he was a theology and philosophy major. He then did his postgraduate degree in English at Merton College, Oxford. In 1939 he returned to Canada and started teaching at Victoria College, University of Toronto where he spent the rest of his literary career. Northrop Frye is viewed as a pioneering critic of archetypal criticism. His first book The Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake written in 1947 was a highly original study of Blake's poetry and is considered a seminal critical work. He shot to international fame with the publication of his book titled The Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays written in 1957 "which redirected American literary theory away from the close reading of New Criticism and towards the larger meanings of literary genres, modes and archetypes." (Drabble 386). Regardless of the critical evaluation, he stressed on a value-free science of criticism. Frye in most of his works elaborate a comprehensive map of the literary universe in a schematic series of classifications. He has written over twenty books on various subjects including culture, myth, social thought and archetypal theory. His famous works include The Fables of Identity: Studies in Poetic Mythology, Secular Scripture, The Great Code: The Bible and Literature, Spiritus Mundi, The Well-Tempered Critic and Northrop Frye on Shakespeare. Frye was a polymath who had extensive knowledge on various subjects such as western culture, archetypal criticism, religion, anthropology et cetera. The Fables of Identity: Studies in Poetic Mythology, published in 1963 is the collection from which the essay "The Archetypes of Literature" is taken. It was originally published in The Kenyon Review in 1951. Frye analyses literature with respect to various rituals and myths. He drew inspiration from many sources including the Bible, Blake's prophetic books, Oswald Spengler, Sigmund Freud and James George Frazer. But the main source of influence was the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. Frye was immensely influenced by his account of the collective unconscious. But ironically Frye objected to being called a Jungian critic because he said that the literary critics should be concerned only with the ritual or dream patterns and need not concern themselves with how the symbols actually got there.
International Journal of Linguistics and Literature, 2023
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is a classic dystopian novel dealing with myriad themes, including ... more Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is a classic dystopian novel dealing with myriad themes, including the issue of censorship, a much controversial one pertinent even in the 21st century. Bradbury wrote quite presciently about a future where the culture Industry has taken control over our lives. The futuristic (24th century) world of Fahrenheit 451 is marked by a strong animosity towards learning; to quote Gray's prophetic (nonetheless, unintentional) lines 'Where ignorance is bliss'. Unlike the Orwellian world, the forbidden fruit here is the book. Reading is tantamount to sedition. One becomes a threat to the status quo of the society by imbibing knowledge; by becoming a deviant, one ruptures the carefully woven fabric of homogeneity, which makes sure that mass deception or something vaguely similar to Arendt's 'Banality of Evil'(Here, Ignorance) prevails. We find the characters in the novel blindly adhering to a totalitarian regime, one which is reminiscent of the deeds of the Nazi officers. When they were put on trial for the atrocities they had meted out to 6 million innocent Jews, they came up with a justification. They were just following orders from superior officers. The characters of the novel, especially the ones who assume a position in the vanguard of book burners are no less innocent. The protagonist, Guy Montag for example, before starting to develop dissenting views, mindlessly burns a plethora of valuable tomes including classics, for reasons he is not cognizant of. Nor does he feel any compunction for the same as Beatty, the leader of the firemen.
Released way back in 2009, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an action-adventure videogame, dev... more Released way back in 2009, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an action-adventure videogame, developed for a console meant for teenagers. However, the videogame drew flak for its inclusion of certain controversial mini-games and missions involving drugs like cocaine and heroin. This short essay/review will focus on the corruptive influence of something as trivial as a videogame and how it works insidiously as a lure to a world of crime, which young minds find irresistible.
Allan Poe's standalone fame rests to an extent, on the fact that he was a conjurer of macabre tal... more Allan Poe's standalone fame rests to an extent, on the fact that he was a conjurer of macabre tales of 'mystery, supernatural and suspense' unrivalled and inimitable even today. His stories and poems weren't influenced by personal factors like unrequited love (except maybe 'The Raven'), bereavement or tragic events of that sort. He wrote for the sake of writing and usually out of an uncanny impulse, unlike Mary Shelley who wrote her magnum opus 'Frankenstein' based on events from her own life. Poe's preoccupation with the occult gravitated towards the themes of death and decay and a contemplation of the same in a manner quite unexplored by writers of this genre. The theme of madness/ insanity was never dealt more tactfully in the history of horror genre. Poe's predilection for the macabre enabled him to explore uncharted arenas. His 'Metzengerstein', for example, is regarded as the first story to have 'metempsychosis' as its central theme. His poems were also not different in its preoccupation with the enigmatic, supernatural and the Gothic.
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